Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Daumonique Lenhardt. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Daumonique, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Origin

I founded Maverick Women Network Inc. after too many boardrooms and meetings where I was the only masculine‑presenting woman at the table. The outward success of being “there” quietly collided with the cost of getting there — the misreads, the edits, and the compromises. I built MWNI to be the bridge I wish I’d had growing up.

The moment it crystallized

Picture a long conference table, polished agendas, and the hollow feeling of belonging that required shrinking. That scene kept repeating until the question became impossible to ignore: who teaches us to lead without erasing who we are? Naming that gap turned frustration into a plan.

What drove me

Anger at erasure. Grief for a younger self without a map. A disciplined resolve to change the conditions that made resilience feel like a solo sport. Those emotions focused my work and set the standards for what MWNI would be.

Why this makes practical sense

Patterns repeat: exclusion, stalled sponsorship, and the emotional tax show up for masculine‑presenting women across sectors. Existing supports often treat pieces of the problem rather than the whole person. By designing modular, scalable pathways — mentorship cohorts, trauma‑aware wellness, and leadership labs — MWNI meets clear need with a structure that can grow.

What makes MWNI different

This isn’t another checkbox initiative. MWNI centers the intersection of masculine presentation and womanhood, pairing culturally competent mentorship with practical leadership training and care that prevents harm instead of retrofitting it. Participants help shape the work, so programs are rigorous, relevant, and rooted.

Vision

I imagine a future where masculine‑presenting girls don’t have to invent survival strategies, where families see possibility instead of obstacles, and where leadership pipelines reflect a broader, truer range of womanhood. MWNI turns private resilience into public infrastructure so more women can lead — without shrinking.

Daumonique, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Daumonique Lenhardt, founder of Maverick Women Network Inc. and principal of Lenhardt Consulting Solutions. I come from the world of Fortune 100 operations and strategy, but my purpose has always been bigger than the boardroom. I created MWNI because I was tired of being the only masculine-presenting woman in professional spaces — and even more tired of what it took to stay there.

Maverick Women Network Inc. is the organization I wish had existed when I was younger. We build mentorship, wellness, and leadership programs specifically for masculine-presenting women who are often overlooked, misread, or left out of traditional women’s leadership spaces. Our work helps them grow, lead, and thrive without having to shrink who they are.

We offer cohort-based mentorship, trauma-informed wellness workshops, leadership development labs, and strategic consulting for organizations that want to do more than check a box. What sets us apart is that we don’t retrofit generic programs — we design from the ground up, centering the lived experiences of those we serve.

What I’m most proud of is that we’re not just talking about inclusion — we’re building real systems that create visibility, dignity, and opportunity. I want people to know that Maverick Women Network Inc. is a movement. We’re here to shift the pipeline, not just survive it. And we’re just getting started.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was that professionalism requires invisibility — especially for masculine-presenting women like me.

For years, I believed that to be taken seriously, I had to shrink parts of myself. I softened my voice, adjusted my posture, avoided certain clothing, and overcompensated with credentials and performance. I thought that blending in was the price of access. And for a while, it worked — I advanced, got invited into rooms, led projects. But the cost was steep: emotional exhaustion, constant self-monitoring, and a quiet grief for the version of me I kept sidelined.

The turning point came when I realized that the very systems I was trying to survive weren’t built with me in mind — and that my presence wasn’t the problem, the design was. That shift led me to create Maverick Women Network Inc. Not as a reaction, but as a blueprint for something better. I had to unlearn the idea that success meant assimilation and relearn that leadership rooted in authenticity is not only possible — it’s powerful.

Now, I build spaces where masculine-presenting women don’t have to choose between impact and integrity. That lesson changed everything.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One moment that really tested my resilience happened early in my career, when I was leading a high-stakes project in a corporate environment where I was the only masculine-presenting woman in the room — again. I had the credentials, the strategy, and the results to back me up, but I was still met with hesitation, misgendering, and subtle resistance. I remember one executive pulling me aside and saying, “You’re sharp, but you might want to soften your delivery — it’s a lot.”

That comment hit hard. Not because I hadn’t heard it before, but because it was a reminder that my presence — my voice, my posture, my style — was being treated as a problem to fix, not a strength to build from. I had a choice: shrink to fit or stand firm and lead anyway.

I chose to lead anyway.

I finished that project with excellence, but more importantly, I used that experience to fuel the creation of Maverick Women Network Inc. I realized that resilience isn’t just about pushing through — it’s about transforming the conditions that require you to push so hard in the first place. Now, I build systems that make it easier for others to show up fully and lead boldly, without having to apologize for who they are.

That moment taught me that resilience isn’t just survival — it’s strategy, vision, and refusal to disappear.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mwni.org
• Instagram: @m_w_n_i_
• Facebook: Maverick Women Network Inc.