Dear FoundHer...

"You have to ask yourself, what's the worst that can happen?  And then, can you live with that? If the answer is 'yes' it's time to move on," said Dear FoundHer... Host, Lindsay Pinchuk of her exit from her first company.   

It's been 15 months since she made the decision to leave the company she founded and sold.  And since then, a LOT has happened.  She started consulting other companies using her signature marketing strategy to build and monetize community for bottom line growth.  From there, she launched a workshop, which led to 1:1 coaching, public speaking and privately held workshops for clients. And of course, she launched Dear FoundHer... which is currently her most favorite endeavor to date AND the #1 marketing vehicle for her new business. 

Starting over is never easy, and as Lindsay admits today, she definitely doesn't have it all figured out.  But today she's sharing ten lessons she's learned from the first year of her 2.0.  These lessons are both personal and business related and as you'll hear her say, the personal lessons have helped to shape her day-to day when it comes to my business.   And while they aren't all business related,  they all relate to her business and ultimately the way she lives her life.

In today's episode you'll hear Lindsay:

• Give more insight than ever before about WHY she chose to leave the company she founded.
• How she knew it was time to leave. 
• Her fear in leaving and trying to figure out what was next.
• How she got her 2.0 off the ground. 
• PLUS, her TOP TEN Lessons she learned from this year. Everything from the importance of reading a book (and why!) to what she's figured out is most important to her right now as a founder (x2.)

If you haven't listned to this episode with Peloton's Jenn Sherman, it is a MUST LISTEN.  And today's re-run includes an updated introduction with some behind the scenes on how Lindsay Pinchuk landed Jenn as a guest AND what happened when she went to ride in the Peloton studio in NYC with Jenn. 

Until January 10th, we're is on hiatus, but that doesn't mean that you have to stop listening!  Of course you can go back and listen to any of the 103 episodes we dropped this year!⁠⁠. And then stay tuned...we will round out the year on December 29th, with our final brand new, solo episode: ⁠ Ten Lessons I Learned During the First Year of my 2.0.⁠

⁠Make sure that you TUNE IN ON Thursday for our last episode of the season, a BRAND NEW solo episode with host, Lindsay Pinchuk, as she reflects back and shares her Top Ten Lessons from the First Year of Her 2.0.  

This episode was originally dropped on March 8, 2022.

Over the next three weeks we're is on hiatus, but that doesn't mean that you have to stop listening!  Of course you can go back and listen to any of the 103 episodes we dropped this year!⁠⁠. And then stay tuned...we will round out the year on December 29th, with our final brand new, solo episode: ⁠ Ten Lessons I Learned During the First Year of my 2.0.⁠

⁠Over the next two weeks, we're also going to be re-running three episodes that maybe you missed.⁠ We'll be sharing: ⁠

✔️ Your favorite episode---the most popular one of the year. (Tune in a week from today!)⁠

✔️ My favorite episode.  (You'll see why when it drops on Thursday!)⁠

✔️And today...the episode that started it all!⁠

Today's episode is one that so many of you loved---and that is a conversation with one of my best friends. ⁠

⁠In addition to being able to finish my sentences and buy concert tickets without asking me, Sammi is my #1 confidant when it's come to work.  We talk almost every day, and text even more.  As both of us work for ourselves, it's so important to have someone you can rely on, lean on and go to when tough situations present themselves.  I always tell my clients and the community here to surround yourself with people you can trust...for me, one of the people in my inner circle is Samantha Lande.  ⁠⁠

I am so proud of Samantha Lande for building a career as a B2B AND B2C writer---writing for media outlets and brands that include Real Simple, The Food Network, Parents, TLC, Allrecipes.com and Peloton.  ⁠

It's not every day that you get to interview one of your best friends about their career.  Today, you'll be able to hear Lindsay talk to Samantha about the ins and outs of freelancing, and how exactly she made it work.  This is an episode EVERYONE who has ever asked themselves "what if..." needs to listen to.  ⁠

This episode originally ran on January 6, 2022. 

Over the next three weeks we're is on hiatus, but that doesn't mean that you have to stop listening!  Of course you can go back and listen to any of the 103 episodes we dropped this year!⁠⁠. And then stay tuned...we will round out the year on December 29th, with our final brand new, solo episode: ⁠ Ten Lessons I Learned During the First Year of my 2.0.⁠

⁠Over the next two weeks, we're also going to be re-running three episodes that maybe you missed.⁠ We'll be sharing: ⁠

✔️ Your favorite episode---the most popular one of the year. (Tune in a week from today!)⁠

✔️ My favorite episode.  (You'll see why when it drops on Thursday!)⁠

✔️And today...the episode that started it all!⁠

“I thought, ‘Wow, life is short. I’m going to commit to this,’” says Alix Greenberg, Founder of ArtSugar, a curated platform offering chic art and decor founded in 2017. Really, ArtSugar is about community and bringing people together. Based in New York’s West Village, ArtSugar was born of Alix’s love of drawing and art history as well as her devotion to giving back. This solopreneur is a member of the Female Founder Collective, a part of Jewish Week 2019’s 36 Under 36 list, and an alumna of both Project Entrepreneur (a collaboration between Rent the Runway Foundation and UBS) and of VentureCrush.

Top takeaways from today’s episode include:

• Creating a brand ambassador program to spread the word and grow your business
• Utilizing partnerships as a means to getting yourself out there and grow
• Prioritize what’s important, customer service is #1

Quotes

• “I'm a millennial, I built the site for me. If you think about it, why is any of this successful? You feel like there's a need in the market for something that you want as a person for yourself.” (14:02-14:15 | Alix)

• “If you can get someone really strong to help get your brand out there so you can do the back end stuff and be behind the computer because you need to, it's a great luxury to have a publicist. I don't think it's a necessity, but to help get yourself on the map, at least in the beginning stages, it's great.” (29:41-30:02 | Alix)

• “Make sure you have a good support system around you because it's going to be a lot of tears because success doesn't happen overnight. You have to have a lot of faith in yourself.”  (31:24-31:54 | Alix)

Connect with Alix Greenberg:

“You don’t have to know everything, but you have to care,” says Jersey Banks, Co-Founder of Urban Cowboy, a full-service design studio specializing in commercial, residential, and immersive hospitality environments. Within six months of founding Urban Cowboy, with partner and designer Lyon Porter, in May of 2014, it exploded internationally and soon became a staple of Brooklyn culture. There are now locations in many of the country’s most exciting hotspots, including Nashville, where friends and members of the creator industry gather to create unforgettable memories and feel inspired by experiential design.

Key takeaways from today’s conversation include:

• How word of mouth can grow your business.
• How to share your visual product and who to share it with.
• The importance of maintaining the human touch even as you scale.
• The influence of motherhood on running a business, especially in the hospitality industry.
• Brand extensions and how to create new revenue streams outside of your core product.
• Why you shouldn’t define success too early.

Quotes:

• “Make sure you are operating in a space that you care about. You have to care. You don't have to know everything about it, but you have to care.” (42:36-42:48 | Jersey)

• “Don't define success for yourself too early. Let it shape itself. When you're starting something, you don't know what it is going to be. It's a work in progress. It's going to build outward in multiple directions that you can't decide.” (43:07-43:23 | Jersey)

• “In the boutique space, you can go up to 100 rooms or 150 rooms. And even if we open a property to that scale, it's still so important to us that people feel that level of intimacy and every location has a different feel. You have to get creative on how you give that experience.” (26:22-26:40 | Jersey)

Connect with Jersey Banks:

“We want to make things that people keep, that hold sentiment and personal memory in this journey of life,” says Nina Garduno, Founder and Creative Director of FREECITY which she describes as a way of life more than a brand. Nina grew up in Laurel Canyon and began working in fashion in 1981. She worked for Ron Herman at Fred Segal, working her way from sales to Vice President of Men’s until 2006. She created FREECITY in 2001 with the idea of seeing, making, and experiencing art and commerce through the retail space. She opened her first shop in Malibu in 2005, eventually opening spaces in Hollywood, Tokyo and Venice, CA. FREECITY is a visual language that communicates through storytelling, shared space, graphics and collected materials that relate to the people who experience it. FREECITY’s prints are made in local factories, using custom developed materials, fabrications, washes and dyes. They are made individually and hand-thrown, using hand-mixed paint with on-screen mixed gradients. It carries an innocence and a simplicity, a feeling that the wearer could make it, too. The making of it is the being of it.

Top takeaways from today’s conversation include:

• How the pandemic woke stores up to the many ways they could make money
• The immediate validation of social media
• How to adapt when you’re forced to change
• How to move from dreams into reality
• How to avoid poisoning your pool with toxic elements like greed, branding, and money
• The way art and commerce push up against each other in the retail experience

Quotes

• “It didn't come easy. It didn't come fast. It's self-funded. And I've really kept it in a place that I could be really proud of, and I am proud of it.” (39:35-39:53 | Nina)

• “It's not about being ahead of time, it's about being on time.” (51:02-51:05 | Nina)

• “Now, I want to be on time and be in real connection.” (52:21-52:25 | Nina)

• “I have reached my potential.” (55:52-55:54 | Nina)

• “Dream it to real. Dream it to real ideas. Who cares? Show me. Make it find a way. That's FREECITY. That's what it is. Stick with it, find a way, make it, dream it to real. Do it again. Do it right.” (57:33-57:57 | Nina)

Connect with Nina Garduno:

“We remember where we came from. That’s everything,” says Susan Sarich, Founder of SusieCakes, one of California’s top destinations for all things sweet. After graduating from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, she spent 25 years holding a variety of positions within a number of renowned hospitality groups. Realizing that women tended to leave the industry around the time they decided to get married and start families, she set out to create a space where women could continue to work throughout all of life’s changes.

SusieCakes pays homage to her grandmothers, Mildred and Madeline, by bringing the treasured recipes they passed down to her on 3 x 5 index cards to her customers. Since opening her first shop in 2006 in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, she has since opened in 26 locations across California and Texas, and now ships classic Midwest desserts like layer cakes, cookies and pies, nationwide. In October of 2022, she was included in Forbes’ 50 Over 50 list, which spotlights women over 50 who are shattering age and gender norms across all sectors. Linday’s own grandparents played a large role in shaping who she is today, so it’s fitting that Susan and her legacy business is the subject of Dear FoundHer’s 100th episode.

