Category: Featured

Female Founders: Kate Roberts of The Body Agency On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed…

Female Founders: Kate Roberts of The Body Agency On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

People will not understand your vision. For a founder it’s super clear and logical what your vision is but you need to be able to articulate it in your business plan for your investors and with your team who will execute on it. Don’t develop a 100 slide presentation. Keep it short and punchy with very clear ROI. You can’t get the numbers right off the bat, but get a clear understanding of the market and what gap you are filling.

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

Kate Roberts is a global social entrepreneur and champion for women’s leadership through business, philanthropy, sexual health, and art. She co-founded Maverick Collective together with Melinda Gates and The Crown Princess of Norway and more recently founded The Body Agency, a global fem tech and e-commerce company and its foundation.

Roberts is a frequent speaker at The World Economic Forum, The Aspen Institute and has been awarded, WEF Young Global Leader (YGL), Vogue’s top 100 Women, Public Policy’s best thinker, Fast Company’s Most Creative and CNN’s Hero Award.

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 career path?

After a successful career in strategic marketing working for the international Advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, the job took me all over the world including a number of years in Eastern Europe. I was unfortunately kidnapped by the Russian mafia and through the trauma of losing all control, especially over my body, I decided that if I was to survive I would dedicate my life to empowering other women. I was born in the UK and grew up sailing the world on my father’s ship; he was a sea captain on supertankers. By the time I was 12, I had seen the world and witnessed extreme poverty, so it was very much ingrained in me as a child how many people suffered in the world. I have always been a bossy feminist and my mother instilled in me that we, as women can do anything we set our minds to. I then took a vacation to South Africa and saw the destruction of HIV/AIDS in the late 90’s and that began my journey to end AIDS.

I emigrated to Washington DC. joined the global healthcare giant PSI and started my first global charity called YouthAIDS. Through this platform, I was able to recruit some of the top celebrities in the world to help (Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, P Diddy, Bono, etc) and brands such as MTV, ALDO, Levi’s, Coke, Estee Lauder and others, which led to considerable funding to invest in innovation to prevent HIV. We implemented programs across 50 countries and worked towards an AIDS-free generation. I started to learn about investing in early stage innovation and saw how it can be leveraged and scaled. This set me on the path to understand how to tackle major diseases and pandemics, especially those affecting girls and women. I then joined forces with Melinda Gates and The Crown Princess of Norway to start Maverick Collective, a philanthropic platform of incredible bold women all investing in promising solutions in women’s health. We worked on issues such as cervical cancer, HIV prevention, gender-based violence prevention, access to much-needed contraception and sexual reproductive health. During this journey, I recognized a massive gap in women’s sexual wellness as well as the stigma associated to our bodies normal functions such as periods, fertility and menopause. Plus, I learned about the orgasm gap, 75% of women do not achieve orgasm by sexual intercourse alone. This is when I decided to start The Body Agency.

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

Well there are three and it’s hard to choose:

A private meeting with Bill Gates. I was 10 months pregnant, and we met at a hotel in Washington DC. I was early and he was late and the only other person in the bar was a rather shady guy sitting at the bar. He kept checking me out and I remember thinking how odd that a man would be looking at a heavily pregnant woman. To break the ice when Bill arrived, I joked about the situation and Bill just laughed and said “don’t flatter yourself Kate, that’s my security detail”. I had my daughter the next day, so I like to think Bill Gates helped me birth my child. This meeting also led to me meeting Melinda and $6M seed funding for Maverick Collective and when I returned from maternity leave there was a letter waiting for me from Bill on my desk.

A close second would be trying to pass customs in Costa Rica with 70 vulva puppets or ‘Vuppets’ as we call them, educational, stuffed puppets in the shape of vulvas. I was bringing them in the country for a speaking engagement with the Young Global Leaders conference. Yup, every global leader got a Vuppet and border control did not know what to make of me and my entire suitcase of vulvas!

Lastly, it would be forming a close relationship with Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikapedia who I met on a plane while I was traveling to China. I refused to talk to him at first because I thought sleep was a much more viable proposition and I silenced him. We ended up being in the same YGL year at the Forum and became work husband and wife. At the conferences, we would lean on each other’s expertise and networks. One year, I found myself in a conversation with Jimmy (Wikapedia), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sergey Brin (Google) at dinner.

