Day: February 7, 2022

Justin Benton of 101 Hemp: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or CBD Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Niche down until it hurts then niche again. You want to be the Category King in your niche which many times mean creating a new category.

As part of my series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business” I had the pleasure of interviewing Justin Benton.

Justin Benton, Investor, CEO & Founder of 101Hemp.org loves helping others, seeing them realize their potential & being a change for good. Justin Benton discovered the power of this miracle plant in its Raw form when it brought his child back from the fog so he committed his life’s work to pay it forward by educating the world about his story and how the hemp/cannabis plant can help billions of people around the world with its seemingly endless uses.

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

Our second child was born happy and healthy, we were having fun playing catch in the backyard, teaching him new words and having fun going to amusement parks and doing with you do with 3 year olds.

Then all of the sudden he stopped talking, starting playing by himself, stopped making eye contact and basically went into his own world. I thought it was just a phase, or he was having a growth spurt. My wife took him in for an evaluation then we can the phone call that changed our life forever. Our son had developed severe regressive Autism. Our whole world stopped.

We didn’t know what Autism really was, we did not know if he was ever going to be able to take care of himself, we didn’t know what to do, nobody prepares you for your child’s well-being coming into question.

We were getting advice from different agencies and what they were telling us was his diagnosis was something we would have to live with and manage but I was not willing to accept that. We started doing research and working with the best experts in the world and we began to try different things that were aligned with our holistic philosophy.

We were making some progress with cleaning up his diet and focusing on nutrition & supplements but we still had a long way to go. Then we got our big break we were praying for when we came across a miracle plant that was helping children with epilepsy and seizures. I figured if it could help kids with seizures which is neurological maybe by the grace of God it would help my son with his diagnosis which was neurological.

We tried many different products on the market but didn’t get the success we were praying for, but I wasn’t going to give up because if it was working for other kids I believed it could help mine. So, I decided to go all in on the hemp plant to learn as much as I could which meant meeting with experts, scientists and doctors with the most experience. Then I came across research showing how raw hemp-cannabis products were helping people with cancer. That was the Aha moment, all the companies we tried were heating and denaturing the plant.

So, we grew some high CBDa Hemp in our backyard. One morning we made a simple cold-pressed hemp oil and I brought it with us to a pumpkin patch for Halloween. My son was having a horrible time, screaming, hiding under benches, covering his ears, just miserable and over-whelmed in the social setting as many kids on the Autism Spectrum Disorder are. I grabbed the oil from my pocket and gave it to my wife and said let’s try this.

She gave it to him orally and literally 2 minutes later he snapped out of it! The grandparents came up to us and asked, “what was that you gave him that was amazing!” And that’s when we knew we had found what we were looking for and we are now happy to report our son no longer has his diagnosis due in large part to incorporating raw hemp oil along with a clean diet feeding his body the nutrients it needed to detoxify all the pesticides, heavy metals and toxins that had accumulated in his body.

Because our prayers were answered we set up 101Hemp.org to pay it forward to educate, give hope by sharing our story and access to the same products that worked for us.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

We started our organization to help other families affected by Autism, but other people would find us because they heard this miracle plant could help with a whole host of ailments and diseases. One day a tall German woman in her 70’s walked into our office and said she would like to try our oil. We said sure may we ask what are you wanting to use it for? She said she had late-stage cancer and she did her research and said we had the best oil around and she was going to take our oil to treat herself. She said she would rather die than go through chemotherapy and radiation again.

I remember being blown away. I had heard CBD & cannabis could help with the symptoms of cancer treatments, but I didn’t know it could help battle cancer. We encouraged her to keep her doctor in the loop and we gave her our 50% off compassionate discount and asked her to keep in touch.

A few weeks would pass, and she would come back and get another bottle. Then a few more weeks would pass, and she would come in and get another bottle. We asked how she was doing, and she said “Great, I’m playing tennis 5-days week and I feel good!’ Then a couple more weeks passed, and she came in to get some more oil. Finally, we asked, have you checked in with your doctor or had any more tests? She said she had and that her tests were clean and that she was cancer free! We couldn’t believe it! She changed my understanding of this plant and how it can help our bodies get healthy especially when combined with a clean diet, proper hydration, exercise and getting enough sleep.

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?

Since I came from the Online Business to Business World, I didn’t know we needed to get a city business license to operate. One day we got a visit from a lady with a clipboard and boots asking for our city permit (we were reported by a big chain store that also sold CBD). I gave her all my paperwork and she gave me a fix it ticket to get registered with the city.

So I went down to the city to register they said they didn’t allow CBD companies. So, this proceeded a 18 month battle with the city which finally after the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill they finally granted us one!

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

With the exciting research coming out of Oregon State showing the potential of raw CBDa & CBGa protect us from getting viruses like Covid-19, it seems this plant knows no limits. We have a Boost X oil that has 8000% more CBDa than other products on the market and 400% more CBGa than other Full Spectrum products.

We are encouraged there are more studies coming out of places like the University of Chicago showing this miracle plant is helping people stay healthy and safe in these trying times.

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?

When we got the call about my son’s severe Autism diagnosis the first call I made was to my mom. She’s a retired school psychologist who specialized helping kids with special needs, so I wanted her take on my son’s condition. When she flew out and agreed that’s when I knew we really had our work cut out for us.

My mom raised us holistically and the power of plant-based medicine. Fortunately she was also a certified Integrative Nutritionist so under her unique combination of skills and expertise she guided us on my son’s road to recovery.

I shudder to think where my son would be if it weren’t for my mom Janet Benton-Gaillard’s guidance and wisdom.

This industry is young dynamic and creative. Do you use any clever and innovative marketing strategies that you think large legacy companies should consider adopting?

Digital Marketing. Hire the best digital marketing agency with a great track record in the hemp/cannabis space. Reach out and I will be happy to answer any questions at [email protected]

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Cannabis industry? Can you share 3 things that most concern you?

1. How this plant can help our bodies stay healthy
2. How this plant can help us recover and become healthy again
3. Innovation from all the wonderful people in the space, I can’t want to see what products and technology we come up with from the miracle plant.
4. I’m concerned about Over-regulation
5. The Big Companies being allowed to dominate the industry not leaving room for small and medium sized businesses
6. I’m concerned with Big Pharma influencing the FDA and trying to take control of all Cannabinoids

Can you share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business”? Please share a story or example for each.

1. You better have a big enough Why to pull you through the tough times
2. Get a great legal team that specializes in hemp/cannabis
3. Figure out who your avatar or ideal customer is and make all of your decisions based on over delivering for them and that starts with asking them what they want.
4. Niche down until it hurts then niche again. You want to be the Category King in your niche which many times mean creating a new category.
5. Become a Marketing wizard or hire one.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Read Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. Help your employees create and define your culture and only hire people that are a cultural fit and protect your culture like it was your child.

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. 🙂

Teach everybody through our videos and access to seeds how to grow legal hemp in their backyard. As Jack Herer said, “Hemp may not save the world, But it’s the only thing that can!”

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Instagram @justin4hemp

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

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Justin Benton of 101 Hemp: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Being disruptive in a positive way can take so many different forms. Even when something seems ‘not so positive’ from an external perspective, it can unfold to show that the internal aspects have a positive effect in a more subtle way. However, for me to say that I believe being disruptive is always positive, would be a lie. In terms of what I would deem as disruptive in a ‘not so positive’ aspect, would be intentionally doing something to hurt someone. In the sense of targeting opposed to advocating for.

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

Lindsay Dawn is a Canadian artist best known for her depiction of the female body that she combines with abstract, and street art essences. She starting painting figurative work in her early teens, and has since explored many styles, which reflects in her current paintings as a fusion of her years of study and exploration. Dawn produces work in a variety of mediums from oil, acrylic, airbrush, and spray paint to pastel, marker, and pencil while primarily working on canvas.

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?

Thanks for having me! So I started painting when I was in the womb, just kidding.. maybe. I do know that the first memory I have in life is finger painting. So it’s safe to say that being an artist wasn’t really a decision for me, more so destiny. Growing up I always had my hands in something creative whether it was painting, drawing, telling stories, daydreaming, or painting my nails a different shade everyday. You name it, I was probably trying to figure out how I could convince my mom to let me try it. I grew up in a small town in northern Canada and dreamed of moving to a big city since I was like 10. I wasn’t a huge fan of school but I always loved my art classes. Junior high was when I really fell in love with painting, and then that just carried into high school and so on. That was also the time I started painting the female form. End of junior high, into early high school I would paint bodies, or make an ear or some body part out of clay. I always kind of thrived on independence. So after I finished high school, I moved to another city and started working at MAC, which is actually what led me to LA. After about 3 months of working at MAC I decided I was going to go to makeup school, it was something that was still in the creative field but seemed more realistic than being a painter at the time. I think that was kind of a result of societal norms and the idea of the “starving artist” and that “art wasn’t a career”. So I enrolled in makeup school in LA, and 6 months later I drove here and started school. I ended up dropping out about 4 months into the program, I just wasn’t as passionate about it as I thought I would be. About a week later I came home and my friend Carley (that I was living with) had bought me an easel, canvas and some paint and was like “this is what you’re supposed to do ‘’. Fast forward almost 7 years later and here I am. So to answer the question of what led me to this career path, I think it was inevitable. If I’m not creating, I feel like I can’t breathe

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

The first thing that comes to mind with this question would be my obsession with trying to find my own way to do everything. So for me as a painter, that would mean not being categorized into a specific style, rather trying to create my own lane, and my own style that’s really a conjunction of many different things I’ve attempted to master. When myself, or anyone tries to describe my work, it doesn’t fit into one or two words. Instead it always ends up being something along the lines of figurative realism combined with surrealism, abstract and street art essences. To me, anything that challenges the norm can be disruptive. I’m sure some would consider my perception of women and sexuality to be disruptive. I feel like as a woman, and an artist it’s my job to stray people away from looking at things in such limiting ways. Rather than the female body having so many negative connotations attached to it, I want to challenge people’s perspectives. For example, the female body is constantly sexualized. As much as I want to change that perspective, I think challenging the ‘why’ behind something associated with being sexual is negative gives us another angle to look at things from. If you can look at a painting of a naked woman, or one that imposes the idea of sexuality and think it’s art, then why is it so hard to look at women and sexuality the same way in real life?

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?

Truthfully, I don’t even like to use the word mistake in relation to art, because I have this whole “there are no mistakes in art” mindset. But I will say, the biggest mistake I made in the progression of my career was thinking I had to stick to one style of work. But all in all, that idea of thinking I had to fall into a category was what made me explore so many different styles, which ultimately resulted in where I’m at now. So when I look back, that “mistake” was essential to my artistic development. I think learning that even when you don’t think something is working for you, it’s all part of the bigger picture.

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?

Going through the motions of being a creative, I’m constantly seeking change, so I always end up having multiple mentors at a time for different things. One of my most impactful mentors is my friend Jona, he and I have been friends for about four years now. We met outside of a spot in Miami called, Exit Through the Donut Shop, and within an hour he managed to challenge everything about who I thought I was as an artist by giving me a piece of cardboard and some paint and saying “let’s make a painting”. I think I stared at it for an hour before he came over and took my hand and drew thick black lines and said “ok you started, now keep going”. Up until then I don’t know if I realized how much your ego can interfere with that initial start of creating. It dawned on me in that exact moment that while I’m super courageous and impulsive with life decisions, I was so afraid of myself in a creative aspect. That kind of set the tone for our relationship over the years. He always reminds me the importance of being myself unapologetically, trying new things with confidence and to create a way if there isn’t one.

I have three other main mentors, my friend Nancy who is a powerhouse business woman and has the most kind heart on the planet. She teaches me a lot about balance and compassion amongst other important life “stuff” everyday. And the other two, they know who they are, but each impacts my life in their own ways on a daily basis. They’re both confidants I look to for clarity on things that aren’t always directly related to my creative process, but more so on life decisions and how to make an impact. And last but most definitely not least, my mom was my biggest mentor.

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

Being disruptive in a positive way can take so many different forms. Even when something seems ‘not so positive’ from an external perspective, it can unfold to show that the internal aspects have a positive effect in a more subtle way. However, for me to say that I believe being disruptive is always positive, would be a lie. In terms of what I would deem as disruptive in a ‘not so positive’ aspect, would be intentionally doing something to hurt someone. In the sense of targeting opposed to advocating for. For example, if you’re doing something out of spite, as a byproduct of something you either haven’t accepted within yourself, or about someone else, and your motive is backed by feelings of envy and anger. I would classify that as disruption in a ‘not so positive’ form. On the flip side, I think anything anyone is doing with good intent, from a place of openness, understanding and love, can be positive. Taking action to try and make a change, or make waves with the intention of progression or a healthy outcome, not just your own self or the entity behind you, is what makes being disruptive positive.

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

1. Never get too comfortable
2. It’s never too late
3. Breathe

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

I can’t give away all my secrets, but the one thing I will say is look out for new mediums, this year I will be incorporating more diversity into my process. Performance art is something I’ve been really into lately, so you might see some of that. I also have an NFT project that I am the creative director of titled “Shama Shorties” that’s going to be released in the next few months in collaboration with Arushi Gallery, and Sliztoonz. Just know whatever I’m doing will be nothing less than disruptive.

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

The feeling of having to prove yourself worthy of something. I know there are most definitely men that face this as well, but speaking as a woman in the arts, in my experience people are more likely to jump to conclusions with women and their success opposed to men. For example, I’ve always had people alluding to my success being a result of the fact that I’m a confident woman opposed to the fact that I am actually talented. We need to move away from this rhetoric and focus on what matters, the art.

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

‘The Celestine Prophecy’ by James Redfield is one of the most impactful books in my collection. A friend of mine gave it to me when I first moved to LA, and there are so many hidden gems in there that have stuck with me in terms of energy and human interaction. Otherwise, I’m a big interview person, I love watching and reading interviews from people that are rebels of their time. From Madonna to Prince to Basquiat, I love hearing the perspective of people that have made waves, and almost always find something to apply to my life from their way of existing. That’s something I urge people to do more of, watch/read interviews, I think it gives the voice back to the artist and strays away from misinterpretation.

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. 🙂

Removing the negative connotation from the idea of sexuality or being sexual. Obviously I mean this in the terms of things that are not harming others. But from removing the idea that a person being sexual, or sexually expressive is a bad thing.

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

My mother had one tattoo, and it read ‘the journey is the reward’. That is single-handedly the best advice that I remind myself of daily. As humans, we spend so much time living in a state of ‘destination addiction’ where we’re always giving our energy to fixating on the past, or anticipating the future.. “when I have this i’ll be this” or “when this happens i’ll be this” and so on. When we learn to be grateful for things in the moment, is when we can be at peace.

How can our readers follow you online?

My website, lindsaydawstudios.com , instagram @itslindsaydawn and @lindsaydawnstudios, twitter @itslindsaydawn and just keep an eye out for new projects!

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

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

Women In Wellness: Dr Tanya Carroccio of Benehealth On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“Not everyone has the same enthusiasm as you.” When I am passionately talking about the work we do and the amazing help we have provided to our patients I tend to forget that not everyone is ready for change or is ready to hear that there is a different way to approach health and wellness. I don’t lose my enthusiasm; I just try to figure out how to make my message more compelling.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Tanya Carroccio.

Dr. Tanya Carroccio, DNP is a doctorally prepared nurse practitioner with 30 years of healthcare experience in a variety of roles and settings. She is currently the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Benehealth, a rapid expansion franchise model for functional medicine and regenerative aesthetics practices. Dr. Carroccio lives with her husband, her golden retriever Missy and her cat Milo. She enjoys family time, hiking, scuba diving and painting.

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

Thank you for inviting me to share my story. I was very fortunate to be able to grow up rurally on a small ranch in southern New Mexico with several horses, cattle, and other barn animals. We also farmed alfalfa. I was constantly busy on the ranch, which I attribute to my drive to always wanting to be productive. I graduated high school at 16 and started my microbiology degree at NMSU. During my first year in college, I had a son and found myself as a single mother. I did not let this slow me down, but I did change my major to nursing, with a minor in microbiology.

Since getting my nursing degree my life has been a plethora of opportunities. I started out as a trauma/emergency nurse as my first role and that lasted for about 7 years. This is still one of my most favorite clinical experiences. Why? Because I could be a critical thinker, no time for drama, and I could really be there both clinically and emotionally for the patient and family during possibly the scariest time in their life. I witnessed significant burn-out with the nurses and doctors during my tenure, which sadly made me want to not work in that environment. It was not the patients, but my peers that drove me away from the ER. There is so much burnout now among healthcare workers. It truly breaks my heart for both the patients and the professionals.

I was then recruited to take a leadership role in the cardiac cath/electrophysiology/vascular lab for a new heart hospital, which really started my leadership journey. During this time, I was also finishing my Master’s in Business Administration so I could have a better understanding of the operational side of healthcare, as well as being a soccer coach and a volunteer school nurse at my son’s school.

I was asked to start a company with a colleague helping seniors and their families navigate difficult decisions when it came to the elderly not being able to live alone. After a few years of successful foundation building for Assisted Living Locators (now over 130 franchises across the country), I sold my partnership, got married and moved away from Phoenix for a while. The next 15 years I took on several executive roles such as chief nursing officer, chief of quality/safety, chief clinical officer and chief compliance officer. These were wonderful (and stressful) experiences and set me up for the experiential, educational and knowledge foundation to take the leap and start a new business that is going to help millions of people reach optimal health and longevity.

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

So many stories, so little time! But for this question, I want to focus on my own health story. In my 20’s and early 30’s I looked and felt healthy. I would gain or lose around 10 pounds during a typical year, but never really was too concerned about my overall weight. I ate the typical SAD (Standard American Diet) but was very active at the gym and hiking. In my late 30’s I started noticing some menacing symptoms, such as occasional heartburn, painful menstruation and GI issues (bloating/gas/constipation/diarrhea). By the time I was almost 40, I had gallstones requiring removal of my gallbladder, carried TUMS around with me everywhere I went and needed a hysterectomy for uterine fibroids. It seemed that overnight I had become a hot health mess. Not to mention the 10 pounds that I would gain and lose, never went away. As a matter of fact, over the next several years I had put on 10 pounds a year, with a total of ~80 pound weight gain! I also did not realize my lack of coping skills and poor work boundaries caused significant stress which I carried with me constantly. This made me sick frequently, causing me to take antibiotics a few times a year. By the time I was in my mid-40’s, my perfect blood pressure increased to unhealthy levels requiring medicine, plus I needed to start on PPI’s, a very strong medicine to combat severe heartburn, plus medication for out-of-control cholesterol and metformin for pre-diabetes! I went from looking and feeling good to being a high cardiovascular risk, tired, insomnia, moody and the list goes on — all before the age of 50. The medications I was put on were making me sicker and causing long-term cellular damage. I knew I needed to change. That is when I sought out functional medicine for a deep dive into my health issues. I knew that conventional medicine was only going to prescribe more pills and make me feel worse. Creating and going through our own Benehealth Restore program I have been able to lose 40 pounds, remove all prescription medication and feel incredible. We focus on “healthy weight” and not just “weight loss” for a reason. Accomplishing realistic goals for health is imperative for a sustainable health strategy. I still have some more weight to lose, but by reaching a healthy weight I have the energy, feel great and motivated to continue. I know that addressing the underlying causes of my chronic illnesses allowed me to reach my goals without having to be ridiculously restrictive or counting carbs or calories. So, I guess the main lesson — don’t wait to care appropriately for yourself. If you think you are heading in the direction of potential chronic disease or have chronic symptoms causing health issues, or want to prevent illness — go see a functional medicine practitioner NOW. You are worth it. I recommend you visit our website to learn more about functional medicine or check out the Institute of Functional Medicine.

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

One that comes to mind is when I was just starting out in leadership and needed to convince hospital administration, physicians, and my peers that the current process we had for operational efficiency and patient safety was not working when it came to patient throughput or “flow” while in the hospital or outpatient setting. I was given one shot at pleading my argument for major hospital-wide changes, with all the key stakeholders and decision-makers in the boardroom. I had worked with a small team and gathered all my data, facts, and research and we designed a strategic plan complete with the compelling reasons for change and a comprehensive, quality-focused approach to consider. Our work was applauded after I finished the presentation. I felt so good…until the CFO started asking questions. I realized that I had only covered the basic financials for the project but did not fully address the larger financial barriers. I felt really foolish for being so narrow-minded in my approach.

The lessons I learned were — it is imperative to get like-minded people on the team for traction and enthusiasm and motivation. But, by not including all potential stakeholders early on left a huge gap in our plan. Thankfully, the hospital president was very supportive, and we were able to work through the financials and implement it with huge success. Since then, I have cast the net wide for expertise when it comes to projects or process changes. That includes at Benehealth, where we have a volunteer Advisory Board that assists us with areas not in our expertise.

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

Our work is based on the principles of functional medicine, which uncovers the underlying causes of disease, rather than merely treating symptoms. As we discuss on our website, conventional medicine is driven by dividing the body and mind into separate systems and treating symptoms, usually with prescription medicine. Our human body is super intelligent and works as a whole system. Each individual is as unique biologically as their fingerprint or DNA. So, having strict standards of care that are supposed to work for the masses does not make sense. Often we see patients who have started on one medication for a symptom and end up on 3–4 more medications to combat symptoms or because the original medication is not sufficient. The promotional commercials for pharmaceuticals tell it like it is when it comes to adverse side effects. Yet, the majority of people (and practitioners) believe that medicine is the first line of defense against chronic illness. Don’t get me wrong, conventional medicine is amazing when it comes to life-saving treatments. It is necessary for acute illness or trauma. But when it comes to chronic illness, prevention and achieving optimal health, getting to the underlying cause is imperative so as not to make the symptoms worse, add new symptoms or worsen the condition. It may not impact the world, but that is how Benehealth plans on impacting every single person that comes to us for symptom reversal or disease regression or prevention of chronic illness.

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

Ok. These are not in any order, but first — stop drinking sugary drinks and drink more water. Added sugar, whether in juice or sodas or health drinks is a low hanging fruit when it comes to improving health. Fresh, filtered water in a reusable container should be your primary go to drink throughout the day.

Decrease stress by taking control of your environment and how you react to stressful situations. We voluntarily allow a great deal of stress into our lives. Turn off the news. Take a social media sabbatical. Be mindful of others’ negativity and create boundaries to protect yourself from it. Stress is harsh on our biological system and if out of control can cause chronic illnesses such as obesity, hypertension, and GI dysfunction.

We have heard it time and again, but movement is so important. Especially if you can get that movement in nature. Even if you are not used to exercising, I recommend at the very minimum you walk 10 minutes after every meal or snack. Take the stairs. Walk around the building or home. Just move. Being sedentary has been shown on biomarkers such as an increase in insulin, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol levels. Of course, a regular exercise or high intensity workout regime would be optimal.

Limit your exposure to toxins. Taking you shoes off at the door will prevent pesticides and other chemicals

from being tracked into your home. At our offices, we ask that clients remove their shoes, bring or purchase non-skid socks or wear booties. This keeps the toxins from asphalt and other areas out of the office. Benehealth intentionally uses zero or ultra low VOC products for our office renovation. Plus, we have a Pro-Molecule filtration system in our office to ensure clean air. Also, avoid storing or microwaving food in plastics. Use glass or ceramic instead.

Live your life with purpose. Purposeful living is using your unique gifts to contribute to a meaningful cause while creating a life that you love. Living with purpose gives meaning to your life, which leads to happiness and contentment. Allow yourself time each day to reflect on your values and center yourself. Meditation, even for 10–15 minutes a day, helps to keep you grounded. Practice some deep breathing and positive affirmations. Take the time to enjoy a sunset, stop to help a neighbor, hold the door for a stranger. Don’t be so busy that you miss the little opportunities to find beauty in your life.

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

I want to see health becoming an obsession for the masses and that demand for holistic practice supersedes traditional medicine so that research and insurance companies promote wellness by encouraging members to see functional medicine practitioners in order to dive deep into a person’s symptoms or disease process. This includes financially covering a 45–60 minute visit, each time! The 10–20 minute office visits are not acceptable for patients or for practitioners. People need to say ‘no more’ to medications as a primary frontline defense for chronic illness. The health movement would also include a major reduction in processed and non-organic foods,a push for regenerative farming and significant oversight to reduce toxins and pollutants we ingest or inhale every day.

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

1. “Not everyone has the same enthusiasm as you.” When I am passionately talking about the work we do and the amazing help we have provided to our patients I tend to forget that not everyone is ready for change or is ready to hear that there is a different way to approach health and wellness. I don’t lose my enthusiasm; I just try to figure out how to make my message more compelling.
2. “Plan for 20% contingency, then add on another 20%.” I found out that even with a scrubbed budget and the best quotes on product/services, ect. that things ultimately get missed in a start-up business. It is best to have a good contingency for your start-up budget, so that when you have those unexpected expenses or missed items, you realize it is going to be ok.
3. “Be picky about those you choose to support you”. I initially started looking for advisors that I knew were excellent in their field of expertise. When I asked those couple of advisors for support, I asked as if I was ‘putting them out’ or causing disruption in their life. Because of that, I had two advisors not even make it past the first couple of meetings. So, then I realized I need to change my mind set to “it is an honor to be an advisor for Benehealth” and became pickier about the person and their interest, rather than just expertise.
4. “Don’t forget to cultivate current relationships.” Getting wrapped up with starting a new business certainly requires intense focus. But, what I realized after potentially missing out on some key alliances is that those relationships that you had in previous workplaces or situations need to not be forgotten. They are key to helping the business get off the ground.
5. “Enjoy the high times but be prepared for the crisis”. When you are excited about the vision and mission of your company and wrapped up in all the operations and set up to be successful, you sometimes forget that this excitement “high” does not last forever and that there will be plenty of times where things are not going so smoothly. Have your plan in place when things are not going as planned and don’t forget to celebrate often.

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

Oh my…all of them are hugely important and they are all interlinked in some way. I have the most influence over mental health through our focus on the whole person for health and wellness. As I have mentioned, the mind is a part of the body and what affects the body, affects the mind and vice-versa. There is so much science behind how we can influence our mental state by fixing our state of health. The gut-brain connection is one of those amazing marvels. Our gut has incredible capabilities that surpass even our other organs, and has its own enteric nervous system, often called the “second brain”. So much is now known about the gut microbiome and gut-brain connection that influences our daily health. For example, the gut is our largest storage for serotonin, which plays a vital role with sleep, mood, appetite, pain sensitivity and overall well-being. So instead of taking a pill for anxiety, we could start by identifying issues and fixing the gut.

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

Sign up for our YouTube channel. We are starting a video series, which you will not want to miss because we will be providing excellent biohacks for health, wellness, longevity and beauty.

Follow us on Instagram (www.instagram.com/benehealth_az) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/benehealth4life)

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

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

Women In Wellness: Ella Magers of Sexy Fit Vegan on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Time Spent Building Connection And Community Is Often More Valuable Than “Getting Shit Done”. I’m a doer, a strong-willed independent woman, and an introvert. I thought I could put my head down, create a website, produce content, and build a thriving business. I was missing a HUGE piece of the puzzle… community. It wasn’t until I started spending more time and energy connecting with others, collaborating, and GIVING my help, that I was able to succeed.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ella Magers.

Ella Magers is the founder of Sexy Fit Vegan and is changing the way the world views veganism. Ella is a world-leading fitness trainer, Maverick of wellness, and animal rights advocate, building the bridge between veganism, advocacy, and systemic reform, in order to shift the market and accelerate organizational change. Ella has been named “Top 50 Trainers in America”, by Shape Magazine along with various other accreditations received from Fame Fitness World Championships.

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

I’d be happy to!

I discovered my life’s purpose when I was just 7 years old.

My mom picked me up after school to take me to gymnastics practice (I’ve been into sports and fitness since I was five), and asked how my day was. I told her we learned about Daniel Boone (one of our first American folk heroes who infamously carried around a shotgun and wore a raccoon hat).

I was confused and told my mom that I couldn’t understand why they called Daniel Boone a hero because he killed and ate animals.

My mom was honest with me and said, “Well Ella, we are just fortunate because we get to go to the grocery store to buy our meat to eat.”

It was at that moment that I connected the food on my plate with the animal that it was and told my mom that I would never eat meat again!

By the time I turned 15, I had learned about the cruelty of the dairy and egg industries and went fully vegan and became an activist before I could drive a car.

Seeing the world through such a different lens than most people, and caring so deeply about the plight of animals was tough, however, at the age of 16, I was diagnosed with clinical depression and struggled with severe anxiety. I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders.

At the same time, I believe that it is the clarity about my mission in life that saved me. Despite the depression, anxiety, alcohol, drugs, my college job working in nightclubs, and toxic relationships, I pulled through because of the responsibility I felt to advocate for animals.

It wasn’t until many years later that I became empowered with the mental and emotional self-coaching tools I now teach, and the deep sense of connection I now feel to the Universe.

After graduating college with a degree in Social Work, I began working in the fitness industry. The next chapter of my career was less about direct action activism, and more about inspiring others to get fit and healthy by working out and eating plants, which gave me the opportunity to help countless people make the transition to a whole foods plant-based diet.

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

I created my brand, Sexy Fit Vegan in 2013 when veganism was just beginning to come into the limelight. I was a self-employed personal trainer at the time and had no idea how to monetize my new brand. I knew in my heart, however, that creating Sexy Fit Vegan was the move I needed to make, and because it was in line with my life’s purpose, I was motivated to simply start creating content and finding ways to let my voice and message be heard.

I created a website and started blogging. I was soon receiving welcomed publicity, including being named among Shape Magazine’s 50 top trainers in America and Trainer of the Month on the world’s leading bodybuilding and fitness website (bodybuilding.com). I was invited to speak in the media and got a book deal. It was satisfying knowing I was reaching so many people across the globe, and at the same time, my lack of business experience stunted my ability to monetize the brand, so I relied on personal training as income.

One day, I got a call from Amanda, who had discovered me by searching for vegan personal trainers. She hired me to train her and coach her on nutrition.

After a few sessions, Amanda asked me, “Aren’t you tired of being underpaid?” I was shocked. I was charging $100/hour. She then asked if I’d consider creating an online coaching program, which she said had the potential to be an extremely lucrative business model.

Turns out, Amanda was a business coach. She sold me on her own coaching program. The investment was significant, and it felt like a huge leap of faith. But my gut said, “Go for it!” and I did. I can say with certainty that the moment I committed to Amanda’s program, was the moment everything changed for me and Sexy Fit Vegan.

Within 8 weeks I was able to quit personal training and run the 6-Week Plant-Empowered Coaching Program full time. Not only did my business transform, but my mindset also transformed. I learned to value myself and my work. I owned my worth, released my scarcity mindset, let go of limiting beliefs, and exploded my business with passion and purpose!

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

One of my (many) mistakes first starting out has everything to do with mindset.

I jumped into the fitness industry and became a personal trainer right out of college, not because I was passionate about fitness (I was), but because the opportunity landed in my lap and I knew it was something I could excel at.

As the years went by, I became more and more dissatisfied with my chosen profession. It was never meant to be my long-term career, because my heart was drawn to animal advocacy. I didn’t know how I could make a career out of my passion for veganism, however, because at the time, many people didn’t even know what the word vegan meant, and even fewer were interested in or open to moving in that direction.

I started resenting my work. I felt as if I was wasting my life, my time, my talents, and my passion. I lived in a constant state of stress, feeling like I was not making a difference in the world or for animals.

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

Healing the world starts with healing ourselves!

My coaching programs, and what Master Mindset Coach Stephanie Hamilton Aguilar and I teach on The Vegan Life Coach Podcast are all rooted in helping people learn how to harness the power we have over our thoughts, becoming conscious of the subconscious beliefs that are keeping us from becoming the best versions of ourselves.

I believe that all life on this planet is interconnected. Quantum physics proves that we are all made up of energy, and that energy is not limited by time or space (call it what you’d like… God, Collective Consciousness, the Universe).

Where attention goes, energy flows. When we are caught up in conforming, people-pleasing, and feeling shameful about who we really are and what we look like, we are doing other people, animals, and the world a disservice. We are playing small, and denying the world the service we’re capable of due to our own insecurities and self-sabotage.

We’re all here, having been born into a contract with life… A contract that gives us the fortune of having the full human experience.

What’s extraordinary is that we have the superpower of writing the story of our lives. We have the opportunity to see life as a game of sorts, or even a puzzle, and with the right tools we can step into our divine power, access our conscious mind, and reprogram the old stories that aren’t serving us, and ultimately aren’t serving other people, animals, or the Planet.

From a place of inner peace and power, we can realize that we are all connected, human and non-human animals. We can understand that it is cooperation, not competition that will set us all free. We can embrace the fact that true inner peace and happiness can only be realized if we stop supporting and ingesting the suffering of other sentient beings. We can begin to move through the world with passion and purpose, LIVING the change we wish to see on Earth.

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

1. Eating A Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet — Nourishing and fueling our bodies with proper nutrition is the most impactful way we can proactively get and stay healthy into old age.

A whole-food, plant-exclusive diet is a win-win for everyone and everything on this planet! The health benefits of a whole foods vegan diet are undeniable. By making some simple substitutes, like replacing meat with beans, and cow’s milk with almond milk, you can often prevent developing the world’s top killer diseases such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke, and in many cases cancer. I’ve been fortunate enough to see countless people through the process of transitioning to a healthy vegan way of life. It’s incredibly rewarding to see people finally reach health milestones like lowering their blood pressure and cholesterol as well as reversing their pre-diabetes and obesity statuses. We’ve also helped tons of people reach fitness goals like completing a triathlon, achieving a pull-up, losing weight (and keeping it off), and climbing mountains well into their later stages in life.

2. Eating Mindfully — It’s not only WHAT you eat that matters, It’s HOW you eat!

The trick I use to optimize digestion and avoid overeating is surprisingly simple, but a habit few people have established is chewing your food! Let me explain. I was doing a book signing on a vegan cruise years ago. Renowned physicians like Dr. Michael Gregor, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, and Dr. Neil Barnard were giving talks on different nutrition-related topics. Most of the information I was already very familiar with. However, I had a huge realization one day following a lecture, I wasn’t consistently eating mindfully. You see, our digestion starts with enzymes in our saliva. So, the longer food stays in our mouths the more pre-digestion we achieve, which makes it easier on our bodies when the food gets into our stomachs. And by chewing your food to a paste, you’re basically creating a smoothie in your mouth, which again, makes digestion run so much smoother. Chewing our food thoroughly (20–30 chews per bite) slows us down tremendously, which allows us to be present and enjoy each bite. Eating mindfully means being present, paying attention to the act of eating, and experiencing the food, tastes, textures, instead of shoveling it down your throat. Slowing down also gives us a better chance of recognizing when it’s time to stop eating. Our body will tell us when we’re full, but we often aren’t listening and miss the signals.

3. Exercising Because You Love Your Body (not as a punishment) — Most people correlate exercise with “burning calories” and losing weight.

For many, exercise is basically a punishment for eating too much or eating something we later feel guilty about. It becomes a chore that you “have to” do or else you’ll gain weight. The truth is, you can’t outrun your fork. What I mean is that no matter how insanely hard you work out, if you’re not fueling your body with nutrient-packed whole plant foods, you won’t achieve a healthy, fit body, at least not for long.

First off, you can only train for so long before your body starts to break down from overuse injuries to acute injuries to adrenal fatigue. (I have experienced all 3 thanks to all my years of overtraining).

Second, let’s talk burpees. Most people, myself included, have a love-hate relationship with burpees because they are one of the toughest, yet most effective total-body exercises that exist.

How many burpees do you think it takes to burn off the calories in just 3 Oreo cookies (which are accidentally vegan btw)?

Over 100!

So, if you’ve ever eaten something, thinking, “It’s okay, I’ll burn off these calories at the gym tomorrow,” you can understand how this thinking is flawed. Constantly working out for the purpose of burning off calories you feel guilty about consuming will keep you spinning your wheels, frustrated, and exhausted.

Instead of working out because you hate your body, imagine what it would be like to work out because you love and respect your body, and value health and the ability to be mobile and active into old age. Establish an empowering “why” and exercise becomes a form of self-care.

4. Do A Vocabulary Reboot — Consider how your life would be different if you let go of what you think you “should” or “have to” do.

I decided to lose the phrases, “I’m busy,” “I should,” and “I have to” from my vocabulary a couple of years ago, and the result was so positive I haven’t brought them back!

Busyness is a state of mind that makes us feel tired and overwhelmed. Instead of “I’m busy” I’ll say, “I put a lot on my plate,” which gives me the power to take something off my plate, or change what’s on my plate if I CHOOSE to.

“Should,” is a word we use when we are comparing ourselves to the standards of society, other people, or even ourselves at a different time. It keeps us from thinking critically about our actions. For example, instead of “I should go to that wedding,” say what you REALLY mean, and what the best decision is for YOU. This may be, “I don’t want to go to that wedding because my dog is sick and I don’t want to leave her, but I’m worried what my friends will think of me if I don’t go to that wedding,” which could lead to the new thought of, “I am choosing do decline the invitation, but I will send them an extra nice gift and card and explain the situation. If they are true friends they will understand.”

“I have to,” is a phrase that totally robs you of your power. Everything is a choice. You get to decide your thoughts and the perspective you will take on the situation at hand. A common example is, “I have to go to work,” which, if you don’t like your job, ensures you stay in a state of negativity, dragging yourself out of bed in misery day after day. What if instead, you said to yourself, “I choose to get up and go to work and am grateful to have a job (I know many people who don’t have one at all). I will continue my search for a job that I love. I know it’s out there, and I’m determined to find it!”?

These may seem like subtle shifts. I challenge you, however, to give it a shot and experience for yourself the impact it ultimately makes on your emotional health.

5. Add Meditation to Your Morning Routine — Most of us go-go-go from the time we get up until the time we veg out on the couch or go to bed at night.

By taking as little as 10 minutes each morning, before reaching for your phone, to go inward, connect with your heart center, and set your intentions for the day, you set yourself up to be more present and productive. Through meditation, we can elevate our consciousness, challenge the thoughts and beliefs that are keeping us stuck and raise our vibrations to the frequency that matches the vision we have for a happy, healthy and meaningful life.

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

The number of people who identify as spiritual, and are actively seeking guidance to raise their consciousness, embody love and compassion, and be the change they wish to see in the world is increasing rapidly… which is extraordinary!

Wellness goes way beyond physical health. The more we align our actions and behavior with our values, the more “well” and “whole” we become.

What I see missing in the messages of many of today’s leading spiritual guides and quantum theory teachers is the mention of the human-caused suffering of animals. Most people truly care about animals and do not want to hurt them. Yet, most people eat animals, most of whom have suffered tremendously in the horrific conditions of modern factory farms.

I believe we cannot find true wellness so long as we are ingesting the suffering of animals who, just like those we call pets, crave love, experience pain and fear, and who want to live. We cannot fully embody love until we take a stand and show love and compassion for ALL life on this planet.

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

1. A Scarcity Mindset Ensures Scarcity. Fun fact: I was born in a log cabin and was potty-trained in an outhouse! We didn’t have much. My wardrobe growing up consisted of thrift store finds. I was programmed with a scarcity mindset and took that with me for much of my life. When I learned that a life of abundance wasn’t achieved by working harder (I’ve always been a hard worker), but by living in a state of gratitude, and creating the energy of abundance from within, everything changed.
2. There Is No Failure Only Feedback. One of my most impactful mantras is, “Play life like a game.” It was my phrase of the year many years back when I became conscious of the anxiety and stress that was keeping me stuck. The old saying, “When one door closes, another one opens,” is absolutely true. If we pause and approach ourselves and our situation with curiosity and compassion, no matter how dire it seems, we will find the opportunity for growth.
3. Strive For Progress, Not Perfection. As a recovering perfectionist, I look back and see all the limiting beliefs and shame that my perfectionism was rooted in. By letting go of the need to be perfect, not only was I able to access a flow state in my business, but also, I was able to experience more joy, less stress, and make deep connections with my audience, which in turn helped grow my business.
4. Think Big, And Then Think Bigger. We don’t know what we don’t know! Shout out to Kathryn Porritt of Business Bravery for opening myself up to achieving greatness with the constant challenge to keep thinking bigger.
5. Time Spent Building Connection And Community Is Often More Valuable Than “Getting Shit Done”. I’m a doer, a strong-willed independent woman, and an introvert. I thought I could put my head down, create a website, produce content, and build a thriving business. I was missing a HUGE piece of the puzzle… community. It wasn’t until I started spending more time and energy connecting with others, collaborating, and GIVING my help, that I was able to succeed.

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

Veganism is my deepest passion. It encompasses sustainability, environmental changes, and mental, emotional, and spiritual health!

Part of my life’s work is facilitating a global paradigm shift around veganism. It’s an extraordinarily kind and compassionate way to live, yet it often gets a bad rap.

Many vegans don’t know how to handle the outrage they feel about the extreme suffering of animals, and they don’t have the tools to channel their anger and deep sadness in ways that effectively educate and encourage others to open their minds and be willing to make changes to the way they eat and live.

In our new podcast, Solutionary Vegan’s LEVEL-UP Podcast (launching spring, 2022), humane educator Jennifer Tourkin and I interview world-renowned visionaries and thought leaders to examine the effectiveness of different animal advocacy strategies. Our mission is to help vegans uplevel their efforts, shift the market, and accelerate both individual and systemic change.

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

You can follow my work on my website, Instagram, or Facebook.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

Thank you for the opportunity!

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Women In Wellness: Ella Magers of Sexy Fit Vegan on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Shlomit Schaal of UMass Memorial Heath On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Invest in relationships and friendships. Life is not only filled with successes but also with many failures. There are not only sunny days, but rainy days, too. We all have difficult days, which is why social connections and circles of support are so important. Having people to lean on, who can also lean on you, helps you to overcome the low points in life and makes the sunny days even brighter.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD, MHCM.

Above all, Dr. Shlomit Schaal considers her greatest strength to be her fierce curiosity; she finds beauty in grappling with scientific questions, learning the stories of her patients and approaching the mentorship of her students always with curiosity. She is the President of UMass Memorial Medical Group, and Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UMass Memorial Health and UMass Chan Medical School where she leads more than 1,100 physicians across nine hospitals, 91 hospital-licensed clinics, 79 office-based practices and multiple health care facilities. Dr. Schaal is a clinician-scientist, specializing in the cutting-edge medical and surgical treatment of complex vitreoretinal diseases and an academician who has dedicated her career to the values and lifestyle of academic medicine; she is committed to enhancing the teaching and education of the next generation of clinicians, scientists, and physician leaders, and has a personal interest in expanding the diversity of future physicians through transformative leadership in a large clinical setting and multi-hospital system. Dr. Schaal earned her medical and doctoral degrees from Technion Institute of Technology Medical School and a master’s degree in healthcare management from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; she has published extensively in the field of vitreoretinal diseases and surgery, and is recognized as a national leader in advancing cultural transformation and diversity in medicine. www.ummhealth.org/medical-group, www.umassmed.edu/ophthalmology

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

Like Robert Frost’s poem, I always seem to choose “The Road Not Taken.” “Two roads diverged in a wood and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Every time there was a choice between the easy route and the difficult path, I always found myself choosing the more challenging one. I was born and raised in Israel and upon graduation from high school, I was lucky enough to be selected for a program called the Military Academic Reserves, which grants young people the opportunity to study and learn a profession before being drafted into the Israeli Defense Forces. I attended the Technion Institute of Technology Medical School where I earned my medical degree and I was then drafted into mandatory service as a physician and a naval Officer. I served five years as a Physician Commander of a naval clinic in Haifa, Israel. My Surgeon General in the navy was an ophthalmologist and a very impressive man. He inspired me to go into ophthalmology. I trained as a resident in ophthalmology at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, and during that time, I also enrolled in a PhD program in biochemistry at the Technion Institute of Technology. After I graduated from my residency and my PhD program, I pursued post-doctoral research and a clinical fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. It was a big decision to pick up my entire family, which included my husband and four young children, and move to the United States for the duration of my training. But we took the leap and made the move. We spent the next three years at the University of Louisville. During my time in there, I won a number of national awards from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). I was offered a position as a faculty member at the university and was given the opportunity to work as a clinician-scientist there. So, we made the hard decision to forfeit our plans of returning to Israel, and instead chose to stay in the U.S. I remember this decision was bittersweet. I believe it was my four young daughters at the time, who would laugh and sing in the backseat of our car to both the Hebrew songs of my childhood and the new American songs they learned, that truly convinced me that our new life in America would be a beautiful adventure. I am proud to say that my entire family went on to become citizens of the United States a decade later. In 2016, I had the opportunity to become the Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Health in Worcester, Massachusetts. As the new Chair I felt humbled and inspired by the expertise of my colleagues, so I went back to school and earned a master’s in healthcare management from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. After my graduation, I was appointed as President of UMass Memorial Medical Group in addition to my role as a Clinical Department Chair. I am excited by my work every day and I am even more excited to see what is to come. Not only has taking the more challenging path been the right move for me, I have reinvented myself several times along the way and have found this to be reinvigorating both personally and professionally.

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

As clinicians and surgeons, we experience many unforgettable, heartfelt stories. One that comes to mind is a story of a young boy who played on a high school varsity baseball team with dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. He, unfortunately, was injured during one of his games, and the injury was so severe that he was in danger of losing not only his vision but also his eye. I had the privilege of taking care of him for more than two years. During that time, he had a series of surgeries and, thankfully, we were able to save his eye and bring back his vision, which allowed him to fulfill his dream and play baseball professionally. I became very close with him and his family over the years, and I continued to stay in touch with him as he grew into adulthood and started a family of his own. Every year, he still sends me a card on the date of his injury and attaches an updated photo of him and his family. This story is an illustration of how humbling our profession is, because when I first saw him and realized how severe his injury was, I didn’t have much hope that we would be able to save his eye. It reminds me of how significant of an impact we, as physicians, have on peoples’ lives. I share this story often when I mentor my students about treating patients with severe injuries. It serves as a reminder that we must try our best every time and never lose hope. As physicians our greatest assets are fierce hope and sound medicine.

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

I absolutely love this question because I believe there is great power in recognizing a mistake as an opportunity to learn. When I first became Chair, I did not have any leadership training. I was selected to be Chair because of my previous accomplishments as a clinician and researcher. I prepared a 22-page document with my vision and goals for the department, and on my first day as Chair, I gathered everyone in the conference room and presented that document to them. I excitedly told them my plans and in doing so, I unintentionally scared everyone in the room! That was a very big rookie mistake. I didn’t know that to lead successfully, one first has to foster a mutual relationship of trust and respect; excitement alone cannot build this type of foundation. A very big principle of leadership is listening to others, learning and incorporating everyone’s ideas, and forming relationships built on trust. Following that first meeting, I went back to square one. I revised my plans and immediately began focusing on building strong relationships within my team. Now, when I look back, we accomplished much more than I had originally planned for the department because I listened to my colleagues every step of the way and helped my team to implement their own ideas rather than simply enforcing my own. When I became the President of the Medical Group last year, I did not repeat that first mistake and instead, I took my time before trying to implement new initiatives, allowing everyone to get more comfortable with me as a leader. The true success of a leader is seen when she harmonizes the diverse voices of her colleagues and creates a culture of collaboration and a common vision of excellence.

When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

In these times of the prolonged pandemic, health care workers are constantly on the national radar. The general public now has much more familiarity, understanding, and knowledge of the immense sacrifice, commitment, hard work, and dedication of health care workers. As a result of the pandemic, physician burnout is extremely high. For women in health care, it has been even more challenging. Women in health care carry a heavier burden on their shoulders because society still expects women to take care of their families in addition to developing their careers and saving lives. The pandemic exposed the inequities that still exist, both for women and for all minorities. Our strength as medical professionals lies precisely in our individual uniqueness and in our ability to approach problems with hope and creativity. As President of the Medical Group, one of my main goals is to identify factors that contribute to burnout and inequities and make the necessary changes to improve our physicians’ joy at work and increase their well-being.

One way we are addressing the needs of our caregivers in the UMass Memorial Eye Center, is by offering nontraditional work schedules that appeal to people at different stages of their lives. These have proven very popular and have reduced turnover. By offering a unique schedule, such as “mothers’ hours,” or part-time or four-day schedules, we help people find a better balance between their work and home lives, which enhances their well-being.

One of the most satisfying privileges in my roles as a Department Chair and as the President of our Medical Group, is the ability to provide employees with the opportunity for professional development and advancement. I absolutely love to identify people within our organization who have existing talent and create opportunities and paths for their promotion. I notice and acknowledge that some of our traditional career trajectories might not be as inclusive or as creative as I would like them to be. I believe in people, and when I see someone who is dedicated and works hard, I go the extra mile to create an opportunity for them to further their career and grow within our organization. This frequently requires out-of-the-box thinking, reimagining and rewriting job descriptions to increase eligibility for a certain title. This is a people-focused strategy that has proven to be a win-win, both for the people and for our organization, time and time again. This is my personal contribution to people’s joy and satisfaction at work. It results in happy employees who know they are appreciated, and it creates a more diverse workforce.

Can you share your top three “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey toward better well-being? Please give an example or story for each.

1. Enjoy family. Family support is vital. Although I chose “The Road Not Taken,” I did not walk it alone. I have the unwavering support of my husband and my four children. In the beginning, we were alone in the U.S., which was a new country for us. We faced many challenges together — a new language, a different culture and a new environment. This brought us closer and strengthened our bond. My greatest strength is my family. It’s comforting to know that I have people supporting me, that we love and belong to one another, and that we are taking this journey together.

2. Develop a hobby. Medicine is a very fulfilling full-time job. It requires long hours, strong commitment and hard work — so for some people, it can be enough. But for me, having a hobby that I take seriously is something that has helped me along the way. I swim competitively; I practice, I have a coach, and I belong to a swim team. Before moving to Massachusetts, I competed in national meets in swimming pools. Since coming to Massachusetts, I discovered open-water swimming in lakes and ponds, and I now prefer long, open-water races. I do this with my husband and a community of swimmers from different backgrounds. I learn so many things from my swimming friends who are from various walks of life and diverse professions. A hobby deserves to be a priority and swimming requires time. It’s an added bonus that, when I’m swimming, there are no emails and no phone calls … it’s almost like meditation and I love it!

3. Keep learning. I read a lot, I learn a lot, and I attend every conference I can to learn more. I learn from everyone: from my mentors, my colleagues, my students, my faculty members, my team members who aren’t physicians and from my patients. When you are a lifelong learner, it keeps you humble, it keeps you open-minded and curious. I will never stop learning. It inspires me and fuels me to constantly grow, evolve and improve. I encourage everyone to be a lifelong learner.

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

In America in general, swim education and swimming lessons are not widely available to everyone. Unfortunately, access to sports may not be feasible for every family, but the beautiful thing about swimming is that you really do not need much equipment, just a swimsuit. The rest is you and a body of water. Every summer we witness unfortunate cases of preventable drowning and we must do something about this. Swimming is a life skill that should be taught to all. It is a wonderful way to maintain physical, emotional and mental health. Teaching this to everyone would increase enjoyment of the outdoors and reduce preventable tragedies. Ultimately, wellness comes from both physical activity and serenity. If I could start a movement, I would encourage more people to learn to swim, swimmers to go into communities and teach community members how to swim, and more people to join the open-water swimming community. Living in Massachusetts has widened my view of the significance of swimming, thanks to the opportunity to swim outdoors in springs, lakes and ponds. The best way to describe the feeling of rejuvenation that comes along with swimming is to quote the words written by Henry David Thoreau in his journal in 1852: “If rivers come out of their icy prison thus bright and immortal, shall not I too resume my spring life with joy and hope?”

What are your “3 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Build your team. Medical education and training teach one to be the best that they can be. Students worry about their grades; they study, train, try to improve their skills as much as possible, and they devote a lot of time to perfecting themselves. But students need to know that one cannot achieve success alone. Something I believe we should teach young medical students is the notion that no one can do anything by themselves. A patient’s experience is going to be dependent on the team, not only on one person. That is something I learned late in life, only when I became a Department Chair. In a high-functioning team, everyone has a role. No matter if they’re at the front desk, the secretary, the nurse or the physician — everyone is working together to provide the best patient experience.

2. Invest in relationships and friendships. Life is not only filled with successes but also with many failures. There are not only sunny days, but rainy days, too. We all have difficult days, which is why social connections and circles of support are so important. Having people to lean on, who can also lean on you, helps you to overcome the low points in life and makes the sunny days even brighter.

3. Be you! I was always different. In medical school, I was the youngest. In my military service, I was the only naval physician on mandatory service who was also a mother of four. In my residency, I was simultaneously studying for my PhD. I came to the U.S. and I was an immigrant who had to navigate the nuances of a new country. Even in choosing ophthalmology as my specialty, I am a minority as a woman. And becoming a chair, women are also vastly underrepresented in health care executive leadership. With time, I learned that it is okay to be different. Sometimes, it’s even an advantage because your point of view is unique and original. Diversity certainly makes teams stronger. I wish someone had told me this earlier because I tried very hard for many years to be like everyone else. Now, I realize that it’s best to be me! My differences are part of who I am, I embrace them and try to mentor others to be themselves, even when they are less similar to others in typically homogenous groups.

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

Mental health and burnout are closest and dearest to my heart. I see our physicians suffering from the strains of COVID. But more than this, too many physicians lose their joy for medicine during their career. We need to remind ourselves of what drew us to health care in the beginning and we need to remove any barriers that prevent us from enjoying our work. Instead, we need to enhance anything that brings us joy, because overall, it is an honor to be a physician and to have the knowledge and skills to improve people’s lives. I teach my students to be mindful and kind to one another so that they can not only focus on improving the lives of their patients, but also safeguard each other’s mental health and joy for learning medicine. The mental health strains put on physicians can be mitigated by nurturing physicians who accept and celebrate the diverse experiences and identities of their colleagues, and who will accompany them through life as true friends and kindred spirits.

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shlomit-schaal-md-phd-mhcm-200649139

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

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Women In Wellness: Shlomit Schaal of UMass Memorial Heath On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Jaclyn Trice of Muse Group On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Lead yourself first — a founder who takes care of its people and the well-being of the organization can never fail, but your team can’t be good, unless you’re good.

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

Jaclyn Trice has been an active professional in all things digital marketing for nearly 13 years. She started Muse Group Marketing in 2015, bringing the presence of a full-service creative agency to the Reno-Tahoe area and has since expanded their reach into the Las Vegas area. Her agency experience has made her well-versed in a wide range of industries and her entrepreneurial drive stems from her passion to help businesses put their best digital foot forward in every way possible.

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

Well, it was pretty simple. I always wanted to go into print and be a journalist, then, my professor at the time said I knew how to work a room, and I should go into public relations (PR). The only thing I knew about PR back then was that’s what Samantha Jones from Sex and the City did, and while I love her and that show, PR is sadly not like that. BUT I found out you still get to write and help people, so it was a win-win for me. Then, one day I woke up and realized I was tired of working for other people. Weird, right? I decided I was going to quit a good paying 8–5, Advertising & Public Relations agency with benefits and move to South Lake Tahoe. I worked as a server at a local breakfast staple and life was easy going. It gave me the chance to take a breather on life for a minute, but I found myself missing PR, so I started freelancing on the side and quickly realized, hey, I could make a business out of this. I started to pitch myself and potential clients would say: “Great! We’re excited for the PR, can you also do my business cards and website?” Obviously not. The design and coding realm was not in my wheelhouse. I put my thinking cap on and found a designer and coder, and boom, an agency was built over some beers! The brainstorm became Muse Group, an all-female marketing agency now going on seven years of being in existence in February, 2022.

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

Signing Starbucks as a client! For a boutique agency like ours (a staff of 9 women) that was a BIG deal for us. Little did we know, an hour outside of Reno, housed one of the only 4 Starbucks roasteries in the United States! When we found out they needed help putting on a hiring event to attract more candidates to their roastery and retail stores, we submitted a proposal and were chosen for the job. We put together a fun campaign that gave people applying for the position a chance to come out to the event and have a hands-on experience with the job. We brought out baristas, Master coffee roasters, tasty pastries and people got the chance to see what their job would actually be like before applying. This outside of the box idea and promotion resulted in a 30% increase of new hires (which was a lot for one day). The thousands of dollars in press placements we attained for them didn’t hurt either!

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

I’m not sure if this was funny at the time, but looking back, it makes me laugh. At Muse, we were hosting an educational event called “Bites N’ Business,” where we invited prominent speakers in the community to come educate on their business and the mistakes they learned along the way, to teach new entrepreneurs how to not make the same mistake. We made the event free in hopes we’d attract more people. It worked?! We had 80 RSVP’s. We filled the room with chairs, ordered a ridiculous amount of food, had media stations come out to see the crowd and meet the speakers. Then, hyped the speakers up telling them: “We SOLD OUT the place!” The event started at 7:00pm. At 6:50pm…I started to panic. Besides the Muse staff, there were only 5 other people in the room. It was a field of empty chairs. I was sweating head to toe. We promised these speakers and the media this would be a sold-out event! But…We later learned free events people RSVP to, but often don’t commit to. We ended up with about 15 people, 80 chairs and endless mini sandwiches. Even, if you’re charging $1, people will more than likely show up. Lesson learned and we made the most of the night because hey, 65 leftover desserts aren’t always a bad thing.

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 used to work for a good ol’ boys marketing agency. I ran the entire public relations department, and in an important meeting with our biggest PR client, the owner of the agency asked me to get the table some waters. Even though I was the only one in the room who knew what the hell was going on with the client, I was also the only woman. “So, sure. Yeah, I’ll get some waters!” Just that week alone, I had worked 120 hours. We had a huge event for the client and the event took place all-week long. But yet, I was still the one getting the waters… Right then, I texted my husband Jordon (boyfriend at the time) and said: “I think I’m going to quit” and he said: “DO IT!” So, I finished the meeting, took a deep breath, walked into my bosses office, and put in my two weeks. Without that simple text message giving me the confidence, I needed to “DO IT” I might still be working for The Man.

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?

Fear. It starts at a young age. Boys, are brought up to: be brave, take risks, BE A MAN! Girls, on the other hand, are brought up to: be polite, don’t to be too loud, don’t be too bossy, STAY SAFE. So, because of this, when women think of starting a business they see a one-way door. So, for women, the fear of starting a business means if they fail, it’s over. Men, on the other hand, if they fail, they’ll open another door.

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?

It starts at the parenting and school system levels. “Don’t put baby in the corner!” -Sorry had to reference my favorite movie, Dirty Dancing. But it’s true. Girls are put in a box to stay safe and not take too many risks. If we can eliminate the societal pressure of what it means to be “a woman,” and teach them to have more confidence, not to be afraid of failing, to push boundaries and take risks, just like the boys, I believe many more founders would be women.

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?

From my experience, women have more patience than men. We’re okay with the slow, but steady growth. We don’t need the moon tomorrow. We’re satisfied with a few stars knowing the moon will come when it’s time. We can also wait for the client to decide, or the team member to get out what they’re trying to express. Women can tend to be overthinkers too. I used to think this was a bad thing, but over the years, I’ve found that this is the thing that protects me and helps our business grow, because I’ve thought it all through and can be ready when things get thrown my way.

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

I think when you go into starting a business you’re like YES. I get to work for myself and I’m just going to sit in my corner, grab lunch with friends, wear workout clothes and do PR (or whatever your favorite part of the business is) all day. Not the case. I can’t even remember the last time “I did PR all day.” Most of the day is accounting, HR, sales, payroll, etc. etc. Even with all of that, once you’ve been your own boss you can never go back, and now I can’t imagine going to work for someone else.

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 do this. I know, because I’ve tried to bring on partners throughout the years, and it wasn’t for them. Not everyone likes to take the wheel. Some people are just fine in the backseat and being along for the ride. If you like security, being a founder is not for you. Things you need are focus. Many people feel the need to jump at every “opportunity” they come across. Opportunities are often wolves in sheep’s clothing (my dad told me that). So, the key is to do one thing at a time perfectly, not ten things poorly. Then, the other piece is to make sure you love what you do. Don’t start a business simply because it seems sexy, or you think you’re going to make a lot of money. Do what you love. It’s not only important to create a profitable business, it’s also important that you’re happy managing and growing it day in and day out. If your heart isn’t in it, you won’t be successful.

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. Lead yourself first — a founder who takes care of its people and the well-being of the organization can never fail, but your team can’t be good, unless you’re good.
2. Free yourself from trying to “look good” and “get it all right” — you’re going to mess up! Cat’s out of the bag, accept that, move on, and lead your team.
3. Be an ally — your success is depending on those who work WITH you and FOR you. Share the good and bad news — both in business and your personal life and encourage your team to do the same!
4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions– asking questions and reaching out to colleagues are the things that help you learn and improve. This is NOT a weakness.
5. Delegate — Your team is there to help you. Let them! Having the ability to delegate is what gives you the energy to do your job. It’s the only way out of not working 16-hour days! Learn to delegate, not because it’s a nice idea, but because it’s essential to growth.

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

I don’t have kids of my own, so I see every one of my hires, interns, clients and colleagues, as “my children.” Not in the sense where I’m babying them, or washing and feeding them, more in the sense that my focus can be there to care for them and help them succeed. Whether they stay with Muse or not. Over the years, I’ve tried to stay in touch with everyone who has come through the agency so I can continue to be a resource and help them in any way I can. Whether it’s with starting their own business, a new career, giving advice etc. I want to be there for them, I’m their biggest advocates and helping them with their success is also my success.

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.

Women are strong. I would create a movement around not only convincing women of this, but trying to convince the world. Women have the confidence and resilience, but are lacking conviction. So, the movement would be around asking them: If not now, then, when? I pretty much ask this question to myself on the daily. Sometimes you just have to do it. Go for it, make the jump, because, at the end of the day, there really is never a “perfect time” or a time you don’t feel the fear.

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.

Brené Brown, her books have been my muse. I hope that’s not too generalized or cliché, but anytime I’m struggling with something I don’t know how to deal with, know the answer to, or am feeling stagnant, the first place I turn is to is a book by Brené for the answer.

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

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

Female Founders: Dr. Sheilagh Maguiness of Stryke Club On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Fear means you’re doing something right. Starting a company from the ground up is downright daunting. It is hard work. It is risky. It is scary. It took some time, but I have learned to harness and use the fear that creeps into my mind on a daily basis. This type of fear is good, it means that you are doing something that is worth doing well, that you want to see through until it succeeds. Stepping outside your comfort zone is when the greatest transformations occur. Taking a chance and succeeding outside your lane is electrifying, and makes you feel like you can tackle any challenge.

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

Sheilagh Maguiness, MD is a board certified Dermatologist and Pediatric Dermatologist with a busy, full time academic practice. She has two energetic, school-aged boys and lives with her family in the Midwest. Dr. Sheilagh has spent over a decade caring for children with all types of skin diseases, from common problems to rare and complex conditions. She is an expert in the diagnosis and management of vascular birthmarks, atopic dermatitis/eczema, acne and inflammatory skin disease. Dr. Sheilagh has a passion for education and has dedicated herself to providing resources and education for patients, families and her peers in pediatric skin disease. Dr. Sheilagh stepped into the role of Chief Product Officer for Stryke Club in 2019, helping the brand deliver thoughtfully formulated and highly effective personal care products for the unique skincare needs of teens and boys.

www.strykeclub.com

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

I am a board certified dermatologist, I work in an academic medical center caring for children with skin, hair and nail diseases. I completed my subspecialty fellowship in pediatric dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco, where I trained with a phenomenal mentor. I now treat children with a range of skin conditions from common disorders like eczema, acne, and psoriasis, to rare vascular birthmarks. After being in practice for over 10 years, I have deep empathy and insight into the struggles of children and their families coping with disorders that carry the stigma of living with a visible difference.

Several years ago, a good friend from San Francisco, Darci Rosenblum — a gifted businesswoman and marketing guru — approached me with the idea for our company, Stryke Club: a personal care brand made especially with boys in mind. As a pediatric dermatologist and a mom of two boys, this was an idea that immediately resonated with me. You need only glance through the skincare and beauty sections at local retailers to understand that boys have been left out of the emerging self-care movement. Well-established acne brands continue to push products identical to those on the shelves in the 1980’s, when I myself was a teenager. There has been very little innovation in the acne space, and no brands that we could find have thoughtfully addressed the unique personal care needs of boys. I recognized Stryke Club as an exceptional opportunity, and I knew exactly what direction I wanted to take the brand and our products in terms of use and efficacy. Making the decision to become a founder of a company with zero business experience was terrifying. However, I fully committed myself to the mission of our company and embarked on learning a new skill set, formulating and testing our products, taking on the role of Chief Product Officer.

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

Right before we launched Stryke Club, in March of 2020, we were given the opportunity to take part in the Target Brand Accelerator program. Stryke Club was one of the fortunate few to be selected from hundreds of brand applicants in the beauty space. Conveniently I live in Minneapolis, hometown of the Target corporation, but two of my partners also flew in from California to take part. As a physician with no business or finance background, it was both exciting and intimidating to be part of this group. I attended every segment I could during the week, and saw myself developing an entirely new skill set. We had the chance to interact with other innovative founders, as well as the Target team of experts, who all helped us clarify our vision for the brand. The experience was amazing, however throughout the week, stress and uncertainty seemed to mount daily, as Covid-19 descended and the nation started to shut down. We were forced to make our pitch early and then pivot to virtual to finish the program. It seemed as though this force majeure might derail our dreams before they ever got off the ground. But our time together at Target yielded strong connections that resulted in a partnership and brand presence at over 1000 Target stores, all in the same year that we launched our direct to consumer site. It was an absolute roller coaster, but we made it work and are very grateful for the experience.

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

I have made dozens of ridiculous mistakes over the past two years with Stryke Club. When there are only four people in the company, each one needs to wear many different hats; this alone can lead to funny and absurd situations. I’m certainly not a chemist by trade, but I’ve had to read and process more chemistry and stoichiometry than I ever thought I would need — who knew undergraduate organic chemistry would eventually come in so handy! I have had to dig through industry patents and chemistry journals to learn every detail about our ingredients in order to get the formulations just right. When I first embarked on the formula for our patent-pending cleanser, I tried to get some of the parts-per-million dilutions calculated at home in my own bathroom. Holding an iphone calculator and surrounded by a mess of surfactants, disinfectants and containers, it looked like a hurricane had run through a home economics class. This process has been very humbling at times, but it’s been a fun — albeit steep — learning curve. I try to embrace the humor and learn from my missteps, including always double checking my math.

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?

This is so true, there are so many individuals and specific mentors who have helped shape me into the person and physician I am today. Firstly, my two boys and my spouse are my biggest supporters, they cheer me on and propel me forward on a daily basis. Having a partner who prioritizes my success and career makes it so much easier for me to get things done. I continue to practice pediatric dermatology at an academic institution while also working on Stryke Club. My career in pediatric dermatology would not be where it is today without strong mentorship. I have been extremely fortunate in my medical career to have had strong mentors, most of whom are women. When I set out to find a mentor in pediatric dermatology, my passion for helping children with vascular birthmarks led me to Dr. Ilona Frieden at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). After a few days of working alongside Dr. Frieden, I knew that her practice and values closely aligned with my own. She invited me to continue fellowship training with her at UCSF, and she has been deeply supportive of my career for many years. I try hard each day to implement the clinical and leadership skills I learned from her with my own residents, junior colleagues and other trainees.

Founding a company and formulating skincare products is a new direction for me, and one that I was very much afraid to step into. It seemed so foreign, and I felt I lacked experience. But our talented team of co-founders and good friends has made this new adventure surprisingly fun. Stryke Club was built by four moms, and we have 11 children between us. One founder, Nicole Brooks, is a licensed Child and Family Therapist. She had the crucial insight that while her daughter’s bathroom counters were overflowing with skincare products, she could barely get her son to wash his face, and he had no skincare products he felt were really his own. She and Stacy Blackman, our second co-founder and mom, have been lifelong friends. Stacy is a very successful businesswoman and serial entrepreneur, and when she and Nicole started talking it through, they realized boys need self-care just as much girls, but they lack the tools. The need for innovation seemed so obvious, they decided to start building a company together. Enter Darci, another mom, friend and long-term colleague to Stacy. Darci is a marketing and consumer packaged goods phenom, and immediately recognized the power of this simple idea. She joined as a founder immediately. As a long-time friend to Darci and an expert in adolescent skincare, I got the invite to join soon after. All four of us share the strong belief that our boys deserve better when it comes to personal care. Each member of our team brings a unique and irreplaceable skill set to the table. None of us could succeed in this venture without the other three working side-by-side.

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?

It is estimated that over the course of a female physician’s career, she will earn at least two million dollars less than if she had been a male in the same position. This is the case today, now, in 2022. If such income inequality still exists in the medical profession, you can bet the same is true across many other disciplines. The stark and unfair reality is that women are still undervalued and underpaid in the workplace, period. Through years of observing the same inequitable patterns at home, in the workplace and in society, women are conditioned to simply expect less and do more. Men are afforded more respect and more opportunities in the workplace, and have consistently been paid more for the same work. Women observe these repeating patterns throughout every stage of our lives.

My hope is that success will promote success. More emerging female leaders in the workplace, our government and society send a powerful message to girls and young women. Women have incredibly creative, breakthrough ideas for products, businesses or other niches every day. But girls and young women need to hear the message early and often that they can do it — women can lead, women are empowered, women can take their ideas to the next level by founding their own companies.

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?

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts within government, business, health care and other industries are important initiatives that could help overcome some of the obstacles facing women. Expanding access to mentorship, affording women more opportunities and implicit bias training for employees are important steps in the right direction. But as I alluded to just now, the more these messages and interventions come from female leaders, the more powerful they will be.

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

This is really important and I’d like to take it one step further. I would like to tell you several reasons why more women in medicine should become founders. As women, we are all experts at multitasking. In our society, women unfortunately are still tasked with the lion’s share of housework, childcare and elder care, even while working full-time. We innately understand how to meet the needs of our family and friends. Being a female physician in an academic medical environment adds yet another layer of challenge and complexity to our lives. We must meet the needs of patients first, then resident trainees, medical students and colleagues all while advancing our careers and balancing home life simultaneously. This is a huge challenge. However, on this journey, women in medicine observe and internalize the skills and traits that it takes to perform at the highest level in all aspects of their lives. We have epiphanies, new ideas, and we know how to solve complex problems, saving lives and improving quality of life for our patients.

More female physicians should be taking their skills and ideas to the next level as founders. This is extremely important, even essential, in the health, wellness and beauty industries. At the end of the day, when I decided to embark on this journey with Stryke Club it was because I knew that I had the medical knowledge, experience and skills as a pediatric dermatologist to create something for new teens that could make a difference. I asked myself the question: ‘who could do a better job in creating a safe and effective acne care line for teen boys?’ The answer was pretty clear, this was something I felt ready for and compelled to do.

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

That is a great question, I can think of two myths surrounding becoming a founder that I’d love to talk about. The first one is this: ‘There are shortcuts to success’. After decades of hard work on my journey as a female physician, and now with several years building a fledgling company, I can confidently state that there are actually NEVER shortcuts to success. Founding a new company is complicated and messy, just like obtaining a medical degree and completing a residency! Creating an entirely new personal care brand from scratch has been a monumental challenge akin to an uphill climb on a winding dirt road. We had very specific ideas about how our line should perform from a scientific and efficacy standpoint, and how we wanted to present a self-care line for boys to the world. We’ve fought hard every step of the way to hold fast to our original vision and make it reality. It took our team a full year before we found a chemist to work with us on our particular formulation needs. I was told ‘no’ by literally dozens of cosmetic chemists, labs and contract manufacturers before we landed on someone who understood our goals. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this person was also a woman. Being a founder takes patience, hard work and the confidence to persevere, even when you’re told no time and again.

Another myth I am happy to dispel is that you will automatically start seeing financial returns soon after founding. This could not be further from the truth. Founding a company often requires significant financial commitments and risks to get the project off the ground. Founders often continue working mostly for equity until the company becomes fiscally solvent. This process takes many years. This is not to discourage anyone from following their dreams; the upside to investing in yourself can be tremendous. But founders need to be entirely committed — firmly believing in themselves, their products and the mission of their company, and being methodical and patient, in order for it to succeed.

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?

This is a great question, and one that I’m not sure I have the experience to fully answer yet. However, I do think that most individuals in their lifetime will have an important idea — one that could change lives for others or solve unique problems. It’s the process of turning that idea into a successful venture that is of course the complicated step. As my ‘regular job’ is as a practicing dermatologist in academic medicine, I see daily opportunities to solve skin problems for patients and families, and come up with innovative diagnostic or treatment ideas. Before Stryke Club, I often had kernels of ideas for new products or patient care options, but I thought I lacked the experience or knowledge to take those ideas to completion. In my case, the most important trait has been being open to new possibilities and taking risks: embracing the opportunity to work with an experienced team when it was presented to me. Risking failure while still believing in my skill set. This mindset helped me take that first step.

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. Don’t get in your own way — remove the limits you are putting on yourself. When Darci first approached me about joining Stryke Club, I was very conflicted, and almost turned her down. I saw myself as an academic physician who couldn’t (or even shouldn’t) start a business. The mental picture I had painted for myself over the years was of an educator and caregiver, not a boss or businesswoman. I had doubts and fears. I worried I would fail, and hurt my founder friends’ chances of success. I worried that my medical colleagues would look down on me as somehow inferior or as a ‘sell-out’. But I took the plunge, and slowly a new picture has emerged. I can succeed as an entrepreneur, and still be the physician I want to be. Just because I didn’t learn it in medical school, doesn’t mean I can’t teach myself and do it well. Once I removed these self-imposed limits, I was able to take more risks and move forward confidently in both roles.
2. Fear means you’re doing something right. Starting a company from the ground up is downright daunting. It is hard work. It is risky. It is scary. It took some time, but I have learned to harness and use the fear that creeps into my mind on a daily basis. This type of fear is good, it means that you are doing something that is worth doing well, that you want to see through until it succeeds. Stepping outside your comfort zone is when the greatest transformations occur. Taking a chance and succeeding outside your lane is electrifying, and makes you feel like you can tackle any challenge.
3. Recognize and implement good advice. About a year into founding our company, my partner Stacy Blackman gave me some insightful advice. I had been hesitant about having a presence on social media, and could not picture myself as an expert who could provide meaningful content. Like many others, I worried about the permanence of online content, and that any little mistake might haunt me forever. During this time, Stacy gave me the following feedback, channeling Voltaire: ‘Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good’. Recognizing and internalizing good advice and feedback when it is given to you is important. I now wish I had incorporated it sooner. It’s ok to make little mistakes, especially in service of the big picture.
4. You will be wearing many different hats. When you embark on creating a new business there is so much to be done. You might find yourself taking on roles you never imagined — like authoring a patent application, inspecting a product assembly line, or writing your company’s standard operating procedures document. You might be trying and testing things (in our case, our topical products) from home and arranging clinical studies. Not to mention financial oversight, marketing, advertising and the evolving role of social media in business. Most large companies have experts devoted to each area or title, but when you are a founder, you have to be ready to take on new roles, get creative, and learn skills on the go. I definitely did not anticipate any of this before I became a founder, so it would have been great advice to get at the outset!
5. Success does not follow a straight line. When I reflect on my career, my successes certainly haven’t always followed a straight path. My medical training and early career took me from Canada, to California, to Massachusetts and then to Minnesota. A spouse and family materialized along the way. Life is what happens along the journey, so you have to leave yourself open to exploring new locations and opportunities during the ride. With Stryke Club the same is true, our pathway to date has not been a straight line. However we have continued to build, saying yes to new opportunities and directions when they present themselves — which is why we are currently working hard and gearing up for having our products on the shelf at Walmart, Urban Outfitters and through Amazon over the next few months!

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

A career in medicine is a privilege, as you forge deep connections with patients and make a real difference in their lives. As a pediatric dermatologist I get to see the immediate impact that my care has on children and their family life, as improvements in skin diseases are so clear to the naked eye. This is a gift. At an academic institution, I help teach and mentor the next generation of physicians. Advancing care for children with skin diseases is my highest career priority, and where I strive daily to make an impact.

It is our hope and mission as founders that Stryke Club will make the world a bit more welcoming for teens, and in particular teen boys, who struggle with skin problems as they grow. We want Stryke Club to spark a personal care movement that boys can take pride in. We want to replace stigma and self-doubt with confidence and personal care empowerment. Changing the conversation on self-care for boys would be an amazing legacy to share with my own two boys.

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.

Advancing self-care and self-acceptance for teen boys would be a truly meaningful movement. I would be very proud if Stryke Club could help to reduce the stigma surrounding self-care for boys. When people feel more comfortable in their own skin, I believe they are more open and empathetic to others.

I also hope to inspire my fellow female physicians. Women caregivers have pivotal ideas that have transformed and will continue to revolutionize healthcare quality and delivery. If more female doctors are inspired and empowered to share their ideas and visions, all the better for women, children, families and society at large.

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.

There are several influential people whose careers I follow closely, and many women in particular that inspire me. it would be impossible for me to choose just one for a fantasy get-together. Strong women whose values and pioneering work have inspired me personally include Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Reese Witherspoon’s career evolution has really spoken to me lately. I’ve watched in awe as she’s grown from a talented actress into so many more roles, like producer, entrepreneur, businesswoman and cultural tastemaker. She’s succeeded in so many venues, and she does it with the clear and unapologetic goal of advancing the narrative for women: in film, in literature, in apparel. You name it, and she does it. I admire the way she has paved a path not just for herself, but for modern women as an advocate, mentor and trailblazer.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

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

Modern Fashion: Angelina Mahany of Angie’s Showroom On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today

An Interview With Candice Georgiadice

Always do your research. Make sure you want to do it; the fashion industry might be not for everyone. Maybe even take a consultation with a professional to ask all the questions in advance

Many in the fashion industry have been making huge pivots in their business models. Many have turned away from the fast fashion trend. Many have been focusing on fashion that also makes a social impact. Many have turned to sustainable and ethical sourcing. Many have turned to hi tech manufacturing. Many have turned to subscription models. What are the other trends that we will see in the fashion industry? What does it take to lead a successful fashion brand today?

In our series called, “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today” we are talking to successful leaders of fashion brands who can talk about the Future of Fashion and the 5 things it takes to lead a successful fashion brand in our “new normal.”

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Angelina Mahany.

Angelina Mahany is the CEO and Founder of Angie’s Showroom and the creator of Angie’s Luxury Bags, a sustainable resell e-commerce platform. She is also a Marketing Professional, a Business Owner, and a Fashion Designer based in Ormond Beach, Florida.

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 childhood “backstory”?

Sure. I was born in Moscow, Russia. I started to dance when I was 5 and continued my education at a professional ballet school at the age of 9. I was thinking I would become a ballerina. But life decided differently, and I went into business school. I graduated from the top 5 universities in Moscow and got a degree in Business Management, and then I moved to France to get my Masters in Marketing. However, art and dance would be always a part of me and my personality, which kind of led to my future business. That’s pretty much my childhood.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

It’s a difficult question. To be honest, I always wanted to work in the Fashion industry, but I never had a chance to get a job there. So, basically, I found a job in a good company with a good salary and I would take it. I worked in car manufacturers, telecommunication, IT services, and financial services companies but always dreamed about fashion. My last job was in Cyprus in a startup company. I guess this particular job changed my vision to switch from a corporate world, and actually start thinking about my own business. Then I moved to the United States, and here it’s when it’s all happened. My first business was a reselling of luxury handbags and accessories.

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

Honestly, I can’t think of any at the moment. But I think my life is interesting in general. I lived in 4 counties, I traveled a lot, I worked in huge corporations and also a startup. Back in the day, I would never think that I would become a business owner, and I would have 2 projects on my own or launch my brand. So, I believe that’s my interesting story.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

I do believe that certain character traits are important to becoming a successful entrepreneur. I would name a couple that I think were important to me.

1. Hard-working. I think if you are not motivated and you are not ready to work hard for a couple of years or maybe more, then owning a business is probably not for you. You might be alone at first, and you will need to work long hours to accomplish all the tasks and start growing your business. Everything will depend on you at first. That’s an important characteristic.
2. Ability to learn. Be willing to learn, to listen to experts or coaches. Do not trust everything you hear but verify, and adjust to your business if needed. Always and always keep learning. Education is the key. We live in a very fast-changing world, and every day there is something new, we need to adapt quickly and education helps us keep our minds working.
3. Being risky. Do not be afraid to risk. Not all people have this quality. As a business owner, I have to make difficult decisions all the time. And I am not going to lie it is very difficult. But I have to take risks otherwise I won’t succeed or not know if it worked or not. Of course, many times I failed, as an example, I did open a brick-and-mortar store in a big Mall in my first year of business. And it was a huge mistake, I invested everything I had as well. But I learned a lot from this experience and I know now what I want to do and if I want to have a brick and mortar in the future or what I would do differently next time.

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

I am still a small business, and my company is small, but I believe that to stand out in any business first you have to have a great idea behind it that will be broadcasted to your audience and customers. They will always see the spark and follow you. My idea was to bring something unique and beautiful to the U.S. market, and I was struggling to find comfortable and beautiful lingerie in here. Then I remembered about my friends’ present for my bachelorette party, it was a 3-piece handmade lingerie set made of 100% silk. And that was it, the idea was born. I am trying to change the perception of women or men about lingerie, and I want them to see what it can be, and there is always more out there than Victoria’s Secret, for example.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Never a failure, always a lesson.” — As a business owner, I am always learning as I go. I have to try things; I have to find ways to increase profits etc. I am looking for new possibilities, and let me just say it’s not always the best idea. A lot of times during my entrepreneurship I lost money, I lost employees, I lost faith in my business. However, if you look at it as a life lesson, and what you learned from those actions and mistakes, you understand that it was a good experience, and now you know. Otherwise, you would still do it, and still try it. This happened to me when I opened my brick-and-mortar store. It was too hard from the beginning. It was expensive, and I was not ready. Everything was wrong, the location, the employees, the product was not the right one for this location. I learned a lot: how to open a physical location, how to advertise, how to operate the store, how to hire employees, how to pay salaries, how to do inventory, and even how to close a business. So, after this experience I do believe that nothing is a failure, it’s all a lesson.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Do you see any fascinating developments emerging over the next few years in the fashion industry that you are excited about? Can you tell us about that?

I see a big switch in sustainability when I look at big brands. Everyone is talking about the planet now, which they, of course, should. I just wonder why only now? Brands are starting to change their production methods. They recycle materials and use organic materials in their production as well. I love the idea, and I also want to be a part of it. We are still struggling to grow the product line and offer our clients sustainable lingerie or nightwear. That is my dream and I promise I will work on it.

Can you share how your brand is helping to bring goodness to the world?

We use reduced packaging and sometimes recycled packaging. I still need to stay on the luxury side, so some things are not yet replaced. Also, we mostly work on pre-orders, meaning that we have almost 0 waste or at least we try to keep it close to 0. We make a set and sell them while the supply (lace or silk) lasts.

Can you share with our readers about the ethical standards you use when you choose where to source materials?

We source a very small amount first, we make a sample, make a photoshoot, text it with our customers, and then send it to production. We keep a very small inventory; the rest is pre-orders. The same way we work with our wholesale customers. We work on pre-orders with them too.

Lingerie is a bit tricky because the idea from the beginning was to bring something unique, and high quality for affordable pricing. We keep our prices medium to high, but our materials, handmade work, and quality are much higher. So, at first, everything was about laces, satin silk, and silk. It’s a bit tricky to switch to new materials straight away due to the nature of our products. The materials are very specific to work with. It needs to be tested, touched, and worn to see if it works. So, I think we will start with home wear first.

Fast fashion has an advantage, that it is affordable for most people, but it also has the drawback that it does not last very long and is therefore not very sustainable. What are your thoughts about this? How does your company address this question?

I like to support small businesses, especially handmade ones. I don’t say I don’t use mass-market brands or I don’t like them, it’s obviously easier and faster to shop, and yes, a lot of times it’s cheaper. That’s the problem I think that most people can’t afford handmade or small business sustainable items due to price. Even though they would like to try or switch. But I am trying to shop small businesses, it’s most of the time unique, not a lot of people would wear it, and if it’s sustainable it’s even cooler. I don’t think it’s true that Fast fashion is not sustainable, as I mentioned before there is a huge switch in the sustainability of big brands: Michael Kors, Abercrombie&Fitch, H&M, Zara, Tommy Hilfiger just to name a few.