Highlights from today’s conversation include:

• The importance of grassroots marketing. Get your product into as many homes and events as possible.
• Don’t be afraid to go against industry norms to build a business that works best for you and your demographic.
• How to accept and roll with being the face of your brand.
• Staying true to your brand and values, true to the reason you started, and trusting your gut.

Quotes

• “Do not let anybody tell you your idea is a bad idea. Just push naysayers aside.” (47:10-47:18 | Susan)

• “Trust your gut instinct, always.” (47:23-47:25 | Susan)

• “Make sure that you are being true to the reason you started out. Be true to your values. Because a lot of people lose their path once they start getting successful, or the things in life change. They forget about who they were. So one of the values of our company is that we remember where we came from. And for me, that's everything.” (47:41-48:06 | Susan)

Connect with Susan Sarich:

“There is no book for how you need to live your life,” says Rana Campbell, Founder and “chief dream driver” of Dreams in Drive, a podcast that helps millennial creatives take their dreams from park to drive. In just six years, the podcast has grown to 300 hundred episodes, has had a million downloads and streams in over 80 countries. 

With a full-time job, Dreams in Drive is Rana's side hustle.  Throughout her whole life, she has been a storyteller committed to sharing others’ journeys of success. Today you'll hear her discuss how she's turned her passion into a viable revenue stream through the process of planning and executing with efficiency. 

In today's discussion you'll hear Rana share: 

• The importance of planning ahead.
• How to create structure to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.
• The need for a strong support system–balance is a myth.
• Convincing guests of your credibility.
• Ways to repurpose your content.

Quotes

• “You really have to become good at selling yourself. You have to sell the value of your platform. Even if by definition, you don't have the numbers that showcase typical value to people. (28:18-28:35 | Rana)
• “If you're a founder, LinkedIn should be your best friend. LinkedIn is a very slept-on social media network.” (27:05-27:11 | Rana)
• “Being able to build on partnerships. And also making sure that I was also reaching out to guests who had larger communities. Because although my podcast wasn't huge at the time, I was still an avenue through which people could tell their stories to an audience that they hadn't reached before.” (27:59-28:17 | Rana)
• “You have to be strategic. You have to really think and be a grassroots guerrilla marketer, especially if you aren't investing a lot of money in ads, or you don't have a huge marketing budget. There are still ways to grow organically. That is important.” (30:21-30:37 | Rana)
• “Know what your number is. Everyone has a number. What's the number that you're trying to hit? How can you hit that number and not have to stress yourself out about it.” (37:50-38:00 | Rana)
• “You have to plant seeds, even if you don't have the soil yet.” (35:53-35:58 | Rana)

Connect with Rana Campbell:

“If not now, when? What’s the worst that could happen?” says Kelley Lentini of co-founding House of Nomad, a full service interior design firm and homewares brand, with partner Berkeley Minkhorst. The two met while Kelley was working at Restoration Hardware. They bonded over a love of travel and design, believing that travel fosters creativity. They started  their business as a side-hustle, taking design clients in their spare time.  Two initial investments helped set the stage for success: professional photography of their project and lawn signs that they placed int their client's yards. Eventually they took their side-hustle full time, and soon launched a retail component of their business.  House of Nomad is a 7-figure  full-service interior design firm and homewares brand founded on the notion that travel fosters the best creativity.

Key takeaways from today’s conversation include:

• Reinvest back into your business.
• Leveraging your success. There are great grassroots marketing opportunities. Take them.
• Riding out the initial scary period between cutting the cord with your corporate job and first seeing wins from your side hustle.
• For those with visual products, the importance of investing in photography and using it–with press, influencers, and advertisements– to your best advantage.
• Test concepts, have a proof of concept before you make a giant investment in a new revenue stream.

Quotes

• “You can't get woe is me, feeling sad about this and that. You can’t get negative. You have to stay positive. I think that positivity and hopefulness is what brought Burke and Deke into my life and changed everything.” (42:34-42:48 | Kelly)

• “My mentor is Kelly, it's my husband, it's my friends. It's my family. I've got to talk about things. You have to put it out there. I think the more you're open to putting yourself out there, and the more you're able to talk through things, the easier everything becomes. Everyone's learning through experience.” (43:06-43:29 | Berkeley)

• “It's staying positive. If you can't keep a good attitude, starting a business is so hard.” (45:52-45:59 | Kelly)

Connect with Kelley Lentini and Berkeley Minkhorst:

With just a little over a month left in the year, award-winning entrepreneur and host of Dear FoundHer... Lindsay Pinchuk, shares seven actionable steps that you can take right now to set your business up for success in 2023.  These are the same exercises that Lindsay is taking for her own business as we wrap up 2022 and move into the new year.  

You'll hear her give advice and exercises on the following topics:  

• System and efficiency creation. 
• Recognizing when and how to outsource. 
• Creating a content plan/calendar. 
• Setting an intention and template for partnerships.  
• Making a plan for publicity and to get people talking about your business.  
• Remembering to update all of your social media platforms and your website to reflect your 2022 successes.  
• Creating a schedule for business operations and sticking to it.  

“I wish a lot of young people knew that it’s OK to be different,” says Alexa Curtis, 25-year-old Gen Z entrepreneur and co-founder of GrasshoppHer. In 2011, at just 12 years old, Alexa started a blog called "Life in the Fashion Lane" as a way to escape the relentless bullying she endured at school. She used this platform to discuss everything from body image, mental health, to teen life. Eventually, she became a Radio Disney Host, before leaving to launch the Be Fearless Summit. Hear what this summit was all about and how it was acquired by GrasshoppHer, an upskilling community for women ages 24 to 37. Co-founded with McKinsey consultant Heather Miller, GrasshoppHer helps other women become fearless founders just like Alexa.

Highlights from today’s conversation include:

• It’s important to talk to people. Ask them how they do what they do so you can learn to do it in a way that works for you.
• Figure out the natural extensions of your brand so that you can make more money without putting all your eggs in one basket.
• Look around you, at what is missing from your life, and build a business around it.
• Take a risk and go for it. No regrets.

Quotes

• “At the end of the day, trade shows and getting in front of people, and that face to face connection is really how you build that brand.” (16:17-16:26 | Alexa)

• “The the opposite side of not taking the risk is the possibility that it works out. So if you take the risk, and even if it doesn't work out, if you've taken a risk, that's that dramatic, likely something is going to happen to you in your life, that's gonna make you realize it was worth the risk. So I would say, you have to go for it. Because otherwise I wouldn't want to live with that kind of regret.” (22:12-22:33 | Alexa)

• “Limit your scrolling. The more that you're comparing yourself to other companies, the more that you're wasting your time not being focused on scaling yours.” (44:53-45:01 | Alexa) 

• “I don't need to work 24 hour days, that's a me thing. I used to work and wouldn't stop until eight, nine, and I was so tired, and I was still so unhappy. And that was something I really struggled with at Disney. Trying something fun and unique, that's personal or even business related, just makes you a well rounded person. (45:27-45:49 | Alexa)

Connect with Alexa Curtis:

“Serving your people isn’t even the foundation,” says Beatrice Dixon, Founder of the Honeypot Company, “It’s what the foundation is poured on.” Honeypot is the first completely herb-based feminine care system. After suffering from a months-long bacterial vaginosis infection, Beatrice had a dream in which her grandmother–whom she never knew– gave her a list of ingredients that would cure her. From there, she created a feminine wash, and eventually a line of safe and gentle, yet powerfully effective alternative treatments for feminine care.

Today’s episode takeaways include:

• The importance of partnerships and grassroots marketing to your target audience when building a products-based company.
• No connection to community = no transactions.
• Take the time to learn all you can from your first retail partnership before moving on to another one
• Serving as the foundation of your business
• Dealing with your shit.

Quotes

• “We continue to talk to our base through social. Serving the humans that we serve has always been at the base– it's the dirt that the concrete is poured on. To say that it's the foundation isn't even the right thing. It's the thing that supports the foundation. Because that is where we come from, from our hearts. So mind, body, and everything.” (38:49-39:25 |  Beatrice)

• “Do shit from a real place. Don't try to cover some shit up. Don't try to put paint where it ain’t, don't try to sugarcoat, don't do that. If it's not real, it's okay. Make sure that it's real, because I believe when things are real, and when they're coming from a real place, and when you're truly devoted to it and you want to make it work, that doesn't mean it's going to work. But it gives you the freedom to be able to see how you need to move, right.” (47:59-48:38 | Beatrice)

• “You got to deal with your shit. Take a break, but that break has to be useful. You’ve got to get advice. But you’ve got to make that shit count cause you have to get back to it.” (50:23-50:36 | Beatrice)

• “Serving the humans that you serve is the foundation of your business. When you come from your heart and your soul, everything that you do makes sense for you to be able to stay connected to your customer because it's coming from a real place.” (56:57:-57:09 | Lindsay)

Connect with Beatrice Dixon:

“My mission is not to sell clothes,” says Lyndie Benson, founder of Bleusalt, a line of ‘elevated basics’ for men and women of all sizes, made in the USA, 100% sustainably from the natural fibers of beechwood trees. “It's really to make people feel and look their best so that they go through their life easier.” At midlife, Lyndie’s two sons had flown the nest, her marriage of nearly 30 years had come to an end, and she found herself having to start over with no idea where to begin. She turned inward to discover her true passion, and realized that all of the skills she had honed while running a household and raising a family were perfect for running a business. Five years later, Bleusalt continues to grow and boasts famous clientele like Cindy Crawford and Christian Siriano.

Key takeaways from today’s discussion include:

• Start with the basics
• The advantages of DTC and the valuable data it provides.
• Don’t overthink your mission–it should come from your authentic passion.
• Details matter. Learn to do them well. Nothing is too small or menial for you to do.
• Learn as you go.
• Use your resources.
• Being at a crossroads doesn’t mean it’s over.