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

In the early stages of establishing The Body Agency, I would quiz all our potential partners on drawing a woman’s vulva and ask them to point out where the clitoris was. Absolutely amazing how both men and women got it wrong. For this reason, we developed our “Vuppet”, the vulva puppet which is an educational tool for kids and grown ups to understand their anatomy down there and where all the parts are. It’s also useful to teach girls how to put tampons in and for OBGYNs to demonstrate child birth, for instance. We also have a coaster that also names all the parts of a woman’s anatomy. People don’t realize how many holes we have down there and what their functions are. I think it’s easier for men as their parts are external!

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?

Again, there are so many to mention but three that really stand out:

Debra Messing. We paired up in the early stages of YouthAIDS. She wanted to change the world and I needed to open the right doors. She was willing to travel with us to Africa, listen to our strategic needs and be the right voice and use her celebrity to create awareness and funding for the issue. She helped us secure a $100M grant from USAID, develop a key partnership with DFID and UNAIDS and she did it all with grace and humility. She is just a great human and knows the important part of humor when dealing with such controversial issues. She has now joined our board of The Body Agency Collective and we are looking to go the last mile to end HIV and invest in our next generation of youth.

HRH Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway. She’s an unlikely friend and mentor; we met through her husband Crown Prince Haakon and found ourselves on a trip to India together to see HIV and TB programs in the field of HIV. We went on to join forces to create Maverick Creative together with Melinda Gates. We spent many long nights on the phone together plotting and planning our organization, she was completely hands-on and brilliant in all her recommendations and guidance. She also opened the palace for us in Norway to have retreats and learning sessions. There is so much she did behind the scenes for the success of the initiative. She is the real deal!

Kim Agnew. Kim’s was one of the founding members of Maverick Collective and together with a few of the other members really educated me about female sexual wellness and lack of resources. Kim helped me to create The Body Agency and now serves on our board. She believed in my leadership from the getgo and took a massive leap of faith.

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 must be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

Men hold the majority of funding still. In my field of sexual wellness and women’s health, the conversation and enterprise is still hard for men to get behind or even hear about. However, it is demonstrated time after time, that women actually work quicker to generate more return on investment and more profits. It’s simply funding that still holds women back. It also just takes guts to start something, and our culture and biology still dictates otherwise. There is no question that having babies interrupts our professional journey. I waited until my 40’s to have kids for that very reason and when I was pregnant I found myself apologizing to my CEO at the time! Women are also still outside of those established power networks and often don’t get the same opportunities, therefore don’t see themselves as entrepreneurs as much.

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?

Women need to invest in women and women-led companies, we also need to lift each other up. I see incredible ventures such as The Billion Dollar Fund for Women and many VC’s like Trail Mix Ventures and Lux Capital now just focused on funding women led companies alone. I also think that the sports world is making a difference. Individuals such as Harvey Grant, a retired pro basketball player for the Wizards is using his base to reach girls through strategic partnerships and he also sits on The Body Board Collective Foundation. The sports world alone can change the playing field for women, literally!

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 hold an incredible super-power to juggle family, work and home, like no other. I am a single mother, a founder of many companies and non profit efforts. It’s just amazing what we can do when we put our minds to it. We are collectively stronger when women support other women and we form collectives that will change the world. There is something magical about talent supporting talent, especially amongst women, we do it with more empathy.

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

That Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes perseverance and many Plan Bs. Amazon is still losing money and you need to keep reinvesting in your company and reinventing yourself. Look at Madonna and how she has changed through the ages to stay relevant, she is a brand, she is a company, she takes no prisoners! Many start-ups fail, it’s not always the shiny, new thing that you should be investing in. Most new companies take at least five years to get established. There is a certain image that founders are expected to pull all-nighters and sleep under their desks until you get it right. Through my experience, I believe in self-care as well as hard work and founders should not run themselves into the ground and set that example for their team. ‘No’ is a full sentence and you will get a lot of them, but it’s the ‘yeses’ that keep you going.

