Women In Wellness: Caroline Candace Of Look Organics On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Visualize yourself the way you ultimately want to be and feel. It will teach you to recognize what you need to help you succeed in reaching your goals.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Caroline Candace.
Caroline Tusiuk, known to her Instagram followers as Caroline Candace, is a Certified Nurse Practitioner and Registered Orthomolecular Health Practitioner who founded her brand, Look Organics, in 2021 with a mission to change the landscape of the beauty industry. Caroline works to promote a holistic healthy lifestyle, with an emphasis on nurturing not only our bodies, but the ecosystems around us.
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?
Of course! My name is Caroline. I am CNP and a Registered Orthomolecular Health Practitioner, a Content Creator, and the founder of LOOK Organics who takes an integrative wellness approach to life. I believe in prevention and treating each person as a whole; combining evidence-based modalities and correcting molecular imbalances through addressing toxic load and deficiencies. I’ve been very successful as a Health Educator, helping men and women achieve their goals sustainably through a balanced approach to lifelong vitality.
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?
Without a doubt, I can say social media has changed my life. While I was in school studying holistic nutrition, I used to make my skin care products in my bathroom, mixing coconut oil, olive oil and a bunch of other raw organic ingredients. I was consistently asked by my audience on Instagram at the time regarding what skincare products I used and recommended brands I trusted. At the time, there weren’t many, and I’d usually recommend mixing their own raw ingredients. Of course, most people aren’t me — and didn’t want to make their skin care products themselves. I saw this as an in-demand problem/issue, and my plan was to solve it. Today — LOOK Organics is a minimal ingredient, organic, vegan personal care brand.
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’m not sure there’s been just one haha, there’s been a lot! And I think my biggest lesson from all of them would be to know that most things will not go as planned. Most things actually never go as planned. I think it’s important to hope for the best, plan for the worst. I think if you want guarantees in business, you don’t want to own a business. Entrepreneurship requires risk. You’ve got to risk your money, time, energy and ego. None of us can predict what’s going to work and what won’t. You always have to stay vigilant, flexible and challenge yourself to keep growing. Things barely ever go as planned, you need to do your best to adapt. Let yourself accept the possibility of failure. When things don’t go as planned, don’t take it personally — learn from the experience and move on.
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?
My goal has always been to empower people to live healthier lives, and I want to give them the tools to do that. My goal with LOOK Organics has always been to change the way people look at their everyday products, their bodies and the world. Everything is connected.
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.
Yes!
1 — Exposing myself to light as soon as I wake up
As soon as you wake up, I recommend getting outside (even if it’s for 2 minutes), or simply open the blinds or turn on the lights. This will help to balance your circadian rhythm as you start your day.
2 — Practice gratitude daily
There is so much power in gratitude.
3 — Declutter living spaces frequently
Clutter can affect our mental health immensely. Clutter creates stress, and stress can create even more clutter. Clutter can show up physically in our space, but it can also be internal, and show up as feelings of regret, worry and negative self talk.
4 — Make time for movement everyday
Our bodies were made to move. There are so many mental, emotional and physical benefits to regular movement.
5 — Spend more time grounding in nature
Getting outside in nature is one of the most beneficial things we can do for our well-being. Nature has a calming effect on our nervous systems.
Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Creating a movement of mindfulness, decluttering and needing less.
There is so much magic in mindfulness, and I think you only can get to it if you slow down.
It’s easy to get caught up in feeling like you’re not doing enough (I feel it too), but I’m learning to embrace doing less, better.
Trust me, I don’t have it all figured out. I’m learning and unlearning everyday. Mindfulness is a practice, and it’s more about being aware.
For me, it’s about understanding what’s important to me, and where my fulfillment comes from.
Currently, I am finding so much fulfillment in creativity, and being more creative in my everyday life.
I’ve come to realize that rushing through life doesn’t slow down time, and I don’t want to look back and wish I enjoyed these moments more.
I think it’s easy to get caught up feeling like you need to add more things into your life to be happier. In reality, I think a lot of us need less.
Less negative talk.
Less fear.
Less judgement.
Less comparison.
Less excuses.
Less screen time.
Less clutter.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Understanding the beliefs that are holding you back is critical to moving forward and living the life you want.
Burn-outs are real, and chronic stress can wreak havoc on your life. Make your health a priority. Focus on getting great sleep, getting movement in, staying hydrated and eating well.
Don’t underestimate the power of networking and building relationships.
Do not waste your precious energy on things you cannot control.
Visualize yourself the way you ultimately want to be and feel. It will teach you to recognize what you need to help you succeed in reaching your goals.
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, because not only does it affect how we feel, think and act, which affects almost every part of our lives — emotions can manifest physically.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
Female Founders: Rosie Mangiarotti of Perkies On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Deadlines will be extended. It’s important to be patient, trust the process, and understand that deadlines will be extended. Like I said above, I have experienced these delays since the get go. While it’s not easy to have issues in the manufacturing process, you truly have to be okay with it and be able to understand that it’s a process.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rosie Mangiarotti.
Perkies founder, Rosie Mangiarotti, had enough of the subpar sticky bras currently offered on the market and created the Perkies Sticky Bra as an alternative. Today,Perkies creates innovative undergarments for women to wear with their signature product being the Perkies Sticky bra, the only sticky bra (backless/strapless bra that sticks on) with layered and replaceable adhesives! Perkies is dedicated to sustainability, inclusivity, and empowering women to feel confident, while also donating 5% of all website sales across www.perkies.com, to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation®.
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?
Thank you for having me! My interest in entrepreneurship was ignited at a very young age, watching my own father work to pursue his own venture. Like me, he is also an entrepreneur, and even as a child, I couldn’t help but be inspired by his drive and his dedication. My interest in entrepreneurship followed me all the way to college, where I was given a real opportunity to pursue it. During my time at Brown University, I concentrated in their Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations track and took a class called “The Entrepreneurial Process”. In this class, students were tasked in coming up with a solution (either a product or a service) to solve a common customer pain point. Based on my own awful experiences with sticky bras, and hearing similar testimonies from my sisters and friends, I came up with the idea of creating a sticky bra with removable and replaceable adhesives. After the class wrapped up and I graduated in 2018, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to bring this idea to fruition. And that’s how my brand, Perkies, was born. Four years later and here we are!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
My favorite story is actually a compilation of a few different moments that have taken place this Spring. Over the last few months, I’ve attended weddings and spent Memorial Day weekend with several friends for our Brown reunion weekend. These weekends encompassed 10–15 friends who were all wearing some form of Perkies…whether it was the Perkies Sticky Bra, the Perkies Petals, the Perkies Panties, or even a combination! These weekends were a strong, and necessary, reminder that all my hard work has been worth it. It felt so amazing and fulfilling to see that the products Perkies creates are actually helping women feel more confident. It truly was an indescribable experience witnessing first hand how many people needed the products and how happy they were to use them.
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?
This definitely wasn’t anywhere near funny while it was happening, but I have no choice but to laugh now. Over the summer of 2020, I had taken a preorder of about 200 sticky bras. The grave mistake that I made was telling everyone who pre-ordered that the products would be ready almost a year before they were actually ready. While I had projected the fall of 2020, it wasn’t until June of 2021 that the products were delivered. Thankfully it was a preorder for family and friends, who were all supportive even through the delays. I quickly learned the lesson to always expect the worst and slowest production time, throughout the manufacturing process. I learned to never overpromise and underdeliver, but rather underpromise and overdeliver!
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?
Shortly after I had graduated from Brown, I pitched at the “Get Started RI” Pitch Competition, and I ended up winning the audience vote. After the competition, one of the judges on the panel followed up with me and connected me with her friend, Melissa Studzinki who was, at the time, seeking hands-on experience with a startup. Melissa ended up being more impactful than I ever could’ve imagined. Starting Perkies, I had no sense of direction, accountability, nor experience, Melissa stepped in and became my very first accountability partner, offering both direction and experience. She helped me manage the overwhelming stress that often accompanies the 500 different choices a founder has to make on a daily basis. Early on, we spoke on the phone at least two times a week. Melissa is incredibly smart, diligent, and truly a force to be reckoned with and I wanted nothing more than to impress her. I swear I worked five times as hard just so that I could get the most out of those phone calls. I took Melissa’s advice where appropriate, and connected with the people she recommended. I highly suggest finding some type of mentor/advisor that acts as an accountability partner for those solopreneurs, especially in the early days. Although our weekly calls have dissipated to bi-monthly calls, Melissa is still a dear friend and continues to be a key mentor for Perkies.
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?
From my perspective, this issue could potentially be systemic/systematic and rooted in outdated cultural ideals and practices. Funding has gone to men for so many years that it is seemingly “natural” for men to be the founders of companies. With the “nuclear” family having the fathers as the breadwinners, it’s common practice for more of the business talk to reside between fathers and sons. That being said, this is thankfully changing. I’ve also seen how men and women are inherently different in addition to being raised differently. Men are often more risk-seeking and are able to confidently make themselves seem more distinguished. Women, on the other hand, are often (not always) taught to be risk-averse and conservative with their projections and more calculated before going into action (this has its pros and cons!). Often, men shoot for the stars and land on the moon when many women feel it’s appropriate to just shoot for the moon. Again, this is how it used to be, and I’m thankful a lot is changing to make this no longer the case.
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?
On the individual level, I think we need to be more intentional in making sure we are breaking the cycle of leaving young girls out of conversations, especially surrounding business. While thankfully, we are beginning to see this shift, we still have a very long way to go. As a society, there should be more emphasis on the logistics of business taught in middle and high school, such as courses on taxes, equity, investing, etc. A rising tide does indeed raise all boats! Although less of an issue in the US, educational disparity between young girls and boys needs to be addressed, specifically in developing countries. The way boys and girls are supported in the classroom needs to be equal so that moving forward, women have more confidence to go out and start their own companies and equal opportunities in doing so. The government could also play a role in overcoming these obstacles by offering grants to more female lead start-ups. All of these movements, however small, will have trickle effects. If there is even just one successful female founder, more young girls could see that they could achieve success as well, and this could end up inspiring a whole new generation of female founders.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Over 50% of the US population is women, meaning that women deal with 50% of the world’s problems. In reality, the average woman actually deals with a lot more issues than the average man, taking into account a myriad of societal, cultural, historical and other external problems as well as biological (ie-fertility). It’s no question that we would have a lot more success solving these issues if women were given more seats at the table, especially given that in most instances, they would be the end beneficiary. Perkies is a great example here; no man really knows what the issues are with current sticky bras. I’m not even sure most men know what a sticky bra is! It’s just that when you live through a pain point, you are more adequately fitted to solve the problem.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
One myth I take issue with, is the idea that if you start your own business, you can “work whatever hours you want and wherever you want.” If you are a one-woman show for a company that is a product-based company, you need to be within arm’s distance of your inventory, or your company won’t run. Speaking from experience, I can’t go away for more than three days without needing someone to stand in for me! Especially in the beginning stages of founding a company/product development, you need to be physically close to your product and as hands-on as possible. As for the working whatever hours part of the myth, I believe that if you want your company to be a real company, you have to treat it like one. Yes, you are, in theory, able to take however many days you want off, but in my experience, treating your company on corporate time helps with digesting information and prevents burnout. Of course, there are going to be special days where you’re working into the late hours of the night, but keeping yourself from burning out is a necessity. I know it might be the complete opposite for other founders but personally running on set hours instead of “sporadic hours” helps me achieve my weekly goals!
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
I would never say you have to be a specific type of person to run a successful business. After all, you’ll find that founders come from all different walks of life and hold a variety of different identities, personality types, and characteristics. I’m a firm believer that anyone who works hard, is passionate, is willing to make the necessary sacrifices and above all, is willing to be on a continuous journey to learn, can run a successful company. You have to be the type of person who embraces hearing “no” and is receptive to feedback that won’t always feel nice to hear, but is necessary for growth. If you are stubborn or get easily rattled by rejection, you might not have the easiest time as a founder. I have to constantly tell myself: “persevere”!
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.)
Deadlines will be extended. It’s important to be patient, trust the process, and understand that deadlines will be extended. Like I said above, I have experienced these delays since the get go. While it’s not easy to have issues in the manufacturing process, you truly have to be okay with it and be able to understand that it’s a process.
Surround yourself with cheerleaders. You need to surround yourself with people who are your cheerleaders, not your doubters. Starting a business is not an easy thing to do, let alone doing it when people aren’t cheering you on. You truly need a support system for those days of hearing “no” one too many times. The support from my friends and family has been a lifesaver. Alongside this, you can’t let the weight of what others think get to you. Letting others’ thoughts affect you can divert you from your goals!
THINK BIG. Thinking big is essential. I was taught the importance of this in Danny Warshay’s class. Reminding yourself constantly to think outside the box is a fundamental part of founding a business. Do not pigeonhole yourself! Investors like to see those bigger projections and a bigger TAM (total addressable market).
Don’t take advice from someone you don’t want to be. The fourth thing that I feel is very important is that you will hear a lot of advice and you have to be discerning in the advice you choose to take. At the start of founding a business, it may feel as though you should take any advice you can get, but I caution the idea of following advice blindly.
Enjoy the ride. Lastly, enjoy the ride! Enjoy every moment of it. From the late nights working on the pitch deck to every run to the post office. Being a founder is a wild ride and you can’t take any of it for granted!
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I think a big part of it for me is being a role model. Setting an example to others that it is possible to start something right out of college while living in your parent’s house, and that it is possible to bring something to life without raising money. Whether I’m formally mentoring students or just having complete strangers follow my journey, I’m setting some sort of example and giving them the “if she can do it, so can I” green light.
On the more philanthropic side of things, working with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation has been very important to me. Some people told me to wait until I had more sales before donating, but I wanted to make a difference right from the start. In 2022, Perkies is donating 5% of all website sales across www.perkies.com, to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation®. BCRF’s mission is to advance the world’s most promising research to eradicate breast cancer. For more information about BCRF, visit www.bcrf.org.
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.
People often ask me (and my family) why we are such happy and optimistic people. For starters, we’ve been very fortunate in life, and that’s not to be overlooked. But, even when things are going wrong, we tie our happiness back to gratitude, and countless studies can back that. If I could, I’d love to inspire a movement where everyone could focus on the good in every day and appreciate the small blessings in their daily lives. One of my favorite quotes is: “When you focus on the good, the good gets better”.
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.
My most recent female role model is Amy Griffin, the founder of G9 ventures. Amy is a total wave maker, but in a subtle way that draws little to no attention to herself. Amy is super philanthropic and has invested wisely in this younger generation of women. She seems like an amazing mother and friend- and a dream investor!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Taiyaba Saleem of Soft Touch Studio: Five Ways To Leverage Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
People remember visuals more than just text. In fact, most customers respond much better to visual content than to written content. This is why Instagram is a massive hub for marketing opportunities, especially in the beauty industry so keep your pictures high quality. It’s better to post 3 good-quality pictures than 5 low-quality ones. The aesthetic of the feed should be decent as it makes a good first impression people are most likely to click on the post and dive deeper and follow you.
Taiyaba is a talented and skilled micropigmentation artist who has mastered the exquisite art of permanent cosmetics. She was awarded the first Grand Master in Canada by the International PMU Academy and is now dedicated not only to her work at her own studio and training through her courses, but also to coaching other Permanent Makeup artists on growing their businesses up to 6 figures by sharing her 10+ year experience in this industry, following the roadmap (bumps in the road excluded) that got her the successful business she runs today.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
My commitment to excellence combined with my skills and meticulous approach to art and my passion for visual aesthetics is what led me to Permanent Cosmetics in the first place. I have An honours degree in fine arts and a background in medical aesthetics but I found my love for PMU through actively improving people’s perception of themselves and that’s when I finally felt like I was fulfilling my true calling.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
As an immigrant, I worked really hard to obtain the respect and acknowledgement of my peers and masters, and thanks to their ongoing support I accomplished my dream, climbing titles from being a beginner artist to earning the highest ranking Grand Master title within the Academy which celebrates my hard work and presence within the PMU community. Since then, my next goal is to help other artists to live their dreams of becoming renowned professionals so that they can improve not only other people’s lives but their own by reaching financial independence and a better life quality leveraging Instagram. I’ve seen and done a lot in my years of experience and the world is changing fast, and I want other artists to learn from my mistakes in order to skyrocket their careers much faster than I did with mine, with less risk and hard mistakes.
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 remember that when I opened my business I thought I would become a successful entrepreneur overnight but soon enough I realized I had no clue as to how to run a business! I was so naive about how to do biz and marketing and do my own booking.
During this entrepreneur journey, I learned that there are so many factors that go into being a successful person — it’s one thing to do the work as an artist and another thing is to run a business.
Though, when I understood the importance of social media, things started to change for the better.
Ok. Let’s now move to the main focus of our discussion. For the benefit of our readers, can you explain why you are an authority on Social Media Marketing?
I grew my permanent makeup business from zero to 6 figures in 3 years using my 12k following on Instagram and I have been teaching others how to leverage social media, and how to upgrade their management and marketing skills to build a strong social presence and grow their businesses. I have great, very useful content on Youtube that people love watching and recently got into Pinterest as well, where I’m steadily and organically building exposure with the same method.
Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?
Instagram is the best platform. Visual content is one of the main reasons it became a platform with one of the biggest traffic audiences. It makes collaborations easy and it’s most leading in the beauty and aesthetics industry. Everyone wants to look “instagrammable” and –sometimes for the worst– fit into the platform’s beauty industry standards that it portrays. I think that’s why I receive the most messages and bookings through here.
Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share five ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.
People remember visuals more than just text. In fact, most customers respond much better to visual content than to written content. This is why Instagram is a massive hub for marketing opportunities, especially in the beauty industry so keep your pictures high quality. It’s better to post 3 good-quality pictures than 5 low-quality ones. The aesthetic of the feed should be decent as it makes a good first impression people are most likely to click on the post and dive deeper and follow you.
Use Reels because the primary benefit of Reels is brand awareness. You reach a much larger audience and get more engagement from new people on reels than any other feature on Instagram!
Stay relevant by using trending audio and adding your unique spin to your content. Remember there are millions of users and the only way to stand out is by being your unique self.
Keep consistency. This builds trust with your commitment to success and if you don’t put yourself out there regularly then how can you expect others to know of your existence? Just pick a schedule 3 times a week or whatever it may be stick to it and be consistent
Use storytelling and captivating hooks in your captions. This is one of the main ways you’ll add more value and get your audience to engage.
BONUS TIP: It is most important to get to know your target audience (you need to know what type of person you’re talking to in order to hook them according to their taste and likes) and don’t forget to choose the Call To Action phrases that work best!
Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I want to inspire and encourage all women to go after their dreams and work hard for the life they want by sharing my life experience. Let’s reach out to one person a day to offer help, advice or even just a few kind words. If everyone did that, it would be a better, kinder world.
Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I would love to meet Gary Vee and ask him about what it was like when he started and about the details on how he built his multi-million business, since he started at a “later age” I kind of identify. He’s my strongest aspiration and daily motivation, and I think it is really inspiring how he has used social media for his advantage and overall growth.
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
Women In Wellness: Eloise Head of FitWaffle on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Go outside every day — The times I’ve felt the lowest are generally when I’ve been stuck inside with my own thoughts all day. I think it’s very easy to get stuck inside your own bubble where everything feels a lot bigger and a lot deeper than it really is. Just stepping outside into nature, getting some fresh air, smiling at someone in the street or speaking to an employee at the store can reground you and uplift you.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eloise Head of FitWaffle.
Sunday Times Bestselling Author Eloise Head (Founder of @FITWAFFLE brand w/ over 8 million foodie followers) is a health & wellness guru and author of Amazon #1 Bestseller Baking it Easy. Eloise created these fun, delicious, and easy treats for the home chef out of her passion for fitness, and the belief that all kinds of foods can fit into your daily diet.
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 so much for having me. I would love to share my backstory with you. Before starting Fitwaffle, I worked full-time as a personal trainer and gym manager. I’ve always been into sport and dance and I was really active as a child. I really enjoyed cooking and I used to bake with my great Auntie a lot when I was young. She used to look after my sister and I when my mum and dad went to work. She taught me how to make cookies, jam tarts, cakes and simple meals. I think that’s where my love of baking began. I always loved food, but unfortunately I haven’t always had a good relationship with food. When I was 18 years old, I became overly obsessed with working out, doing fitness classes and spending hours at the gym. I also started ‘eating clean’, meaning I cut out just about every processed food from my diet, including cake, chocolate, fast food and even white potatoes. I lost a lot of weight, including a lot of muscle from undereating. I had endless fights with my mum and I had a very unhealthy mindset towards food. I considered certain foods to be ‘good’ and others to be ‘bad’, with no real knowledge about nutrition. Fast-forward a year, I enrolled in a personal training course. I learned about anatomy, resistance training and nutrition, specially macronutrients. This new knowledge completely changed how I looked at food, which I no longer saw as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. I was now able to regard what I ate for what it was without any emotional attachments or labels. I learnt that, at the end of the day, food is energy. Some foods are high in calories and low in nutrients, while others are low in calories and high in nutrients. It’s the balance of these foods that matters, alongside your personal energy output. I started Fitwaffle to document my food and fitness journey online as I was learning to enjoy all foods in moderation. I would work as a personal trainer throughout the week, then visit London at the weekend with my fiancé to try new restaurants, street food markets and all kinds of foods. I posted photos of these foods to my social media and they started to become popular. My Instagram page started to grow as almost a ‘guide to London food’.
When the pandemic hit, restaurants closed and we went into lockdown, I decided to start posting my homemade creations to my Instagram and TikTok page. This is also when I created the Instagram page @FitwaffleKitchen. I wanted to build a community of fellow bakers and foodies in a time of uncertainty where we all felt isolated. I made it my personal mission to help keep people occupied and uplifted during these difficult times. I also wanted to make sure that my recipes were accessible to as many people as possible — that they were easy and achievable, without all the fluff.
Roll-on a couple of years to now, I have over 8 million followers across social media and my very own cookbook. It all seems very surreal to me and I’m so grateful for every opportunity and my amazing community.
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?
Going into lockdown was probably the craziest thing that happened since starting my career. I had left my job as a personal trainer to pursue Fitwaffle full-time just 8 months prior. This was my first glimpse of self-employment, I was working with brands and running social media accounts for restaurants. When restaurants closed, I lost some of my clients and I wasn’t sure whether my first go at running my own business was going to be short-lived.
Within the first week of lockdown, I started posting recipes to my social media. I wasn’t sure how my followers would respond, but it was something I’d always wanted to do and I had a good feeling about it. People couldn’t go to restaurants, but they could cook at home. I wanted to give value to my followers and I wanted to spread joy and positivity in these difficult times. My first viral recipe came quite early on receiving over 39 million impressions and over 700K likes. It was a recipe for 3-ingredient Oreo Fudge (which is also in my new book). I took my social media following from 300K before lockdown to over 8 million in 2 years by consistently posting sweet, easy, and accessible recipes.
I cannot see myself being in the same position now if I didn’t adapt quickly to the situation and if I didn’t provide the value that I did through creating recipes throughout lockdown. It taught me that providing value through my content is so powerful and so important for building a community and an audience on social media. The amount of heartfelt messages I have received throughout my time of posting recipes online has been so touching and eye-opening. I feel very lucky to have been able to impact so many people’s lives in such a positive way.
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?
The biggest mistake I made when first starting was not trying new things early enough or not sticking with them. For example, when videos were first introduced to Instagram, it took me a while to start consistently producing good quality video content. I jumped on Musical.ly before it was rebranded to TikTok and one of my first videos went viral, but it didn’t seem worth my time back then, so I wasn’t consistent with it. I started posting consistently to the platform once it was rebranded to TikTok and started gaining popularity. If I had been posting consistently from the start, who knows where my following would be right now. At first, I ignored Facebook as a platform because I didn’t think it was the right platform for my content. I was so wrong!
The lesson I have learned here is to move swiftly with new features and new arising platforms and be consistent in finding what works on them. This applies beyond social media and into the real world also. A lot of the time it’s scary to try new things and step into the unknown, we often don’t see immediate results, so we give up too soon. Social media has taught me that persistence can go a long way.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
I believe that diet culture is a big problem in today’s society and that lack of proper teaching about food is one of the biggest challenges surrounding obesity.
We’re very quick to jump on the next diet trend, trying to find a quick fix to lose weight or get healthier without actually learning the very basics of nutrition.
I believe that moderation and balance is the key to a healthier life and mindset around food. I think a lot of people believe that to be healthy you need to give up a lot of the things you love, such as dining out, drinking alcohol, or having dessert, and therefore decide it’s just not worth it.
Even though my social media is not solely focused on spreading this message, I try to help my community whenever I am asked about this topic, and I like to show that enjoying dessert, learning to bake and having fun with food is not a bad thing, nor is it something to be afraid of.
I want people to feel inspired and happy when they watch my videos. I know baking for a lot of people has given them purpose, it’s helped them with mental health issues, it’s got kids off their phones and into the kitchen and some people have even started their own businesses. If I can help or inspire just one person, then to me, I have made a positive difference in the world today.
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.
Go outside every day — The times I’ve felt the lowest are generally when I’ve been stuck inside with my own thoughts all day. I think it’s very easy to get stuck inside your own bubble where everything feels a lot bigger and a lot deeper than it really is. Just stepping outside into nature, getting some fresh air, smiling at someone in the street or speaking to an employee at the store can reground you and uplift you.
Enjoy all foods in moderation — Moderation will mean something different for everybody. In general terms, eat fruits and vegetables and get enough protein because it’s good for your body. Go out to dinner with your friends and family because it’s good for your soul. If you’re someone who feels guilty about consuming foods you believe to be bad for you (like I used to be) challenge your thoughts and the information you’re consuming, and try to avoid triggering content across social media.
Sleep — Sleep has so many benefits, including regulating your mood and your appetite. Aim for around 8 hours a night as often as you can.
Take time to rest away from social media — Scrolling online is not resting. You may be resting your body, but your brain is still very active. Go for a walk, go to the beach, sleep, hang out with friends, go for coffee on your own without your phone. I for one often don’t realise how stressed I am until it’s too late. These things help to keep your head level.
Exercise — (I would say that, I’m a personal trainer.) But, I don’t mean just go to the gym and lift weights (although I would recommend that too), do whatever form of exercise you enjoy. Play a game, play a sport, walk, run, swim, dance, try Pilates. In simple terms, just get your body moving. Whatever exercise you enjoy and your body can manage will massively improve your physical health and your mental health.
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 would start a movement to encourage everybody to go outside without their phones for at least 30 minutes every day. You could walk, you could meet a friend, you could just sit down and stare at the sky. So many people have the ability to do this, yet so many don’t. I think just being outside with nature, without the internet could massively improve the wellbeing of a lot of people in today’s world.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Good things take time, but if something’s clearly not working, change it sooner rather than later. — When it comes to social media and growing a business, I think there’s a balance between being persistent/continuously putting in the work to get great results, and learning when something isn’t working and moving on quickly. For example, if I make a recipe and it doesn’t perform very well because it has an ingredient in that many people don’t have access to, I probably won’t use that ingredient again if I’m looking to reach a wide audience with my video.
Repurpose your content on as many social media platforms as possible. — Many of the big social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat now support 16:9 videos. I have a different audience on every one of these platforms, so it makes perfect sense to repurpose my content and grow a following on each platform. Each platform offers something slightly different and it makes sense not to put all your eggs in one basket. The hard part is creating the content, posting it is the quick and easy part.
You don’t have to know everything to start — I’ve noticed I can often hold myself back by wanting to be more confident in something before starting. But, I’ve come to learn that you only gain confidence in something by doing it over and over again, not just by reading about it.
Not everyone is going to like you and that’s TOTALLY fine. You’re not supposed to be liked by everybody. — When you’re a content creator, you’re going to get some hate. It doesn’t matter if you do everything right, someone will find something to dislike about you — It’s unavoidable. So make yourself proud and don’t worry about the haters.
It’s okay to say no — When I first started, I would say yes to everything. I had got it in my head that if I said no or pushed back, that would be the end of a working relationship. Now that I have built confidence in my abilities, I am happy to push back and say no if something doesn’t fit or doesn’t align with my brand or my beliefs.
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 is closest to my heart, as it’s something I have struggled with at points in the past and is something that I am aware of everyday. I have definitely fallen victim to poor information and comparison on social media, which impacted my relationship with food and in turn my relationship with my body, my friends, and my family. Mental health is at the core of how we think, how we live, and the decisions that we make, and poor mental health is something that affects so many people.
I am a big advocate of balance and moderation and this extends to mental health. For me, taking time away from my phone and social media and going for a walk or going to the gym is essential for me to keep my mental health in check.
As I mentioned previously, I like my social media to be a place of positivity where others can come to find joy and inspiration. Many of those people then use my recipes to bake something for their friends, family or even for their business. They bake to have fun with their children, or they bake alone to enjoy some peace and quiet. What I love about baking, is there’s always a reward at the end, whether that’s a beautifully decorated cake, a scrumptious batch of brownies, or just the sense of accomplishment from completing something from start to finish. I think baking can be a beautiful tool for improving ones mental health, and helping people do that is one of my core values in my business.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
Instagram @fitwafflekitchen and @fitwaffle and @eloisehead
Facebook: Fitwaffle
YouTube: Fitwaffle Kitchen
TikTok: @fitwaffle
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
Female Founders: Kathy Schenfelt of Missmanaged On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
… Freedom is the first thing that comes to mind. When you have your own company, you’re able to choose how you work, when you work, and who you work with. Of course financial stability doesn’t come overnight, but once it does, it’s the best thing in the world.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathy Schenfelt.
Born and raised at the southern tip of Argentina, Kathy Schenfelt’s dreams to pursue a career in entertainment were as big as she was far from Hollywood. While most 14-year-old girls were navigating the throes of middle school, Schenfelt was preoccupied — spending nights on her laptop learning to code, perfecting her graphic design skills and running the school’s first-ever blog. This innate drive would land the budding talent her first job just a few short years later.
At 16-years-old, Schenfelt launched a fan project on The Twilight Saga’s Breaking Dawn Part I and II that quickly spiraled into something much more exciting. The project accumulated over one million followers, two websites, nine staff members, and most notably, garnered the attention of Summit Entertainment. What was meant to be a fun hobby changed her life. The company’s digital strategy team recognized the teenager’s unique talent and provided Schenfelt with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help fuel fan engagement surrounding the global franchise.
Consecutively, adding on to Schenfelt’s passion for storytelling, she assumed the role of Senior Editor at Page To Premiere, a leading publication covering book to screen adaptations from an “industry” point of view. No longer online, Page To Premiere was acquired by Hypable Media in 2015. In the next couple of years, Schenfelt would fine-tune her craft in the space working with companies like Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Pictures, LifeTime, Disney Channel Latin America, and serving as a consultant to industry friends who were in the early stages of positioning their online presence, exploring digital partnerships and maximizing their influence — a brand new territory back then.
Realizing the untapped potential, Schenfelt started a digital marketing and social media agency, The W List, from the comforts of her small hometown Argentina. The company flourished, servicing hundreds of top global brands as well as high-profile talent and non-profit organizations.
By 2016, The W-List was doing so well that it was time to make moves and Schenfelt packed up and did what so many before her had done — followed their dreams to Los Angeles. In the 5+ years the young entrepreneur has lived in LA, she graduated from UCLA with a certificate in Music Business and founded SCH Entertainment as an umbrella company to house several endeavors. SCH acquired the original The W-List (soon to be a rebranded LA-based digital communications agency) and gave life to Missmanaged, a boutique talent and music management firm representing 30+ clients worldwide, and Schenfelt’s newest passion project, Guests Only, a simultaneously exclusive and inclusive community of creatives, business leaders and change-makers aiming to connect and champion women across entertainment, fashion, tech and beauty.
While most of the 28-year-old’s time is spent as the President and Senior Talent Manager of Missmanaged, Schenfelt doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon and enjoys sharing her breadth of knowledge with others, frequently speaking at public events and serving as a guest editor across any number of publications.
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?
Movies were my first love. My dad owned a Blockbuster store for a few years, so storytelling was all around me. I was very passionate about sharing the things I liked, and at thirteen, that was the Twilight Saga, so I asked for a computer for my 15th birthday and created a Twitter account to connect with other fans. In a couple months, the account had passed 100k followers, which was a big deal back then, so I decided to take the next step. I learned some graphic design and taught myself how to code, and shortly after we had a website, community forum and all. There were plenty of fansites and I can’t tell you why mine stood out from the rest, but the production company, Summit Entertainment, reached out and I got to work with them on the last two films. It was full-on digital strategy and I was learning so much, but now I know I had no idea what I was doing. I was still in highschool and had no expectations, which is probably exactly why it worked out.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
A few months ago when we were in the process of hiring a new talent coordinator for our talent management firm, Missmanaged, we ended up interviewing a girl who I used to watch on YouTube when I was younger. She was a former-influencer herself, one I knew and had watched grow over the years, so it was kind of like “I used to love your videos back when I was 16 and now you want to work with me?”. It felt like a total full circle moment.
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 think every person I’ve crossed paths with professionally has helped shape me into the person I am today. I don’t like to namedrop, but there’s a specific person that comes to mind. Her name is Jane and she owns a very successful marketing company. I met her a long time ago, back when SCH Entertainment didn’t exist and I didn’t know many people. I’ll never forget how, the first time we met in person, she led the conversation with “What can I do to help you?”. I had nothing to offer back, and she knew that. It’s stuck with me because it’s very rare to meet people like that in this industry — people who are willing to help you out when they know you’re not on their level yet.
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 believe there are a few reasons. Funding is one of them. Getting a company off the ground can be expensive, most people don’t have the means to pursue big ideas without investors. I would also assume most don’t have the additional time and energy required to work on a side project because they’re already busy with their day jobs or running their families. And last but not least, the fear of failure. Investing all that time, money, and hard work into something that might never seem the light of day is incredibly daunting.
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?
There are a few select companies offering angel funding for women-owned businesses. The idea itself is great but they are hard to come by and the competition is very tough. It would be a good starting point if governments worldwide were able to offer grants, loans or tax incentives to help get them up and running. In terms of what women themselves can do to succeed in launching their own companies, I would say start early. Start as early as you can, because the more you get into a structured career path, get older, maybe start a family, the harder it will be time-wise. I don’t think most schools offer entrepreneurial classes, but my advice would be to learn as much as you can and give it a go as soon as you can.
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?
Freedom is the first thing that comes to mind. When you have your own company, you’re able to choose how you work, when you work, and who you work with. Of course financial stability doesn’t come overnight, but once it does, it’s the best thing in the world.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
That it’s easy. Nobody knows how hard it is to get a business off the ground unless they’ve tried. Especially anything service-based. People tend to think that because you’re your own boss, you don’t have to work as hard because you don’t have to report to somebody else, but in reality, every founder knows it’s the opposite. I never fully turn off. That’s one of the cons. When you’re running a company, you have this constant little voice in your head telling you you need to work because nobody else can do the job the way you want it done. But having to do it all yourself is also a myth, and the biggest mistake you can make. You have to learn to trust your team and delegate what you don’t enjoy doing or what you just don’t know.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
I’ve had the privilege of never being somebody else’s “employee”, so it’s hard for me to say. Even during my freelance days, I still felt I had complete freedom and the ability to choose how and when I worked, so I don’t really know what it’s like in the corporate world having to work your way up from the mailroom. That being said, I do believe anybody can have a great idea and make it happen. You don’t have to run the business to be a founder. If it’s successful enough, you can always take a step back and have someone take over. To be a founder, you need to have vision and capital. That’s about it. When it comes to running a business, the most important things you need are excellent people skills, the ability to communicate your ideas efficiently, relevant knowledge to guide your team, experience to back it up, and critical thinking skills to be able to make hard decisions.
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.)
This one is tough. I would say, first, you don’t know as much as you think you do. But that’s totally okay, you will learn as you go. Secondly, to go along with that first bit, learn as much as you can. There’s an online class for just about anything these days and a lot of them are free. You lose absolutely nothing by taking that class, but you will gain knowledge that might come in handy later on. Thirdly, don’t glamourize people you don’t know. What you’ve heard or what you see on social media means absolutely nothing. You might think someone is on top of their game and in comparison might feel like you’re slacking or you’ll never achieve that level of success, but in reality most people are busy questioning their own timeline. Fourth, if you are in the room, you deserve to be in that room. Don’t let imposter syndrome creep in. And lastly, hire a good accountant as soon as you can afford to do so. Your future self will thank you!
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I’ve been working on a special project for a few months now. The name is Guests Only, and it’s a simultaneously exclusive and inclusive community of creatives, business leaders and change-makers aiming to connect and champion women across various industries. We’ll be launching soon with super exciting editorial pieces highlighting one-on-one conversations with some incredible people as well as in-person happenings. I’m so proud of everything Guests Only stands for and I hope it offers our “Guests” that sense of non-transactional connection we so desperately need here in LA.
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.
Probably something along the lines of what we’re aiming for with Guests Only. Maybe not for “the most amount of people”, but anybody who wants to be part of it. I’ve always felt Los Angeles is such a lonely city and even though the industry is so small, most people keep to themselves, so it feels nearly impossible to connect with peers without expectations or without it being a transactional relationship. If we can create a safe space to change that, I’ll feel like I’m doing something good.
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.
The LOST showrunners, because it’s been over ten years and I still have so many questions.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Sarah Evans of Well Aware On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
You don’t need to hide your failures. There were many reasons I was insecure about my abilities when I founded Well Aware (one being that I’m female), and this self doubt manifested in my concealing my mistakes and missteps. I figured out pretty early — thanks to an incredible early team and some saintly mentors — that I could not only reveal my losses, but I could strengthen myself and the company from them. Sharing what I’ve done wrong has given our organization more credibility, and it’s helped me learn how to be vulnerable with my team. And, as it turns out, vulnerability as a leader attracts more people to your vision.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Evans.
Sarah Evans is the founder of award-winning water non-profit Well Aware and co-founder and CEO of for-profit technology company Well Beyond, dedicating her work to changing the way water projects are executed and managed in developing regions of the world.
She has built teams of staff and volunteers who implement and advise on projects that are realistic and lasting through strategic partnerships, true community involvement and empowerment, hygiene and sanitation education, impact measurement, and digital expert support.
Under her leadership, Well Aware’s reputation for project success (100% vs 40% industry average) and cost effectiveness (averaging $15 per person for decades) has prompted numerous collaborations with other NGO’s worldwide to guide their water infrastructure projects. Evans and her teams work with the great potential that already exists in struggling communities while catalyzing development through access to clean water.
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?
At the time, it seemed I had landed on this path purely by chance. I studied communications and law, and, up until my big pivot, I had been working in firms and focused on a very different kind of career. But, when I reflect on my journey, I do see a theme that would eventually lead me to where I am today.
I’ve always been drawn to the needs of the most vulnerable. Even at a very young age, my parents tell me I liked to give my toys away, on the spot, to other children who looked like they needed one. And, during those formative years, my family and I lived “off the grid” in rural Australia without running water or electricity. We literally lived off the land, and it was instilled in me that managing with just the basics is not only enough, it’s a happy life.
In high school, I was a pretty standard overachiever, and I found myself being the captain of the cheerleading squad and in every possible activity and school club. I graduated in the top five of my class and was named “Ms. Crockett High School”. By most measurements of success, I was there. While I can’t say that this particular kind of achievement really made me happy, I did take note of my proclivity to lead.
Then, I was a civil engineering major in college until I switched to communications with a focus on oration. To follow that, my law school studies included a heavy load of environmental law, and I was the president of the Environmental Law Society, as well as a clerk for the EPA in clean water.
Fast forward to today, and I am leading companies that are quickly gaining notoriety for our innovative approaches to clean water in developing countries. I get to use my civil engineering background, my knowledge of water issues, my leadership skills, my public speaking training, and, probably most importantly, my focus remains on the needs, potential, and true support of the most vulnerable.I might just be piecing things together to make it make sense, but I do think that my role today is exactly where I’m supposed to be, and part of me has always known that.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
My work is anything but boring, and I know I should really write a book someday. We have lived through some very interesting, and sometimes precarious, scenarios. It’s difficult to choose between being detained in Lagos, having our truck toppled by elephants, or
I think I’ll go with the story about Mike. Mike Mutuku was my driver on my first trip to Kenya when Well Aware drilled our very first water well. I was bright eyed and naive. He was kind and helpful. On the many days we spent together going back and forth to the drill site, we got to know each other. I learned that he not only supported his three children, but also gave money to more than 20 other children in orphanages. He lost his father when he was a teen, and then took the role of supporting his mother and siblings, all 13 of them!
As a young man, he served in the Kenya military and was a UN Peacekeeper in Bosnia. He then went on to be a general contractor and later transitioned into professional driving for tourists.
That’s just Mike’s backstory, the interesting part is what happened after we met. That first drill changed the trajectory of both of our lives. On my flight home from that trip, I started planning how I could continue doing this kind of work. And, as soon as I got home, I reached out to Mike to see if he could help. His immediate response was, “yes, please.”
Mike worked for free for two years helping me understand why most of the water systems in Kenya ended up broken shortly after they were installed. We both wanted to do this work better. He found contractors and NGO partners, and he was unexplainably available. After those two years, he became our first paid employee.
Today, Mike is the Well Aware Director of Projects, and he oversees a growing team of seven.. We all still look to Mike as our North Star, and we know that our foundation of integrity in what we do was built by Mike.
It was a wild chance that Mike and I would meet the way we did and go on to be business partners for good. But, there are hundreds of thousands of people in East Africa who are glad we did.
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?
A story that I often tell about our early days in this work isn’t about me directly, but I was a part of the whole comedy of errors, and it’s too great not to share here.
On our first trip to Tanzania, I was traveling with another US colleague, Lindsey, and a friend, Theo, also from the US, but she was born and raised in Tanzania. On a little down time, Lindsey and I peeled off to wander the streets to admire all of the beautiful textiles and spend some money. Some of the shops had these beautiful, long, billowing dresses that were loosely fitting and vibrant with color. They were a little pricey, so I didn’t end up buying one, but Lindsey did.
Super excited to sport her new, local garb, she put it on the next morning and hopped into the front of the van with the rest of us for a long day of travel and field visits. As soon as Theo spotted her, she giggled a little quietly, and then the giggle turned into an audible chuckle. Lindsey spun around in her seat and asked Theo what was so darn funny. I was curious, too, but I began to suspect what was happening as it unfolded.
Theo says to Lindsey, “Linds, you are wearing Tanzanian lingerie.” To this, Lindsey replied, “What do you mean, this is a long dress, not sexy at all!” Theo went on to explain that they are worn at the beach, typically on a romantic trip with your husband, and without underwear. Theo says, “You know, when you’re by the surf, and a little shaky-shaky, splashy-splashy…” while she did a shoulder shimmy. We all could not stop laughing for a good five minutes.
Lindsey didn’t wear her lingerie in public again after that, and I went back and bought one for myself.
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 would absolutely not be where I am today without the support, mentorship, and guidance of many. I’m deeply grateful to have had several fierce female mentors along the way, and I am paying that back now.
I think most of the credit, though, goes to my ten year old daughter. I know that sounds silly, since she wasn’t even born when I began this adventure, but I can say with complete certainty that she’s helped me the most.
I was already passionate about this work before Violet arrived, but when she did, I felt an even deeper connection to the cause, specifically how it impacts women and children. As a mother, when I would breastfeed my baby, I started to feel the fear that other moms feel when they have infants in places without any water. I couldn’t conceive of how terrifying it would be knowing that your baby may die because you couldn’t find water that week and the breastmilk wouldn’t come. But I was suddenly keenly aware of this pain, and boldly motivated to push forward in my work for them.
The inspiration I’m gifted from my daughter didn’t stop as she grew. I still catch a glance of her frequently and think about other children just like her who aren’t as lucky. She reminds me of how important my mission is, and she keeps me grounded in my purpose.
My child also happens to be hilarious and kind. She’s a strong centering force in my life, and managing stress, which is inevitably often in my role, is drastically easier with her around. She’s not a mentor per se, but she’s taught me most of what makes me a great leader.
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?
There remains much that still holds women back, despite progress in certain areas. I’m not even sure where to begin, since it’s a systemic issue involving many variables that need improvements.
Possibly the most important challenge is our role in the family. It’s been an interesting 40 years to have lived through in the United States. When I was young, it seemed that we were on an optimistic trajectory toward gender equity, but many of the advancements that started giving us hope have been cleverly compromised and even dismantled in recent years.
As women often hold the responsibility of bearing children, it would seem there would be accommodations for women to start a family without sacrificing most other things that make us productive and important contributors to society. But, that’s not really happening the way it should.
When I had my daughter as a single mother, I knew I would not be able to follow through with my commitment to my fledgling company without help. Luckily for me, I have safety nets. My daughter and I lived with my parents until she was 5 years old so that I could raise her and build Well Aware. But if that’s the only way to do it, then only women with privilege get to do both — raise a child and run a company. That eliminates over half of the female population in this country who may otherwise be world-changing leaders.
Then, even where women are able to manage leadership and household matters and child rearing, we aren’t living in a culture that provides support to make it anywhere near as simple as it still currently is for men. The U.S. has no legal requirements for maternity leave, no standardization or notable funding for early childcare, very little flexibility in the workplace, and we are paid less, overall, to be able to support these things ourselves.
Also at the forefront of this obstacle for women reaching executive positions is how we are perceived as leaders. I watched a recent TEDx talk about the “Likability Dilema”, wherein women are rarely perceived to be both likable and competent. I don’t think I need to unpack this bais, as it’s pretty well recognized. But, I do think it needs to change to truly reach an equitable gender balance in C-suites. And we really, really need this balance. We are half of the world, and we are not yet being led into the future by people who represent us.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
Grassroots, local campaigns for women political candidates is statistically an effective way to further female representation in our governments. Adequate representation has the potential to transform opportunities and equity for women in business (and beyond).
In leadership roles, we can make changes that protect our rights and open the doors that were locked behind the men who walked through them first. We can fund better early child care and workplace maternity leave and flexible hours.
Culturally, I think we all have a duty to dispel myths about women as leaders of companies, of local governments, and of countries. As explained in the aforementioned TED Talk, these myths are ever present in our professional lives. But, perceptions can change, and I believe it to be our personal responsibility, each of us, to recognize when we manifest this bias and course correct every time we falter.
As women, we can continue to elevate each other and ensure our words are positive and encouraging. As humans, we can create conversations that challenge these perceptions and provoke an evolution of thought that leads to change.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
The world needs more female founders and women in all leadership positions. Similar to my point above, we won’t achieve a better environment for the advancement of all women until we’re the people steering the ships and making the decisions.
Since I have been leading companies over the last 14 years, I’ve been told many times by younger women that my path has inspired them to create companies and initiatives as well. A few years ago, I received a hand-writen note from a previous intern explaining the impact I had on their path. Before reading that note, I had no idea I was making an impact on her in this way. I didn’t even directly work with her. It really wasn’t about me at all, but the role I was serving and the path I was forging. She watched it and realized that she, too, could do it.
So, those of us who can push through and make those paths should. It’s our responsibility. The more paths we open, the more young women will travel with us.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
This question made me chuckle. I was so misguided about what a founder was before becoming one twice. I imagined a founder in their garage stacking product to sell or building business plans while investors and customers awaited their emergence from their makeshift think tank with their proof of concept.
While the garage office is on point, the rest is only common on the silver screen. In reality, there are fits and starts, and one success for every two failures. There are sleepless nights, and very lean years. Relationships are compromised, and certain people leave your life.
Then new people and opportunities enter your life, and, eventually, there is momentum. For me, there was no single moment that it all clicked and the machine was running on its own. But there did come a time when I noticed more and more people looking to us for advice and referencing me as a subject matter expert, and it started sinking in. The company was functioning just as I had dreamed it would, and for a little while, I felt content. Then, I decided to do more. And so it goes for us founders.
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?
There are so many different “types” of successful founders, so I won’t try to profile “the way to be” to find success in starting a company. I have seen common themes, though, in triumphant leadership, and the two strongest characteristics seem to be patience and fortitude.
Patience is everything. Whether I’m frustrated with a contractor or beginning to feel hopeless about a deadline, if I can’t be patient with myself and others, the outcome is almost always regress and anxiety. Lacking patience also prevents us from “zooming out” and understanding the big picture and how all the pieces work together, which is imperative for the captain to be able to manage.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my role as an executive came from an employee. She pulled me aside one day to kindly explain that my impatience with staff output and communication was confusing the team. She said, “if we think everything’s on fire, we don’t know where to start putting them out.” I will never forget that. I’m forever grateful for her candor and care for my role, and I have been a much more patient person since that moment.
Fortitude is also fundamental for founders and requires the patience I just spoke to. It’s really, really difficult to fight thoughts of giving up that inevitably surface many times on the entrepreneurial journey. Birthing and building a company is not for the weak-willed.
When things aren’t going well (and this can happen often), and your team and your vision are counting on you to figure it out, it’s an incredibly trying exercise to find your fortitude and battle your way out of it mentally. However, and I can attest, that each time you get through it, you get a little tougher, a little wiser, and a little closer to your goals. I call this the rock tumbler — maybe because that was one of my favorite toys as a kid. You put these craggy, dull stones into the machine and watch them be beaten and spun and banged against each other. A while later, the stones are more evenly shaped and a bit smoother. After it’s done several times, there are these shiny gems that remain, rocks that became beautiful from the turmoil they just survived.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
You don’t need to hide your failures. There were many reasons I was insecure about my abilities when I founded Well Aware (one being that I’m female), and this self doubt manifested in my concealing my mistakes and missteps. I figured out pretty early — thanks to an incredible early team and some saintly mentors — that I could not only reveal my losses, but I could strengthen myself and the company from them. Sharing what I’ve done wrong has given our organization more credibility, and it’s helped me learn how to be vulnerable with my team. And, as it turns out, vulnerability as a leader attracts more people to your vision.
Being inflexible as a boss is old fashioned and ineffective. I don’t know exactly where I got my notions of leadership, possibly from being an 80’s kid, and all the popular movies then portrayed the boss (almost always a man) as being rigid and distant. But, again, thanks to those early team members, I opened myself up to creating the kind of work environment and structure they wanted. Then, I realized that’s the office I want to be in, too!
Being a single mother will not preclude you from doing big things. This one was especially difficult for me. I knew my top priority would always be this beautiful child, and I wasn’t seeing or reading about anyone being able to pull off doing what I mapped out for us (my baby and me). When I received my first national award — Toyota Mother of Invention — the comments on the announcements were heartbreaking. So many people were telling me that I was awful and selfish for being a single mom with demanding international work. I let it get to me for a little while, but then I let it fuel my desire to move forward. Now my daughter is 10, and she’s an amazing young person with excellent grades in school, so many creative talents, the best sense of humor, and a beautiful and deep understanding of the world.
Just because it’s never been done doesn’t mean it can’t be done. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count all the times someone told me I couldn’t do something because it didn’t already exist. These weren’t internet trolls or simple acquaintances, either. Men and women that know me well and whom I trust and respect have said, point blank, “that won’t work”. As visionaries, I think it’s sometimes difficult for people who aren’t dreamers to see what we see, and that’s OK, but we shouldn’t allow it to hold us back.
You don’t have to chop all your hair off to be seen as more competent. Yeah… I did this. When I was gaining respect in my field, and my company was really getting some traction, I started letting myself think that, in order to level up even more, I would need to be less feminine. Instead of Elizabeth Holmes-ing my voice, I decided to chop off all of my hair. It was really short. I actually really liked it, and it may happen again. But next time, it won’t be because I think I need to be more masculine, because when I let it grow back out a couple years ago, our success continued to grow. Go figure.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
The entirety of my professional life is devoted to making the world a better place. I started Well Aware 14 years ago, and we have been able to scale consistently and provide more clean water every single year, having helped over 300,000 people to date.
Three years ago, when I started my second company, Well Beyond, it was to address the same global problem — lack of clean water — from a different angle, leveraging investment dollars and private-public partnerships. Now both companies work together to maximize the impact we can have to get closer to solving the global water crisis.
I also actively share my expertise and experience with younger organizations, and I write regular articles on nonprofit growth and leadership. I’m hoping these efforts make a difference, too!
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.
Naturally, I will say we need a stronger movement behind addressing water issues worldwide. I’m biased, but I’m still certain it could make the greatest impact for us all. Especially now, as we are already seeing the effects of climate change on groundwater and coastal areas, we have tangible, visual warnings that can fuel a much broader, more cohesive effort to combat significant further damage.
Where global water issues pertain to water access in developing countries, the cause I’ve devoted my life to, our combined efforts to tackle this devastating problem aren’t working as well as they could.
I wrote about perception above, and this one is a perception matter, too. Most people who support efforts to get clean water to the people who need it most may not understand what really needs to be done and built, but that’s not your fault. Our sector — the water charity industry — has done a poor job in two main ways: 1) We’ve been telling funders that the job is done (i.e. the water well is a success) when it begins to yield water. But, that’s not true. That project is not only not a success if it breaks down six months later, it’s also more harmful to the community that began to depend on it. We need so much more focus on what I call “results over time”. We must have a greater focus on how long these water systems will last, and we have to let the people funding it know that this has to be a priority in this work.
2) As a sector, we have also failed at evolving with the times and with technology. The way that most of this work is done overseas hasn’t really been updated in decades, and it still has underpinnings of colonialism. We now have so many more tools, knowledge and advancements to leverage to be better. Digital communication tools could not only revolutionize international development work, but also make it so much more cost effective and impactful.
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?
Jane Goodall, final answer. For a long time, I have greatly admired her trailblazing and unwavering commitment to her cause. At the same time, she is gentle and compassionate. Her soft words hold more power than any loud ones ever did, and the way she has navigated challenges and defeat have served as a guide for me on my own path.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
The pandemic created a need to deliver health-related information to customers. Health concerns will remain a consumer concern. Travelers will need information delivered in a way that they can easily understand and ensure they have all valuable data points to make informed travel decisions that are right for them.
As part of our series about “The Future Of Air Travel”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Zoghlin, President and CEO, ATPCO.
A lifelong entrepreneur and innovator, Alex brings more than 30 years of knowledge and experience in technology, airline distribution, and travel to ATPCO. He founded six startups, including Orbitz and G2Switchworks, before serving as Executive Vice President, Global Head of Strategy, Innovation, and Technology at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. He applies his business acumen and experiences from the hospitality world to concepts the airline industry can use, such as addressing digital booking flows, digital display, unstructured datasets, and dynamic pricing.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have travel in my DNA. My mother was a travel agent for many years and as a young child I would see the airline tariff books ATPCO used to publish in my mother’s office. I never would have thought that decades later I would be here as President and CEO. Straight out of school I joined the navy and then went to college. But I actually dropped out, and I am proud to say I did so to start a business that I ended up selling. I then went on to found Orbitz in the late 90s. I’m a life-long learner, and an innovator, but truly believe that no one path of learning is the right one. My career has been mostly in the travel/airline/hotel space, but I’ve also stepped into logistics, real estate, artificial intelligence and more. My hope is that my career path continues to evolve and bring more challenges.
I see my time at ATPCO as a unique opportunity at a unique time to really help move the airline industry into a more modern retailing environment. This is something I dreamed about doing over 20 years ago, but never could because the industry standards didn’t support it, and technology and data capabilities were just not sophisticated enough.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Wow, there are so many fun and interesting stories I can tell, and so many of them happened when traveling for business. One really interesting story happened at an earlier stage in my career when I had to travel to Korea for a really big deal we were hoping to sign. I’m probably dating myself but it was with LG, which at the time was known as Lucky Goldstar. My mom and my pregnant sister found out about the trip, and as I had a “free” hotel room, pretty much invited themselves to join me on the trip because neither had ever been to Korea. I begrudgingly said they could join but that I would be working. I can’t remember exactly how it happened but a lot of deals in Korea are closed in karaoke bars with a lot of beverages, and somehow the Chairman of Lucky Goldstar found out that my mom and sister were there and insisted they come to the karaoke bar with us. Of course, I politely said they certainly don’t need to be there, but he insisted, and long story short, we ended up signing this big deal, but only after my mother sang “You’ve got that loving feeling” on stage with the Chairman of LG at the time. It always brings a smile to my face when remembering that story and their hospitality. My mom also never thought she would end up helping to sign my deal!
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?
If you’re not making mistakes, you are not trying hard enough — so I have plenty of stories to choose from! The first company I started in college was originally named Web Mart. I was convinced I should be building the equivalent of a shopping mall online. Potential customers, however, had other ideas. They were not interested in being in my shopping mall, but they were very interested in me helping them build their own presence online. I was able to pivot very quickly from a shopping mall concept to a direct developer to assist these companies in building their own online store. I changed the name of the company to Neoglyphics, and we quickly grew the company, amassing an impressive global customer list including Walmart, Walgreens, GM, Volvo, ABN Amro, Sears, Singapore Government, Playboy, Ford, John Deere, etc. before being acquired by a much larger company. The key lesson I learned very early here was always listen to your customers and be prepared to pivot to meet their needs.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Can you share a story about that?
The role of the entrepreneur evolves over time, especially when at the helm of a well-established business. This requires a willingness to step out of your comfort zone and take on a different mindset and persona. But burnout is real, especially in this pandemic world we are all still living in. Overnight our decades and even life-long work habits were changed, people had kids, families, elderly parents, full-time work, and all came “in-house” at the drop of a hat. That naturally created people feeling burned out due to not being able to switch off and having to take on more roles from home while working full time. For us at ATPCO, I think it was important to first recognize this and let employees know that we were aware of some people feeling like they were burned out and then implementing ways to try to combat this. There were a few things in 2021 and 2022 that worked for us:
We implemented a company-wide “Take what you need” leave policy so employees could take the time they needed for family, rest, relaxation, and to recharge.
Promoted our 24/7 EAP program where all staff had access to mental health care and different wellness programs they could do at a time that suited them.
Enabling departments to choose “No meetings Fridays.” Doing our best to cut out or severely limit meetings on Fridays gives staff a day to catch up on work/emails and ease into their weekends.
Are these all the answers to solving burnout? No, but they are real, actionable steps that can help staff feel more supported and more heard, and hopefully reduce some of the burnout they were feeling at the start of the pandemic. Finally, as a manager, I try to recognize the signs of burnout in those that report directly to me and support open and honest dialog on the subject.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I have been blessed with many mentors along the way, starting with my father who was an entrepreneur most of his life. I had an aunt that headed up the local ACLU and was one of the most tenacious people I have ever met. During my military service, I had a chief early in my career who really saw my potential and helped me adapt and succeed in a very different environment. I’ve considered many of my previous customers, colleagues, and bosses as mentors. I’ve found the key is to really know yourself, i.e., your skills, weaknesses, etc. and seek out others that can complement you, and whom you can learn from — even employees who work for you can be mentors if you keep your ego in check!
Can you share with our readers how you have used your success to bring goodness to the world?
First and probably most importantly as a CEO, you can’t control society, but you can ensure that the company you are running has an operating environment and culture that allows people to come to work as they are, and not force them to leave parts of themselves at home. Creating that culture with my leadership team is something I take very seriously and that we openly work toward each day at ATPCO. Everyone should feel comfortable being themselves and this should be embraced in all organizations. For example, the first company I started almost 30 years ago, Neoglyphics, had HR policies that were very open for their time. I remember I was interviewing someone to head up our consulting practice and on his résumé, he had prominently displayed that he was the captain of the gay men’s swimming club. I happened to ask him in the interview why that was so important to him and why it was so prominent on his résumé. He stated that since Neoglyphics was well known for being accommodating to all he thought this would give him a hiring advantage. What was interesting is that honestly, as CEO, I didn’t even realize that. He was the one to then tell me that Neoglyphics was well known as a gay and lesbian friendly environment, it turned out the LGBTQ population represented at least 30% of our workforce, and it made me want to strive even more to be as inclusive as we could for not just that community in the workforce, but also others.
Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the Aviation and Air Travel industries?
ATPCO has been providing the world’s leading pricing and shopping data to airlines, global distribution systems, travel agencies, and tech companies for decades. We’re owned by airlines and we make the airline ecosystem more efficient by combining our data with strong standards, governance, and technology. We create value for everyone economically: our operations are funded by just $1 of every $7,500 in passenger revenue.
That’s where we are, and we are always looking forward. We are working with many other industry companies to build structures for new ways to better connect consumers with the flights they’re looking for, like dynamic pricing and better searching based on flight attributes.
A great example of innovating so we can help airlines serve consumers better happened during the pandemic. Worldwide flights were suddenly grounded, long-term, and airlines wanted to allow tickets people bought months in advance of the pandemic to be able to be changed, canceled, or refunded, which was different from the original conditions of the ticket they had purchased before the crisis hit. Normally you can’t do this because it’s a retroactive change after the sale, so there was no way to handle this without making a manual change on each ticket. Our team at ATPCO quickly analyzed several ideas to design a solution to automate how airlines could deal with this issue. The solution had to be simple and fast, and it had to meet the needs of every airline that wanted to use it. Implementing a change like this would usually take a year or more, but working closely with individual airlines, Global Distribution Systems (GDS), and channelpartners, we launched a solution we called Emergency Flexibility in just a little over two months, that enabled airlines and systems to automate changes for millions of tickets.
Today, however, our biggest and most difficult problem to solve is what we call dynamic offers. The vast majority of information you see related to fares and pricing in the airline industry is all pre-calculated. In other words, airlines pre-build the entire offer. We are helping the industry move from that static prebuilt offer to a world in which an airline can dynamically create an offer in real time specifically for you. We are looking to provide data to inform the right price, with the right amenities at the right time that makes it valuable for both the traveler and the seller.
Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing these innovations?
ATPCO, which sits at the center of airline distribution, powers global flight shopping by hosting more than 300 million fares in our database for over 400 airlines. This pricing and retailing content serves as the foundation of global flight shopping, distributed through every major distribution channel.
The volume of flight shopping is enormous, and it’s growing very quickly–in fact, we saw our highest numbers ever during the pandemic. New methods for creating airline offers, which people can purchase, like dynamic offers, will only keep those volumes increasing. What we’re trying to solve is how to reduce the complexity of managing all this data for airlines, while at the same time improving retailing so it’s easier for consumers to find the flights and options they want.
How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?
Dynamic offers have the ability to provide both the seller and the traveler with more value than the “static status quo” can today.
For example, this will lead travelers to search in entirely new ways. I’m currently in Europe on business and would love to have been able to easily look for all of the airline options that could get me to Amsterdam in a fully flat seat with Wi-Fi. To get to that answer today I would first have to choose a date then it would show me prices and it would then need to be filtered for those specific options. What if those options became the first search criteria instead of the date? Then, what if the airline, knowing I was looking for something very specific, could dynamically construct an offer that met my exact needs? This is available in many other industries and this is what we at ATPCO are looking to help airlines and the air travel industry create.
Are there exciting new technologies that are coming out in the next few years that will improve the Air Travel experience? We’d love to learn about what you have heard.
For me, it’s really what I’ve spoken about here. Dynamic offers, if done well, will change how consumers shop and book flights as they will be getting a far better, more personalized experience and an offer that is right for them. It isn’t something that will happen overnight and I truly believe that ATPCO will be at the forefront of this new technology and be a key player in leveraging the amount of data needed to create these offers in real time.
As you know, the Pandemic changed the world as we know it. For the benefit of our readers, can you help spell out a few examples of how the Pandemic has specifically impacted Air Travel?
The most powerful catalyst for customer-centricity in the airline industry came from the most devastating event in the history of commercial aviation. The massive disruptions of 2020 exposed infrastructure challenges that prevented people in the airline industry from responding to their customers as nimbly as they might have wished.
The COVID-19 pandemic depressed the demand for air travel in ways never experienced before by the industry. Demand was down 65.9 percent compared to 2019, with losses totaling US$118 billion. By May 2020, revenue by passenger kilometer (RPK) was down more than 90 percent. Even the effects of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 pale in comparison to the pandemic. After the World Trade Center towers came down, air travel demand dropped 30 percent in the United States, and it took the airline industry six years to recover its capacity. Using those metrics, the current crisis is at least twice the threat and is much longer lasting. Despite encouraging progress on the vaccination front, a return to a “normal” demand level is still a ways off.
During normal market conditions, all travel processes are predictable. Travelers know they can change or cancel their tickets according to the airline’s policies. Travelers also know the applicable conditions in case of involuntary changes like delays or cancellations. Airlines use ATPCO to easily transmit these policies and conditions to customer-facing sales channels and large technology providers. In the case of a flight cancellation, an automated re-accommodation on a new flight is performed by the airline. The sales channel is informed of the change and can interact with the traveler to decide on the most appropriate remedy. This can be the replacement flight closest to the original schedule, a different flight, or in some situations such as a lengthy delay, the traveler can request a refund.
The COVID-19 pandemic totally overturned this predictable structure. Travelers were faced with complete uncertainty — will it be safe to fly, what will happen if the location they plan to travel to is in sudden lockdown, what if the flight itself does not operate, what if they are not able to travel because of illness or local restrictions? Then on top of this, much of the industry forecasting and flight optimizations are based on algorithms derived from past performance — and the world was suddenly in a state where that historical data was almost useless for future planning purposes.
The pandemic created a need to deliver health-related information to customers. Travelers suddenly were more concerned about the measures that airlines were taking to protect their health during flights. Airlines were already using ATPCO Premium UPAs (Universal Product Attributes) to differentiate their flight and service offerings. But we found a way to repurpose UPAs for health information. Just three weeks after the pandemic struck, we used our Routehappy Content to create Reassurance UPAs and provided them at no cost to the industry.
Our Customer Care Council (which is composed of executives from several airlines) applied the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the industry need for a fully automated and flexible method of servicing passengers. They have set a goal of 100% automation of all changes so airlines can better articulate their change and refund policies, agencies can better serve their customers, and consumers can have more certainty on what happens when changes to their travel schedule occur.
Can you share some examples of how the Air Travel experience might change over the next few years to address the new realities brought by the Pandemic? If you can, please give an example for each.
There is a clear and urgent need to centralize airline crisis rules via a common platform accessible by sales channels. They should have real-time access to each airline policy and know in advance which automated tools could be used to perform the different operations according to the rules defined (such as for ticket change or refund, or unused or partially flown tickets). It should not require a crisis for all ecosystem players to collaborate in this manner. With these rules defined in advance, providers can offer more customer-centric services, and the airline industry will start to regain the consumer trust lost during the pandemic.
We don’t need another crisis to drive home the importance of anticipating and answering consumer needs. We know that our industry infrastructure for both standards and data must be flexible enough to deal with change quickly and effectively.
The pandemic created a need to deliver health-related information to customers. Health concerns will remain a consumer concern. Travelers will need information delivered in a way that they can easily understand and ensure they have all valuable data points to make informed travel decisions that are right for them.
The search for flight information has long been driven by multiple customer criteria, such as price, convenience, preferred airline, or additional services. The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that a critical category of flight information needed to be added to that information flow: how rules would apply in the case of a major crisis. These rules should be defined in advance to let the traveler book a flight with full transparency of the conditions that would apply in a crisis situation. The airlines have several options: offer a voucher for future travel, change without penalty, or a full refund. Airlines could also predefine their rules with templates addressing different types of crises with corresponding policies.
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. 🙂
As a society over the last half century, we have become significantly more tolerant of many things around us like the LGBTQ+ community and sexuality as a whole. Of course, there is more work to do in that particular space, but something I care deeply about is bringing more understanding and tolerance to mental health in similar ways. I find our society is still quite closed-minded to the struggles of those with mental health issues and the stigma that follows many who are brave enough to speak about their mental health journey. For me, I would want to get involved in a movement of de-stigmatizing mental health. I would love to be a part of making a change for good in this space. We don’t stigmatize other diseases like cancers or diabetes (as we shouldn’t!) and I believe that any and all mental health issues should be spoken about and accepted on a similar level. It’s something I am super passionate about.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Female Founders: Eileen Gannon of Sunday Night Foods On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Knowledge that your product or service is sellable. Will someone else see the value that you see? What will someone pay for your product or service? Everyone has a good idea, but few of them are packaged or presented in a way that they become valuable to others.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eileen Gannon.
Sunday Night® Foods was founded by Eileen Gannon, a former corporate executive and award-winning baker who turned her passion into a profession when she launched the company’s first products in 2021. The specialty food company offers luxurious, shelf-stable, premium chocolate ganache crafted in small batches with only the finest pure ingredients. In its first year, Sunday Night won a prestigious sofi™ Award for New Product for Dessert Toppings from the Specialty Food Association. The company donates 1 percent of sales to the National Alliance on Mental Illness and is located in Des Moines, Iowa.
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?
After 35 years of working in corporate America, I founded my own company, Sunday Night Foods, and launched my first product line in November 2021.
My new venture was not a pandemic pivot. On the contrary. I loved my corporate jobs. After stints at nonprofits in my twenties, and then 15 years at Morgan Stanley, I spent eight wonderful years at Workiva, a public software company, retiring as a Senior Vice President in 2020 when I was 55 years old. Why did I divulge my age? Because it’s an important part of my story. When I was in high school, I set a goal to retire at 55. I started working for pay on my family’s farm when I was five, so I figured that 50 years in the workforce would be enough. But by the time I got to 55, my goal had changed. It wasn’t to retire from working; it was to retire from working for someone else. I was finally brave enough (and experienced enough) to launch a passion project in specialty food that had been at the back of my mind for decades.
I have always loved baking. I love reading about it, thinking about it, and creating it with the freshest ingredients I can find. (I annoy my family every summer when I haul 60 pounds of Balaton cherries home to Iowa from northern Michigan.) Because of my passion (obsession), I’ve won over 600 state and national baking awards.
I bake when I’m stressed, mad, happy, or sad. Pretty much all of the time. And often that time is Sunday night, when my family and I slow down and take time to simply be with each other. But it’s not just about the food — it’s about the ritual of connecting around a table or a couch or a campfire that grounds us, whether it’s in person or on a video call thousands of miles apart.
Baking is the process of thinking about what people need, and then taking time to create something by hand. It’s about love and consideration and generosity. I created the Sunday Night brand so people can easily enjoy that same feeling of comfort, care, and kindness any time they wish. Even if it’s simply being kind to yourself.
After three years of perfecting the recipes, I released our first three Sunday Night Premium Dessert Sauces in November 2021. Within 7 months, I won the most prestigious award in specialty food: the sofi™ Award.
Sunday Night Foods donates 1 percent of sales to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) in honor and hope that through baking we can help people stay present, find purpose, and create joy within them and around them.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Within 7 months of launching my first product, it won the “Oscars” of specialty food, known as the prestigious sofi™ Award, from the Specialty Food Association.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake that I made early on was thinking that it would be relatively easy to successfully create my gourmet, chocolate ganache in a large kettle to scale production at a co-manufacturer. I thought the formula would simply be multiplied and that would be that. Was I wrong! It took the skills of a classically trained French chef, a brilliant food scientist and me, working for days to perfect the sauce. But I’m extremely proud of what we have created.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My mother, Helen Gannon, has had the biggest influence on my success. I am the youngest of 14 children, so there were many critics who were older and stronger than me. But Mom always believed in me and supported me unconditionally. Her love and spirit were also the reasons why I love to bake. In the kitchen, I could be near my Mother — a treat when so many other people were in the way. She was an extraordinary recipe developer, curator, and baker. After all my years of craft baking, many of my best recipes are still hers. She passed away in 2011, but there is rarely a day that goes by that I don’t think of her.
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 takes experience and money to start a company. As a whole, it takes longer for women to gain the necessary business experience because they are not promoted into leadership positions as quickly as men. The same applies if they want to self-fund their company. The longer it takes to earn the experience and money to launch their own company, the less likely they are to strike out on their own.
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?
Programs that are designed to support female founders need to spend more time in the field with the entrepreneurs. They need more boots-on-the-ground coaching and mentoring, and they need longer-term support. The first six months are exciting, the next six months are learning, and the next year is figuring out how to make the business profitable. The second year is when they need essential coaching on pricing, product fit, marketing, strategy, operations, and sales.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Women should become founders if they want to control their work life, actualize their skills, monetize their ideas, and own their destiny.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
Some people dream about starting their own company and fantasize about how perfect it will be to be in charge. But just like every job, it’s still hard work. The fantasy quickly fades when they realize how difficult it can be to launch and run a new company.
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?
You have to be extremely self-motivated to be a founder. You cannot depend on affirmation from others. Everything, every process, has to be built from scratch, and it takes grit and temerity to do that. You have to be brave and patient and willing to accept disappointments while staying focused on your goals and objectives.
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.)
I previously worked for a software start-up company (which scaled quickly and went public in 4 years) so I knew the resources, personnel, tactics, and strategies required to start and scale a company. I was prepared and experienced before I started my own company, so there were no real surprises for me. However, here is my best advice for others who want to be founders:
Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
Knowledge that your product or service is sellable. Will someone else see the value that you see? What will someone pay for your product or service? Everyone has a good idea, but few of them are packaged or presented in a way that they become valuable to others.
Unwavering belief in yourself. You have to be extremely self-motivated to be a founder. You cannot depend on affirmation from others. When disappointments arise, you have to learn from them and quickly find a new and better path forward
Ability to fit people with jobs. When you start with a small team, it is essential that you hire people for their best-fitting jobs. After a few weeks on the job, assess their skills and make adjustments if necessary. Who is best behind a computer and who is best in front of customers? Who is an introvert or an extrovert? You usually won’t know the full truth until you spend time working with them. If you have made a mistake in staffing, fix it as quickly as possible.
Have a vision and share it often. Tell your team and your customers what your purpose is and what you are trying to accomplish. Strategies and tactics can and must change overtime, but your vision must remain steadfast and crystal clear. Your vision will help your employees work toward the same goals and objectives, thereby increasing synergy and efficiency.
Stay true to your values. Establish your set of values and commit to them. Don’t hire people or enter into partnerships or contracts with others who don’t share your values. They will linger as frustrations and take away positive energy. One of the many benefits of being a founder is that you have the ability to select everyone you want to work with.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Sunday Night Foods donates 1 percent of sales to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) in honor and hope that through baking we can help people stay present, find purpose, and create joy within them and around them.
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.
My brother and my brother-in-law committed suicide. We must work together to reduce the stigma around mental illness and raise awareness of how people can help each other.
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.
José Andrés of World Central Kitchen for his global humanitarian work and his bravery in feeding people facing extreme devastation. He is my hero.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Kristina Barnes & Elizabeth Voelker of ReadyFestive On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
You have to just start. Don’t let fear or perfectionism get in the way of putting your product/service out there. It’s not going to be 100% right the day you launch. We were once told that starting a business is only 30,000 simple steps: so just start by taking the first step and put one foot in front of the other.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristina Barnes & Elizabeth Voelker.
Kristina and Elizabeth created ReadyFestive out of their shared desire to be more festive, more joyful, and to celebrate more. As with many new ideas and businesses, theirs began with a problem: with each new season or holiday, they found themselves in the same boat — stressing the prep vs. feeling the festive. They wanted to spend more time checking off their holiday bucket lists — instead of checking the aisles of multiple stores for festive essentials. Their lives are more hectic than ever. And as it stands today, the heart of the home and has never been more important. When they started sharing their idea of a service for personalized holiday and seasonal home decor that’s delivered — without ever having to leave the house — the response was overwhelming. And so ReadyFestive was born! At ReadyFestive, they care deeply about your time, and the joy experienced in your home. They want you to have more. That’s why they put that care into every item they select for your box. They hope it simplifies your life and makes you and your home happier (and more festive!) all year round.
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?
Ha! Well, truthfully, there was nothing “planned” about this career path for us (being entrepreneurs) … we are both Moms with three kids each who had taken a step back from our corporate careers. We started ReadyFestive for one reason: because we needed it in our *own* lives!
Shopping for holiday/seasonal home decor involves a lot of time and effort, but the feeling that a “festive home” provides is priceless. We wondered… why can’t a box magically appear on our doorstep with decor for our favorite holidays/seasons, picked out for us and our style? There are countless services that curate and deliver products in a box to your doorstep for other categories… from pet food to diapers to clothing to food. We kept waiting for someone else to create ReadyFestive and disrupt this huge market ($30B in the U.S. alone). And then finally we thought: why not us? It has become our mission to help make holiday/seasonal decorating convenient, easy and fun!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
This won’t be a surprise, but COVID definitely threw a wrench in our business plan. We launched ReadyFestive in October 2019 and by early 2020, we added “homeschool teacher” to our plate of responsibilities overnight and that was a unique challenge that we’re sure many other parents can relate to. But COVID was also surprisingly good for business. We saw a huge surge in sign-ups due to the lockdowns and the fact that people couldn’t go out and shop for festive home decor. What we’re seeing now is that our customers don’t want to go back to spending hours driving to multiple stores to search multiple aisles for cute, quality products. Instead, let ReadyFestive be your personal shopper. Save the time, save the hassle–just unbox the holiday and spend more time enjoying it. That was the silver lining of COVID: people were “forced” to give our service a try!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
It’s a great time to start a business because the world truly is “flat” meaning you can get on WhatsApp and talk to someone in China about making a product for you. We thought we hit the jackpot when we placed a large purchase order for a decor piece at a great margin… but let’s just say that a lot can get lost in translation. It showed up in completely the wrong size and color and we had to toss it and pivot. We thought we were being so savvy and “DIY” and we paid for it! It wasn’t funny at the time but the lesson was learned; we now have someone who helps us with product development in other countries.
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?
We were introduced to our advisor, Robert, a few years ago, and he has helped guide us through some of the most critical junctures in our journey. We started our business in the garage and were still there when we met Robert. Being an operational expert, he saw our growth trajectory and advised us to (quickly) move out of the garage and into our current 3PL (third party logistics center), so that we could spend our time growing the business instead of packing the boxes. This was probably the single most important decision we’ve made in our business to date. In addition to his business advice, it is his unwavering positive energy and friendship that has been the most valuable to us along the way. He has helped pick us up when we’ve been down. We call him our fairy godfather. All founders need a “Robert” with them on their journey!
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?
Let’s start with just people. What’s holding “everyday” people back from creating companies or becoming founders? There’s a general fear factor around starting a business of… *I’m not qualified* — that we need to have a certain background, education or work experience to found a company. On top of that, perhaps we don’t have the support system in place to navigate through the unknown and the trials and tribulations of starting a company. But successful companies are born every day, not because of what a founder’s “pedigree” is or isn’t, but because they’ve created something that helps make someone else’s life easier, better, or simply, just more joyful through their creativity and hard work. The stigma definitely needs to be broken of what a “typical” founder(s) background *should* look like.
And now onto women. This statistic is disappointing and not surprising. We’ve faced harsh feedback along the way that we will never be seen as anything other than “housewives with a hobby” from investors who don’t understand the need or the “why” of the customer. We’ve also been asked, as Moms with three kids each — how will we balance it all? We have been inspired by many other female leaders who respond with: “would you ask a man that same question?”
Women in particular need more support to feel empowered to create companies…. and that starts in the home. We’ve personally experienced the empowerment we feel from having supportive partners at (shoutout to our husbands!) It really does start there. And then it needs to make its way to the board room and the venture capital world. 20% is progress from where we were 20 years ago. But we have to collectively keep supporting women and investing in women to see this statistic grow.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
This is a great question, some of which we touched on in the last question — women need more support to feel empowered to create companies. But before we become women, we’re girls. This feeling of “I’m not enough” starts at a very young age for girls because society constantly tells us we are “less than” (like knowing we will make $.85 to a man’s $1.00 for the same work.) Both of us have young daughters, and we’ve been so inspired by the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team and their landmark negotiation/settlement for equal pay. One thing we’d love to see in our lifetime: equal pay for women. To feel like we are really all on a level playing field… we want our girls to see that, so that *they* grow up knowing that opportunities for success are not bound by gender. Inspiring our daughters to have a dream or set a goal and achieve it through hard work alone has been one of the most fulfilling parts of our journey.
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?
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
One of the reasons we think women make great founders is because we are the ultimate multi-taskers. As a founder you have to wear *all* the hats — customer service rep, buyer, social media manager, bookkeeper — you hold at any given moment in time various roles within the business, from employee to CEO. You do not have the luxury of focusing on one thing, and as women, this already comes naturally to us.
We think women are also naturally a bit more conservative which ultimately just means — more accurate. We’re *calculated* risk takers. When we pitched for funding we were told to inflate our numbers to be more like men. But we resisted; it didn’t feel right. We’re confident in the numbers we’re projecting and putting out there. Our goal is to have 100% sell through rate for each holiday/season. Overprojecting won’t help us achieve that– it could put us out of business.
There’s a quote about how in business, we are hosting a party and the guests are our customers. It’s our job to make and improve their experience. Women are innately great “hosts,” we are caring, compassionate, empathetic, and for us personally, this has translated into being a truly customer-centric company — which ultimately creates a longer customer lifetime value.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
That’s a tough question. There are great ideas inside of everyone! But no, we do not think that everyone is cut out to be a founder.
Employees have stable income, sick days, vacation days, they check off their to do list each day and leave it at the office. Founders do not have such luxuries!
Being a founder takes grit, perseverance, creativity, the ability to problem solve, be resourceful, quite simply… get up and work really hard every day for no other reason other than you believe in the “why” your business exists, and you believe in yourself (and your partner) to make it happen. You really have to be OK with delayed gratification. There is, most likely, not going to be a financial reward for a period of time. There are no pats on the back. No promotions. You have to be a self-starter *AND*a self-celebrator.
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.)
You have to just start. Don’t let fear or perfectionism get in the way of putting your product/service out there. It’s not going to be 100% right the day you launch. We were once told that starting a business is only 30,000 simple steps: so just start by taking the first step and put one foot in front of the other.
This is not a fairytale, and it’s going to be harder than you think. There will be no one to rescue you, wave magic dust on you, or press an easy button for you. There are no shortcuts. You are the you, or in our case as a partnership, we are the we. You have to live and work with that conviction every day.
Having a co-founder is like being in a marriage. Choosing the person you go into business with/co-found a company with is possibly the single most important decision you will make (just like who you choose to marry). Make sure your vision and values are aligned. Choose someone with strengths/weaknesses to compliment yours. You’ll have to put in the “work” to keep the “spark” alive. And you both have to be committed to self-growth to bring out the best in each other (and in the business.)
Pay attention to the signs and to your gut. Good and bad. For us, we’ve had a few — what we call “God Winks” — along the way that have inspired us to keep going and/or pivot what we were doing. We’ve also had strong gut feelings about certain situations where we knew we needed to cut ties with someone, and so we did. You can waste a lot of time and energy trying to make something work when it’s not meant to.
Change or die… is really the key to everything. And that’s a challenge when we are all creatures of habit. Change is hard and uncomfortable which is why most people resist it. But in business if you don’t change, pivot, automate, calibrate… you will fail.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
The home is at the heart of our mission– making it (home) a better, more joyful place. We have been fortunate enough to give back to our community in a way that is tied to the home through several cause marketing campaigns. Our beneficiaries have included the victims of the fires in Northern California, as well as a local non-profit called Grateful Gatherings that helps provide temporary housing for displaced families.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never
know what your idea can trigger.
We sound like a broken record but the home is at the heart of our mission– making it (home) a better, more peaceful, joyful, happy place. If there is peace and joy in the home, there is peace and joy in the world. We hope to inspire people to spend more time *celebrating* life more with family/friends to then spread love and joy to others.
And also, we are not superhuman. Whoever and wherever you are reading this article… you too can start a company. Just take that first step. If we can do, it you can do it!
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.
Our icon is Sara Blakeley — we would just die to have breakfast with her! We are so inspired by her and her life/entrepreneurial journey. She is the ultimate *non-typical* or non-prototype founder. She proudly shares that she failed the LSATs before taking a job at Disney. Then, she had a personal problem that she set out ot solve, knowing she would be helping other women too. She was rejected by many male makers. She persisted, and she has created a billion dollar brand by being unabashedly herself. She has done it entirely her own way. She encourages us to cast our fears aside, be ourselves, and create and follow our *own* playbook. HEY, Sara! 🙂
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