Quotes

• “I didn't know anything. I promise you. Zero.  This was done on pure passion.” (10:00-10:08 | Lyndie)

• “Before you have a baby, you don't know what you're doing. So it's the exact same thing. You just take it day by day and be your authentic self. It's important to know that you have value. And it's important to know what you bring to the world, but it's also important to know what you don't have to know, you can learn while you go, and use your instincts and use your wherewithal to get to the next day just like you do with a baby.” (8:57-9:33 | Lyndie)

• “Create a team that is aligned with your values and your mission, who are good at what they do. Make sure whoever you align yourself with is a good idea. Don't just pick your best friend.” (33:01-33:22 | Lyndie)

Connect with Lyndie Benson:

“I wanted to spend more time with my baby than with my blender,” explains Cassandra Curtis about what inspired her to Co-Founding Once Upon a Farm, the first HPP, organic, non-GMO baby food to be available in the United States. As an Integrative Nutrition Coach with an extensive background in the health and wellness spaces, she was committed to giving her three children nutrient-dense foods from the time they were babies. Yet, as a working mom, it was difficult to find the time to shop for, prep and blend her own food, and the few pre-made options weren’t up to standard. Knowing there must have been plenty of mothers having the same problem, she set out to find the solution, creating a line of foods that children loved and moms could feel confident serving to them. With actress Jennifer Garner spreading the word as the Chief Brand Officer, the company continues to expand, serving children up to six years old.

Key takeaways from today’s discussion include:

• Whatever you’re struggling with, there’s a good chance others are, too. And by solving your own problems you help solve theirs, too.
• For moms, word of mouth marketing works best. Other key methods are influencers, blogs, in-store sampling and coupons.
• Brand loyalty and trust is everything. It must be built from the ground up over time, and the founder must always uphold the values of the brand.
• Family is first and that should show through in the corporate space.
• Surround yourself with people who have done it before. Pick their brains and get to know them.

Quotes

• “There was such a big need for it. I mean, more and more parents understood and continue to understand the importance of childhood nutrition in the first 1000 days.” (10:01-10:11 | Cassandra)

• “The key is to keep going. And to also be flexible and nimble when you need to change direction because sometimes we can have this idea that this is the way, it's the only right way, but maybe it's not. So just kind of opening your mind to maybe saying no more.” (39:57-40:18 | Cassandra) 

• “Jen is a big piece of it, too. She is the megaphone for the brand. So we do get a lot of awareness because of her. And that's been a plus.” (25:03-25:07 | Cassandra)

Connect with Cassandra Curtis:

Today is November 8, 2022, Election Day and a very important one at that. Given that today is such an important day in the history of our country, we made a last minute decision not to release a new episode today, but instead to re-release an episode relevant to today. 

Dear FoundHer... host, Lindsay Pinchuk, continuously says that she is honored that Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers, Founders and Co-Hosts of Pantsuit Politics, stopped by for a conversation here and is equally as honored to re-release this conversation on this historic day.  

“We’re the political podcast for people who hate political podcasts,” says Sarah Stewart Holland, Co-Founder and Co-Host of the Pantsuit Politics podcast. She and Beth Silvers felt that there was an independent space for people who found themselves somewhere in between the increasingly divergent polls of the political spectrum. And this emphasis on community is what has made their podcast so successful. Growth isn’t always what matters, but instead, make sure to maintain a reach in which you are always serving your community.

Sarah and Beth are citizens who prioritize curiosity over the conflict that often drives political conversations. Which means you can Pay attention without the anxiety. During the show you will hear them talk about the fact that they research all the topics and sometimes they agree, sometimes they don’t—but they present all sides to have a healthy conversation.

As you wait in line at the polls today, or wait for the midterm returns to start coming in later, take a listen to this incredible conversation and make sure you follow  Sarah, Beth and Pantsuit Politics and listen to their podcast for more. 

Connect with Sarah Stewart Holland & Beth Silvers:

Host, Lindsay Pinchuk, has been giving a longer version of this conversation as a keynote to corporations across the country, prompting her to want to share this important information and actionable steps with the Dear FoundHer...community. And you're going to want to stick around until the end as Lindsay is giving one lucky winner a hour-long social media consult. 

When Lindsay started her first company, it was 2010. Social media was virtually non existent. But as her company grew, so did social media---the number of platforms, the significance it was playing in our society and how it impacted business. While her business was an events based business, she grew it along side the boom of social media, adapting and growing with the ever changing platforms.

While the social media landscape is far different today than it was 12 years ago, there are still basic principles that when applied together allow for greater social media success from a personal and professional standpoint.  Here is what you will learn from today's conversation: 

• What is community and why it is important.
• Seven Tips for Social Media Success
• How to know if what you are doing is working.
• What happens to your business when you build your community on social media. 

Quotes: 

• "People want to buy from people. In showing up every day to serve, connect and engage with your community, you build a natural bridge for transaction over time."
• "Going back to the basics to create and invest in your community, through your time, will pay you back in dividends for years to come."
• "Your community is your greatest asset, and you build it through your #1 marketing tool:  your content."
• "The numbers don't lie---use the insights on your digital platforms and regularly check out what works and what doesn’t and modify accordingly."

Don't forget, share this episode and one thing that you learned to your IG stories and tag @lindsaypinchuk @dearfoundher.  One winner will be chosen at random by end of day on November 10th for a 60-minute social media consult with Lindsay. 

Jacq Tatelman is the first to admit she didn’t know what the heck she was doing when she founded STATE Bags (let’s be honest, how many of us actually do?). STATE Bags is a mission-driven family bag company offering high-quality backpacks, bags and more for the whole family. Co-founded with her husband Scott in 2013, STATE was born out of the duo’s work with disenfranchised youth and the need to provide even the smallest gift of confidence (like a new backpack) for the school year. Drawing on her experience in product development at companies like Saks Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel, and Scoop, Jacq is now the Co-Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of STATE, leading the creative vision, business development and growth of the brand as it continues to evolve.

Throughout this conversation, Jacq and host, Lindsay Pinchuk, will discuss:

• How your mission should fuel everything.
• Knowing and prioritizing your entry point when creating your product.
• Finding the thing you love so much that it will carry you through the lows.
• Keeping your philanthropic efforts small and local.
• Surrounding yourself with people who believe in your vision and complement what you do.
• Knowing when to turn off.

Quotes:

• “What we try to do and what we say is that we don't necessarily go national for what we do. On the philanthropy side, we look at very small pockets of communities, and humans, and we say, ‘How can we make their lives better? What can we do to actually change their lives?’” (14:45-15:01 | Jacq)

• “Talking to our customers where they were, marketing ourselves for the first time in the right way, and having the right product at the right time really changed everything. It was like flipping a switch.” (24:35-24:48 | Jacq)

• “Team is everything.” (30:00-30:03 | Jacq)

• “Listen to all the advice, but choose what you actually put into action with the advice that people give you. You can't listen to every app and do what everyone tells you to do. There are going to be a lot of people who are going to tell you, ‘Oh, you should do this. You should do that.’ Okay, thank you. Thank you. Listen, listen, listen to everyone, have as many conversations as you can. And then you need to kind of sort out what you believe is right for you and your brand and take action on those things.” (43:17-43:44 |Jacq )

Connect with Jacq Tatelman:

Dr. Becky Kennedy, Founder of Good Inside, is a clinical psychologist and mom of three, who specializes in thinking deeply about what’s happening for kids and translating these ideas into simple, actionable strategies for parents to use in their homes. Dr. Becky's goal is to empower parents to feel sturdier and more equipped to manage the challenges of parenting.

When host, Lindsay Pinchuk, met Becky Kennedy in 2020 she had less than 10,000 social media followers. Today she has an entire team, a podcast, workshops, a membership, and as of this month: a New York Times best-selling book,  Good Inside, A Guide to Becoming the Parent You want to Be. She’s been featured on GMA, Today, and almost every major news outlet. TIME magazine recently named her “The Millennial Parenting Whisperer.”  Ask almost any mom, they certainly know about the amazing, Dr. Becky.

And those 10,000 followers? They’re now over 1.4 MILLION.

Throughout this conversation, Dr. Becky discusses:

• Learning basic principles once and applying them forever as a sturdy leader.
• Finding a team that helps you expand your practice.
• The relevance of psychology in every business. 
• Finding a co-founder who is a thought partner
• How to be prepared for the range of emotions you’ll experience as an entrepreneur.

Quotes

• “People have asked me, ‘What do you say to yourself to boost yourself to go make a video without makeup?’ And I never thought about it. I wish I could tell you it’s a big personal growth. That would be a better story. I just told myself it doesn't matter…Find out what really lights you up inside. Everyone has something.” (19:09-19:44 | Dr. Becky)

• “Protect your calendar. I always think about that. At work, we schedule meetings. With kids, we schedule their soccer games. Scheduling proactively for things that matter to me is something I'm really good at.” (39:07-39:22 | Dr. Becky)

• “Every business is a business of humans, and motivation, and fear, and shame, and connection, and feeling good enough. Psychology is relevant in every single business. It's relevant in terms of your business product, but it's also just relevant from your business team, as you think about managing people, and you think about systems.” (31:05-31:25 | Dr. Becky)

Connect with Dr. Becky Kennedy:

“Why weren’t you around when I was getting married?” is what most women say to Grace Lee, Founder of Birdy Grey, a direct-to-consumer bridal retail shop where all gowns sell for under $99. Grace got her start writing, reporting and managing social media content in the fashion and beauty industries when she saw a whitespace for women who wanted to save time and money while shopping for wedding apparel. In its first year alone, Birdy Grey sold 20,000 gowns, and four years later is still growing exponentially while on a mission to change the way women shop for their weddings.

