Gina Clarke of Malibu Seaside Chef: Why Preparation Is Half The Battle

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Preparation is half the battle: Spend the time to make sure you are 100% prepared for an event. Every detail needs to be checked off and accounted for prior to leaving the house. I have learned the hard way many times by cutting corners and the result has been horrible. The event doesn’t go smoothly, the stress level increases, and people can tell.

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

Gina Clarke is a private chef, TV personality and founder of Malibu Seaside Chef, one of the most sought-after private chef and catering companies in California. Since 2005, her clients have included the likes of U2, Ted Baker, Seal, Kid Rock, Justin Bieber, Caitlyn Jenner, Barbra Streisand, Josh Brolin, Thomas Keller, Joe Montana, Anthony Kiedis and Lamar Odom; and corporations such as Red Bull, Neutrogena and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. She has appeared on numerous television shows including “Extreme Chef,” “Million Dollar Listings,” and “Beverly Hills Housewives,” and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Malibu Magazine and Huffington Post.

A former professional model who was featured on the covers of publications such as Cosmopolitan and Shape, Gina’s passion for farm-to-table food began when she was a young girl roaming the farmer’s markets of her hometown San Luis Obispo, and was further fueled by her travels throughout France and Italy, during which time she discovered exciting new flavors and textures through authentic locally sourced ingredients. Observing how much food and entertaining truly unites us, how it breaks down boundaries and is ultimately healing, Gina was inspired to pursue a career as a professional chef. She returned to the states to attend the French Epicurean School in Los Angeles, later apprenticing with the world-renowned Giuliano Bugialli in Florence before working for Wolfgang Puck at Granita in Malibu, California.

In 2005, Gina founded Malibu Seaside Chef, a private chef and catering company, immediately making a splash with dishes such as salmon cornets and smashed potatoes with truffles, and attracting high-powered clientele within the entertainment, music, sports and tech world.

Classically trained in a wide range of cuisines, Gina is known for her custom menus that showcase California’s seasonal bounty and which incorporate global flavors discovered through her extensive travels. A native Californian, Gina grew up on the beach in San Luis Obispo. She lives in Malibu with her husband and three-year-old daughter.

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 grew up on the central coast of California in a town called San Luis Obispo surrounded by amazing farms and vineyards. I can remember being a kid going to our amazing downtown farmers market and getting the best farm to table local produce. These memories carried over to when I left home at 16 years old to model in Europe. I lived in Paris, Italy, German, Australia and was very fortunate to sample incredible food around the world, which expanded my love of food, culture and flavor to the next level. After a successful career of modeling, I wanted to transition into something I really loved and food satisfied my creative side, my senses and my palate. So I dove headfirst into culinary school, took classes in Italy and the US to hone my skills. It was a lot of hard work, training and learning from some incredible chefs which propelled me into this career choice. One of my first jobs was at Wolfgang Puck’s prestigious eatery in Malibu, Granita. It wasn’t long that I discovered that I wanted to give the guests more than the restaurant experience and be engaged in creating a memorable dining experience. Thus, I decided to go off on my own and start “Malibu Seaside Chef.” As a private chef, I can work individually with people to create incredible dining experiences for themselves and their guests. Being a private chef, allows me to have control over creating custom menus, collaboration of event space and working with the clients to give them the dining experience they envision. For me, being a private chef and event planner allows me to creative, innovative, stay in touch with me artistic style and most of all engage with the guests on a deeper level. It been an incredible experience.

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

I love the word “disruptive” because it can take on a meaning in several ways. The think the biggest thing that I’m doing at Malibu Seaside Chef, is taking the ordinary and making it feel exceptional, look incredible and be memorable. People are entrusting me to create memories for them and when you dine out, sometimes it’s hard to get that lasting experience. So, when you book my services, I am totally disrupting the normal of what someone would expect from dining. After a client books my services and has an incredible dining experience, it totally changes how they look at dining out and enjoying a meal. Its disruptive because it changes their viewpoint on what a first-class meal should be. They see what top notch service looks like, what individual attention to detail feels like, and how incredible food should look, taste and feel. Its disruptive to what they are normally used to in good way.

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?

OMG…. There are so many to choose from when you’re just learning the trade of becoming a chef and even more crazy mistakes when trying to start a business. I think one of the funniest things looking back now when I started out was a job where I showed up to the house and nothing worked in the kitchen. The stove, the oven and even the microwave was broken. Yet I had 20 guests wanting to eat and all of this incredible food to cook. I ended up improvising and cooking the entire meal on the BBQ. I’d say they were pretty good about the whole situation. It was a rental house, and no one had previewed the space prior to us getting there. So, looking back it was funny, but now I have a detailed check list that I use with every event and every client to make sure we cover all the bases.

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?

It wasn’t one individual, but a host of individuals teaching little things along the way. It was being open to learning something new from everyone who made incredible food.

You can learn new ways to do things from the top chefs in the world down to someone who is self-taught.

I think if you allow yourself to learn from others and have open eyes, then it puts you in a position to be a better chef.

I’ve taken courses in Italy, Thailand, Mexico, France, and cooked with local chefs which has made a huge impact on my journey. Learning the local ways of doing things from chefs and being open to new cooking techniques has had a greater impact on myself than just one individual mentor. So I say, be open and available to learn regardless of how good a chef you think you are and you will reap the benefits.

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?

All industries have tradition and legacies born out of tradition. Staying true to an industry tradition or manner of doing things can be good for building a solid foundation within that industry. However, without some form of disruptive change, the industry can’t grow or change with the times. All industries need to stay innovative, creative, and motivated in order to keep producing incredible products that consumers desire. Keeping food traditional to its region and taste is a good thing and consumers desire that tradition; however, there are some incredible chefs doing untraditional things with food. Fusion cuisine is all the rave worldwide and without someone stepping out of industry tradition, we wouldn’t have these incredible food choices. It takes risk and change in order to grow and that’s a positive disruption to an industry.

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

As it relates to my industry the best words of advice I have been given are

  • Preparations is half the battle: Spend the time to make sure you are 100% prepared for an event. Every detail needs to be checked off and accounted for prior to leaving the house. I have learned the hard way many times by cutting corners and the result has been horrible. The event doesn’t go smoothly, the stress level increases, and people can tell.
  • Buy the best quality ingredients and don’t skimp on food. There is nothing worse than cutting corners to save a dime and producing subpar food. Buy high-end quality products and take the time to make incredible food.
  • Have fun doing the little things and even the hard things because a great attitude is contagious, and everyone loves being around happy people. The events go smoothly, people are more engaging and its good for business. So be happy Y’all and smile.

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

I’m just getting started. Businesswise, we are starting to make a solid comeback from COVID and the goal is to keep expanding, creating and making solid connections within the industry. I am working with a company now trying to get a cooking show off the ground. We shot the first pilot episode and it’s being edited now. Hopefully someone will be interested in the concept and jump on board. I’m also interested in trying to get a few of my signature products to market so everyone can enjoy how amazing they are to use.

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

I think we have so many amazing talented women in all industries that are creating change, producing incredible products and are leading teams of people towards success. However, those changes don’t come easy because disrupting the normal tends to cause others to become uncomfortable. I think women must prepare for an uphill battle to show others that they are to be taken seriously and what we are doing is equal to our male counterparts. We are strong, independent, intelligent forces to be reckoned with and we want the same level playing field in equality. The challenges will continue to exist for women, but we have to remain resilient, creative and stay the course in order to be positive disruptors within our industries.

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

There’s not any particular book or podcast that has a deep impact on my thinking, but it’s watching other chefs locally, internationally cook and create incredible meals. It’s me dining out and ordering half the menu just so I can see how chefs are preparing things, it’s having open eyes to what’s being produced and what is changing the landscape of food. I then get inspired to replicate or try new things and that’s a good thing to step out of my comfort zone and learn new things. We recently went to Mexico, and I took a private lesson with a chef to learn how he made different versions of ceviche. I learned several new ways to do the ordinary. It’s these things that have an impact upon me. And yes, I watch the cooking shows and have even ordered a few of Gordan Ramsay’s online video. I found them to be amazing.

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 movement would be for families, friends, or even complete strangers to make one meal together and sit and enjoy the fruits of their labor without cell phones, television or other distractions. Take the time to get into the kitchen together, chop the food, read a recipe, combine the ingredients and plate it. Sit down, enjoy conversation, the food, and allow the worlds distractions to be put on pause. Food brings people together and allows each other to enjoy conversation. Food breaks down barriers regardless of political, social, economic, religious or ethnic barriers. Breaking bread and enjoying a meal with others simply slows down life and allows peace to occur for a moment in time. I say cook a meal together and it changes people and brings you closer.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life? “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

I love this quote and it has resonated with me ever since I read it. Life takes time to understand, and every day we are learning and experiencing the joys, the hardships and the change. Thus, be good to yourself and don’t be so hard on the things you can’t control. Everyone wants instant gratification, but life takes time and it’s the everyday process and lessons which are the real joy of living.

How can our readers follow you online?

@MalibuSeasideChef

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Gina Clarke of Malibu Seaside Chef: Why Preparation Is Half The Battle was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Maureen Taylor of SNP Communications On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and…

Female Founders: Maureen Taylor of SNP Communications On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Know that being a founder is gender free. As the oldest child of an Irish Catholic family, I was influenced greatly by my two grandmothers who supported their families economically. One of my grandmothers was the first woman to work at PG&E, and the other was the head custodian at the Empire State Building. Growing up with that being the case, there was never a question that passion, responsibility and independence were gender-free. Marrying a guy for money was a joke in our family! I was also reminded constantly of an Irish expression: “When money goes out the door, love flies out the window.” The point is I learned that economic independence is a responsibility. And learning that was a gift because it also taught me that becoming a founder, thriving and finding success had absolutely nothing to do with your no-no place.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Maureen Taylor.

Maureen Taylor co-founded SNP Communications with her husband Renn Vara more than 25 years ago to help founders and leaders through the art of communication. She created SNP’s mission by continuing Aristotle’s mandate of searching the world for good people and helping them make their truth persuasive. With more than 50 SNPers spread throughout San Francisco, New York and Dublin, Maureen’s tribe continues to reach all corners of the world following the three core values of service, accountability and curiosity.

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?

Almost 30 years ago, I co-founded SNP Communications with my husband, Renn Vara. As an Aristotle junkie, I followed the mission of “helping good people make their truth persuasive and memorable.”

SNP began as a broadcast production company. We hosted the first program called Family Talk and it aired on public radio every Sunday evening. The program was interview-based with different segments that focused on personal and social issues. Over the years, a variety of new radio programs were added to the schedule, including On Computers, On the House, Beyond Computers and Faces in Business.

Before SNP, I worked for a training organization called Communispond. SNP was initially launched to focus on Presentation Training and Selling skills. However, due to my passion for coaching others and expertise in helping them improve their communication skills, I added customized training and coaching programs to SNP’s product and service offerings.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

In our early days, a customer said, “there is no SNP, there is Mo.” Flattering, sure, but it wasn’t a good thing to hear. When you build a company it can’t be all about you. It has to be an even balance between team, customer and self.

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?

Never forget that you’re always on the outside with your customers. One of our earliest customers was Sun Microsystems. And we got too inside with them. People thought we worked there because we knew them so well. That’s too much — you have to remind yourself that there’s actually an advantage to being on the outside. So, now I have a little saying… “You can’t talk about your customer until they’re in a car driving away.” And that’s all I’ll say about that!

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 paid my way through school by working in a restaurant in Nob Hill. My love (obsession) for service came from that job. Yes, the restaurant business is great but it wasn’t my life. One day at lunch I looked around and saw all these mouths chewing. I could hear them all at once. It was driving me crazy. On top of that, I started noticing that anytime I asked a couple a question, the man would answer. I wasn’t sure I could take the job much longer. But then, I got some life-changing advice from a good family friend, Father Bob. He told me, “Wherever you are, that is your parish. That is your mission.” Suddenly something snapped in my head. I looked around and sure, I could still see the mouths chewing, but I was calm. I committed to service, and anytime I had to approach a couple, I would wait until the man had a mouth full of food so the woman would answer for the table.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

First of all, there isn’t more work to do to “empower” women to create companies. That means the power is coming from someplace else. Women don’t need a handout. And Founders can’t help their drive or sense of purpose to do something that usually makes the world a better place, small or large, 1-by-1, or at scale. Confidence in a sense of purpose is something we all can work on. Confidence is not given or shared, it’s deep inside all of us and we have to work with discipline to develop and nurture it. More women talking about what they are doing, how they are doing it, and sharing their experiences will help women, and frankly, anyone out there that has this sense and might feel helpless.

