Female Founders: Linda Hansen of Fund Duel On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed As A…

Female Founders: Linda Hansen of Fund Duel On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed As A Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

I wish someone would have told me how thrilling and amazing this journey would be and I only wish I would have started sooner in my life. We are making such a difference in the lives of others that is breathtaking. We are raising awareness and funds to assist burn victims, the deaf community, those that are battered and homeless, the hungry, environmental issues, and those with diseases. Every campaign we do is shared all over the world and garner hundreds of new donors. It is breathtaking how fast we have expanded into other countries and our global campaigns next year will have such a far-reaching impact that it is beyond magnificent.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Linda Hansen PhD, CEO and Cofounder at Fund Duel Inc.

Fund Duel is an interactive, engaging participatory fundraising website. We have the best programmers in the business. We cherish the ability to make people smile while money is raised for good causes.

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 career path?

Thank you for this opportunity to introduce one of the few female-founded Mother/Daughter technology companies. My daughter, Jasmine Toomalatai, and me are passionate about helping our fellow humankind and improving the world in impactful ways. There has been an unusual ten-year lapse in innovation in the crowd funding space, and we saw a spectacular opportunity to create a game-changing platform that would have a massive impact for good on a global scale. We were right! Our platform is transforming the giving space in dramatic ways.

The reason for Fund Duel’s success is that it is based on my PhD research on the neurochemical and psychological motivation system of humans. Fund Duel incorporates engaging, fun team-based competition, challenges, humor and other powerful positive emotions, prizes, social media sharing, creativity, and empathetic altruism. Each of these engaging elements create rewarding rushes of positive neurochemicals such as endorphins and oxytocin.

The magic of Fund Duel is the expansive audience that engages in each campaign because of its capabilities to instantly share on social media challenge videos and photos. One of the first conversations that my daughter and I had about creating our platform was the question, “How can we change the way we use social media and reward users to post a selfie with the purpose of thinking of the plight of others in an altruistic manner versus the current mode of posting in a narcissistic manner?” This led us to the idea of gamifying fundraising and rewarding users that join a challenge to raise funds and awareness of a good cause with their own photo or video. It has been a thrill to see it come to fruition.

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

We cannot believe the doors that have opened for us in this endeavor to bless this world with a proven fun way to raise money. I love our partnership with USA Sumo. We did this fun infomercial with two very popular sumo wrestlers from this organization and grew to love 600-pound Yama who looks ferocious in the ring but has a gentle heart and was so fond of the puppy we brought onto the set. Byamba was our second star wrestler, and he was a hoot to work with and did not even mind to get into a pink tutu and twirl around as a demonstration of a fun Fund Duel challenge. The reason we turned to sumo wrestlers was that it is surprising and funny to see two over-sized competitors croqueting blankets for a cause and being tenderhearted. As you recall, humor is a stress reliever and neurochemically rewarding. Here is a link to that commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KN9jOgAl0Q&t=2s

The other positive outcome of this relationship with USA Sumo was raising money at the

2019 tournament in the Pyramid Stadium in Long Beach, California. We raised money for scholarships for at-risk youth with the power of 5,000 fans who joined either the West Stands or East Stands teams. The Fund Duel leaderboard was projected onto the jumbotron so fans could see which team was ahead at that moment. If the East stands were ahead, they were rewarded with t-shirts and cute rubber sumo dolls tossed into the crowd on the side of the arena that had raised more money. It was amazing how the crowd went berserk over sumo dolls. The grand prize was a bronze statue of a Sumo wrestler created by academy award winning Tom Woodruff. This event was a mind-blowing revelation that Fund Duel could be a magnificent way to add social impact to any major event and create engaging fun at the same time.

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?

One of the hardest jobs for a start-up technology company is raising money especially if it is female founded. I went to a women’s business organization in Silicon Valley that offers the opportunity for women founders to present their company to female investors. There were only two legitimate female investors present, and they admitted that they are risk averse and do not invest in start-up companies. I do not know if there is humor in this, but it was obviously a mistake on my part to believe that the cost of this event and the travel expense was worth it. There are so many people that try to take advantage of eager founders. As a result of this experience, I determined at this point to develop our product, make it successful, and self-fund as much as possible

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?

