Month: November 2021

Female Disruptors: Dawn F Landry of Authentizity On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Female Disruptors: Dawn F Landry of Authentizity On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Careful Who You Hitch Your Wagon To It’s funny how the simplest forms of advice seem to stick with you for a lifetime. This message was delivered to me early in my career by one of the crustiest of construction professionals that I’ve ever come across. In regular terms, it means be careful with whom you align because others will judge you with that broad brush stroke. The advice was delivered as a gentle warning, and I’ve used it ever since as a gut check to make sure that the direction I’m heading towards is right for me.

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

Bestselling author and award-winning business professional, Dawn F. Landry has spent over half of her 28-year career in Houston’s corporate real estate industry, excelling in leadership positions and as an executive in business development and marketing leadership positions within the region’s largest economic development organization, as well as international commercial construction companies.

In February 2017, Dawn founded Authentizity, LLC, as an independent B2B growth strategist and a Gallup-Certified CliftonStrengths® Coach to provide consulting, training, and coaching services that optimize technical teams’ engagement and productivity.

In August 2021, Dawn launched BD Dynamics, Empowering the Technical-Minded. It is self-guided, online business development course targeted to advance the intentionality and accountability of Doer/Sellers within the business development process.

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’m someone who was, and still is, a big dreamer. I grew up in the 1970s in a small, rural town in south Louisiana. By general stereotypes and outward observations, I should never have achieved the successes that I can blessedly claim today.

I’ve spent over twenty-eight years as a business executive, singularly driven to advance in my profession. In the early part of my career when I was in my twenties and early-to-mid thirties, you might define me as restless and impatient. Things weren’t happening fast enough for me, so I’d move on to the next job within a couple of years.

Eventually, I found my home in Houston’s corporate real estate industry, excelling in business development and marketing leadership positions within the region’s largest economic development organization, as well as international commercial construction companies.

And just when I thought that I had settled in and had things figured out, another growth opportunity pressed and stretched me to the next level. In February 2017, I founded Authentizity, LLC, as an independent business growth strategist to assist companies with customized programs designed to advance their leadership proficiencies, team alignment, and outreach effectiveness.

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

In early 2017, as I began the early vision for what would eventually become Authentizity, there were two concepts that I knew for sure:

There is only one “I” in busIness development, so helping technical professionals to Define Your “I” in Business Development™ was a foundational principle of my service offering; and
A crucial component of the technical business development (i.e., Doer/Seller) process is to assist operations professionals with Identifying, Honing and Articulating™ their individual value to their clients, their companies, and most importantly, themselves.

Through the years, I have had the great opportunity to work with hundreds of operations and engineering-minded technicians to advance their confidence, competence, and success in business development by creating a process that parallels their project management acumen. My philosophy is that each of us has our own DNA that is reflected in our outreach and relationship style.

With a near three-decade B2B strategic growth career working alongside technical Doer/Sellers to achieve exponential sales success, I have leveraged lessons learned and best practices from those experiences to develop the framework for Authentizity’s new, online Doer/Seller Course: BD Dynamics, Empowering the Technical-Minded.

There is no other consultant/company that provides a self-guided course to help operations leaders become more adept and successful in the client relationship/selling functions of their roles.

By the end of the 15-module course, participants will have utilized the 13 interactive exercises to create their own business development process, which is individually customized to their unique diversity, skills, strengths, experiences, and even industry and company needs.

To excel as successful Doer/Sellers, technicians must first have a solid, proven, and repeatable reputation at the “doing” part of their operations roles. It requires for them (as the operations professional) to be able to develop credibility, composure, character, and reliability to carry and advance the relationship to the close of the sale, to consistently execute the project, and then to rinse and repeat so they can achieve future, sustainable client retention.

BD Dynamics has achieved advanced praise, reviews, and reception from technical leaders within many global, technical, service-based industries such as architecture, engineering, construction, etc. Visit www.bddynamics.com for further details.

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?

The mistake that I made is not as much “ha ha funny” as it is amusing to me because I committed it several times throughout my career before I finally learned from it.

Specifically, I didn’t dream big enough and underestimated my ability to succeed. This manifested early in my career, as you might anticipate. However, it also showed up each time I endeavored to try something that stretched and pressed me.

Life makes sense in the rearview mirror. It wasn’t until I had witnessed my achievements through many variables and varieties of experiences that I learned to embrace the vortex of the unknown and walk through, trusting that all will work out like it needs to in the end.

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?

As strong, accomplished female professionals, we stand on the shoulders of all those phenomenal women who have come before us. My beautiful career would not be the same without the many mentors who poured their knowledge and lessons learned into me.

Specifically, I would like to state my deepest and most heartfelt gratitude for two of my professional mentors Cheryl Taylor Bowie and Pam Lovett. Each is the epitome of grace under fire personified.

They both taught me that we all need one another to thrive. Through their examples, I learned that:

Women need to support and not tear other women down, and
Men need to value women as their allies and their colleagues to collaborate and advance our organizations and ourselves.
It is incumbent upon those of us who have achieved success to invest our time and share our experiences with the next generations of emerging women and men to move this forward.

Why young men you may ask? Because if we only focus on young women, then we will continue to perpetuate many of the silos that, unfortunately, still exist. At the end of the day, we all need one another to succeed.

Much work has been done, but there is still much to do. I dream of a day when we are cherished as just phenomenal people and are celebrated for our accomplishments, all-inclusive of their origins and sources.

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?

Disruption and change go hand in hand. There are definitely times when changes are warranted, but we must be careful to not try and fix things that aren’t broken.

Great to greater strides are one thing, but we must make sure that we don’t “throw the baby out with the bath water” and destroy those things that distinguish and differentiate us and our uniqueness.

For instance, I’ve been witness to several company acquisitions. In these situations, larger firms have sought to enter a particular geographic market and rather than taking the time, energy, and efforts that it takes to grow organically, they have chosen to acquire locally.

In these situations, the firms have identified a great homegrown resource with a solid reputation, client, and employee base. They have completed their due diligence without flaw, implemented several year partner transition packages, etc.

So what could possibly go wrong?

Well, the larger company came in and allowed their acquired company to operate with aa business as usual for a time. Then, the larger organization began implementing their “one company” policies to try to make each office uniform.

In the end, the acquired company was so changed (resulting in stagnant sales and employee turnover) that it no longer resembled what had made it so desirable for purchase in the first place.

This is just one example of how disruption can work against its envisioned intent.

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

Careful Who You Hitch Your Wagon To It’s funny how the simplest forms of advice seem to stick with you for a lifetime. This message was delivered to me early in my career by one of the crustiest of construction professionals that I’ve ever come across. In regular terms, it means be careful with whom you align because others will judge you with that broad brush stroke. The advice was delivered as a gentle warning, and I’ve used it ever since as a gut check to make sure that the direction I’m heading towards is right for me.
Your Name is Your Identity, For a Lifetime There is one constant piece of advice that I give to young professionals starting out in their career. Guard your name and reputation like gold. You can never get it back. It’s amazing to me how small a metropolitan city of six million people ultimately is. Word travels fast; both good and bad. If you have a solid name and reputation, it’s the foundation to build your career.
You Never Have a Second Chance to Make a First Impression This quote has been attributed to both Oscar Wilde and Will Rogers. Whoever said it, nailed it. When you have appointments, be on time and dress for the occasion. If you don’t know how to dress for the occasion, ask someone. If you are attending a banquet, dining etiquette is important. If you are attending an evening event with clients, stick to a two-drink maximum. There are rules of the road if you want to get ahead in business. With the exception of the two-drink max, it’s basically all the stuff your mom fussed at you about when you were growing up. Heed her advice and you’ll be fine.

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

Oh, this is such a great question. I’m not done by any stretch of the imagination.

My changeometer is very active during these ever-fluid times. I am always on the lookout to observe market shifts, take a pulse point and learn from past lessons, and then advance with a process or service offering that meets the current needs of my clients.

I don’t have a clear forecast of where/what that means, but I remain curious in my conversations, seeing opportunities to be flexible and adaptable.

I control my own destiny because my organization is nimble enough to move quickly to capitalize on events that even the best crystal balls couldn’t predict!

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

I don’t know because I have worked very hard not to compare myself to others male or female. I set my own course. When I’m competitive, it’s with myself.

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

Let’s face it, despite our best-laid plans, life rarely follows a predictable path. However, I’ve found that if you relax and breathe through the challenges that you will be pleasantly surprised by the outcomes.

Oh, but don’t be impressed by this wisdom I’m sharing! I wasn’t born with the trait of staying calm in a storm. I come from a long line of worrywarts. You could even call these wonderful people “Worry Warriors.” If there is something to worry about, they will find it. If there isn’t, they’ll conjure something up. They also welcome the company and opportunity to get you worked up right there with them!

Worrying is natural. However, I now choose a different path. I have found that, as soon as I become aware of my worrying, I can opt to go down that road, or I can simply focus on a new, more positive thought. Choosing the positive thought is a healthier option because I know deep down that ninety-nine percent of the things that my overactive imagination concocts never come to fruition. So then, why worry about it?

In 2016, I was told about Michael Singer’s book, The Surrender Experiment, and it changed my world. Throughout 2017, I began testing Singer’s Surrender Theory. In fact, it felt like because I had declared that I was surrendered and released to whatever presented itself before me, I was challenged even more, and I survived it all.

Living a life surrendered to whatever is put before you that day is the antithesis of the superimposed, strategic planning touted by Corporate America where I work daily. However, I have found that this radical trust is far more fulfilling, and I do accomplish more.

Things will likely not transpire in any manner that I can magnificently create in my head. It will all be better if I take my hands off the wheel.

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

I would like to encourage everyone to strengthen and build their curiosity muscles. It’s one of the many attributes to my success.

You see, when I was a child, questions sprang up in my head like popcorn, and my constant questioning drove most adults (especially my Mom) nuts. There was no real focus for the topic du jour; I was intrigued by the collection of knowledge.

That exploration for information was a challenge to keep up with, especially in the days when research was limited by whatever our 10-year-old encyclopedias relayed.

Without the Internet and Wikipedia, most of the answers I received from older folks were “I don’t know” and ‘don’t you know that much curiosity “killed the cat?”’ Fortunately, I didn’t let that hinder me or my desire for more and more data.

As I’ve progressed in my self-awareness, I now understand that it’s not knowing everything about everything that drives me. It’s more about collecting the information and storing it away in case I need it one day.

I used to say that I wished my brain was like a computer with a recycle bin so that I could delete some of the things that I deemed unnecessary. I’m now glad that it doesn’t because just when I think I won’t need to know something, such as the byproduct of sugarcane is called bagasse, then low and behold, it arises in a conversation!

And these nuggets of information are not just good for playing trivial pursuit.

