Female Disruptors: Angela Boswell of ‘the drape’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Female Disruptors: Angela Boswell of ‘the drape’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Who will remember you worked on Christmas? Your family or your boss? Work life balance is so important. When I was in my 30s, I felt that I had a lot to prove and worked non-stop. One Christmas, when I was working, my sister in law came over to me and asked these two questions. Almost 20 years later, I would say neither remember, but you get the point.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Angela Boswell.

Angela Boswell is the co-founder of the drape, the online destination for luxury, custom curtains at affordable prices. Angela is a hybrid leader who works at the intersection of design and problem solving. Working in the Home Textiles field for over 20 years, she has traveled the world designing, developing, and sourcing products.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

As a child I was into sewing, knitting and other crafts — I liked to make stuff. When it came time for college, I chose to attend RISD and I majored in textile design. I knew that my path was not that of an artist but a creative problem solver. For over 20 years I worked in Home Textiles, designing, developing, and sourcing products. I joined a small company and during my 18 year tenure the company grew 5 fold. The company grew quickly and I kept pace, growing along the way as well. If you are with a company that encourages you to grow and learn and take on new responsibilities as the company does, you can learn a lot.

When ownership changed, it was time for a new path. I was in my “gap” year, having coffee with a few friends, and we started talking about what was missing from the home textile industry. Light bulb moment: instead of talking about what is missing, change it and fix it. We knew we were 100% capable of doing that and the drape was born. A place to buy custom drapes for you and your needs.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Over the past 5 years, many different home direct-to-consumer companies have come on the scene and disrupted how we decorate our homes. Today it’s possible to furnish almost your entire house from your laptop or mobile device. The white space, or missing item in the interior design industry, was curtains and drapes. If people are comfortable buying a sofa or mattress online, then we knew it was possible to disrupt how people buy curtains by selling them online. We listed out the pain points in buying curtains in a retail store.

  1. Limited lengths: Retail stores have a small amount of space that they can dedicate to curtains, so they carry one or two standard lengths.
  2. Styling: You see a fabric you like in store, but it is a grommet top and you wanted a back tab. Or it doesn’t have a lining and you wanted a blackout.
  3. Help: There is no one at a retail store who can help you, so we offer help. Free swatches, so you can touch the fabric and check the colors. You can schedule a 30 minute video design consultation, and we can review the space, the options, how to measure, and more. And of course, we have chat and email to answer questions.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

In our enthusiasm to build a social media presence and connect with our target audience, we accidentally created two social media profiles on each platform. Once we realize the mistake we made, it turned out to be quite the pain to streamline to one handle. It was a simple error, but also reminded us the importance of taking a breath and making a plan even if you are really excited about it!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

  1. Dr. Catherine Leslie: When I was in high school, there was a local woman that was looking for someone to help her sew, and my home economics teacher recommended me. Catherine was making custom clothes out of her apartment, after quitting her office job to follow her passion. I learned so much from her about being an independent person. She taught me a lot about sewing and fitting. At the time, I thought the best part was that she would take me with her to NYC for fabric buying trips. We kept in touch, and she continued her education and eventually received her doctorate. When she started teaching at Kent State, she called me and asked if I would be interested in sponsoring a summer intern. What a great way to pay forward what she did for me. This was the start of a very successful internship program between Kent State and the company I was working for. Being a leader and manager is also about being a teacher.
  2. Renee Hultin: My second job out of college was with Burlington Industries. The department that I was in had a female VP of Marketing. This was another person in my life that was willing to spend time and teach the younger employees. It has left a lasting impression on me that she was the only woman who sat in the executive hallway.
  3. Budd Goldman: He was the owner of Ellery Homestyles where I spent 18 years of my career. Budd believed in my leadership skills and gave me freedom to build and mold a team. He often said that he thought I could be the next CEO and was grooming me. While I might not be thrilled with him on a personal level, he did help me grow. He was the one that pushed me to pursue further education.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Online shopping has disrupted the way people shop. It’s had a positive impact over all, but I also think it has a downside. I like to touch and feel the product. I like to interact with people in the store. Also, I find that online there are too many options and it can be overwhelming, giving shoppers a negative experience. We are trying to balance all of this at the drape with free swatches, Zoom consultations, and a curated assortment.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

  1. Who will remember you worked on Christmas? Your family or your boss? Work life balance is so important. When I was in my 30s, I felt that I had a lot to prove and worked non-stop. One Christmas, when I was working, my sister in law came over to me and asked these two questions. Almost 20 years later, I would say neither remember, but you get the point.
  2. You can stay up all night for weeks worrying about a hard conversation that you have to have with an employee or a co-worker. But guess what, they aren’t, because they don’t even know what is bothering you. My mom pointed this out to me early in my career. Have the hard conversation and move on.
  3. You are amazing, talented, etc. You will get notes, emails, comments like this throughout your career. SAVE THEM for the days that you feel down.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

There is so much to still be done!! We are in growth mode. It is important that as we grow, we continue to evaluate ourselves. Sometimes the thing you think is going to be huge isn’t. And that is ok, as long as you recognize it and can address it. For products, we want to expand and add additional categories. We are in the process of some great collaborations. We are launching our “to the trade” business.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I get most frustrated by being interrupted and talked over. I watch this happen again and again. Not only to myself, but other women. Mansplaining is a problem. Anything we can do to encourage female leadership as we grow will be at the forefront of our agenda.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

In the time period between coming up with the idea for the drape and launch day, I listened to a lot of How I Built This with Guy Raz. Some episodes scared the pants off of me, but mostly it gave me confidence. I would listen while I was cross country skiing and practice my answers for when the drape is interviewed. Many of the stories are about companies started from passion, which I have for curtains. What gave me confidence was my history working in home textiles.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

We are living in a time right now that has potential for change, and diversity is mandatory. The new normal needs to wrap itself around flexible work. That can look different for different people and different jobs. It also has to be equitable, and that is where we will all have to do heavy thinking.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Did you do your best right now? -Anonymous

On a day when I am feeling off my game, I ask myself if I did my best right now, and as long as the answer is yes, then keep going. Your “best” changes constantly.

We can do hard things. -Brené Brown

Of course we can do hard things!! All the time. Sometimes the hard thing is getting out of bed. Sometimes it is picking the right grey color. Sometimes it is deciding if you are going to have dessert.

Life is hard, fun, and amazing. We have to keep moving forward doing our best in the moment.

How can our readers follow you online?

www.thedrape.com

Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest: @shopthedrape

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Angela Boswell of ‘the drape’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Dr Amelia Reigstad of The Women Empowerment Series On The Three Things You Need…

Female Disruptors: Dr Amelia Reigstad of The Women Empowerment Series On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Be your authentic self. This advice has become my anchor in all that I do. It sounds simple but being our authentic selves can be challenging. We start questioning our own opinions and actions which can lead us away from who we really are. We are constantly invited to be who we are so let’s do just that.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Amelia Reigstad, Ph.D.

Dr. Amelia Reigstad, Ph.D. is a passionate change agent, corporate trainer and coach with nearly two decades of industry experience. She has spoken on a global scale at many professional events and conferences and has taught a variety of PR and communications courses across the U.S., Canada, Europe and the U.K. With a passion for helping others, she consults and educates business professionals on the importance of understanding effective communication in the workplace, and how this leads to employee engagement, organizational improvements and increase of productivity. As the founder of The Women Empowerment Series, she inspires and encourages women to use their voice to initiate change.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I am originally from Vancouver, B.C. Canada, with a background and education in public relations and communications. Through working in corporate settings to running my own PR consultancy and educating up and coming professionals as a university professor, my passion lies with helping others find their communication purpose. Fast forward and I now call Minneapolis, Minnesota home where I am a sought-after expert in effective communication and work with organizations and individuals to increase communication in the workplace.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

As the founder of The Women Empowerment Series, I encourage and inspire women to disrupt the status quo and use their voice to initiate change. And, when I say use their voice, I literally mean our voices — through communication. Change can be big or small. For me it’s about using my voice to initiate change pertaining to gender equality in the workplace but to someone else, it could be navigating through a tough conversation with a male superior. The three-part series was developed in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in hopes of continuing her legacy in creating gender equality in the workplace. This is done through topics such linguistic and communication styles, conversation rituals, gender differences, women empowerment, confidence, authenticity and more! The purpose of the series is to build community and offer women a supportive place to discuss challenges they face both personally and professionally. Women who take part in the series are smashing right through glass ceilings and I am thrilled to be able to guide them in the process.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was interning at a top PR agency in Vancouver, B.C. way back in the day (early 2000s), I was tasked with compiling media kits for a large event. Everything was printed and compiled into folders with a notepad and pencil included in case the media wanted to take notes during the keynote address. I forgot to sharpen the pencils. Oops! I learned that even the most mundane tasks need 100% attention. A great life lesson!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Two of my greatest mentors were educators. Wade Peary was my high school leadership teacher and Terri Smolar was a colleague when I was teaching at a university in Canada. No wonder I spent 15 years as a university professor! They instilled in me a passion and love for knowledge and taught me to go after my dreams. They also demonstrated through their care and compassion, how to truly be a leader. I am eternally grateful for such impactful mentors in my life.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