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 set out to be a founder; it’s hard and takes a certain type of person. You have to be able to check your ego at the door every day and be a self motivator. NOBODY tells you “great job” as a founder and nobody is there above you telling you what to do. You will hit many obstacles and often think it will be easier to give up. However, when you are also spending other people’s money you cannot give up, ever! It’s much easier to have a job, go to work, not be accountable and get your paycheck every month and be able to sleep soundly knowing you will pay the mortgage. Founders are also thrill seekers of the chase, whether it be to secure funding, solving problems, be a team player and build something meaningful that can change the world, which is what gets my juices flowing.

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

1. People will not understand your vision. For a founder it’s super clear and logical what your vision is but you need to be able to articulate it in your business plan for your investors and with your team who will execute on it. Don’t develop a 100 slide presentation. Keep it short and punchy with very clear ROI. You can’t get the numbers right off the bat, but get a clear understanding of the market and what gap you are filling.

2. Failing quickly is okay. It will take many attempts to get it right and it’s ok to fail but have a Plan B.

3. Do adequate research. It’s tempting to just get started without doing the necessary research. I made sure to talk to many other founders in my space to understand their failures and the market so I did not make the same mistakes. One lesson I learnt is that you can get closed down on social media for mentioning anything sexual, including words like vagina and menopause.

4. Agencies are expensive and often suck. It’s all about your talent and individual talent and not necessarily big agencies. Big agencies will run up huge bills and retainers. Find the winning individual who is invested in your mission who has a good track record in their field.

5. Partnerships are key to building any business. Start with the right founding investors who are willing to lean in and help you to build the business with their skills. I love the old African proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together”. One of our founding investors, Bill Sanders, has taught me so much about structure and finance where I lacked the expertise. Find people that are better than you in where you are weak. Always look for win-win partnerships, don’t give away your platform for free.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

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

How to Use LinkedIn To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Anna Khachatrian of CodeRiders

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Participate in network discussions and publish useful information. If you are offering solutions to the weak points of your network, you should also position yourself as someone knowledgeable in it. Share information regarding your sphere of work, useful tips necessary for your target audience, write LinkedIn articles and comment on posts related to your knowledge and expertise.

As part of my series of interviews about “How to Use LinkedIn To Dramatically Improve Your Business”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Khachatrian.

Anna Khachatrian is Business Development Executive at CodeRiders software development company. She is a digital marketing expert with 6+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, client communications, and lead generation. Anna took part in several events as a speaker — both local and international; and one of her recent speeches was about professional women in a digitized economy during a conference by Women Impact Network (WIN). She also gave interviews to several media and event organizers, as well as writes articles for international media (like Clutch, The Entrepreneur), CodeRiders blog, and her own blog on Medium.

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 this opportunity to share my knowledge about the LinkedIn platform and its capabilities. It’s already 6 years since I am in the sphere of digital marketing. For the past 3 years, I am specifically working in business development. Social networks and especially LinkedIn are the tools I use daily to keep the communication with my network, read industry-related news, as well as get qualified leads.

My story of becoming a business development executive and communications specialist starts with my first job as a journalist. I was still a student when I started my career in that field, learning and practicing the ways to communicate smoothly and effectively with people, inviting them to answer my questions sincerely. I also learned data journalism and data research related to it, which later on helped me to conduct effective research to find the leads that can become prospects in the future.

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

Communicating with clients from different nationalities is what I do every day, and of course, this makes so many interesting stories. My main language to communicate in is English, although I also speak Russian, besides my native language. One of my clients is from Ukraine, and she sometimes sends me messages in Ukrainian, forgetting that I don’t understand it. Every time I translate her messages to understand her properly and ask her to send me messages in English or Russian. Nevertheless, she keeps sending me Ukrainian messages from time to time. I believe at the end of this project, I’ll be able to smoothly communicate in Ukrainian as well, haha.

Intercultural communications are what I love, and this example is one of the reasons I love speaking to different nationalities and sharing cultural experiences.

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?

Oh, I just recalled one story. It seems funny now, but I was so embarrassed at that time. I am usually very attentive to details, especially when sending business-related messages to my leads. However, I failed once.