Extraordinary doors have opened in this enterprise. We have to thank many champions and advocates that have come into the Fund Duel Family. As a result of one of our advisors, Saul Tarazona’s introductions, we met the former producer of American Idol, Ron Deshay. He immediately fell in love with our engaging platform and recognized it as a streamlined way for celebrities and corporate partners to join their team through our photo/video challenges. Additionally, we are now in discussions with a top producer to bring a global concert to honor the legacy of a major iconic figure. More news on that will be coming soon!! I must thank our Brazilian partner Getro Silva for engaging many soccer leagues, celebrities, hospitals, government officials in upcoming Fund Duels to raise money for charities in that great country and our New Zealand partner Adam Greenwell for his initiating Fund Duel’s to assist charities there. We have a team in Canada, led by Emmett Dunlop Junior which have opened many doors for us. The list goes on and on………..

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 been stunned at the lack of support for female founded companies even by organizations led by women that supposedly help female founders but are only designed to take their money and offer no real substantive solutions. The VC community is incestuous and revolves around a male dominated network that completely favors male founders. I was told at a SOCAP conference designed for social impact investors to network with startups in the philanthropy space, by a male investor that I needed to know “when to stop.” He told me this after I shared with him about our democratization and gamification of fundraising concept. I will revisit that conference someday as one of the most successful startup companies that went global in just two years and raised over a million dollars for non-profits just after launching during the year the year of Covid 2020.

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?

We have to actually see the problem and offer real solutions and not prey upon female founders because they may seem vulnerable and desperate to get their product to market.

I believe that organizations like Girl Power Talk in India and other organizations that help with early stages in education to empower girls to think of careers in science and technology is a good step. Education is a start. It will take some mountain moving before the status quo is changed for equitable treatment and parity for female founders.

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?

My daughter and I have brought such a simple yet brilliant solution to the crowd-funding space. We are both passionate about making a huge difference in our world. Women have a unique and powerful role to bring to the business world. I believe that women bring to their fields a spirit of collaboration and egalitarianism. My own approach to leadership is based on these principles. Women can bring so many important solutions to world problems with empathy and compassion that are innate in their constitution.

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

I am not a typical entrepreneur, nor is my daughter. I am first and foremost an anthropologist and a scholar. The greatest myth I see is that founders must be successful businesspeople with a record of founding and exiting companies — the “serial entrepreneur.” Any person who is passionate about a subject or has an idea on how to solve a major problem should pursue it with gusto and never stop pursuing or dreaming.

Another myth is that you must be wealthy to be a founder. All you need is to be creative and believe in yourself and surround yourself with supporters and experts who can guide you. It is true that having wealth opens the path to founding many companies and is a great advantage but that is not all that is needed to be a successful founder.

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?

Any person who has found a unique solution that is disruptive and is able to capture a portion of the marketplace, is in a perfect position to find a company. We are in that position and our success has been remarkable. There are some incredibly crowded fields especially in online consulting and coaching. Too many people have jumped into this space to become founders of their own online coaching business and cannot find enough customers because they do not offer anything that is compelling and are competing with too many other online coaches.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. I wish someone would have told me how thrilling and amazing this journey would be and I only wish I would have started sooner in my life. We are making such a difference in the lives of others that is breathtaking. We are raising awareness and funds to assist burn victims, the deaf community, those that are battered and homeless, the hungry, environmental issues, and those with diseases. Every campaign we do is shared all over the world and garner hundreds of new donors. It is breathtaking how fast we have expanded into other countries and our global campaigns next year will have such a far-reaching impact that it is beyond magnificent.
  2. I wish someone would have told me that the Covid pandemic would shut down the economies of so many nations and that non-profit organizations would be hardest hit. It is so utterly tragic that charities that have existed for decades have closed their doors. We became the perfect solution for so many organizations and kept them afloat. If only we had a way to get the word out to more charities and grassroots organizations such as churches, sports teams, and schools we would have been able to help them as well.
  3. I wish I would have known how to select consultants that helped our company grow. We spent so much money on consultants that had great resumes but added little or no value to our company. I learned that the best advocates for our business offered advice for free or some of our coordinators who created campaigns that demonstrated the power of our platform in ways we could not have imagined.
  4. I wish I would not have wasted my time pitching to investors at conferences designed to take the money of founders but offered no real opportunity to meet real investors. I will never forget sitting in the back of a room where two investors beside me were laughing to themselves and in hushed tones made fun of the founders that were pitching their companies in the front of the room. These men had no interest whatsoever in truly investing in any concept. It was quite disgusting. I wish I would have known how many companies and organizations prey upon eager founders and require fees and payments without tendering any results for the founders.
  5. I wish I had known that there is such a hunger to do good and change the world for good. The media and political environment is so caustic and filled with animosity and words of despair, yet there are so many people who have come forward and are willing to jump on the Fund Duel train because they see that we are making positive waves across the world. It is actually mind-boggling the talent that has come our way to assist us because our mission is to bless this world with goodness. We have attracted support from all sectors of society and all sides of the political spectrum. It just does not matter. We all want solutions to major problems. For this I am grateful