Being a Founder is like being an artist, writer, musician…it is inside. There is one totally awful thing that is happening to women founders that I’m seeing, hearing, and screaming about. Women founders are being told to “find a co-founder.” This “advice” is from the money folk. And, a lot of money people are still males. So, let’s think about this for a minute. Seriously, “find” a co-founder? A Founder, co or not, is a fact, not a position. I think that the reasoning for this advice from our venture folk is that it might be easier to “get funded” if you have a co-founder, especially a male. The answer is just plain NO to that. If any Founder is getting advice from venture people, make sure they believe in you, love and have passion about your idea, and have shown that they stick by their decisions (so you have to research them to see if they are worthy to give you money). And, if a venture advisor suggests you add to your team, and it makes sense, hire the person. They can be a senior leader with a fabulous title, but not not not a “founder.” Finally, if you really think you have the guts (and, as you know, guts are gender-free, culture-free, color-free and age-free) find a founder in the field and talk to them. Founders are lonely and usually pretty cool about giving advice.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

Government is there to serve the people. Society is made up of a group of people divided into three sections: Warriors, those who choose to commit. Loyalists, dedicated to belief. Citizens that try to bring order and stability.

Individual warriors are the only group that can actually influence change. Each woman, who is privileged enough to work has to choose to commit to her own individual growth, develop a team and gain seniority as fast as possible. We have to be dedicated to gain as much control of leadership roles as possible. Through this effort, we will slowly but surely balance leadership. Leadership is gender-free, culture-free, color-free and age-free.

Leadership rules are predominately steeped in boy rules. Which in part is why everything is so screwed up. The balance of leadership between girls and boys is natural and the way it’s supposed to be. We forgot to take our power back.

And now, more importantly, it’s time, one girl at a time, to take our power back.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Women have proven that they’re more than capable of rising to the entrepreneurial challenge. They’re likely to start their businesses because of necessity, whereas men are more likely to start a business because they “realized an idea or thought of a new product or service.”

Women are especially known for being excellent multi-taskers, and they also appreciate the importance of balance and establishing priorities. They’re empathically in tune with how each decision they make impacts each audience or stakeholder and carefully weigh business decisions.

Women also understand the needs of other women and they’re very aware that they have a unique leadership opportunity to inspire other women to succeed. And success breeds success.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

Founders have a bad rap right now because of “tech bros” and the titans of tech (you know who I mean). But innovation, creativity and intelligence have nothing to do with gender, color, culture, age or money — nothing.

Entrepreneurs are not founders, but founders can learn to be an entrepreneur. A founder is somebody who has to do something and can’t help it. They are mission-driven at their core. They have to build something, they’re artists, they’re crazy, and many of us are lonely. We’re a small minority of people who truly can’t help it.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

No. But it’s not like you have a choice. It’s an itch — a gift and a curse. If you fall into this category, don’t be around people who tell you you’re wrong or stupid. It’s hard to succeed when you’re surrounded by negativity. I’m not saying to surround yourself with “yes-men,” but certainly not “no-men.” Also, don’t put all your eggs in one basket (yet). Make sure you have enough money to live. Your dream can be a side hustle until it gets off the ground. Sometimes going all in when you’re not financially ready forces you to make decisions you wouldn’t necessarily make. At the core, successful founders are mission-driven, relentless, future-oriented, forever students and team-focused.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Know that being a founder is gender free

As the oldest child of an Irish Catholic family, I was influenced greatly by my two grandmothers who supported their families economically. One of my grandmothers was the first woman to work at PG&E, and the other was the head custodian at the Empire State Building. Growing up with that being the case, there was never a question that passion, responsibility and independence were gender-free. Marrying a guy for money was a joke in our family! I was also reminded constantly of an Irish expression: “When money goes out the door, love flies out the window.” The point is I learned that economic independence is a responsibility. And learning that was a gift because it also taught me that becoming a founder, thriving and finding success had absolutely nothing to do with your no-no place.

Scratch the itch and know it’s a journey

This is good for all founders to realize. We all have an itch that just needs to be scratched. It’s not something we’re taught, it’s just this weird compulsion — a feeling that we are supposed to be doing something. And when I was a kid, “vocation” was everything. A doctor, nurse, teacher, journalist, actor (have you seen me do Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart?”), nun (I did like the outfits there for a while!)- that was the kind of track we were supposed to be on. I went to an all-girls Catholic High School and we spent one hour each day learning manuscript writing in order to prepare us for addressing our wedding invitations… ”Seriously?” you ask. I kid you not! But you should see my handwriting. Aside from that, the pressure was high to go to college and follow a traditional career path.

I was a mess because I didn’t know what I really wanted, just that there was something that I needed to do. One day, in the restaurant I was managing, I answered a phone call from my friend Fr. Bob. I was having a rough day at the restaurant and didn’t think I could do it anymore. He said, “Calm down… while you’re searching for your purpose, wherever you are…that is your Parish.” Well, it took ten years to find my mission, but I loved every minute along the way.

Seek Understanding

This was Aristotle’s first rule and founders have to be dedicated to this discipline. This isn’t an easy thing. It’s not simply saying, “oh, you poor thing!” It’s truly understanding as much as you can. To do this, you have to stay a student 100% of the time. A founder must have a library of information in their mind because the more experience you get, the more you know. But they also have to make room to expand the card catalog with new ways of doing things. It’s not that there aren’t consistent truths that survive the ages like, “Be good to yourself and be good to each other.” But the real discipline and active effort is to always ask “why?” and “how?” before declaring “that’s stupid.” The example that really locked this in for me was when I was thirteen, and my dad said: “No good music has been written since 1942.” But he did admit that The Beatles could carry a tune!

Grow confidence and humility

There are two scales out there. One balances arrogance and insecurity. The other balances confidence and humility. We all know arrogant people. They’re usually kind of mean. The only reason a person would be arrogant is that they’re insecure, so they’re really focused on what other people think. Because why else would you choose to be a jerk?

Confidence is built on what you do well — your strengths. Like Socrates said: It would be more interesting to live a life with purpose even if there’s nothing and we are just weeds — born to die and compelled by ego, self-interest and ambition. So, if we have purpose, something we are supposed to do, we have to have talent, skills, propensity and ability. And all of that is inside us individually. That is, it has nothing to do with money, parents or education. It’s just what we can depend on ourselves for. In short — build on your strengths.

And then, because it’s the right and admirable thing to do, be humble rather than insecure. Say things like “I’m sorry” or “this is what I learned” and “thank you.” And you have to mean it!

Remember that laughter is music to angels

This one is hard to explain. There is a portion of our brains (those of us fortunate to be working with a roof over our heads and do not have to worry about violence or starvation) that needs to stay light. Since a founder needs a team, a human operating system to build, create, maintain and sustain, the people part of it is the biggest joy and heartbreak. That can’t piss you off. Being responsible for the people is the balance for the freedom of calling the shots. The responsibility can be overwhelming sometimes. But, it is the people that make it happen. And it’s the people following the founder without the founder looking back to make sure people are there. So much like a giant day care center. See, you just laughed.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I believe that making good people even better is extremely rewarding. Improved people collectively make the world a better place to work, live, and grow.

My goal has always been to help these high-performance leaders master the art of audience-driven communication and ultimately achieve their mission. I’ve done this by coaching them to communicate their truth, hone their content, scale the mission through creative content, improve their skills and be their best selves.

I’m proud to have had a small role in improving the world we live in today.

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

I’d like to inspire a movement of people actually listening. Listening is a skill. It’s something we teach on a daily basis and it’s something people struggle with on a daily basis. But when done right, it’s so damn meaningful. Imagine if we were all incredible listeners…wouldn’t that fix a lot of problems?

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment 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 with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Warren Buffet — he doesn’t forget that he puts on one shoe at a time just like everyone else. I’d like to know how he’s remained so humble all these years. I’d also like to learn more about how he handled being a parent throughout it all.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Female Founders: Maureen Taylor of SNP Communications On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Rachely Esman of Wescover On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a…

Female Founders: Rachely Esman of Wescover On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Enjoy the ride — As a new founder, achieving your business goals almost always takes longer than you think. While you work toward those corporate goals, make sure you are also living your life and not postponing the things that bring you personal joy. I had two kids while running my company. I’ve made it clear to my entire team that I will not completely sacrifice my family time. It’s important to me that I show my children the world. Sometimes, it means working while we travel, but I make sure I carve out my special time with them. I hope to lead by example and teach them that it is possible to be a leader, a business owner, and a mother.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rachely Esman, CEO and Co-founder of Wescover, an online marketplace offering unique, meaningfully made art, furniture, and decor sold directly from the original Creators.

Before starting Wescover, Rachely founded MarketsPulse, an online financial trading platform, and served as CEO of JivyGroup, an international software engineering company. Rachely has a very strong technological background, having worked as Director of R&D at Tel-Aviv software company, Modelity Technologies, after spending six years in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). She rose through the ranks to become First Lt. and head of R&D and Infrastructure in the technologically advanced MAMRAM unit.

Rachely has an M.B.A. from Columbia University and London Business School, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from The Academic College of Tel-Aviv.

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 was accepted to the technology unit of the Israeli Army without much experience in software engineering. Luckily, I was forced to stay in the training unit, which taught software development. That stint gave me so much in terms of leadership, cooperation, and educating others. I was inspired to complete an officer training course and then I led a team of software specialists in the Israeli Army. Leading a team with no way to financially compensate them or have the ability to select your own team members teaches you a lot about how to motivate, support, and foster a community. It certainly built my path into the tech world and becoming a leader in other organizations.

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?

To succeed in the startup world, you need a strong sense of self. It can be a daunting journey with a million reasons presenting themselves on why you should quit. You have to quiet the voices that cause doubt in your idea or cause you to question yourself. Anytime I would start to waver or let the challenges of it all get to me, I would call my parents. They are my guideposts to accomplishing my goals. They have always allowed me explore and choose my own way, and they have believed in me when the doubt would start to creep in.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

I was very lucky that in my army service, my experience was so different from the reality out there. In my unit, there were equal numbers of men and women, and there were women in leadership positions demanding respect and receiving it. This colored my perspective, so I moved ahead in civilian life as though women were in equal leadership positions. I truly did not grasp how few female technology company founders there were. This was probably a good thing. I didn’t hold back or behave as though I was an anomaly.