I sent a LinkedIn message to someone named Phil and accidentally called him Peter. The response I received was quite a cold shower for me, “Hi Sylvia, my name is Phil. I help companies meet the right people to grow their business and not make silly mistakes in the beginning …if you are going to cold call message some one then at least get the name right…”

I was both ashamed of my silly mistake and worried that I could accidentally underrate my company authority with that mistake. It was a lesson for me to be much more attentive to details before hitting the “send” button while messaging. It also taught me to be tolerant of messages that may contain some accidental mistakes. During my career path, I myself received such messages from representatives of other businesses and kindly answered them to improve their mistakes. After all, mistakes are not for demotivating, but for learning and improving.

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?

The main social media platforms I use are LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Each of them has its unique purpose. If we are speaking about lead generation, networking, and communicating with industry professionals, of course, LinkedIn wins all. If we are speaking about audience informing and news sharing, we use Facebook. If we talk about company branding, team atmosphere, and what it means to work in our company, we use Instagram.

LinkedIn is the platform that suits best with increasing business revenues. Most of the LinkedIn users keep it professional in that platform and network with others on business-related topics. LinkedIn has its unique culture that is different from other social media platforms. This makes it stand out from other social media platforms as a great tool for increasing business revenues.

Let’s talk about LinkedIn specifically, now. Can you share 5 ways to leverage LinkedIn to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Sure, to improve your business through LinkedIn and get new prospects, you should organize optimized outreach campaigns. Each campaign contains a few parts you should pay great attention to.

Improve your profile. Your network is going to get your first impression from your profile look. So, if you have an incomplete profile or if it serves a different purpose than your LinkedIn outreach campaign, you are not going to win your network’s attention. Start with your profile and cover images. Show your professional profile image, not a selfie or a low-quality photo, and correspond your cover image to it. You can also use your company cover photo. Next, rewrite your headline and describe how you can help your network with on-point reasons. Rewrite your profile description and tell in more detail how you can help your network solve a specific problem with your company. Provide useful links and contact information. Update your work and education sections. Ask your clients for reviews of their cooperation with you.
Learn how to use LinkedIn search. LinkedIn has a great built-in search tool, which provides quite enough search options for finding the best-fitting leads. The basic free version of LinkedIn search is also enough for having a small or medium outreach campaign. However, if you are going to start a large campaign, you may have to buy LinkedIn Sales Navigator to work more effectively. It helps filter your search in an as detailed manner as possible, ensuring that you get only the results that match your search the most. When typing keywords for searching, try to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. What would they write in their LinkedIn headlines and titles? What would they post about? What groups would they use? Answers to questions like this will help you conduct a better search campaign. Let me share one tip if you are using the free version of LinkedIn search and are worried that LinkedIn may restrict your search results. When opening one of the profiles that match your criteria, LinkedIn usually offers similar profiles in the right column. Many business developers tend to skip that section and do their research-based only on specific search results. However, my experience shows that those profile suggestions are quite relevant and can serve you as a great help.
Personalize each message. No one likes receiving mass messages sent to everyone. Remember that the purpose of your campaign is to convince your network that your services and solutions can be a great help for them. How is your network going to believe in you if you do not even take time to explore who they are and what problem they have to offer them custom solutions? Your outreach message should contain their weak points and your personalized solution for them. Messages like this gain the most open and reply rates.
Create a well-defined follow-up strategy. Your network may accept your connection request, but miss your initial message. Due to heavy schedules and busy timelines, they may forget to get back to your message. To avoid situations like this, each outreach campaign requires a well-written and examined follow-up strategy. There are two things one should avoid — sounding too needy and following up too late. In both situations, you would lose your lead. Follow-up messages should not be just reminders but also provide more value to your initial message. The average practice is to send at least 3 and a maximum of 6 follow-ups. However, each campaign has its unique strategy, so the number of follow-ups depends on the research.
Participate in network discussions and publish useful information. If you are offering solutions to the weak points of your network, you should also position yourself as someone knowledgeable in it. Share information regarding your sphere of work, useful tips necessary for your target audience, write LinkedIn articles and comment on posts related to your knowledge and expertise.

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. 🙂

Free and accessible education for everyone, definitely. Imagine how many talents are skipped and underrated because they didn’t even have the chance to get educated due to money matters. Well, school education is free in general, but still, it is not available for everyone due to so many reasons, like location, lack of teachers, lack of books, poor Internet availability, etc. Higher education is much more inaccessible in many countries. A very small percentage of students actually get free higher education. So, the movement I would inspire and lead is definitely related to accessible and quality education all over the world.

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

Joanne Rowling, the author of the “Harry Potter” series. I can say I grew up with the Harry Potter series and the characters in them. In my childhood, I have always imagined that the wizardry world actually exists and that one day Hagrid will visit my place too to take me to Hogwarts, haha. Now it would be a pleasure to meet the woman who stands behind this story of my childhood and talk to her about the little details and inspirations connected to it.

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

Thank you too, Candice. It was a pleasure answering your questions. I hope my tips will help and inspire someone to succeed in their LinkedIn outreach campaigns.

How to Use LinkedIn To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Anna Khachatrian of CodeRiders was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk of Woodley + Lowe On The Five Things You…

Female Founders: Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk of Woodley + Lowe On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Rachel: Get used to not sleeping at night. Seriously — having a new business is like having a baby — it needs your constant attention and will result in many sleepless nights. Whether you’re up worrying about funding issues, other team members, or what the competition is doing, the stress level is real. But often the late night thought avalanches can result in some great ideas as well.
Neda: You need to have patience! With all the excitement and energy that goes towards building a business and flipping the switch on, there is often an expectation for how things will play out post launch. With so many success stories of start-ups discussed regularly in the media, many entrepreneurs envision a similar path for themselves. After all, if the concept is a good one and a lot of sweat and tears are put into it, isn’t it supposed to be a success!? Well, not always, and certainly not overnight. Having patience and a long-term view is critical. I have to continually remind myself of this, particularly in the early days of getting a business off the ground.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk.

Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk are the cofounders of Woodley + Lowe, an up-and-coming brand of wardrobe essentials for Gen Z girls. Beyond great clothes, the Woodley + Lowe brand fosters a supportive community of fans, aiming to educate their following and promote sustainable buying habits in young women, including buying quality, long lasting products, thinking about how and where things are made, and encouraging circularity.

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?

Rachel: I am a lifelong entrepreneur — I find business to be like solving puzzles — identifying problems or holes and then figuring out how to address that, and I just love “creating” in general. My professional path started in investment banking, though I worked closely with small, high growth retailers, and got to know the ins and outs of many of their businesses. I then pivoted completely to pursue my love of chocolate making and cake decorating and opened my own retail bakery. After 12 years in food service, I was ready for something new again, when I was introduced to my co-founder, Neda. We began talking about all the problems in the apparel market for teen & tween girls, which got me really fired up to start Woodley + Lowe, and here I am!

Neda: Like Rachel, I also have always had the entrepreneurial itch and passion for identifying white space where I can build strong brands. I started my career in finance, as an equity analyst, covering specialty retail stocks. My specific focus was on the teen retail sector at a time when the mall was king, and teen retail was an actual category in retailing. So, I often joke how I have now come full circle, as I am right back in the teen space, albeit it is a very different retail environment today than it was over 15 years ago. I ultimately transitioned from finance to business school to various roles within luxury and retail companies About 10 years ago, I decided it was my time to launch something of my own, which was not in the apparel space, but rather in the fitness sector, another area I have always been very passionate about. I saw an opportunity to create a new way to book multiple fitness classes at once, and pioneered the concept of a fitness aggregator, with my start-up FITiST. My co-founder and I were very early to the boutique fitness scene and set the path for a whole crop of fitness start-ups after us. Since this experience, I continued to consult and advise numerous start-ups, but started to feel the entrepreneurial itch again a few years ago when I was introduced to Rachel. We immediately recognized there was a void in the teen apparel market and jumped right in!

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

Rachel: Hmmm, it’s really hard to tell what OTHER people will find interesting…this entire journey so far has been a super steep learning curve, which I find fascinating for myself, but those stories feel like “vacation photos” — you really have to be there to appreciate. I did have the opportunity to connect with Mickey Drexler for some one on one advice, and that has been one of my favorite conversations. What was scheduled as a 30 minute call ended up being an hour+ conversation, and it was really inspiring. I love talking to other entrepreneurs — there’s a certain energy we all share, and you can see it spark in people when they think you’re on to something. To connect with a seasoned apparel executive like Mickey, and have him give candid and open feedback and advice was invaluable.