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

Every campaign we do gladdens the heart and raises the prospects of those that are hurting in some way. It is beyond gratifying. We have only just begun. We are the virtual hub where celebrities, social influencers, companies, media outlets, and all their employees and followers — the masses — can join together in unity in fun photo and video challenges and team-based competitions to raise money and awareness for important causes.

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 have the potential to transform the corporate philanthropy space in staggering ways. We have worked with real estate offices that competed against each other for a cause. Just imagine the potential of major corporations such as McDonalds or Walmart to have each store compete to raise money for a cause and have customers join a fun challenge that brings them into the store. The ROI for the company is stunning and the photos and videos shared on social media platforms gives free advertising while raising money for causes they already support.

We have already proven that Fund Duel can be a great addition to a sporting event. I envisage Fund Duel being a powerful tool to raise money and awareness for good causes at major global concerts, sports competitions, golf tournaments, film festivals, corporate conferences, etc.…

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.

I would love to meet Tony Robbins. He has such an amazing record of transforming lives, and he is so charitable. We would be great partners in raising money at his conferences. I also want to meet Duane Johnson, the “Rock.” My daughter Jasmine married a Samoan, and I know that Duane does so much charitable work for the island of Samoa. I would love to link up and use Fund Duel as a platform to raise more money and awareness for those lovely islands. My list is quite long of the many iconic women and men I want to meet. It is happening because of moving forward with a good heart and good intent.

If you have a great idea of a cause or project you want to raise money for please feel free to contact us at www.fundduel.com/start or my own personal email [email protected]

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

Thank you for this wonderful interview and your interest in the groundbreaking work we are doing at Fund Duel.

Female Founders: Linda Hansen of Fund Duel 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 Disruptors: Amani Wells-Onyioha of Sole Strategies On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up…

Female Disruptors: Amani Wells-Onyioha of Sole Strategies On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life” : This advice was given to me by my mom, and it really rings true for me here at Sole. The work we do isn’t easy, but I do believe it’s my calling and there is nothing else I would rather be doing.

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

Amani found her passion for politics during her time in undergrad. Since then, she’s been working tirelessly to get progressives elected throughout the country and implement true change in America. Now, working behind the scenes as Sole Strategies’ operations director, Amani helps keeps the team afloat, ensuring campaigns and the company run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

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 became politically activated after the Travon Martin case. I could not believe that when video evidence was present, George Zimmerman was still able to get away with murder. It was at that point that I realized just how deeply the issues in our system ran. I realized that it would take real systematic and institutional change in order for things like this to be prevented from happening again. After several years working in the political space and assisting in different democratic campaigns, I came to Sole Strategies with a goal to make the biggest impact I can.

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

What makes me and Sole Strategies “disruptive,” or what separates us from other people in the political and campaigning industry, is the fact that we are NOT consultants. Many people who work with politicians charge a fee to simply give advice. What makes us different and what has helped us to disrupt this industry is that we do the hands-on work. Our team of operatives physically do what consultants “advise”. That’s what’s made us more valuable in this industry. We’re not just talk. We’re experts doing the work with our clients every step of their race.

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 think my funniest mistake comes from just being a newbie at this. I remember when we first started tracking our employees’ hours. We would just have them submit them to us in any way they chose. That led to one former employee submitting his hours on a crinkled up old piece of notebook paper that he took a photo of. Needless to say, I instituted a more formal time tracking system moving forward.

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?

One of my mentors was my professor in grad school. Her name is Dr. Everbach and she is an amazing, badass woman who was so smart, and wise and didn’t take any shit. As a woman in education (she taught Race, Gender, and Media, for which I was a TA) who was passionate about the issues in America, she never held back and was fearlessly dedicated to her work. She was committed to progress and educating our students on the complexities of these issues. She inspired me a lot along the way. Love her.

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?

Being disruptive just for the sake of it isn’t what’s important. But sometimes getting things done means being disruptive. I think as women in business, we start out trying to tote a line. Not being too disagreeable, being trusting, believing in everyone we encounter, and trying to keep the peace. But sometimes doing good business, doing what’s best for the company and for your mission, isn’t going to be what makes everyone happy — especially when your goal for yourself and your company disrupts the status quo of the industry. But this is positive because you’re adding something new to the landscape and setting a new precedent. This type of disruption doesn’t have to be on a grand scale. For us, being disruptive sometimes means refusing to work with people who don’t respect our staff, or turning down firm contracts with people who don’t align with our mission. As long as our motives are in the best interests of our company, our people and our work, it’s all positive in the end because each decision we make, large or small, makes an impact.

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

  1. “If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life” : This advice was given to me by my mom, and it really rings true for me here at Sole. The work we do isn’t easy, but I do believe it’s my calling and there is nothing else I would rather be doing.
  2. “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” Starting a business is scary and taking on big name clients can be intimidating. But these are never reasons to give up. We use this fear to fuel us, because we know that going for it and trying will leave us in a better position than not trying at all. We have been so lucky to see that the risks we’ve taken have paid off in major ways. Being paralyzed by fear will get you nowhere, but taking risks can get you everything you’ve ever wanted.
  3. “Always be a sponge” : I learn new lessons in this business every day. It’s important to be open to new ways of thinking and to learn from what didn’t work before so that I can do better next time. There’s never only one way to do what I do. It takes collaboration, listening to my team, and being open to really succeed.

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

We’re in the middle of a rebranding at the moment, which is really exciting! Our business has grown so much, and it’s time for our brand to grow with it. So be on the lookout for that!

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

I think it boils down to lack of respect. Misogyny is alive and well. One thing we deal with is men trying to manipulate or handle us in ways that I know for a fact they wouldn’t try with other men. I’ve been called a “little girl” just to give an example of some of the ways I’ve been spoken to. I feel like women in leadership are tried more, and we have to show a certain level of strength before we are respected. It isn’t fair, but what we do is so important to us. It’s definitely worth it.

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 a book called The 4 Agreements which is pretty much a set of standards, or guide, on how to live your life. It’s written by Don Miguel Ruiz and he coined it as “a practical guide to personal freedom.” The agreements are: be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best. It’s a quick read, but the lessons are valuable and they help you get out of your head and live life in a less anxious way.

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. 🙂

Such a hard question! There are a few issues that really get me wound up and I’d like to fix immediately, but one that I think could have a ripple effect is implementing more socialist policies into American society. So many of the struggles Americans face could be easily rectified with the wave of a wand if we could get our politicians on board. Free healthcare is also one of the number one items on my list.. It makes no sense to me the amount of people in this country that die from things that could have been treated if only they could afford preventative care. This change alone could save millions of lives and make people feel like illness won’t break the bank or end their life.

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

The most cliche quote, but the one that has helped me get to where I am today is “just believe in yourself.” Each day we’re faced with something challenging, but just having faith in who I am, my capabilities, and not letting self — doubt creep in shows I’m able to stay vigilant, and do my job the best I can each day.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow us @SoleStrategies on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

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

Thank you so much for having me!

Female Disruptors: Amani Wells-Onyioha of Sole Strategies On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Chazona Baum of MAXX Potential On The 5 Leadership Lessons…

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Chazona Baum of MAXX Potential On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Don’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm. This is probably one of the easiest traps to fall into as a leader because you want to do whatever you can to ensure your team’s success. But just as airlines advise parents to put on oxygen masks before helping their children with theirs, you can’t bring the energy your team needs if you’ve drained yours.

As a part of my series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chazona Baum.

Chazona is a Principal Technologist in Norfolk, VA, where she grows teams of technologists and prepares them for fulfilling careers in IT. She has worked on engagements ranging from onshoring work from India that built transparency and capabilities at home to helping enterprises present themselves to their customers in a new light. Before changing careers through MAXX Potential’s transformational Apprenticeship program, she spent a decade serving customers across the hospitality and insurance industries. She enjoys sewing, writing, and spending time with her young children.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Likewise, thank you!

I started like many in my generation, building Geocities pages and MySpace profiles, but at the time, many of us didn’t take our tech seriously as a career. So instead, I got a series of “real jobs,” mainly in customer service and support types of roles.

It can be frustrating in those roles because you are often the depository for people’s complaints and problems with a product or service, but you rarely have any real agency to correct them. In each company I worked for, I started to look at how I could get involved in the technical or product side of the business. That kind of transition wasn’t feasible because either their technical roles were handled onsite in some other region, or they required a four-year degree I didn’t have in addition to the proven skills. At one point, I was raising an infant, working full time, and considering enrolling back in school full time, but I knew if I did this, my work or my parenting would suffer.

So, I took opportunities to at least build up technical skills, figuring that someone had to give me a chance if I got good enough. I stayed up late when my children went to bed and logged into freeCodeCamp to brush up on web development. I had competing priorities for my time, so I focused on practical projects that would help myself and my family, like creating a website for people to RSVP to my sister’s baby shower or a web application to share kids’ photos by invitation-only.

I was perhaps optimistic about the industry’s willingness to take a chance on a plucky upstart. After a hundred applications and about a dozen interviews with no success, I considered going back to service work just to put food on the table. Ultimately securing an apprenticeship at MAXX Potential provided the opportunity and mentorship needed for me to change the course of my life.

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

Norfolk is a city that routinely battles tidal flooding, and we established our local office inside of one of its’ flood zones. Most of the time, this only had a minor impact — as long as you tracked the tides, you would know when it would be good to get lunch or travel the streets.

Once, a nor’easter came through, and flooding was much worse than usual. We had a line of cars and trucks stalling right outside our office because their drivers had misread the water level. I will never forget the humanity shown by our team as several of our technologists rushed out to help push the vehicles and their owners to safety.

In that same nor’easter, a young woman steadfastly motored along on a Lime scooter as if it were any other day. Her resolve to power through knee-high waters became an example of grit we still talk about today.

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?

Many of us have seen the stories about the engineer who dropped a database or broke DNS. It wasn’t funny at the time, but my most memorable mistake when first starting was inadvertently taking down a server.

I had made some decisions when building a piece of software that assumed additional changes would happen sooner than they did, which led to a runaway train situation with memory consumption. As someone who had mainly worked with high-level programming languages, how I worked with system memory wasn’t something I considered strongly at the time.

I learned many lessons from that incident, from engineering lessons around database configuration and system monitoring to more human ones like running a postmortem and not counting your chickens before they hatch. As you can imagine, it was a mistake I made precisely once.

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

I think the nature of our model makes our company stand out. There are many firms out there trying to solve the problem of the tech talent gap, but all are approaching it differently.

Schools and bootcamps can be beneficial, but because their students are their customers, they risk overpromising how practical their education is when they are too eager to give students what they want.

Staffing firms can fill gaps, but there can be dangers when treating humans too much like commodities to be traded and bought.

Apprenticeships strike a good balance, with businesses extracting value from the work and the aspiring technologists being the workers who produce it. We stand out from other apprenticeship programs as most that I’ve seen require a contract with a payback clause or extensive flexibility to relocate; at MAXX Potential, we demand neither.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Because we help businesses get their work done better, it’s hard to find an example of a project that doesn’t help people.

I am excited to have the opportunity to help a well-known healthcare group better inform and serve its community, a financial services firm providing the chance to regain access to credit, and a digital firm giving small businesses the ability to reach their customers. As a company, some of the most exciting new projects we see involve an area of tech most aspiring technologists have never heard of: Robotic Process Automation. By automating routine processes that are necessary but typically not engaging, we’re able to clear employees’ plates for more meaningful work while reducing errors.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?

I think few would be truly satisfied with where things currently are for women in STEM. While lack of a pipeline of qualified candidates can be an issue, as someone who struggled to grasp that first rung on the IT ladder myself, I don’t think we can assume it all boils down to lack of interest.

In many ways, necessary changes likely differ between recruitment of women in STEM and retention of those same women. And both efforts depend on each other.

On the recruitment side, reluctance to take risks on entry-level talent hurts women and underrepresented people especially hard. This risk gap is a large part of why I am such a proponent of apprenticeship-based programs like MAXX Potential where, regardless of your background, if you have the grit and aptitude for the work, you will have an opportunity to prove yourself. Additionally, I think how we talk about IT and math concepts can make a huge difference. I’ve heard so many women describe themselves as unfit for these roles because they equated IT with math, and math with abstract concepts to memorize. While some areas like data science are more math-heavy, strength in this field depends on more human skills like communication and resourcefulness. Likewise, while it feels like quoting a Disney movie to say that math is involved in every “rock and tree and creature,” it truly is how we make sense of the hidden rules of the world and life around us — we just don’t typically present it that way.

On the retention side, we need to look at factors like advancement and balance once women are here, which may sometimes seem at odds with one another. If women aren’t rising to roles that give them a tangible impact on the values and direction of their organizations, we’re likely to continue to see the same gaps. Businesses operating from 1950s mindsets of working long hours while someone else manages home and family harm everyone, including fathers who want to be more active in their children’s lives.

I think the pandemic has made it even starker for everyone that if we can’t make modern employment work for working parents, we will lose their talent and perspectives when they drop out of the workforce. When women underearn men, is it any wonder that they are usually the ones to sacrifice their career for their family if someone needs to stay home?

For more on the balance side and new perspectives for leaders, I recommend reading Indra Nooyi’s new book, My Life in Full, as she has created a masterful accounting of her life and career, including the tradeoffs that have come with it.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or Tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?

Honestly, most of the significant challenges I see women facing today are also experienced by men, like the parenthood penalty. The most urgent challenge I’ve seen only women face in this field is a lack of opportunity for the critical feedback they need to grow. The risk when attempting to recruit women into this industry is that we make getting to that first rung on the ladder so celebratory that it’s like you’ve won just by showing up. If we are so afraid of turning women off that we fail to give them the same feedback we’d give men, how can those same women build the competencies they need to rise to the C-suite if they so choose? As leaders, we need to consider whether we perpetuate the “delicate, virtuous maidens” myth.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or Tech. Can you explain what you mean?

I haven’t experienced many “myths” of being a woman in Tech. Contrary to my experience in hospitality, those I’ve met have always presumed competence and reliability. I recognize that every woman’s lived experience varies, and this certainly doesn’t reflect every industry. As I understand it, there are also considerable differences between experiences in Tech on the East Coast as opposed to the West.

What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. Try to learn early on which balls you’re juggling are glass and which ones are rubber. More likely than not, something is going to drop at some point, and you want to ensure that it’s something safe to bounce when that happens.
  2. Don’t default to the rescue service for your team. As a leader, you probably don’t want your team to fail. The challenge if you rush in too soon to solve problems and save your team members is that you can stifle their initiative and creativity. Pretty soon, they stop trying to solve problems because they know you’ll handle it.
  3. Good leadership depends on understanding what’s important to each member of your team. Keep in mind that they are the hero of their own stories! If you get too busy to connect with your team, that should be a warning sign that you need to change something about what you’re doing.
  4. Don’t stop seeking mentorship and coaching once you get into leadership. It’s hard to see your blind spots, and as a leader, your strengths and weaknesses can have a multiplying or diminishing effect on your team. Liz Wiseman’s Multipliers can help with recognizing these effects.
  5. Don’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm. This is probably one of the easiest traps to fall into as a leader because you want to do whatever you can to ensure your team’s success. But just as airlines advise parents to put on oxygen masks before helping their children with theirs, you can’t bring the energy your team needs if you’ve drained yours.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

I find the more you achieve, the more intimidating you can come across and the harder it may be for reports to feel confident in reaching out. I follow Colin Powell’s maxim that “the day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.” To that end, it is more crucial than ever to find opportunities to connect with your reports and to share little moments of vulnerability that humanize you. While you want to maintain healthy boundaries in your relationship, they still need to recognize that you’re not fundamentally different from them so they can aspire to keep growing themselves.

What advice would you give to other women leaders about the best way to manage a large team?

The larger your team gets, the more crucial it is that you are not their only resource. Every member of your team should understand that they have a network of potential resources that may include yourself, their coworkers, others on different teams or in other areas of leadership, or even people outside your company. You cannot be everything for everyone, and attempting to do so will only harm yourself and your team.

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 can’t stress this point enough: we all had help getting where we are.

The two people who have had the most substantial impact on my career have done so differently.

Early on, when I was trying to find my way in tech and see if this could even be viable for me, Jesse Tolj, Senior Software Engineer at COLAB, provided instrumental mentorship and stressed that, like him, I had the aptitude for tech work. He was the one who reached out to let me know that MAXX Potential, the apprenticeship company I would get my start at, was broadening to my area. He encouraged me to pursue it and was confident that it would be a fit.

At MAXX Potential, founder Kim Mahan has had a decisive influence on my career, primarily through sponsorship for opportunities I may not have considered myself ready for and by challenging my assumptions. I likely would not have leaped into technical management if not for her ability to see that potential.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’m a big proponent of holding the door open for others as I know what a transformational opportunity it was for someone to take that chance on me. Just under thirty people with careers in Tech have one of my projects at MAXX Potential as a catalyst in their origin stories, and hearing about their continued success, promotions, and new opportunities is always a highlight for me.

You are a person of enormous 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. 🙂

Personally, it’s saddening to see how little we trust each other as people or sometimes even see the humanity in others. As a society, we benefit most when we have an optimistic outlook on the nature of humans. If I was to try to start a movement, I think it might be as simple as taking a moment to apply Hanlon’s razor to situations that upset us. If this situation could be adequately explained by ignorance or negligence, we probably shouldn’t presume malice in that person.

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

“In life, there are no essentially major or minor characters. To that extent, all fiction and biography, and most historiography, is a lie. Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.”

This paradigm shift has been the most beneficial for me as it made a night-and-day difference in my communication style and strategies. We all benefit most when we work within diverse groups, which means that, at least in theory, we’re not going to agree with everyone all the time. No one benefits from echo chambers or lack of accountability.

But often, when someone disagrees with us on critical things we value, it tends to impact our perspective on the entire person. We see this all the time in the public sphere. And when you think someone’s the villain in your story, you’re unlikely to have a productive conversation with them or to have a chance at changing their mind. I’ve found that approaching situations from the viewpoint that people are doing what they genuinely believe is best with their circumstances leads to better outcomes more often than not.

It’s also a game-changer for things like public speaking that can be terrifying for people. Have I gotten on stage somewhere and said something the wrong way, like a verbal typo? Probably. But I’ve also found that with most people more concerned about their problems, these minor mistakes rarely get in the way of the larger message. Most people don’t analyze my words and actions to the same degree that I do and recognizing that can be liberating.

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

I would personally love to have a meal with Chetna Gala Sinha, a woman I feel is truly inspirational and has already paved roads for others where there were none by establishing the first bank in India for rural women. Her work has directly impacted the lives of roughly half a million women, many of them mothers like herself.

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

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Chazona Baum of MAXX Potential On The 5 Leadership Lessons… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Celestia Howe of Cofo Provisions On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help…

Women In Wellness: Celestia Howe of Cofo Provisions On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Worry less. Someone once told me that worrying is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do but it won’t get you anywhere. There’s so much to worry about these days, I think about all that I do have control over and you’ll have better luck with lifestyle tweak #4.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Celestia Howe of Cofo Provisions.

Celestia Howe is the Founder and Chief Community Officer of Cofo Provisions in Colorado.As an avid athlete and mom, Celestia created Cofo Provisions Marine Collagen to keep her feeling strong and energized. Celestia is committed to clean, environmentally-conscious collagen that helps others stay active and feel good inside.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your backstory with us?

I was working long hours at a tech company, competing in mountain bike races, taking care of my young daughter and I was physically exhausted all the time. I couldn’t have the usual bars and gels since I had been diagnosed with Celiac disease. That’s when I discovered that collagen could be a gut-friendly alternative to provide me with more energy and protein while also helping repair and renew my muscles and joints.

Collagen seemed like a perfectly nutrient-dense alternative. Only I had no idea where the collagen was coming from. I started to do some research and found that most of the collagen was from the hides of cows and pigs. Suddenly the easy to digest alternative made my stomach turn. I also found that most collagen was not sustainably sourced, which I knew was important to me and others. I decided that I was going to start a company that took into consideration where the collagen was coming from. I chose to work with Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) approved fisheries and use only organic, environmentally friendly ingredients.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

I had a life-changing moment during 2020 that further cemented my dedication to clean, real food. During the COVID lockdowns, I wasn’t sure if Cofo Provisions could make it as a company. I had a wonderful partner, Dan, who encouraged me to keep going. He believed in Cofo and my mission. However, in the summer of 2020, he developed a rare neurological condition caused by toxicity in bovine meat. He fought as hard as he could but unfortunately passed away later that fall. As devastated as I was, I knew now that I needed to find the highest quality collagen without toxins if I were to continue forward. No one should worry about ingesting toxins in their food.

After Dan died, I created D’s Trees and Greens which gives a percentage of Cofo sales to local nonprofits committed to helping provide low-income families with affordable organic foods. The big lesson I learned that year was that life is fragile and I no longer treated Cofo Provisions as just a company but as a community.

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

Cofo Provisions officially started as a marine collagen, MCT protein mix. MCT was hot and we were chasing that trend. We created single-serve packaging in what we thought were easy to sell boxes. Only no one knew what to do with them. Was it a supplement? Was it food? How do I use it? Our messaging was to jump on the MCT keto trend and hope everyone would know what to do. Kind of like Moira from Schitt’s Creek telling David to just fold the cheese in. We weren’t 100% behind our product, and it showed.