I believe the status quo is still the status quo and although we have made progress, it’s not enough. There is always room for disrupting. For example, gender equality in the workplace shouldn’t be part of our conversation anymore and until all genders are treated equal and earn equal salaries, disrupting an industry or in this case “society”, is necessary.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

  • Be your authentic self — This advice has become my anchor in all that I do. It sounds simple but being our authentic selves can be challenging. We start questioning our own opinions and actions which can lead us away from who we really are. We are constantly invited to be who we are so let’s do just that.
  • You can accomplish whatever you put your mind to — My parents instilled in me the value of hard work and dedication and through their support, I knew I could accomplish anything. Whether it was attaining my doctorate degree, starting my business, becoming a first-time mom, I knew I could do it.
  • Be a champion for others — I was taught to cheer on those around me and be supportive of others’ initiatives. From an empowerment perspective, there are so many wonderful women’s groups, programs and events around the globe and we are all doing similar things. Banning together and being an ally for one another is important to my daily work, especially as I continue to build a community of empowered women through The Women Empowerment Series.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

In the fall, we will celebrate The Women Empowerment Series one-year anniversary and I can’t wait to share what’s next. Continuing to shake things up is important so my plan is to continue to evolve the series by adding new content, individual coaching sessions and more. I am also in the process of writing a book about the pressure women feel to be “perfect” and the unrealistic expectations society has placed on us. Instead of feeling pressure to be perfect, I want women to shift their perspective and feel confident and empowered with the decisions they make in their lives and know they have impact in the world.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I really wish we were at a point in time when we didn’t have to think about gender differences in a negative manner but instead simply consider men and women equal counterparts. Generally speaking, men aren’t considered ‘disruptors’ and unfortunately when women are, a shadow is sometimes cast, and it becomes weaponized against us. Being a disruptor can also have a negative connotation and it really shouldn’t. It’s time to create chaos. It’s time to be a disrupter.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

There are plenty of books and authors that have made an impact on me but the one that resonated the most not necessarily on my thinking but more so on my doing was Eat. Pray. Love. by Elizabeth Gilbert. After a divorce at the age of 28, I packed up and went on an 18-country, 31-day European adventure. I loved it so much that the following summer, I packed up for 2.5 months and traveled across Europe, visited the pyramids in Egypt and beautiful sites in Israel. Being on a personal journey myself at the time, I admire the process one takes to find their purpose in life.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’m a firm believer in effective workplace communication, women empowerment and gender equality. The Women Empowerment Series combines all three of these elements together to inspire and encourage women to use their voice to initiate change. This is a movement I hope will continue to reach women around the globe.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Live your passion” or “O’la ko koni koni” in Hawaiian. Hawaii holds a special place in my heart, hence the Hawaiian translation. It’s tattooed in Hawaiian on the top of my left foot as a constant reminder to truly live and breath my passion. It is an incredibly important aspect of my life and if I am not living my passion, I need to change it up. If I can continue to inspire women to use their voice to initiate change and disrupt the status quo, I am certainly living my passion.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn or visit www.ameliareigstad.com

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Dr Amelia Reigstad of The Women Empowerment Series On The Three Things You Need… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Thyme Sullivan of TOP The Organic project On The Three Things You Need To Shake…

Female Disruptors: Thyme Sullivan of TOP The Organic Project On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

I called a good friend from college after I first left my Executive job and she told me, “Success doesn’t make you happy, happiness makes you successful”. That was when I knew I didn’t want to seek another corporate role, I wanted to do things differently.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Thyme Sullivan.

Thyme Sullivan is the Co-Founder and CEO of TOP the organic project. Her professional experience includes 27 years as a consumer products Executive with PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Nestle USA. She began her career driving a Frito-Lay truck and worked her way up to leading a high performing cross functional team with over a billion dollars in annual revenue.

A corporate re-structure gave Thyme the opportunity to follow her purpose and design her next chapter.

When Thyme and co-founder Denielle Finkelstein went looking for better and more eco-friendly period products for their daughters, they came away empty handed and the idea for TOP was born. They have built a successful purpose driven and plant-based brand by doing things differently and having fun along the way.

She was raised in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a B.A. in Economics.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Denielle and I had come to a crossroads in our lives. We were both at the height of our careers, we were the breadwinners in our families and yet we were profoundly unfulfilled by making a salary vs. making a life. My job was eliminated and Denielle left her job at almost the exact same time. We are cousins but both lost our Dads early in life and had not seen each other in over 20 years, we reconnected on social media, met for lunch and the rest is TOP history.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

TOP the organic project, is a social impact brand that is bringing plant-based sustainability to period products. Founded by 2 Fearless Moms, Denielle & I left our Executive roles to build a brand with purpose that was inspired by our daughters.

Launched in 2018, we are doing things differently by raising the standard with better materials and better products, speaking specifically to Gen X Moms and their Gen Z daughters. We are starting the conversation to educate this next generation to become advocates for themselves and bringing some levity to a category that has long been ignored.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

That is an easy one, we made the mistake of trying to build our brand following the playbook from our corporate backgrounds and listening to the wrong advice. I had purchased a Tampon costume that I wanted to wear to get noticed and everyone said CEO’s and Founders can’t do that, hire someone.

I didn’t just wear the amazing tampon suit, I grocery shopped in it, went to yoga, went to lunch with friends and ran a 10K in Boston. We got noticed by the buyer at Wegmans and that was when our trajectory changed.

We recognized that corporate culture is inherently risk averse and to be a successful entrepreneur you have to un-train that muscle to stay in line and follow the rules.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

We are extremely grateful to have been a recipient of the Sara Blakely, Spanx and Global Giving Red Backpack Fund grant in 2020.

We are now part of her Red Backpack brigade, she is our mentor and entrepreneur hero. Sara is smart, funny, authentic and has made it her life mission to advocate for women.

She knows that it is OK to start small and dream big and everything is possible. Her unapologetic authenticity is what made us realize that we can change company culture and create abundance while still building a company for good. Most importantly we live by her motto, “We don’t take ourselves too seriously but we do serious things” and we know that we all have superpowers to do amazing things.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Yes, “disruptor” is overused and often misunderstood, it is not always the holy grail to success and in fact can be the demise of a startup. A true disruptor is an entirely new idea or category, think Uber, Netflix, Airbnb. Unless you are creating something completely new you are not a disruptor. And disruptor beware, you will have a lot of company soon as people try to duplicate your offering.

I prefer to think of us as a challenger brand and this is the sweet spot for success for startups in our space. One that comes to mind for me is Hello toothpaste. I have had the pleasure to get to know Craig Dubitsky (Friendly CEO & Founder of Hello) who executed his challenger strategy perfectly. No fear mongering, he simply highlighted the best features and benefits of his friendly brand which weakened the perceived strengths of the power players, Crest and Colgate.

Similarly our goal is to raise the standard of all feminine care by challenging the lack of innovation, transparency and connection with the traditional big brands.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

I called a good friend from college after I first left my Executive job and she told me, “Success doesn’t make you happy, happiness makes you successful”. That was when I knew I didn’t want to seek another corporate role, I wanted to do things differently.

Denielle and I met Cindy Eckert at a conference where she spoke about fundraising. She is another one of our entrepreneur heroines who went from being underestimated to unapologetic when she sold her company for a billion dollars.

She advised raising our seed round from Angel Investors vs. Venture Capital. We thought everyone starting a company went straight to VC, raised a few million dollars and grew happily ever after. She was 100% correct and we are so grateful for her advice.

A quote from Marie Forleo, “Everything is figureoutable”. Even with all of our Executive experience there were so many times Denielle and I had no idea how to tackle certain things. We are both learners and super curious, so we asked for help, we researched, we listened, and figured it out.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

When Oprah asked lady Gaga why she wore a dress made out of meat to the 2010 MTV Music Awards she replied, “I had to be seen to be heard”

The tampon suit is my meat dress, we needed people to see us to start the conversation. The greatest gift we can give to young women is the knowledge to advocate for their own health and wellness.