My innate curiosity has done me well in my career as well. Especially as it relates to being a business consultant, having a natural instinct to know more ensures that you’re an active participant in conversations.

Generally, I prefer to listen rather than to speak, and when I speak, I like to ask pointed questions.

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

“Do It Afraid” is a great quote that I’ve come back to many times throughout my career. It’s one of those phrases that is so simple, yet quite nuanced.

Early in my life and career, I would never have jumped off the deep end so willingly. However, that’s the beauty of aging wisely. It gives you the benefit of perspective.

Now, I think, “What’s the worst that can happen?” I then know (from my past experience reflections) that the thing my overactive imagination is concocting never comes to fruition and I choose not to give it my power.

I then jump off the deep end and enjoy the journey…

How can our readers follow you online?

Websites: www.bddynamics.com and www.authentizity.com and www.dawnflandry.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-landry-2a66b48

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

Twitter: @authentizity

Instagram: @dlandry101 and @armored_book

Blog: https://authentizity.com/blog/

Vlog: https://authentizity.com/vlog-spot/

Press (Authentizity): https://authentizity.com/news/

References (Authentizity): https://authentizity.com/references/

Press (ARMORED Book): https://dawnflandry.com/press/

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

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

Arianna Taboada of The Expecting Entrepreneur: How Extremely Busy Leaders Make Time to be Great…

Arianna Taboada of The Expecting Entrepreneur: How Extremely Busy Leaders Make Time to be Great Parents

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Have one-on-one time with your child. This can be challenging if you have multiple children or are trying to fit a lot of family activities into weekends, but it is worth the challenge! Having moments, however infrequent, where they feel like they have 100% of your attention is so special.

As a part of my series about “How extremely busy executives make time to be great parents” I had the pleasure to interview Arianna Taboada.

Arianna Taboada, MSW, MSPH, is the founder of The Expecting Entrepreneur™, a consulting firm that helps entrepreneurs design parental leave plans that meet their business model and personal needs. Prior to her consulting practice, Arianna worked on maternal health issues for over a decade as a health educator, social work trainee, reproductive health researcher, and yoga therapist. Learn more at www.theexpectingentrepreneur.com.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us your “childhood backstory”?

I’m proudly from an immigrant family, and spent many of my formative years navigating life between the US and Mexico as part of a bi-lingual, bi-cultural, and bi-national family. I’ve always read a lot, and been quiet but curious, traits that I still identify with today!

Can you share the story about what brought you to this specific point in your career?

I’m a public health social worker by training, and originally worked in health care in a more traditional way, providing care to un- and under-insured populations. When I realized I would burn out if I saw patients all day every day, I transitioned into entrepreneurship, still in the health care sector, by going into private practice as well as consulting for health systems. I’ve been iterating on my business model and core services ever since, and since 2013 have run a consultancy helping entrepreneurs design a parental leave plan that meets their business model and personal needs.

Can you tell us a bit more about what your day to day schedule looks like?

Like many parents, I have a pretty full life. I work full time during the day, book-ended by family life before and after. In my 1:1 work with business owners who are growing their families and preparing for parental leave, I act as a strategic sounding board and advisor, as well as provide coaching through the immense transformation that is involved in becoming a parent. Much of the foundational work I do with clients is about looking at the core business functions and thinking about the arc of going on and returning from parental leave and what systems and processes will make that possible.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the core of our discussion. This is probably intuitive to many, but it would be beneficial to spell it out. Based on your experience or research, can you flesh out why not spending time with your children can be detrimental to their development?

I can share 2 powerful reasons for spending time with our children: brain development, and secure attachment. Particularly during early childhood, children’s brains are extremely neuroplastic, meaning they are changing and growing rapidly. Spending time with children talking, reading, singing, or engaging in simple activities supports that brain development. In terms of attachment, children are also developing a sense of who they are in relation to others, and parents and other caregivers are a key part of that identity development and secure attachment. We do not have to be doing elaborate activities for hours and hours with our children for them to experience these benefits. Consistent presence and quality attention, even for short amounts of time, is powerful.

On the flip side, can you give a few reasons or examples about why it is so important to make time to spend with your children?

Ha! I suppose as a health professional who focuses on strength-based approaches, I inadvertently took the previous question and flipped it. Honestly, one of my core values as a professional is to not use scientific evidence to scare or shame!

According to this study cited in the Washington Post, the quality of time spent with children is more important than the quantity of time. Can you give a 3–5 stories or examples from your own life about what you do to spend quality time with your children?

First, I’ll share that my own child is in school and after-care, so my reality (as is true for many parents) is that my time with my child during the week is limited. That means there are often just 1 or 2 meaningful ways to spend time with them in the midst of the dinner-bath-bedtime routine. One thing that I consistently do is keep new library books in rotation, and my child will pick the 2 they want to read.

On weekends, there is a bit more flexibility and time. We love going on “dates,” where it’s just a parent-child outing where we do something a bit more adventurous and exciting than regular family outings. We’ve gone fishing, rented a paddle boat, or ridden a train together. Small experiential things that my child really enjoys!

We all live in a world with many deadlines and incessant demands for our time and attention. That inevitably makes us feel rushed and we may feel that we can’t spare the time to be “fully present” with our children. Can you share with our readers 5 strategies about how we can create more space in our lives in order to give our children more quality attention? Please include examples or stories for each, if you can.

I find that strategies that generally help us be more present and embodied with ourselves translate to being able to be more present in our parenting and with our children.

Find micro-moments of pause or reflection. Sometimes this might be taking a breath in between meetings, of staying in the car a few minutes solo before child care pick up
Schedule white space on your calendar. It can be easy to have back to back duties, which inevitably leads to feeling frazzled. Keeping protected time on our calendar to do nothing is one way to have a bit more spaciousness.
Have one-on-one time with your child. This can be challenging if you have multiple children or are trying to fit a lot of family activities into weekends, but it is worth the challenge! Having moments, however infrequent, where they feel like they have 100% of your attention is so special.
Notice your own emotions and reactions. Just like kids, how we feel is often tied up with the people and environments around us. Checking in with yourself emotionally and self-regulating helps us model that for our children.
Take time off. We all need breaks and time to be cared for if we are expected to care for others.

How do you define a “good parent”? Can you give an example or story?

Hmm, this is a good, but hard question! And my answer could honestly sound different depending on what day or mood you catch me in! Today, I’ll say that a “good parent” is being able to balance your own needs with your child needs and skillfully finding ways to tend to both, even (or especially) when there might be tension between the needs, or even feel like competing needs. For me, weekends are an example of this. It is when I have the most time to spend with my child, but also when I potentially have some precious downtime for myself, or an opportunity to connect with my partner. So, I try and make plans that allow me to do both.

How do you inspire your child to “dream big”? Can you give an example or story?

We watch a lot of shows and read books about other places in the world, other families, and other species (aquatic life is a favorite!) I started doing this with a desire to help my child understand what a vast universe we live in and how many different truths and realities exist simultaneously. To be honest I often find that my child ends up asking questions or making comments that actually push me to dream a bit bigger.

How do you, a person who masterfully straddles the worlds of career and family, define “success”?

These days, having time and energy at the end of the day to do a bit of reflection feels like a success. Having some quiet time to think about the small moments of joy, challenges that arose, and my own emotions and thoughts feels like a win! Having a practice of reflection also allows me to think strategically about some of the bigger goals or milestones I have for myself.

What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that inspire you to be a better parent? Can you explain why you like them?

I find that the things that help me feel like a more whole human help me be a better parent. Two experiences from this year that have done that are a course called Criándome, Cuidándome from Latinx Parenting, led by Leslie Priscilla Arreola-Hillenbrand, and Embodiment Basics from The Embodiment Institute, led by Prentis Hemphill. There are also 3 books centering mothers of color that I have found deeply resonant and inspirational: 1) Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines, 2) The Chicana Motherwork Anthology, and 3) We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood.

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

These past few years I have been developing my identity and craft as an author, and dealing with a lot of self doubt. Words by the prolific writer Gloria Anzaldúa have been a lifeline. This quote from her essay “Speaking in Tongues” stick out in particular as a balm to the nerves I often feel when writing:

“What validates us as human beings validates us as writers. What matters to us is the relationships that are important to us whether with our self or others. We must use what is important to us to get to the writing. No topic is too trivial”

This movement is already well underway, and being part of the fight for paid family and medical leave is deeply important to me. At one point or another in life we all are in the role of providing care for another person or needing care ourselves, and I want to see that care work be honored and compensated in my lifetime.

Thank you so much for these insights! This was so inspiring!

Arianna Taboada of The Expecting Entrepreneur: How Extremely Busy Leaders Make Time to be Great… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Beth Dessen Duffy Of ‘Christmas Tree of Kindness’ On The Five Things You Need To…

Female Founders: Beth Dessen Duffy Of ‘Christmas Tree of Kindness’ On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

I celebrate the changes that are already underway and believe that continued education about these successful women is essential. Your series of articles highlighting female founders helps a lot. Yes, young women need to learn about and from other successful women. Similarly, all young people need to read articles about and from female founders too. In this way, everyone will develop expectations that the “sky is the limit” for female founders and as well as all founders.

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

Beth Dessen Duffy graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Education from Cornell University. Beth began her career educating homeowners about how to save on their electric bills and transitioned to become involved in research, lobbying and public affairs in PA. Beth is the CEO of Christmas Tree of Kindness and is sharing their family Christmas tradition in an app to help individuals, families and groups practice kindness, create joyful memories and a kinder world.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Education from Cornell University. I began my career at Florida Power and Light Company educating homeowners about how to save money on their electric bills. I transitioned and became involved with research with the PA House Consumer Affairs Committee, lobbying and eventually the Director of Public Affairs at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Was very thankful to marry my university sweetheart Dan at the age of 36 and welcome our greatest gifts, our children Eddie and Rachel. When our children were young, we wanted an enjoyable and memorable way to focus on kindness and giving as well as receiving during the Christmas Season. To accomplish this, we taped a construction paper Christmas tree to our kitchen cabinet and added a paper ornament after one of us completed a kind act. We had a lot of fun working together to make sure that our tree had plenty of ornaments for our Christmas celebration.

We shared this activity over the years with many children and adults who loved both the activity and message of spreading kindness. We all experienced how much joy it brought to everyone…and wondered “if we should” and “how we could” share it with others.

Sixteen years went by and my family and I decided that we either share this activity with others or stop talking about it. We decided to go for it! The Christmas Tree of Kindness app is the culmination of our efforts. We are sharing our family Christmas tradition in an app to help individuals, families and groups practice kindness, create joyful memories and a kinder world.

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

I think the most interesting story is that as an entrepreneur and CEO, I must also be the CEOF. This means I am the

“Chief Educator and Opportunity Finder.”