Consumers will stick with a trend, but they won’t stick with your product necessarily. I needed to get back to the root of why I started Cofo in the first place. I decided that I wasn’t going to go for what’s hot, but for what I believed in and that was becoming a sustainably sourced, wild USA marine collagen company providing the highest quality marine collagen on the market. The community and consumers will stick by your product when they know that your values align. Authenticity was key. We had to get back to what we believed in.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

I want to increase physical and emotional well-being through clean, sustainably-sourced collagen. When we are outside doing the things we love, surrounded by our friends and nature, we feel abundant. I want Cofo collagen to help our joints, bones and gut stay healthy so people can enjoy the outside, connect with their communities and live vibrant lives no matter their age.

I also want to build awareness toward how our food choices impact Earths’ natural resources. Nourishing your body clean food that has a low environmental footprint and is sustainably-sourced not only helps you feel better, it helps create a healthier Earth for us to live in. This intrinsic connection between Earth and our food defines our values and our commitment to clean, sustainable and bioethical collagen.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

1. Start the morning with a daily intention that answers the question, What is right for me — right now? Sometimes the answer is a focus on self-care, an introspective hike in the woods, taking time to just sit in quiet or focusing on fun. This simple practice helps me live the day aligned in higher energy and balance.

2. Get outside and move around. I know it’s not easy for everyone, but you can get outside and walk around even in a big city. It not only clears my mind, but it makes me grateful to be in the world.

3. Drink a green juice mid-morning or early afternoon. In the morning I make a green juice to take to work. Instead of going out for lunch or eating a carb-heavy bar, this is my go-to habit. I blend oat keifer, spinach, parsley, celery, ginger, turmeric, 2 tbsp of Cofo collagen and water and put it in a Glass Jar. There is no formal ‘recipe’ I just add and blend! Since there is collagen protein, it keeps me going until I get back home.

4. Sleep. As we get older, sleep doesn’t always come easy. I like to set a bedtime for myself, just like I did with my daughter. This way, I have a goal to get into bed at a certain time without any electronics nearby and start to wind down.

5. Worry less. Someone once told me that worrying is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do but it won’t get you anywhere. There’s so much to worry about these days, I think about all that I do have control over and you’ll have better luck with lifestyle tweak #4.

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

Our tagline is “Be Outside Feel Good Inside”. What that means to me is by putting good clean food into your body, you start to feel good inside. Being outside only elevates that feeling. I would love more than anything to create a community based around the outdoors and access to clean, real food. My mental health is directly impacted by what I eat. When I eat poorly, I feel low. Our focus should be back to the basics; enjoying the world outside while ensuring that our food is from the cleanest sources possible.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Success doesn’t happen overnight. I know this seems obvious, it’s exciting to start something you’re passionate about, but it’s also essential to have patience, grit and an intense belief in your purpose.

2. Just because you think your product is amazing doesn’t mean everyone will automatically agree. Collagen is something people love or have no idea what you’re talking about. Educating our community about the benefits of marine collagen became a top priority for us.

3. People kind of suck. The truth is when you’re just starting out people will try to take advantage of you because they know you need them to grow your business. You’re the little fry. Do your research on any company you choose to work with and that means learning and observing how they treat their customers and if they actually deliver. If you can account for this, you’ll be more innovative, leaner and save money in the long run. The happiest day of Cofo was when I fired our bully commercial kitchen and moved to a bigger FDA-certified manufacturing outfit.

4. Being the little fish in a big pond means making sacrifices and having the resilience to be okay with mistakes. Don’t let the mistake linger, fix it, learn from it, move on.

5. Hire people based on their work ethic, not their resume. When you’re in startup mode, it’s all hands-on deck, so you may have a worker that is less qualified on paper, but willing to learn and jump in wherever they are needed.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

I would have to say it’s a mashup between sustainability and environmental changes, which ultimately affects mental health. Cofo is dedicated to working with vendors who are sustainably sourced and bioethical. We partner with Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) approved fisheries working to make our ocean healthier for future generations. This isn’t always easy, but if we didn’t hold to our values, we would be giving up what makes Cofo authentic.

What is the best way our readers can follow you online?

Find us on Instagram @cofoprovisions and our website Cofoprovisions.com. I would encourage your readers to go to our website and sign up for our monthly newsletter that provides recipes and articles about how marine collagen can help your overall health and wellness.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

Women In Wellness: Celestia Howe of Cofo Provisions On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.