You see, in the army, I was given the opportunity to lead. I was given the opportunity to strengthen my tech education. Opportunity equals power. We should not make it uncomfortable for women to start companies and ask for funding. We should not make it seem odd that a woman would even want to try. The only thing holding women back from founding companies is the opportunity to show what we can do.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

Equality needs to be the reality. We’re gaining some traction societally, but there’s so much more that needs to be done. Here are a few things I think we can start today: 1. Survey the room and identify if there is equal representation. Demand female representation on boards, in meeting rooms, in higher or specialty education classrooms, in political seats. 2. Equal pay for equal work. Enough said. 3. Amplify female-owned companies by shopping them and increasing word-of-mouth. 4. Stop looking at domestic responsibilities and childcare as women’s work. If we can share home responsibilities more equally, then there may be more time and freedom for women to take classes, attend important meetings, and get ahead professionally.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Women are incredible managers; we have a better read on human emotion and motivation. As proven during the pandemic, women can balance many high-priority responsibilities at one time and get the job done. Women have less ego, and are driven by the right, authentic reasons to start a company.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

There needs to be realistic expectations about what it means to be a founder. Owning your own company may sound cool, but the reality is that leadership comes with a fair amount of stress and uncertainty. The National Institute of Mental Health reported that 72% of entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly impacted by mental health issues. It helps to have mentorship or trusted sounding boards to equally ground you and lift you up. Also, make sure you start your business for the right reasons. Be passionate about what you are building and prepare for the ride.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

I don’t think there’s a single personality type designated to start-up founders. I’ve seen many different personalities become successful. It’s important to surround yourself with the right people, folks who want you to succeed but will call out issues and concerns, folks who will be your cheerleaders and your confidantes. You should hone your problem-solving skills because there will be plenty of issues that need your attention. Know how to keep a level head (and this goes back to surrounding yourself with the right people) because it can feel like A LOT at times. Founding a company impacts every facet of your life, so be sure you’re all-in and that your tribe is all-in as well.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. Enjoy the ride — As a new founder, achieving your business goals almost always takes longer than you think. While you work toward those corporate goals, make sure you are also living your life and not postponing the things that bring you personal joy. I had two kids while running my company. I’ve made it clear to my entire team that I will not completely sacrifice my family time. It’s important to me that I show my children the world. Sometimes, it means working while we travel, but I make sure I carve out my special time with them. I hope to lead by example and teach them that it is possible to be a leader, a business owner, and a mother.
  2. Believe in yourself — There will be times you’ll see peers hit funding or user milestones before you. At the beginning of my career, hearing of other founders’ business success ahead of my own was discouraging. I would compare myself, wonder what I was doing wrong, if I was failing my team in some way. Know this: every founder experiences hardship. Those who make it are the ones who keep going and believe in their vision.
  3. Hone your sales skills — Company founders are constantly selling — your dream to a potential investor, your corporate culture to a potential hire, your offering to a potential customer. Work on your sales pitch, your message, the needs you meet. Practice selling to yourself and make sure you are 100% bought in to the message you are touting.
  4. Find your focus — You will find yourself in front of new opportunities, new directions you could go in. Many people will offer unsolicited advice and opinions. Don’t let them distract you. Make a list of company milestones and block out any noise that does not help you achieve that next step. Your clarity will enable your team stay on course with you. If your entire team is working toward the same goal, you will achieve what you’ve set out to do.
  5. Listen to your customers — OK, this is tricky because I just told you to stay the course and believe in yourself. That said, whatever your business is, you are offering a service to customers. Don’t be so fixated on your vision that you forget the value you need to bring to the end-user. Pivots are good. They are welcomed. Be willing to listen to your customers’ needs and make the adjustments needed to serve them.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Going back to the opportunity conversation earlier, I have always hired women in leadership positions. At Wescover, there are many more women than men. Also, part of our mission at Wescover is to help independent artists, creators, and makers find new customers and make a living from their art and designs. When we research and vet our creators, we make sure all work is original, no one is claiming another artist’s work as their own, materials are sustainable, and the craftsmanship is sound. When we mapped out our goals, helping the environment; supporting small businesses and independent artists; and offering customers really well-made, unique art, furniture, and décor were our top. Every day, we work to achieve these goals and hope we are making a difference.

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

For my business, I am working on igniting the Slow Décor Movement. Our landfills are full of broken pressboard furniture from places like Amazon or IKEA. Fast décor has become like fast food. No one care about the sustainability of it all or thinks about what they are bringing into their home so long as it’s convenient. We just throw it away and waste our money on the next thing. In the end, if we spent our dollars on well-made furniture and art, we would save money because we’d invest in stuff that lasts. We would help an independent artist make a living and support her family and herself. We would protect the environment. And we would fill our homes with gorgeous pieces that show who we really are!

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment 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 with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Oh dear, I can’t think of anyone specific. I mean, anyone who enjoys discussing art and design and believes in what I’m doing!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Female Founders: Rachely Esman of Wescover On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Sue Kruskopf of KC Truth On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a…

Female Founders: Sue Kruskopf of KC Truth On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Treat other people how you want to be treated yourself. Be generous to your employees. The days when we have had a good year and I get to give out bonuses are fun. Understand what “people currency” is — money, time, or even praise. Or a hotel room. One time, I had a great art director whose air conditioner went out in his apartment when it was 100 degrees in the shade, so I got him a hotel room for a couple nights.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sue Kruskopf.

Sue Kruskopf is CEO of KC Truth, an advertising agency she started in 1988. The philosophy the agency was founded on — cutting through the BS and getting to the truths about brands — has proven to be even more important today in our digitally connected world where brands are more transparent than ever. Entrepreneurial at heart, Sue is also co-founder of MyWonderfulLife.com, a website where you can plan your own funeral online which was featured on the ABC TV show, Shark Tank.

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 was an Art Director at a large Minneapolis advertising agency in the 80s and was 28 years old. There didn’t seem to be any women over their mid-30s in the Creative department, so I decided that this may not work for me long term! My copywriting partner and I weren’t making much money and decided we could do better. We quit, and soon after KC Truth was born and I have never looked back. But it was not an easy road!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

There are two moments in time throughout my career that stand out.

First, we worked on the political campaign that got Jesse Ventura, a professional wrestler, elected Governor in 1999. The campaign we did with him as an action figure was credited in part with getting him elected and landing the cover of Time Magazine.

Second, with the help of the agency, we started another company in 2008 called My Wonderful Life where you can plan your funeral online. I was on the 2012 season of Shark Tank with that business.

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?

We were working for a local upscale shopping mall called Gaviidae. At that time, the Governors’ wife, Mrs. Perpich, was accused of spending too much on the renovation of the Governors’ mansion. In a newspaper interview, one of her quotes was “I don’t spend too much on anything. I don’t shop at Gaviidae!” or something to that effect. We clipped that out of the newspaper and put it in an ad with the headline, ‘Mrs. Perpich, we are having a sale starting today.’

We lost the account. But it got a lot of attention!

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?

My mom always told me I could do or be anything I wanted to. So, in 1988, when we started the agency, I had no clue what I was doing. I decided to call the heads of other well-established agencies in town and ask if I could buy them breakfast. It was where I learned the most, and I earned their respect! Some of them even gave us business that was too small for them, and some are still friends to this day. Smartest thing I ever did.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

I think so few women started agencies back then for a few reasons. One, they had no mentors. All agencies were led by middle-aged white guys. Only one agency at the time had a woman in a leadership position: Fallon McElligott Rice (Nancy Rice), and they were a big disruptor at the time. I wanted to be like Nancy Rice!

Second was that agency life was not conducive to raising a family whatsoever. Everyone at a good agency worked nights and weekends. So, I decided that when my daughters were six and eight — which was in 2001 — that we would have a work/life balance and I was going to be home after school. No internet then by the way.

Third is that now it takes money! We were just a creative team and had one account person and the first Mac. We still used markers and sketch pads! Now, there are so many media channels and more technical skills than ever before, which requires more people and subsequently salaries. At least you don’t really need office space!

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

I actually think things are getting better. I think working from home is now more the norm and that helps. There are many more funding options for women- and minority-led companies. More and more women are taking leadership roles in government and that will help.

It really just comes down to the women themselves because I do think you have to have the characteristic of persistence and grit. Don’t take no for an answer.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

It’s the greatest freedom and the greatest noose, which is what makes it exciting. After all, you never have to worry about getting fired or let go.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

There are a couple. People think I still work 60 hours a week because I am an entrepreneur. That lasted until I had my kids in my 30s. Then, I learned to delegate, which was very important.

People also think I must have had money from somewhere to start the agency, and I did not. All the risks I had taken were based on the money I had earned.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

In my estimation, persistence and grit are the hallmark traits for success. Being able to fall, pick yourself up from the ashes, dust yourself off, and start again is absolutely critical. Having the humility and curiosity to ask questions is the only way to learn new things.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. The drive to persevere. Fall down seven times, get up eight. I am known for being relentless in pursuing new business, but always polite. I have been known to send a letter attached along with a really great pizza to a potential client for lunch.
  2. Always be humble. When you don’t know or understand something, it’s okay to admit when you don’t. When you make mistakes, be honest. It shows your clients and employees vulnerability. Vulnerability is a good thing to show, but of course that has its limits too.
  3. Treat other people how you want to be treated yourself. Be generous to your employees. The days when we have had a good year and I get to give out bonuses are fun. Understand what “people currency” is — money, time, or even praise. Or a hotel room. One time, I had a great art director whose air conditioner went out in his apartment when it was 100 degrees in the shade, so I got him a hotel room for a couple nights.
  4. Hire slow. Fire fast. Layoffs are still harder than firing people. Sometimes, people stay too long at the party and stop growing. Make sure you recognize that sooner rather than later.
  5. Stay relevant in your industry and business. Advertising has changed so much over the course of the 30+ years I have owned my agency. Stay ahead of the curve so you don’t become a dinosaur.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I’ve used my success in different and perhaps not obvious ways. Inside the office, I’ve continued to serve as a mentor — giving my time and thoughts to the women who’ve shown an interest in their careers and futures.

Outside the office, I’ve looked at all that life bestows upon us, and it should be celebrated among family and friends. I’ve tried to make people’s last wishes a reality with My Wonderful Life.

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

We adopted our daughters when they were infants in orphanages, one from China and one from Cambodia. It used to be common in the 90s to adopt from China but it has now become more difficult. I wish the world would realize that there are many couples who can’t have children and there are many children globally that need to be adopted. However, governments in foreign countries do not make it easy and that needs to change.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment 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 with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

If he were alive, it would be Anthony Bourdain. He had such a way of connecting with people and is a great writer and storyteller.

Right now, I am reading Bob Iger’s book, “The Ride of a Lifetime.” It’s interesting to hear the ideas he created and lessons he learned during his tenure as CEO of Disney, as well as how he dealt with the pressures of dealing with and reinventing such an iconic brand. He would be fascinating to meet.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Female Founders: Sue Kruskopf of KC Truth On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Jan Roberts of Madison Square Partners On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and…

Female Founders: Jan Roberts of Madison Square Partners On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Surround yourself with the right people: There will be enough nay-sayers out there, usually men who tend to feel threatened, may have linear cognitive processes, and might not buy into your vision. To deal with these kinds of issues, it’s vital to surround yourself with positive, supportive people who can give you honest feedback and provide insight into how to move forward. For women in my generation, we didn’t have many female mentors or role models in the workplace. Finding other women who’ve been in the trenches can help you find funding, and understand the role that sexism plays in business, giving you the much needed support to navigate uncharted territory.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jan Roberts, DSW, LCSW.

Dr. Jan Roberts is a licensed clinical social worker and recognized leader and clinician in the field of mental health, including the therapeutic use of cannabis and cannabis-based medications.

Dr. Roberts is the founder of Madison Square Partners (MSP), a private equity firm with the aim of funding and creating novel healthcare businesses targeting underserved communities and The Cannabinoid Institute an educational institute focused on providing CME/CE accredited English and Spanish-language education to physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and mental health practitioners across the globe in hopes of improving education and reducing adverse outcomes to vulnerable populations.

Dr. Roberts currently lives in New York City and still sees patients at her private practice in Manhattan.

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?

Absolutely. I’m a therapist, mom and business owner who has spent my life overcoming adversity in many directions. I am originally from a working-class family in Alabama, and the first one in my family to go to college. As a trauma survivor, I’d always felt different from those around me; because of my early experiences, I was curious about what compels people to do the things they do. I started struggling with depression and anxiety in my late teens and early 20s, and I began having panic attacks and knew something changed. In search of solutions, I began practicing meditation, mindfulness, and yoga. I found that connecting to my body really was vital and helped me begin a path of healing. I’d held executive level roles in various healthcare organizations but wanted to make a difference on a grander scale. In my mid-30’s, after planning for more than a year, I decided to return to school to be a therapist. Within two months of me leaving a lucrative career at U of Pennsylvania Health System and starting graduate school full-time, my husband left me for his secretary. I felt betrayed and scared, and I was broke. As the mom of three kids, I decided to continue the path of becoming a therapist. Fast forward fifteen years later, I am so grateful for those lessons. I remind myself: “if you have to go through something horrible, you can use your experience to help others”. That has been my motto and continues to influence all of the choices I make. I’ve spent my career trying to help other women, especially those who’ve experienced trauma. There are so many of us out there, and frankly I continue to see patients and invest my time and energy into helping women to quit playing small. Creating tools and helping others to live their best life influences all of my projects at work.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

I’ve been very fortunate to focus on providing innovative solutions to healthcare issues across the globe. What started as my work simply as a therapist has emerged to be a disruptor and change-agent in the mental health and wellbeing space. Probably the most interesting story I’ve had was during a business trip to China. I’d been flown to China by the Chinese government to speak about the role of CBD and its impact on mental health. Since this is such a new area, a lot of people don’t quite understand the intersection of cannabinoids, the endocannabinoid system and mood regulation. But being asked to speak with politicians, scientists and physicians at this grand event was such an honor. I love experiencing new cultures, and this event was one of the most incredible experiences I ever had. But the best part was actually the relationships I made there. I made some great friends and business connections that I still benefit from today. For me, building relationships and collaboration are necessary to impact this world in a positive way. Being able to have a global platform to do that is not something I take lightly.

