Month: September 2022

Modern Fashion: Aline Celi On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today

An Interview With Candice Georgiadice

Goals: Know what you want get and how your vision can become true. Goals can make your ideas closer to becoming true and every time you achieved them is a victory.

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

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

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Aline Celi.

Aline Celi is a Brazilian designer who has conquered the German fashion scene with her personality, minimalist designs and commitment to the environment. With the brand CELI, founded in 2015, Aline has managed to quickly establish herself and her thoughts in the Berlin fashion scene.

Under the brand CELI, she creates carefully handcrafted pieces made in the EU under the strictest ethical and social guidelines. She gives back with the organization “Goal For Life” in Brazil. Here, soccer is used as a community-building team activity to give children and young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds a stable community, a safe place and opportunities.

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

I grew up in Brazil, in a small state in the northwest. My loving family always supported me in all my wishes, but I had to face the culture that always wants you to be a doctor or a lawyer.

Following my heart and going to study abroad alone at 16 years old really formed the person that I am today.

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

Always seeing the way that the strong women that I grew up around dressed and also being around nature all the time has profoundly molded my way of seeing how fashion should work. My whole life I spent imagining a future where we could dress comfortably without letting go of our femininity and glamour.

Brazil is a country with a lot of colorful clothing, I try to translate this energy into my collections by always inserting some bright color in the day-to-day of my dear clients.

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

The most interesting story is the longest one. How me and my best friend Uanderson as two young creatives decided to unite our talents and really face the world with nothing to lose. It still amazes me to this day how we can still keep going strong.

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

All three traits can really be united into one example. Every day I try to be my best self with everyone I know. When leaving to study in another country at such a young age I always kept thinking about what the future was holding for me, but growing and observing that focusing on one day at a time is really what makes me… me! So to answer the three traits I would say: Determination, Selflessness and Kindness.

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

We stand out because of the way we connect with our customer. There are many stories but we can summarize all by the everyday chats with the people that come to our showroom. They almost always come not knowing what sustainable fashion is but they always leave wanting to know more and paying more attention to what they’re investing their money in.

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

“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”

Not only when it comes to my brand this is important but also in my personal life. Coming to Europe at such a young age can really change you. Sometimes when feeling I had to do more to fit in I remembered this quote. Staying simple helped me to stay being myself.

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

The use of animal fur and leather is decreasing in haute couture and I think that’s very exciting.

I see the use of recycled fabrics growing and hope that this way of thinking and producing can be reflected into the mind of the average person, making an impact in our society as a whole in the future.

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

Our fair production and recycled materials are helping the world to breathe a little bit better. Those products also hold great quality to them, making the disposal of the pieces much more rare because the customer can wear the pieces for many years without changing the look and feel of the fabric.

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

All of our pieces are made with fair production and following strict government guidelines. That means that everything we make is respectful to the environment and also to the people in the factories.

We choose our sources thinking of the best material that reflects what we are as a brand. One of our most sold pieces is made with polyester made with 100% PET bottles. You may think that would be ugly or unflattering but is one of the most soft and beautiful materials.

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

As a brand we see this as something that puts us in a different standard. Other brands can choose to produce in the fast fashion style and sell more clothes by a smaller price but we KNOW our product’s quality is what makes people comeback every time.

Investing in a durable piece can be better for you because you’ll not be needing to buy a new one every year, but consumerism and our materialistic society has formed the idea in our minds that “More is better”, and we need to fight that.

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

Determination: Things will not work if you don’t put work into it. I really hustled to be where I am and thinking that building yourself doesn’t take work is a huge lie.

Vision: I saw what I am today before I started working towards it. Write down what you want and take small steps every day until you get there.

Good people around you: When I see myself struggling I know that I have great people with me. Believe me, networking is the best thing to build a caring community for your brand.

Studying: I don’t even mean going to university. Of course that is great, but trying to learn something new about the world or yourself can be inspiration for the future.

Goals: Know what you want get and how your vision can become true. Goals can make your ideas closer to becoming true and every time you achieved them is a victory.

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

Even in the 21st century the industry still does not understand that all bodies are different. An example is stores that only sell ridiculously small sizes and exclude people with different body types from purchasing their items.

We have to improve the way fashion is produced by stopping to impose a “pattern to follow” in the public. Inclusiveness is the key to the future.

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

I would definitely start a movement to stop the climate crisis in the world. We know that the individual use of natural resources is not what is causing all these problems. Big companies by big corporations have to take responsibility for the damage.

The earth is all we have, we have to care for it with love! My movement would be to make sure all types of production do not harm the environment and, if it does, a compensation has to be made.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can follow us on our instagram @celi.fashion where we are posting everything that you need to know about us and all the events we are in! Our website is alineceli.com.

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

Modern Fashion: Aline Celi On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Amanda Glosson of AppTech Payments Corp On The 5 Leadership…

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Amanda Glosson of AppTech Payments Corp On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Be the level head in a moment of crisis. Production fires will happen, and those around you will benefit from keeping your cool. I was often sought out to manage issues in production because I stayed calm, found the problem, and got to work on a solution.

As a part of our series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda Glosson.

Amanda Glosson is a software engineer, and recently joined AppTech Payments Corp. with 14 years of payments engineering experience at Blackbaud, where she held several positions focused on a future-driven approach to solutions. In her new role, she is an integral part of the AppTech engineering team responsible for developing the organizations core payments and digital banking solutions to enable omni-channel commerce experiences for customers that propel business growth.

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

My journey in tech began in high school when I started taking classes at a local community college on computer science. Like most kids from my generation, I grew up with Super Nintendo and it really started out as wanting to create video games like the ones I loved playing. From there, I completed my undergrad degree at North Carolina State University in computer science with a game development concentration. This was a truly cool program. Within it, I got to work with multiple disciplines within game design as opposed to just working in engineering. I got to see the graphic design and creative aspects that can be part of this discipline, along with gaining an understanding of the technological and scientific principles associated with design and development of games and applications. It showed me the variety that exists and is possible within computer science.

My experience at NC State University also opened my eyes to career possibilities outside of gaming, such as positions in engineering that are situated for the greater good and aim to help those in need. Once I graduated, I started my career at Blackbaud so I could use my skills to give back, as the software they write is targeted towards nonprofit organizations and works to support their needs.

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

I joined a meeting once and was greeted by the lovely sounds of my colleague strumming his guitar while he waited for the meeting to start. We let him play for a while before we told him he wasn’t on mute.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. 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?

There were a few “teachable moments” in the early part of my career but, one that has stuck with me is a story about not being too hard on yourself. I had just started on the new payments team at Blackbaud and had been helped by several team members to get my local dev environment all set up and configured. It was an intricate system, and I was still learning how all the pieces worked together. I was working on fixing bugs to get familiar with everything when somehow, I had gotten myself into a state of configuration where payments wouldn’t process anymore. I felt like I really screwed up. I retraced my steps and couldn’t get it back to a working state. I asked for help from Larry Mishkin, my manager at the time and one of the primary engineers of the system I was working in. He could tell I felt bad that not only had I somehow broken this thing but couldn’t figure out how to fix it either. I will always remember what he said to me, after he fixed it (in like 3 seconds), he said, “Don’t be so hard on yourself, you’re doing a great job.” I felt like he really cared about my success, and he was always someone I looked up to for career advice.

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

I’ll be honest, I was a little hesitant about joining a small team at AppTech Payments Corp. after spending years working for a much larger company on a much bigger team, but thankfully that dissipated nearly immediately when I joined AppTech. Working on a smaller team has given me the chance to have a much more significant impact on our development and what we’re working on; my hands are all the way in it, so to speak. I have the opportunity to learn, grow, and expand my horizons so much more since I am actually building something from the ground up as opposed to just entering laterally into an existing project.

This is truly rare to find in tech right now because so much infrastructure already exists within this industry that a lot of the time, projects are focused around building on, altering or enhancing what is already there. I have an exceptional chance to make my own mark on a brand-new project here, which I am incredibly excited about.

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

Here at AppTech, I was chosen to help build a brand-new payments team. Payments is fast-paced and challenging within software development in general since the field is changing so quickly; it really is an area that is entirely bypassing legacy methods of operation and giving us developers a chance to change the world. Within that, I see an opening to do away with these legacy systems that have previously held some individuals back. All of the new tech stacks we are working on within payments provide so much more accessibility for the underbanked and unbanked, a gamechanger that will change the system for the better, for good.

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

No, I wouldn’t say I am satisfied with the status quo, there are still too few of us out there in the industry. We need to encourage and support young women to become involved in STEM-related fields. I believe change is going to need to begin at the education level with more females being willing and excited about pursuing a career in the field. If we can increase the number of women being educated in the field, we increase the likelihood that more young women will follow in their footsteps. In the past, I’ve been involved with STEM mentorship groups working with middle school kids in robotics, as well as college level outreach and recruiting.

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

I often see that women can be faced with an imposter syndrome within the tech field. We have every right to be here and have earned our seat at the table, but I see how being in a male-dominated space can make us feel like we don’t belong. I want to remind all women that our skills are legitimate, and we deserve to be where we are in the tech industry.

My advice to women in this field is to boost your confidence in whatever way works for you. For some, finding a mentor can help you realize your self-worth, become more confident, and feel more at ease stating your opinions. It can be so valuable and helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of, to validate what you have to say and provide a safe space in which to brainstorm and get comfortable.

While it may not seem like such a great system from the outside, something that has really worked for me to boost my own confidence has been choosing to take on a project that I knew nothing about in the beginning, and then finishing the process to completion successfully. It is the greatest confidence builder and has made me feel like I can do anything. This does not just apply to work-related tasks, either; it can apply to hobbies, home projects, or anything new to you. Don’t ever be afraid to take-on or try new things, you don’t need prior experience to become an expert. It’s important to remember that at one point, every expert was new to what they now excel in.

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

I think that sometimes we get caught up in nomenclature and labels when trying to assert ourselves. To me, it’s a myth that we have to be known as “women in STEM”, or really any label within the field. I don’t label myself as a “female engineer”, I simply AM an engineer, and I have an equal seat at the table as my teammates. I want all women in tech, and really any career, to remember that their opinions matter just as much as anyone else’s — every single person in the room earned their spot the same way.