Just before COVID hit I had purchased 12 more amazing tampon suits and my dream was to do a flash mob in Times Square as a whole box of tampons. Both Denielle and I are fully vaccinated and as Walt Disney says, “All our dreams can come true!”

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Fundraising for women is far more challenging and fundraising as mature founders starting a period products company felt almost insurmountable. Only 2.3% of VC funding went to female entrepreneurs in 2020, down from 2.8% in 2019. We all need to send the elevator back down for more women as we rise.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

How I Built this with Guy Raz has been my go-to since day one. Everyone loves to hear a Founder’s journey and you realize that everyone makes mistakes along the way and if you don’t make mistakes you aren’t taking enough risk. It helps you understand there is no recipe for success, each entrepreneur has a unique journey based on the timing, market and circumstances. You see patterns of resilience, curiosity and grit and most importantly you can see yourself in these relatable stories.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I know I was always meant to advocate for women. TOP is making better and more eco-friendly period products accessible to everyone.

1 in 4 girls and women in the US have missed school or work because they do not have access to feminine hygiene products. That is ¼ of our population that will never reach their full potential. If we want equality it begins with meeting the most basic human health and wellness needs.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You become what you believe” — Oprah Winfrey. Why are some of the most successful people from such humble and unlikely beginnings? The most successful people I admire know that everything is possible.

How can our readers follow you online?

Thank you & let’s connect!

https://toporganicproject.com

https://www.instagram.com/toporganicproject/

https://www.facebook.com/TOPorganicproject/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/toporganicproject/

https://twitter.com/TOP_ORGANIC

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJkBv9xL/

https://linktr.ee/toptheorganicproject

Thank you for your time, and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.


Female Disruptors: Thyme Sullivan of TOP The Organic project On The Three Things You Need To Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Amy Will of Girl Gang On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Life is more than a screen. Anything you can do offline, do it. For my writing, I like to hand write my outlines and notes before I type everything out. For website design, I’ll start by drawing mockups and research colors from physical books. For branding guides and goals, I get a poster board from target and markers. If your job prevents you from being offline at all, try incorporating a new activity, even walking around the block, to get your screen time down.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Will.

Female Founder Amy Will started her first e-commerce business at the age of 24 years old with a $100 Etsy gift card, and has since launched 4 successful brands. Before starting Girl Gang, Will held the role of Marketing Director at Tower Paddle Boards (of Shark Tank fame), having also started as their first employee. Will graduated from California Lutheran University with a Major in Communications, and was born and raised in Ventura. She moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to scale her first e-commerce business and establish a centralized office space.

“I was inspired to become an entrepreneur because of my father. Watching him start and scale a business from a young age made me want to also have my own business one day, instilling the spark in me that I still have today.”

Currently age 32, Will’s latest and very notable brand, Girl Gang, was created out of a want to connect and inspire women. She started by launching ‘Girl Gang the Label’ as a merchandise line with their flagship product, a “Support Your Local Girl Gang” sweatshirt. After a positive response from initial customers layered with social media buzz and organic influencer following, she decided to create a full line of products. To date the brand has secured retail partnerships with Nordstrom, The Beverly Hills Hotel, and boutique fitness studios across the US.

‘About Girl Gang the Label’ — Founded in Los Angeles, CA by a female entrepreneur on a mission to inspire women to reach their highest potential, together. ‘Girl Gang the Label’ started with a signature collection of the “Support Your Local Girl Gang” sweatshirts and has since grown to seasonal collections that customers can shop via their online store, girlgangthelabel.com. They recently created a collaboration with Peanuts exclusively for Nordstrom, established a retail partnership with The Beverly Hills Hotel, and created an eco-friendly sweat set with the female-owned athleisure brand, Nourish Sweat Soul. A percentage of all profits are also donated to charities that focus on female education, health, and empowerment.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

In college, I had 6 corporate internships which led me to the decision that I did not want to work in the corporate world. Sometimes, learning what we do not want to do can be just as valuable as finding our passion. I dove into the startup world and quickly fell in love. The fast paced, constantly changing environment stimulated me creatively and I enjoyed learning something new almost every day. My focus was on website development and search engine optimization and I decided to take that skill set to start my first company at 24 years old. My husband and I now run 4 ecommerce brands and I host a podcast where I interview female founders and creators.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I’m hoping to create a narrative about the journey on the way up, not just the destinations. On my platform, Girl Gang, we focus our storytelling on how women started and not just their accolades and net worth. In doing so, I hope these stories give the next generation the tools, tips, and confidence to go after what they feel called to do.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was Marketing Director at Tower Paddle Boards I also ran the shipping department in the beginning. After sending a paddle board to a billing address instead of a shipping address, we outsourced.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

My first mentor was my boss, Stephan Aarstol. He taught me work ethic, to zig where others zag, and how the only way out is through (no matter how many emails that may be).

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

I think the intention is usually good. Founders see a flaw in an industry and want to make it better. As long as you are focused on how to best serve your customer, I think disruption is positive. The only negative I can see is when founders use it more for buzz and funding then pivot back to old industry ways.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

  • Say no — This is counterintuitive to the person I was growing up, the girl who said yes to plans, helping with anything, or picking up a call. Saying no can leave room to re-energize yourself and not lead to burnout.
  • If you don’t know, ask — I prefer to learn something new than to “sound smart” in a room. Don’t be ashamed to speak up if you don’t know how to do something.
  • Life is more than a screen — Anything you can do offline, do it. For my writing, I like to hand write my outlines and notes before I type everything out. For website design, I’ll start by drawing mockups and research colors from physical books. For branding guides and goals, I get a poster board from target and markers. If your job prevents you from being offline at all, try incorporating a new activity, even walking around the block, to get your screen time down.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I’m coming out with a book I wrote for the Dummies brand, Launching and Building A Brand For Dummies later this year.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I believe the conversation around finances and worth hold some women back in their careers. For example, men are four times more likely to ask for a raise than women. There is a lot of unconditioning and education that needs to be done to destigmatize discussing finances in general with women. I believe that financial literacy and conversations about money can make us more powerful, versus being timid to discuss high earnings or being embarrassed to discuss debt. The more we know, the more empowered we will be to make our own choices about finances.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

So many.. Some of my favorite books are Atomic Habits, The Power Of Now, Ego is the Enemy, and $100 Startup. My favorite podcast is How I Built This with Guy Raz. Overall, I think taking time to work on yourself and learn from others can go a long way. My main focuses are developing new habits, aligning with your purpose, running a better business, and silencing the ego.

A story I’d like to share is about developing new habits. I identified as a night owl most of my life, I did not enjoy the mornings. I would have to constantly pull all nighters for my business and it encouraged unhealthy sleeping patterns. I always had to set an alarm. After reading a handful of stories about morning routines from successful founders there was one thing in common, they woke up early.. Very early. I wanted to be up with the sunrise and enjoy it and I knew it would take time. So I read books on habit, listened to podcasts about people that got rid of extreme habits, and developed a strategy to change myself from someone that would be rushing in the morning to watching the sunrise. It took over a year and now, I don’t even use an alarm unless I want to get up before 6:00am. I find myself getting all of my work and emails out of the way by afternoon and I can just enjoy the day. Changing my routine from waking up in reactive mode and a flooded inbox to proactive mode has truly changed my life and lowered my anxiety.

I encourage anyone that wants to develop a new habit or learn a new skill to go for it. It takes discipline and time but good news is those are both in your control.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

My girlfriend Laura told me in an interview — “Every dollar you spend is a vote for the type of world you want to live in”. If I could encourage anyone reading to make one purchase from a small business this month, that’s the movement I want to get behind.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“What you don’t do determines what you can do”. If something doesn’t align with your business or life, say no and trust that you are leaving room for something bigger and better to come along.

How can our readers follow you online?

@mrswont on IG and @girlgangthelabel is my business account

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Amy Will of Girl Gang On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Kristen Harness of GoodHeart Collaborative On The Three Things You Need To…

Female Disruptors: Kristen Harness of GoodHeart Collaborative On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Feel fear but do it anyways. I don’t know exactly who said this but it’s always been on the front of my mind. Fear is always there for me, but I have learned to push past it and move forward anyway.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristen Harness.