I was in Colombia speaking to the Colombian Society of Pediatrics about cannabinoids and mental health. It was a huge event and the first time anyone had provided this type of education. I was interviewed for around 30 minutes by their leading newspaper in Bogota (El Tiempo). The reporter also interviewed one of the male researchers who worked for me for around two minutes. I was excited to see the press coverage because the event was being widely followed and new laws around CBD had been passed by the government. The day of the event, I woke up to find the article and a picture of the male researcher who worked for me on the front page of El Tiempo. Essentially the reporter attributed most of the content to my male employee and made little mention of me. I understood that the culture was less favorable to women in Latin America, but I’d never experienced that level of discrimination for being a woman. It was the first time that it occurred to me that while being a woman in business in the US is considered more acceptable, being a woman-owned business in some cultures is a major handicap. In the US, we often fail to realize that women have more autonomy than in other parts of the world, because it’s so easy to forget our history and how much our mothers had to go through. But, this event solidified my own desire and commitment to focus more on women’s health issues on a global scale; oppression of any sort is oppression for all.

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’m not sure if it is funny, but I certainly laugh at my naivety back then. Years ago, I started to incorporate integrative health practices such as massage, nutritional coaching, and yoga into one of my businesses. Personally, I knew that mind-body strategies were vital to creating health for our patients, but I knew nothing about the business of yoga and massage. The venture wasn’t profitable, and, after a year of this expansion and investment, I pivoted back to focus on the therapy side of my business for business reasons. It’s funny now because I used to think “good intentions” were enough. But the lesson I learned was that no matter how good your intentions, to be successful and authentic requires balancing your values, knowing where you need support, and executing your vision with discrete, achievable goals.

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?

Unfortunately, for too many women my age, we’ve had few role models or mentors in the workplace. I am only here because of the people I’ve surrounded myself throughout the years and from the tough lessons I’ve learned. A few years ago, I was considering closing one of my businesses. I’d moved to New York a few years prior, and it was clear that my work in NYC was expanding and time had become a precious commodity. It was one of the hardest decisions I ever made, because it was “my baby”. But, in order to move forward with Madison Square Partners, I knew something had to give. I was being pulled in a significantly different direction and I knew that what I was doing would present a greater impact on society and women especially. One of my mentors actually laughed at me one day when I was discussing my concerns and how I was struggling to make the decision that I knew needed to be made. He pointed out, “You’re running your business like a therapist!” I realized he was right. After working with patients for so long and teaching them about healthy boundaries and the importance of self-care, I wasn’t following my own advice. I was stuck in my emotions and caretaking of others instead of the healthiest thing to do for me. Shortly afterward, I made the decision to close that business, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

I have found that often when people fail to perform or fail to “shoot for the stars,” it’s their own limiting beliefs or self-doubt holding them back.

I am so grateful for the progress that has been made to encourage and empower women over the last twenty years, but there is still so much more that needs to be addressed. As a business owner, but more importantly as a therapist, I am keenly aware of how our thoughts influence our feelings and behaviors. In my experience in working with women, I often find that they have such ingrained, automatic limiting thoughts. I’ve seen this play out in my past as well. In our society, while we have made advances, women and young girls still carry the lion’s share of responsibility as caretakers, and our value remains remarkably diminished as evidenced in salary differences and expectations.

We need to do better. We need to keep chipping away, improving and moving away from the ingrained behaviors of a patriarchal society and share and collaborate in building a more balanced way forward that draws on the strengths of all. I remember when I was in grade school, the ERA failed to pass. I remember at that time thinking that the failure to pass meant that people did not support women as equal to men, that all people are created equal. First, we need to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. We need to ensure that women are fairly compensated, and as a society we need to celebrate our commitment to equality. Legislation is part of that. Second, we need to begin changing how we raise all our children no matter their gender and beyond. We need to remain vigilant about recognizing, teaching and modeling equality: respecting women as equals through consent, dismantling objectification, and sharing roles, responsibilities, parenting, and power.

People tend to give up power only when they are compelled to do so. Male fragility is real, and we need to address how our society still embodies patriarchal attitudes and expectations. And finally, and most importantly, we need to begin addressing the unacceptable reality of how trauma has impacted women. Years ago, before I started my business, I had a physician corner me in an office, and try to kiss and grope me. I reported it to my manager who reported it to the CEO. The physician received a slap on the wrist and I was assured he’d “never work with me again”. Within a year, due to staffing shortages, this physician who had a history of abusive behavior, was brought back to my department to work side-by-side with me. It was demoralizing and infuriating to be so disregarded. These types of situations and patterns are egregious — they impact women exponentially more than men. When businesses allow this to happen, women are more likely to internalize the message that we are not equally valued. These types of practices lead to women playing small. When I hear women apologizing or saying “I’m sorry” repeatedly, it’s a clue that they’ve internalized not being considered equal. We need to deeply evaluate and discuss how our thoughts can limit us, and how our voices are negated. Women will remain disadvantaged until we are respected, lawfully, as equals.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

This is about power frankly. Business founders set agendas and have significant impact in the world. We need women founders so that women’s experiences can be represented. In my work in women’s health and mental health, I am committed to promoting women’s health issues that have historically not been addressed or promoted. It has been said that the personal is political. And, I’ve used my experiences and outrage about being treated unequally to guide my work. Women leaders in business can better ensure that we are represented in research dollars, product development, and beyond: and we can enforce an inclusive culture in the workplace and everywhere, where we are respected and treated as equals. Inclusivity is vital to creating fairness and innovation. Differing perspectives can make us stronger drive progress. Having dedicated my career to helping people live their best lives, I founded Madison Square Partners as a means to help direct my passion to support much needed change and equality. I can’t rely on male executives to protect my rights or those of other women, and I am putting my time, money, energy, expertise and commitment to reverse the deficits currently holding us all back.

Mentoring is also vital. We have come a long way, but there is so much to be gained when women and men are treated equally. I never had female mentors and have committed a significant amount of time mentoring young women to change that. When there is an imbalance of power, we can expect problems. The pandemic has proven that the old ways of operating are no longer working. This is why we are seeing so many people leaving their jobs; they are questioning systems, assumptions, and inequalities and making their voices heard. Many are looking for collaboration and questioning the existing structures and hierarchy. Many are demanding inclusivity and resisting oppression inherent in the existing culture and constructs. Women founders and our voices are critical now. We can effectively improve our lives, by voicing and protecting our interests, and in turn, the interests of all who are disadvantaged or oppressed, as role models and leaders.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

There are three. One is that being a founder means that you’re always successful. This is simply not true. Failure is a part of life and a part of growth; it doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person or that you’re not doing something worthwhile. Some of my better achievements have come out of my worst failures. And the lessons I’ve learned from those are immeasurable.

We tend to think of failure as a dirty word. But those of us who have failed magnificently have used those lessons to grow. All of us fail, and we shouldn’t be afraid to discuss it. How many light bulbs did Thomas Edison attempt to create before he found his way?

The second myth is that female founders must not experience fear because of their courage. We all experience fear: it’s part of the territory and risk-taking. Having courage does not mean that you aren’t scared or afraid of failure. Fear is a normal human emotion; it is not a sign of failure or lack of ability.

The third myth is that being a founder means you have to be great at everything. This is absolutely untrue. No one becomes a professional athlete without lots of practice, working with a team and constantly learning and honing skills. Being a founder means surrounding yourself with talent, learning from your mistakes, and remaining coachable. Know your limits and blind-spots, and then surround yourself with the right people who can help you achieve your goals.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

That is such a great question! Most people have no clue what it’s like to run a business. I believe in order to be a successful founder, you need to be diligent and risk-tolerant. That is not for everyone. It takes a certain belief in yourself and willingness to meet the blind spots to persevere. Some people are not risk tolerant for many reasons, and for those, a ”regular job” might be a better choice. To be fair, sometimes I have asked that question of myself, but I don’t think I could ever go back to working for someone else. That just doesn’t seem like much fun. I like my autonomy.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Surround yourself with the right people: There will be enough nay-sayers out there, usually men who tend to feel threatened, may have linear cognitive processes, and might not buy into your vision. To deal with these kinds of issues, it’s vital to surround yourself with positive, supportive people who can give you honest feedback and provide insight into how to move forward. For women in my generation, we didn’t have many female mentors or role models in the workplace. Finding other women who’ve been in the trenches can help you find funding, and understand the role that sexism plays in business, giving you the much needed support to navigate uncharted territory.

For me, I’ve had to let go of relationships and people who bred negativity. Getting critical feedback is one thing, but listening to someone doubt your every move can be disabling and is most likely a reflection of their own fears and approval needs than your own failures.

2. Learn how to have difficult conversations: Let’s face it. We all want to be liked, and unfortunately because of how we’ve been socialized, we tend to value others’ opinions of us over our own voice. However, you can’t lead a business endeavor or a strong team, if your self-worth is based on other’s opinions of you. This often leads to women being uncomfortable with conflict. Recently, I had a client who realized that she was afraid to address a coworker’s lack of abilities because she “didn’t want to throw her under the bus”. My client found that her co-worker’s ineptitude was negatively impacting her own work and causing significant more anxiety. We worked on creating confidence around having difficult conversations and even role-played the scenario with her supervisor. As I expected, her supervisor had noticed this as well and my client learned that there were solutions to the problem. Learning how to have this difficult conversation gave my client the confidence she needed and reinforced her value and worth. Since that conversation, she’s become more comfortable having difficult conversations which have led to better results and less anxiety; if she would have avoided these conversations, she would still be anxious, overworked, and most likely filled with resentment of her colleague which have significant impacts on high functioning business teams.

3. Create healthy boundaries for yourself: Healthy boundaries are not just individual psychological tools but are healthy tools for business as well. Healthy boundaries include: self-care, not caretaking or enabling others, and holding others accountable. Self-care is critical for success. Most women have been raised to be caretakers and see self-care as a luxury or being selfish or self-indulgent. Unfortunately, this can have dreadful consequences in the workplace. I’ve seen this play out in many for my clients with the result usually being burnout, exhaustion, and ineffectiveness in their roles. To be effective as a woman business owner, you have to know your limits, know when to recharge, and know what is the best path forward. This includes not putting yourself in the role of caretaker for others at work as well. Because of our socialization, many women bring their nurturing side to their work. While being nurturing is not the issue, enabling others is- whether it’s with poor performance from an employee, insubordination from an employee, and even becoming too involved in their personal lives. By not holding people accountable for not doing their job (aka, having poor boundaries), women founders often take on the additional work and become overburdened. This leads to diffused attention and taking your focus away from your needs to be successful. It’s better to have successful performance management strategies than to take on additional responsibilities. In addition, being successful in business requires women to understand that “it’s not personal, it’s business.” I have experienced this as well and learned the hard way that my job is not to “mother” but to lead.

For me, creating healthy boundaries around my time is a must. To counteract my stress level, massages, yoga, and meditation time are required. In the mornings, I don’t look at my email or my phone until after I have taken care of my need for quiet meditative time. We need balance, and boundaries can help achieve that.