Join today’s conversion to discover:

• How $10-$35 a day IG ads yielded 20,000 dress sales in the first year
• The importance of user generated content
• How Grace navigates the rapidly changing buying habits of Generation Z
• Her attitude toward retail shopping versus ecommerce
• Surveying your customers and letting their feedback shape your product development choices
• The power of word of mouth

Quotes

• “I just knew that we had great product market fit. And if I was feeling this way, millions of other women must be feeling the same way with their bridesmaids dresses. And to be honest, we were right.” (8:02-8:13 | Grace)

• “The great thing about your investors is that they're rooting for you. They already have skin in the game, so they want you to succeed. And oftentimes, they will lead you in the right direction.” (17:10-17:18- Grace)

• “Customer service is the backbone to your business. It guarantees you word of mouth marketing, your customer experience is everything.” (36:35-36:43 | Lindsay)

• “Synergies with other companies in your life stage is a huge opportunity. When you're looking to gain the attention of the same customers, other companies who aren't competitive can really grow your brand.” (37:12-37:22 | Lindsay)

Connect with Grace Lee:

“You are perfectly equipped, hardwired, and created to serve your people,” says Natalie Blenkush, Brand Strategist, Marketing Coach and Host of the Wildly Aligned Marketing Podcast. Natalie helps women consistently find and attract the right clients online without compromising their values. The key is to show up as your authentic self. After dealing with her own imposter syndrome, Natalie realized she had everything she needed to serve the needs of her community. So, she insists, so does everyone else.

In today’s conversation, Natalie discusses:

• Taking inventory of your rich life experiences to discover all the ways in which you are qualified to do what you do.
• How podcasting will completely change your business.
• Overcoming perfectionism
• Avoiding trends when starting on social media and deciding what you really want to share.
• How to address (or not!) sensitive trending topics on your podcast.
• Leading with an abundance mindset.
• The power of word of mouth.

People appreciate the authenticity in the messiness, so don’t be afraid to get started right where you are. Come on in and meet Natalie!

Quotes

• “I think that you can't give too much away for free in your content.” (30:30-30:34 | Natalie)

• “Word of mouth is one of my favorite ways to get clients.” (34:26-34:30 | Natalie)

• “Keep it simple. There are so many options out there, especially when it comes to marketing in terms of ‘Where are you going to show up? How are you going to do it? Are you going to add an email or opt in or whatever? What is the simplest way that you can do it right now? Find the shortcuts, just do the thing. And then the next time you do it, you can make it a little bit more polished or a little bit more automated.”  (38:22- 38:47 | Natalie)

Connect with Natalie Blenkush:

“I felt like there must be other women like me, who were looking for contemporary fashion in a very curated setting,” says Megan Tamte, Founder and Co-CEO of EVEREVE. After a particularly negative experience in the dressing room of a clothing store, Megan began imagining a store where busy moms and their kids would be warmly welcomed and cared for while shopping for modern and versatile fashion. Seven years later, she realized the importance of following her dream, and sat down to write it into reality.

This episode is full of takeaways, including:

• Why you should prioritize serving over selling to your community. 
• The importance of checking in with your evolving customer base as well as being mindful of the future.
• The impact of hiring people who share your vision.
• Why fashion isn’t frivolous but an act of self-care that can make you a better mom.
• Knowing your numbers and the importance figuring out why if you're not hitting them. 

In an era when retail is disappearing, Megan still strongly believes in the power of retail and EVEREVE remains a store-first business. People still love to touch, feel, and talk about the things they’re buying. Eighteen years after opening its first location, EVEREVE has 100+ stores and takes in 300+ million in revenue. Come on in and meet Megan!

Quotes

• "The way I hit my numbers was never through selling, it was always through serving, and being really focused on the customer, using what we do well, and guiding her to what we think she's going to want, because she walked in the store, which is fashion, clothing, an outfit. Using it to serve her and not to sell to her." (31:45-32:09 | Megan)

• “As a leader, I'm a hands-on relational CEO, I am our customer. I love being with our customers, I love talking to our customers, I love talking to our managers, I love relationships, I try on our clothes because we care so much about getting the product right.” (35:29-36:20 | Megan)

• “I think the modern mom cares about her fashion. And she knows that taking care of your fashion isn't frivolous, it's actually part of wellness, it's part of taking care of herself.” (37:30-38:12 | Megan)

Connect with Megan Tamte, Founder:

“We wanted a one stop shop where girls can buy everything they need to make themselves feel good,” says Jean Baik, Co-founder of Miss A. Jean grew up following fashion and beauty and in 2012, when the beauty industry was hitting a peak, she knew she wanted to make her own unique mark in it. So, in 2013, she and her husband founded Miss A, a line of beauty and lifestyle products which are all sold at a dollar price point, something no one else in the industry was doing. It has since become a mid-eight figure business, and their Paw Paw makeup sponge recently won an Allure Beauty award, which Lindsay points out is the equivalent of a musician winning a Grammy.

You’ll hear Jean explain how she maintains affordability without sacrificing safety, quality or ethics. She also explains how Miss A manages to attract such a large customer base despite spending very little time and money on marketing and advertising.

Other takeaways from this episode include:

• How Jean utilizes social media to promote her business, and why small businesses should be on TikTok in particular
• Identifying your ‘hero’ product and how to promote it.
• How to reach out to influencers.
• The importance of a brick and mortar store and foot traffic even in the age of online retail.
• Why entrepreneurs starting out need to hustle and not be ashamed of it.
• Why it’s important to learn how to work all aspects of your business, and when to delegate those tasks to more qualified people.
• The importance of hiring good people, and where and how to find them.
• A social media trend that you should avoid. 

Meet Jean Baik and walk away with all of this and so much more. 

Quotes

• “And I think as a founder, we always say, ‘Find someone who's better at this job than you, so that they can take it over.’ Which I 100% agree, but I think you need to know at least something about it to be able to make that successful, and be a leader to your team members.” (37:45-38:03 | Jean)

• “You’ve got to work for what you want, and it's not going to just come to you…I'm not telling you to go burnout every day. But I do think you’ve got to work hard to get what you want and you have to have that hustle to be successful.” (39:52-40:23 | Jean)

Connect with Jean Baik:

“I spent the first five years of my business building community,” says Laney Schwartz, Founder of the food blog Life is But a Dish. “It was, is and continues to be the foundation of my business.” 

A former first grade teacher who loved to cook, Laney decided to combine her two passions by starting the blog. With it, she helps busy people gain confidence in the kitchen by learning to cook without being tied to a recipe. By showing up consistently and giving followers quality advice on the blog and later on social media, she’s built a six figure brand that includes e-books and courses. From today’s conversation, you’ll take away:

• The power of changing lives through teaching people a valuable skill
• How to recognize a passion in your life and think of ways to share and eventually sell it
• Why and how to adjust to times and changing landscapes. When inevitable shifts in business occur, respond by nurturing your community.
• How to rethink your strategy when your marketing vehicle plateaus (like social media did for Laney) to move the needle forward

Laney is proof of the message that I preach every week, building your community is everything! Entrepreneurship can be a rollercoaster, but when you make the commitment to show up, you’ll build truth with others and your product or service WILL sell.

Quotes

• “Passive income is not totally passive. You can get there, but it’s a lot of hard work.” (9:24-9:31 | Laney)

• “The foundation of my business is built in community. I had a good sized following that really trusted me. I was constantly putting out new, solid information and free recipes. I was giving, giving, giving for so many years that when I finally created a product, I made $10,000 off the bat.” (10:30 -11:06 | Laney)

• “Entrepreneurship can be extremely lonely. So finding those connections and finding people who support you, and lift you up and go through this journey with you is important. There are days when we think we are the best, and we are just going to make millions of dollars, and we are on cloud nine, and then literally 20 minutes later, we are crying on the floor thinking we are horrible and our business is stupid. I mean, it is such a roller coaster. And you need people. Otherwise, I don't know how I would do it alone.” (37:47-38:18 | Laney)

Connect with Laney Schwartz:

“Influencers built Freshly Picked,” says Susan Petersen, of her company that is one of the most recognizable names in the baby space. In 2009, after making a few pairs of moccasins for her son Gus, and featuring them on her then-struggling blog, she immediately got attention from potential customers and began building a following. Five years later, an appearance on NBC’s “Shark Tank” would prove pivotal to getting major attention not only from a whole new audience,  which helped push Freshly Picked into stores like Nordstrom.  Throughout this episode Susan shares some key takeaways:

• Attention is momentum, and when you get too much too soon, it can be difficult to know how to best utilize it for your business.
• When everyone is going after the same customer,  finding a way to work together with like minded businesses is what is most meaningful.
• When you host events for influencers that are relevant to your space, make it fun and let it speak to the foundation of your brand. Naturally, attendees will share it and post about it.
• Relationships are key to growing your business and should be prioritized over contracts. 

When first starting your business, it is hard to gain momentum quickly. But the best way to grow and scale any company is to prioritize relationships first. Today, Susan shares what she’s learned from her experiences, and how she’s become a better boss, business owner, and overall human being.

Quotes

• “Good marketing is all about reciprocity. At the end of the day we’re all going after the same customer, so if there’s a way that your business and our business can work together, to me that’s most meaningful.” (16:09-16:25 | Susan)

• “I believe in relationships before contracts.” (16:25-16:28 | Susan)

• “Gaining a following, and being out there for public consumption, is very lonely. When you start becoming successful at anything, you lose meaningful conversations with people you love. There are a lot of conversations I can’t have with my sister. I’m not talking to her about my P&L.” (22:20-22:53 | Susan)

• “Balance is just straight up bullshit, and the world will try to get you to buy into that. Don’t buy into it.” (42:18-42:24 | Susan)

Connect with Susan Petersen:

“You have to let people know what you’re doing,” says Annie Scranton, Founder of Pace PR, which helps their clients understand and achieve their goals by placing them in meaningful spots within traditional media. TV is still the most prestigious platform for promotion, lending a client instant prestige. This makes it the most competitive medium to be placed in, which is where a PR company like Pace, which Annie founded after a career in television news, offers invaluable connections and expertise.

In this episode, Annie explains how even those with a minimal budget can get the word out about themselves and build credibility with the communities and resources they have at their disposal. She explains how to utilize newer platforms like social media and podcasts, and good old-fashioned event-based networking. Learn the first and most important step she took when first founding her business—which is also Lindsay’s number one piece of advice.

Annie provides you with actionable steps about what you should do each week to promote yourself, and how to conduct the most productive online searches. Annie admits she shamelessly promoted herself in the beginning. Don’t be afraid to do the same, and let people get as passionate about your mission as you are.