Kristen Harness is a Former Nonprofit Founder and the Founder/CEO of GoodHeart Collaborative, LLC a Wellness-Tech Company passionate about disrupting the burnout cycle in helping professions through providing evidence-based supportive services and community for women. As a survivor of sexual assault and exploitation, Kristen is also passionate about advocating for other survivors and sharing her story of hope and healing. She started GoodHeart Collaborative because during her time at the nonprofit, she experienced severe times of burnout, compassion fatigue, sickness, and vicarious trauma. She learned the hard way that her own wellness and self-care were essential for being able to provide quality and ethical care to others and developed a mobile app called GoodHeart, a Social Professional Growth and Wellness app exclusively for women who work in Helping Profession. She teamed up with Professional Mentors in these fields, in order to provide resources within the app, to help boost wellness and build resilience.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I am a former Nonprofit Founder of a residential mental health safe home program for girls recovered out of sex trafficking ages 11–17. I have been passionate about raising awareness about human trafficking and supporting survivors for almost 17 years. It was a dream of mine to open a safe home and something that I was very passionate about due to my own experiences of sexual assault and exploitation. After beginning my healing journey, my heart began to have a deep compassion for other girls who had experienced sexual violence. I really wanted to show these girls that they weren’t defined by what happened to them, it wasn’t their fault, and there was hope for their healing.

I took a trip to Pattaya, Thailand in 2004 and was exposed for the first time to human trafficking. It changed me and from then on, I was doing what I could to help. In 2013, I officially started the nonprofit. I spent 7 years there and experienced the most wonderful times and met the bravest survivors. I also went through a lot of dark times while working there. It’s a very high stress environment to start from scratch and operate a 24/7/365 safe home for girls who have gone through so much trauma. The endless fundraising, regulations, expectations, and stigma around this topic just caused a lot of stress and anxiety in my life. I am naturally an Empath as well, so I internalize everything. I also felt a strong burden to give these girls what they needed and to help in every way we could. When we couldn’t help, it devastated me. I worked myself sick. I was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, PTSD, and adrenal fatigue. After months of research and going to a therapist, I realized I was experiencing severe burnout, compassion fatigue, and suffering from vicarious trauma. I found out, again through research, that many people, especially women, in these helping professions also experience these occupational hazards and there was just a lack of information and support around them. That’s what eventually brought me to starting GoodHeart Collaborative in July 2019.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

You know the things I mentioned above are not new problems. Sex trafficking is not new. Child sexual abuse is not new. Burnout and compassion fatigue in helping fields is not new. These topics have been taking lives and ruining careers for many years, yet why don’t we talk about them more? The answer is, there is too much of a stigma around it. People don’t want to talk about sex trafficking or child sexual abuse because it’s too hard of a pill to swallow and/or it may be that they’re actively engaging in these crimes themselves. We don’t talk about the mental, emotional, physical, and psychological consequences of working in high stress trauma-exposed environments because people in those fields are the ones who we go to for help, not the ones who need help themselves. Some in society believe that doctors, ministers, therapists, nonprofit leaders, attorneys, social workers, or first responders can’t be trusted if they’re going through their own problems or challenges. So, they keep it quiet, suffer alone, and hold it all in until they can’t anymore. Some hold it all in until they take their own lives because the pressure is too much.

My goal with GoodHeart Collaborative is to disrupt the burnout and compassion fatigue cycle through awareness, learning, knowledge, and access to resilience building resources. To show that there is another path to walk on. To say, You are not alone in this.

These are issues that are present every day and are negatively impacting people’s health, mental wellbeing, careers, and lives. We can no longer just sit around and pretend like these things aren’t happening. Awareness is a good start but without action systemically, organizationally, and individually, we will not see any change. That is what I want to do. I want to start with the individual and then step up to work with organizations, so they can be better equipped to meet the wellbeing needs of their employees. I developed and launched the GoodHeart App because it’s the most efficient way to reach as many of these women as possible.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started the nonprofit, I was pretty clueless about what I was doing. I learned quickly but most of that learning came through mistakes, embarrassment, and dreadful moments of looking stupid! In the very beginning I was presenting to a multi-disciplinary team of law enforcement, case managers, lawyers, etc and as I was walking up to start, I tripped over my own shoe and almost fell. Then I actually had the wrong slides for the presentation they wanted me to give, so that threw off my whole presentation and I pretty much just stumbled along pretending I knew what I was talking about. They asked a lot of questions I didn’t know the answers to because I wasn’t familiar at the time with how social services worked. Needless to say, my best moments of training came from hard questions that I didn’t know how to answer. After a couple of years, I was pretty well-versed on the intricacies of working in that particular field, but it took a lot of embarrassing moments to get there!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I am constantly looking for inspiration from other female entrepreneurs. I spend a lot of time reading stories, articles, and posts about women who I aspire to be like in business. One of my IRL mentors is actually not female though. His name is Bryan Herde. He started out as a consultant during my time at the nonprofit and has continued to be my friend and advisor for many years now. He is a spiritual guide and mentor for me. I had many outrageous emotional-roller-coaster moments starting and developing the nonprofit, and Bryan was always a steady sounding board for me. He helped me learn to trust the process and trust God, to deescalate, and how to better manage my emotions. To me, this was more important than any business idea I could learn because the entrepreneurial journey is so challenging with all of its ups and downs, that it’s critical to have the ability to manage those emotions and move forward with the vision and mission of the organization. Bryan really helped me with this.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

This is a tough question for me because for so many years I have worked in or been a part of institutions or industries that absolutely need to be disrupted, overhauled or at the very least, improved. I was sexually exploited in a church by a pastor’s son with leadership in that church aware of it and yet let it continue on for years. I worked in the nonprofit sector that has many antiquated practices, that it’s no wonder people get burned out in nonprofits. I worked in and with social services, the juvenile justice system, and the foster care system and witnessed with my own eyes, the injustices and bad decisions that are made on a daily basis for our children and other vulnerable populations. I have heard story after story about men and women making themselves sick and committing suicide because of the pressure and high stress of their job in a helping field.

To me, ALL of these need a disruption. We need to stop some of these practices in their place and find a better way. This is WAY easier said than done, but it’s not impossible. Just like tackling the issue of sex trafficking, you have to look at how you can stop it in the life of 1. If you focus on the problem at large, you will become too overwhelmed and disheartened and then won’t do anything at all. I believe there is always room for improvement, no matter how well something is running in its current state.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

  1. Jeff Bezos said, “We are stubborn on vision, flexible on details.” That one always stuck with me because sometimes we can get too bogged down on the details not going as planned, that we never get to see the vision come to life.
  2. Feel fear but do it anyways. I don’t know exactly who said this but it’s always been on the front of my mind. Fear is always there for me, but I have learned to push past it and move forward anyway.
  3. Look to the Lord and His strength. Seek His face always. 1 Chronicles 16:11 — For me, I find my strength for all of this only in God. The battles I am trying to fight are not for the faint of heart. I need to know that He is with me through it all.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I just started. I don’t know what “done” means for me but as of right now, I am excited for the future of GoodHeart Collaborative. I have big dreams and visions for it. I want to reach 1,000,000 women with the GoodHeart App and set up business partnerships to offer this resource to their female employees. There is just too much work that needs to be done for me to stop yet.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I think women who are disruptors tend to be more outspoken, more assertive, stubborn, and less submissive when it comes to “business as usual”, and so in turn, some may see them as being a “b!tch” or having a bad attitude, when really, we are just tired of seeing the status quo over and over again, and we know that we can make a difference. Women are so influential and effective, and yet full of compassion and empathy. This to me is an extremely powerful combination for change.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I really enjoy listening to the podcast How I Built This with Guy Raz. I am fascinated with the start-up stories and journeys of companies and entrepreneurs. We see the “overnight” success or where they are now, but we often don’t take the time to learn about the beginning days, the struggles, the less-than-successful attempts at launching their idea or product. I find it inspirational and it gives me hope to know that even these successful companies had their struggles and challenges, and yet they were able to overcome. I find optimism in that.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Well, I hope I am doing that already! This is my movement. I am multi-passionate and unashamed of that! I want to simultaneously keep raising awareness about sex trafficking and sexual abuse of children, while also shining a light on compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress in helping professions. My vision is that people would think twice about buying a child for sex, because let’s be real here, demand is what drives the sex trafficking industry. My second vision is to see women working in helping professions happy, healthy, satisfied, empowered, supported, and balanced by daily practicing restorative self-care habits, and consistently being aware and prepared to cope with and manage the common occupational hazards of working around human suffering and trauma, so they can give the highest quality care to themselves and the people they serve.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” Mother Teresa

This was and is my favorite quote because it shows the power of collaboration and how we all play a role. We are all a piece of the puzzle and when we work together, we can actually accomplish something beautiful.

How can our readers follow you online?