4. Follow your heart: Yes, I said it. Most men would never tell you this, but, if you are led by your passion and your purpose, you are more likely to succeed. Love what you focus on and you will never feel like you’re working; it always feels like play. In addition, research has shown that purpose-driven businesses “grew by 1681% compared to the S&P 500 average of 118%”. (Sisodia 2014; Source: https://www.businessofpurpose.com/statistics)

I’ve found that when my passion is activated, I put in more effort than is required and have higher tolerance for risks. Following your heart is a great way to be set up for success.

5. Be authentic: Women and men approach things differently. Often, women have unique attributes that historically have been deemed by men as “emotional” or “too relational”. These traits are not problems but assets when used correctly. They can be harnessed when following the other tips mentioned here to provide “transformational leadership”. “Transformational leadership” is a relationally-driven leadership style that many employees prefer and feel inspired by. These traits are most often found in female leaders and lead to higher employee retention rates and high performing teams. In my generation, most women starting their own businesses or working in executive levels often attempted to mimic men’s leadership styles. Not only have hierarchical and transactional leadership styles proven to be stifling, but they also don’t lead to creative solutions and growth mindsets. By authentically owning ourselves and our unique style in the workplace, we role model self-actualization and confidence to our employees. In addition, and this is one of the most critical factors, pay attention to the language we use about ourselves as women business leaders. There is no reason to apologize for being you. Many women automatically revert to self-deprecating behavior or language and often apologize or say things like “I’m sorry” when being assertive. As a result, we diminish our power. Realizing that our power lies in our authenticity helps to break this cycle, and learning how to harness the internal power we have is part of developing into a leader.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I started Madison Square Partners with the vision of creating companies to address healthcare issues for medically underserved populations. My focus is on improving mental health and women’s health in particular. I have a background in sociology and social work, so I bring the awareness that we are products of our environment, and to change our trajectory, we have to address power and influence. I have a commitment to helping those with less power or a voice in all that I do. And, I do this shamelessly. Frankly, I want to use my position to leave this world a better place than when I got here. I take this activist approach to heart, and it influences all that I do.

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

I’m fascinated with natural treatments that have shown to have an impact on health and wellbeing, and the research on the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and specific disease states makes it a great target for treating certain conditions. The ECS impacts hormone regulation, cortisol production, and mood making it an interesting area of focus for women’s health issues like menopause, fibromyalgia, endometriosis and so many other conditions. There are so many ways to influence the ECS without using cannabis as well, and there are some interesting ways to approach this without ever touching the cannabis plant. This is an area I am really passionate about. We need smarter approaches to treatment that involve a holistic and integrative approach.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Female Founders: Jan Roberts of Madison Square Partners On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Maya Ford & Tiffany Nelson of FordMomentum On The Five Things You Need To Thrive…

Female Founders: Maya Ford & Tiffany Nelson of FordMomentum On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Safety: Do you feel safe where you work? Can you speak up about your ideas, criticize others? Do you have what you need to do your best work? Safety is all about being supported enough to achieve your goals; it’s not just about getting rid of predatory bosses but also examining workplace policies that can put undue burdens on women.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing FordMomentum’s Maya Ford & Tiffany Nelson who are transforming the way we collect data and share messages. Together, they have more than 20 years of experience and are excited about solving major communication issues that keep communities from healing and contribute to gaps in the human experience.

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?

Maya: It all began with me questioning some of the major messages out there about our communities and the general framework we exist in. Why do we create the products and businesses that we do? Why do certain products get more popular? Ultimately, FordMomentum! really became about creating what’s missing in the world. Tiffany spent years in corporate sales and global marketing and so we both saw firsthand these systems that are designed to profit instead of meeting needs. This has since progressed into a very strong desire to simply understand what works and what doesn’t and ensuring people feel safe throughout the process as we collect data, share messages or engage in discussion to build better solutions. As Black women, we know how critical it is to feel safe before you can truly be a part of any conversation.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Tiffany: It’s actually pretty common in our work because we often work with communities that have been overlooked, ignored and/or misrepresented, so we sometimes expect people to “take the good.” What I mean by that is that when you listen to the people and you design a solution that you see as good, you have to be prepared for the fact they may not see it that way– sometimes because of their own mistrust and/or previous experiences. So my assumption that we’re all working from the same place isn’t true and it’s caused us to reevaluate a lot of our process and how we collect data. Ultimately, as Maya always says, “service to others is not about you.” So how do we make sure they see this as good? So when you’re working in these major communication gaps you start to truly understand how even if you do your job right, and you get the “good,” it’s not enough by itself because people need language, resources and tools. Ultimately, they need to be a part of this from the beginning until the very end- even if it makes the work harder.

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?

Maya: People tend to think of as “cute girl scientists,” which a lot of women in science already face but especially when you start to merge “harder” science with what we often, incorrectly, call soft sciences. Sometimes people get burned by that because we’re here to do the work. We’re not going to let you skate by, we’re going to dig into the message, the target audience and have a real conversation. So, sometimes people get burned with us because they’re expecting one thing and then we show up ready to produce, create and listen. I think more people are realizing what FM! is and how serious we are but it’s a common issue many women face in this industry overall.

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?

Maya: Absolutely. In addition to our growing team, we also have each other. We actually met when I was doing the behind-the-scenes work on my business and Tiffany, at the time, offered mobile notary services. We were both struggling with major career and professional crises– I actually moved to Panama for a bit– and I remember both of our cars were repossessed! At one point, we were sitting at my grandparents’ table and being so frustrated about the lack of support from officials and our government that we decided to step in, driving this old battered jeep and sharing resources like groceries. So, we’re able to take our lived experiences and produce, or convert it, into something necessary. We work well off each other and bring such different insight, skills and ideas to the table.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

Tiffany: Right now, so much of our world suppresses and oppresses and it’ll lead you to not trust yourself and what you know. Most women are raised in patriarchal communities that never instill in them the confidence to chase their professional dreams and/or are told they’ll have to work twice as hard for half as much. It’ll make you unsure of your abilities — and yourself. If we were all able to healthily actualize we may find that more women want to be founders (and some don’t) but what’s key is that the decision lies with them and not the systems around us.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

Maya: We have to stop seeing “founding a company” through a eurocentric lens, where we essentially create a business to consume or produce for consumption. Overall, we don’t discuss enough the responsibility behind creating a business and the people you will serve. Are they actually helped by you? Are you ensuring that you don’t cause harm- even decades from now– with today’s decisions? We also have to unpack much of the messaging that Tiffany mentions that can keep women from starting their own businesses and companies. Often, as founders, we have to unpack and/or undo some of the really bad lessons we’ve been taught. This happens both at the individual level so we recognize the power of our words and encouragement but also at the systemic level so we can undo some of the major barriers harming women in science and business.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Tiffany: There’s a lot of data that shows why women should be founders and how they are different as leaders. Women display more empathy and more collaboration. Women are also more likely to consider generous paid time off opportunities and better workplace balance. Also, while women certainly face a number of external challenges, founding a company can be great because you’re able to build the workplace you want to see internally, which is why I think we see so many women leaders implementing kinder policies.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

Maya: I would dispel the myth that someone has to “create and lead.” First and foremost, many have created products and brands that didn’t help and actually caused harm. So creating and leading isn’t enough by itself unless you’re working on services/products that help/heal. Otherwise, you are creating simply for consumption’s sake. We also get caught up in the cycle of consumption and before we’re even done with one thing, we’re thinking of the next product. From art to services, this cycle demands so much yet if you only create one amazing thing in your life, are you somehow less than the person who created several? When you create something that is meant to truly disrupt, or change systems, you can’t get caught up in the cycle of “producing something.”

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

Tiffany & Maya: I think we need to change the idea of a “regular” job, first and foremost. Not everyone wants to lead- even if they are able to or skilled enough to. Some people want to save that energy for their families, their communities or even themselves. The term “regular job” simply isn’t fair because you are still spending time and energy. Everyone has a role in making change, and if we have too many leaders it puts an undue focus on the leaders, and not the everyday people working to bring this change to fruition.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

-Safety: Do you feel safe where you work? Can you speak up about your ideas, criticize others? Do you have what you need to do your best work? Safety is all about being supported enough to achieve your goals; it’s not just about getting rid of predatory bosses but also examining workplace policies that can put undue burdens on women.

-Language: Language allows you to express yourself and shared language helps so that people truly understand your message. Do you have the language for that “off-feeling” in your gut? Do you have the language for why this product can cause harm? Language is a major part of communication and, in the workplace, can make all of the difference as teams brainstorm and work together.

– Values: This is key because articulating your values can keep you from joining harmful brands and creating detrimental products. On our side, for example, one of our values is to improve something exponentially. It ensures we give every project the focus it deserves but also keeps us from aligning with projects that aren’t designed to maximize our impact.

-Economic power: Put simply, we need to be paid fairly, accurately and on time. We also need investment. We need capital and the opportunities to prove our products, brands and services work. When women face constraints in the workplace and across society, it puts undue criticisms on their output. The product isn’t actually less than; it’s simply given less support. That’s key to growing brands and businesses founded by women.

-Justice: We need justice and we need equity– not just equality. Justice ensures that women are being treated fairly in the workplace and have the resources they need to start that billion-dollar brand idea.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Maya: We work every single day to ensure people are heard and that what they say matters. Across our campaigns in Houston, Las Vegas, and a number of cities, we worked with underrepresented populations to get their input. Overall, when I wake up in the morning, I always think about my impact and what I can do that day. Sometimes it’s telling people they can do that amazing thing in their head. We can push through, we can create new things, and even though it’s scary to build, we have to because so many voices and experiences are missing from our landscape.

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

Maya & Tiffany: I believe our system STOLO which prioritizes literacy, self-esteem, values, economic power and justice can be used for everything from community development to self-reflection and healing. For example, the scientific method doesn’t give you any answers. It gives you a process to go from theory, to being able to prove or disprove your theory, then you can move on and test further. STOLO is the same exact methodology, but for communications. So what STOLO does is it allows people to go through the theory of what do you want, need, love to be the best human you can be for yourself, for your community, and for the world at large. When we ask these questions, we remove ourselves from the capitalist framework to focus on what is truly needed. I firmly believe that STOLO gives us the tools to finally have these major conversations in a way we’ve never had them before.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment 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 with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Maya: First and foremost, bell hooks. We’ve based a lot of our work on her research and STOLO is short for Style of Love, her term. She gave me language and that’s a lot of why I do this work. Next is Oprah Winfrey, one of the most dynamic communicators that we’ve ever seen in the 20th century. She understood scaling, the human connection and still seeing ethnicity and allowing it to add to the conversation without undermining the universality of the human experience. Finally, Serena and Venus. Serena is doing critical venture capitalism work and she’s getting her voice in tech and seeing how we use these tools to catapult women into equitable spaces. I get it because I have the same questions. There are a ton of people I’d like to meet but this is the start.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Female Founders: Maya Ford & Tiffany Nelson of FordMomentum On The Five Things You Need To Thrive… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: June Lai of Catalyst On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman…

Female Founders: June Lai of Catalyst On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Learning never stops: After twelve years, I’m still asking questions everyday. I ask questions of my business partner, my team, our partners, colleagues and people in various circles who have different areas of expertise. The best part about asking is you’re constantly learning something new. It’s how you use that constant influx of knowledge that helps drive our business.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing June Lai, CEO of Catalyst.

June Lai is the Co-Founder and CEO of Catalyst, a global consumer technology company. She began her career as a scientist and worked for investment banks covering the healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Although June holds a number of degrees and certifications, her love of adventure (avid rock climber and recreational pilot) and consumer technology gadgets directed her success. She started Catalyst 12 years ago — with a concept design for one case that addressed a personal pain point. Today, Catalyst is a globally recognized leader in their space, with hundreds of product skus, distributed and sold in more than 70 countries around the world.

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 as a scientist and then worked in finance in investment banking and corporate development covering the telecom, media, tech, healthcare, biotech, pharma and insurance industries. I studied Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and have my MBA from Ivey Business School.