Quotes

• “A lot of times clients come to us and they say, 'I’m so great at promoting other people, but I’m not great at promoting myself.’ I do understand that but you have to get over it, and put that out there. Because if you don’t, you’ll be missing opportunities.” (25:01-25:16 | Annie)

• “When I first started out, it was word of mouth for me. I was going to events. Every time I was in the greenroom when I was still working on TV, I would mention it to people, I would put it out there. I was pretty shameless about plugging myself. In the service industry, if you do a good job, people will refer to you.” (34:52-35:20 | Annie)

Connect with Annie Scranton:

“Meet other women,” advises Camille Burns, CEO of Women Presidents Organization, “You do not need to do this alone.” WPO's mission is to help second-stage female entrepreneurs around the world take their companies to the next level of success. At any stage of one’s career, though, being an entrepreneur can be quite lonely, and being a female founder has its own unique set of challenges. This is why a network of fellow females is so important. 

In this episode, Camille details strategies for networking and finding mentors, reinforcing the importance of meeting in person or with an intentional LinkedIn message. Se reiterates that you cannot be hesitant to reach out. Most successful people want to give back, help and pay forward what others have done for them.

Asking for help is part of being vulnerable, which is difficult but necessary to growth as an entrepreneur. Women tend to want to do it all, but it’s important to delegate work to the most qualified people around you, especially as you continue to grow. Another aspect of being vulnerable is not being afraid to admit your failures. This helps other people learn from your mistakes and also realize no one is alone in making them. It also helps to mitigate the pressure we feel when it looks like everyone else is effortlessly succeeding while we’re struggling.

Risk is at the heart of entrepreneurship, and women especially need to not be afraid to put themselves out there and continue to do so even when things go wrong. Things will always go wrong. Take the lessons learned from your mistakes, and continue moving forward.

Quotes

• “I think it’s really important for female founders to understand what their unique talents are, and as they grow the company, quickly find people who fill the roles that they can have other people fill.  (9:46-9:59 | Camille)

• “I think you’d be surprised at how many business owners and successful people want to give back and want to help.” (27:15-27:18 | Camille)

• “Letting go is huge. Don’t carry the failures of yesterday into tomorrow. Take them as learning opportunities and let go. Move forward.” (34:35-34:46 | Camille)

Connect with Camille Burns

“It’s crazy to me that we have made this industry so confusing and so secretive,” says Jessica Willis, Founder of Pocketnest, a financial platform that she licenses to financial institutions, as well as employers for employee financial wellness. A self-proclaimed finance wizard, Jessica knew she wanted to help others who may be intimidated or less knowledgeable to be able to organize and optimize their finances. She became so excited about the platform as she was building it that she was happy to jump out of bed at 5:00 AM to work on it and sad when she had to head for her office job hours later.

She encourages anyone else to make a similar leap toward their own mission that serves other people. Take advantage of every startup event and networking opportunity. If you don’t know how to do something, find people who will help you. These people will become your mentors, perhaps for life. Always have something to show people, even while you’re still perfecting it.

Remember that startups exist within an ecosystem. Just as you require and receive help, you will be called upon to help. Find a way to pay it forward. This is how you build your all-important community.

Quotes

• “I want to make personal finance be not so overwhelming, and difficult and unapproachable.” (15:51-15:56 | Jessica)

• “It was probably six to nine months of me getting much more excited about Pocknest than my full- time job. My husband even asked me one time, ‘Do you even like going into the office?’ And I said, “I mean I guess I do. I just like working on Pocketnest better.’ And he said, “Oh my god, you want to get fired!’ And I felt that would be so much easier if someone else could make that decision.” (18:37-19:14 | Jessica)

• “If I knew my daughters were settling for something they didn’t love doing, I would say, ‘What are you doing? Take the risk. Take the jump and go for it.’” (19:33-19:41 | Jessica)

Connect with Jessica Willis:

“We’re the political podcast for people who hate political podcasts,” says Sarah Stewart Holland, Co-Founder and Co-Host of the Pantsuit Politics podcast. She and Beth Silvers felt that there was an independent space for people who found themselves somewhere in between the increasingly divergent polls of the political spectrum. And this emphasis on community is what has made their podcast so successful. Growth isn’t always what matters, but instead, make sure to maintain a reach in which you are always serving your community.

When you serve your community and provide them with value, they will support you in return, including financially. Don’t be afraid to monetize content, even if you’ve offered it for free until now. Learn to recognize what your community actually wants and what is within your capacity to give to save yourself time and stress. There should be a certain amount of ease to working on your project.

To manage stress, even good stress, don’t work too hard to adjust to audiences preferences, especially in an arena as fickle as politics. Keep showing up with purpose and your people will find their way back. Beth recommends therapy because owning a business will bring about issues that you don’t even know you have, and you have to develop specific mental muscles for it. The community you keep around you is equally as important as the community you serve, and will help keep you going when you are overwhelmed.

Quotes

• “Do the things that you do well in your space, and trust that people want to support it.” (35:39-35:44 | Beth)

• “Maintaining that sense of ease has been really critical to us. Know your numbers, yes, but make sure you see the full story around those numbers, instead of always thinking you need to adjust. Sometimes you just have to keep showing up, and eventually your people will show back up with you.” (46:05-46:22 | Beth)

• “There is something magical about a partnership. You’re not in it all by yourself. You can bounce things off each other, and feed off of each other’s energy and have conversations. A good partnership is unbeatable.” (50:04-50:20 | Sarah)

Connect with Sarah Stewart Holland & Beth Silvers:

“From a young age, I saw food as little treasures,” says Katrina Markoff, Founder of Vosges Chocolate, “to me it was really special.” This is the experience she has created for her customers for nearly 30 years with her gourmet chocolate confections. Not only was she a pioneer of adding unconventional ingredients like silver or olive oil to chocolate and making chocolate a slow-eating, full sensory experience, but her retail spaces were also destinations unto themselves.

Giving customers unique, specialized experiences with chocolate is what kept them coming back, and eventually word of mouth led to press coverage. By focusing on her craft and sharing her story with her community, her community returned the favor by spreading word of the business which then led to press coverage. Though very dedicated to being hands-on with every aspect of the business, Katrina eventually had to figure out how to scale to keep up with the demand of the product.

A lot of Katrina’s journey was just jumping in and figuring it out as she went along. Many of what seemed like setbacks were truly blessings in disguise. Mistakes are normal and happen in every stage of the process, so don’t let them throw you for too long. After all, nothing happens overnight.

Quotes

• “We’re always creating. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are creating our lives. (14:38-14:44 | Katrina)

• “The more you focus on your craft, on your community, on your purpose for being, people will want to tell that story.” (22:08-22:18 | Katrina)

• “You have to tell your story. When you tell your story, people come to you. And that is what happened with Vosges…and what put her on the map.” (25:42-26:44 | Lindsay)

Connect with Katrina Markoff:

“Our platform is almost a reflection of what’s going on in culture,” says Lara Vandenberg, CEO and Founder of Publicist, an online marketplace to source premium-vetted marketing and communication experts. Not only does it serve industries such as cryptocurrency, fintech, healthcare and more than 60 others, it has coincided with the major cultural shift in attitude in the workplace since March of 2020. Just as more and more people are embracing flexibility and working on their own terms, companies are eschewing long term commitments in favor of contract workers. Publicist facilitates the connection between both so that everyone wins.

A large part of Publicist’s mission is to make sure freelancers get duly paid. As a founder, you may need to pay your employees, particularly those who complement your shortcomings, before you pay yourself. No one is good at everything, and a major part of running a business is recognizing what you’re not good at and delegating those tasks to the right people.

By contrast, not everyone is going to recognize your strengths or what you have to offer, at least not right away. When you are met with resistance, see it as an opportunity to teach. Tell everyone you know that you’re starting a business so that they can hold you accountable. Stay informed of what your competition is doing, but don’t invest too much emotion into it. Nothing is ever going to be perfect, get out there and do it and let the world start to give you feedback.

Quotes

• “The bigger the company, the bigger the pain point, the more they need to hire. Corporate America is not adjusting as fast as the pace of talent wants them to.” (17:16-17:29 | Lara)

• “That’s been a really important lesson: You need to hire for the superpowers you don’t have.” (28:46-28:51 | Lara)

• “No one is good at everything. So when you identify what you’re good at, and what takes you way too long and what you can delegate, that’s probably the most crucial lesson.”  (29:02-29:14 | Lara)

Connect with Lara Vandenberg:

“We really try to tap into the types of humans who would want to buy our products,” says Cristie Besu, Founder of Eat Me Guilt Free, a line of better-for-you baked goods and bread products that swap out traditional ingredients for healthy ones while still being delicious. A former ER nurse and sports nutritionist, Cristie wanted her concept of better-for-you to apply to all types of health needs.

After firmly establishing what your ‘why’ is and who your customer is, you want to meet people where they are and talk in the language of each platform, Cristie says. So, speak LinkedIn when on LinkedIn and TikTok when on TikTok. Collaborations and partnerships with brands that speak your language are more organic and effective than paying an influencer. Once you start seeing month to month growth, you’ll realize you can make it happen.

You must execute every single day, even if it’s intentionally deciding that you will take the day off. Having a solid vision of where you want your business to go is so important–and it doesn’t hurt to make a vision board.

Quotes

• “Yes, direct-to-consumer is the future, and everything’s digital, but there’s a lot of this country and a lot of the world for whom connection is important. People want to see things and see that it’s in store.” (15:14-15:26 | Cristie)

• “You have to speak LinkedIn when you’re on LinkedIn. You have to speak TikTok when you’re on TikTok.” (24:39-24:46 | Cristie)

• “Collaborations and partnerships are so much better for a brand than an influencer campaign that you’re paying for. When you partner and collaborate with someone, it’s because you organically speak each other’s languages. It comes off more naturally, it resonates with people, they connect with it much better.” (35:08-35:30 | Lindsay)

Connect with Cristie Besu:

“You need to know how to utilize your community for growth because when you engage with them, they will help you,” Lindsay says in this second of two solo episodes where she shows you how to grow and leverage your community to help you scale your business. Each of the steps she shares is valuable because they create the kind of momentum that will spare you a number of mistakes and save you years of time in the process.