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

Be the level head in a moment of crisis. Production fires will happen, and those around you will benefit from keeping your cool. I was often sought out to manage issues in production because I stayed calm, found the problem, and got to work on a solution.
Say yes to that big project. Even if you don’t know how you are going to pull it off yet, if you are being offered the opportunity then they already see the potential in you. I took on my first mobile app project, knowing nothing about mobile apps. I learned, I grew, and I completed that project. I also found that I really enjoyed working in the space of mobile apps.
Leadership is about curating relationships, not pushing your opinion onto others. I recall a time when a proposed architectural solution to a problem was contested by several members of the team. I brought everyone together to discuss it and we compromised on a solution that both mitigated risk and moved us forward in an innovative way.
Your team will learn from your example. Be the team member you want them all to model after. I participate in the shared responsibilities of the team including on-call rotations and client reported issue investigations. I became a better leader because I shared their experiences, and they saw how I handled difficult situations and learned from me.
Make time for feedback and words of encouragement. As a leader we are busy, our schedules are usually full of meetings, and we still have work to do outside of those meetings; but I make time to pause and reflect on everyone’s progress. I have a personal conversation with new members of my team after they’ve settled in. They appreciate my taking the time to offer them feedback, and it gives me an opportunity to ask for feedback from them.

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

Don’t mute or otherwise water down yourself for fear of being seen as a woman — use your unique characteristics to your advantage. Women, generally, have a greater attention to detail than men do, and we shouldn’t be afraid to lean into that. You aren’t being nagging by paying attention to details that matter in the larger picture, especially in a field like tech where every single small detail matters. As leaders, in particular, we need to make sure every part of the project is perfectly in tune.

I also believe it is important as a leader to challenge yourself often. Your team will want to do the same when they see you doing so, and it helps to foster a sense of community where all team members are not only challenging themselves but supporting each other within those challenges. This makes not only the individual stronger but builds up the entire team.

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

Active listening is extremely important to me for a leader. It’s all well and good to be able to lend an ear or allow individuals their chance to speak, and there will always be a lot of opinions flying around. However, being in tech where things change so quickly and we are always under such tight deadlines, sometimes we don’t have time to listen, think, and then choose a course. Practicing and acting as you work with your team will always earn you the most respect. You have to be willing to be a professional and a student at the same time to set the best example for your team that you can.

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

I am very grateful for the time I was able to spend with Mary Beth Westmoreland while at Blackbaud. She fostered my growth there, and I really valued her insights as a CTO and fellow female engineer at the company.

What resonated with me the most about working with Mary Beth was how she was such a big champion of trying to grow the representation of women in tech and women in the company. She was always on the front lines in recruiting, she hosted a women in tech summit for the company, and was a founding member of the Women in Tech in Charleston group. I think it’s so important to have someone like her who wants to be out in front, as visible as possible, and openly encouraging women to join us in this field.

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

I love that I began my tech career working on nonprofit programming within Blackbaud. I know that tech can get a bad rep of being cutthroat and kind of single-minded, and we all sometimes need a reminder that we can use these advancements for good, for charity as opposed to just for earning companies profit, increasing productivity, and closing sales.

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

In addition to my passion for the tech industry, I also have a love for animals. I’ve personally gotten two dogs through adoption and think that anyone who is considering adding a pet to their family should consider fostering or adopting one from their local animal shelter.

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

Never let “perfect” get in the way of “good enough”.

When working on a piece of functionality or a new feature, it’s important to remember to try and step back make sure you’re not going down a rabbit hole or over-working an angle. Your time and energy are precious — don’t waste them chasing an end that is not feasible. I often need to switch tasks in order to stay focused, and that switch can reorient your focus and make you realize that you’ve done this task perfectly, but you were too busy beating yourself up to see that.

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

I would have to choose Melinda Gates. The Gates Foundation does great work all across the globe, but I would like to chat with her specifically about the foundation’s work in the K-12 sector in the U.S. I am fascinated by their work to bring equity to our early education systems, a need that will benefit many sectors including women in STEM.

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

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Amanda Glosson of AppTech Payments Corp On The 5 Leadership… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Sharonette Briggs On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Enjoy the mini successes. When you overcome a challenge that has been set against you, or you accomplish a goal that was so hard to do, find a way to smile when you’re on the other side of it. Find a way to breathe and lift your spirit up and allow it to give you the fuel you need to keep going.

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

Sharonette is the Co-Founder of the Finding Erotica (www.FindingErotica.com ) literary series, website and YouTube “Skin Anthology Series.” She is a mother and grandmother who is a pole and fitness instructor as well as a lover of the outdoors. Her goal with her platform is to support, and educate mature individuals in their sexual, intimate, and relational journeys.

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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?

Yes. Having given my younger years over to being a single parent of two, working a full and two part time jobs and experiencing a devastating loss in my life, I had just hit rock bottom. It was a battle to receive any form of promotion or increase in pay at two of the jobs that I worked at over a period of 10 years. I was muddling through pain, anger, guilt, and disappointment after my loss. I was awake in the night hours with questions that always went unanswered.

Shortly thereafter, I came in contact with an old friend of mine, who is now my business partner, Thomas McKenna. He was dealing with prostate cancer. This all became overwhelming and too much to bear. I needed an escape. As he and I started sharing about what we were going through in our lives, he began to share with me about writings he did for his ex. Of course, it was centered around intimacy and relationship. I loved them. I told him that I had read some erotic literature and thought that his was so fascinating that he/we needed to share them with the public. Out of this was born Finding Erotica.

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

The work that the Finding Erotica platform does brings disruption by jarring individuals who might be narrow minded in their thinking and way of life when it comes to sex, intimacy, relationships, taboos, and sexual diversities. At times we can be so judgmental against another in the way that they practice or live out their intimate journeys. And while being judgmental, have yet to explore our own desires that are safely hidden in our hearts.

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?

Yes, one of the funniest mistakes that we made when we first started was with a photo bomb done by a dog. In the beginning our website contained risqué pictures and audio. In one of the photos, we pretended that cum was dripping in my mouth while I lay on my back. I was lying on a table with my head resting over the edge at the time we did this pic. We tried to crack eggs above my head and to let the egg white drip slowly out of the shell onto my bottom lip. It took several times to crack it just right without me per se’ looking directly at the egg. I had to look sensual in my face with my mouth open, hold the cracked egg, while Thomas took the photo. We thought the photo was great until we realized that his dog was underneath the table peeping his head out licking up the residue of the egg white on the floor. His nose, tongue, and face peers out from the side of my head. That was a very difficult picture to get only to not be able to use it because of his dog.

The lesson learned is to never have dogs around when doing an amateur photo shoot.

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?

Oooohhh, hmmm, well it doesn’t go without saying that my business partner and friend Thomas Mckenna made the greatest impact of all. I would also add Napoleon Hill, Neville Goddard, David Goggins, T.D. Jakes, Florence Scovel Shinn and Sara Blakley just to name a few people that I’ve been encouraged by along the way. There have been many dynamic platforms that have inspired me as well i.e. Recession Money, Black Entrepreneurship, Impact Theory.

I’ve not really had a specific person who was with me side by side to help me navigate this kind of road outside of Thomas. Trying to create an educational platform when it comes to sex and relationships has been quite challenging. In the beginning most thought I was doing porn. There are people out there doing pieces of what we do, but nothing on the scale of what we’re doing and where we’re going. All of the individuals who might have been able to provide support in some way or another are at a distance i.e. E.L. James, Esther Perel, Joan Price, etc.

Yes, they have discussions around sex and intimacy, but lack in one or more of the areas that we focus on, which is mature adults, post-illness/post-intimacy and a big one, people of color. Having tread a road that has not yet been done before, I hope to be a mentor to others who decide to jump out and do something that has not been done before.

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?

I believe that disruption can always be good if it means that a person has an opportunity to grow. When that disruption occurs, it’s usually not at a time that we like, but in the long run, it is a good thing. So, disrupting an industry, well in our case, is positive.

Finding Erotica is meant to act as a bridge from the unaware to the well experienced sexual human. We want people of all groups to have a place to learn about all sexual identities as well as discuss real life matters such as physical and aging challenges. You can be well experienced and open to other human explorations but need to access experts that are not afraid to speak on health issues that you or a loved one might be dealing with. One thing that we challenge is the whole notion of what is Erotica. Where porn uses sex to simply stimulate viewers/readers, we explore sexuality as an important part of the human experience. Sex is not gratuitous, instead it is essential.

I think that if our platform was not in pursuit of bridging the gap and was set out to compete, put down or hate on other businesses, all the way from the porn industry to having a miniseries on Netflix about sex and relationships, our disruption would be negative. And I believe, in the end we would lose.

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

Stay the course. Stay focused. When the road gets tough you get tougher. Do not give up on your dreams despite what you see and don’t see. You will have many different obstacles, hills, valleys, mountains, oceans and everything else that you can think of that will come your way to get you to quit. Know that for each barrier you encounter there will be (not many) supportive resources (people, businesses, etc.) that will be there to let you know that your dream is alive and to continue the course until you see it come to pass. Allow those moments to resonate inside of you more than the negative. It’ll be hard, but you can do it.
Enjoy the mini successes. When you overcome a challenge that has been set against you, or you accomplish a goal that was so hard to do, find a way to smile when you’re on the other side of it. Find a way to breathe and lift your spirit up and allow it to give you the fuel you need to keep going.
Love. Be sure you love your yourself, your dream, and people while you’re in pursuit of something that doesn’t exist yet.

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

Whew…well, since I am a 51-year-old poler and dancer, I’d like to join forces with certain industries that give room for mature artistic adults to showcase their beauty and sensuality through visual art form. We’ve already started this with our “Skin Anthology” series on YouTube, Vimeo and IG. I’d like to introduce “us” to other mainstage arenas that have overlooked our maturity and consider the young first. Examples would be being a backup dancer to an artist or music group in our age bracket; dating shows that feature people over 50 because as singles, we still want to have companions; or with myself, offer pole and fitness training to mature women and men. There are other things that Finding Erotica has on the horizon and will be disclosed at a later time…lol.

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

Well, first you said “women.” That word alone can be a disruptor. Then throw in being a Black woman and disruption often gets dismissed by being called “an angry Black woman.” We’ve been pushed to the margins for too long and we’re seeing that women’s voices and Black women’s voices are at the heart of every overdue progressive change. So, I’d say that some of the challenges faced are people taking you serious about what you’re trying to do.

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

The book “In Pursuit of Purpose” by Dr. Myles Munroe. Dr. Munroe shares that the largest place where you will find the greatest number of unfinished works, unknown visions and incomplete missions would be the cemetery. This place is full of unborn dreams and unfilled purpose. When reading that I knew that I did not want to die without fulfilling my purpose. So, I knew that when the time came, I would pursue this until I understood what mine was and I set out to accomplish it. The time came when I was at my lowest point in life. Sometimes when you’re at your lowest, you’re more open to hear…in whatever way that is.

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. 🙂

If I could inspire a movement, it would be “The mature are not dead, we can still pursue our dreams.” After the age of 50, it seems like society has given up on us, heck, we’ve given up on ourselves. We’ve either married, had children, lived the fast life, traveled and our bodies and minds reflect that. We stop living life. It becomes very hard to reset and start at a new beginning to know that we can start living life for ourselves.

Some mature understand it, but most do not. I want to influence the mature, specifically mothers, and encourage them that their beauty, sensuality, dreams and dating life can began anew. I can only do this if I’ve done it myself. I can be their example. I made the decision to start taking care of my body once my children left the house, I began to gain confidence in my own beauty and understood who I was when I started poling, competing and then became a pole and fitness instructor and I am now pursuing my dream of having an interactive website that provides information, resources and discussions centered around sex, intimacy and relationships for the mature, post-illness/post-intimacy and people of color.

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

My favorite life lesson quote would be “Just Keep Living”, this was something that my grandmother said all the time. This is applicable to every area and at every stage of life. This could apply to gaining wisdom, going through challenges, learning lessons, aging, understanding yourself and people.

How can our readers follow you online?

Yes, I’m on Instagram as @Xquzit.ladeepole, my Facebook is under my name Sharonette Briggs and my work can always be followed through FindingErotica.com.

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

Thank you for having me. Yes, I hope that I can be an inspiration to someone!

Female Disruptors: Sharonette Briggs 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.

Burton Kelso of Integral: Five Ways To Leverage Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Show Your Industry Expertise. People love people who can help them solve the problems they may encounter in life. Can you help people making awesome meals and desserts, do? DIY videos? Not only for YouTube anymore. When you show off how you or your business can be a help to your connections builds trust and opens doors to business connections and more profits.

As a part of our series about How To Leverage Instagram To Grow Your Business, I had the pleasure of interviewing Burton Kelso.

Burton Kelso is the owner and Chief Tech Expert at Integral, an on-site and remote computer and laptop repair service company for consumers and businesses. He is also a national keynote and technology speaker, a YouTube personality, and a TV Tech Expert regularly appearing on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, News Nation Now, The Black News Channel,Talk.TV and Newsmax offering viewers easy tips on computers, technology, Internet lifestyle, and gadgets. As computers and their related gadgets become more and more part of our everyday lives, he’s here to help you get the most out of your devices. His vision is to remove the frustrations and complexity of computers and technology and open people up to a world of new ideas, experiences, and opportunities. He loves technology, he’s read all of the manuals, and he’s serious about making technology fun. safe, and easy to use for everyone!.

<a href="https://medium.com/media/45f188ea7445bb38e959f29b9283cc93/href">https://medium.com/media/45f188ea7445bb38e959f29b9283cc93/href</a>

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

Thanks for having me! I’ve always been a fan of computers and technology since I was a tween. My mother was the one who introduced me to computers as she somehow saw it was the way of the future. Sure, I loved playing video games, but I loved how computers and technology offered you a way to accomplish everyday tasks such as creating documents, maintaining spreadsheets, working on your accounting, and communicating with people across the globe. Plus, I always love helping people. Technology always has a way of making people feel as if they aren’t part of the cool kids. As someone who always felt like an outcast, I wanted to make people feel included and there’s where my love of helping people with technology came alive.

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

One of the most interesting stories I can share in being in the computer break/fix managed services business is working on the computers and internet service for Johnathan Badeen, co-founder and former Chief Strategy Office at Tinder father. Johnathan called our offices when he was in visiting home because his father was having issues with spotty wifi. He was one of the down to earth people I’ve met, and it was interesting to see he was willing to seek help for issues over his head. He obviously has knowledge about technology, but not when it came to troubleshooting hardware issues.

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?

Years ago when working on a computer, I failed to put my anti-static strap on to prevent from zapping computer parts. The family I was working for had a very friendly dog that kept wanting attention. They put the dog away, but it kept getting out. At one point during the appointment, the dog brushed past me and zapped me which zapped the computer. I took responsibility for the issues and got the computer up and running. The lesson I learned that day was to always be prepared for any scenerio that can arise when you’re in the progress of working onsite at appointments and in life.

Ok. Let’s now move to the main focus of our discussion. For the benefit of our readers, can you explain why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I’ve been on Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter since 2009. I originally used these platforms to show pictures of my sons, but soon discovered it was an excellent tool that I could use to promote myself and my business. While I’m more of a nano or micro influencer, I’ve found that at any level you can create a tribe of followers that will help you grow your business. Like many social media marketers, I’ve delivered presentations to help businesses of any level use social media to tell their story which helps build brand recognition and profitability in business.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook have all been effective in increasing business revenues. Most businesses focus on these platforms to connect with the people to interact with other people. With my technology-based company Integral and in my speaking business, there isn’t anywhere I can go in the country without being recognized. It’s a good problem to have but can be a bit intimidating having people you think are strangers tell you aspects of your life and your company you forgot you shared on social media. The goal is to never have to be introduced when you walk into rooms.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share five ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

There are Four Parts to Instagram, Use Them All. Even though it’s one social media platform, there are Four parts to Instagram, and they all have their place to the Instagram Algorithm and your connections. There’s Standard Instagram, Stories, REELs and IGTV. You want to focus your posts on Reels, Stories, and standard Instagram posts. IGTV which is Instagram’s on version of YouTube, not so much. However, keep in mind that wherever you post on Instagram, you will get high SEO or search engine optimization which means if you choose to have a public Instagram account, you posts will be picked up on Google and other search engines. Make sure you don’t spend a lot of time trying to recreate posts for each different parts of Instagram, share the same content as much as possible to reach a wider audience.
Create a Strong Hashtag Strategy. You can use up to 30 hashtags per post on Instagram. That may sound like a lot but you want to use the ones that are going to connect you with the right follows. On Instagram like LinkedIn, you can follow specific hashtags. If you’re looking to connect with a specific audience, you need to figure out which hashtags they are following. Always start using hashtags that are close to your brand, as well as your geographic location. If you’re looking for broader audience, you need to discover what the top 10 or 20 hashtags are and include those in all of your posts. This means you need to include them in the descriptions of your REELs post.
Always focus on telling your story. Relationships are nothing more than two people relating to each other as people. Remember that people do business with people and of course, they will want to do business only with people they trust. Relationships don’t happen immediately. You build them over time. The best way to make that happen is to share your story on Instagram. Doesn’t matter if you’re sharing what you’re eating, where you’re traveling to or who you know, people want to feel as if they know you. The main key is making sure you’re creative in sharing your story. Video and the creative tools in Instagram Stories and Reels can make your story pop out and bring people more into the chapters of the story you’re trying to share Instagram.
Show Your Industry Expertise. People love people who can help them solve the problems they may encounter in life. Can you help people making awesome meals and desserts, do? DIY videos? Not only for YouTube anymore. When you show off how you or your business can be a help to your connections builds trust and opens doors to business connections and more profits.
Remember, it’s a Marathon. Think of Instagram as the ‘Never Ending Story’. Not ever post you make on Instagram is going to be a home run and that shouldn’t stop you from posting. Focus on posting on things that are trending such as holidays, local, nation and international events. It may take a while to get into the habit of remembering to post which is where tools like Hootsuite can help as far as scheduling posts weeks or months in advance. If you get bored with your posts, remember to change up what you’re posting … and yes that means try to use video in your posts. If you need inspiration to post, always remember McDonalds and Walmart consistently advertise and share content despite being billion-dollar corporations.

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

About 10 ten years ago a movement called the Cash Mob swept the country with a goal of helping small businesses out. The goal was to gather a crowd a likeminded, friendly people to go with cash in hand to help out a small business. Think of it as a surprise party for small businesses. It would be nice to take it a step further and make a single day celebration for a small mom and pop business. Show up and buy things, but also leave positive reviews on social media and on Google. Have each person share to their community how great and special this business is. All businesses need a boost from time to time and it would be great to show our mom-and-pop businesses how much we love them.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

Burton Kelso of Integral: Five Ways To Leverage Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Modern Fashion: Léa Daaboul of Léa The Label On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion…

Modern Fashion: Léa Daaboul of Léa The Label On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today

An Interview With Candice Georgiadice

There is so much pressure for designers to launch their greatest collection season after season. It’s always challenging being a slower and emerging brand in a fast-moving industry. As the brand evolves it’s a priority to take a step back, slow down and stay true to yourself to maintain the ethos of the brand and allow room for creativity and inspiration. We believe in quality over quantity.

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Léa Daaboul, of Léa The Label.

Founded by Léa Daaboul, with a deep-rooted connection to the wonders of the ocean, influenced by the holistic beach culture of wellbeing and wide visions of sustainability, it was surrounded by the harmonious energy of the sea where Léa the Label was born. Travel, nature, architecture and interiors helped fuse their passions of wellness and design to create minimalistic chic swimwear designed in harmony with the planet.

Léa the Label exudes an ethereal sense of understated elegance by offering timeless collections designed with intention.

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

Growing up during my childhood between the Mediterranean and the West and brought up in an entrepreneurial family, travel plays a dominant role in my inspiration from the design process to shooting our campaigns. I am inspired by my travels and experiences having lived around the world with an appreciation for culture, art, style and yoga, as I have also been an instructor for many years now, something I am very passionate about, all of which have played a part in the birth of the brand. We currently manufacture responsibly in Bali, one of my preferred serene islands to unwind and recharge, a place where the yoga, beach culture and sustainable visions are widely common.

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

During my university years in Paris, I worked and interned in tradeshows and showrooms representing multiple brands. It was a proud moment to be back in Paris this summer and represent my own brand for the first time after all these years.

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

Passion — I strongly believe that passion is the definition of success. It’s about absolutely loving what you do and enjoying the journey instead of only the result and this will be the motivation every day to naturally succeed as it is almost manifested in a way.

Perseverance — Perseverance takes practice as it is challenging to build confidence in such a competitive industry. It’s important to take in criticism, learn from the failures and not give up, which brings me to my next character trait: Consistency.

Consistency — Consistency is key especially for a fashion brand. It’s the only way consumers will really get to know what your brand ethos is all about and begin to connect with you on a personal level season after season.

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

I will keep this as simple as possible as I am strong believer in manifestation for anything you desire in life.

“If you can envision it and believe it, you can have it”

Absolutely, many brands are now making the conscious effort to shift to more sustainable fabrics and packaging especially in the swim industry as the supply of eco-friendly fabrics is available now more than ever.

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

Fashion is growing rapidly, and new collections are created weekly, while this inexpensively increases brand profits, the amount of waste is substantial. Our concept is more focused on supporting the slow fashion movement with minimal and timeless collections and avoiding fast-fashion and mass production to allow more time for creativity and construction. We want to focus more on ethical fashion using the highest luxury eco-friendly Italian fabrics for a reasonable price and offer staple and unique pieces to ensure our consumers that their swimwear is still durable and in style seasons on end. These timeless designs can also be worn from day to night, beach to resort and mix and matched from season to season. While taking a more positive approach on sustainability, we focus on less waste, environmental concerns and help reduce toxic working conditions. We also love to support small family businesses; our recent eco-conscious resort collection is atelier made locally. Most of our packaging is also made in Lebanon to give back to our community of origin. We also have recently created a gift with purchase with natural soaps made by local artisans in Lebanon, you can see more details in the following link; https://leathelabel.com/blogs/blog/lea-soap-an-exclusive-wellness-gift-to-celebrate-you-this-holiday Léa the Label is not just a swim and resort brand it’s a lifestyle. (More answers in question 8)

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

In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, we created all of our Léa the Label premium swimwear with the highest luxe eco-friendly Italian fabrics in collaboration with ECONYL®

Reducing global warming impact by using ECONYL® regenerated nylon. ECONYL® yarns are regenerated endless times preserving the same quality and improving the elasticity and efficacy of the fabrics essentially making our swimwear last for reasons on end.

All our swims are sustainable and created from post and pre-consumer waste. Our resort ready to wear and sarongs are created from natural, biodegradable and certified organic fabrics.

There is so much pressure for designers to launch their greatest collection season after season. It’s always challenging being a slower and emerging brand in a fast-moving industry. As the brand evolves it’s a priority to take a step back, slow down and stay true to yourself to maintain the ethos of the brand and allow room for creativity and inspiration. We believe in quality over quantity.

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

-Passion

-Mentorship

-Leadership

-Supportive team

-Innovation

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

Sustainable visions and supply are more common now and they are available to help brands and consumers make small changes that could improve their carbon footprint. I also believe that everyone in the industry should have brand awareness and do proper research about who they dive into business with, whether they are suppliers, photographers, pr agencies etc. to make sure they are supporting original businesses as many brands are being copied by companies focused on fast fashion.

I wouldn’t start a new movement; however, I would strongly continue supporting existing organizations and collective movements in regards to cleaning up our oceans that currently still lack awareness and education.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

We are available online on www.leathelabel.com and you can keep up to date with us regularly on social media @lea_thelabel

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

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

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Merck KGaA’s Renee Connolly On The 5 Leadership Lessons She…

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Merck KGaA’s Renee Connolly On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Be both reliable and surprising. When you’ve been at a company for a long time, most of your colleagues will assume that they basically know what they’re going to get from you. A better idea: Keep them on their toes. As admirable as consistency is, don’t forget to surprise yourself — and others — every now and then. If you don’t usually make much of an impact at meetings, for example, practice speaking out and taking a stance. Getting out of your comfort zone can ensure you keep things interesting, maximize your growth and are not taken for granted.

As a part of our series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech,” we had the pleasure of interviewing Renee Connolly.

Renee Connolly is Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer and Head of Innovation HR Engagement & Inclusion for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. In this current role, Renee drives the strategic advancement and cultural implementation of the company’s global DE&I efforts at an enterprise level. A journalist by education, working mom by choice, and change-maker by nature, Renee enjoys contributing to organizations focused on building better communities, supporting early-in-career women professionals, nurturing cultures where everyone belongs to bring greatness to their work and encouraging the next generation of scientists, engineers and data analysts. Today, Renee is a board member for the International Women’s Forum — Massachusetts, American Cancer Society’s New England Region, Massachusetts Conference for Women and Home for Little Wanderers.

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

My original plan was to host a talkshow, hence the background in journalism. But like many, life’s circumstances — in my case, the unfortunate loss of my mom when I was only a senior in college — shed light on a world of “simplifying science” for general audiences to understand. I dedicated my career to putting my curiosity to work and have carried my communications competency and love for community involvement to joining the fields of public relations, corporate social responsibility and now diversity, equity and inclusion. I learned that I am deeply committed to “greatness” and bringing out the best in a person, in a company, in my team and in myself. The work I do both in the office and in the charity area provides me with the capacity to ensure I am staying true to my commitment to simplify science so that we can all not only share in the amazing advancements that are driving human progress but have a broader sense of understanding.

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

I have always been taught that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. One of my most precious moments was when we brought together a well-known children’s choir with our company’s orchestra (yes, a company orchestra — one of the few) in celebration of our 350th anniversary and they performed together in front of hundreds of people. It was one of those WOW moments. A person told me always treat every experience, every person, every event like it is “opening night.” Well, that was literally an opening night, and to all who said it couldn’t be done — we did it!

I had a sign hanging in my office that someone gave me early in my career which said, “mistakes are welcome, we can’t learn without them.” For me, it is calculating the risk and empowering people to fly — but knowing when the “caution lights” are on and they need a wing person to balance and support. Based on my experience, I don’t pounce on a mistake that one of my team members makes. I ask clarifying questions and give them space to share their thought process and use follow-up questions to help them connect the dots and understand the ‘why’ behind the mistake and what we can collectively learn from it. I instituted “MISS” meetings as part of my monthly updates with the teams where we review what the “miss” was in the execution, or the creation — it’s kind of funny now that they joke and say — ‘we don’t want a “miss”’ — so they have them before the meetings or programs even start!

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

I know it is cliché, but my company stands out because of the people — that’s why I have journeyed through various responsibilities for nearly 20 years here. We have individuals whose rich experiences and differences weave a tapestry of individualism, support and common mission that I embrace every day. I am a relationship person and the other day I received one of the nicest notes from a person who is now on my team. Following the public announcement of a promotion of a colleague who I am super proud of, she texted me and said, “Renee I just wanted to let you know how heartwarming it was to see you so genuinely pleased and excited about the new appointment. You looked so proud, and it reinforced to me how much you love to see people succeed. Thank you.” That sums it up: I love to see others succeed and be a part of their journey and nurture them — and I’m proud to work with many people who share this same cause.

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

We are in the midst of launching a proprietary enterprise-wide program called Inclusive Leaders Workshop (ILW) to all our people managers around the globe. This workshop is facilitated by one of more than 100 volunteer employees who embrace inclusion, with the goal of fostering discussions around six real-life company “case studies” and having a conversation on how we can be more inclusive colleagues and build a culture of greater belonging. I love it because the discussions are rich in insights — and seeing the light bulb go off for even the simplest of things is very rewarding. We are on a journey in the DE&I space no matter where you are in a company or in the world and that journey is a mind-shifting exercise for people to see things they may not have seen or considered before.

The short answer is no, but I am encouraged by the progress. I think we need to look at STEM with multiple lenses — those of data analytics and bench science and engineering — and continue to help young students see opportunity for them. This is why I love our Curiosity Cube®, which is a shipping container that has been retrofitted as a mobile science lab. We take “the Cube” to schools in underserved communities across the U.S. and Europe as a vehicle for sparking interest in science. My nine-year-old daughter has been telling me she wants to go into some sort of service job when she get older, then the other day out of the blue she said “mom, I want to be an engineer.” I asked why the switch. We had been renovating our kitchen and she saw the plans and it sparked an interest in architecture. I think the lesson is the consciousness of every exposure matters so we need to have meaningful exposure to the sciences and technology that grabs their interest and then keeps them engaged. Helping the next generation see practical application is key.

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

There are challenges at various levels, but perhaps a delineating factor is the support or executive sponsorship of women in STEM. In a sector that has not traditionally seen women in roles at all levels, we need to engage more effectively both men and women throughout their development journeys, giving them exposure to the training required to grow in their STEM field as well as providing opportunities for people in other roles and functions to make a career pivot in a STEM field. We must both nurture and lead by example in this space. I am proud that we have appointed Laura Matz as our Chief Technology Officer and she is bringing new thinking about our approach to recruiting, training and embedding a technology mindset in our everyday business.

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

One myth that I want to dispel is that, as a woman, you’re here to be a sponge and not to lead the conversations. You can do both — and you should do both! As a communicator at heart, I am the first to admit that I don’t come from a scientific background and likely not the STEM expert at any given table. But I am an expert In what I do, and that’s what I’ve earned to have my seat at that table. It’s something I’ve seen in the DE&I space as well. There are so many perspectives to listen and learn from. Having the mindset of continuous learning is so critical to making progress In this space. But It’s also important to take a stand and lead the discussion where you know you offer expertise and a perspective that others need to learn from. Also important is to remember that give-and-take is a two-way street — and sometimes you have to be strong about reminding people why you’ve earned your place.

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

Be both reliable and surprising. When you’ve been at a company for a long time, most of your colleagues will assume that they basically know what they’re going to get from you. A better idea: Keep them on their toes. As admirable as consistency is, don’t forget to surprise yourself — and others — every now and then. If you don’t usually make much of an impact at meetings, for example, practice speaking out and taking a stance. Getting out of your comfort zone can ensure you keep things interesting, maximize your growth and are not taken for granted.
Let go of the idea that everyone must like you. If you’re an authentic person, what people see is what they get with you. When you stop trying to toggle back and forth between several different versions of yourself to please various audiences, it’s possible you will be somewhat polarizing. There will be people who both love you and hate you. The trick is to become okay with that. By being authentic, people may not like you, but they will trust that what you say is the honest truth.
Believe that anything is possible. Be the person in your company who believes that there is no mountain that’s too big to climb with the right resources, the right thinking and the right people. The best way to do this is to nurture an inclusive environment where everyone is given the opportunity to excel, not only within the company but within their careers.
Make yourself proud. Consider your actions when you’re all alone, when no one’s there to catch you doing something right and to praise you. Make sure you respect yourself when no one’s watching just as much as you do when you’re commanding a boardroom full of executives. That is what true character is: how you show up when no one is watching.
Leave a mark. When I think about the legacy my father continues to create, I can see so clearly that it’s focused on the power of humility, the importance of hard work and the benefits of unconditional love and family. It’s a worthwhile exercise to think about what you want your own legacy to be. If it’s not something you can accomplish solely through your career or your relationships, seek out other ways to make an impact. For example, find a nonprofit where you can give your time, talent and treasure to a cause that aligns with your life’s purpose.

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

Forget leading and try guiding instead. To guide a team through a veritable mountain of changes and obstacles, consider ways you can help walk alongside them instead of in front of them, lightening their load where you can and reminding them often of the end goal. Anticipating that there will be twists and turns along the way, learn to read your employees well enough that you can discern whether it’s time to encourage them to take a breather or to drive them further.

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

In my experience, a “mountain guide” style of leadership is just as effective in a corporate setting (where tasks can sometimes feel simply insurmountable) as it is along a snowy mountain path. It’s a leadership style that balances creativity and empathy with boundless drive. To help your employees reach their highest potential:

Make it about them. While it can be tempting for leaders to reflect fondly on their own career paths, this has little bearing on how your employees can or will perform. Keep your focus on your direct reports’ improvement versus your own story. By all means, use relevant teaching stories, but make them brief and be sure to connect the dots between the story you’re telling and your employee’s situation.
Listen up. When an employee says something isn’t working, listen carefully so you can provide relevant feedback and finetune your understanding of each person’s expertise and personality. This will help you to more easily create an environment where everyone can bring their best thinking to the table, dividing and conquering here and working together as a team there.
Be a confidence creator. Treat everyone with respect regardless of where they are in the corporate ‘food chain.’ Listen carefully and be intentional. Invest in understanding their interests and passions and helping them along. If you pull out the best in people, you can drive them to believe they can achieve the impossible — and that gives them the resilience to keep learning, keep growing and keep tasking risks to advance their career.

When guided by this sort of leader, employees often don’t even realize they’re being led until they turn around to find they’ve achieved new heights — both in their career and for the company.

I’m most grateful for my husband who has celebrated every career milestone by my side and has been a true partner in terms of how we manage our family and household. And I’m grateful to my children because they’ve always appreciated the passion I have for my work and also have been my biggest cheerleaders. We tease that I am the CMO in our household — meaning Chief Mom Officer — my proudest job.

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

Growing up, I disliked math and science. I would have even told you I “hated” it, much to my engineer father’s chagrin. Now that I work for a top life science company, I have come to love what science can do to impact people’s lives.

When I reflect on my aversion to math and science during those formative years, I attribute it to feeling discouraged very early on. Because I didn’t easily understand certain concepts, I simply thought I wasn’t good at these subjects.

With this in mind, with the partnership of an amazing team we spearheaded an initiative at our company to provide our youth with hands-on learning opportunities across different disciplines and make science more interesting and exciting to them. I also challenged my team to focus our efforts on schools with large concentrations of low-income students. The outcome of this effort was to launch a mobile science lab — The Curiosity Cube® — that could bring the experience of science to children around the U.S.

My favorite thing to observe is the change in a child’s demeanor from the beginning of an experiment, when they’re clearly feeling apprehensive and tentative, to when they realize, “I can do this!” You can see their confidence building right before your eyes. For those who really love math and science, this confidence might materialize within the first five minutes. But for someone like me, who preferred reading and history, it might not happen until the last five minutes. No matter when it happens, if we can get a child just that much more excited for science class the next day, I truly believe it can have a domino effect.

Since launching The Curiosity Cube in 2017, we’ve visited more than 300 communities across the U.S. and Canada and just launched our inaugural tour in Europe. And what I find most gratifying is that 95% of students said their understanding of science improved after visiting The Cube.

For me, it would be to establish a “pro bono” corporate pipeline. Sometimes money is the answer — but oftentimes I think donating our skills is an even better contribution to a good cause. When you’re gifted at something that can help elevate a meaningful mission, your expertise can go a long way for smaller nonprofits and grassroots community initiatives. I think that’s important to incorporate in large corporations or teams where you have the people resources to not just “do well” but “do good” by extending a helping hand to others.

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

You get what you give. I have seen it play out in my own life and career and really believe that you must put forth what you hope to receive from others. I have a stand for myself this year especially — “I am a treasured magnet” — which helps me to instill confidence in myself and those I encounter to reinforce the magic is in the relationship.

Well, my family and I are huge America football fans so top of my list if I was bringing them with me would be someone who is making a difference not just because of their athletic skills but also their off-the-field work to help local causes and communities. However, in recent weeks as I have watched the passing of the “Queen of England,” I must admit that I would have loved to have a private meeting with her. By what has been portrayed she was an amazingly resilient woman who was far beyond her age and time in the mature impact she brought to tradition. I could have listened for hours to her stories of what she endured and how she pushed forward.

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

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Merck KGaA’s Renee Connolly On The 5 Leadership Lessons She… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Lauren Imparato of The Association On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and…

Female Founders: Lauren Imparato of The Association On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Entrepreneurship will be one of the biggest emotional rollercoasters of your life — get ready for the ride! There are countless highs and lows and you need to be prepared to roll with all of them and learn along the way.

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

Lauren Imparato is an innovator, entrepreneur, author, world-renowned speaker, and Co-Founder + CEO of The Association — a global organization of ambitious, extraordinary, go-getting women. Lauren has become revered as one of the globe’s top entrepreneurship experts and keynote speakers after having left her corporate job on Wall Street to self-start one of the first boutique fitness and wellness companies in 2009. She thrives on creating something out of nothing and turning back of the napkin ideas into reality.

Absolutely. I have had a non-linear career path with lots of turns and transitions. Upon graduating from Princeton University, I began my career on the trading floor of Wall Street. After stints starting businesses for the firm in New York, London, Istanbul and Latin America, I quit my job as VP of Morgan Stanley Fixed Income in 2009 to self-start I.AM.YOU., which was a first of its kind health, wellness & fitness company. I operated and scaled profitable digital, brick & mortar, and cpg verticals, and wrote a multi-country Best Selling book, RETOX (Penguin Random House, 2016), which led me to ample speaking opportunities for audiences of ten thousand on the Great Lawn of Central Park and two to three thousand each in Times Square, Madrid, Barcelona, Panama, opening weekend in Ibiza, the Cannes Film Festival, and more.

After a decade, I exited I.AM.YOU. and have since advised a portfolio of companies on the nexus of business and brand strategies. I additionally write on Between the Waves, am a lecturer at Princeton University, a Member of the Board of HearMe and Delphos Holdings, a Board Advisor for LYNK, Lada, Aphrodite Health, Women in Innovation, and The Sunny Center Foundation, as well as the Chief of Staff and Chief Branding Officer of Delphos Capital, a women-run Impact Investment Group. Most recently, I co-founded The Association, a first of its kind global leadership community of ambitious, extraordinary career women.

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

As a non-feminist feminist, it has been interesting to see and experience the many nuances that are involved when working with women. Women operate so differently than men do — from scheduling and styles of communication to sensitivity points, response times, and directness. All of this has really come to light since launching The Association. When my business partner, Janelle Hallier, and I first started interviewing prospective members, I don’t think we realized the degree of these nuances and how important they are to recognize in order to help women succeed. It took us time to figure out how best to deal with this reality, and as a result, we had to tweak our method to ensure it caters to women and all of our varying complexities. Now, after having interviewed thousands of women and counting, we know what to expect when working exclusively with women — even seemingly small things like our members having multiple names and figuring out which is the right one! Women have married names, maiden names, professional names, etc., and this is all part of the process.

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?

There have been so many mistakes and blunders along the way and I truly feel like most of them are funny in retrospect. When I first began my career, I was working as an analyst on the trading floor at Morgan Stanley, and this was before there was any kind of instant messaging technology we have now. There was a situation where I needed to ensure a colleague got an important message so I took off running down the staircase to the floor below to deliver the message and in my haste, the tip of my boot got caught on the bottom of my pants, and I went flying down the very public staircase as a young, frazzled first-year analyst for everyone to see. From that very embarrassing mistake, I learned that taking just two seconds longer is the right move, even when something feels urgent. Allowing yourself to take an extra moment can often prevent you from making embarrassing (or dangerous!) mistakes and I’ve taken that lesson into every step of my entrepreneurship journey.

My husband is the reason I am where I am today. He is my best friend, biggest supporter, and an unwavering partner. With his support, I worked up the courage to leave my job at Morgan Stanley to start my first business, I.AM.YOU, a first-of-its-kind fitness and wellness brand. He was even the one who helped me realize I was ready for another new chapter and exit I.AM.YOU. a decade later. We weren’t yet married but we were living together and he took on a lot of responsibility at home which gave me the space to turn my dreams into a reality. He has been there with me every step of the way through all my transitions, including post the I.AM.YOU. exit, figuring out what I wanted t o do next, and founding The Association.

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

I think the lack of a supportive partner or partners is a huge obstacle for many women who have dreams of being a founder. In my experience, it is impossible to be successful without a supportive partner. Entrepreneurship is a game of highs and lows and growing a business is like raising a child in many ways — it requires a lot of love and attention, and having a partner who understands that is key to your success. It’s not the same as going into a corporate job where you’re receiving a steady paycheck — you have to work on weekends and holidays and you are always running the show. I think motherhood is another big challenge that holds many women back from entrepreneurship. I.AM.YOU was my first child and once I left that business, I felt a kind of empty nest syndrome. Having to go through an experience like that while having an actual child would be extremely difficult.

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?

Recognizing if you are struggling in an unsupportive partnership is one hard reality many women have to face and address in order to succeed in entrepreneurship. Additionally, having a group of trusted peers and unbiased voices of reason to bounce ideas off of and troubleshoot with is a great solution to overcoming obstacles. This is the whole purpose behind The Association. We curate each member’s Personal Board of Directors to help each woman assess and achieve their greatest goals, challenges and opportunities in their careers and lives. And while there are countless women’s groups out there, there are very few that cut through the noise of negativity and competition to actually empower and energize each woman to be the best versions of themselves — especially in an un-biased way. At The Association, we’re hyper-focused on uplifting the individual and the collective. Lastly, I think that setting clear boundaries for yourself and your company is important to succeeding and overcoming the entrepreneurship hurdles. I had no boundaries with my first business, but I have learned to create them and now I carve out sacred time away from my business or else I will get burned out.

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

Women make such excellent founders because we are creative and often bring out-of-the-box ideas to the table. We also have the ability to multitask well. I know there is a lot out there that says multitasking isn’t actually a thing, but it is, and you have to be able to do it to a certain extent as an entrepreneur because there is so much to juggle. Women have been multitasking for generations, balancing work and home lives, and we tend to be better at it.

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

A lot of people perceive entrepreneurship through rose-colored glasses and think it’s incredibly glamorous based on the way it is portrayed by the media and social media, but more often than not, it is really hard work! You have to wear many hats and constantly clean up problems, which is anything but sexy. You may be the CEO of your company but that doesn’t make you immune from having to get down in the trenches to do administrative tasks or deal with the harsh realities of not always having a steady paycheck or having to work when everyone else is sleeping. I have worked during every single holiday since I left my job at Morgan Stanley because they tend to be quieter times when I can really buckle down and get things done. These real stories matter and I think more founders need to be honest about them rather than contributing to this narrative about it all being so easy. Being a founder is incredibly rewarding but I would be lying if I didn’t say that it is hard and takes a lot of time and dedication.

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?

No, not everyone is cut out for it at all. The ability to deal with rejection and take it well is absolutely critical as a founder, as you will likely be rejected more often than not. You have to be able to pick yourself up and keep taking shots, the way that athletes do, all while having the discipline to set your own deadlines and meet them. Having ideas is important, but being able to execute them in any way that is necessary to get the job done is vital to being a founder and that may require wearing lots of hats. Beyond having thick skin and being a self-starter, if you don’t do well without set structure, pursuing a “regular job” as an employee with more of that in place might be a better suited career path for you — and that is okay! We need great employees for our businesses to succeed!

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.)

Entrepreneurship will be one of the biggest emotional rollercoasters of your life — get ready for the ride! There are countless highs and lows and you need to be prepared to roll with all of them and learn along the way.
Entrepreneurship is more tiring than a corporate job. This differs from draining because you’re fueled by your business but it can be all-consuming and oftentimes we don’t take breaks like we do as an employee.
You have to wear many different hats and assume lots of responsibilities. This came naturally to me but it is something I have had to tell a lot of other aspiring entrepreneurs. You have to spend time in the trenches doing the things you may not necessarily want to do, but that’s all part of the journey.
Asking for help is not a bad thing! Men are always asking for help in business while women are less likely to lean on others. I think a lot of women perceive it as a sign of weakness when in reality, it doesn’t make you weaker, but stronger.
Be prepared to face rejection. You will be rejected often so learning how to deal with that and handling it gracefully is a skill you need to hone.

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

I honestly have not set out to make the world a better place as a whole, but I think that helping people through my businesses over the years has had a collective impact. When I created I.AM.YOU in 2009, I wanted to make fitness accessible during a time when it was not at all readily available to people. I.AM.YOU was a pioneer in boutique fitness, which was not even a fully formed industry yet and I’m proud to have been a leader in bringing that to more people and helping to standardize that space which is still booming today. With The Association, Janelle and I have used what we’ve learned as entrepreneurs over the years to perfect our leadership organization’s method that helps our members succeed in their own careers and lives. Playing a role in helping women thrive is very important to me.

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.

It sounds simple, but the movement I would want to inspire is the mere act of responding to each other. When we acknowledge and respond to others, we feel more connected and I think if we all took the opportunity to further connect with people outside of our immediate circles, we would find ourselves in a better place.

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.

It would be an honor to break bread with Michael Jordan (living) and/or Tom Petty (dead). Both of them have been my idols since I was a child because while they are in completely separate industries, they both became the best of all time in their respective fields through the same tactics — dedication and never-ending practice. They spent countless hours perfecting their crafts which gave them staying power. They embody the spirit of how hard work breeds success and continue to inspire me as a leader.

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

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

Female Founders: Lexi Miles Corrin of WAXON Laser + Waxbar On The Five Things You Need To Thrive…

Female Founders: Lexi Miles Corrin of WAXON Laser + Waxbar On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Team: build a team that will challenge you. Build a team that are not ‘YES’ people. They will tell you what they think and challenge you to do and be better as a leader. The first and second people you hire as leaders in your business will set and carry forward the culture you have built, it’s important to make sure these people are aligned with your vision for the company.

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

Lexi is the Founder and CEO of WAXON Laser + Waxbar, an innovative beauty concept specializing in hair removal for men and women on-the-go looking for convenient and high-quality services without the steep price tag. Launched in 2012, WAXON Laser + Waxbar now includes 14 locations across the country, with plans for further expansion in 2022.

A champion for empowering women in business, Lexi has been a keynote speaker and panelist for various organizations and preeminent universities including the Rotman School of Management and Queen’s University, providing entrepreneurial advice and inspiration to aspiring female leaders. She is passionate about giving back to her community, supporting several non-profits including One Girl Can. Lexi is also featured regularly in the media speaking to beauty trends, how to run a successful business and life as a female entrepreneur. Lexi resides in Toronto with her husband, daughter, Piper, son, Clark and newborn twins Nash & Violet.

While working as a consultant primarily in the U.S., I was exposed to the wax bar business concept. I found it such a fascinating niche to have a company that was more than the local dive shop that did your nails and had a questionable wax bed in the back room, and yet was also more affordable than a high end spa. I loved that the concept was simple and to the point — hair removal. Upon returning to Canada, I searched for something similar and found there really was nothing available. So logically, I abandoned my promising career with absolutely no esthetic experience to start my own. Ten years later, here we are.

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

I would say it was my decision to launch laser hair removal. I always thought we would just be wax bars. I had never considered any other form of body hair removal, which in hindsight was fairly short sighted. Sometimes as leaders we can get so ingrained in the day to day that we can’t see the forest for the trees. We all need to take a step back and have the ability to think big. Now it’s such a major part of our business and our brand.

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?

Well there was that time when I thought I had been through enough WAXON training to declare myself a waxologist and I attempted to wax our head of operation’s underarms. That did NOT work out well. And to make matters worse, I made a second attempt during our COVID closure by waxing (or at least trying to) my bikini area. Safe to say I will definitely be leaving this up to the experts in future. We have stringent training and processes in place for a reason and I am so grateful that we have an amazing team of waxologists with expertise and experience.

Although possibly cliche I would have to say Adam, my husband. We actually met when I was exploring the idea of franchising WAXON. He and his brother agreed to meet with me to provide some coaching and guidance, being experts in their own right through their franchise company, Freshii. And all these years later, he is still very much a sounding board, a support both in business and in life and a big thinker, just like me.

I think it’s a combination of things. First, and most important, that even in today’s times, women simply do not feel empowered enough to take the leap. The risk is still too high. Getting loans, investors, business partners and being taken seriously as a woman with a real business idea is a challenge. And just like we need those before us to set the path, I believe the more of us that challenge the norm, the more will follow.

That is why I am so closely connected to an amazing charity called One Girl Can that we support heavily at WAXON. It is an organization empowering women in Africa through education — in school and trades — but also the knowledge that equality is a right that they deserve. We have to do the work here in North America, but we also have to help our fellow women in parts of the world that are further behind so that we can see change globally.

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

Education is key. Teaching equality from a young age, showcasing powerful women in schools. Talking to our young girls, but also to our young boys about equality. In my own company, I am hyper focused on creating a real path for everyone that works with us. For creating a safe space for them to explore and grow. We employ predominantly women and I get jazzed every time someone moves up in our company. We celebrate each other and all our milestones.

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?

Well first of all, as a founder and also a mom, I just have to say that women have so many superpowers — like the ability to multitask.

I believe in leading by example. If my hardships, and my success can influence another to follow the path to entrepreneurship, I have won.

There is a saying that goes something like — teach a man and he will teach one other, teach a woman and she will teach the world. Women are inherently a community. We exist to lift each other up.

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

Myth: Failure is bad.

Failure is great. It means you are a step closer to success. Even if you risk it all and fail, you can rebuild again and you will be stronger for it. As entrepreneurs, we need a thick skin and a strong ability to see failure as an opportunity to grow. I encourage our team to embrace their failures all the time. I think vulnerability is crucial in leadership.

I believe there are founders and there are followers. And both are great and necessary. But I also believe anyone can be a founder if they want it enough. Passion is an absolute prerequisite in being able to handle the commitment and ownership it takes to make an idea a reality. Now with the pandemic, we are seeing that more and more.

Channel your inner risk taker, your vision and imagination, your big picture “what if” thinking. And of course, once you become a leader, a founder is humble, leads by example, and is vulnerable and strong at the same time.

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 am a big believer in leading a business through a solid foundation of core values and I often think how beneficial it would have been to know these core values going into building the WAXON business. So here is what guides me and my team:

Adapt: there are SO many roadblocks that entrepreneurs face along the way that make you feel like you should just throw in the towel. What the operations of WAXON looked like when I first opened versus what it looks like today is very different.
Be Humble: know your weaknesses even more intimately than you know your strengths. Be willing to admit what you aren’t as good at and surround yourself with a team that makes up for those weaknesses.
Team: build a team that will challenge you. Build a team that are not ‘YES’ people. They will tell you what they think and challenge you to do and be better as a leader. The first and second people you hire as leaders in your business will set and carry forward the culture you have built, it’s important to make sure these people are aligned with your vision for the company.
Ownership: As the founder you get to take ownership of the wins but you also need to take ownership of all the failures and there will be a lot of them. But by taking ownership, learning and growing, very soon your gains will start to outweigh your misses and then you start to really soar.
Be Real: transparency, honesty and radical candor. Having battled people pleasing tendencies myself, I’ve learned time and time again that ‘being clear is kind’. There is a difference between optimistic but realistic vs. wearing rose coloured glasses and hoping for the best. Plan to be the best and when things aren’t going in that direction, be real about it and how you can redirect the ship to achieve your goals.

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

As mentioned earlier, I have always ensured a charitable alignment with WAXON. We have, over the years, contributed to many organizations that hold meaning with us and with our guests. But we also use those opportunities to raise awareness. So we can use our platform to share about important issues in the world, to educate and to contribute. We are more than a wax bar — we are an organization that is creating a safe space for our team and our guests, we are all equal, we strive to always educate ourselves, we support our community and we always grow because of that.

Personally, I’m going through a big phase of growth, having just expanded my family from 4 to 6, welcoming twins into our lives. It really has put a lot of perspective on how truly lucky I am to have the ability and flexibility to do it all. It really motivates me more to want to give this to more people. To empower more women to own their own business, whether that’s through a WAXON franchise, or through my ability to support and mentor someone in a completely different field. I have always dreamed about building a fund to support women entrepreneurs. I hope to be able to do that in the coming years.

Just one?! There are so many women who are challenging the norms and smashing glass ceilings that I would love to learn from. Top of my list would be Sarah Blakely, CEO of Spanx. I mean what a story. I have followed her for years and I am so impressed with her persistence, her ability to find another door when the one in front of her closed, her consistency and ultimately her massive success. As an entrepreneur I would just kill to pick her brain.

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

Female Founders: Lexi Miles Corrin of WAXON Laser + Waxbar On The Five Things You Need To Thrive… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Leslie Marmol of Virago Swim On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as…

Female Founders: Leslie Marmol of Virago Swim On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Stop waiting for the perfect time to magically appear. Whether in your professional or personal life it will never be the perfect time. Just begin and figure it out as you go. I felt my responsibilities for my children and my household would not allow me the freedom to create something on the side. I held myself back for many years until I realized that the only person holding myself back was myself.

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

Founded by Leslie Marmol, Virago Swim is a luxury swimwear label inspired by women. The term Virago defines a strong, resilient, heroic female warrior. Her vision with every collection is to create designs that will make every woman feel empowered, elegant, and sexy.

I knew I wanted to pursue a career in fashion since I was a child. I always loved being able to express my creative side, particularly when it comes to designing. It’s something I’ve wanted for many years. No matter what stage in life I was in, the desire never quelled. I felt I had to give this dream a chance and see where this would take me. It is a powerful outlet for me. It completes me.

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

An interesting time was the creation of Virago Swim’s very first campaign. Historically campaigns are something that are done locally and in house. A campaign allows you to showcase your items in photos by storytelling. Due to the pandemic I had to put my trust into complete strangers in executing this for me. I created visuals for them that including the suits, styling, makeup, hair, and my vision of ambience. I am always hands on when it comes to anything I work on. As you can imagine this was a bit unnerving allowing someone else to put together a vision that I created. It taught me so much about taking risks, delegating tasks, and trusting others. I am very grateful for this experience and my team.

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

A funny mistake was not being familiar with spray tans. We were in the middle of doing a fitting for a fashion show and one of the swimsuits had a bronze smear on it. I learned very quickly that I needed to make sure I always carry a tide pen with me! Luckily for me my sister, whose purse would resemble a convenience store, was nearby and came to save the day just before show time.

As they say it takes an army. My family and friends are such an amazing support system in my life. My husband Adalberto, who has always believed in me and has always reminded me of what I can achieve. I would also like to mention my aunt Mary Mena who took it upon herself to take me to the design district for the very first time after briefly mentioning my interest as a teenager. She introduced me to all it takes to create a piece, from deciding on different fabric types, sketching, creating patterns, and so much more.

In a world dominated by males, women are seldom taken seriously. We unfortunately live in a world where the expectation for many years is that the woman’s only role is to be a caregiver. We have fought and continue fighting against this stigma. We live in a constant state of having to prove ourselves and time and time again have shown that we can do it all. These social expectations have tried to place us in a box and limit us. It is time for society to start believing and empowering others. Imagine all that we could accomplish if we supported one another in our journeys instead of trying to dictate how others should live their lives.

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?

As individuals we must place focus on how we interact with each other as human beings. Are we being the best and most powerful version to ourselves and others? If we moved from a place of compassion, understanding and equality skies would be the limit. Something I strongly believe in is seeing yourself in others. We could grow as a society if we lived by this and thought this way. To achieve social integration and inclusion our voice and concerns must be heard. As a society we must recognize how our choices can make an impact towards a group of people. All the while working on solutions that will help empower said group. At a government level one way we can help overcome these kinds of obstacles is to get creative with our tax breaks for corporations. These tax breaks should also be used to incentivize corporations to build a workplace that is representative of societies’ demographics. Women make up half the population yet only 15% of CEOs are women. I think if a corporation can make the effort to have a workplace where half its employees are women, at all levels, the government can reward them accordingly.

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?

Gender diversity creates diversity of thought. We should encourage social inclusion and try to ensure equal opportunities for all. There are so many benefits in having Women in positions of leadership. We offer a different perspective that can help contribute successful changes. Women are also capable of greatness. Society benefits from diversity.

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

A few myths that I would like to dispel about being a founder is that entrepreneurs can focus on what they love doing and will have so much free time. The reality is that you will be wearing many different hats and you will learn to do things you never imagined. Most startup businesses don’t have the capital to hire a team to handle these tasks for you. You are forced to learn everything from scratch as you go. When I began, I thought I could focus on what I love, which is creating. You soon find out that is not that case, and that you must learn your business inside out. I’ve become so knowledgeable in areas I never thought would be a part of this process.

Many believe that once you have your own business you will have free time. Being an entrepreneur takes commitment and nonstop work to keep it running. You are responsible for every detail that goes along with it and there is no one there to keep you on track or to guide you. Your business becomes your baby, and it needs all your attention. There is always something that you could be working on to make your business greater. Very soon after starting your business you realize that you must work harder to create a work life balance.

I believe both being a founder and an employee are equally important and require similar traits. You must be disciplined, determined, and willing to work with others. What gives you fulfillment will determine your journey. Being a founder is an incredibly difficult job and is not for everyone and that is okay. To be a successful founder you must willing to take risks and learn to be comfortable with uncertainty. While being a founder has its perks, it isn’t without a degree of fear, stress, and added responsibility.

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.)

5 Things I wish someone told me before I started my business would be…

1. Stop waiting for the perfect time to magically appear. Whether in your professional or personal life it will never be the perfect time. Just begin and figure it out as you go. I felt my responsibilities for my children and my household would not allow me the freedom to create something on the side. I held myself back for many years until I realized that the only person holding myself back was myself.

2. If you are looking to create your own brand, start off small! Do not feel pressured to create a large line at first. Focus on selling your first collection and getting exposure for your brand. When I started people loved the items so much and would make requests for new pieces. I felt pressured to produce a new collection even though I just released one. We are so accustomed to fast fashion that we expect new things immediately. I believe as designers we have a responsibility to manage when we decide to create new releases. This in turn will help our environment and help reduce waste.

3. Be prepared for the unexpected and trust yourself. You will get through it and will gain experience from each situation which will make you mentally stronger.

4. Tap into your passion whenever you feel overwhelmed remind yourself why you started. Building a business is not easy and it is not always fun. If you tap into your passion and stay determined it will all, be worth it.

5. Keep an open mindset. Always be open to change and do not be afraid of failure.

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

Virago Swim is committed to reducing waste by producing based on demand. We are also part of the Eco Packaging Alliance which is a community of businesses and brands that choose to utilize sustainable packaging. For every order we place we help in reducing global deforestation by planting a tree in areas in need for reforestation. We placed a large emphasis on partnering with a factory that is also aligned with our core values. Along with our factory, we support the ZeroWaste project, which helps clean our oceans and supports grassroots organizations, which advance women’s education. I am still very early on in my career, but I am excited to continue and do much more in the future. As a Latina it is important for me to provide opportunities to all and to ensure that my company represents my beliefs.

I would like to continue to use my platform to represent all walks of life. I want to make sure that anyone who visits my site sees themselves. There is something so powerful about being represented. This is something I did not have growing up and promised myself I would take a part in changing.

I would love to have the opportunity to have lunch with Jennifer Lopez. There is so much bravery in tapping into areas of work that you have never done before and not allowing others’ opinions to deter you. She is constantly raising the bar and showing there is no limit to what you can do if you do it with passion and hard work. I’ve always been inspired by her story and believe I could learn a lot from her.

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

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

Female Disruptors: Brenda Darden Wilkerson of AnitaB On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Female Disruptors: Brenda Darden Wilkerson of AnitaB On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

We’re living in a time where many issues and challenges our society has faced for decades, even centuries, are boiling over and can no longer be ignored. The need for change is evident, can no longer be an afterthought, and has overlapping implications for systems of government, education, and the tech industry. So you can always find me on the front line, with other disrupters causing “good trouble” and fighting to reshape and deconstruct systems that uphold biases and discriminatory norms. For me, the highest and best use of tech is in the service of people. You will always find me at that intersection.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing: Brenda Darden Wilkerson, President and CEO of AnitaB.org

Brenda Darden Wilkerson is a pioneering thought leader and an advocate for access, opportunity, and social justice for underrepresented communities in technology.

She currently serves as the President and CEO of AnitaB.org, a global organization that connects, inspires, and strives for greater equality for women and non-binary technologists in business, academia, and government.

Her work includes connecting communities worldwide to enable women and non-binary technologists to advance and succeed in tech as well as the organizations where they learn, work, invest and gain funding to create cultures conducive to mutual success.

So happy to be part of this conversation. My tech journey started in college. As an undergraduate at Northwestern University, I initially thought I wanted to become a doctor, which prompted me to major in biomedical engineering on the pre-med track. As part of my courses, all engineers had to take two programming classes where I learned about computer science and programming. Little did I know these courses would spark my interest in the technology field. Years later, my experiences finding tech and then as a technologist eventually led me to K-12 administration, where I would found the Computer Science for All initiative. This program incorporates computer science classes into the core curriculum for every student in the Chicago Public Schools and eventually served as the inspiration for the Obama administration’s national CS For All initiatives. After nearly a decade, I became the President and CEO of AnitaB.org, the global nonprofit organization focused on sustaining an equitable future for women and non-binary technologists by cultivating a global community of leading technology talent in business, academia, and government, rounding out a lifetime career so far focused on tech.

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

Being a Black woman leader in the tech industry –is disruptive in and of itself. The culture in tech often revolves around cisgender white men proving difficult for women and non-binary individuals to navigate and achieve leadership roles. By advocating for access, opportunity, and social justice for underrepresented communities in technology, I am disrupting the status quo and helping shape the future of inclusive technology. We do that in many ways, including strengthening traditional educational pathways into tech and building nontraditional ones. At AnitaB.org, we strive to eliminate obstacles rooted in racism, misogyny, homophobia, classism, and more by providing resources and programming to thousands of members and the organizations that employ them. We also host the world’s largest tech conference for women and non-binary technologists at our annual Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC). Since 1994, GHC has given attendees a chance to expand their skills, grow their communities, hear from leaders in the tech space, and network with aspiring employers. Our Abie Awards give the stage and spotlight to tech women’s accomplishments, which is disruptive given that historically, such awards have normally gone to men. Thus, women’s accomplishments are at most hidden, in some cases, erased. Lifting up the accomplishments of tech women, past and present, disrupts the notion that we do not exist and haven’t been instrumental to the innovation and success of tech from its inception.

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?

Wow, there are so many! But I like to tell this one because it speaks to the importance of understanding an audience you wish to serve to not only help them but also not harm them!

My first foray into education was at a community college. I got the opportunity to teach a few applications to continuing ed students. My first class was Lotus 1–2–3 (boy, does that tell my age!). I had four, 2-hour shots at teaching an introductory-level spreadsheet program to a group of mixed-aged adults. Having been a developer, I went about it from a programming angle, and I assumed that the students understood basic operating system information (it was Windows 3.1 afterall, so you couldn’t just rely on mousing). By hour 5, I was teaching VLookups! I remember starting the last class with the students. I asked if there were any questions. One student raised her hand and asked, “How do you turn these things on?” referring to the computer! I remember being dumbstruck. I had wasted, at least this student’s time, for three nights teaching far ahead her understanding. I hadn’t bothered to survey the class to see what they already knew. I obviously missed all the cues that she (and it turns out) most other students were clueless about what I was teaching. Many of them were women and other minoritized people who were giving up after work time seeking a leg up in their jobs. It was a complete failure! I remember going home, crying to my husband about how badly I had turned out. It was a good lesson that I have never forgotten. It doesn’t matter how much you know. If you don’t understand the needs of the people you serve, your smarts, education, preparation, etc., will not serve them. And it could end up hurting them.

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

There have been many people who have helped me along my path. My dean, Cynthia Clontz, under whom I developed training pathways for adult students seeking an entryway into tech, believed in me and allowed me to use my creativity 10X the tech offerings, creating a sustainable pathway for these students to actually realize their dream of entering tech. She told me to use my vision, and she trusted that I understood the needs of our students. That experience of developing and growing a program that ended up impacting thousands of career changers helped me later understand how to galvanize the efforts of like-minded changemakers to create an initiative that has affected millions.

When I was developing the CSforAll initiative in Chicago, the pressure and pushback were immense as this was a major disruption to that educational system — creating a new core requirement? That hadn’t been done for decades. And most people in power didn’t see the need, nor did they believe in the necessity of such in a majority Black and Brown district. Several key supporters cheered me along that path, and stuck with me when it didn’t seem like my goal of every student in a 400K district receiving this sort of education and all the required disruption, would happen. I can say that this is one example of where the village came through: from professors who championed CS teacher credentialing in Illinois, which was missing and necessary, to the pioneering researcher/education-as-social-justice disruptors in California and Oregon who created culturally-relevant curriculum and teacher training, to one professor in particular at the University of Illinois at Chicago who, when I was faced with potentially being turned down for sorely needed funding for teacher training, assured me that he and his team would be with me no matter what. That statement at that juncture was pivotal to my decision to persevere when things looked bleak.

It bears mentioning that one thing that all disruptors need, especially female disruptors, is at least one friend who understands how wacky visionaries can seem to those who don’t understand their vision yet. By definition, visionaries see things before others. Having that smart friend who can dream with you, encourage you, ideate with you, when everybody just thinks you’re weird, keeps you on the path. I have several like this, but Leslie Beller is one such person for me, to this day.

Any disruption that compromises basic human rights, access or excludes segments of the population is a negative disruption. The converse is a good disruption that improves access, supports human rights, and ensures that as many different segments of humanity are considered and served by this disruption. Disrupting unjust and inhumane systems — that misuse and abuse or even ignore people based on race, ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender, education, physical ability, and the like — is to be prioritized. This is when individual and collective action is necessary. In the tech industry, when we call for more diverse representation, we are disrupting the status quo by saying that all people should have access to opportunity, and some need nuanced tools and resources to offset decades of systemic bias and failure. We do not disrupt to indulge in flights of fancy — we agitate and work to create actionable change that benefits those who need it most. And we educate on why such disruptions are preferred because they benefit everyone.

Example of bad disruption: the broad use of facial recognition, in concert with laws that are not keeping up with the implications of its use on privacy. First, facial recognition has not been shown to be accurate enough for the ways in which it is used. Data shows that most broad use algorithms do not recognize brown or black skin or Asian faces accurately. Black women are misrecognized 33% of the time! But police departments and other law enforcement agencies are using this technology in ways that end up terrorizing segments of the population when the technology just doesn’t work well yet. The rush to the market with this sort of tech lacks ethics and is just irresponsible.

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

We’re living in a time where many issues and challenges our society has faced for decades, even centuries, are boiling over and can no longer be ignored. The need for change is evident, can no longer be an afterthought, and has overlapping implications for systems of government, education, and the tech industry. So you can always find me on the front line, with other disrupters causing “good trouble” and fighting to reshape and deconstruct systems that uphold biases and discriminatory norms. For me, the highest and best use of tech is in the service of people. You will always find me at that intersection.

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

Our society applauds the self-confidence or bravado of male disruptors but will question the legitimacy or motives of women disruptors with its institutional mindsets, structural barriers, and individual biases. Historic stereotyping has sustained an imbalance of power that gives rise to women having to prove they belong in the room where men are assumed to be. Economics is a huge barrier, with unequal pay’s prevalence looming large. Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is September 21. That’s the approximate day a Black woman must work into the new year to make what a white non-Hispanic man made at the end of the previous year. For Latinas and Indigenous women, it’s even worse with their equal pay days coming in November and December this year. That’s two years’ work for the same pay a white non-Hispanic man makes in 1. And we know that funding is a huge issue. Female founders not only get funded less often, but their funding amounts are a fraction of what male founders get. These and other compounding effects, including lack or expense of childcare, the “second shift,” both at home and at work, are causing our societies to lose out on the benefits women disruptors could offer. All of these are contrived limitations that we are working to disrupt.

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

Again, there are so many! From my CSforAll days, I got so much inspiration from Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race and Computing. It is an amazing book that of course addresses computing education specifically, but speaks broadly to the historic gaps in this nation’s social structures writ large. Jane Margolis and Joanna Goode, the authors, are two amazing pioneers whose impact on tech, education, and my life specifically is outsized. I used the groundbreaking curriculum, Exploring Computer Science, developed from their research that has now impacted millions of teachers and students. Their wisdom and friendship helped me in the early days of CSforAll develop strategy to scale computing across the third largest district in the country. The “unlikely metaphor: the color line in swimming and computer science” unlocked so many opportunities to help education gatekeepers understand the issues and barriers presented when our students don’t get access to quality technical education.

Currently, I’m reading Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez which should be required reading for EVERYONE! It speaks to the lack of inclusion of women in most data studies and the impact on just about every facet of human life because of it. From gaps in medical care that can even be life threatening, to economic impact on communities and countries’ GDPs, it is truly a wakeup call that I plan to use to raise awareness within the tech industry on the impact of data collection, aggregation and analysis.

Simply put, I want to help people. I want to create a ripple effect of positive change by giving a platform to those ordinary people who’ve done extraordinary things. I want to discuss pathways and not pipelines to create a more equitable society. I want to inspire a movement by continuing to tell the stories of the people most effective at moving the needle towards diversity in tech. Many of them are not technologists. Some of the best evangelists I know are sociologists, educators, and religious people. They’re just people. They’re thoughtful with a vision of how tech can be influential so that it positively impacts most people.

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

“Teachers are the backbone of any country, the pillar upon which all aspirations are converted into reality” — A.P.J Abdul Kalam I genuinely believe that education and teachers are the foundation for how society develops socially and even economically. That’s why equity is so bloody important, even in the educational sphere. Teachers are role models who help shape ideas and constructs that aid students in becoming better individuals in society. If I weren’t leading AnitaB.org or in tech, I would still be an educator.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow me on Twitter (@BrendaDardenW), Instagram (@brendadardenw), and LinkedIn.

To keep up-to-date on AnitaB.org’s upcoming events, you can follow us on Twitter (@AnitaB_org), Instagram (@anitab_org), Facebook (@AnitaB.org), and LinkedIn (AnitaB.org) as well as our website.

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

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