I’ve studied a lot (I’m a Chartered Financial Analyst, Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant), but my love of adventure rivals my love of learning. I am also an avid rock climber (as much as I can be right now), a recreational pilot, and I’ve always been a bit of a gadget geek…which brings me to the last 11 years of my career.

I was always an entrepreneur at heart and after years in a corporate role, identified the right opportunity where I would still have an impact but got to build and grow a company from scratch.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

I can’t say there is just ONE story over the last 11 years because we’ve had so many amazing encounters. I’m going to group the experience — and say, as the Catalyst brand gained recognition and a reputation for performance and quality above all others in the market, especially in the waterproof space, we found it extremely flattering and exciting when we’d see celebrities, people of influence and journalists using the products whether it was captured in magazines, on social media or we would see them at a trade show. Without any prompt, or endorsement — they chose Catalyst for the everyday protection on their devices.

Sir Richard Branson photographed himself using our cases on this boat and posted it on Instagram. At tradeshows, we’ve had celebrities from Wesley Snipes to Joey Fatone and Nate Morris stop by our booth to outfit their phones. And we’d see tech journalists at shows, and even though they cover and stop in to visit dozens of case companies, what they had on their personal devices, was Catalyst. That was a huge compliment and extremely interesting to see as we watched our brand grow.

It’s not just the products that began to get global recognition. I started to get called on consistently as an industry expert to speak at conferences for Shopify and Amazon, and was invited to collaborate in leadership groups for Amazon sellers, ecommerce sellers and women’s leadership groups. What we were doing was being noticed, and how we did it was something people wanted insight into.

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?

You definitely learn a lot when you’re starting your own business and many moments are humbling at the time and quite amusing when you look back on them years later. When you start out as an entrepreneur, you are the CEO, CFO, head of marketing, sales manager and chief janitor. EVERYTHING is on you, and if you want to be successful, you need to put ego to the side and get your hands dirty.

When we were preparing to launch our first Kickstarter campaign, we needed a marketing video to showcase the function of our first case but did not have a budget to hire a video team. So, like most start-ups, we did it ourselves.

We got some colleagues together, none of whom had any video experience or training, and went to work. We were the actors, directors, producers, camera operators and editors. In the opening scene, I had to run down the beach which was absolutely out of my comfort zone, and then we needed more than 20 takes until we got it right. It’s one of those moments you replay today for a few good laughs and appreciate how far we’ve come.

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?

Hands down, I’d say my business partner, and our Chief Designer, Josh Wright. Catalyst would not be today if it were not for his creativity, skilled work in design and development, and our aligned vision for the brand from day 1. My background is in business, finance and market analyst with development over time of marketing and legal skills. But if you don’t have strong products to drive the business, sales and customer loyalty — it will fail over time.

From the first product he designed, we came into the market strong with a solution for iPhone protection at a level not yet achieved by competitors. Since then, Catalyst has been the first or ONLY company to design and release some product categories including the first to launch a case for AirPods in spring of 2017, the only company to make a waterproof case for Apple Watch that’s 330ft waterproof, and the only company to make a 100% waterproof case for the iPad 12.9’ device.

We took that a step further with our Total Protection series that’s 100% washable and able to be disinfected in accordance with CDC guidelines. We also created and released a completely sealed case for the AirPods Pro that’s waterproof to 330 feet.

These are design accomplishments many companies have tried to replicate and failed. The industry and our customers wait to see what Josh and his team create next. Our partnership has made Catalyst what it is today and I’m very proud of our collective achievements.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

This is absolutely a gap that time and culture is slowly closing, but there is much more work to do. In the tech sector, this disparity has historically been more prominent than other industries. The fact is, women have been making their mark in the technology field for years, and today, there are more women in the tech field than ever before — encouraging future generations to follow.

When I was growing up, modern technology was in its infancy and there were very few women pursuing careers in this field. There are still times when I’m the only woman/minority in the room.

There are various reasons why gender inequality still exists, but what worked for me has been to speak up, participate, not be afraid to have a different point of view, to listen to others and respond with an thoughtful and insightful response, and overall to get involved in the discussion and decision making process — to empower and encourage everyone and at every stage of their career to openly discuss issues; instilling the understanding that there is no wrong answer.

The short answer is: there has been a generational evolution for women in tech and women founders, and the more we encourage younger generations of women, the stronger this movement becomes. Young girls and women today don’t think twice about their ability to have an impact and change lives through their contribution to the industry, and actively engage their talents in the field without hesitation. That’s a powerful evolution as we work to close the gap in numbers.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

This is a societal mind-shift, and as I said before, it’s already made significant shifts in the last couple of decades. Most people don’t assume the man in the group is a CEO and the woman is his secretary. There are way too many women in positions of power and that number continues to rise.

From my vantage point, women lead differently but that contributes to their effectiveness. I find that women are more collaborative in their approach, lead by listening to and engaging others, and want to empower others to succeed. As individuals and as a society we need to listen, read the room and take stock in what people have to say and the value of their contributions — not their gender.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Women have a lot to contribute. If someone has the knowledge, the drive and the desire to make their mark on an industry, they should pursue that path — and women today are equally encouraged to contribute and achieve at the highest levels. Not everyone — man or woman — has what it takes to be a founder. But the entrepreneurial spirit is more prevalent in the younger generation of women — and their desire to create, achieve and succeed is an incredibly powerful force.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

First, it’s not all glamorous. We tend to see company founders after they’ve ‘made it’. They seem to have it all together and their success from the outside is envied. But few people were up close to see the journey from day 1; the stress, the failures, the struggles, the growing pains and the ups and downs that got them to that point. It’s a lot of work, sleepless nights and heartache — but as a founder of a company that’s highly successful today, I can tell you, the journey is worth it.

There’s also a misconception that your success is all about you. That could not be further from the truth. The larger and more successful you get, the larger your team gets and that team is instrumental in the overall success of the company. As a founder, you are responsible for each one of their livelihoods, and that is a huge responsibility and one I take very seriously.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

To found or start a company is easy, but to grow it to be successful and to build it to last is difficult. Often when you start a company, it’s based upon one idea, but it needs to evolve as you understand the market better. It also takes a different skillset to scale a company successfully and to build and lead a team.

A good leader is inspiring, motivating, involving and engaging. Leadership is about self-awareness so it is important to know yourself well enough that you can be honest and authentic. The core elements of leadership are integrity and authenticity, so you need to know your good and bad parts, be vulnerable and talk about the challenges. You cannot take shortcuts or make false promises. You need to own and analyze your mistakes and identify what you’ve learned. Delivering on your promises pays dividends in the long run not just for your team but also your customers and having a learning process is critical if you want people to follow you.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. Learning never stops: After twelve years, I’m still asking questions everyday. I ask questions of my business partner, my team, our partners, colleagues and people in various circles who have different areas of expertise. The best part about asking is you’re constantly learning something new. It’s how you use that constant influx of knowledge that helps drive our business.
  2. Get comfortable in your own skin: As much as the industry has changed and evolved, there are many times I am still one of few or the only woman in the room. I’m completely comfortable there and know what I have to contribute is valuable and respected by my male colleagues. As a female founder in these spaces, you have to be confident and comfortable. If you’re not comfortable today — recognize the hurdle and work to overcome it. Get comfortable in your own skin. Get used to being the only woman in the room. Get involved and contribute to every conversation. It’s critical to your growth and success as well as the women coming up in your industry.
  3. Strategically build your team: When you start a company, it’s not long before you grow beyond yourself, and your range of expertise. As a leader, you need to recognize your strengths but more importantly, recognize and appreciate the strengths of others. Build a strong team around you and trust them to do what they’re good at.
    As your team grows, there will likely be a range of personality types that you as a leader need to navigate and manage to get the most out of each person. You need to recognize how each team member processes information, how they communicate and what they need to deliver the best possible result.
  4. Play chess not checkers: When you start a company and begin to grow, it is critical to be thinking three steps ahead of where you are. As the founder, it is your job to develop strategies that sustain and grow the company. You should always be looking ahead. Industries are constantly changing and evolving, technologies are advancing, and market conditions are always changing. You have to be positioned to adapt quickly.
  5. Be able to adapt: This builds perfectly off the last point.
    The world is vastly different than it was two years ago. The way we do business and speak to our customers is different. Consumer buying habits and expectations have changed. Many companies did not survive the last 18 months as challenges compounded in global logistics & supply chain, demand dropped for some goods, revenue declined, and some companies did not adjust.
    We however have come out stronger, due to our strategic leadership and the ability to adjust to market changes in privacy, marketing and working with new and existing channels to focus on invention, innovation and design — not just on products.
    In 2020 every company was tested. Catalyst was not isolated from the fall out but was prepared to quickly adapt and shift the focal point as the only protective case on the market for electronic devices to be 100% washable and able to be disinfected in accordance with CDC guidelines. This focus became the most important feature for consumers and critical in the B2B space in which hospitals and health care facilities turned to Catalyst for protection of handheld devices in their facilities.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

We try to use the success of the brand to create strategic alignments that give back to causes and efforts that we’re closest to. Through our Catalyst Cares program, we support a charity each year that aligns with our core values and roots like the Nature Conservancy. Most recently, we made a commitment to donate a $1.00 from the sale of every Total Protection Case to the CDC Foundation in an effort to support education and protection programs needed as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.

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

The Catalyst brand was born out of our love for the outdoors, adventure, and nature. If I could inspire a movement, it would be one that better conserves our planet for future generations. Setting unrealistic goals of going completely green in all aspects of life and business is unattainable and allows defeat to set in easily. If every company and every person just made small life changes (recycling, eliminating the purchase and use of styrofoam, limiting the amount of plastics used in packaging (for businesses), transitioning your energy use to renewable sources), the collective impact would be monumental.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Female Founders: June Lai of Catalyst On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Shirley Leigh-Wood Oakes of Mezcal Campante On The Five Things You Need To Thrive…

Female Founders: Shirley Leigh-Wood Oakes of Mezcal Campante On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Allow your emotions to be there and allow yourself to understand them. — What makes woman incredible Founders is that they are emotional, there is nothing wrong with that, but it is essential to understand your emotions especially when it comes to making decisions. Make decisions that are right for the business not right for your ego. And always act like the woman you are not the man you think others think you should be.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shirley Leigh-Wood Oakes.

Shirley Leigh-Wood Oakes is a successful female founder who is a venture partner at Brandville ventures, Partner and CEO of Mezcal Campante and an Advisor for leading consumer brands. She has had a diverse career in marketing and as a female founder has experienced the continuous journey of discovery one takes to be the truest leader you can.

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?

From an early age, I trained as a classical and contemporary dancer, it is where I derive my sense of poise, discipline, and focus from — core qualities of a good leader. Creativity whether I express it physically, verbally, or in the written word is embedded in the soul. A love of aesthetic beauty, elegance, and grace fills me up immeasurably. A quick jeté into the world of film, following in my grandfather’s footsteps, and study at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York was another limb on the path to the universe of marketing which began in my mid-20s. A dear friend was opening a new hospitality concept in London, and he asked me to join the team and that’s where the path turned toward branding and public relations. In 2013, after working for several brands in the luxury realm, I co-founded an agency, which quickly became one of the top brand influence agencies in the UK and Europe. It was while working with brands, corporate clients, and entrepreneurs to position them for success in their respective marketplaces that the passion ignited within me for brand building bringing me to where I am today. I am a partner of Mezcal Campante, an advisor and board member for several companies and I work closely with Brandville Ventures, a venture capital, and private equity firm. At Brandville Ventures, we’re helping to build, finance, and reimagine businesses and launch them into the very discerning arms of consumers everywhere. We set off with a mission to build brands that shift categories and add value to people’s lives. The creativity that is required for building a brand is much like producing a corps de ballet, it is an ensemble work that is well-choreographed creating a beautiful result visible to the consumer.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Our lives are a crazy quilt of interesting stories, each segment stitched together with another to form a person’s experience. Narrowing my focus to one that stands out as we began the adventure of Mezcal Campante is the first time we visited the Palenque where our mezcal is made in Rio Ejutla close to the city of Oaxaca. Considered one of the largest energy vortices of the world, Oaxaca and its surroundings emit a magical, and powerful vibration of history, culture, community, and creativity, one that washed over me like a tidal force. We drove 90 minutes outside of the city to the farm where I watched in awe as four generations of the Rodriquez family worked together to handcraft our spirit imbuing it with heritage, terroir, love, and history. A true romance between the land and the mezcaleros was unfolding right before our eyes and I felt an incredible shift within.