Using examples from her own experiences as a founder who built a community reaching 3MM users per month and generating 7-figures in revenue, Lindsay first shares three strategies that you must implement to continuously build your community over time. 

She then shares five action steps that you can take right now to start building your community.  PLUS, you can grab her free engagement checklist below to get started. 

You'll also hear Lindsay share her exact strategy for implementing these tactics while building her second community:  the one right here listening to Dear FoundHer....

As Lindsay says,  "Don't ever underestimate the power of your community as well as the power you have among the community you build. When you show up for them, they will continuously and forever show up for you."

Quotes

• “Really and truly, having partnerships is a ripple effect. At the end of the day, free partnerships could lead to sponsorships.” (11:33-11:43 | Lindsay)

• “It is so important that you not only show up as yourself, but that you also engage and converse because social media is a two-way street. When you start engaging with your community, they will start engaging with you and that will only lead to continual growth.” (18:57-19:15 | Lindsay)

• “Once you start working your community, you will see almost an immediate change in the engagement numbers, interactions, and growth on your platforms. (43:33-43:44 | Lindsay) 

• “I didn’t stop cultivating my first company’s community, ever. Never. No matter who we worked with or how big we got, my community was and is always, my first priority.” (45:56-46:09 | Lindsay)

“There’s so much between being fully at home with your children, and fully climbing the corporate ladder,” says Kim Rittberg, Video Strategy Consultant and Host of Mom’s Exit Interview podcast, “There are a lot of ways to create a flexible life, and I’m just so excited to explore that and to bring it to listeners.” Kim realized she needed to change her approach to work-life balance when she was screening potential hires on her phone from her hospital bed, while delivering her second baby. So, she took the elements of her 15 years in TV news and digital content that she was best at, found the most fulfilling, and best served people, and started her own company that allowed her to own her time.

With her podcast, she helps other business women achieve a similar quality of life. It starts with building a business around something you genuinely love, surrounding yourself with supportive people and letting them know what you’re up to so they can spread the word. Put yourself out there, even if you don’t believe in yourself at first (though ultimately you should).

Regardless of your industry, video content is crucial to promoting your business, and Kim draws on her extensive background to offer some actionable tips: 

1. Be laser-focused on which platforms work best for you and go all in.

2. Identify the platforms you want to be on and squeeze all that you can out of your content.

3. You have to show up on video. If you are trying to grow your business, people need to know you. You have to practice if you are shy and don’t want to show up.

Quotes

• “Whether you have the confidence or don’t have the confidence, if you don’t put yourself out there to get clients, you’ll feel like your business isn’t thriving. You have to put yourself out there.” (15:18-15:29 | Kim)

• “If I am working 60 hours a week, and struggling to make the same salary I made before, why am I doing this?” (17:48-17:54 | Kim)

• “Identify which platforms you really want to go all in on. For some people it’s LinkedIn and Instagram. For others it’s TikTok and Facebook. A lot of people on social media say once you create content you should squeeze the juice out of that lemon as much as you can. I agree with that. Once you have that ‘hero’ piece of content, cut that up in as many ways as possible.” (29:59-30:28 | Kim)

Connect with Kim Rittberg:

“Your community is your greatest asset and your content is your greatest marketing tool,” Lindsay says on this solo episode of Dear FoundHer. The first of two episodes in which she shares with listeners what she has emphasized throughout the 72 episodes of the podcast thus far: the importance of building your community. In fact, the more you show up as your authentic self, sharing your personal story and your ‘why’ with your audience, the more they will want to buy what you’re selling.

What’s more, your community will eventually do your marketing for you by spreading the word about your business. Which means that even those with a shoestring budget are wise to start engaging and building one. Here, Lindsay shares five specific steps founders can take to with their community including asking for feedback and offering the community a discount on something.

These steps helped her build her first company Bump Club and Beyond. And even though she sold her first company, Lindsay plans to further her new mission–to help female founders achieve the same success. It took years to grow the first business, but with all of the invaluable lessons she learned along the way, her second business grew within months. And by taking her advice, you can save yourself years of time by starting your business by building your community from the beginning. 

Quotes:

• “Being scrappy and utilizing your resources is so imperative when you’re getting a business off the ground. Your community is your number one asset.” (5:46- 5:55 | Lindsay)

• “My community came first, and the monetization came after.” (10:38-10:44 | Lindsay)

• “People want to buy from people.” (11:50-11:52 | Lindsay)

• “In showing up to serve and connect and engage with your community, you build a natural bridge for transaction over time. Whether you’re a brand new entrepreneur, or you have some experience under your belt, creating a community is free.” (11:53-12:09 | Lindsay)

Connect with Lindsay Pinchuk:

“I think that we’re both better humans and better at life because of it,” Lauren Abney says of the Well/Behaved podcast that she co-founded with best friend Stephanie Biegel. And this is not an overstatement. As self-described connectors, they talk with a variety of experts from the wellness space about everything from astrology to tequila. In turn, those connections have since taken them on as brand advisors and consultants, creating a cycle of service and connection that benefits all involved as it continues to grow. In this way, they get to be a part of a world they would have otherwise been on the outside of. They get to build authority and be part of businesses they are interested in without the risk that comes with founding and running them. What’s more, filling their cups through this passion project has made them both better at their full-time jobs.

There is room for everyone in the ever-evolving podcast space. The best way to start is with a topic you are just as interested in talking about as you would want an audience to hear. Nothing has to be perfect, people want authenticity. Ask for help from friends who have started podcasts for advice (or at least tell them your plan so they can hold you accountable) or look for educational resources from Upsprout, Anchor, Almost 30, YouTube and Spotify.

There is always a reason not to do something, but don’t be afraid to jump in. The first step is the most difficult and also the most important. Go for it.

Quotes

• “The word ‘passion project’ really is the right word. It’s not a side hustle. (8:27-8:32 | Lauren)

• “A lot of people talk about starting a podcast and they say it’s easy. It’s a lot of work, but it’s such a special business in that it’s always evolving and there’s a ton of potential.” (6:24-6:37 | Stephanie)

• “There’s now this narrative that everybody has a podcast. Every business has a podcast, every celebrity has a podcast, but they all have their tequila, too. At the end of the day, I think there’s space for everyone.” (7:42-7:53 | Lauren)

• “It’s not about a podcast having the most amount of social followers. People are leaning into the content.” (37:47-37:55 | Stephanie)

Connect with Lauren Abney and Stephanie Biegel:

“What I’ll tell you in three minutes, it took me ten years to learn,” says Haley Geffen, Co-Founder of Coed Studios, and 6-time Emmy award-winning director and filmmaker. Here she shares invaluable lessons gained from working with some of the biggest brands and names in the entertainment industry. She’s directed videos for Netflix, Dove, and Crest, and co-directed the 2021 All-Star Game open featuring Kamala Harris. She was selected by NBC to direct two long-form shows centered around the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while her short film, Hey Girl, swept up 12 global awards in 2020. Her list of celebrity clients reads like a who’s-who.

Catering to these clients has been a big part of her success, and she assures listeners that maintaining clients is the only skill a successful entrepreneur will ever need. Haley explains that her career has been a success because she has done it her own way, staying true to her own vision, telling people up front what she wants and sticking to those parameters. This includes prioritizing self-care and not letting anyone intrude on that personal time she carves out for herself. She’s learned that success doesn’t mean that everyone will, or has to, like what you’re doing. You don’t have to take everything personally. You just have to go for it and know it's okay to fail big.

As her company’s name suggests, Haley has worked with both men and women. She explains what it’s been like to work as a woman—including pregnancy and motherhood—in a male-dominated field and how she has come to understand the difference in emotional temperament and approach between the two sexes. Though it can be difficult, women shouldn’t be afraid to earn more than their partners.

Quotes

• “I have created a world for me as opposed to the world being created around me.” (7:11-7:15 | Haley)

• “When people tell me, ‘I can’t do that,’ or ‘I can’t ask my boss that’ I always think, ‘What do you mean?’ This is your world and your life. Don’t be super rogue, be respectful, but this is how you’re going to be successful. You tell people, ‘This is how my life is going to go.’ (7:16-7:33 | Haley)

• “There’s always been one constant theme for me and it’s that I cater to the client.” (23:41-23:47 | Haley)

• “You don’t need to be fully prepared, you don’t need to have all the money, you don’t need to be in the exact right place at the right time.” (53:02-53:15 | Haley)

Connect with Haley Geffen:

“I’m a big believer that it’s never too late in your life to do something that you’re really passionate about,” says Lili Foggle, Founder of Impressive Interviewing, “It’s also never too late to pivot.” After 12 years of studying acting, Lili blew an interview for a major audition with a Broadway actor. It was this experience that led Lili to redirect her career into the nonprofit sector and soon after, full-time motherhood. Eventually, at age 52, Lili pivoted once again. Using her failed interview experience, Lili founded Impressive Interviewing, where she teaches others the skills they need to crush interviews and land their dream jobs.

Not wanting to invest a lot of time and money into her business, Lili started a simple website and later, despite initial apprehension, began posting on TikTok. To her surprise, she soon gained a loyal and enthusiastic following because she has carved her own niche, stayed authentic to her voice, and only posted when she has something valuable to say. Today she boasts over 52K followers. 

No matter your age, it is never too late to start a new project or business you are passionate about, and having a diverse background is no reason to hold yourself back. In fact, anything you do is a set of transferable skills. Embrace the possibilities that lay ahead of you and build the business you’ve always dreamed of.

Quotes

• “I am living proof that interview skills can transform lives.” (6:19-6:23 | Lili)

• “Part of why I’ve had success on TikTok is because of how niche I am. (27:42-27:52 | Lili)

• “I know they say on TikTok, ‘You have to keep posting! Keep posting,’ but I’m not posting if I don’t have something valuable to say.” (28:34-28:43 | Lili)

• “My favorite thing about TikTok is that not a day goes by that I don’t see someone comment on my post saying, ‘Thank you. I watched your videos, and I got the job.’” (31:13-31:28 | Lili)

• “It’s never too late to pivot. You don’t have to have a traditional background.” (40:22-40:27 | Lili)

• “If you are willing to work hard and learn on the fly, there is really nothing you can’t do.” (41:14-41:19 | Lili)

Connect with Lili Foggle:

“I was forced to do this,” says Laura Shafferman, Founder of Legally Addictive, “I don’t think I would have done it if I hadn’t been forced to turn my life around.” After her commercial real estate firm laid her off and held her to a non-compete clause for a year, Laura wasn’t sure what she would do next. By chance, she baked a batch of chocolate and toffee covered crackers, a staple treat found in kitchens throughout the South and Midwest, to sell at a local Christmas market. And to her surprise, it sold out nearly instantly. Without any real kitchen experience, Laura set out to recreate the snack using responsibly-sourced, shelf-stable chocolate. And before long, Dylan’s Candy Bar reached out, requesting to have it on their shelves.