As Chief Educator, I am constantly educating others about the wonderful benefits of this app by appearing in podcasts, radio shows, magazine articles, classroom visits, educational conferences, TV interviews, FB, IG and Twitter.

As Chief Opportunity Finder, I learned that this activity was enjoyed for many different reasons. Interest groups identified so far include: those celebrating Advent, those looking for an alternative to Elf on the Shelf, Christmas enthusiasts, anti-bullying groups, kindness groups, grandparents, parents, teachers, children and children at heart. We were also very pleased that friends and family separated last year by Covid could connect in spirit and decorate trees with kind acts using this app during the Holiday Season. I am constantly looking for different ways to share news of this app with each of these different but equally important groups.

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?

What I learned was funny in an “ironic” way. When I started out as an entrepreneur, I did not think that my background education and work experience would help when creating and promoting the app. Well, I can laugh a little to myself now because at it turns out all those experiences helped! I found that being a good listener, an eager learner, good communicator, organized, flexible and team player were all still essential. When I started my career, I did have some of these traits but as you might expect, experience and practice over the years certainly helped improve them all.

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 must give a brief shout out to three people for the reasons you mentioned. First to my husband Dan. He is the founder and President of a company called Mid-Range. He is an amazing person for many reasons. When it comes to the app specifically, let me just say that he hears about it and helps with it ALL OF THE TIME. He believes in the concept and the potential of this app as much as I do. We are on a special wavelength and I am so thankful for him.

Next, I must mention my very kind parents. My father, Dr Edgar Lee Dessen, M.D. was a Radiologist and founder of the community development organization called CAN-DO. Above his desk was a framed quote from Quaker Missionary Etienne de Grellet that read: I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” This quote had a big impact on him, me and many others in our family.

Last but not least, I would like to give a shout out to my mother, Sonia Wise Dessen. She shared a lot of wonderful pieces of advice over the years and probably one of her best was “Never regret a kindness.” (See Mom, I was listening!)

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 celebrate the changes that are already underway and believe that continued education about these successful women is essential. Your series of articles highlighting female founders helps a lot. Yes, young women need to learn about and from other successful women. Similarly, all young people need to read articles about and from female founders too. In this way, everyone will develop expectations that the “sky is the limit” for female founders and as well as all founders.

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?

Change can start in each of our homes. We learned that as a family with two children, we had a tremendous opportunity to practice sharing and discussing our views. We did not always agree. However, we created and practiced an atmosphere of mutual respect. Specifically, it did not matter if you were our son, daughter, young, old, experienced, inexperienced, educated on a topic or uneducated on a topic, etc. Each opinion was counted and valued and everyone had the right to be heard. We thought this was a good start to better embrace and respect the role of women leaders and all leaders.

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 different way of looking at the world and many books have been written about this topic. For example, Jean Kilbourne has discussed how women lead teams focusing on cooperation in contrast to men who emphasize competition. For these aforementioned reasons, when I look for reasons to hope for a better tomorrow, empowering more women decision makers and founders is critical!

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

One myth is that I am always having “fun” because I am working on promoting an app that I enjoy and believe it is very worthwhile. Nothing could be further from the truth. Being a founder is tough work and you must be tenacious. Good think I am tough and tenacious!

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?

Not everyone is cut out to be a founder and that is perfectly fine. Differences make the world go around and I hope we get back to Vive La Différence on this and many other topics. In addition, I think founders need an inner compass that tell them they are up for the task…in other words…they have to believe they “CAN DO” it.

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.)

“The most creative people veer between ambition and anxiety, self-doubt and confidence” is something Actor Daniel Radcliffe once said. I don’t think I would put myself in the category of “most creative” but during this process I have certainly felt all these emotions. Glad to learn that he felt them too…and that helps me to feel that this is OK and to keep going!
“I am still learning” are the famous last words of Michelangelo on his deathbed. It amazes and humbles me how much I am learning every day. Initially I thought this was a weakness. However, realizing that I will be constantly learning is actually a strength and a secret is…I enjoy it! It is reassuring that even “The Man of the Renaissance” was still learning at 88.
“Enjoy the journey and the destination.” This wonderful thought reminds me that during the journey to our goals there are many successes to recognize and celebrate with joy! In other words, be sure to take time to stop and “smell the daisies” during the process as well as when goals are achieved.
“It is hard to beat a person that never gives up,” is a quote from Babe Ruth. He held records for both strike outs and homeruns that remained unbroken for many years. Ruth is considered by many to be the greatest ballplayer of all time. Now, when I am having a bad day, I remember this quote, chuckle to myself and keep going!
“Dream big and don’t be afraid to tell everybody about it.” This quote by Regis Philbin is included in one of Katie Couric’s books. Regis said that he always wanted to be a broadcaster but thought it sounded ridiculous if he mentioned it to anyone or even admitted it to himself. He explained that he wasted some valuable years and encourages everyone not to do the same. This advice really resonated with me because I had the same problem! I thought about this advice and can now say we are promoting the Christmas Tree of Kindness app because one of us can make our world kinder…. and by practicing kindness together with this app we all can make a tremendous impact. As one interviewer said to me, “So a mom from Aurora, ON thinks she can make the world a kinder place?” At the time I was speechless. Now if I am asked that same question again, I will respond with a resounding, “Yes!!!”

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

Yes. From the beginning, success for us is practicing our family Christmas tradition and sharing it with others. In our journey to get to this point many children, adults, teachers, old and new friends and business associates are enjoying the Christmas Tree of Kindness app. We are all making our world kinder and better…one kind act and one ornament at a time.

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 are encouraging everyone to take the Merry #Christmastreeofkindness Challenge!!! Download the free app (Christmas Kindness) or $.99 app (Christmas Tree of Kindness) from the Apple App store. Decorate a virtual or printed tree with 10 ornaments. Each ornament is added after completing a kind act. Post a screenshot of your completed tree and tag us on FB, IG and Twitter. Our efforts can “snowball” and yes, we can create a kinder world together by December 25!

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.

Maria Shriver @mariashriver @thesundaypaper #Ivebeenthinking

I follow Maria Shriver on social media and admire her thoughts, experiences, accomplishments in the past, present and future. Maria shines brightly with her kindness…and hope she will share the news of the Christmas Tree of Kindness app to help others do the same!

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

Female Founders: Beth Dessen Duffy Of ‘Christmas Tree of Kindness’ On The Five Things You Need To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Jarrett Robertson: 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Dramatically Improve Your Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Water Helps Energize Muscles — Cells that don’t maintain their balance of fluids and electrolytes shrivel, which can result in muscle fatigue. When muscle cells don’t have adequate fluids, they don’t work as well and performance can suffer. This goes for anyone and everyone. You don’t have to be an athlete of any sort. We all have muscles, just some more than others. Regardless of who you are and how much muscle you have, you want them all to work and all to work at their highest potential. On the days when you’re hydrated properly and everything is “ticking”, guess what, you feel awesome.

As a part of my series about “5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve One’s Wellbeing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jarrett Robertson.

Jarrett Robertson is a former pro hockey player and physique competitor who continues to draw upon everything he learned about overall health and wellbeing to inform his approach to life. The Brown University graduate has been a financial adviser for more than a decade and continues to run his firm in Toronto, Ontario. He is also a consultant at Canada Life. With Make It A Great Day, he brings his message to the masses, helping more people achieve greater success through mastering their own human potential. Robertson strives every day to project positivity and aims to help motivate others to do the same by reminding us that, “Life is not too short, but life is extremely valuable. Make it a great day!”

<a href="https://medium.com/media/f2f899aa082485532f96aad4f64654d5/href">https://medium.com/media/f2f899aa082485532f96aad4f64654d5/href</a>

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the story about how you first got involved in fitness and wellness?

I grew up in Kingston, Ontario where hockey was my ultimate dream. I was extremely fortunate that my talent and hard work earned me a scholarship to the Ivy League where I played hockey for the Brown University Bears. After graduating in 2006, before transitioning into the financial services industry, I spent two and half years playing semi-pro hockey throughout the U.S trying to make the big leagues. Shortly after my career in hockey was over and I “hung up the skates”, I was lucky to connect with an old friend who helped get me involved in the fitness industry. It’s from here where I learned so much about overall health and wellbeing and it’s those things that have been paramount in my success both personally and professionally.

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

Interesting would certainly be a subjective opinion in this case, so, for me, the most interesting thing that has happened — or I’ll say has unfolded — over the course of my career is that I have become known as the “always positive” person or the “rainbows and butterflies” guy, which has allowed me to be more authentic. Listen, I understand and appreciate that life is not always fair, and I have some dark times in my life as well, but I’ve learned and researched ways to improve my situation so that I can get back to being happy, enjoying the little things, and helping other people.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

When I was recording my book for Audible, I could have sworn to you that I knew how to read. Pronunciation was one hell of a lesson. When we read in our minds or even if we read to ourselves, we glance over words that make sense in our head even though we may not say them properly (but we think we do). We read it, got it, understood and moved on. But, when you are reading to an audience and suddenly the sentence “I really encourage everyone to make themselves laugh in day” becomes “Hi relay courage everyone to make themselves laughing today “, you have a problem. I had to listen and edit my own recordings so many times. It was very humbling. It has made me extremely aware to slow down and make sure that I speak clearly and annunciate.

Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority in the fitness and wellness field? In your opinion, what is your unique contribution to the world of wellness?

What I found is that, like anything in life, you can research more, dig deeper, go further, climb higher, etc., but what I have learned is that it’s the littlest things that we can do every day that will actually help get us started. The prologue, if you will. People do not plan on failing but people do fail to plan. I help motivate people by always looking for a solution on how to achieve success or solve a problem and always being positive. Life is not too short but life is extremely valuable.

This is a loaded question! I feel if I leave anyone out, I’ll never hear the end of it. If I’m being honest, there are many people. From friends, to colleagues, to teammates, to family. Here is what I’ll say. I have a laundry list of people that come to mind who, I feel, have helped in this part of my journey. Those are the people that I call or text on a regular basis, people that make me laugh, who listen, that push me and most of all that I sincerely feel, believe in me.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. We all know that it’s important to eat more vegetables, eat less sugar, exercise more, and get better sleep etc. But while we know it intellectually, it’s often difficult to put it into practice and make it a part of our daily habits. In your opinion what are the 3 main blockages that prevent us from taking the information that we all know, and integrating it into our lives?