Not long after, I found out that Oaxaca is one of Mexico’s most ethnically mixed States including people of Aztec, Mayan, Zapotec, Mixtec, Otomi, Totonac, and Tzotzil ancestry. One through-line among these cultures is that women have not only a say but elevated standing in the economic, governmental, and agricultural activities, an equality that doesn’t exist as such in the other 30 States. Watching the women work side-by-side with the men in the fields and the offices inspired me in so many ways and drives me to keep this tradition alive and nurture it into the present and beyond, from the field to the copper stills to the ultimate consumer.

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?

It is only when one is active and productive that mistakes are made and I have made many, and still do. Most, to be honest, are not funny at all, but with time you learn to laugh at them, or yourself for the mistake. You have to it’s the only way to keep moving forward. I always want to get it all right — I’m a perfectionist. But you can’t. You never will and the moment you start to realize this the easier life becomes. So instead of a funny tale, I’d rather share that when something goes awry, try the STOP technique from Mindfulness training. S stands for stop or pause for a moment or two. T is for Taking a few breaths. O is for observation — check in with yourself. Check-in with the situation. P is for proceeding once you have given yourself the time and space to find a good solution.

None of us can 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?

My partner, in business and life. He is my biggest supporter, my biggest critic, and my biggest inspiration. He pushes me to my limits, lifts me when I am low, hugs me when it gets a bit much, and applauds when I’ve achieved more than I thought possible. Our story is, well, unusual. No swipe right or blind date. He started as my client and now he is my partner in life and business. We have gone on to build a life together and this is only the beginning.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still must be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience, what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

I grew up in a family where women have a very strong leading role, so I have been surrounded by this energy my whole life, but at home, that wasn’t always the case outside of the home. Many reasons hold woman back from founding companies from limited investment opportunities for women to insufficient childcare programs to support women. The differing styles between men and women are also holding back the evolution. Kindness, compassion, and emotionality are not valued in the business world and women fight hard to hold these qualities back. This creates inauthenticity, frustration, and a sense of powerlessness that stops women from taking the leap into leadership. The hurdles are endless and at every turn for women which makes it difficult to often comprehend the possibility of founding a company as a woman. This is changing but not fast enough.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

Let’s start at the beginning, where the minds of future female founders are formed, at school. Introducing young students, female, and male, to female founders and leaders is essential. I emphasize that this needs to be male students too as this will dramatically shape their understanding and vision of equality between the sexes. Hopefully, as these young men grow up, intuitively they will encourage the women around them. At home, I’d like to see lessons of non-judgment based on appearance and the many factors that go into appearances. When each person is taken for who and what they are and not how they look and the preconceived notions that accompany this then equality will gain a better footing.

Financial support, whether it be from private funding, venture capital investments, or government support needs to have a much clearer stream for female founders.

As an individual, taking the time to connect with women in business at all levels. At a certain stage in your career, you are only interested in meeting those at the top, we often forget to look at those around us, beside us, and maybe coming up behind us. All these women and men are important, and we should take the time to talk to them and share ideas, hopes and dreams because we can all help each other.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder, but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

We, those who identify as women, are 50.08% of the population, 85% of the decision-making consumers, and without us, the other 49.92 wouldn’t exist! But statistics aside, we as women see the world from a different perspective and I think this makes us vital in the consideration of how companies operate and are led, what they produce and what imprint these companies are making on the world.

Naturally, we are problem solvers and innately intuitive, we look for different ways to conquer a problem while always taking into consideration the various aspects. We listen to our gut and hear our emotional responses. This is something I notice that men often call out as a negative aspect of womankind. We are often positioned as ‘too emotional’ but that is what makes female founders so beautiful. We are emotional, we are moved deeply by things and that is fantastic — and pure emotion is undervalued in the workplace. Ironically, we play on consumers’ emotions; we try to trigger them to take action based on an emotion whether it is FOMO or perceived need, and we create exciting advertising and marketing to drive the bottom line. However, we stop short at listening to the emotions that drive our teams in the workplace.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

I’d like to dispel the myth that founders are male, and that of what a founder looks like. Ageism comes into play here as well. I look forward to the day when people don’t comment about my youth, my appearance, or my being female with a look of amazement or amusement when they hear I am the founder of a company.

A founder is portrayed in two ways; struggling and suffering to the end, or an overnight success. It is rare that the experience of a founder is portrayed as it should be, a journey of constant discovery and evaluation of the balance between success, achievement, and struggles.

There will always be struggle, but it should only be a small part of that journey and not the entire journey. I know and admire successful entrepreneurs who understand when the time was right to pivot or change and these are the ones out there beating the odds and breaking down the myths and barriers.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

No, and that’s okay. Because to be a founder you need employees, without them you cannot be a founder. A founder is only as successful as the team that they built around them. Success is not achieved by oneself, never. If we were all founders nothing would ever get achieved!

There are different traits for different types of founders. It’s a tightrope up there and it you are happy to walk it, take the risk, conquer the fear, and understand the fall, then maybe being a founder is for you. But you must be ready to fall and jump back up, sometimes daily! There is also an element of rebellion to a degree, especially as a female founder, a refusal to cave-in to the so-called rules. Naturally as founders we push for more, that can be a dangerous trait, but it is what makes us founders. The ability to lead a team, but not any team, one that you carefully curate to make it as strong as possible and with that comes a huge amount of understanding in human ability and personalities that work together, especially within start-ups. And finally, the ability to understand our mistakes and to avoid repeating them. Easier said than done. With all this in place, you may be on the road to being a great founder.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, What are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

You can’t be excellent at everything

Know your skill set and your strengths, identify your weaknesses. Once identified, map out what your company needs to succeed and then hire the necessary people to fill in the blanks. You can’t do it all, it takes a village to build a brand or a company, and when you realize this, you are one step closer to succeeding. My weakness was Finance, so I always hired a good finance manager from day one so that they could teach me but also allow me to trust that area of the company was being managed so I could focus on my area.

Listen for the signs of burnout

Burnout is common in Founders and knowing the signs is very important. If you don’t rest and look after yourself, you are no use to anyone. You need to be a wide-awake leader, and you need to be in good form to do so.

Constantly learning and educating

Surround yourself with people who inspire you, not just cheerleaders, not “yes” people. People you can learn from and who can open your eyes to new ways of doing things.

Allow your emotions to be there and allow yourself to understand them.

What makes woman incredible Founders is that they are emotional, there is nothing wrong with that, but it is essential to understand your emotions especially when it comes to making decisions. Make decisions that are right for the business not right for your ego. And always act like the woman you are not the man you think others think you should be.

Your team

Is only as strong as how you make them. Be patient and always kind. This was something I had to learn, I was not always the most patient, as I expected my team to work at the same pace, but in the end, you learn that everyone is different, they will get there with encouragement, guidance, and motivation. Instill confidence and self-efficacy in others. Push your team to exceed performance standards.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Realizing that giving of my time, even 40 minutes, can change a person. As an adult we lose dedicated time with people, pure one-on-one time with someone you trust, or admire, or aspire to be like. As a child you had that time with your parents, or your teachers. It was fundamental in your growth. But as we grow up that reduces considerably to time one-on-one with maybe a friend or a partner, not a mentor or someone who can help lead you. I am not talking about an hour with a performance coach or a session with your shrink, these are important commitments too. I mean time with someone else. Giving that time to someone is powerful, not only for the receiver, but also for the giver, you will learn so much during that moment together.

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

Kindness. It took me a long time to understand the power of kindness and how much it can change a human. I have been a tough leader at times, more than I would like to admit, but over time I have realized the benefit of kindness. It doesn’t cost a thing but can change someone completely.

I grew up at school thinking toughness was what got your through and made you who you were going to be. Greatness came through only if leaders were tough and put pressure on you, something from my dancing days. But that’s not true. There are many moments that I wish I could go back to my younger self and whisper ‘be kind at this moment,’ to those around me…and, mostly importantly perhaps, tell it to myself.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment 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 with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Where to start! There are so many people I’d like some one-on-one time with and for so many different reasons. This is what makes female founders so compelling, we are so multifaceted, and we allow that to come shining through. You can be attracted to a prominent figure for many reasons not just their success in the board room. If I had to pick one woman, I think it would have to be Mellody Hobson. As president and CEO of Ariel Investments and the Chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation she has had a most interesting journey thus far and much more to create and share with the world. As a woman Mellody has accomplished many firsts, first black woman to be chairperson of an S&P 500 Corporation, first black woman to head The Economic Club of Chicago and so much more. Give her a Google if you aren’t familiar with her achievements. In my opinion this is because she is a woman, because she is whip-smart, because she works hard, because she gives back, and she does it all married, wearing heels and dancing backwards. She has so much to share, and her trajectory seems limitless, what I wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee or a glass of mezcal with her.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Female Founders: Shirley Leigh-Wood Oakes of Mezcal Campante On The Five Things You Need To Thrive… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Heather McKeown of Land and Sky Designs: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More…

Heather McKeown of Land and Sky Designs: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

BRING NATURE IN. Almost nothing makes me happier than being outdoors! It may seem highly intuitive but more and more we are finding that including elements of biophilic design in the home can have a multitude of psychological and physical benefits. I recommend going for the real thing and bringing one or more large trees into your living space; the bigger the better! It will provide a visual connection to nature as well as supplying vital oxygen that will filter your air. If keeping plants alive is a challenge for you, try using an essential oil diffuser so you can experience the healing aromatherapy of plants without the responsibility.

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 Heather McKeown, Founder, Land and Sky Designs.

Urbane yet understated, comforting yet contemporary, Heather’s designs are a reflection of her own life experiences and inspirations. Almost a decade in high fashion taught her the importance of narratives, even in a focused brand setting. Along the way she worked for Burberry, Tory Burch, and Haute Hippie, among others, as both a stylist and a designer. Experiencing the allure of far off travels, and the organic forms and functions of nature are a major influence on her design philosophy.

Her love of family and everyday experience led her to interior design. Growing up on construction sites, she watched as her father, an architect and builder, brought his own visions to life. This instilled an innate desire to create environments that delighted. She founded Land and Sky Designs as a way of weaving together her passions for life and style with the wants and needs of her clients.

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?

The story of what brought me into this business is a long one — life-long, you could say!

As a child, I witnessed my father, an architect and builder, bring his own visions to life. He and my mother loved to talk about design at home, and watching them create together was, and still is, a truly beautiful dance between them. I was steeped in discussions about construction projects but I do not think I consciously realized that interior design was something I could do as a profession. A designer at heart, I worked happily in the high fashion world for over a decade until one day, I was sitting in the living room at my Hawaiian bungalow and realized that I was decorating three of my friends homes at the same time! Just for fun! I had a moment of clarity that perhaps my passions had shifted and it was time to go down a new path. I made a plan to move back to the mainland and attend design school and that is exactly what I did. The rest is history!

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

Actually something interesting just happened today, caused by the catastrophic flooding in our area. We are working on the renovation of a 5,000 square foot retail space that sits mid-way up a very steep road. This morning, the owner called me to say that two homes had slid into the roof, causing part of it to collapse! Tragic! Luckily, no one was hurt. Fortunately, we had not yet not begun the construction phase of the project but this is a reminder that every project has a human element and will always have its challenges.

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?

Yes! I made such a silly mistake for a client that I still kick myself over it today!

I accidentally ordered bar-height stools instead of counter stools for a client’s kitchen island. When installation day came, and the delivery guys propped these extra tall chairs up to the counter, I was mortified! Not only was it such an obvious mistake, but I knew that the lead time for new counter-height stools would be six weeks, at minimum. Thinking on my feet, I immediately called my father who lived an hour away, and asked if he could cut them down and level them. I fessed up to the client right away but told them I had a solution I hoped would work. I felt like I was quoting The Grinch who stole little Cindy Lou-Who’s Christmas decorations, “You see dear, I am going to take these back to my workshop. I will fix them up there, and bring them back here.”