Laura readily admits it wasn’t easy. Between finding the right kitchen, ingredients, and shipping process, there was a lot of trial and error. Like many entrepreneurs, she worked side jobs while her business got off the ground, and had to patiently wait a few years for the company to turn a profit. She worried, as many do, that brands who reached out to work with her were looking to steal her product. So one of the things Laura prioritized first was taking necessary legal steps to ensure her brand was protected.

Ultimately, Laura’s story is an example of what happens when change forces you to pivot. Even though change can be intimidating, it can be the perfect opportunity to dive headfirst into something you love. So when you recognize a good idea, stick with it because amazing things can happen.

• “A mentor said, ‘You really need to get into retail because it’s going to be predictable. You’re going to have a lot more control over it, and be able to sell more products at the same time. It’s excellent marketing and will drive back direct sales for you.”(24:37-24:55 | Laura)

• “Be open to changing your idea and your plan. A lot of business owners, myself included at the beginning, I was very adamant about what I wanted to do, how I wanted it done, and how I wanted this business to be perceived.” (43:51-44:05 | Laura)

Connect with Laura Shafferman:

“As any founder knows, your brand is your baby,” says Genevieve Custer Weeks, Founder of Tutu School, which teaches preschool-age children the basics of ballet. It can feel scary to leave your brand in the hands of other people if you pursue a franchise model for expansion. For this reason, Genevieve says it’s important to be constantly evolving as a brand so that you are both supporting all of your franchisees, while also maintaining a unified set of standards. 

According to Genevieve, starting your business as if you have the intention to scale is the best thing any new entrepreneur can do. If you as an entrepreneur are looking to own a franchise first ask yourself: is this something I can do on my own? You have to say YES to this question. Yes, BUT you would like for the community and support a franchise supports.

Genevieve's history and passion for ballet runs deep and her goal was to instill the practice and principals in small children who were being underserved by larger studios. The strength and singularity of this mission caught on like wildfire with a community as dedicated to upholding her vision as she is. Now, Tutu School has more than 70 locations across the U.S. and Canada, with the intention of reaching as many tiny ballerinas as possible.

Quotes

• “I think there’s a perception out there about franchising that it’s some passive income you’re going to set up—you create the package, you sell it, and people give you royalties. But in reality, you have to really make sure that you’re constantly evolving, in both the support you’re providing, and the ways you’re layering in checks and balances to make sure there’s real brand consistency and quality control.” (15:39-16:06 | Genevieve)

• “My number one piece of advice for any business owner, as there is literally no downside to it, is to set up your business from the beginning like you want to scale it.” (19:50-19:59 | Genevieve)

• “If you’re looking at a franchise you should ask yourself, ‘Do I feel like I could do this on my own?’ The answer should be one hundred percent yes.” (39:15-39:28 | Genevieve)

Connect with Genevieve Custer Weeks:

“I truly, wholeheartedly believe the world will be a better place when women have full autonomy over all aspects of their lives,” says Kiley Peters, whose dedication to helping female business owners create fulfilling careers and home lives through entrepreneurship led to founding her company Rayne IX. This executive consultancy firm asks clients what they truly want, what their pain points are, and how they can take the lessons they’ve learned to help other people. Kiley uses her own experiences (both positive and negative), her insatiable curiosity, and her unique way of connecting the dots to help women achieve their goals. She truly believes that this kind of authenticity is key to not just differentiating yourself, but figuring out how best you can serve others.

This fall, Kiley plans to launch The 100 Club– a women’s small business owner directory and club, hoping to eventually gain 10,000+ members. To gain entry, Kiley explains that members must agree to help at least 100 women in their own lives become financially successful and personally fulfilled, thus changing the lives of 1 million women overall. There is plenty to go around for everyone, as long as you think in terms of abundance and not scarcity.

While financial freedom may seem like a far-fetched dream, it is entirely possible for every female founder to achieve. Join the conversation to learn the importance of setting boundaries with your time in and out of the office, empowering and freeing yourself by “knowing your numbers” and figuring out your financial projections, and recognizing that life is too short not to take off your summer Fridays.

Quotes

• “My goal in founding RAYNE IX is to continue to help women build the lives they want for themselves, and for me, I really wanted to see women build financially stable and fulfilling lives and I think entrepreneurship is one of the ways they can do that.” (7:05-7:24 | Kiley)

• “Hi, here’s my shit. I’m going to own it. I went through this. I learned from it. Now, I can help you so you don’t have to go through it on your own.” (15:09-15:20 | Kiley)

• “Adapt an abundance mindset. There is more than you think there is.” (42:33-42:38 | Kiley)

Connect with Kiley Peters:

“Who’s coming with me to Washington?” Kitty Brandtner asked, the day after the July 4th mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois.  Kitty had been attending a similar event nearby with her young family when a man with an assault weapon opened fire on families and parade goers. In a mix of grief and fury, Kitty took to social media and nearly overnight, she mobilized a team of citizens who were also ready to turn their grief into action.  The March Fourth movement was born. Within just one week,  volunteers planned a rally attended by 500, and organized meetings in Washington, D.C. with lawmakers with one clear mission:  To ban assault weapons nationally.  Survivors from Highland Park were joined from families of victims from Uvalde, TX to demand action from our government.  The noise from this effort resulted in the House of Representatives passing HR 1808. The next stop is the United States Senate following the summer recess. 

But the work of March Fourth is far from over. Money is still needed to keep the message loud, clear, and consistent until the bill becomes a law. A big part of this is maintaining media presence and driving awareness. March Fourth has also made great efforts to run interference between the families who wish to grieve privately and the media who have violated that privacy. According to Kitty, this is not a political issue, but a human one.  

“We went where she was,” explains Mahisha Dellinger of the marketing strategy that built CURLS, an organic hair product line she founded 20 years ago.  This was the strategy Mahisha used to launch her brand and grow it through a DTC model before it was one of the first four brands to launch the ethnic hair category in Target.  Word of mouth spread and a customer base was built that doubled as a data source. Today, ambassadors across the country are still dispatched to concerts and comedy shows to hand out samples. Even with social media, nothing beats a boots on the ground approach.

In addition to CURLS, which is available in over 400,000 stores, Mahisha runs the Black Woman Making Millions Academy, which is set to help 25,000 Black female-owned businesses with over 450 million dollars of free resources. She knows good mentorship is priceless, and Mahisha is determined to return the favor to other Black women who encounter obstacles in the business world. If you plant good seeds, she says, you will always yield good crops.

There is nothing quite as strong as the force of word of mouth marketing. Join the conversation to hear how Mashisha built her business from the ground up, what’s next for both of her ventures, and the two words she had for her former boss who once subjected her to racism prior to CURLS became a phenomenon.

Quotes

• “I knew that once you tried it, you would love it. So, a substantial marketing budget toward samples is important when you’re product based.”(8:41-8:51 | Mahisha)

• “Whatever you put out there is what you get back and you get it ten-fold. I believe in planting good seeds and harvesting.” (30:54-31:04 | Mahisha)

• “Don’t wallow in what you don’t have, or your disadvantage, or whatever obstacles you have. Use that to propel you to drive forward. That’s what I did.” (35:29-35:41 | Mahisha)

• “Please hear me when I say, failing to plan is planning to fail. You have to make sure you create a robust business plan. You have to have that road map. If you don’t have a road map to success, how are you going to get there?” (37:32-37:50 | Mahisha)

Connect with Mahisha Dellinger:

“Something that really bothered me,” says Sascha Mayer, Co-founder and CEO of Mamava, “was the invisibility of this human function that many of our population deals with.” As a new, breastfeeding mother, Sascha found herself struggling to balance a busy job with a milk pumping schedule. It’s a cumbersome, time-consuming, and emotionally demanding process, requiring privacy that isn’t afforded by the average bathroom stall. Already a successful designer, she co-founded Mamava, which today is over 3,500 freestanding lactation suites across the United States, as well as an accompanying app showing where to find them. Moms go everywhere, and being a mission-oriented service, Mamava is determined to follow by appearing in schools, hospitals, and, of course, office buildings. Their mission is the north star that continues to guide the business.

More relevant than ever in a post-pandemic era, the suites provide a safe, sanitary space for women to not only feed, but take their time doing what Sascha calls “an invisible third job.” It’s not something one would consider when they were designing a facility if they hadn’t done it themselves, and so it also helps new mothers feel seen.

August is National Breastfeeding Month, and we're celebrating Mamava and the supportive resources they provide new moms, as well as what's next for this incredible brand. 