I’ll give you the number 1 thing without a doubt in mind and that is people think they need to climb a mountain. I’m telling you, all you need to do is take a sip of water. Tie your shoes and take a step forward, don’t worry about finishing the marathon. The challenge is that taking a sip of water and tying your shoes is not celebrated. It is mundane, it’s boring, it’s nothing new or innovative. Do you have any idea why drinking water is so important and what it’s doing for you? Have you learned why sleep is the single most important and most valuable investment in your lifetime? People make outrageous goals, as I did and still do every day (I am a dreamer) but fail to recognize that the smallest victories are incredible and are what will get you to where you want to go (i.e.: the peak of the mountain or completing the marathon)

Social media is the best and it can be the worst. You need to be very strong mentally to understand social media and the effects it has on you. Sure, people want to diet, work out, eat less sugar, and so on. Then they go on social media, realize they are not “as good” as the snapshot-moment-in-time post they are looking at and their motivation plummets. What people are unaware of is that they are being chemically influenced. Cortisol increases, fear of failure sets in, self-doubt, the list goes on. Our mind and body will do everything it can to protect us so when people are comparing themselves to the world by scrolling through snapshots of a moment in time, they will create their own blockages and it will prevent them from ever starting, let alone, continuing.

People network. People are very uncomfortable going outside of the “norm”. If none of your friends, colleagues, peers, etc. exercised, went to the gym, ate healthy, or trained, chances are you’re not going to either. Think about what you might miss while you’re at the gym or sleeping (taking care of yourself) when everyone else around you is doing the opposite. Even if it’s small (and mundane), you must be the change.

Can you please share your “5 Non-Intuitive Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve One’s Wellbeing”? (Please share a story or an example for each, and feel free to share ideas for mental, emotional and physical health.)

Take a walk to see green

Research shows that by walking outdoors, in nature, you can de-activate the default mode network (DMN) in your brain. This allows you to be in the moment. The DMN is responsible for what I call scatter brain. If we don’t give our mind direction, by default it will think about problems from the past (things that are over), think about the future (things that haven’t even happened yet) or focus on you (i.e.: I’m not good enough, what do they think about me, etc). After reading this, I’m willing to bet people will catch themselves “thinking” a lot and hopefully will remember this little tidbit on the DMN. It’s your brain doing what it does best…working (and looking for some direction). Take 15 minutes to go for a stroll outside and you’ll find yourself (and your mind) in a much better state.

2. Make yourself laugh

Next time you’re in the car or somewhere by yourself, try laughing. You don’t have to think of anything funny just start laughing. If you do it a few times, you will actually start laughing at yourself and by getting to this point, you will release feel-good brain chemicals. Until now, scientists hadn’t proven that — like exercise and other activities — laughing causes a release of so-called endorphins. If making yourself laugh is tough, find a video on Youtube or carry a picture with you that make you laugh. By laughing before you start your day, workout, a meeting, an activity, or whatever it may be, you’re setting yourself up to feel awesome (proven by science).

Short-term benefits:

Stimulate organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.
Soothe tension. Laughter can stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.

Long-term effects:

Improve your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. In contrast, positive thoughts actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.
Relieve pain. Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers. When a child hurts himself, what does every parent try to do? Make him laugh!
Increase personal satisfaction. Laughter can also make it easier to cope with difficult situations. It also helps you connect with other people.

3. Drink water

This is not groundbreaking news. You do not need a physician, nutritionist or even Dr. Oz to tell you that your body and system need water. Do you know that, as humans, we are the only mammals to drink milk from another animal? Plus, we are the only ones that drink it as a fluid source after nursing from the mother. In the wild, as soon as a calf, cub, fawn, colt, even a puppy or kitten, are strong enough to be on their own and no longer need their mother’s milk for food; they only drink water.

In a large study of adults of all ages and both sexes, the adult human body averaged ~65% water

Three reasons WHY it’s important to drink more water (I hope you are already drinking some)

Drinking Water Helps Maintain the Balance of Body Fluids

The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature. This is everything our bodies need to do in a day. Good Lord, if this is the only reason you drink more water, you’re making it a great day!

Water Helps Energize Muscles

Cells that don’t maintain their balance of fluids and electrolytes shrivel, which can result in muscle fatigue. When muscle cells don’t have adequate fluids, they don’t work as well and performance can suffer. This goes for anyone and everyone. You don’t have to be an athlete of any sort. We all have muscles, just some more than others. Regardless of who you are and how much muscle you have, you want them all to work and all to work at their highest potential. On the days when you’re hydrated properly and everything is “ticking”, guess what, you feel awesome.

Water Helps Your Kidneys

Body fluids transport waste products in and out of cells. The main toxin in the body is blood urea nitrogen, a water-soluble waste that is able to pass through the kidneys to be excreted in the urine. Your kidneys do an amazing job of cleansing and ridding your body of toxins as long as your intake of fluids is adequate. Toxins can lead to myriad health problems. The quicker I can help process the elimination of toxins and waste, the happier (and healthier) I am and you will be too.

4. No elevators and park far away

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trekking up and down 30 flights of stairs on any given day (my coach more than ensures I hit my recommended “floor” count in the vast majority of my programs so I’m all good in that department). Also, I’m not just trying to hit the daily recommended step count of 10,000. For me, the whole idea of parking a little farther away and taking the stairs instead of an escalator or elevator is for the simple fact that I can. How many people in your life or people do you see, in general, that need the extra help; whether it is old age, an injury or simple laziness? Trust me, one day that will be me (and it’ll be you too). I will need help, I will need to park a little closer and I’ll 100% need to rely on elevators (for the record, I don’t ever plan on being lazy), but today I choose to walk those stairs and take an extra 15–30 seconds (literally) to park a little farther away because I can. How many times have you heard “don’t take the little things for granted?” from someone who has been struck with a disability (short or long term), an illness or even worse, a tragedy? Listen, I’m not here to preach about how wonderful life is and that our world is made up of rainbows and butterflies; the purpose of my book and my messages is to give you a few small suggestions on the littlest things you can do that, in my opinion, will make you feel awesome. Do the things you can do because you can! One of my favorite quotes:

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems. You must be the change you want to see in the world” ~ Gandhi

5. 20 minutes as hard as you can go

If you have never heard or read about endorphins, you’re missing out. We have all seen those infomercials on how to get fit in three minutes a day or something ridiculous like that ,and I don’t intend to challenge those theories (although you can well imagine what I think about them). When I say 20 minutes, I quite literally mean 20 minutes. From the time you sit on the bike, go for a walk/jog, step up on the stepmill or sit down in the rower, 20 minutes later, you’re all done. The catch here is “as hard as you can go” and, no, not for the entire 20 minutes. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a widely adopted method of training for high level athletes, extreme weight loss and overall health and well being. I’m not going to get into the science of HIIT and I’m not here for a debate; once again, this is me sharing with you another way that you can feel awesome. You’re probably familiar with the term “runner’s high,” which refers to the euphoric feeling one sometimes gets when exercising. Researchers have found that light-to-moderate weight training or cardiovascular exercise doesn’t produce endorphins, only heavy weights or training that incorporates sprinting or other anaerobic exertion. When your body crosses over from an aerobic state to an anaerobic state, it’s suddenly operating without enough oxygen to satisfy the muscles and cells screaming out for it. This is when the “runner’s high” occurs. I love it! Work your ass off and not only look incredible, which is why the vast majority of people work out, but also feel incredible because of the rush you’ll get from your very own stash of feel good drugs hidden deep inside your body and at your disposal. You just have to go and get them! So what you are waiting for!? Don’t hope for a great day, take control of your own mood, general well being and make it a great day. Crush yourself for 20 minutes (HIIT) and I promise you, you will feel awesome!

As an expert, this might be obvious to you, but I think it would be instructive to articulate this for the public. Aside from weight loss, what are 3 benefits of daily exercise? Can you explain?

To be honest, I always looked at weight loss and the “vanity” appearance as a side effect. If you train or exercise, you’ll feel great and people who feel great, look great! There are a plethora of benefits to exercise and they can all be researched so I’ll give you three that might not be at the top of the algorithms.

I have a higher tolerance for myself, my wife and my kids. On the days I don’t train or exercise, I find those are the days I get the most irritated. You know those days when the smallest things just feel like nails on a chalkboard? Well, guess what, you’re human and it happens to everyone. Exercise helps with that!
I love deeper. This piggy backs off #1. If I’m in a better state both mentally and physically, I can focus on the love I have for not only my wife, my kids, and myself, but also for my business, my clients, society, my friends and family.
Lower stress. Throughout the day, stress naturally builds up. Good or fun stress (rushing to catch a plane to go on vacation — tough to call that one bad) and perhaps not so good or fun (loosing a client/deal or the biggie, money stress). Stress releases cortisol in the body and can be harmful if you’re not aware. The goal is for cortisol to be in and out of your body as quickly as possible. Exercise is one way to help and will result in lower stress. You and I both know that on the days you have lower stress, you are a better human.

For someone who is looking to add exercise to their daily routine, which 3 exercises would you recommend that are absolutely critical?

The one you like. Clearly this is vague and I appreciate that. If I give you an exercise or idea that I feel is critical but you don’t like, there is absolutely no chance you stick to it. You know what exercise is because it’s as simple as going for a walk. It’s critical that you find something you enjoy. Do that!
Any. Again, vague but critical. If you want to do jumping jacks all day long, super! If you want to lift the heaviest weights and crush cardio, amazing! If you always wanted to learn how to skate or shoot hoops, do it! Any exercise is better than the exercise you’re not doing. What I will promise you is that once you find Any exercise that You Like, it will lead to more and ultimately a better overall you!
Consistency. I want people to exercise consistently. I talk about this in more detail in my book. Once a day, once a week, I don’t care. Achieve consistency with any exercise that you enjoy and then add from there. Achieve consistency again with your new regime and add from there. Psychoanalysts say that only 8% of people follow through on their New Year’s resolutions; and that, by far, the most popular New Year’s resolution is to get in better shape, lose weight, get healthier, and live a better life. How about this? How about I give you an alternative goal that will allow you guaranteed success. It is quite literally the very first goal my coach and trainer gave to me: consistency.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

I’ve read all of his books but the one that has had the biggest impact (so far) is The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. I always wanted to win (and still do). This book opened my mind to understanding that winning is impossible in the most important areas of my life. I cannot win at being a Father. I cannot win at marriage or win at business. I can perpetuate the game as these things will continue forever (ie: parenting, marriage, business). The most important thing is that I continue to evolve, adapt and improve as a business owner, father, spouse, colleague, friend, etc., and ultimately pass on that legacy.

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

You would have to agree that within the last 20 months we, somehow, collectively as a society started wearing masks. Many opinions have stemmed from this movement but none-the-less, masks are being worn more than they ever have in the past. So, how do we as a society “make” everyone exercise for 20 minutes a day? A walk, a run, some body weight movements, it does not have to be a life altering event. It’s free and accessible to everyone. How about you have you to help a stranger once a day. Maybe it’s holding the door (and saying hello) or paying someone a compliment, but you have to make an effort once a day. Again, easy, free to do, and accessible to everyone. The health benefits (scientifically and chemically proven) that come from such small acts of kindness and/or moving your body in a day are monumental. There is nothing controversial about being nice or helping others and there is nothing controversial about spending 20 minutes a day taking care of your physical health. How do we do that?

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

“Life is not too short but life is extremely valuable”

I felt the old adage of “Life is too short” was deflating, is deflating. I certainly don’t want life to be short, do you?

What if I asked you to go walk for two days straight? You would think I’m crazy, that’s “forever”. Life is supposed to last 80–90 years (actuarily speaking). How is that short? However, what we do see is that life is not always fair and things happen hence why “life is extremely valuable”.

One other quote I would love to share that I came across while I was completing this interview for Authority, and that I absolutely love:

“My goal in life is to die young…as late as possible”

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

Keanu Reeves. I keep coming across his story and I’m so curious to learn more from him and about him. I’m confident the stories are true, but we all know there is always more. Clearly, he has nothing to prove to anyone and I’m not looking to “interview” him. I love being around and meeting people who want to help others and make this world a better place.

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

@_makeitagreatday

www.makeitagreatday.ca

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

Jarrett Robertson: 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Dramatically Improve Your Wellbeing was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Kim Borman of Boston Women’s Workforce Council: 5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Flexibility. Companies must offer employee-centered flexibility in where and when work gets done, which research shows can help keep people in their jobs and boost retention. There are increased opportunities to be more inclusive of all working parents through hybrid work arrangements and making this a reality is a critical step in fostering gender equitable organizations. Most importantly, employers need to make sure there is no stigma for choosing flexibility for either women or men.

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Kim Borman.

Kim Borman is Executive Director of the Boston Women’s Workforce Council, a unique public-private partnership between the Boston Mayor’s office and Greater Boston employers dedicated to eliminating the gender/racial wage gap Kim brings over 25 years of expertise in private sector management, marketing and operations and a wide variety of experience in building and sustaining nonprofit organizations. She has held senior executive positions at a variety of top Boston advertising agencies as well as owned and managed her own agency, Avenue Brand, in Boston’s South End for several years. Throughout her career, Kim has been committed to equal pay for equal work and has the battle scars to prove it.

Kim also has many years of nonprofit engagement at organizations like Planned Parenthood, The Social Innovation Forum and The Rian Immigrant Center, where she currently sits as Vice President on the Board of Directors.

A graduate of Brown University and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern, Kim recently earned her Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

I was in marketing for over 30 years and owned a marketing agency in Boston for seven years. I was lucky enough to be accepted into the Master of Public Administration program at the Harvard Kennedy School which I thought would prepare me best for this pivot into a mission driven career. Interestingly, it has been my background in marketing, building organizational infrastructure and client service that has helped me the most in leading the Boston Women’s Workforce Council. It all comes down to having the right message, the right people and systems and continuing engagement with members — all areas of focus during my marketing career.

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

I started this job during the pandemic so, like everyone else, I made a lot of Zoom mistakes. Probably the funniest mistake I made was commenting to a professor at Boston University that he must be at his office because his ceiling was made of dilapidated acoustic tiling. He informed me that, no, he was at his home in his new finished office. Tough to get yourself out of that one when you’re face-to-face with your mistake. I told him it looked roomy, much better than an academic office. What did I learn? Not to comment on the background during a Zoom meeting.

Ok let’s jump to the main focus of our interview. Even in 2020, women still earn about 81 cents for every dollar a man makes. Can you explain the main factors that are causing the wage gap?

2020 numbers from the Boston Women’s Workforce Council show a 30-cent gap between what women and men earn. That gap is even wider for women of color, who earn up to 55 cents less than white men. If “equal pay for equal work” has been the law for more than 50 years, why is the gender wage gap still so high? Because the gender/racial pay gap is about more than paying women the same salary for the same job. It means advancing women so that they can earn higher salaries at the same rate as men. Closing the power gap is the only way to close the gender and racial wage gaps.

Can you share with our readers what your work is doing to help close the gender wage gap?

Founded in 2013, the BWWC is a unique public-private partnership between the Boston Mayor’s office and Greater Boston employers dedicated to eliminating the gender/racial wage gap. The BWWC recruits employers to sign the 100% Talent Compact, a pledge to examine their policies, work toward fixing pay and advancement inequities they might find, and anonymously share their payroll data on race and gender in order to provide a community snapshot on progress. The BWWC reports these results every two years. A new report is due in December of this year. This collaboration between the Mayor’s Office and Greater Boston employers to close the gap is a first-in-the-nation approach to removing the visible and invisible barriers to women’s advancement.

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the gender wage gap.

Based on research from more than 250 Boston-area employers, we know the evidence-based practices that can bolster gender equity at work. Now is the time to rethink the way things were and implement a new normal, including:

Flexibility. Companies must offer employee-centered flexibility in where and when work gets done, which research shows can help keep people in their jobs and boost retention. There are increased opportunities to be more inclusive of all working parents through hybrid work arrangements and making this a reality is a critical step in fostering gender equitable organizations. Most importantly, employers need to make sure there is no stigma for choosing flexibility for either women or men.
Experimenting. Employers can experiment and learn to optimize across functions — try new things, test, and analyze.
Training. We must train managers to supervise and support people in this new environment. For example, employers can front-line managers understand how to manage a hybrid team. This also means learning new skills in inclusive management and checking in with the whole person — not just how they show up at work.
Inclusivity. Companies can design inclusive career tracks and results-oriented performance reviews that will make promotions more equitable.
Innovation. Companies must forge fresh solutions to age-old challenges — and keep them in place for the long haul. Employers can look to models like Mass General Hospital, which addressed long-standing gender equity issues in academic medicine by enabling doctors to participate virtually in promotion-critical activities such as international presentations, visiting professorships, and Grand Rounds. Or Mass Mutual, which helped employees balance the multiple demands of work and personal commitments by providing up to 80 hours of additional paid time off, increasing the number of covered Employee Assistance Program (EAP) sessions, and providing online wellness classes dedicated to managing stress.

Find a minute a day to enjoy a belly laugh — talk with a colleague whose sense of humor you enjoy, watch a You-tube video of a late night show, ask your kids to tell you a joke — but just get out of your day and laugh!

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

You see the same people on the way up the ladder as do on the way down. Make sure you treat all colleagues with respect and dignity. You can learn from everyone — a junior associate, the IT team, even a bad boss. Besides being the right thing to do, you never know where these people may end up and often you find yourselves reacquainted years later.

Oprah Winfrey. She has had an amazing career and is still at the top of her game. Is truly the best interviewer I have ever seen. That only happens when you gain trust and are known for asking smart questions.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.

Kim Borman of Boston Women’s Workforce Council: 5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Lauren Rosenthal of Birdie On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Female Disruptors: Lauren Rosenthal of Birdie On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Treat everyone with respect: it’s important to show you value everyone on the team and to take the time to listen to them and their ideas, and ambitions. Even at a start-up, maybe especially at a start-up where this structure is too easily overlooked.

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

Lauren Rosenthal founded Birdie as a response to the all-too-common endless streaming search. After spending yet another hour scrolling through her queue trying to find the perfect show, she gave up and watched ‘The West Wing’ for the 100th time.

As a self-proclaimed process geek obsessed with streamlining, Lauren knew there was a better way. While algorithms may offer up suggestions for tv and movies — they often miss the mark and aren’t geared toward personal taste. What if viewers could quickly see what their friends and family recommend instead?

And just like that, the idea for Birdie was hatched.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Pretty much every app out there is focused on getting users to spend more time in app, whereas Birdie wants you to spend less time. The whole idea with Birdie is that it serves as a utility — not something experiential. Yes, it’s cute and fun — but in the end the mission is to support our users in making quick decisions so they can get back to their lives and leisure time — NOT spending more time staring at their phones.

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 built Birdie so that our Flock can find their next binge-watch quickly, without too much scrolling. But in the development process, we incorporated the endless scroll into the UI, which is completely counterintuitive to our ethical tech approach. Oops!

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?

A former manager of mine, Karla Martin, has served as a personal and professional mentor since we met over a decade ago. She has been my cheerleader and tough love provider and everything in between. It may sound simple but she just always makes herself available — which given her demanding schedule, is a lot. Recently I was having one of those days — I had a lot weighing on me was texting her to catch up. he could sense something was up and demanded we get on a call right then and there. She could read between the lines and it meant the world to me.

I see positive disruption as synonym for evolution. When an industry or product or service moves into its next iteration, typically in a way that’s obvious after the fact. Not-so-positive disruption is when this new iteration hinders necessary muscles being built.

An example is catering to different learning styles. I just recently returned to physical books after years on the Kindle. I had been a voracious reader and recently realized I’d stopped logging as many books as I used to. And it’s because I just don’t absorb information on a screen the same way as I do when reading a book. Same for using GPS. I have a terrible sense of direction and in so many ways the GPS has been amazing, it gets me from A to B. But it has also atrophied what little muscle memory I have in that department. I’ve found that I am trying more and more to turn off my maps app so I can actually learn directions rather than just going off a screen and having it go in one ear and out the other. Would I want a world without e-readers or GPS? Absolutely not! But do I think there’s a necessary in between for some people, maybe most people, absolutely.

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

Test, test, test — and early: I have had a lot of ideas about the ideal user for Birdie — and most have been wrong. But I tested early to see if it resonated and if it didn’t I moved on to the next test group. I have saved a lot of time and energy by testing out assumptions before going too far down any path.
Fake it til you make it: for Birdie this meant being creative in gathering your early content and users.
Treat everyone with respect: it’s important to show you value everyone on the team and to take the time to listen to them and their ideas, and ambitions. Even at a start-up, maybe especially at a start-up where this structure is too easily overlooked.

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

I’m looking for partnership opportunities for Birdie. Hoping to find an area where Birdie’s currently offering — TV & Movies — could really have an impact. My current hypothesis — dating apps. What’s more telling about a future mate than what they’re currently binging or their favorite series? Even if you don’t have in common it’s a wonderful conversation piece.

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

Funding funding funding. It’s unacceptable what percent of funding goes to women versus men.

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

“The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gowande. I love anything Dr. Gowande writes, he’s amazing. But I find myself referring to “The Checklist Manifesto” more than anything else. It’s amazing what simple tools like checklists can accomplish. They provide a dependable framework to complete critical tasks that we may be too overwhelmed or distracted to otherwise give our full attention to. They’re binary, something is done or it’s not — which can give the person tasked a bit of a mental break — putting them into execute mode which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We can be freed up to use our creative thinking elsewhere.

Birdie’fy the world! I truly believe if there was a Birdie-like tool available for decision making across categories in our lives — it would have a monumental affect. The movement would be two-fold.

First, it would give people time back in their days. Just imagine having an extra 30–40 minutes back in your day to go for a run, or read a book, or take a nap. That’s what having a tool to power quick decision making would give us all back in our lives, potentially more.

Second, it would improve general attitudes across the board. Very few people enjoy making decisions — especially when they’re made between parties. Imagine not spending time disagreeing with your spouse about where to go to dinner, or with your roommate about what to watch on tv, or your colleague on what podcast to listen to on your drive to that client meeting in the boondocks. We far too often go to bed exhausted and frustrated, and unfulfilled.

I’m not saying Birdie can make our relationships perfect, but it definitely can help reduce friction and improve the outcome. It’s a circular framework — I’m in a better place so I’m more patient with my husband, he’s now in a better place so he’s more patient with the barista at Starbucks, the barista is in a better place because he went a day without a rude customer (maybe even encountered some nice ones!), so he goes home and is in a better place so he’s more playful with his kids so they go to bed happy and wake up the next morning in a better place so they’re nicer to their teachers. That’s the Birdie movement.

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

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” I’ve heard this for years from managers — as I have a tendency to be a perfectionist. I’ve learned the value of this the hard way — working overtime to take a project another unnecessary 5%, just to have that extra work scrapped in the morning. I’ve also been on the other side of this — having contractors bill me for time and taking far longer than necessary to complete work that could have been reviewed or pushed to production far sooner.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m not active on social media but I do post occasional thoughts on our blog –

https://join.birdieworld.com/blog/

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

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

Female Disruptors: Alice Cherng and Belinda Wei of Dear Bella Creamery On The Three Things You Need…

Female Disruptors: Alice Cherng and Belinda Wei of Dear Bella Creamery On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Maintain a healthy margin and keep costs low. Tell your story. For the first few years of our business, we focused on highlighting our products and didn’t share much about us as the owners. Over time, we found that people wanted to know what made us unique, so we started sharing our stories and started creating ice cream flavors inspired by our stories. This has created a stronger brand loyalty than ever before.

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

Alice Cherng and Belinda Wei are the Taiwanese American co-founders of Dear Bella Creamery, a premium all-natural plant-based creamery in Los Angeles. The best friends, business partners, and longtime vegans are holding the vegan ice cream industry to a new standard by committing to using only fresh and high-quality ingredients, void of artificial colors, sweeteners, preservatives, and hydrogenated oil throughout their expansive array of indulgent frozen treats. With plans for expansion and national shipping on the horizon, Alice and Belinda are female disrupters in the culinary world.

We are two best friends that bonded over our mutual love for vegan ice cream. We opened Dear Bella in 2017 to create our dream ice cream shop, one full of creamy, incredible frozen treats that we remember from our childhoods, but could never find in other stores. Our ice creams are made with the most premium and natural ingredients like oat milk and unrefined cane sugar. We make all of our cookies, brownies, cakes, sauces, and waffle cones from scratch. We truly believe that we have the most remarkable plant-based ice cream on the planet.

Alice: At the age of 8, I immigrated from Taiwan to LA with my parents and brother. I chose a secure path by studying and working as an accountant, but after a few years of working, I felt unfulfilled. So in 2011, I decided to follow my passion and enter into the restaurant industry by working as a line cook at a vegan restaurant. That’s where I met Belinda. Both being Taiwanese and long-time vegans, our friendship forged over many vegan meals. We would spend most of our time talking about what we would add to the vegan world, and one day, we finally decided to just walk the talk. And Dear Bella was born.

Belinda: My passion for food started when I was a little girl because I saw how it would bring my family together when we would all go out together to get ice cream at our local ice cream shop. That was just the beginning of my journey with food and then proceeded to study at Le Cordon Bleu to become a classically trained chef. During my time working with different restaurants, I started to become fascinated with the plant based movement and decided to try it for health reasons. Reducing dairy and eventually removing it completely was life changing for me, but I had limited options when it came to ice cream, and I wanted to change that. That is how Dear Bella came to be! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and make everlasting memories with us.

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

What makes our product stand out from the rest is that it’s all plant-based, gluten-free, all natural, and made from scratch. Not only do we have classic flavors, but we also create unique, one-of-a-kind flavors inspired by our cultures and upbringing,

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?

The first year that we were open, we vended at Coachella, one of the largest music festivals in the country. This experience included a string of funny mistakes that we still laugh about to this day. Here is one of the more memorable funny moments:

We arrived early the first day to set up tents for our staff on the campground. It was particularly windy that day, so we anchored the tents into the ground. We left the campground to go set up our booth at the festival. When we got back 8 hours later, we could not find our tents anywhere. We were convinced that someone stole them, but later realized that they were blown away by the wind. We had to quickly scramble to buy tents and set them up before our staff arrived. We will never forget struggling to try to pitch 3 tents in the dark with no help and little time. We did make it work, so our staff had a place to sleep!

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?

There have been numerous people that have helped us along our entrepreneurial journey. One of the most impactful supporters is Amelia, owner of Sweet Ritual, which is another vegan ice cream shop in Austin, TX. Since she ran her business 7 years prior to us opening, she was an invaluable resource for any issues that we encountered while opening our shop. She was always extremely generous with her time and knowledge. We owe a lot of our success to her. Over the years, we have also relied heavily on a Facebook group consisting of hundreds of ice cream shop owners. We’ve been able to get a lot of our questions answered from other members of that community.

Disruption is a positive thing when it creates opportunities and space for those that have been underserved or unseen. For example, opening an ice cream shop that does not use a single drop of dairy is disruptive. It disrupts the notion that ice cream is only enjoyable when it is made with dairy or that ice cream is not available to those that either cannot or chooses not to consume dairy.

Disruption is a not so positive thing when it decreases human interaction and connection. For example, although the availability and efficiency of delivery services have been helpful during the pandemic, it has also significantly disincentivized people from visiting brick and mortar stores. They are missing the full experience of visiting a store that includes seeing the variety of products, smelling the fresh food, and interacting with staff.

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

Maintain a healthy margin and keep costs low.
Tell your story. For the first few years of our business, we focused on highlighting our products and didn’t share much about us as the owners. Over time, we found that people wanted to know what made us unique, so we started sharing our stories and started creating ice cream flavors inspired by our stories. This has created a stronger brand loyalty than ever before.
Engage with your customers. We make an effort to respond to every review, DM, and email. It is important to us that our community knows that we listen and that we care.

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

Our ultimate goal is to be a national plant-based ice cream chain, so we are actively working on opening more stores.

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

In our opinion, the biggest challenge of being a ‘women disruptor’ is trying to build something meaningful, while raising a family. Both things take an enormous amount of time and focus. The challenge of balancing both is sometimes insurmountable, but necessary, in order to leave a legacy.

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

Alice — One of my favorite podcasts is How I Built This, a podcast about entrepreneurs and how they built their businesses. I’ve listened to hundreds of these entrepreneurial stories, and my biggest takeaway is to create something that helps people and be persistent. That mantra has helped me jump over many hurdles in my business.

Belinda — Good Food with Evan Kleiman is a podcast that I love getting lost in. She speaks on the overall essence of food culture and it is incredibly inspiring to hear the stories of how food connects us all in so many different ways.

We would love to inspire a movement of which young girls and women are empowered to be great entrepreneurs or leaders. We would love to see them feel unstoppable to realize their own purposes and build their communities.

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

Associate yourself with likeminded, motivated people in the same industry, whether it’s a peer or a role model. Entrepreneurship is a nonstop obstacle course. Make sure you find some people to share their experiences with you and some that will even go through the course with you.

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram @dearbellacreamery

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

Female Disruptors: Alice Cherng and Belinda Wei of Dear Bella Creamery On The Three Things You Need… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future of Beauty: Ali de Bold of ChickAdvisor On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake…

The Future of Beauty: Ali de Bold of ChickAdvisor On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Beauty Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

I’d say feed your soul. I think it’s related to being kind, but beauty truly isn’t something we put on or create from using the right makeup. It’s about living a life that’s true to who you are — gay, straight, trans, black, indigenous, people of color…and everyone in between. We are in a century of discovering, identifying and claiming our whole selves and that comes from being who you are from the inside out.

As a part of our series about how technology will be changing the beauty industry over the next five years, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ali de Bold, co-founder ChickAdvisor.

Ali de Bold is the co-founder of ChickAdvisor.com, Canada’s most trusted product reviews website.

Launching in 2006, ChickAdvisor was Canada’s first product review community and was the brainchild of Ali and her husband, Alex de Bold. The couple found the company from their living room without any external funding and have since turned it into a community-based institution. Today, ChickAdvisor is thriving with hundreds of thousands of members across Canada, USA and the UK, working with top-tier CPG brands. The company has also launched Butterly, a community-building software for brands, XYStuff.com and FamilyRated.com which are niche product review sites with active and loyal followings. Ali is a third-generation entrepreneur and a graduate of Ryerson University’s Radio and Television Arts program.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! 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?

I had way too many partially used bottles of product cluttering my bathroom. I shared a one-bedroom condo with my then fiancé, and the situation was getting out of hand. I didn’t want to throw the products away because I felt bad about wasting them, but I was frustrated by the many times I had purchased something and didn’t love it. I spent some time searching on Google to see if there were any sites where women were reviewing beauty products, and there weren’t any. It was 2005, and while there were things like Consumer Reports, Amazon was still primarily an online bookstore. There was nowhere on the internet to review a face cream or a mascara or read other people’s thoughts. I expressed this frustration to my fiancé, and he suggested we build something together. That led to the launch of ChickAdvisor.com in September 2006.

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

There have been so many. Would you like to know about the investors who didn’t want to invest in me because “women are too emotional” (which became the motivation I needed to carry me through every moment I thought about quitting)? Or the time we almost sold our business for tens of millions? Still, then the buyer backed out two weeks before closing? How about how COVID-19 nearly tanked our business when the ad industry went into a complete standstill for months but then actually opened another revenue stream for us as we innovated to stay afloat? The anecdotes are many, and I think my overarching lesson from all of them is that while people will be helpful throughout your life, you need to be your own hero. It’s not what we’re taught when we’re young, but if you embrace that you’re going to make mistakes, lose things, and sometimes fail, it’ll open you up to getting on the roller coaster. This, for me, has been the most thrilling, terrifying roller coaster of highs and lows I could ever have imagined.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there any takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

The tipping point was when the tiny den in our condo got so full of products that PR companies had sent me to review; I had to come up with a better solution. I started reaching back to the brands and asking them if, instead of me reviewing them all (and I couldn’t possibly), I could identify members in my community who were the right fit for the products to test them out and put together a marketing program for them around it. This became very successful and is now our primary source of revenue. It has also become a vast and competitive industry, and I think it’s cool that it was my idea.

The takeaway is that the best ideas come out of challenges. Obstacles should be viewed as opportunities to invent something or improve something. If you can adopt that mindset, it can be fun figuring out how to solve a particular challenge.

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

There are so many people who have helped along the way. Arlene Dickinson was one of the first serious entrepreneurs to believe in me. We met when my company was featured on a CBC Dragon’s Den spinoff show called Fortune Hunters. She was the marketing expert to weigh in on the viability of our business. I loved what she said about us and sent her some flowers to thank her. That led to a meeting and then many more meetings over the years where she gave me her time and her insights around ChickAdvisor. We have since lost touch, however it gave me such a boost that she believed in me and what we were doing. If Arlene Dickinson thinks it’s a good idea, it’s a good idea.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the “cutting edge” (pardon the pun) technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?

The most innovative brands are learning how to connect with their fans directly, using their feedback to develop consumer-driven products. They’re entrusting that their fans are the best possible people to lean on to help grow their business vs relying on traditional market research and advertising. To facilitate that, we created and launched our new software, Butterly, in Spring 2020, giving brands a tool to easily build their own communities. Surprisingly, despite loyalty being the sweet spot for every brand, most brands don’t have communities, and very few take the time to collaborate with them. Butterly allows varying levels of community engagement on everything from product launches to getting customer feedback on how to best market their products. The technology doesn’t require an IT diploma, and we handhold our clients through the steps. So far, brands in highly competitive spaces who see that customer engagement is truly the future of marketing love it. We have worked with many already, including CoverGirl, Dr. Oetker, Batiste, Dial, Schmidts and countless others.

It’s important to remember that these tools are excellent for brands to improve and refine their offerings to their customers. Perhaps more importantly, today, they are giving the customer a voice to provide sometimes critical feedback. Not everyone is a complainer. Many people genuinely want to be helpful, and loyalty comes from being invested in the brand promise.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

Our approach is somewhat Black Mirror, I guess, in that other people’s reviews will determine the rank. But, I think they took what is a good idea for consumer products and made it about people, which is obviously a bad idea. Since we launched 15 years ago, we have been educating brands on what consumers truly want. They want quality, authenticity, and transparency. In advertising, they want the truth, and they want to be able to respect the brands they support and see themselves reflected in the ads.

Reviews are the number one driver of purchases today. Reviews are written by regular people, most of whom do not look like supermodels and provide good feedback. Beauty brands are learning to be comfortable with their fans representing them on social media and, in doing so, being real people who aren’t perfect but are perfectly authentic.

In that sense, our technology empowers the consumer and facilitates a relationship between buyer and seller that harkens back to simpler times when, for example, you could tell the baker how you liked their bread and cared. In the case of our technology, the only downside is the programs we run don’t have unlimited products for everyone who wants to get in on reviews.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?

As an overarching theme, we are using technology to better match beauty products with the beautiful variety of skin tones out there — this is a no-brainer. From a pure technology standpoint, I’m excited about the tools creating colour blends for lipsticks at home on a whim (or an outfit). And how AI is being used to help people better manage things like trying on eyebrow shapes before they hit the brow salon. The third thing would be that in general, like most things, the customization of everything from colours to scents is being provided through technology versus a one-size-fits- all approach to beauty products, and I think that’s exciting.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you could implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

I think I touched on it earlier, but the industry is still relying too heavily on unattainable images of “beautiful” for both women and men. In North America, it’s still hooked on beautiful youth who have perfect bone structure and skin, and if they don’t, they are tweaked in post-production. While some inroads are being made, we need to address this head-on as an industry because we all know the hurt and loss that can come from people feeling like they aren’t “enough.” That would be my first change.

The second would be diversity. Full stop. We are better because of our multitudes of cultures and backgrounds, including what “beautiful” means within each. The Eurocentric standards have got to change faster.

The third thing is going to be a plug for my business: beauty brands need to get better at building communities of engaged customers and working with those people versus using market research and best guesses as to the foundations for innovation.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Sure. I think beauty is a mindset as much as it is a look. So feeling beautiful could be as simple as using a great smelling hair product or loving the texture of a skin cream. My 5 ideas would be:

Love the YOU that you are today — it’s always okay to have goals and aspirations but remember to be positive about what’s going on with you right now, even if it’s just one thing.
Treat yourself to something with a scent you love. It could be a hairspray or a cream or a bath bomb; it doesn’t matter. The scent doesn’t have to linger. It just works as a reminder every time you use it that you like and enjoy this smell. I love the scent of this one night cream that I use. As I put it on before bed, it’s a daily reminder of one of life’s little joys and helps me wrap up the day with something nice for myself.
Sleep more. We are all way more resilient when we are rested, so whatever negativity comes at you, life feels a bit easier. Also, everyone looks better, well rested!
Be kind because feeling nice feels beautiful. We all get a blast of whatever chemicals in our brain when we do something nice for other people. At the end of the day, feeling good is a massive part of feeling beautiful.
Finally, I’d say feed your soul. I think it’s related to being kind, but beauty truly isn’t something we put on or create from using the right makeup. It’s about living a life that’s true to who you are — gay, straight, trans, black, indigenous, people of colour…and everyone in between. We are in a century of discovering, identifying and claiming our whole selves and that comes from being who you are from the inside out.

Wow, this feels important. What’s top of mind for me today is unrelated to our conversation so far. Still, with the pandemic and how governments responded to support people, I think that a living wage would reduce stress and anxiety, allow people to pursue passions and feel more comfortable embracing failure. Our societies would advance in so many beneficial ways. We’d be more willing to test things, but people wouldn’t feel like they are struggling to survive, so the overall reduction of anxiety would benefit everyone. I don’t think people would stop working; I think they’d pursue innovation more boldly. We made it work with several potential options, but that would work for the movement to figure out. I’d like to imagine a world where kids might one day feel that they could pursue anything they desired without worrying about it being successful enough to support them.

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

“Let everything happen to you, beauty and terror, keep going. No feeling is final.” — it’s just a reminder that when times are tough, and you’re feeling all the feels, remember, things will shift, and the feeling will pass. I found this thinking helpful at my lowest of lows and during my high points — it forces me to stop and be mindful during the good moments as well.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m probably the most consistent on LinkedIn — Ali de Bold — but you can also find me on Instagram @alidebold or TikTok @alidebold. Reach out and say hi!

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

The Future of Beauty: Ali de Bold of ChickAdvisor On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Christina DuVarney of Beautiful Disaster Clothing On The Three Things You Need…

Female Disruptors: Christina DuVarney of Beautiful Disaster Clothing On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

You will never know exactly what you are doing. This could not be more true! You can either spend your time preparing and over thinking or you can invest your time DOING. You must be prepared to fail, if you do not have the backbone to be continually knocked down then entrepreneurship is not the right path for you. BUT if you know that you will stand up more times then you get knocked down, then take that risk! I had no idea what I was doing when I started this brand and business, I just knew I had a purpose backed mission and that is all I needed, everything else is figureoutable.

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

Christina DuVarney is the proud owner of Beautiful Disaster Clothing. Beautiful Disaster is a multi-million dollar brand that distributes confidence and self-empowerment through apparel with a purpose.

They are not just a clothing brand, Beautiful Disaster is an Identity.

I was raised by a single mother and abandoned by an alcoholic father. My mother didn’t have a lot of money or help, but what she did have was a strong work ethic. She raised me on her own while working 3 jobs at the same time. I watched her fight hard and work her butt off to provide me with the best up-brining possible. I watched how hard she had to work to earn just enough for us to get by. That stuck with me.

I can remember from a very young age that I had a hard time connecting to trendy clothing brands and nothing ever felt like it was right for me. I had an understanding at an early age that what we wore was a reflection of who we are. I would cut my t-shirts, tie knots in them and often tie-dye or splatter paint my own clothing, so that it was something I felt pride in wearing. Looking back this was the very beginning of my career path towards creating a brand of clothing that had deep meaning for whomever was wearing it.

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

Being an outsider myself, and carrying with me a feeling of not fitting in, it was natural for me to lean towards doing things outside of the box and against the grain. In a world of who’s wearing what brand name, I felt it lacked substance and meaning. Every day you have to wear clothes and what you choose matters. I have never been one to choose something to wear simply because it was trendy or society told me that if I wanted to be a part of a certain status or culture that this was what I needed to wear.

I feel that Beautiful Disaster Clothing is a disruptor, not only in the apparel industry, but in the area of self-acceptance. Society wants us to wear a certain luxury brand to represent our value or virtue signalling some sort of status class and I think that is harmful to society and women in general. We disrupt that pattern.

When you wear Beautiful Disaster Clothing, you are making a decision to pull confidence out of your closet, you are slipping self acceptance onto your body and you are giving a message to yourself and to the world that you embrace your imperfections, you are trying, one day at a time, to love yourself and you are transforming your life to the best of your ability. You are a walking visual reminder to yourself and others that we all have a story and you are not ashamed of your past mistakes.

Self acceptance is more beautiful than any fancy brand name or societal “club” and finding a tribe of supportive, like minded women that are also a work in progress feels like home.

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’ll only say this is funny now because of the gift of hindsight. At the time it was no laughing matter, but now that I know what I know, I can honestly look back and giggle. When I first started a clothing brand, I thought of a cute name (no it wasn’t always Beautiful Disaster) for it and immediately started printing T-shirts and Tank tops and various items. I would set up my little tables at various events that were local to me and one day I got a letter in the mail (a cease and desist to be frank) from the company who actually had the trademark for the brand name! I was clueless and it was a big mistake and caused me to have to change the name of the brand (blessing in disguise). It is laughable at how naive I really was and how little I really knew about starting a clothing brand.

The big lesson I learned was to seek legal counsel FIRST, so that I did not repeat the same mistake. It was an expensive, but important lesson in business. I am grateful that I made that mistake, learned the hard way and did things the right way from that point on.

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

I am a self-development junkie. One of the smartest moves I have ever made was getting mentors very early on. From books and courses to groups and advisors, I have always known that I don’t know it all! I crave the knowledge of people more successful than me, more spiritual than me, and people much smarter than me!

One of the masterminds that I participated in was by Gary Vaynerchuk and it was a 2 day deep dive into my business and how to develop strategies that would help to scale our brand and impact more lives with our meaningful mission. Little did I know, this mastermind was more about me as a person than it was as a brand owner. I learned that everything starts within me and my mindset. It’s amazing how we can think that business is black and white or a list of tasks that you need to execute, but in reality the most important ingredient in any business is its people and it starts at the top.

This goes back to what I was saying earlier about society and the narrative of perfection that is running rampid. The fashion industry, particularly in the area of celebrity influencers, has disrupted our entire culture and in some ways it has some very nasty side effects. Keeping up with the Jones’ (or Kardashians) can disrupt a woman’s sense of self. I am witnessing it with my own eyes. The bigger the lips, the bigger the tooshie, the more liked you are. This is sad and dangerous. Seeking outside acceptance through trends and status symbols seems reckless.