Please check out www.goodheart.app to learn more. Follow me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-harness/.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodheartapp

Download the GoodHeart App on the Apple Store or Google Play.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Kristen Harness of GoodHeart Collaborative On The Three Things You Need To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Kari Armstrong of Unscripted Interior Design: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark…

Kari Armstrong of Unscripted Interior Design: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Art creates a sense of beauty and joy. It can communicate a spiritual or philosophical idea, explore the very nature of perception itself, and generate breath-taking emotion. Selecting art that speaks to a client brings joy into a home. As a passionate art aficionado, the art displayed in my home expresses my eclectic style and speaks to me.

As part of my series on the “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kari Armstrong, CEO and Principal of Unscripted Interior Design.

Great design elements are curated and collected — which is what Kari Armstrong has been doing for some of the country’s most celebrated interior and merchandising designs for over 24 years. As CEO and Principal of Unscripted Interior Design, Kari oversees all design direction for her firm’s respective design studios. A true creative spirit at heart, Kari spends concerted time and energy expanding her agency’s greater creative offerings — through cultivating new design trends, details, and sources of inspiration to her greater team. Kari spearheads the constant pursuit of ‘unexpected’ design forms and leads by example pushing through design norms and never settling for duplication.

Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Growing up, my mom owned a successful advertising agency. Observing her lifestyle, career and achievements inspired my business ownership dreams and hard work ethic at a young age. Although I was creative, my childhood revolved around school and learning. It wasn’t until college that I started to explore my creative side and realize my range and talent. This realization came in a drawing course where my aptitude for sketching and art shocked me. I fell in love with many artistic art mediums and took as many creative courses as I could. An intro to interior design class sparked my passion and I immediately knew my purpose in life was to pursue design. The provocative combination of materials and art in interior design ignited something within me.

Fast forward to graduation, I discovered an opportunity with a prominent Southern California model merchandising firm. This segment of design was new to me, but it married my obsession with interior design with my background in visual merchandising from retail jobs throughout college. I learned how to capture the imagination of potential buyers through powerful layered design and merchandising. I still practice model home merchandising today at my firm, Unscripted Interior Design. We also create unexpected and unforgettable spaces for commercial and custom residential clients and through art consultation with projects in 24 states to date.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

My career journey has been equal parts hard work and serendipity. As a California native with deep SoCal roots, my path to CEO & Principal of a Colorado-based design firm continues to astonish me.

I never envisioned a life outside of California until a family vacation in Denver where the Colorado lifestyle, landscape and community stole our hearts. My husband and I took a detour from our itinerary to explore open houses and envision a life in Colorado. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with the design landscape in Denver, however we ironically found ourselves in a model home that felt more in line with my aesthetic. I noticed a sign for Hillary Reed Interiors Designs (HRI) and said, “I’m going to work there!”

I sent my resume to HRI and received a call back from Hillary Reed herself. Familiar with my work, Hillary arranged a meeting in California where she asked me if I ever considered owning an interior design firm. Business ownership had been a lifelong goal and I agreed to become Hilary’s successor. In 2005, my family relocated to Denver where I joined HRI as the Director of Design. I worked alongside Hillary for two years to understand the business dynamic before acquiring the firm in 2007.

Flash forward to this year where we rebranded to Unscripted Interior Design. Some things in life are predictable, scripted, even routine. Interior design that inspires you to feel isn’t one of them. With work spanning the nation, there is no set approach or design aesthetic easily identifiable coming out of our commercial, custom residential, or model merchandising studios. “Unscripted” tells the greater story of where the company has been, and where it’s going. More importantly, the name promises to better serve clients — opening doors to new markets, new areas, and new ventures.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I have made thousands of mistakes in my career that have shaped my approach as a designer today, some humorous and some empowering. In school, emerging designers are taught concepts from scale, color balance, juxtaposition and contrast, but many design considerations are only learned through years of hands-on experience. These small design details benchmark the growth of a designer. Truly a designer must first know the rules before they know how to break them.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Unscripted Interiors is proud to work with Trailhead Community, a non-profit multi-family community providing housing for adults with developmental disabilities living alongside young professionals and seniors. Our approach to the Trailhead Community project is design-first to create a space that inspires people to feel, imagine and connect. We are thrilled to provide high design and functionality to a non-profit housing community doing great work in our community.

Unscripted Interiors’ growing custom residential portfolio also excites me. We are fortunate to work with clients who have a discerning eye for design, where we can push the envelope with truly innovative concepts and thought-provoking spaces. The portfolio has such a range of aesthetics from Bachelor star, Colton Underwood’s new Colorado residence, to a stunning modern mountain home in Park City, Utah and a glitzy Lake House in Michigan with super sexy vibes. It has been an honor to be on the team bringing these amazing spaces to life.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Interior design is a timeline driven industry and meticulous organization is crucial for delivering projects on time and on budget. I work with an extremely talented team of creative, detail-oriented designers but unexpected challenges still arise. When facing a stressful situation, I turn to the wisdom of two truths: “It will all work out,” and “Everything happens for a reason.” These quotes offer the peace and reassurance needed to overcome any obstacle with grace.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I am incredibly grateful for Hillary Reed, the owner of HRI before I acquired the company and rebranded to Unscripted Interior Design. Hillary welcomed me into her world and shared her tools to grow and thrive in business. When I joined the company, Hillary granted full access to revitalize the company, expand our offering and grow into a national design firm with projects in 24 states to date. I will always be grateful for the relationship I have with Hillary and the impact she has made on my life.

Thank you for that. Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

A home’s interior should be a reflection of you: your wants, needs, and tastes. A place to live your best life. Home design is personal, but a great designer can translate your dreams into reality through a beautiful home that is functional and sparks joy. When approaching a project, I consider the following concepts:

  1. Art creates a sense of beauty and joy. It can communicate a spiritual or philosophical idea, explore the very nature of perception itself, and generate breath-taking emotion. Selecting art that speaks to a client brings joy into a home. As a passionate art aficionado, the art displayed in my home expresses my eclectic style and speaks to me.
  2. Something unexpected sparks joy. Design risks create a personal, quirky and interesting space. At Unscripted Interiors, we incorporate something unconventional into every project with innovative space plans, creative furnishings and unique materials that trigger an emotive reaction for the client.
  3. Organization and tidiness are pertinent to a joyful space. Clutter and disarray distract from the beauty of a well-curated home. When everything has a place there is harmony and balance. As a creative person, an organized home grounds and centers me so I can start my day without distractions.
  4. Personal accents transform a house into a joyous home. Thoughtfully styled sentimental items like framed photos, family heirlooms, souvenirs or a piece of furniture you love creates a sense of connection with a space.
  5. A connection to nature gives a home joyful energy. Natural accents and live plants bring a space to life while enhancing the color story or focal points of a room. As a designer, I swoon for natural light and indoor-outdoor living spaces that celebrate a connection to the outdoors.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

While design is my passion, I believe helping others comes first and foremost. If I started a movement I would leverage my resources and network to provide basic needs to underserved communities on a global scale. It is incomprehensible that in 2021 access to clean water, food and medicine is not universally available. I contribute to these causes on a personal level and would be humbled to mobilize my community to provide basic necessities and security to all.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Without question I’d love to meet Kelly Wearstler. She kills it with everything she touches from design to lifestyle, fashion — you name it. She’s the ultimate risk taker and innovative maximalist. She’s brilliant on every level and she surrounds herself with a brilliant team. Kelly sets the bar for great design. I don’t know where she gets her influence because she is the influencer of the interior design world. Her Masterclass series is amazing — she truly is the master of interior design!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Instagram: @Unscripted.Interiors

Facebook: @UnscriptedInteriors

Web: Unscriptedinteriors.com

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational!

Thank YOU!


Kari Armstrong of Unscripted Interior Design: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Cathleen Trigg-Jones of Catscape Productions On The Three Things You Need To…

Female Disruptors: Cathleen Trigg-Jones of Catscape Productions On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The biggest piece of advice is don’t give up — and you don’t receive it from everyone. The other would be that faith and fear cannot exist in the same sentence. That was a really big thing for me and it came from an unlikely source: one of my employees. They said it to me one day and it has stuck with me ever since. You cannot say “I’m faithful, I believe in myself” and also be scared to death to do what you want to do.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Cathleen Trigg-Jones.