Quotes

• “Like all great entrepreneurial stories, my business came from personal experience and wanting to solve a problem.”(5:35-5:41 | Sascha)
• “One of the challenges and the greatest things about Mamava that I don’t think we were honestly prepared for is that moms go everywhere. So the solution is needed everywhere. And because we’re mission-oriented, we say ‘yes’ everywhere.”(13:21-13:36 | Sascha)
• “I firmly believe that when you put your ‘why’ and your mission first, that the bottom line escalates and follows.” (31:02-31:10 | Lindsay)
• “Mission is just good business. Especially as someone who hadn’t operated a big company before with manufacturing and so on, if you have that North star, it really helps you make decisions.” (34:59-35:13 | Sascha)
• “Absolutely mission, for me, is the most important thing…and that also goes for the mom community as well.” (31:47-32:29 | Sascha)

Connect with Sascha Mayer:

It's been exactly a year since Dear FoundHer... host, Lindsay Pinchuk, exited the corporation who bought the company she founded.  In this episode, Lindsay celebrates the last year having no regrets and knows that she is exactly where she is supposed to be. Today, Lindsay shares with our community: 

• How she made the decision to leave. (3:06)
• The first step she took after her exit. (10:19)
• How she launched her consulting and coaching business and the difference between the two. (14.30)
• How the launch of the Dear FoundHer... podcast impacted her business. (16:20)
• Her exact approach to building your community. (24:30)
• Knowing when to make a shift or change in your business. (28:05)
• The importance of knowing your product and how you can position it correctly. (27:02)
• Understanding where, when and how to reinvest in your business. (32:30-35:20)
• Her proudest moments over the last year.  (35:30)
• Her greatest achievement she wants to celebrate with you from the first year of her second pivot.  (38:20)

“Fyli stands for ‘tribe’ in Greek and ‘family’ in Latin,” explains Jaclyn “Jax” Brennan, founder of Fyli, a private support network for female founders. Just as the U.S. locked down, Jax acted as a conduit for connection, reaching out to every mastermind she knew to create 150 online masterclasses, and offered them to beginner founders at no cost. Fyli soon evolved into its current model, and when collaborating with new businesses, Jax asks herself not only how they align with her mission, but what she can offer them. Leading with an abundance mentality means recognizing that there is room for everyone, and the more people who elevate a vision, the better the results.

Certain boundaries are crucial, though. Your own community should hold you accountable to the boundaries you’ve set for yourself. Young women need to make ‘intentional asks’ for what they want. Keep your expectations realistic. Success doesn’t happen overnight.

Join the conversation to find out why the word ‘no’ shouldn’t hurt, how to execute a partnership properly and to hear what Fyli does to help find you support even if their network isn't for you. Don't miss this episode that every female entrepreneur should get in on. 

Quotes

• “When we all bring our best to the table together we move mountains.” (7:30-7:34 | Jax)

• “When you are a startup founder, you can’t expect to take a salary in Year 1, 2, or even 3. It takes time to build. If you come from an abundance mindset and you have a plan and strategy, step-by-step is how you get there. It doesn’t happen overnight.” (18:21-18:39 | Jax)

• “The way I approach partnerships now is ‘How do we both win?’ The most important thing to know when building a partnership is their win. Of course, they care about what you want, but it’s really about what they want and what success looks like to them." (22:11-22:27 | Jax)

• “The power of saying ‘No,” and respecting your time and your boundaries when you’ve got to put blinders on, because there are only a certain amount of hours in a day, it’s hard. But it’s something we need to talk more about.”(26:11-26:23 | Jax)

• “You have to show up to a partnership ready to give and deliver.” (22:38-22:45 | Jax)

Connect with Jaclynn (Jax) Brennan:

“People want to be your advocate. They want to be your helper,” assures Elizabeth Rees, Founder of Chasing Paper, a company that pioneered removable wallpaper. As the third-generation in a family printing business, Elizabeth saw a need for peel-and-stick wallpaper made of traditional materials, designed with original imagery. Without a PR or marketing team, she networked relentlessly, attending every dinner and coffee meeting she could. She researched the top 50 women’s magazines and personalized her communication with editors and reporters. Most importantly, Elizabeth sent an email introducing her product and explaining her vision to everyone she knew. This network quickly spread the word, which ultimately led to a writeup in a major design blog, and a huge surge in sales early on.

So much press at once can be overwhelming if a new business isn’t prepared to meet the response. But as Elizabeth explains, no business is perfect right away. Receiving the same questions or complaints repeatedly from new customers presents an opportunity to address issues you’ve overlooked. Always to listen to your customers, and to be consistent in all of your efforts.

At the end of the day, one of the best ways to launch your business is to spread the word. Meet Elizabeth and learn how she deals with supply chain issues, the value of keeping your team lean, and the myth of overnight success.

Quotes

• “With those two things, a thoughtful design and a high quality product, we were off to the races.” (6:35-6:43 | Elizabeth)

• “Truly, sending an email is probably the most important thing you do.” (16:24-16:27 | Elizabeth)

• “There’s just no way that you can build a perfect business right away. Once you can get over that, you can recognize that what it’s about in the beginning is how quickly you can shift, how quickly you can pivot, how quickly you can make small adjustments to be more in line with what your customer is asking you to do.” (20:26-20:45 | Elizabeth)

• “You have to share your story over and over again, because when you share it, other people will start sharing it for you.” (26:33-26:40 | Lindsay)

• “Business is hard 70% of the time. I think people like to think that it’s the opposite, that it’s easy and fun and whatever. But when you have those successes and you have those days where something is really good, really memorialize them.” (47:40-47:58 | Elizabeth)

Connect with Elizabeth Rees:

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Jenn Sherman asked herself when she sent an email to John Foley, who was looking for people to join his new company called Peloton. She thought the last thing anyone in the youth-obsessed fitness industry would want was a 40-something mother of two. She and John hit it off instantly, and soon she became Peloton’s original  instructor. The Peloton community is equally drawn to her warm, approachable nature, and her willingness to show that she isn’t perfect. The resulting fame has its challenges, but it's far outweighed by her blessings.

Jenn never expected to have a second career. She simply fell in love with “spinning.” It combined her two competing obsessions: exercise and music. The rest was putting one foot in front of the other. She encourages anyone who feels stuck in life to JFDI (Just F***ing Do It).

Living the life of your dreams is closer than you’d ever imagine, you just have to take a chance on yourself. Join Jenn and Lindsay in conversation to hear the difference between a big connection and a big following, living a life unexpectedly in the public eye, and Jenn’s eternal love for Rob Lowe.

Quotes

• “I didn’t have to create a brand, this was the brand: very into pop culture, music, all things happening in the world, very much like a talk show kind of vibe. That’s kind of the personality that I am.” (31:03-31:24 | Jenn)

• “The one piece of Peloton that I’ve gotten used to but I am still not comfortable with is this public piece, honestly.  I’ve taken some missteps at Peloton. I’ve said the wrong thing or done the wrong thing– I’m human– and I was not prepared for the onslaught of what happens.” (34:40-35:11 | Jenn)

• “I’ve just tried to keep some things for my family and not have everything be out there, but for the most part, this Peloton journey has brought me so many blessings that I don’t even feel comfortable complaining.” (38:07-38:33 | Jenn)

• “It’s so meaningful to me to be able to show my kids that I could do this. At 40 years old, playing tennis and meeting my girlfriends for lunch just isn’t cutting it anymore. I want to do something. What am I good at? What do I love? Let me do this. Let me give it a shot.” (40:13-40:31 | Jenn)

Connect with Jenn Sherman:

“Our mission is really to give our audience the tools and the inspiration and everything they need to design and create the life of their dreams,” says Camille Styles, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of CamilleStyles.com, a digital publication that covers a variety of topics such as food, events, lifestyle and beauty. With her site, Camille became one of the first influencers. And though the digital landscape changes constantly, in its 13th year, her website brings in 15 million views and 1.3 million unique viewers each month.

Her secret to success? Camille Listens to her audience and delivers them quality content in a digital age, which people are clamoring for, especially in long form. So she continues to focus on her original site rather than pivot toward social media. At any time the algorithm can change and drastically reduce a website's reach. To keep her audience happy, Camille focuses on her email list, which also provides the opportunity for readers to give feedback and ask questions.

Now more than ever, you can monetize your business online. Join the conversation to hear Camille explain how to monetize your online business and the pros and cons of each method, why it’s important to be picky about the brands you partner with, and a hint at the new product line she is developing.

Quotes

• “Discovery is so important for anyone who works online. Whether it’s running a small business online or a content business, everyone wants discovery and it’s so hard in the current world that we’re living in where there’s so much fighting for everyone’s attention.” (14:38-14:57 | Camille)

• “I’ve seen a lot of my peers rely solely on one channel for getting traffic. And the problem is when one algorithm changes, it can be really destructive to the business.” (15:20-15:36 | Camille)

• “As a general rule, you can’t try to trick the system in any way. You just have to create good content and write what your audience is searching for. That’s really the only way to be successful with Google.” (16:41-16:53 | Camille)

• “My litmus test for when a new brand approaches me about working together is always, ‘Can I tell a better story with this brand than I would have been able to tell without the brand?” (25:52-26:03 | Camille)

Connect with Camille Styles:

Kelly Fair is known as “The Mentor.” Thirteen years after founding her mentorship organization, Polished Pebbles, Kelly now serves 1,300 girls annually at over 50 schools and sites in the Chicago area and beyond. With of four core programs, young women of school age develop the skills needed to succeed in the workplace. The core school day/after school program provides social-emotional learning and mentoring. Here, the girls learn how to S.H.I.N.E. (Smile, say Hello and Handshake, Introduce themselves, Nod, and End the Conversation), set goals, and dress for success. Kelly's organization offers additional programs that include a work/study program and job shadowing with partnering businesses, particularly in the trades where young women are underrepresented.

Kelly understands the need for young women to be mentored. Though an enthusiastic and successful primary school student, once she entered sixth grade, like many girls of that age, Kelly found her self-esteem and enthusiasm for school plummeting. Luckily, she was an avid reader of Essence magazine, where she saw Black women lead rich lives and have successful careers. So, she sought out a summer internship at a local salon, where she overcame her shyness and learned about running a business. Later, when her dear mentor Reverend Doctor Linda Shepherd passed away, Kelly realized she wanted to continue Linda’s mission—to mentor other girls to success.

It is our responsibility to set the foundation of success for our future women leaders. Join today’s conversation to hear Kelly explain why you should always let your mentees see you sweat, why you should stay humble but always let people know how much you’ve scaled, and the importance of staying true to what you actually want to do.

Quotes

• “I think people really underestimate how it really doesn’t take that much to engage young people. I think we underestimate how impressed they are that people care that much about them to show up.”(17:57-18:15 | Kelly)

• “We need male allies as well who are affirming for girls that ‘Yes, this is important; yes, you will work with me; yes, there are not a lot of women but you can be here.’” (33:55-34:05 | Kelly)

• “Everybody wants to be part of a winning team. If your idea is winning, you’d better not block people from being a part of supporting you.” (51:03-51:12 | Kelly)

Connect with Kelly Fair: