Day: August 23, 2022

Female Disruptors: Ania Puczylowska of Brand Socialite On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up…

Female Disruptors: Ania Puczylowska of Brand Socialite On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes — then learn how to do it later!” was something I was told last year when we said yes to a project that I wasn’t sure we could handle. One thing I learned throughout the process was that if you don’t know something, you can always outsource it or collaborate with another agency. It also led to learning new skills and acquiring new clients. It’s sort of like going to school, but you get paid to do it.

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

After working within the experiential marketing industry representing the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy portfolio of brands for over a decade, Ania launched Brand Socialite in the midst of the pandemic as a disruptor to the experiential marketing sector. Motivated by personal experiences with staffing crises and lack of modern automation, Ania’s mission was to help brands and boost event ROI while decreasing SG&A costs. Since Brand Socialite’s launch in 2020, Ania has helped startups and Fortune 100 names alike, such as Nike, NerdWallet, and Diplomatico Rum navigate the pandemic and create successful experiential marketing campaigns.

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! Looking back, I became a strong business leader at a very young age. My entrepreneurial journey began with my immigration to the United States from Poland shortly after communism was abolished. With very little English, I helped my mother start a business while trying to adjust to a new environment, culture, high school, and language. After high school, I took time off to work as a counselor for adults with mental disabilities. With lots of support from my intimate circle, I became the first in my family to attend a four-year university. After earning my bachelor’s degree, I set out to Miami to begin my professional career. Working in real estate and radio laid the foundation for me to excel in my current career, as it helped me develop communication and marketing skills that I still use to this day and gave me the confidence to attract better clients. Since the real estate market crashed, I came across an opportunity in the wines and spirits industry. I was approached by a Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy executive who opened a few doors for me and introduced me to the world of luxury. I had never worked in this industry before, but all of the skills I acquired in earlier roles came in very handy. I had to think quickly on my feet, recruit a brand new team, and learned that “the devil is in the details”. In little over a year, I was transferred to Los Angeles to continue expanding my skill sets and help restructure the Southern California market. After two years, I was identified as the only viable candidate for the Southeast Region Manager role. This was not only a huge honor but an amazing opportunity to expand my knowledge in an elevated role with more responsibilities. I recognized that there are new skills I needed to master in order to be successful and continue my growth within the organization. I quickly learned how to cultivate teams, strengthen client relations and manage seven-digit budgets across multiple markets. Learning liquor laws for each state was a new territory for me. My new skills became very appealing to the LVMH West Region executive team and opened the door to another career advancement and relocation back to LA. After a decade of working with the most prestigious brands in the wine and spirit industry, I decided to launch my own agency. In 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, Brand Socialite was born.

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

Currently, the experiential marketing industry is challenged by ineffective recruitment, leading to the over-promise and under-delivery of capable talent for events. Staff shortages due to last-minute call-outs further tarnish human experiences with special events and negatively impact event ROI. Brand Socialite offers a multidimensional customer engagement platform that uses mobile matchmaking technology to curate the ideal temporary staff that engages with event managers through a variety of experiences. Our technology creates a value exchange in which individuals and businesses gain on-demand access to talent in as little as a few hours.

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

Many come to mind, but one that sticks out was one that happened while I was working on a national experiential marketing campaign in collaboration with Janelle Monae. We were delivering gift bags backstage and ended up at her green room. Even though we knocked on the door and didn’t hear a response, upon opening it, we discovered the very frazzled singer visibly upset that we were invading her space.

We scared the living you-know-what out of her and she was very persistent in having us leave, as she wanted privacy. Later that day, I got a chance to do a meet-and-greet with her, and while posing for a photo with her, she said “I remember you!”. I was incredibly embarrassed and apologized left and right. The photo didn’t come out very well, but it made for a great story!

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

I’ve had many mentors throughout my journey that allowed me to get to where I am today. I was fortunate to make a friend in grad school, Dr. Chidinma Chima-Melton, who is a pulmonary and critical care physician. She became my mentor during a turbulent time while trying to launch my company. I was hanging by a thread and ready to give up on the whole idea during unforeseen circumstances. When I find myself hitting a wall, I call a friend. Dr. Chima-Melton listened to me and asked one pivotal question that significantly impacted my entrepreneur journey and allowed me to continue my venture.

I was also fortunate enough to find a friend and mentor in one of my clients, Sheila Hackbarth. As the saying goes, “a client will become a friend quicker than a friend will become a client”. I watched her be loyal to a company that passed on promoting her to higher positions for over a decade. However, she still handled everything with such grace and professionalism. Sheila has a talent for telling people to go to hell and getting them to actually enjoy the ride. Working by her side for so many years helped me develop soft skills and elevated my emotional intelligence at work and in my personal life. She allowed me to see the value I bring to the table.

Lastly, I had a professor in grad school who pushed me to launch my business despite all of the obstacles and challenges that came my way. Professor Dan Nathanson was instrumental in helping me stay the course in grad school and allowed me to work on my business idea on my own. Grad school is set up for teams to work on projects together, not for solo entrepreneurs. When my team fell apart and I wanted to continue, he didn’t hesitate to continue being my advisor without me having to ask for support.

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

Disrupting is not always necessarily good, as it can have unintended negative consequences even if the technology itself is something beneficial to the whole of society. A great example of this is Uber, which was a major disruptor of the taxi industry. In its inception, it had a lot of positive qualities, mainly that it was incredibly convenient for consumers. However, as its technology evolved, it started affecting its workers to the point of affecting their mental health and in many ways exploiting them out of benefits that other full time employees enjoy.

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

“The devil is in the details” was one of my client’s favorite sayings when I first started working with luxury brands. Luxury is created in small details that lead to a flawless experience for consumers. She drilled this idea into my head every time there was a minor flaw in the execution of a marketing campaign. Some might call this demanding–I call it elevating the entire game in marketing.

“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes — then learn how to do it later!” was something I was told last year when we said yes to a project that I wasn’t sure we could handle. One thing I learned throughout the process was that if you don’t know something, you can always outsource it or collaborate with another agency. It also led to learning new skills and acquiring new clients. It’s sort of like going to school, but you get paid to do it.

Finally, “everyone wants to be the boss until it’s time to do boss things” is a saying I practice in my company. I often play this game of “good cop bad cop” with my team. Usually, they must deal with clients or part-time employees and be on the front lines of the day-to-day grind. I always tell them to play the good cop while I play the bad cop who says no to things and enforces the rules. Everyone wants to be liked and it’s not easy to be the enforcer but someone has to do it. It’s not always pleasant, but it’s necessary!

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

The current method of staffing live events with promotional models, bartenders, sommeliers, etc., is obsolete and lacks modern automation. The process is far too dependent on human efforts, is very susceptible to errors, and brings additional unnecessary SG&A costs. Brand Socialite will incorporate modern capabilities to include performance ratings, verification of professional certifications, and talent-location tracking. This will reduce the complexity and the resulting friction between brands and their distributors and accounts. Talent pools will gain access to increased job listings, no longer limited by only the options at their talent agency. By bringing an on-demand, app-based system to this industry, we expect to optimize each of these previously-problematic areas!

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

One of the biggest challenges that women face in the workplace is being labeled as “bossy” or “aggressive” when it comes to making decisions. We constantly need to prove our worth in order to get VC funding for our business cases. We are either labeled too aggressive or ignored by other men in the industry. I experienced this while working with a vendor in the tech space. My old business partner and I were working on a project and one of the vendors would only reply to his emails and completely ignore my communication. I privately told him that I felt it was happening because I am a woman and I kept on bringing it back up. He didn’t believe me and thought I was being ridiculous. This also means that women must be more educated than their male counterparts to get into the c-suite. As of March 2022, women comprised only 15% of leadership roles in the nation’s largest public corporations. (Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/ceos-fortune-500-companies-female/)

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

There are so many I can think of (“Atomic Habits” by James Clear, “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss). However, one book that truly opened my eyes to how we as women think differently in the workplace is “How Women Rise” by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith. As women, we are taught countless self-sabotaging behaviors from a young age. These behaviors hold us back in both our careers and as entrepreneurs. This book will help any woman identify those behaviors and help them break unhealthy habits.

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 think that a more collectivist mentality would benefit the world greatly. I am very passionate about providing opportunities to the younger generation and opening doors for them. I spend a lot of my free time coaching high school students that are part of underserved communities — a segment of the population that could greatly benefit from exposure to new skills and opportunities.

I come from a country that didn’t have a lot of diversity, so I really believe that inspiring a movement of inclusivity will go a very long way in making the world a better place. Hate is not something that kids know when they’re born; it is taught to them. As such, we need to be more understanding and appreciative of others’ unique viewpoints. In addition, it’s important that we let people become who they want to be as opposed to having their desires be dictated by society. There are many gifted people in the world who simply haven’t received the acceptance they need in order to flourish and make the world a better place in their own special ways.

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

I thoroughly believe that “we rise by lifting others”. I am a true believer that as a leader, it is your responsibility to serve the people that you manage and help them develop skills that will take their careers to the next level. I am proud to say that I have helped shape a career for many people I have worked with in the past, present, and certainly in the near future. I want to teach them everything I know, and, later down the road, they might be my client, my boss, or even my mentor.

How can our readers follow you online?

Personal IG: aniaisabella

Business IG: brandsocialite

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brandsocialite/

Personal Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniapuczylowska/

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

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

Matias Colotuzzo of Vexels On Five Ways For Influencers To Monetize Their Brand

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Delivering Content Through a Subscription — Subscription platforms like Patreon have also opened up more income streams for influencers, allowing fans to support their favorite creator in exchange for exclusive content and additional perks. Big creators like The Try Guys use this with different tiers that bring huge value to their community, currently sitting at 3.9K patrons on Patreon.

As part of my series about “How Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matias Coloutzzo.

Matias Colotuzzo is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vexels, a graphic design company focused on merch, print-on-demand, and unique designs. Matias has overseen the considerable growth in Vexels, which started with seven teammates in 2016 to more than 100 employees today. He is constantly looking for new ways to combine technology with daily tasks while improving the web experience.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is your “backstory”? What brought you to this point in your career?

I started my journey as an entrepreneur at the very young age of 17. At that time, I had an interest in web development, with a more specific interest in viral actions and interactive web actions. So, I started doing this type of work for several major companies and organizations like L’Oréal, UNICEF, and the United Nations. Through that work, I continued to develop my skills.

Eventually, I decided to expand my skill set and started learning data information and analytics. I was the first person in Uruguay to become certified in Google Analytics. After becoming a bit of an expert in conversions, optimizations, and analytics, I also decided to learn 3D animation and did extensive work in this area.

After quite some time working in these digital spaces, developing a solid background of digital skills and making many meaningful connections in these industries, I ended up meeting my business partners at one of the entrepreneurial events I help organize. After a few years of working with them on various projects, we saw a need in the market for design content to help sell products online, so we launched Vexels in 2016.

Since then we have had the chance to develop some innovative products and worked with several truly inspiring creators to implement a very bright future for the company.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you in the course of your career?

When I first started working as an entrepreneur, one of my first clients was L’Oréal. I was to develop and produce presentation DVDs for the launch of new products for their professional line. We were contracted to do everything, including designing the DVD box and burning each of the 1,000 individual DVDs.

At the time, DVD burners were quite an expensive technology, so we were only able to afford one unit. We had completed everything for this project except the actual production of the discs, and with 10 days left until the delivery date, we realized we might have an issue, as the burner took 15 minutes to develop each DVD. After running calculations, we realized that we would have to be running the DVD burner 24 hours a day for the remaining 10 days.

This left me with only one option. I had to set an alarm to go off every 15 minutes, and for 10 days straight, night and day, I changed the disc every 15 minutes and hit the start button, until we had every one of those 1,000 discs ready to deliver on time.

And although I like to laugh at this story now, as a young entrepreneur on contract with a major client to deliver a top-tier product with a limited budget, this perfectly displays the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that is often needed in the business world and was a crucial learning lesson for me early in my career.

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

We are becoming a company that enables creators to make a living from their passion and that is something that we feel is powerful.

To work with creators that have this passion for communication and also have an audience but are not yet able to make a living wage is very motivating and inspiring for us. We love the fact that creators trust and choose Vexels to help them get paid for what they genuinely enjoy doing.

Now, with the expansion of Vexels, we expect to have thousands of people use our company to sustain their lives.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

The challenge is to be very agile in your process but also understand what you are doing.

For instance, The Lean Startup was really important for me when that book was released. But something that I see quite often is that people really understand the concept of becoming a Lean Startup, but do not necessarily understand the problems and issues they are trying to solve.

So you can be agile, but you also need to have a great background. If your only mandate is to execute quickly, you will be unbalanced in your career. And if you’re only researching, only trying to modify and create the very best product, and not launching because you feel that the product is not perfect yet, you probably have a problem too.

I think every founder has to work hard on understanding problems and also executing solutions quickly. For me, that’s the key — to create a boundary between being a perfectionist and working fast because the world is going at a crazy velocity right now.

None of us can achieve success without a bit of help along the way. Is there a particular person who made a profound difference in your life to whom you are grateful? Can you share a story?

I don’t know if I can point to someone in particular, but I am fortunate to have a connection with the entrepreneur environment and create relationships that have become profound friendships.

Three of my closest friends have followed the same path of creating a company, and all of us started from almost the same point. Through these years and all of the challenges, having the support from my closest friends was something that made a huge difference.

In predicaments where you have to raise money, or you have human resource problems, or if you have to find ways to bring demand to your product, I always have my friends to reach out to for help.

We now meet every week and discuss a specific challenge we have all faced or will be facing, and we have problem-solving sessions where everyone gives each other advice.

So what are the most exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Right now, we are working on new tools based on AI to give our users a totally new experience.

The challenge here is to create tools while adhering to the three pillars of quality that we have always used at Vexels.

First and foremost, we need to ensure our products are of the highest quality.

The second pillar is ensuring our products provide the user with a safe environment to create their designs. When I say safe, it means that if you are not a developer with specialized skills, we want you to be able to use our tools and feel safe experimenting without the fear that you may break a layout or ruin a design that someone else on your team took the time to create.

And the third and final pillar is that our tools need to have the ability to create something truly unique. This is very important to our users, as they are creators with a unique brand and they require unique designs to establish and grow that brand.

So we are now developing many AI capabilities in our products and services that will ensure our users can rely on these three pillars of quality as they create with Vexels.

What are your “Top Five Ways That Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand”. (Please share a story or example for each.)

Once a creator builds enough following, traction is inevitable, and multiple ways of monetizing become achievable.

Here are my top 5 methods of monetizing your brand!

1) Generating Ad Revenue

On YouTube, for example, the main form of monetization is through ad revenue. Creators with millions of followers, like The Act Man, often break over 1M views per video, so he’s earning around the seven-figure mark.

2) Teaching Online Courses

Many influencers are known for their expertise on a given topic, and they’ve found that a great way to monetize is by offering their services through online programs and courses teaching their craft. Fitness influencers and home cooks are some of the most popular examples of this type of brand monetization.

3) Seeking Brand Deals

Influencers who have been around long enough and have established enough of a brand reputation in the market are more likely to strike deals with brands. Take Timothy Goodman, for example, a New York City-based artist who has grown significantly on social media over the years and has partnered up with brands like Sharpie and Uniqlo.

4) Selling Branded Merchandise

Designing and selling their brand of merchandise products has become a must for influencers with well-established brands. Take MrBeast or Dr. DisRespect, both of whom are well-known for promoting their distinctive clothing lines and have managed to turn this into a steady and significant stream of revenue. I expect this trend to grow and diversify for creators and influencers of any size, and at Vexels we’re gearing our efforts to fully support the creators’ merch process from design to fulfillment.

5) Delivering Content Through a Subscription

Subscription platforms like Patreon have also opened up more income streams for influencers, allowing fans to support their favorite creator in exchange for exclusive content and additional perks. Big creators like The Try Guys use this with different tiers that bring huge value to their community, currently sitting at 3.9K patrons on Patreon.

From a personal perspective, helping early-stage entrepreneurs pass several points in their careers that I’ve already passed is something that I not only enjoy, but I also think has a lot of value in creating a technological hub here in Latin America that is educated and oriented in technology, which is a major goal of mine.

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

If I had the opportunity to choose someone to have a private breakfast with, I would probably choose any of the Airbnb founders, because I admire their capacity to lead some good practices in the e-commerce space, and their innovation in UX and design has been a guide for the entire industry for many years.

What is the best way our readers can follow your work online?

You can follow Vexels and the innovative work we are doing through our website or any of the social channels below.

Website: https://www.vexels.com/

Instagram: @vexelsgraphics

YouTube: Vexels

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matias-colotuzzo-2697886/?originalSubdomain=uy

This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!

Matias Colotuzzo of Vexels On Five Ways For Influencers To Monetize Their Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Sarah Steele of SteeleSculpt On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support…

Women In Wellness: Sarah Steele of SteeleSculpt On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Comparing yourself to others is an inevitable part of learning + growing. Rather than attempt to avoid comparison altogether, try to keep your comparison constructive and kind-hearted.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Steele, the founder of SteeleSculpt. Steele, as a professional ballet dancer who performs with The Washington Ballet, brings to life a unique digital fitness experience — low-impact, high burn workouts led by fitness-certified professional ballet dancers — directly to screens anywhere. Founded amidst the global pandemic, SteeleSculpt offers subscribers aka “Burners” on-demand fitness classes with a unique twist in a completely virtual format with zero equipment required. SteeleSculpt workouts use a combination of Pilates-inspired mat work and bodyweight strength and conditioning moves to elevate fitness and wellness routines.

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?

While I’ve been a ballet dancer as far back as I can remember, an ankle injury brought me to Pilates when I was 19 years old. It was the only form of exercise that I could do with my feet elevated in the air to decrease swelling! I quickly felt how Pilates increased my strength in the ballet studio, and I became a Stott Pilates mat instructor very soon after. Over the course of six years of teaching in parallel to my ballet career, I realized I had developed a class format, style, and exercise repetoire that I could call my own — no longer strictly Pilates, but a bodyweight sculpt class that was seasoned with the mechanics, choreography and intensity that kept me feeling strong. SteeleSculpt was born!

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?

Fitness is flush with aesthetic-focused marketing, which has always been unhelpful to me as a ballerina who is already hyper-critical of herself. However, against all odds, the more I taught, the more my appreciation for my own body grew. Today, in retrospect, I can draw a direct connection between SteeleSculpt and my improved mental health. When I’m wrapping up a class, it feels as though a bunch of fuzz in my brain has been swiped away.

As SteeleSculpt grew, I would keep asking myself, “What do I want to stand for?” One of those things will always be an emphasis on strength and functionality over aesthetics. Ultimately, what your body can do for you is so much more valuable than what it looks like. For that reason, I’ve become mechanics-obsessed; Because I’m so busy nerding out on which muscles are firing, I can easily leave behind ugly phrases like “flatten your tummy.”

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 have definitely taught classes that are borderline impossible to get through. There’s a tough-as-nails ballerina inside of me at all times who is a bit masochistic, and I’ve had to temper her over time. Balancing exercises that challenge you and exercises that just make you feel good is key. And if you think about it, as human beings, it’s unrealistic to believe that you’re going to get stronger every workout. Sometimes you just need to move, sweat, and feel confident for a while.

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 find the biggest difference is made in people’s individual lives. How someone perceives themselves, how they treat their bodies, how their body feels when they’re hiking with their family or playing with their kids is where SteeleSculpt makes an impact. When someone messages me and says, “I have the best abs of my life!”, that’s obviously thrilling — but I feel like crying of happiness when someone lets me know that my workouts got them through the depths of quarantine or helped them heal from an injury.

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.

I love this. Here’s a few things I’m currently working on for myself!

Be realistic about your workout routines. Your life doesn’t just automatically become more fantastic + wonderful as you live it — it’s full of highs + lows, periods of stagnation, struggle and wild success. Expect your relationship with fitness to change over time.
It’s easier to stay on the wagon at 2 mph than to fall off the wagon entirely and have to find a way to get back on. If you can’t commit to moving your body every day, keep doing whatever you can, whenever you can.
If you wouldn’t say something nasty to your best friend, don’t say it to yourself.
Everything in moderation. This mantra — which my mom used to repeat to me all the time — translates to every part of life. Indulgences and restrictions are unnecessary when you don’t make anything off-limits.
Nothing changes if nothing changes. I used to have this quote as my phone background in high school when I was exhausted, stressed and scared to fail. It kept me going on the days when I wanted to give up and makes me feel empowered when I’m having a tough time.

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

Mandatory walks in the sunshine for everyone for at least 15 minutes a day.

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

There are zero shortcuts. Put in your due diligence as early as possible so you’re always standing on a solid foundation.
Find out what you’re bad at doing and delegate those things to others.
You don’t need to preach to inspire others — leading by example is far more powerful!
Comparing yourself to others is an inevitable part of learning + growing. Rather than attempt to avoid comparison altogether, try to keep your comparison constructive and kind-hearted.
Expect the worst, hope for the best. Get comfortable with the idea that things may very well spectacularly fail. You’ll be a lot less anxious.

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

1000% mental health. Professional ballet is brutal in terms of mental health, and fitness has been a cure to that for me. When you experience something like that first-hand, you just want to shout it from the rooftops so that as many others can benefit in the same way you did. The mind-body connection is truly incredible!

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

www.steelesculpt.com is constantly updated with new on-demand classes and a live schedule. Follow me on Instagram @steelesculpt and over on TikTok @steelesculpt as well!

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

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

Women In Wellness: Mariko Hill of Gencor On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support…

Women In Wellness: Mariko Hill of Gencor On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

To achieve success, you must be incredibly committed and dedicated at doing the all the small things right — even as monotonous or boring as they can be;

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

As an international athlete at the age of 12, Mariko Hill has always looked to gain a competitive edge in the areas of health, performance, recovery and mindset. As an undergraduate research fellow at the University of Oxford, she Co-Founded Athena Nutrition — a platform where women can learn about latest research in performance nutrition to enhance their game on and off the field. She is the Global Innovation Manager at Gencor, where she looks to integrate science, consumer trends and regulations to help underpin innovation in the dietary supplements industry. Mariko is also a professional Cricketer for the National Women’s Hong Kong team and FairBreak Global.

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

I am an English-Japanese born and raised in Hong Kong and started playing Cricket at the age of 11. At an early age of 12, I was selected to represent the National Hong Kong Women’s Cricket team — the youngest ever female to have represented the country. Since then, I have competed in number of international and franchise tournaments, including the Asian Games (also known as the ‘Olympics of Asia’), and have Captained the side from 2017 to 2019.

Beyond my sporting achievements, academics was always priority for me and I graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a BSc Exercise & Health and BSc Nutrition. Being the top of my class, I was fortunate enough to have received a scholarship at The University of Oxford to conduct research and further my experience in the scientific field. With a passion for nutrition and sports performance, I have always wanted to pursue a career in the area of health & wellness and therefore managed to get a job in the nutraceutical industry. Now as a Global Innovation Manager of Gencor Pacific, I help brands develop unique, science-backed dietary supplements to support the health & wellbeing of individuals. Having contributed to two scientific publications, I also present at global conferences and summits to educate the industry about ingredients new and unique ingredients.

Lastly, as a professional athlete, I have always looked to gain a competitive edge in the areas of health, performance, recovery and mindset. Yet, from doing own research, found that there was a lack of nutritional information that catered for the needs of female athletes. I therefore Co-Founded Athena Nutrition — a platform where women can learn about latest research in performance nutrition to enhance their game on and off the field.

So all in all, I am huge advocate of sports, nutrition, and travel, and use sport as a vehicle for social change to voice out the crucial issues of gender equality and further my mission of creating opportunity and equality for all.

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

I am very fortunate to be in the position I am in now — travelling the world for international Cricket tournaments and business trips — and am incredibly grateful of all the people that influenced me in my life. In fact, I received my first internship at Gencor from a conversation I had with an umpire (also known as ‘referee’) after a cricket match in 2017. The umpire just so happened to be the Managing Director of Gencor and five years later, I am still working under him — only this time handling the European market and Sports & Active Nutrition portfolio. The takeaway from this is that you never know what is around the corner and by connecting with people, you may stumble upon new and unique opportunities.

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?

When starting Athena Nutrition, we didn’t think creating a brand was going to be as difficult than it was. Little did we know the amount of time and effort it takes to build a brand from scratch — from designing a logo, to developing a website, to researching and writing blog posts and more; however, it was all worth it when we saw the final product and impact we made on individuals. The biggest lesson I learnt from this startup was to make sure I have a timeline in place of all the small tasks that need to be completed in order to reach the long-term goal (pro tip: a GANTT chart will help achieve this).

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?

The work I am doing is making an impact in the world in numerous ways. Firstly, with the lack of research catered for the needs of female athletes and specific to their physiology, Athena Nutrition provides a platform where women can learn about latest research in performance nutrition to enhance their performance on the field and the workplace.

Secondly, as a Global Innovation Manager at Gencor, I look to innovate products in the dietary supplement industry to support females health & wellbeing. I develop these formulations solely based science in order to ensure the products provide the full clinical benefits as they are marketed under.

Lastly, as a professional female athlete, I use sport as a vehicle for social change to voice out the crucial issues of gender equality and further my mission of creating opportunity and equality for all.

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.

Consistent, daily habits is key to better mental and physical well-being. My top five ‘lifestyle tweaks’ are:

Wake up early — by getting up early, you are able to get a head start over the competition and gain more hours in the day for productive tasks. For me, waking up was essential in order to have a good work-life balance and go to training before work;
Exercise frequently — we all know the importance of exercise and by getting involved in regular physical activity, you will not only feel better but function a lot more efficiently on and off the field;
Choose healthier alternatives — by making simple dietary swaps (e.g. brown over white rice, lean over fatty meats, low-fat Greek yoghurt vs sweetened fruit yoghurts), you are able to consume more micronutrients whilst lowering the total caloric intake;
Sleep 8 hours — sleep is essential for mind and body and without enough sleep, your body can be negatively impacted such as your performance, recovery, mood, energy levels, immunity, and cognitive function;
Supplement daily — supplementation can be benefit you in a number of ways: (i) optimizing your health & wellbeing; (ii) enhancing performance & recovery; & (iii) helps you get you into a healthy routine. Of course, only supplement if you need to.

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

By broadcasting more women’s sport on tv to inspire girls and women to play sport and/or get involved in a more active lifestyle.

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

To achieve success, you must be incredibly committed and dedicated at doing the all the small things right — even as monotonous or boring as they can be;
Failure is part of the learning process — learn from it and move on;
Go out and do the things that you are fearful of as it allows you to grow and overcome any obstacles;
Reading industry articles and newsletters is a great way to stay on top of the latest trends and scientific research;
Don’t hesitate to reach out when you need help — whether that is outsourcing companies to help with projects or asking colleagues to offload with work.

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 the topic most dearest to me as I have noticed in recent years an increase in prevalence of anxiety and stress levels amongst friends and family. Job uncertainty, social media, and the pressures of sport, are only a handful of known factors that influence this and we are seeing an exponential rise in mood disorders after the pandemic. This is where it is important to raise awareness, educate and support those around us on how to reduce stress and anxiety levels.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

Instagram — mariko.hill

Twitter — @MarikoHill

LinkedIn — Mariko Hill (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariko-hill-7249a5b7/)

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

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

Female Founders: Raina Kumra of Spicewell On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a…

Female Founders: Raina Kumra of Spicewell On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

I love being a co-founder, but damn it is lonely and I wish someone had told me how important it would be to find my people and community to journey with. I remember sitting in front of my laptop nearly in tears from stress and then getting a funny text from a friend who was in the exact same boat. We started doing regular weekly walks and calls and it has been transformative.

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

Raina is the founder of Spicewell, a food-as-medicine company that helps fill nutrition gaps without changing habits. She also runs a successful consulting business, Juggernaut, and is Partner at The Fund LA, an early-stage venture fund where she leads healthcare and consumer technology deals.

Absolutely — thanks so much for having me! I have had a long and winding career. I started out as a video editor and documentary filmmaker, then went into advertising where I had a 15-year career ultimately leading digital at Wieden+Kennedy New York, and then I started my own agency, Juggernaut. I’ve worked with clients spanning every industry from Burberry to Nike to Coke to Facebook and Alphabet, a current client. Then, I just got tired of selling things — and decided I needed to do more for the world. I pulled a 180 and started a solar non-profit in Africa, then joined the Obama Administration working on innovation across the State Department and eventually leading innovation at 5 television networks under the US Agency for global media. Then I had a venture-backed startup called Mavin, which was focused on app growth and internet access in India. After we shut down the company, I moved to Omidyar Network where I worked as an investor and helped build a movement around Tech Ethics. After that, moved to LA and helped raise The Fund LA, continued investing, and continued consulting until mid-pandemic, when I started Spicewell — where I’m bringing all my previous skills to focus on taking on Big Food.

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

Yes! Before I even launched I had the opportunity to sit down with one of my biggest heroes: Dr. Mark Hyman. He’s so knowledgeable and intuitive about how health and food and our farming practices connect — and is just the best person and author to turn anyone on to learning more about functional medicine. He was a major reason why I started this company. And I was able to share the product and story with him, and he immediately signed on as an advisor and has been the best help a new founder could have ever dreamed of. I felt so lucky and blessed!

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

What I loved about going into food coming from tech is that literally nothing is the same when it comes to production. For me, it was SO MUCH FUN to formulate and learn about food production, my brain was just so turned on to the science, the nutritional aspects, and the flavor profiles. What I really needed to do, however, was focus on measurements — because I did accidentally order 800 pounds of salt when I only needed 400. Measuring twice and checking the numbers are vital in food production and I learned that lesson fast. Also, I never thought I would be ordering that many pounds of salt in my life, so this also made me chuckle.

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?

Yes, the Mark Hyman story above is one! The other people that I’m so grateful to on this journey are my advisors: Radhika Tandon, for smart strategies and ways to just get things done, Megha Desai for being a constant cheerleader and support and helping me in ways I didn’t know I needed, Anjali Bhargava my executive coach for helping me get out of my own way, my medical advisors Shailendra Chaubey, Jennifer Lang and Anthony Padula and Ann Veneman for being a guiding light at the highest strategic level.

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’s funny because when I decided to become an investor, I was dead set on giving checks to as many diverse females as I could find that had a backable idea — but indeed, week after week, most of the pitches were not from women or people of color. At the Fund LA, 30% of our founders are either women or minority-led. We continue to strive for 50%.

I was born in an entrepreneurial household, so making your own way and not working for someone else were definitely modeled if not the default. I think if you don’t see that growing up, especially with women in your life, it is hard to make that leap. Most of the female entrepreneurs I know had some early exposure and encouragement to the simple fact that is not only possible for them to start a business — but to outperform most men on how they do it. I think that could be a missing piece of the puzzle.

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?

Yes, we have made some changes, though it won’t be fast. The things that could help the most include: Media showcasing more female investors and entrepreneurs (not just like The Dropout obviously). I think cultural change is the fastest, and I’ve seen more and more women jumping into Web3 because of the efforts of movements like BFF that Brit Morin and Jamie Schmidt started and World of Women, so those are all really positive signals! The other piece of the puzzle is Community — BFF is one and there are several others like The What where we all come together, ask questions, teach each other, and help each other grow. I’ve never seen community being as important as it is now, especially for women.

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

Yes! I would just pose it as a question to any women reading this: If you don’t pursue this idea you have or focus on building your business, think about how you will feel when you see it out in the world, and most likely from a male founder who didn’t have the authentic experience but saw the market opportunity? If you don’t do it, think about who will and will they do it better than you.

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

The biggest myth is that everything is an overnight success. Businesses take years of care and feeding before they can cross over to that overnight success moment. It’s all behind the scenes, while the Instagram version of founding a company is incredibly damaging and discouraging.

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

This is tough because I genuinely think anyone could be a founder if they find the thing that lights them up the most, the thing that they would never tire of pursuing, day in and day out for years, and the thing that they want to see change the world. But, if you don’t have that thing, and that feeling, I would recommend not doing it because to be a founder requires you to be a little crazy — a little psychic and very very brave to pursue your vision of bringing something new into the world that hasn’t existed before.

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 love being a co-founder, but damn it is lonely and I wish someone had told me how important it would be to find my people and community to journey with. I remember sitting in front of my laptop nearly in tears from stress and then getting a funny text from a friend who was in the exact same boat. We started doing regular weekly walks and calls and it has been transformative.

When I had my first startup, I really wish someone would have sat me down and told me that taking investor money was just about the same as getting married to them! With Mavin, we had a really interesting ending that could have been so different if we didn’t have one investor involved.

Packaging: I wish someone had told me how ridiculous the packaging industry is and how awful it is for the planet — I didn’t realize just how much plastic was being pushed at me until I really began searching for plastic-free packaging options. It took me 12 weeks to find the right packaging that was also compostable /recyclable and using Post-consumer waste plastic — by far the biggest surprise in this business.

Retail buyers don’t really care about your story: only what you can offer them. I didn’t start to have success until I figured out that this was really much more strategic than just ‘selling’.

That you don’t have to keep one career identity. I had a 25-year career in tech and media behind me, and I completely got in my own way when I was founding Spicewell — because it was food. And I kept telling myself, “well I’m a tech person, and shouldn’t I do a startup in tech?” It took some work, but I finally released that from my brain and had one of the most creative, vibrant times in my career launching Spicewell.

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

I know I have made an impact throughout my career, and I have loved being able to reflect on all of the industries: In advertising, I launched messaging and campaigns that influenced culture and were seen by millions and millions of viewers, in the non-profit sector I put together multi-million partnerships benefiting health data and data privacy, during my Government service I impacted millions of lives across the globe with my strategies, ideas and creativity, and in tech, I founded an ethical company and my ideas have impacted millions of people here too — to have a better understanding of their role in technology. I was asked to create a course on LinkedIn about technology ethics which is now used by Universities and consultancies all over the world and has now been completed by over 10,000 students. As an entrepreneur, we launched a data service in India that over 5 million users accessed for a free mobile data plan. In my board service I have helped steer organizations like the Ad Council and many others to bigger and better strategies. In the venture capital industry, I have deployed more checks to women, immigrants, and people of color founders than most early-stage funds in LA at the time. In finance, I got my Series 63 and 82 licenses to become one of the very few women of color private placement agents in the state. And just wait and see what I do with Spicewell — taking on Big Food and Big Pharma and creating demand for better, cleaner, healthier pantry products.

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.

Great question: Spicewell of course! I think once you see what we have been fed all of these years, the poor ingredients and the toxic elements, you better believe you can not unsee it. I’m here to fight for what I believe in, for my family’s health and to improve health outcomes for everyone, through food and nutrition, and by eating more plants. We can reduce chronic disease. We can reduce climate change. We have the knowledge and we have the ability — we just need to make a few small changes and shift norms. And I definitely know how to do those things. My advisor, Mark Hyman also leads the Food Fix campaign, which is helping to create new norms around our farming practices and lobby interferences. Definitely check it out and donate if you can.

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

I’d love to have lunch with Padma Lakshmi. She’s a hero as a South Asian woman working in food, and I just love her no-BS attitude to politics and culture. She’s so badass! And one day, I hope to meet my hero in finance: Mellody Hobson — I’ve never seen a woman reach the heights of an industry that she has with the style, pace and elegance that she has. Also a complete and utter legend.

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

Thank you so much for the opportunity to spill the tea!

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

Female Founders: LaKendra Smalley of The Global Institute for Coaches & Entrepreneurs On The Five…

Female Founders: LaKendra Smalley of The Global Institute for Coaches & Entrepreneurs On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Hire a business attorney- it’s important that when you do business with anyone that you understand your legal obligations and other people’s legal obligations to you. If you hire a business attorney they can tell you what contracts you need for protecting your Intellectual Property. It also helps you have a different kind of posture as a business owner.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Master Coach LaKendra Smalley.

Master Coach LaKendra Smalley is the CEO and Founder of 7-figure earning life coaching school: The Global Institute for Coaches and Entrepreneurs. The Global Institute for Coaches and Entrepreneurs specializes in certifying, training, and hiring life coaches, and intends to employ a life coach in all 195 countries around the globe.

Growing up, I remember feeling like I had all these things that were supposed to count me out from success. One, I’m from inner city Dallas and was born with an Attention Deficit Disorder where I struggled with focus and academics earlier in life. Two, I had to repeat a grade and graduated on my 19th birthday.

I also watched my mother battle with clinical depression- which is what ultimately inspired me to start my journey as a global leader, coach, and heart expert. I’d always go with my mother to the public library and watch her read self-help books in attempts to improve her quality of life. Realizing the amazing impact these self-help books had on her by helping her conquer unfavorable life challenges, I became passionate about humanity, psychology and in dismantling trauma and loss of hope in order to create a better and happier life for people.

Set on the career path I’d chosen for myself, I started my 15-year journey in the industry. Prior to deciding to open my life coaching school, I’d worked in behavior management as a parole officer and as a behavior adjustment educator working with at-risk youth with various mental illnesses for independent school districts all around the Dallas metroplex.

Despite my challenges, I am the founder and CEO of a 7-figure-earning company, The Global Institute for Coaches & Entrepreneurs, Inc. The Global Institute for Coaches & Entrepreneurs, Inc., a school dedicated to training and certifying one million life coaches around the globe. As a certified life & business coach, I’ve made it my mission to help leaders with their self-healing.

Too often, those who have not done their inner-work transfer their suffering onto others and inadvertently contribute to problems they are trying to solve. Affectionately known as ‘The Heart Expert’, I help my clients and coaches substitute the suffering in their lives with love via the institute’s iCARE model.

Due to the impact I’ve had in the lives of people I’ve touched around the world, I gained the following accolades: Top Executive Female — Addison Magazine, Pioneer — Nationally recognized SOS Award, Home-Town Hero — Radio One, 10 Shades of Success Dallas- Elite Award of Growth, and Community Service Award — Sons Of Light Grand Council, and A.A.S.R.M. & Seraphina Grand Chapter, O.E.S.

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

I’d have to say my most interesting story would be about my expansion into the Philippines and traveling there to certify life coaches in-person, not knowing anything about the country or culture. That was a very life-changing moment for me because it made my business a global brand. Now, The Global Institute for Coaches and Entrepreneurs has a hub in the U.S and in the Philippines.

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?

Once business started picking up with certifying life coaches, it was hard to keep up with everyone’s names. After you certify your first 100 coaches, it can be easier for things to become a blur.. Sometimes, you forget names.

I had a coach fly in for certification that asked me if I knew what her name was, and I realized then and there that I didn’t know anyone’s name. Being a CEO with ADHD, it’s harder for me to learn and remember names, so now everyone wears a nametag.

My mother and my grandmother.They were my highest example of what entrepreneurship looked and sounded like. They taught me about resilience, consistency, and discipline– I learned that through them.

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?

Mindset and that big word I don’t agree with: balance. It’s the guilt women feel for having to choose family over business or business over family, instead of choosing what lights them up.

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?

1: Hire a life coach.

2: Society not putting so much pressure on a woman having to choose between one or the other, family over business.

3: Government having more resources to help women start a business without having to sacrifice taking care of her family. If the government does this, she won’t have to make that sacrifice because she will have those financial resources.

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

It will extend her legacy and give her a greater purpose. It’s not only men that can leave a legacy of wealth to their families- women should be able to do that too. Becoming a female founder will allow her to leave her name in history.

My grandmother was the first black woman to work in the assembly line at Texas Instrument- her name will forever be in history.

My mother was the first black flight attendant student that graduated in her class.

I am the first black woman authorized by Medicaid to hire qualified life coaches to offer mental health services.

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

That entrepreneurship is glamorous.

The glamor comes at the end- it is never at the beginning.

It’s long hours; it’s a huge sacrifice of your time, family, and sometimes your own health, but if you can survive it: it’s all worth it in the end.

You have to be a visionary. And not just that, you have to be able to see the vision and execute the vision.

You have to have resilience, innovation, and passion.

You also need to know your weaknesses and not hide from them. When you know your weaknesses and don’t hide from them, you won’t have the fear of putting people in place to help with your business. Self-awareness is key to being a successful female founder, and part of that self-awareness involves knowing what you need to pass off to those that are more qualified.

You also have to be responsible for doing your “inside” work. Your desire for personal development needs to be as strong as your desire to make money.

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.)

Your personal growth and/or lack thereof can affect the growth of your business
Outsource earlier- I know many people feel they aren’t in the position to do that yet, but you can. There’s never not a way. Instead of saying “I can’t do it”, say “how can this be done”. You can find interns, you can barter, give gifts and exchange services. You need to come into business thinking “we” not “me”- think team.
Hire a business attorney- it’s important that when you do business with anyone that you understand your legal obligations and other people’s legal obligations to you. If you hire a business attorney they can tell you what contracts you need for protecting your Intellectual Property. It also helps you have a different kind of posture as a business owner.
Legal advice is also needed before starting your business.
Redefine the word “hustle”/ work-life balance- I would have personalized what that word meant for me instead of running myself into the ground. Redefine it to fit your business and yourself as a CEO.

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

I am working to have a Certified Life Coach represented in all 195 countries.

If there’s one radical Change-Agent, Thought-Leader, Influencer, or Decision-Maker represented in every country with the heart of a Life Coach; the expansion of their heart will infinitely penetrate one child, one person, one family, and one community at a time, and what a better place this world would be.

My vision for The Global Institute for Coaches and Entrepreneurs has always been to have one one million life coaches around the globe.

I was given this vision of bringing the entire world together to expand love and compassion into the hearts of leaders wanting to make our world a better place. I had no idea how I could do that until I found life coaching. I found that in order to make the world better, I had to become better. I needed to be more responsible for the life I was living by limiting my suffering, which expanded more to loving myself better. I am the “better world” I was looking for all of this time. Now, I am teaching others how to become their “better world.” Life coaching is God’s profession. It teaches you how to love through the expansion of self, which makes you responsible for helping others to do the same.

Jay Z, Puff Daddy, and Jay Shetty.

Jay Z- to me, Jay Z really represents what’s possible for me. Him coming from poverty to being a billionaire and expanding himself beyond just rap- it’s just amazing and captivating for me.

Puff Daddy- to me, he is freaking radical. He is the example that you can reinvent yourself however many times you want to, and I love how he unapologetically expresses love.

Jay Shetty- in my late 20’s I was mentored by a monk, and I would love to be able to sit down with Jay because he’s transitioned over into a new platform. I’d like to be able to be enlightened by him and hear his takes on healing world suffering.

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

Female Founders: LaKendra Smalley of The Global Institute for Coaches & Entrepreneurs On The Five… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Mitchella Gilbert of OYA Femtech Apparel On The Three Things You Need To Shake…

Female Disruptors: Mitchella Gilbert of OYA Femtech Apparel On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Don’t take negative decisions or bad news personally. I am sensitive and I’m hard worker. So, when I get back news it’s easy for me to feel defeated or angry. Not taking things personally is a reminder that not everything is in your control and that sometimes people are just going through things, and they can inadvertently harm you. It doesn’t mean that they always intended to be hurtful.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mitchella Gilbert, CEO of OYA Femtech Apparel.

Mitchella “Mitch” Gilbert is an inclusive product designer who is obsessed with women’s health and sportswear. She attended the UCLA Anderson School of Management after earning a full scholarship to build her startup, OYA Femtech Apparel, a sportswear company fighting feminine health issues (i.e., yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, and UTI’s) with patented designs and textiles. Mitch started OYA because she loved exercise, but suffered from recurring feminine health issues. Her OB/GYN explained that her issues were because of her tight, non-breathable, non-moisture absorbent leggings. Research has shown that leggings and other spandex-based women’s sportswear create environments for pathogens to thrive, and after seeing that no sportswear company was addressing this issue, she went to work on a solution: a new legging that had a breathable, replaceable pad and panels that promote ventilation around the inner thigh. Our legging is now patent-pending. We are on our third collection of tops and bottoms that absorb moisture, decrease bacteria, and increase natural ventilation

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

I am an inclusive product designer who is obsessed with women’s health and sportswear. I attended the UCLA Anderson School of Management after earning a full scholarship to build my startup OYA Femtech Apparel. OYA is a Nigerian goddess of rebirth, fertility, and storms. I thought OYA was a great name for a sportswear company fighting feminine health issues (i.e., yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, UTI’s, etc.) with patent-pending designs and textiles.

I have 6+ years of experience in tech/product design/retail across Deloitte, Nike, and Lululemon. I am also a UCLA John Wooden Fellow who graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy.

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

OYA Femtech Apparel is sportswear that fights feminine health issues. Our patentable designs and fabrics absorb moisture, reduce bacteria, and increase natural ventilation. Our patent-pending leggings are the first to be designed with doctors to combat the $21B that US women spent last year dealing with feminine health issues (e.g., yeast infections, urinary incontinence, bacterial vaginosis, and urinary tract infections).

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 is hard because I am type A and mistakes hurt my spirit. That said, in our first collection we launched a Prussian blue legging. When picking out the color, my production manager gave me a very firm lesson about the differences between the colors Prussian blue and teal. The lesson involved a color wheel, strongly Russian accented English, and vigorous pointing. At the time I felt attacked, but looking back I realize how ridiculous the entire scenario was.

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

OYA is the birth child of many mentors. Our most active mentor has been Kyrie O’Connor Stillman. She’s a very proud, thoughtful, and detail-oriented marketing leader. She helped us think through our initial branding. She attended pitch competitions and drove sales. She gave me pump up talks and even went as far to help me pick out my groceries when I was too focused on work to eat.

Kyrie helped us raise our initial round of funding (which is hard for women of color) and create the OYA spirit.

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

Femtech and the impacts of femtech research on women’s health is a positive “disruption”. Women are often overlooked in medical research and product design, so we often suffer the consequences.

Conversely, the latest SCOTUS ruling on Roe vs. Wade is an example of a negative disruption. Women are working so hard to gain equality in the workplace and to have control over their bodies. This ruling “disruption” was an attack on the progress women have made over the past few decades since the initial Roe vs. Wade decision.

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

#1 — Don’t take negative decisions or bad news personally. I am sensitive and I’m hard worker. So, when I get back news it’s easy for me to feel defeated or angry. Not taking things personally is a reminder that not everything is in your control and that sometimes people are just going through things, and they can inadvertently harm you. It doesn’t mean that they always intended to be hurtful.

#2 — Seek stability in your relationships and #3) establish clear boundaries when relationships threaten your stability. The strongest brands are typically made of the same strong teammates who have stayed together across time. This low teammate (or employee) turnover requires proactive communication, expectation setting, giving generously, and establishing efficient processes. Stable, long-term relationships will hold you accountable while helping you grow.

That said, certain relationships in your life can lead to a lot of bad feelings. It is your job to own up to those feelings and establish boundaries so you can protect your stability and mental health. For example, sometimes in the past, I automatically cut people off who threatened my stability. Now I have realized that I could still salvage a relationship as long as I was able to manage how they interacted with me in the future.

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

I’m going to build a tech solution that helps make domestic manufacturing an easier process.

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

Society wants to put people with less power (i.e., women, people of color, disabled people, people from lower socioeconomic classes, etc.) into boxes. When people who traditionally have less power seek to break out of those boxes, they are “troublemakers.” Society then builds a lot of systems (including shame, limited access to capital, racism, sexism, etc.) to keep “troublemakers” in their boxes.

Women “disruptors,” unlike their male counterparts, must first fight our internal dialogue that we are we are supposed to stay in our boxes and that we are “troublemakers” if we break out of our boxes. Then we are supposed to fight society’s systems to keep us in our boxes. These are difficult feats, and it requires a lot of education, communal support, and capital to break women “disruptors” out of our boxes.

Some women don’t make it out because the lift is too great. Conversely, men are often rewarded for being “disruptive,” because they are considered innovative and aspirational.

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

I love the Jocko podcast. He’s a retired Navy Seal instructor. His biggest teachings are that discipline equals freedom and decentralized command.

I love to actually listen to the same Jocko compilation video every morning when getting ready. It reminds me that I am heading into the battle of my day and that I will win because I control my mind and I attack problems with a team.

If I could inspire a movement, it would be to honor vaginas with love, care, and respect because vaginas are more often dishonored with indifference and shame.

Honoring vaginas would lead to good because everyone is attached to a woman. And lifting up women to be healthier and happier would lead to a happier and kinder world.

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

I heard this from a motivational video, so I am not sure of the speaker. But the quote is:

“I just knew in my heart to just go. So I did it, no questions asked. And it was not a picnic. The rise up is tough. But it’s who you become in the process when you’re chasing that unknown. When you eliminate fear. So my offering is to go analyze what you love to do and to go chase it. Because making money should not be your focus. To do something that you don’t really love to make money. Because all that is is a transference of stress… The money will come when you are really good at something… When you really have an effect. Because that will create a polarizing effect in people. They will be drawn to you. And you cannot be really good at something if you don’t love what you’re doing.”

How can our readers follow you online?

You can find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchellagilbert/. You can follow our IG and TikTok @WearOYA

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

Female Disruptors: Mitchella Gilbert of OYA Femtech Apparel On The Three Things You Need To Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dr Anjali Agrawal of Back In Balance: 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Dramatically Improve Your…

Dr Anjali Agrawal of Back In Balance: 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Dramatically Improve Your Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Practice gratitude daily. Pick your top 3–5 things that you are most grateful for in this moment. If you can’t think of something, start with gratitude for the basic essentials- air, food, water, shelter, and clothing. Like other muscles that need to be exercised, the more you express gratitude, the more you will find to be grateful for.

As a part of our series about “5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve One’s Wellbeing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Anjali Agrawal.

Dr. Anjali Agrawal is a non-cracking, non-popping chiropractor who helps families navigate their journey from conception to adulthood, holistically. She uses gentle chiropractic adjustments, functional nutrition, ergonomics, and unique diagnostic testing to identify the root cause of one’s symptoms rather than simply covering them up. Dr. Anjali is the founder and owner of Back In Balance.

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

Of course, and thank you for having me!

Since childhood, I had decided that I wanted to become a doctor. However, after volunteering in various departments at a world renowned hospital throughout high school, I began to feel like there was a disconnect. I still entered undergrad with a pre-med focus, but I was really looking for something more natural and holistic. I was ultimately introduced to the chiropractic profession while in undergrad, and after that, I knew that I had found my path.

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

Well it may not be the most interesting, but it certainly remains a story that has stuck with me all these years: After graduating from chiropractic college, I had joined some colleagues in Mexico for a clinic trip. We were working with hundreds of people a day, and we had translators to help us understand what the issue was, as well as to then explain the basics of what we were doing. So on day 4 of our trip, a lady comes in to the area where I was working and hands me a cake. My translator helped explain that this lady is a professional baker, but for years, she had experienced low back pain every time she went to open or close the oven door. However, since her first chiropractic adjustment two days prior, she was finally able to move freely, without any pain! She was so happy that she wanted to bring me a cake! I had certainly seen some awesome changes for people prior to that day, but this brief encounter helped remind me of the body’s amazing potential to heal if we can simply provide a nudge in the right direction!

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

While I was an intern in the outpatient clinic at my chiropractic college, a man came in complaining of left shoulder pain. I did my evaluation and I started adjusting the right side of his neck. When I started doing some soft tissue work to help relax the muscle tightness on his right side, he stopped me to remind me that his pain was actually in his left shoulder, not on the right side of his neck. It was a valuable reminder to me to communicate with people as I am working on them that just because we have pain or symptoms in a particular location, it doesn’t mean that the root cause is coming from that same area. The humorous part was that when I met my husband years later, he mentioned that he was having some low back pain. When at first I mentioned that he may also want to have his neck checked out, he thought I misheard him. That made me smile, because even though he wasn’t my patient, I was reminded once again of the importance of educating the general public about what chiropractors do. =)

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

This will sound biased, but I truly believe that chiropractors are already unique in the field of wellness. While there are a number of amazing ways to work on the body’s musculature, chiropractors are uniquely trained to correct the alignment of the spine and other bones in the body, thereby directly impacting the nervous system.

However, there are four main aspects which make my personal contribution unique:

First of all, I personally adjust people using low force techniques, which means no popping, cracking, or sudden movements, allowing the adjustments to hold for a longer period of time. Many people are often very nervous about having their neck adjusted, so I find the low force techniques are very effective at getting past the already tight muscles. Second, I work primarily with women throughout their prenatal/postpartum journey along with working with children starting from the newborn stage. While many women are aware of prenatal massages, many don’t realize that chiropractic adjustment have been shown to be extremely effective with optimizing fetal positioning, helping with sciatica, and even addressing issues such as growing pains for kids. I truly appreciate the opportunity to help families create a strong foundation from the start, so that we can raise a new generation of kids who can start shifting the needle away from the current trend of health challenges. Third, I integrate functional nutrition to optimize the communication pathway along with optimizing the function of the organs in the body. Lastly, I have spent over a decade going to various companies to perform ergonomic assessments. What we do the bulk of our time will have the greatest impact on our body. Just as we cannot out-train a bad diet, we similarly cannot undo eight hours of daily static poor posture with one hour of exercise. Helping people understand how to optimize their movements and posture throughout the day helps set the stage for success.

I have so many people to be grateful for, but I’ll go back to the beginning of my professional journey and express gratitude to my Dad. The majority of my childhood was spent with me declaring that I wanted to become a doctor, and we all (myself included) assumed that I meant medical doctor. When I was later introduced to chiropractic, I told my parents that I wanted to switch gears a bit, and instead of having M.D. behind my name, it would be D.C.. This pivot made my Dad really skeptical as we didn’t actually know any chiropractors, so this led to a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not I was joining a legitimate profession and ultimately, whether or not I would have financial stability. He asked me to explore various arenas of medicine and to talk with a variety of practitioners to help make a more informed decision. After doing so, I knew definitively that I wanted to pursue chiropractic instead of medicine.

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

I think we often strive for perfection, trying to incorporate too many changes too quickly which is ultimately overwhelming. I often tell people that there’s ideal, and then there’s reality. Let’s try to make reality more ideal one step at a time. Even if it’s a small step, that’s progress. If we can stay consistent with a small goal, we can celebrate that and that motivates us to keep going. But you have to stay the course and trust the process.
We have self-created limiting beliefs, like “it will be too difficult”, or “it probably won’t work”, or “it’s normal to have more symptoms as we get older.” So we have already convinced our brain that what we are about to do isn’t going to work anyway and then we become destined to fail.
Following a cookie-cutter approach. We’re all amazingly unique individuals, so while there are general concepts which are more universal (such as the things you’ve mentioned in the question), we have to look at what is working and right for us. I had a new practice member come in years back, and she was frustrated because she had been making great efforts to start eating very healthy six months prior but wasn’t losing weight. So we looked at what she had been eating before her change of diet, and did some evaluations to ultimately determine that while her diet was now good, her digestive and endocrine system needed a lot more support. Within two weeks of working together, she was very excited to see the changes in her body.

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

Chew your food. Ideally if you can break the food down in your mouth until it liquifies, then the enzymes in our saliva can start working on digesting our food right away rather than leaving the burden of the work on our stomach and the rest of the digestive system. Trying to count the number of chews (ideally approximately 32 times for most foods) will allow you to slow down and give your brain a break from work as well.
Get to sleep before 11pm. Your liver needs to start detoxing from the daytime activities, so getting to sleep before 11pm sets the stage for optimal rest and repair.
Take a 2 minute water & stretch break every hour. I’m a firm believer that micro breaks throughout the day help break up and retrain our muscle memory patterns much more effectively than focusing on a 30 or 60 minute workout once a day. The micro breaks also then allow for us to have movement and get hydrated in regular intervals. Ideally if you’ve been sitting, I would suggest standing up, drinking water and doing a stretch while standing. If you have a couple of minutes to march in place or walk, great! But if not, that’s ok too! If you’ve been standing, sit down, drink some water and do some stretches while sitting. You can rotate through various stretches throughout the day or even just repeat the same one or two stretches, whatever feels better for you! My husband still sets an hourly alarm on his phone to help remind him to drink some water and stretch. Even if he misses an alarm here or there, he has still gotten in the bulk of his water intake for the day rather than trying to catch up right before going to sleep.
Practice gratitude daily. Pick your top 3–5 things that you are most grateful for in this moment. If you can’t think of something, start with gratitude for the basic essentials- air, food, water, shelter, and clothing. Like other muscles that need to be exercised, the more you express gratitude, the more you will find to be grateful for.
Visit your chiropractor! Chiropractors work to help your nervous system function more optimally by correcting structural misalignments, typically in your spine. Since your nervous system literally controls every aspect of your body, wouldn’t it be great if you could have an optimally functioning nervous system?

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

Use it, or lose it! People often ask me if arthritis or degeneration in their joints is just a normal part of aging. The short answer is that, no, we are not destined to have arthritis simply because of age. Actually what happens is that if we have too much mobility in a joint (like if you try to “crack” your own neck or back), or if you are a pro athlete and using that joint in fairly full capacity often, your body perceives that as an area that needs to be stabilized, and ultimately starts to create extra bone growth to limit the movement in said joints. Conversely, if you have static postures all day and don’t move much, your brain interprets that to mean that you don’t really need to move those joints after all and again starts to create extra bone growth to stabilize the area. For muscles, let’s say that you are in a cast for several weeks. When the cast is removed, most likely the muscles will have atrophied a bit from lack of use during that time. If you take effort to correct that, you can certainly build muscle again. However the longer the period of lack of use, the more time it takes to build the muscles back up.
Better sleep — I love the feeling of being physically tired and falling asleep with ease! Sleep is when our cells can rest and repair. With so many people having challenges with falling and/or staying asleep, wouldn’t it be great if you could assist the process by getting a little more movement in your day?
Improved mood — Besides the endorphin release and the chemical reactions which take place, I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I’ve completed my workout. Regardless of the length or the specific activity, I feel like we should take time to recognize and appreciate these wins!

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

I believe that the best exercise is one which you can be consistent with. So while that might look different for each person, here would be a couple of concepts which I would suggest to keep in mind:

Cross body movements, i.e. walking without holding anything (or holding equal weights in your hands) where your right arm can move forward along with your left leg and vice versa. This allows our brain to reintegrate the connection with the rest of our body. However, if you hold a water bottle in one hand, for example, the bottle will limit the movement in which your arm can move so the reintegration on that side becomes limited. In that situation, I would suggest switching your bottle to the other hand halfway through your exercise.
Push Up — against the wall, on the ground, on your knees, single-handed, etc. — pick whatever position feels right for your body and gives you a bit of challenge. It’s a great whole body workout that can be done anywhere!
Stretching — Many people often think of strength training or cardiovascular workouts when it comes to exercise, but often overlook the importance of stretching, particularly after a workout. I’ve taken many different exercise classes over the years, and even in the various sporting events in school, the emphasis of stretching was always placed at the beginning of the class. While you want to make sure to warm up your muscles, I think it is extremely important to stretch the contracted muscle after exercise so that you can regain your muscle length after strengthening. As I mentioned earlier, even if you can take a micro break and stretch for one minute every hour throughout the day, that will make a significant difference in your circulation, flexibility and overall musculoskeletal system.

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

There are so many amazing books to pick from, but I’ll actually share two of my favorites, if that’s okay: The Biology of Belief, by Bruce Lipton, PhD, and The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne. Dr. Lipton was a pioneer in showing the scientific connection between the mind, body and spirit and the cellular impact of our thoughts. Regarding The Secret, while many people have talked about the law of attraction, I really appreciated the examples which Ms. Byrne shared — it made it much easier for me to start implementing those concepts into my life.

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

Oh wow! My dream is to redefine “health”care by creating wellness centers providing integrative, (w)holistic care for families focusing on preventative, long-term wellness physically, mentally, and financially.

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

“The body achieves what the mind believes.” I feel like this quote accurately sums up the essence of the two books that I shared above. Whatever the topic is, be it health, wealth, love, etc., I feel that if we can stay out of our own head (in terms of overthinking, overanalyzing, etc.), that there really are no boundaries to what we are capable of! I haven’t shared this story much, but when I was 17, I was preparing to perform my solo South Indian classical debut dance performance. The night before the performance during the rehearsal, I started experiencing some ankle pain out of the blue! In all my years of dancing, I had never experienced anything like that. We all decided that we would carry forward with the show and my teacher told me to just go home and visualize the entire performance in my head, exactly as I had been practicing it, going through each piece mentally. The next day was the big performance and besides the standard performance nerves, everything was going smoothly until my final piece where the bandage I had wrapped on my foot started to unravel. I could feel something was odd, but otherwise felt fine. Since in my head I felt that I was okay, I continued dancing and it was only upon completion that I was able to see the bandage had started unraveling. I am grateful that in that moment, my mind stayed calm, allowing my body to complete my performance, albeit with a little dramatic flair for the audience. =)

I’ve always admired Deepak Chopra’s work. I think he has done a phenomenal job to bring spiritual wellness into the foreground.

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

The best way is to follow me is on LinkedIn (Dr. Anjali Agrawal) or via my website BackInBalanceHealth.com.

Thank you so much for this opportunity!

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

Dr Anjali Agrawal of Back In Balance: 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Dramatically Improve Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Helen Whait of ActivOT On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“Don’t let fear hold you back!” I’ve really learned to feel the fear and do it anyway. I love Henry Ford’s quote, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t you’re right…”. It’s all in the mindset and self belief. A lot of it comes down to acknowledging and understanding where the fear comes from — it’s a sign that something is important to you! However, in those moments of fear, it’s always about what you choose to do next. You can give into that fear, be paralysed by it. Or you can take the leap. I’ve learned to leap!

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

For more than a decade, Helen Whait has been disrupting the way occupational therapists work in Australia. As the founder of Australia’s first occupational therapy franchise business, Helen gives occupational therapists the tools and support to build incredible businesses that provide life-changing services to over 4000 clients. Helen is an award-winning occupational therapist and franchisor, and above all else, she is passionate about practising occupational therapy the way it was always meant to be practised– with a focus on the whole person– without the unnecessary bureaucracy, KPIs, and paperwork that achieves nothing for the client.

My career began 30 years ago after I graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy. After a decade of experience working as an occupational therapist in a variety of settings, I founded my first private practice in 2002. In the ten years that followed, I learned about the many opportunities and pitfalls of private practice to provide work-life balance and prevent burnout– as well as improve client care. In 2012, I founded Australia’s first and only occupational therapy franchise business– ActivOT– as a mum with three young sons. I wanted to offer a business model that would empower occupational therapists to achieve true work-life balance and the tools, systems and support to succeed in their own practices without burning out. In November 2022, ActivOT will be celebrating ten years of franchising.

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

In 2012, franchising in allied health was virtually unheard of, but I was convinced it was the answer. Not only could it provide much-needed support and guidance for occupational therapists, but it could deliver better outcomes for our clients. Ten years later, ActivOT has more than 45 franchisees and is growing rapidly.

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?

To be honest, there isn’t a one single, standout moment that comes to mind! Like everyone jumping in and starting a business, it’s been a real learning journey. Starting up Australia’s first occupational therapist franchise, there was no play book to follow and those mistakes did cost some time and money — so I’ve (finally!) learned to laugh at some of those mistakes along the way! When you’re shaking up your industry and forging a new path, a good sense of humour and a positive mindset is a serious must-have!

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

I’ve struck some serious luck when it comes to finding my people along the journey.

A key mentor has been Tamsin Simounds, an incredible people strategist and executive coach. I often say that I asked the universe for a sign and, in Tamsin, the universe really delivered! Back when I was juggling paying bills, feeding kids and a lot of consulting work, I happened across one of her leadership courses. Naturally, I couldn’t afford the course — let alone the time off! — so we agreed that if Tamsin couldn’t fill the last spot then I could have it on a reduced rate and on a payment plan. Lo behold, a spot was free, I got in and it changed my life — and, more importantly, my mindset! I faced some serious fears, refined my performance and, from there, everything just took off. Having Tamsin in my corner, still today, is invaluable.

I’m a big believer in surrounding yourself with the best and brightest. And I nailed that in bringing our marketing guru, Danae Sinclair-Jones, into the ActivOT team. In Danae I found someone who understood me and the ActivOT brand and values. Put simply, our business wouldn’t be where it is without her expertise, insights and passion for what we do. Danae makes magic every day and I have complete trust in her judgement.

I’ll admit it, I love a bit of disruption! Before I started ActivOT, my industry was stuck in a complete rut with the same old systems and approaches. By switching it up and helping occupational therapists to become successful business owners, we’re creating change for therapists and clients alike. We’re creating business owners that are advocates for their community and clients, not simply healthcare practitioners bogged down in paperwork and bureaucracy.

That said, the values that underpin our work in the health space — our commitment to client care and wellbeing — should never face disruption. Client-centred care should always remain the foundational pillar of our work. Through our franchise model, I believe we’re better supporting occupational therapists to support their communities.

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

“Don’t let fear hold you back!” I’ve really learned to feel the fear and do it anyway. I love Henry Ford’s quote, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t you’re right…”. It’s all in the mindset and self belief. A lot of it comes down to acknowledging and understanding where the fear comes from — it’s a sign that something is important to you! However, in those moments of fear, it’s always about what you choose to do next. You can give into that fear, be paralysed by it. Or you can take the leap. I’ve learned to leap!

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do” — This is a gem from the one and only Steve Jobs. I read this quote a while back and it really stuck with me. As ActivOT has grown and expanded in the most incredible way, it’s my north star when it comes to my team and potential new business owners. I’m big on bringing the right people on board, it’s the key to create a culture, and it’s foundational to the success of ActivOT.