Luckily, my dad and brother are master craftsmen and did a fantastic job cutting down, sanding, and leveling 24 legs in record time. I learned my lesson though: do not double check orders — TRIPLE CHECK them because simple mistakes are costly and embarrassing!

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

We are super excited to be working on some very cool projects at the moment. We are especially thrilled to be transforming a century-old property in the Hudson Valley into a boutique hotel and event space. We want to keep as much of the integrity of the building as we can while allowing for ADA accessibility. Most people don’t know this, but the Barnum and Bailey Circus had its roots in the Hudson Valley, so we will be incorporating some little surprises that harken back to this era in American history.

We are also working on designing a kitchen, bath, and tile showroom for one of our favorite vendors. We have worked with them for years and have a lot of fun together, so we were honored that they chose us to redesign their expanding marketplace. We are highlighting a fresh look to enhance individual and unique displays in the space, while allowing for a streamlined overall aesthetic. We want clients and contractors alike to be able to easily interact with products, so we have planned for an experiential design/playroom in which customers can make style and budget decisions in a more intelligent and comfortable fashion.

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

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

I believe that we have the power to create our reality. If ever something is not going my way, this saying reminds me that it’s on me to make it better.

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 eternally grateful to my father for exposing me to architecture and design, and for encouraging me to own my own business.

When I was a child, my father started his professional life working at an insurance company, but he would build homes on the weekends and off time. I could sense that his day job was not his calling, but with four kids, it supported our family’s needs. I remember one day he came home from work extra happy (of note, he is a genuinely ultra happy man all around). He looked at my mom and asked, “Did you see what is in the car?!” He was so excited, I thought he was about to tell us all we were going to Disney World! Not quite. What was in the car was a box of personal effects from his desk because he had just been let go in a round of lay-offs. Unexpectedly, it was the opposite of a sad moment. My little brothers and I fed off his enthusiasm and we danced around in circles, jumping for joy. It was the opportunity he needed to start his business full-time which led to him being more successful than ever. I, therefore, from a young age, looked at being a business owner as something exciting and freeing rather than something daunting or scary. This instilled in me the confidence to believe in myself and totally go for it!

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.

  1. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH SOUND. As Missy Elliott says, “music makes you lose control” and where else better to do that than in the safety of your own home?! Try placing Bluetooth speakers in many of your rooms so you can enjoy the enchanting sounds of your favorite jams, audio books, or whale songs. This will renew your energy and perhaps even get you shaking those hips.
  2. BRING NATURE IN. Almost nothing makes me happier than being outdoors! It may seem highly intuitive but more and more we are finding that including elements of biophilic design in the home can have a multitude of psychological and physical benefits. I recommend going for the real thing and bringing one or more large trees into your living space; the bigger the better! It will provide a visual connection to nature as well as supplying vital oxygen that will filter your air. If keeping plants alive is a challenge for you, try using an essential oil diffuser so you can experience the healing aromatherapy of plants without the responsibility.
  3. MAGIC CORNER. Visualize a spot to create ‘your kind of magic’. Think of an activity that you enjoy doing but do not currently have an allotted space for. Perhaps it is a dedicated yoga/meditation area, or a spot to write thank you letters or journal. Whatever it is, carve out a beautiful zone for that purpose with everything you would need to complete that activity. Feeling supported will encourage you to use this space more.
  4. ADDRESS THAT MESS. De-cluttering is so important! I cannot stress this enough. Studies have proven that clutter often leads to increased anxiety and a negative mindset. Make it a priority to keep your home organized and free from clutter. Start by editing out and letting go of belongings that do not spark joy. Then make sure everything has a dedicated home so that tidying is much simpler and easier to keep up with.
  5. LAYER YOUR LIGHTING. There is a beautiful alchemy that is created when light is layered and integrated seamlessly into a space. I always recommend adding dimmers wherever possible, and having lights at different heights to add interest and encourage your eye to dance around the room. Be mindful of the color temperature of your lighting so that there is a consistency of tone in the bulbs. Cool lighting has a bluish tint and can feel sterile and uninviting. I recommend always using warm colored bulbs which give off a slight amber tint, encouraging a more relaxed environment. Another benefit of great lighting is that it will make your skin appear more luminous. Talk about sparking joy! Who couldn’t use a little more glow?!

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would love to start a Johnny Appleseed movement to get people from all over to start planting and cultivating fruit trees in public spaces and along foot trafficked areas. I imagine people dropping fruit seeds from crop dusters to cover as much square footage as possible. Picture it like a guerrilla marketing campaign, but with planting and watering! It would serve to add more oxygen and bee pollination to our fragile ecosystem while also providing free, delicious treats to passersby and the hungry.

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?

The Dalai Lama. I am in awe of his grace, intelligence and mindfulness.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Check us out on instagram! @Landandskyid

Or visit us on the web: Landandskydesigns.com

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Heather McKeown of Land and Sky Designs: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Sonya Auvray Vega of Doña Vega On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed…

Female Founders: Sonya Auvray Vega of Doña Vega On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Be Bold- Have the confidence and drive to put something unique out there. To become a successful brand, you have to be a beacon within your product category. In order to create something of that caliber, it requires both you and your brand to have a sense of boldness that is apparent.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sonya Auvray Vega.

Sonya Auvray Vega is a former PR executive who left her career behind to pursue her passion of creating the perfect mezcal. Vega’s love of mezcal was sparked by her Mexican friends and family that introduced her to the fascinating world of this stellar agave-based liquor, leading her on a quest throughout the Oaxaca region of Mexico to research and finesse her blend. Her passion project resulted in a full-time career as an Entrepreneur and Founder of Doña Vega mezcal.

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?

Before founding Doña Vega, I was a PR executive and worked in the industry for 18 years. I was introduced to mezcal for the first time at a wedding and was immediately obsessed with the bold taste, smoky notes, and the completely unique flavor of this powerful spirit. I was infatuated and as I began researching and trying different mezcals, I found that many versions were too rugged, smoky, or intense. During my free time I was determined to create the perfect mezcal. I wanted to create a modern take on the spirit, with a flavor that is complex and playful, but not too smoky or strong, and still honors the authentic core and tradition. This desire to create a more approachable version became more than a passion project and eventually turned into my full-time career!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Launching my company during a global pandemic was certainly interesting. Figuring out ways to navigate sales and introduce a new brand to the market, especially in the hospitality industry, which was so largely impacted was a challenge of its own. It forced me and my team to think outside of the box — whether it was orchestrating virtual tastings, discovering ways to allow consumers to enjoy my product at home, or identifying ways to work with my accounts to support the restaurants and bars that saw employees out of work. It allowed me the extra time to focus on my brand deck, investment deck, and overall fine tuning to further develop my brand in ways that may have been put on the back burner. With this we had a true launch in January 2021.

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?

Funny, and not funny…I thought I had covered all bases when building the brand in terms of packaging, and yet I spaced on one key element, the shipping boxes. We hustled to find a local producer in Mexico, which was not that easy, and then to top it all off, I sent the wrong dimensions. There was a black cloud over these boxes, and now looking back we laugh!

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?

When I look at my own success, I naturally look back on the success in my own family line. I’ve come to appreciate the small anecdotal stories of my family’s success in Mexico — my grandfather’s mother and aunt used to take full day trips through the countryside to collect and sell goods to make a profit and support the family. I’m grateful that I come from a strong background of Mexican females that were fearless in their entrepreneurial spirit and set out to find their own successes. Looking back at this time, this was far from common.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

When speaking to the spirits industry in particular, as it is still very male dominated, I think it’s a bit intimidating for females to enter the space and there are challenges that females will experience. For me, that challenge is distribution. I have hit a wall every time I have tried to get larger distribution because I am newer to the industry and a female in the space. When I first got Doña Vega up and running, I thought I was savvy, but distribution has set me back and challenged me in major ways. These types of hurdles discourage many, and in turn can create a lack of female role models for other women to follow in the footsteps of. I truly hope to inspire and encourage other women to join the industry because I believe there is so much females can accomplish in this space, in a unique way.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

In my opinion, it’s largely about giving the space and opportunity for females to also have a fair chance in business ventures. Whether it is investors being equally as willing to bet on a female founder as they would a male, or extending invitations and opening up a seat for females to have a “spot at the table,” it’s important to me that females are given the same opportunity across the board. Without the chance to succeed in the first place, it’s nearly impossible. Time and time again women have proved their ability to perform and be successful as founders and although we as a society are becoming more open-minded towards the progression, there is still work to be done.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

The female perspective is so singular. It’s important to have female representation in the business world, sharing our unique points of view. I feel strongly that the more female founders there are, the more they will pave the way for other women to feel confident in taking on founder positions.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

That it is easy! It’s certainly not easy and does not happen overnight. As a founder, you have to identify the sacrifices that are worth it and not be afraid to believe in yourself and your idea. Building a brand from the ground up takes time and energy — I think a lot of people see the glamorous “founder” story and think it all happens with luck but truthfully, the journey comes with a lot of failure, setbacks, and not to mention, lost sleep, ha!

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

I think in order to be a successful founder, you have to be willing to live a life that many wouldn’t. It comes with a lot of sacrifices — from long hours and late nights, to maybe missing out on family activities that you want to do, but can’t because your brand becomes your life (in the best way possible). To be a successful founder you need to be aware of this going in, and be a self-starter and a problem solver, because you really have to rely on yourself.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Be Bold- Have the confidence and drive to put something unique out there. To become a successful brand, you have to be a beacon within your product category. In order to create something of that caliber, it requires both you and your brand to have a sense of boldness that is apparent.

Many times during the pandemic, while digging deeper into the industry, I was second guessing if I should move forward, as the path seemed endless. In the end, the belief in my product and the uniqueness it would bring to the market is what pushed me forward.

Resilience- It is unfortunately inevitable that you will face added hurdles as a female founder, especially in the spirits business. Having the ability to persevere and not allow challenges to deter you from your vision and goals is essential to being successful as a woman founder.

Distribution is where time and time again, I had to keep telling myself I could and will get past this hurdle.

Female mentors- It’s so important to surround yourself with other strong like-minded women who will support you on your journey. Both within and beyond your internal network of support, having somebody you can turn to and that you admire to get their perspective is crucial.

I’m very grateful for the women leaders who have taken the time to meet with me, to review my process, and ideas.

Passion- The bottom line to being a successful founder is having a genuine passion for your product and company because it makes the long hours and sacrifices all worthwhile. Creating Doña Vega has truly been a passion project for me. After I tried mezcal for the first time I fell in love with the bold taste, the smoky notes, the complex unique flavor, and rich history. What began as a passion project turned into a quest that brought me throughout the Oaxaca region of Mexico to countless farms, agave fields, distilleries, and ultimately meeting the producers. My passion for the spirit and for Doña Vega has been the driving force behind creating and growing my company.

Vision- Having a firm sense of direction for your brand and for yourself is imperative as you begin to grow. You have to be constantly thinking ahead to what the next step is for your company and never be complacent. And always have a backup plan 😉

Trust- You must trust in yourself, the mission of your brand, the people you are working with, your vision, your product, and that what you are doing is worth it. Trust has to be at the core of everything you do in order to succeed.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I’m not sure about mezcal making the world a better place; however, I am very proud to see our production partner grow within their community. We highlight these women in again, a male dominated space.

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

I don’t consider myself a person of great influence, but I do believe in small but mighty movements. It has been such an incredible experience working with a female distiller and her family, which has passed down the tradition for five generations. I love supporting women in the space and intend to continue to share my passion and drive with other female founders in some way that helps to inspire, connect, and support them.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment 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 with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

As I mentioned earlier, distribution has been my biggest challenge to date. I am so lucky and have had so many amazing people in the industry support me and Doña Vega along the way, but at this moment in my career, sitting down with a top executive from one of the larger distributors would be helpful, insightful, and could help take Doña Vega to the next level.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Female Founders: Sonya Auvray Vega of Doña Vega On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.