As for my company, we try to move towards more and more sustainable production, but as I already said not everything is easy at the moment especially for such a small business. It takes time, investments, and even equipment.

Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand”. Please share a story or example for each.

I think there are so many things.

1. Always do your research. Make sure you want to do it; the fashion industry might be not for everyone. Maybe even take a consultation with a professional to ask all the questions in advance.
2. Stand out — your products should be different from everything you see but still that people will buy. That’s your core identity, and people will love you for that.
3. Being consistent. You have to work on new collections when one is already out. Keep everything in order and consistent.
4. Find a partner. Life is much easier if you are not alone and if you trust someone.
5. Promote. Always look for ways to promote your brand by testing, trying, looking for new opportunities. Networking is also good.

Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?

I believe it can. Everything changes so quickly, I still can’t believe that we have had Covid for 3 years, and how it affected our lives and still affect them. Same for business and industries, everything always moving and changing. Otherwise, you die as a person or as a business. It is a cycle to stay competitive, you have to move and quickly. There is a trend for 3D fashion, and that sounds interesting. I would like to see brands moving towards less production. Produce less, not sure if it’s possible. But each year the number is growing and growing. Yes, they start to use recycled materials and organic materials, but they still produce too much…

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

I would probably not start but continue the movement of sustainability and recycling. And I would work towards decreasing production amounts and waste. All this is to inspire women from all walks of life.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Company URL: https://angieshowroom.com/

https://web.facebook.com/angieshowroom.usa?_rdc=1&_rdr,

https://www.instagram.com/angies.showroom/,

https://www.pinterest.com/angieshowroom/_created/,

https://www.tiktok.com/@angies.showroom

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

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Modern Fashion: Angelina Mahany of Angie’s Showroom On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Robyn Streisand of The Mixx and Titanium Worldwide On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Create a distinction between work relationships and friendships. My work is my passion and my vision for the future. My friends are truly my chosen family and I love them to pieces. I think when you have two things that are such a major part of your life and that you care about so much, it’s healthiest to draw a line and not mix the two.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Robyn Streisand of The Mixx and Titanium Worldwide.

Robyn is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community, and has made it her mission to make marketing and advertising more inclusive. As the recipient of AdColor’s 2021 Advocate Award, Crain’s 2021 Notable LGBTQ Leader Award, AdAge’s “Women to Watch” and the OUT100, Robyn is recognized as a gifted connector, strategic problem-solver and champion of marginalized communities. Having led The Mixx for 25 years, Robyn has built the creative agency into a formidable offering for Fortune 500 brands. With the 2014 launch of Titanium Worldwide, the world’s first collective of certified-diverse marketing, media and communications agencies, she continues her quest to provide innovative solutions. Robyn is living proof that when you lead with love, the ROI is remarkable.

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’ve always been a naturally curious person, and it’s led me on a path to always want to unpack the layers and discover what’s new. I went to school for marketing, and my first internship was actually with CitiBank between my junior and senior year of college. I didn’t know the first thing about banking, but I was passionate about marketing and willing and eager to learn and be successful. That internship eventually led to a full-time job, and I had the opportunity to advance as the company grew.

When CitiBank made the big move to Long Island, I was faced with the decision of moving with them or figuring out what my next steps would be. At the time I couldn’t fathom the thought of leaving Manhattan, so I had to do some digging and really think about what it was that I wanted to do. I had mixed feelings–on one hand the thought of change made me nervous, but on the other hand it was exciting because I knew a new chapter was up ahead. I was at the intersection of life where I really had to determine what happiness would look like going forward.

One day, while I was still in the midst of my decision, I was with a group of friends and we were talking about what I should do. One of the things they brought up was the fact that when I was on the corporate side of the house, I was often frustrated with the creative agencies I would have to partner with. One of my primary frustrations was that they brought the A-Team to win the business and the C-Team to execute after they’d won the account. My friends saw my potential and thought that opening my own agency would be something I’d be good at. This sounded great, but I was hesitant because I didn’t know anything about running a business or even where to start. One by one they started mentioning their connections and how they’d seen other people branch out on their own, and hearing these stories made it become more of a tangible reality for me. Before I knew it I was giving my two weeks notice and putting my stake in the ground as a graphic design studio with a specialty in financial services. The vision was to be a new type of boutique agency that cares about the challenges and pain points of our clients and actually does the work ourselves.

Then it was time to think of a name. I was talking with a friend and I was just throwing words out there of things that I love like “the beach,” “traveling,” “Madonna,” “cookie dough.” There were literally dozens of random words, but when we stopped and looked at all of them, we got stuck on cookie dough and how it’s made of different ingredients–it’s a mix. That’s how we got our name, The Mixx (spelled with two X’s for love, of course).

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

We’ve been in the game for over 25 years, so there’s a lot of interesting stories along the way. If I had to pick just one, it would be the way Titanium Worldwide came to be because it shows how a small moment can turn into a big idea. I vividly remember this day–it was summertime about ten years ago. It was a relatively slow day, and I was looking around the office feeling this really strong desire to grow and do something different. I got together with the intern who was working with me at the time, and we reflected on the work we’d done in the past and how we could iterate and innovate upon that success going forward. At the core, our focus was to create a new way to collaborate with other companies that shared our vision, while also becoming a larger player in the game.

On that day we ended up brainstorming the initial idea for what became Titanium a few years down the road. The initial vision we had on that day was to develop our own holding company, at the heart of which would be minority and women-owned businesses. That idea, which may seem cliché now, was very novel at the time because it was ten years ago before diversity was being used as a buzzword. We were truly the trailblazers of creating diversity as a business strategy. What we were doing was so special because beyond being our business model, it was the very essence of who we were, what we believed in, and what we were working to see more of everyday.

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

In the beginning I was running The Mixx from my apartment for seven years. It was a fun time, but when you’re conducting meetings from your home there’s also a lot of juggling. Eventually it was inevitable that we had to find an office space.

I had no clue how to navigate that experience at first, and we made mistakes along the way, but I learned my lessons about conducting due diligence, finding a complementary team, and having a little separation between work and home. In hindsight, this “problem” or “mistake” seems so small and laughable, but at the time it was a huge deal for me.

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’ve always had mentors and coaches for as long as I could remember. The one person that stands out is Marc Byron. Marc had a light about him that was truly inspirational. Whether it was about business, life, or myself, I always learned something from him when we were together. I attribute my success to him. Marc passed away a few years ago, but his light and life lessons are here with me always. Now I have the wonderful opportunity of mentoring his daughters, so things have really come full circle.

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

I think that people hold themselves back, and as a result women hold themselves back. When we start separating ourselves from stereotypes and releasing limiting beliefs, we find that we actually have the ability to do anything. People say things about what women can or can’t do, and if you’re not paying attention you may subconsciously begin to believe those things. However, after you make it past those initial mental barriers, I think it’s really about finding the right team and resources. These aren’t easy things to put in place, but the right people and resources are out there for us; we just have to be tenacious in our pursuit of them. It’s our time.

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?

For starters I would stress that you always have to reconnect with what matters to you. It’s easy to get bogged down in the small details and daily goals and lose sight of your overall vision. Check in with yourself and make sure you’re clear on what matters to you, and resist the urge to compare yourself.

Second, I would recommend that you get intentional about surrounding yourself with people who have more knowledge and experience than you. Whether it be coaches, mentors, or guides, one key way to overcome those obstacles is to have the right people in your life.

Finally, I’ll say that if you’re not happy and passionate about what you’re doing, it’s hard to be successful at it, and even harder when you’re an entrepreneur. At your core, if you’re going to go through with the journey you have to be happy. This all goes back to vision and the way that you execute that vision on a daily basis.

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?

Ultimately I think it boils down to the fact that women were built to lead. If you look at the data, men think in a linear fashion, whereas women are natural-born multitaskers and jugglers. Without women in leadership society lacks the true wealth of creativity and opportunity that’s available to it. I think this is the case for a couple of reasons: first, I’ve found that women operate with a lot less ego than their male counterparts, and with that comes a greater degree of equality and collaboration in the workplace. Secondly, I believe women have a very innate sense of creativity and problem solving because that maternal instinct inside of us (regardless of our parental status) makes us want to bring out the best in ourselves and those around us. We’re natural connectors.

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

The biggest myth I’d like to dispel is that founders have all the answers. Some people think you get to this magical place where you know everything and that’s simply not the case. What is the case, is that being a founder means being a lifelong learner. Routine, process, and effective systems empower you and set you free by giving you clarity and structure. However, you’re never at a place where things are perfect. As a founder you just have to have faith that things can and will come together, but the journey is an evolutionary process of consistent learning.

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

To be a founder you have to have vision. It’s not about what you do or sell–it’s about what you create that doesn’t exist today. As a founder and CEO you’re essentially the one casting the vision for your organization, and that’s what makes the founder’s role different from any other role. You actually have to live and breathe your vision every single day, and believe in the vision even when others don’t get it.

Being a founder doesn’t come without it’s rough days, and so I think you also need to be a person who is a natural problem solver and has an innate curiosity to make things work. This trait also goes hand-in-hand with being a connector, because when you can’t do it alone, you need to be vocal and willing to reach out to others so that they can help you help yourself. It truly takes a village.

Once you have your village and your vision, I think it’s important to have patience. Many people want to see results overnight, but a successful founder knows that it’s going to take a couple years to really build a brand.

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. Create a distinction between work relationships and friendships. My work is my passion and my vision for the future. My friends are truly my chosen family and I love them to pieces. I think when you have two things that are such a major part of your life and that you care about so much, it’s healthiest to draw a line and not mix the two.
2. Let someone else manage the money. As the CEO you don’t need to be buried in all of the details and there’s some things, like finances, that will really take away from your focus on the vision and growth of your company if you don’t find someone with the proper background, knowledge, and time to take this on. Of course you should have a firm understanding of how your company is doing at all times and where you’re generating revenue and expenditures, but when it comes to details like managing daily transactions, benefits plans, and tax reporting, you should not try to handle it all on your own.
3. Stay in your lane. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. I’m a starburst thinker and I like to problem-solve, but there’s a balance between leading and managing.
4. Always have a coach. You don’t know everything and you can’t know everything, but if you are connected you’ll likely know someone that will know what you don’t know. I get coaching for every stage in my life, and I have different coaches as I continue to evolve as a person and a leader. I think having a human resource that you can lean on for guidance is invaluable as a business owner.
5. Have a business partner. Entrepreneurship isn’t an easy road, so I would recommend looking for someone that has a shared core value system and end goals, but that has a different, yet complementary skill set. Having a partner will make the journey a lot easier.

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

The work I do is all about making the world a better place. The space I work in at its core is all about connectedness and alignment–ensuring that advertising, marketing, and entertainment are truly representative of the great diversity that’s present out there in the world.

Outside of my companies, I also give to a number of nonprofits, as well as serve on a number of boards: the Hetrick Martin Institute is an organization that is near and dear to my heart for the work that they do to provide resources and protection for LGBTQIA+ youth. I serve on the board of How Women Lead, which is committed to three distinct missions including helping women in their investment journey, getting women representation on boards, and connecting women executives with underserved youth. Finally, I’m also on the board of the Phluid Project, a gender-free fashion brand committed to promoting freedom and self-expression.

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.

There’s something really cool about intentional social consciousness that’s becoming more and more prevalent today. I think we’re at this intersection where my whole career is about what’s happening in the world right now. The focus on ESG as core values and pillars that really resonates with me because it puts words around what I have always been focused on at my core. People are really paying attention to how their actions, decisions, purchases, and relationships matter, and companies are finally taking the responsibility of thinking about their influence and legacy when it comes to making the world a better, more inclusive place. If I could continue to inspire this movement within my sphere of influence I’d feel very accomplished. That’s how I make my mark.

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.

There are quite a few people, actually. If I had to pick just one it would be Sarah Blakely. Not only do I wear her products everyday, but I love her story and admire the journey she took to build the Spanx empire from the ground up. I also really admire her leadership and the way she treats her employees. I’m all about my people and my community, so to see someone else who has achieved so much lead from that kind of heartspace is very inspiring.

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

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Female Founders: Robyn Streisand of The Mixx and Titanium Worldwide 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.