“Don’t be limited by how others do things — bring your own vision to life!” Although I’ve created an incredible, Australia-first occupational therapist franchise, I don’t neatly fit into the franchise world and I’m doing something very different from the traditional healthcare service model and franchise model. If I’d constrained myself to the way it’s always been done, none of this would be possible.

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

There are no signs of slowing down, that’s for sure! Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we’re continuing to experience significant growth, with more occupational therapists choosing ActivOT and becoming business owners, as well as significant increase in client referrals.

In fact, after the Great Resignation, we’re seeing more and more health professionals who want to take control and start their own business. So we’re making sure we can capture that demand and scale our business in a sustainable way, while continuing to provide the tools and support to our business owners and their clients.

Ultimately, it’s about the people we bring into ActivOT and the values we live by — honestly without those two things, we’d have nothing.

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

Where do I start?! Although our industry is largely female-dominated, with women making up roughly 90 per cent of occupational therapists, we still face challenges. Certainly our time is still not valued as much as men, we know that women-dominated industries often earn less. As women in a ‘caring’ industry, we’re expected to behave in a certain way — there’s an expectation that we’ll be giving which isn’t placed on our male counterparts. On top of that, I feel that women still often face wildly unequal domestic labour. Often, I believe we feel like we’re trying to prove ourselves. That whole mindfield doesn’t leave a lot of time for disrupting!

Prior to starting ActivOT in 2002, I often faced the ‘boys club’ in my previous workplaces. It was a huge roadblock and I was left no option other than to totally step away to continue on this journey outside of that environment. Certainly in ActivOT, I’m working hard to give women the freedom to shake up the game as they see fit. It’s a huge part of our values.

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

Without a doubt, Janine Allis’ Super Women We Ain’t podcast. It’s one of those podcasts where you find yourself actually nodding along!

Janine’s approach definitely made me feel less alone — and a little less scary! I laughed out loud when she shared that she hid in the bathroom to escape children and get those last few emails out. As a single mum with three young children once upon a time, I honestly thought I was the only one who had taken it to those extremes!

Janine’s focus on health and commitment to self care after her own health scare is also hugely inspirational. It’s something I take seriously myself — having been diagnosed with Idiopathic thrombocytopenia in 2015 — and I believe it’s a need, not a want. I take it seriously with my franchisees too, ensuring that we’re there when they need to take a break and checking in if something seems wrong. The health and wellbeing of our franchisees is everything.

I can’t leave out Emma Isaacs’ incredible book, Winging It. It made such an impact that I wrote to her and she wrote back! Her stove-top analogy — where each burner represents an area of life, like family or business — was a total light bulb moment. After all you can’t have all burners on high heat all at once! It’s always been a strong reminder to give my high-achieving tendencies a little break! Her tips on networking were also a total god-send. I recommend her book to anyone!

Fundamentally, the movement I’m most passionate about is kindness. As an occupational therapist, working with people from all walks of life, I know firsthand that a little kindness can go a long way. My email signature reads, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind”. It’s about showing kindness to others and yourself.

I encourage my franchisees to be kind to themselves too — after all, well people help make other people well. Our therapists need work-life balance and flexibility. There is a natural kindness in giving yourself that.

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

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right” from Henry Ford is my tried and true go-to quote for life.

For me, at times throughout my business journey, mindset has been my worst enemy and my best friend. I’ve often got stuck in my own head, it happens to the best of us! Once I realised I could get out of my own way, everything changed.

So now I always come back to this quote as a not-so-subtle reminder that if it’s to be, it’s up to me — to borrow another one! Whether I’m facing challenges or jumping on crucial opportunities, tackling things with the right mindset is the real game-changer.

How can our readers follow you online?

Connect with me on LinkedIn or visit ActivOT’s website to read all about our work.

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

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

Female Founders: Vera Oh of VOESH New York On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a…

Female Founders: Vera Oh of VOESH New York On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Never assume people understand how your brand can change their lives. Tell them. This is something I learned from the book “Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller. Sometimes, we are busy making new products and assume people understand, but it doesn’t work that way.

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

Co-CEO and founder of Voesh New York and glowoasis.

Thank you for having me! My career started off at Samsung as a heavy equipment designer. I was actually the very first female heavy equipment/machinery designer at that time. In this role, I had to find a way to succeed during my first career in a male dominated space. Mixing the safety and technologies with the understanding the needs from the machinery drivers made me approach the design from a very different perspective. Next, I was also a Principal at Design Continuum-Design, a strategy and consulting firm. It was a blessing to join the firm to learn design strategy, innovation and its impact for business overall for some key industry leaders like BMW, Philips, Samsung Electronics and more.

Then, my career led me into my own business, which grossed to about $80 in revenue from $0. I actually came up with the idea during a business trip to Berlin on the plane! However, despite the business growing, I struggled with an autoimmune disorder and my health worsened. From then on, naturally I felt I wanted to create something which can make people healthier and safer. That is how Voesh was started.

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

In the fall 2013, my partner, Joseph and I realized we had spent all of our savings to develop our products, patent applications, and purchase inventory. For our two revolutionary pedicure products, we only had a few customers in New York and the New York weather was getting too chilly for pedicures.

One chilly morning, we knew something had to be done but we were speechless the whole morning. In the afternoon, Joseph told me “Give me a week, I need to go somewhere where snow never falls”.

With that statement, Joseph made his way all the way down to Florida. Trunk full of samples and head full of determination, he stopped by every state and every beauty supply store he possibly could. Along the way, he met people and made connections

with respectful people, who couldn’t be more excited about our products, believed us and were willing to help us. That’s how we could start distributing our products to all states, not just locally. We couldn’t agree more about the famous quote “when one door closes, another door opens”.

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?

Before we officially launch our products, we acquired a tiny booth at our very first trade show in Chicago. We were faced with tough questions and tougher critics, as not knowing what to expect and unprepared for any basic technical questions. One customer asked me “What preservatives do you use”? I had no idea and I could only answer “I do not know”. At that moment, reality struck and I realized this is not right. Starting that day, I slept and woke up with a pile of chemical research next to me and had daily meetings with our labs. The “I don’t know”s became knowledgeable answers. I made sure questions were not left unanswered.

We are grateful to all of our customers, who are our best critics. They helped in many ways to improve our products and services. I start my daily routine by carefully reading our customers’ feedback about our products and our services.

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?

There are multiple obstacles holding women back from starting companies. First, women are generally unfairly disadvantaged in the business world due to less opportunities given. True equality is long overdue. Second, when women reach their prime in their careers, many women get to a place where they have to choose between work or having children. For decades, it has been a choice of work or having a family. I have seen some high-level women having to cut their maternity leave to a few weeks and working non stop even during their short leave, which is not ideal at all and holds them back. Third, there is a misconception that entrepreneurship is a male occupation. Equality is better off than ever in history but still women need to put more effort to prove themselves as leaders of an organization because the vast majority of the leaders are still men.

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

I think individuals, especially women founders, should mentor and offer fair opportunities FOR other women. At VOESH, we are a female-dominated company and equal opportunities are very important to all of us. We encourage our team to take full maternity leave and our team does a fantastic job stepping up and supporting each other when a team member is on maternity leave. Plus, thanks to the evolution of online and virtual work, our team works from home and has the flexibility to take care of their families. We’ve been working remotely for 2 years and 7 months, and we haven’t seen any reduction in productivity.

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?

Yes, absolutely! From some statistics, women grow their businesses faster and create more jobs than men. According to women-owned businesses statistics, female companies have increased revenue by a good 84% since the beginning compared to men’s businesses of 78%. Female founders or owners bring different perspectives to the business and make an impact on the community. Based on this report, female entrepreneurs are often less motivated by financial gain and more likely to prioritize corporate social responsibility. With more female entrepreneurs and founders, our world can be a better place to live. However, definitely any coalition must also include everyone — men, women, and anyone in between.

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

We have lives outside of work. Our brains may work longer, but we’re regular people, too!

From my experience, many successful executives are insightful. Business environments, customers’ behavior, and business tools are evolving on a daily basis. Without continuous learning, it will be hard to lead a company in the right way. The successful executives learn not just skills, but they understand the deeper level of the information. It gives them the confidence to make proper decisions with flexibility.

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

1. You will pay the tuition fee. Your mistakes are the tuition fee you will pay. It’s better to experiment earlier rather than later.

2. Competitors are not your enemies. Good competition is actually a blessing for your business.

3. Finding good people is hard. You should invest a lot of time and effort to find the right people that fit your company needs and culture.

4. It’s okay to make mistakes. But never leave them unfixed. Also, try to learn from every experience and don’t make the same mistakes twice.

5. Never assume people understand how your brand can change their lives. Tell them. This is something I learned from the book “Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller. Sometimes, we are busy making new products and assume people understand, but it doesn’t work that way.

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

Several years ago, I was invited by one of the board members to be a part of a foundation called Binchae. I had the opportunity to contribute my time and money to help feed hungry children in developing countries. They recently reached 54 million meals that they have provided to children in Nepal, India, and Africa. VOESH New York constantly donates 2% of our e-commerce sales to the foundation. In the last year, we started supporting Charity : Water, an organization that helps bring clean drinking water to impoverished areas by building biosand filters to eliminate harmful bacteria.

If I could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, it would be “Believe in yourself.” Love yourself and accept yourself as you are. Just be authentic.

Tim Cook! Steve Jobs is one of the most famous CEOs ever. After Steve Jobs, many people thought Apple’s innovation would be gone. However, Tim Cook showed his leadership by trusting people around him and truly understanding the core of Apple

(not just about the products, but more about the customers and his team). He has shown his leadership very differently from Steve Jobs in such an amazing way!

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

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