At Beautiful Disaster, we prefer to flip that narrative on its head and promote imperfection, self-acceptance and authenticity. To love and respect yourself for who you are, what you have been through and encourage every woman in the Beautiful Disaster tribe to lean into what has really withstood the test of time and that is Self- Respect, Growth & Personal Power.

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

● You will never know exactly what you are doing.

This could not be more true! You can either spend your time preparing and over thinking or you can invest your time DOING. You must be prepared to fail, if you do not have the backbone to be continually knocked down then entrepreneurship is not the right path for you. BUT if you know that you will stand up more times then you get knocked down, then take that risk! I had no idea what I was doing when I started this brand and business, I just knew I had a purpose backed mission and that is all I needed, everything else is figureoutable.

● Start right where you are.

100% Accurate. Arthur Ash said “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” I have been guilty in the past of waiting too long to take a chance because of fear or feeling ill prepared. Nothing will ever happen without a start. I waited way too long to go “all-in” on this dream.

● You are going to die.

Sounds harsh right? Good it should! We are all going to die, that is certain. You do NOT have all the time in the world. You should move swiftly towards what brings you joy in life. If you are not moving further from pain and fear and closer to happiness and fulfillment, then in my opinion you are wasting time. Time is our most precious commodity. I lost the closest person to me in a horrific car accident and her entire life ended in the blink of an eye. She was only 33 years old, recently engaged, dreaming of becoming a wife and mother. She had just started her teaching career and assumed she had much more time ahead of her. We are all guilty of this. Be steadfast in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.

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

We are just getting started. We have not even scratched the surface of reaching the millions of women around the globe who are looking for a tribe to love them and support them. A place to call home, a safe place to feel heard, understood, empowered and appreciated.

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

Honestly, I can’t say because I am not a man. As a woman, I have trailblazed this industry as a woman and have never encountered any issues based on my gender. Now, that may be because we are a women empowerment brand and have amassed a tribe of incredible warriors and aligned ourselves with vendors and partners who not only respect our mission, but believe in it.

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

Where do I begin?? Remember, I told you I am a self-development junkie! If I had to make one recommendation it would be a nook that quite literally changed my life it would be the book, Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

Think and Grow Rich reveals the secrets that can bring you fortune. By suppressing negative thoughts and keeping your focus on the long term, you can find true and lasting success. Napoleon Hill details his philosophy through the following 13 principles:

● Desire

● Faith

● Autosuggestion

● Specialized Knowledge

● Imagination

● Organized Planning

● Decision

● Persistence

● Power of the Master Mind

● The Mystery of Sex Transmutation

● The Subconscious Mind

● The Brain

● The Sixth Sense

I’d like to think that we are already on the path to inspiring a movement by taking an ordinary decision of what to wear and making it an extraordinary experience. With every fiber of clothing it is our mission to empower the beautifully broken and perfectly imperfect. Helping women have a little more confidence and self acceptance is the mission of the Beautiful Disaster movement.

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

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger. This is relevant in my life and also a common thread (pun intended) in the lives of our Beautiful Disaster tribe. Life is hard and can throw daggers at us, sometimes on a daily basis. If we can begin to dodge the weapons that life throws at us we can experience growth. With each knick of life’s sharp edges we can heal and emerge stronger.

How can our readers follow you online?

Explore our collections at bdrocks.com and you can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube under Beautiful Disaster Clothing. Our Twitter handle is @bdrocks and our Tik Tok handle is @officialbdrocks. If you would like to read the stories of hundreds of women in the Beautiful Disaster Tribe, you can explore our blog at www.bdrocks.com/blogs/tellingyourstory.

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

Female Disruptors: Christina DuVarney of Beautiful Disaster Clothing On The Three Things You Need… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Nora Anna of PerfectGifts4Me On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as…

Female Founders: Nora Anna of PerfectGifts4Me On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

You always need more money for a start up than you think. No matter how you crunch the projection numbers, add 50 percent more and even that may not be enough. Don’t let this discourage you. There are many programs for start ups that are extremely helpful. Reach out to your community, your state, and the federal government. There is a lot of money out there.

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

Nora Anna is the CEO of PerfectGifts4Me and Coconino Consulting Group. PerfectGifts4Me is a platform that takes the guesswork out of the gifting process. She is extremely knowledgeable in how to balance two businesses as a CEO, and how to make her business thrive in spite of the pandemic.

In 2020, America’s spending on Valentine’s Day chocolate reached a rather magnificent $2.4 billion, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). As for flowers, 37 percent of consumers bought flowers, spending $2.3 billion on them.

That’s $4.7 billion dollars on chocolates and flowers — really big business. There is nothing original going on here. To me, gift giving is a miracle and should be treated as one.

According to Psychology Today — A well-received gift can improve the quality of the relationship between giver and recipient by increasing feelings of connection, bonding, and commitment. A poorly received gift can do the opposite.

Doing my research, I discovered that 77 percent of consumers plan to return their holiday gifts after receiving them. When I ask friends about their holidays, I get responses like –

“My wife does not know how to buy presents for me.”

“I just threw my presents away. They were so bad. I would not bother re-gifting them.”

“It was a nonevent. We stood around exchanging gifts cards.”

“I hate my presents and it’s such a hassle to return or exchange them.”

I started talking about the idea with my friends and family. We all have adult children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews. The list is endless. Getting presents for all of them is downright daunting. Getting presents they want is nearly impossible.

On Valentine’s Day, February 14th 2020, PerfectGifts4Me.com was born to make the thought count; to take the guesswork out of gift giving; to be a platform to replace the “hint.”

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

Certainly, COVID-19 had a major impact on how all of us live and do business. We postponed roll out by seven months. We did not want to be perceived as taking advantage of a really horrible set of circumstances.

While assessing our new lives, we realized that some sectors of the business world were more deeply affected than others — the small business community and the non-profit community.

During the Pandemic’s height, I was driving through my own community and I noticed every other store front was shuttered. Non-profits were all desperately competing for the same money.

My thoughts were — if 77 percent of holiday gifts are returned, exchanged, or thrown out, we need to channel these resources elsewhere. PerfectGifts4Me.com became socially responsible. The Personal Gift Profile now has three components instead of one — My Gift Gallery — for gifts you really want; Save the World with Me — for non-profits you wish to support; and Support my Small Business Community to bolster beloved neighborhood businesses. Imagine the time and energy to be saved. Imagine those wasted resources being helpful to our communities.

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 was running late to a meeting. I decided to take a shortcut. In my way was this fence. To go back and go around would take too much time. In a split and thoughtless second, I looked at my watch and said to self, “I can make that. It’s only 6 feet high” and up and over the fence I went. As I hurriedly climbed back down, I jumped the last couple of feet not knowing my skirt had caught at the top of the fence. When I landed, my skirt had ripped off and was dangling from the top of the fence on the other side.

What I learned? Your Mom is right. Always wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident -but — seriously — time really is valuable. When you are late to a meeting, the impression given to the people you are meeting is that they are not important. Organizing your time properly is one of your greatest tools in the shed.

I have learned from so many wonderful people who have been generous with both their time and knowledge. If I had to pick just one, my Mom is my biggest hero. She taught me many many valuable life (and business) lessons but most importantly to have faith in myself and be unwavering in the face of adversity. The storm will pass. The sun will shine again. Tough it out. Some doors will close or remain closed. Go to the next door and keep knocking.

Fear!

Simply put — most women feel (or have been told) they are not smart enough or good enough or have the resources to compete when the complete opposite is true. There is more opportunity for women business founders on any scale even in this extremely volatile climate we have now.

You need a good idea, commitment to that idea, and thorough follow through. Re-read the part about my Mom and the doors.

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?

Education. Education. Education. I don’t just mean university. Find what gives you passion and learn everything you possible can about it. Work with people in the field even if you are taking out their trash. Learn from them. Respect your successful elders. They are happy to share knowledge they obtained the hard way.

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 old adage — “Variety is the spice of life” holds very true here. Women bring a lot to the table. While we are equal to men, equality does not mean the same. We are very different from men. We see and feel things uniquely. We need to have more faith in ourselves and be free to show the world what we have to offer.

Being a CEO and business owner is a lot of hard work but it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I feel I make a difference. I learn every day. My efforts are appreciated. These are invaluable assets I was not getting out of corporate; however, my corporate experience gave me very valuable lessons for which I am grateful.

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

Too many new business owners think they are going to make a billion dollars in the first six months and it just doesn’t work that way. They are gravely disappointed when this does not happen; they give up; they walk away. This is a shame.

Owning and running a business is a serious commitment with a lot of responsibility and surprising amount of hard work. You need a lot of fortitude and skin that is at least 3 inches thick. The rewards are worth it. I left corporate in 1999 and I have never looked back.

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 — You always need more money for a start up than you think. No matter how you crunch the projection numbers, add 50 percent more and even that may not be enough. Don’t let this discourage you. There are many programs for start ups that are extremely helpful. Reach out to your community, your state, and the federal government. There is a lot of money out there.

#2 — The importance of mentors is highly underrated. This goes back to education. Really listen to people. You will be surprised how much you learn.

#3 — Being a baby in the tech world is very daunting. Learn the language. Understand what you need and how to communicate how to get it. When we were searching for a developer, we found ourselves knee deep in designers.

#4 — Digital Marketing and SEO is filled with very expensive pitfalls.

#5 — I have heard Bill Gates said, “If I only had one dollar left, I would spend it on marketing.” Whether Bill Gates said it is the stuff of urban legend. The trick is to spend it on the right marketing for your business and your budget.

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

PerfectGifts4Me.com is about turning gift giving back into joyful exchanges with each other and redirecting wasted resources. It’s not just about the money but the time and energy as well. All those resources can be redirected back into our communities, families, friends, and partners.

In a society where everything is very disposable, we need to value people more. Value of life needs to become a great priority and soon. To me the janitor is just as important as the CEO. When I see people treating wait staff badly, I absolutely say something. I jubilantly greet and appreciate my Sanitation Engineers (aka the Garbage Man).

Also, in our society the elderly, the infirmed, and the special needs communities are vastly under serviced and that needs to change. It’s not just money. People need to change their attitudes and how they react.

There is a tremendous shortage of properly trained people to work or volunteer in these communities. Once again, I call on education. All high school and college students should be required to spend “x” number of hours working or volunteering in the Special Needs communities as part of their curriculum especially if they are going into the health care or teaching sectors.

I feel the same way about our environment. There is a desperate need to understand we all share the same planet. We all live in the same space suit so to speak. We need to take better care of it.

I would love to sit down with Elon Musk. He is our generation’s Alexander Graham Bell. Elon Musk is a brilliant visionary. I think it would be fascinating to have a private conversation with him. I hope he is free for lunch.

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

Female Founders: Nora Anna of PerfectGifts4Me On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.