Cathleen Trigg-Jones is a former journalist who now serves as the Founder and CEO of Catscape Productions, which houses iWoman Studios + TV. For over 20 years, the uber-talented CEO has dedicated her time, energy, and expertise to create a full-service media and production company, Catscape Productions. Under her leadership, the Catscape team has created and produced content for CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, BET, VH1, ESPN, CNN, TNT, MSG, CNBC, MTV, Showtime, and Discovery networks. She developed, shot, produced, and starred in the docu-series “We are the Joneses” which aired on BET Centric and Discovery Life She is also the executive producer and host of her own televised talk show, “Chic Chat,” which aired on FOX and can now be seen on iWoman TV. As a wife and proud mother of four, Cathleen believes it is crucial for women to be represented in all industries and chooses to amplify the female voice in entertainment through her content. iWomanTV is a means of distribution for talented female content creators who have been left out of conversations nor have had an opportunity to get through the doors to pitch shows.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I had dreamed of being on television since I was a little girl. At seven years old, I took part in a community play which was when I really got the acting bug and realized that being in front of an audience, on their televisions, is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I knew I had really big dreams but I came from a small town, Dover, Delaware. As a baby, I was an orphan and rotated between foster homes until I was eventually adopted right before my second birthday. So I grew up with not only a lot of self-doubt but was also surrounded by doubters. The fact that I had such big, audacious dreams, but lived in the smallest state in the universe, it at times seemed impossible to those around me, but I was very clear on what it was I wanted to do, and I did just that. I have come to a point in my life where I get to check off everything I have done: I’ve been an actress, I’ve been an entrepreneur, and now I’m the CEO and Founder of Catscape Productions, which houses iWomanTV.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Well, everything that I’m doing with iWoman TV is disruptive. My goal is to launch a network that will give women, globally, their voice back. As a woman of color and my background, being an entrepreneur is disruptive in itself, specifically in the tech and media field.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I started out in sports commentary, that was my first on-air television job. I love sports but I really didn’t know all the sports jargon. While it was slightly embarrassing, I can laugh about it now, but I butchered some sports terms like crazy! I worked for Comcast Sports and I would sometimes mix up the football terms with the basketball terms. It wasn’t that I didn’t know the sport, I just didn’t know what I didn’t know. I wasn’t really an expert. So what I learned from that is to get to know your stuff. This coincides with the phrase “Poor Planning and Preparation leads to Piss-Poor Performance.” Don’t ever put yourself in a position where you’re not doing your homework or don’t fully prepare for whatever opportunity you have because you’re going to really embarrass yourself. Oftentimes first impressions are lasting impressions. My friends that I grew up with still laugh at me to this day because I remember how much I used to mess up on the air when I was first starting out.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I have had a lot of people that have supported me. A lot of the people who really have helped me along the way, quite frankly, are not people who could physically open a door or give me funding, but they’ve just given me support in telling me that I can. I’ve gotten validation from some of the oddest places such as people sending me a message saying that I’ve inspired them in some way and that gives me the fuel to keep doing what I do. Who I would say has really helped me most, though, is my children. Seeing that I have brought these little people into the world that I’m responsible for, and every now and then, when they’re not rebelling against me, I get validation from them that they’re proud of me or that they see me. That really inspires me to keep going. And it’s not just my children that I’ve given birth to, but the mentees that I’ve had along the way. The people that I’ve opened doors for, seeing how they’ve soared in their careers and doing amazing things now, knowing that I had a hand in that gives me inspiration on a daily basis to keep going.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

I believe being disruptive in an industry is a requirement for success, however, it’s not always the most positive way. When you’re a disruptor, a Trailblazer, you’re coming in and disrupting things and not everybody is receptive or open to someone doing things a different way. Nonetheless, I believe that the only way you can really leave a legacy or be a Trailblazer is to be a disruptor and not be afraid of those who don’t necessarily believe in your way of doing things. I think anytime you’re a disruptor, there’s always going to be two sides of the coin: there’s always going to be the positive and there’s always going to be the negative. But as a disruptor, you have to stay focused on what you believe in, block out those naysayers and really focus on the positive and your own conviction that you’re doing the right thing.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

The biggest piece of advice is don’t give up — and you don’t receive it from everyone. The other would be that faith and fear cannot exist in the same sentence. That was a really big thing for me and it came from an unlikely source: one of my employees. They said it to me one day and it has stuck with me ever since. You cannot say “I’m faithful, I believe in myself” and also be scared to death to do what you want to do. That phrase really molded me. The final piece of advice is to not get so caught up in working that you forget to stop and smell the flowers. That’s also made a huge difference in my life. I make sure that when things are really busy and I’m really stressed out from work that I stop just to recognize the blessing that “Wow, we’re here, we’ve done this and we’re doing this. We’re making a difference and this is amazing. Look at how beautiful the sky is, look at those flowers and the fact that we’re breathing and living every day, like this is amazing!” Then after, you get back to work!

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

There’s a lot to come! I won’t stop until we get to a place where we change the trajectory for women in film and television. I want to make sure that women are hugely represented behind the camera as much as we are on camera, because until we’re actually writing our own stories, producing our own stories, funding our own stories, we will continue to be portrayed through the eyes of decision-makers who don’t look like us. We’re not going to be portrayed as the strong, powerful women that we all are until we’re the ones that are actually writing and creating our stories.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I don’t care how far we’ve come as women, there’s still a perception that we don’t really know what we’re doing or we’re not as capable as a male in this role, and so we’re constantly having to prove ourselves. If we can get out of the space of feeling like we have to prove ourselves and just do what we set out to do, I think we will find much greater success.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

The book Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist really made a difference for me. It states “leaving behind frantic for a simpler, more soulful way of living.” Niequist is a great writer in the way that she authors the book which I think speaks to most women that at some point you have to recognize the need to just be present instead of striving so hard to be perfect. I believe that oftentimes as women we feel overwhelmed and constantly feel like we can’t calm down because we feel the need to get going and going, so this book is a great reminder to just stop and be present for a minute. You don’t have to be perfect.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’ve already started it by launching iWoman. This platform elevates women’s voices and serves as a movement towards women empowerment. The reason I believe in the movement of women supporting women and telling our stories, is because I really believe women are the center of the universe. We are mother nature. We give birth. We are the ones who continue to keep mankind growing. I believe that there is so much that can be gained by women supporting one another and lifting one another up so that we’re in positions of power. I believe when we get to the top, we are able to see and think very clearly about what is needed to get the job done, uninhibited of all things that stand in the way of that vision. Women are amazing multitaskers and possess both sides, masculine and feminine, that makes us the most brilliant leaders. The movement has already started: it’s getting women to speak up, tell their stories, support one another, encourage one another, and then take care of the rest of the universe together.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I was raised with a very spiritual base and consider myself a Christian. Coming from what I’ve come from, I’ve always believed there was something greater than me that was responsible for my life, my success, or even the fact that I’m still here today. My life lesson quote is proverb 16:3, “Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will succeed.” All the decisions I have made in my life, I always ask myself “Is this grounded in faith? Or is it grounded in fear?” If it’s grounded in faith, it will be successful. I am very committed to what I believe spiritually, and that is to take care of your brothers and sisters. You’re supposed to treat people the way you want to be treated and you’re supposed to do good. Your blessings will come by blessing others. All of this to me is grounded in faith.

How can our readers follow you online?

Facebook: @CathleenTrigg

Twitter: @CathleenTrigg

Instagram: @cattrigg | @iwomantv

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Thank you!


Female Disruptors: Cathleen Trigg-Jones of Catscape Productions On The Three Things You Need To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Gloria Chou On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

When you show your true self, you will attract the right customers and community. When I first started building my online presence, I was trying to keep up with everyone else and “be on all the platforms” and post just to post. I quickly realized this was causing me to spread myself too thin and didn’t give people a way to truly connect with my message. When I focused on doing what feels most aligned with me and focusing on the one or two platforms to share my message, my community and impact grew.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gloria Chou.

Gloria Chou is a U.S.-diplomat turned small business PR coach that’s never worked in a PR agency or had any “industry contacts”. She cold-called her way to get unknown companies into top tier outlets like the New York Times and Fast Company, and now teaches her CPR pitching method to founders around the world who want to hack their own PR without breaking the bank. Her original pitching method has now helped thousands of small businesses around the world gain over 1 billion organic views to skyrocket their visibility and credibility.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Nothing makes me happier than seeing people feel seen, heard, and valued, and I always knew I wanted to help others do that. Growing up in an immigrant family, however, meant that I was told to take the “safer career path” and value stability over my true callings, and that’s how I became a U.S. Diplomat. I loved working overseas and studied international relations but after a short stint as a bureaucrat, I knew that I was meant to be an entrepreneur helping other women go BIGGER with their message. I applied for over 1000+ jobs in PR but no agency would hire me because I lacked “agency experience”, so I started to do PR my way-by working with tiny startups and cold calling newsrooms to pitch these unknown clients to the biggest publications. Without industry contacts, it meant that I was rejected hundreds of times — but this is what built my business as it allowed me to crack the code on PR, come up with a proprietary pitching method that is now proven to work, and I teach this method to small businesses around the world who are looking to get exposure without breaking the bank.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

From what I’ve seen, no one is doing PR this way. Traditionally, we are told that we must lean on publicists’ networks if we want to get interviewed. This might work well for companies with deep pockets, but for the early stage, bootstrapping small business owners, paying an agency thousands of dollars per month without a guarantee isn’t feasible. From cold calling hundreds of newsrooms and perfecting my elevator pitch to get the editors to respond, I’ve come up with a pitching framework that no one else has, and it’s helped thousands of founders get responses from top outlets — even if they aren’t launched or have a fancy website. Journalism is NOT dead — everyone, not just big companies with big budgets — deserves to share their message and get featured. The trick is understanding how to pitch in a way that will resonate with journalists.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I have pitched to the wrong person, misspelled their name, dialed the wrong newsroom, and made so many faux pas starting out. I never had any industry contacts or journalist friends, so I literally cold-called every single time to get to where I am. One time I even dialed the Wall Street Journal newsroom asking for a tech reporter that actually worked at the New York Times — talk about embarrassing. Lucky, the pitch was a good one, so the journalist on the other end of the phone was intrigued and asked me to follow up via email. That’s why it’s critical to have a powerful pitch!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Honestly, I get so much inspiration from my community of female founders who “do it scared” and put themselves out there even when they don’t feel ready. Everyday I hear from founders in my Facebook group who beat the odds and pitched themselves even when they weren’t launched or are facing tough competition — and they end up getting featured. Their tenacity, willpower, and intent to make an impact inspire me every day. I also have to give credit to my coach Rick Mulready who has taught me that doing MORE isn’t always better and that it’s about optimizing your time, mindset, and actions that ultimately translate to powerful results.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

In this digitally saturated world, it is so easy to copy someone else’s content and regurgitate it as your own. But there are also others who want to go against the grain just to get attention. The key here is intention. If the person’s intention is to serve and help others by sharing what they’ve learned from their own experiences, then I think that is a positive adjective. If the person just wants to disrupt to get attention and likes, then that is ego-driven and not coming from a place of service.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

1. People who truly believe they are worth it will act from that place of abundance. I see this in my clients and people who are ready to join my PR Starter Pack program. Those who achieve success are those who believe they deserve to be seen as an industry leader — and it has nothing to do with their business revenue, how many followers they have, or how long they’ve been in business. It has EVERYTHING to do with how strongly they believe they are here to spread their message and make an impact by putting themselves out there.

2. When you show your true self, you will attract the right customers and community. When I first started building my online presence, I was trying to keep up with everyone else and “be on all the platforms” and post just to post. I quickly realized this was causing me to spread myself too thin and didn’t give people a way to truly connect with my message. When I focused on doing what feels most aligned with me and focusing on the one or two platforms to share my message, my community and impact grew.

3. Rejection and failure are the KEYS to success. I’ve built my entire business from getting rejected by agencies, newsrooms, and editors, and it’s led me to deeply understand what WORKS. This process of testing, refining, and using rejection/failures to inform your next iteration is critical to doing it right the next time. I owe everything to the fact that I never came into PR with “industry contacts” or a playbook. It’s allowed me to build my winning frameworks from a truly original place while listening to my audience’s feedback.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I am so excited to launch my podcast so small businesses and early-stage founders have a go-to place to feel seen, heard, and valued. My mission is to advocate for the underdog, and I am excited to build out this podcast to further provide a space for small but mighty businesses to go to.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

That they have to compromise their “likeability” in order to change the status quo and disrupt.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

Yes! I love anything by Brene Brown as well as Jay Shetty, and love listening to my coach Rick Mulready’s weekly podcast: “The Art of Online Business”.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

A movement to celebrate our failures! Our failures make us relatable, create connections, draw people into our world, and allows us to learn and grow.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“How a person acts is a reflection of THEM, not you.” So many small business owners I work with are afraid of pitching or coming off a certain way, but they should know that often times the person they are pitching to is busy or just didn’t see their pitch. If we all just took rejection with a grain of salt and understood that it’s not always about US, we would be more daring and courageous in going after opportunities that seem out of reach.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’ve created a Facebook group for small businesses looking to become more seen and heard through advocating for themselves, and you can join us here. I go live in it every Friday with a guest expert or founder that’s overcome limiting beliefs to land major interviews and opportunities.

You can also watch my signature PR Masterclass that’s helped thousands of founders learn the CPR pitching method that’s proven to get editors to say YES to an interview here.

Lastly, you can DM me the word PITCH on Instagram and I will gift you my podcast pitching template that helps me get onto 4+ podcasts per month.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Gloria Chou On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Tracy Ftacek of Pretty Convenient Salon On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up…

Female Disruptors: Tracy Ftacek of Pretty Convenient Salon On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

I believe we need to see a diverse representation at the C-Suite and level the pool for mentors and coaches with the experience, heart & ability to bring women disruptors into the spaces that allow their genius to be seen and recognized.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tracy Ftacek.

Tracy Ftacek, the beauty industry disruptor behind Pretty Convenient Salon, one of Chicago’s preeminent hair/makeup studios, a Paul Mitchell National Educator, and the founder of The Pretty Convenient App, an on-demand beauty app where her all-female team, of some of the industry’s top professionals, deliver a convenient and stunning beauty experience to your home. From living in a trailer park to being a CEO of several salons as well as two beauty tech companies, Tracy’s mission is to empower beauty stylists to take control over their beauty businesses.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I began my career almost 30 years ago as a cosmetologist working behind the chair, as a freelance hair & makeup artist and international trainer for a global beauty brand. I truly loved all three paths and soon realized many beauty professionals desired the opportunity to carve out their own financial path.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Approximately five years ago I launched the Pretty Convenient app for on-location beauty services which provided an option for licensed beauty professionals to grow their income in a supportive environment while also supplying consistent and quality results for busy female professionals at their convenience. However, like many other beauty brands, 2020 created a pause in our business flow. This pause inspired me to launch Pretty Set Go virtual beauty box. Every hair and makeup box comes with a hand-in virtual education to learn how to enjoy your new products.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

At the time, social media, Facebook specifically, was only a few years old. I was the Campus Director for a cosmetology school. Two of the students, (lets call them Ashley & Emily) were extremely disruptive and in a heated argument. I was counseling them in my office and inquired what was the root of the problem. Emily proceeds to tell me how Ashley had written horrible things on her Facebook wall. I took her literally and thought this was the outside wall of her home. I was shocked and appalled someone would do this and encouraged Emily to contact the authorities to report this crime. She then proceeded to educate me on what social media is and at that moment I realized we now have media at our fingertips that could evoke an emotion amongst the audience. At that point I began watching closely and when I chose to launch my first beauty tech company, I built the entire customer base from social engagement.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I’ve truly been blessed with many beauty industry mentors however when I began shifting into the beauty tech world I struggled to find a mentor. I most recently was on a Clubhouse panel with the founder of Hint Water, Kara Goldin, and she summed it up beautifully; “If you are the first to disrupt an industry, finding a mentor may be difficult as no one has attempted your journey. Learn what you can from those around you.” I realized it was more beneficial to have a circle of trusted confidants and team members that believe in you and what you can accomplish.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

In response to the financial devastation to the beauty community I have chosen to create a Beauty Ambassador referral program through the Pretty Set Go digital beauty box. By providing them with 25% of the profits on any referral sale this will infuse an additional stream of income for licensed beauty professionals through passive income. Currently there is no other beauty brand offering such high commissions.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I believe we need to see a diverse representation at the C-Suite and level the pool for mentors and coaches with the experience, heart & ability to bring women disruptors into the spaces that allow their genius to be seen and recognized.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking?

No, I do not have a specific one. I honestly believe the following is a mark of a thought leader and disruptor: you are impacted from every nook and cranny of your life, from those whose voices you bring into your life including family, friends & children.

Can you share a story with us?

Generally I have a very positive attitude however one day as I was driving my youngest to daycare; it was just before dawn and pouring rain. I gave out a huge sigh and my daughter asked what was wrong. I shared with her that I was tired and didn’t like when it rained so hard. In her chipper upbeat voice she said, “I like the rain mommy, it makes everything sparkle.” At that very moment not only did my perspective change but I realized that if a four year old has the power to shift my mindset to joy, we as leaders possess that power as well. To bring out the rainbow before the rainstorm passes is my definition of a disruptor.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

To create a movement that initiates equity for all. Every conversation has potential to connect those inside and outside your circle. To become the person in the room that says, “I’ve got someone who can help you with that” and allow that opportunity to pass through you to lift others up. That can build major change. You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

In the beginning of my career I believed telling people what to do and how to do it defined myself as a “boss”. I have grown to realize the moment you, not just share your passion, but assemble a group of individuals with equal passion and then teach them how to lean into it truly defines you as a leader.

How can our readers follow you online?

Linkedin @tracyftacek

Instagram @tracyftacek

My beauty companies: prettysetgo.com & Pretty Convenient app in the apple or android store

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Tracy Ftacek of Pretty Convenient Salon On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dorothy Kolb of dk east associates: How To Thrive Despite Experiencing Impostor Syndrome

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Stop comparing yourself to others. Your metrics should be against you and only you. Don’t use someone else’s benchmark as your own. You don’t know what they went through or how far they still need to go. A friend told me 5 years ago, think of what you want your life to look like in 5 years. I’ve succeeded in getting there and remind myself of my own goals often.

As a part of our series about how very accomplished leaders were able to succeed despite experiencing Imposter Syndrome, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dorothy Kolb.

After working as a CPA/auditor at Deloitte in NYC, Dorothy Kolb built a 20+ year career in media finance & operations across notable companies including CBS Sports & CBS Radio, FOX Sports, NBC & HGTV/Food Network. She then launched dk east associates to bring her world-class background to emerging businesses to help them grow to their fullest potential through outsourced CFO, accounting strategy and HR services. Dorothy understands the importance of balancing things in life: She became an entrepreneur while raising her 4 teenage sons (including twins!) as a single mom. She guest lectures at the University of Maryland on social entrepreneurship and continues her love of entertainment by hosting two podcasts and being a guest on many others.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

Yes! I obviously worked in corporate America for quite some time but when I found myself divorced and a single mom of 4, I had to reinvent what my career would look like. I always say “necessity is the mother of invention” so I invented a life where I could be present for my kids while continuing a successful career. That was not going to be as an employee but was attainable as a consultant with my own boutique firm.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I was part of the team that launched NFL on FOX. Previously, I had been in finance and accounting but a few colleagues took a chance on me working in operations and programming. We took the approach of veering far away from the way things had always been done. It was thrilling and, while there were things that didn’t work so well, for the most part, we had great success. It allowed me to approach life thinking that I can create solutions. I didn’t have to follow what had already been done. I could be creative in my work life as well as my personal life and if things didn’t go as planned, well, then I could find another solution.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

We offer creative solutions. Because of my vast experience outside of just accounting & finance, I understand the impact of decisions made based on the bottom line. I understand how adjustments in revenues and expenses will impact the final product. I strive to put scalable processes and structure in place that will work with a business but at the same time will not hinder businesses. So many people look at accounting or even the CFO as the place where the answer is “no” but we work on getting to a “yes” that will allow your business to grow and succeed.

I’ve worked with several creative agencies and helped them understand how, as unglamourous as it may seem, creating budgets for projects will assure that you are profitable. I also understand that creatives like to create! So we help make budgets less about spreadsheets and more visual so it’s digestible.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I had a really great working relationship with my general manager at KSBY-TV, Evan Pappas. He came in at a point when the station was not performing well. Our prior GM had not spoken very highly of me on his way out. Evan was able to put that aside and got to know my team and me, and our work. He made me feel like a partner in the management of the station and that he and I were a team. He taught me a lot about sales and pricing, areas that I had little knowledge of. I grew so much in the few years we had together there but what I learned from him was only part of it. He also gave me back my confidence for which I will forever be grateful.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the experience of Impostor Syndrome. How would you define Impostor Syndrome? What do people with Imposter Syndrome feel?

Imposter Syndrome is feeling like you are going to be “found out” to be less than what you are representing yourself as. It is completely unsupported but it’s so ingrained that we have a hard time separating from it. As perfectionists, it’s never perfect enough. For those seeking to be experts, we never know enough. Some of us think we have to do it all ourselves, and if we find we need to ask for help, then we are an imposter because we had to ask.

I’m going to say “we” here because I’m just as susceptible to that feeling as anyone else. We feel like we are not enough, not worthy, fake, false. We think constantly that people will find out that we don’t know anything or not enough about something when we really do. We are insecure and doubting ourselves. It’s a negative place to be but really, really in our control.

What are the downsides of Impostor Syndrome? How can it limit people?

I think imposter syndrome is all downside. I mean, yes, many of us use the “fake it till you make it” mantra to get through the early years of our careers, but some of us get stuck in that long after we no longer need to fake it. We need to realize when we have bridged the gap between learning and knowing. It can be really hard to recognize and I think that having a mentor or a coach of some kind can really help us see it and embrace the transition. Staying stuck in the “fake it” part doesn’t allow us to grow and succeed. It keeps us thinking that we are still not enough. And guess what, we are enough. All of us are enough.

How can the experience of Impostor Syndrome impact how one treats others?

Imposter syndrome truly inhibits us from being our authentic and amazing selves. Instead of bringing our unique skills and background to the table, we bring something else, something that we think the other person wants instead of what we can truly offer. I think it causes us to make assumptions rather than really listening, responding and reacting appropriately. We tend to auto-complete what others are saying. We are so focused on “this is what they want” rather than “they came to me because of what I know” that we can scuttle our own success by only putting out what our imposter-self thinks is good.

We would love to hear your story about your experience with Impostor Syndrome. Would you be able to share that with us?

Of course. Having spent most of my career in the entertainment industry, where, like most, I was constantly told there were 100 people waiting for my job. I was reduced to feeling like I was completely expendable and didn’t bring anything unique or valuable. I knew I had experience and skills to do my job better than anyone, but being forced into thinking I was nothing special eventually took its toll and became my existence.

When I left and started my own consulting business, I really thought my clients might find out the “truth” — that I wasn’t anything special. But what I found out was that I really did have a lot to offer and, in the right environment (one in which I was valued), I was able to flourish. Once I was able to accept this version of Dorothy Kolb, not only did my clients receive the benefit, but I did as well because I was able to fully tap into my experience and bring all that to light. I wanted to continue to grow, rather than feel like I was backfilling a lack of knowledge or making up for something I thought I was missing.

Did you ever shake the feeling off? If yes, what have you done to mitigate it or eliminate it?

I have for the most part although I still get into situations when I feel like a client is so impressive that I’m not “worthy” of working with them. In fact, it happened quite recently! But what I do now is to recognize the feeling and then focus on what makes them impressive — and guess what — it’s that they are good at something I am not and that I’m good at something they are not. I don’t have to be good at everything and I shouldn’t be good at everything. I need to be good at being a CFO for emerging businesses, which I am and let my clients be amazing at what they do. That makes a fantastic partnership.

In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone who is experiencing Impostor Syndrome can take to move forward despite feeling like an “Impostor”? Please share a story or an example for each.

  1. Recognize that it’s happening. If you can recognize it, then you can’t be an imposter. When I work with a new client and I start to think, oh wow they really know what they are doing, I also remind myself that they are coming to me because I bring something that they need.
  2. Remind yourself of all that you know. Use post-its around your office if you need to! Keep positive emails, testimonials, etc in view to remind yourself that your clients/kids/family know you’re awesome. My kids are teens now but for a long time, I kept drawings from them around my office to remind myself that even on the worst days, I was good at being a mom. Once I had several really good client relationships and had testimonials to that fact, I put them up as well!
  3. Stop comparing yourself to others. Your metrics should be against you and only you. Don’t use someone else’s benchmark as your own. You don’t know what they went through or how far they still need to go. A friend told me 5 years ago, think of what you want your life to look like in 5 years. I’ve succeeded in getting there and remind myself of my own goals often.
  4. Choose to work with people who value you. If you have your own business, choose clients that are in alignment with your core values and who are positive in their interactions with you. If you are an employee, seek out projects or roles where your unique skills are valued and where you are not made to feel like there are 50 people waiting for your job. I’ve stopped engagements with clients where it just didn’t feel right. Those made me feel like I wasn’t valuable and likely was making them not feel great either.
  5. Understand that anyone who makes you feel like an imposter is covering for their own insecurities. Read that again. No one should make you feel like an imposter. If they are, they are covering their own issues. Much of my divorce stems from exactly this. Imposter syndrome is not just about your work life.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’ve said this before, but I really feel that things like this should be part of education even as early as high school or sooner, but at a very minimum in college. If we are taught the signs of imposter syndrome being thrust upon us, then we can take steps way earlier on so that we are not battling years or decades of feeling like this.

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Oh wow! I would love to have coffee with Barbara Corcoran! Her positive energy is contagious and her story always reminds me that we carve out our own success.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Thanks for asking! I’m at www.linkedin.com/in/dkolbcfo and www.instagram.com/dkeastassoc.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Dorothy Kolb of dk east associates: How To Thrive Despite Experiencing Impostor Syndrome was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.