Neda: Agree that this is a hard one to answer! I would say that building this business during the peak of the pandemic definitely made for an interesting experience. Thank goodness for zoom, which allowed us to seamlessly continue our plan of action, for the most part. I never thought we would be meeting our factories and doing fittings over zoom. When we were really on lockdown, we had the benefit of using Rachel’s teen daughters as our fit models. I will also say that pushing forward with launching while balancing home schooling three kids and the constant anxieties and fears that came along with all the unknowns in our world during this time will surely be a time I will never forget. And, interesting is certainly one way to describe it all☺

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?

Rachel: Early on in the pandemic, when I had just figured out how to add Zoom backdrops, I put up a scene from “2 Fast, 2 Furious” for a friend’s Zoom birthday party. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that it had become my default background, and the next day, I logged on to a meeting with an investor…and there were Paul Walker and Vin Diesel right behind me! I saw him raise his eyebrows and I turned red as I hurried to get it off the screen. He passed on the investment, but hopefully that was not the reason why!

Neda: I can’t think of a specific mistake that was funny per say, but I definitely had a few investor meetings over zoom, where I was having to break up a fight between my kids or help one get onto their zoom home school class. I guess once again, covid made for an interesting, and at times, funny experience in building our business.

Rachel: This may sound trite, but I really could not be an entrepreneur without the support of my husband and kids. I am grateful to not only have them be supportive of investing money in my ideas, but also being flexible when I have a crazy, unpredictable schedule. It pays dividends, though — I love seeing my daughters get excited about what I do and be proud of me. My nine year old INSISTED last year that we had to gift her assistant teacher a pair of Woodley + Lowe sweatpants. I resisted, because teacher gifts aren’t allowed at their school, but Violet said, “but you HAVE to mom, she’s young, and she’s fashionable, and all her friends will want to wear them!” Her sense of marketing strategy convinced me it was ok to skirt the rules!

Neda: My parents have been my greatest source of support and inspiration in my entrepreneurial journey. While neither of them are entrepreneurs, they managed to instill a work ethic and determination in me from such a young age. They have given me the confidence to be able to go out on a limb and pursue my ideas, and I am so grateful for them being there every step of the way.

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?

Rachel: Personally, I think the #1 thing holding women back from founding companies is access to childcare. And more than just childcare, there’s a need for a societal shift in how we view gender roles in a family. Even in households where the father is extremely involved and hands on, it’s typically the mother who bears the burden of arranging and organizing the childcare, transportation, doctors appointments, extracurricular activities, etc. for the family, and that is a huge amount of work. This creates a chicken-and-egg problem, because women get less funding from investors, who often deem them to be “less focused” than male founders, and without funding it becomes harder to justify outsourcing family responsibilities….

Neda: I 100% agree with Rachel. While there has been so much progress, there is still a clear distinction between male and female founders and how they are perceived by investors. If the founder has children, only the female is looked upon as a liability by investors, because if it’s a male founder with children, there is always the assumption that he is not the primary caregiver for his children. As Rachel notes, what’s holding women back from starting companies is having the bandwidth to do it — both physically being able to balance it with their responsibilities at home and the financial means (access to capital) to do so.

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?

Rachel: First, I think a commitment of capital to female founders is extremely important, and not just young female founders. I think it’s exciting that there’s so much opportunity for young entrepreneurs now, but there’s too much focus on the “30 Under 30” lists. We’ve seen a lot of young founders achieve great success, but we’ve also seen those (male and female) whose hubris leads them to grow too fast, and it can come crashing down. I think the benefit of experience you have at middle age needs to be rewarded more often with capital opportunities — then we as a society can recognize there’s not just one blueprint for success.

Neda: I would love to see true equality in terms of how female founders are treated. I don’t think females should be funded just because they are “female.” While I welcome all the efforts being made to support female founders, I also believe that funding should be based on merit, regardless of gender. I think the goal is to get to the point where gender is irrelevant to the funding outcome or business success.

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?

Rachel: The silver lining of shouldering all the family responsibilities is that women can be masters of time management. I know lots of women who truly thrive when they are juggling multiple balls in the air. This is an essential skill for entrepreneurs. Traditionally, women are also more compassionate, and I think that can help us be better problem solvers at times. What pains me to see in women is when they have a great idea, but they either second guess themselves or refuse to take risks. I hope to raise my daughters to have the confidence to be risk takers. (And I hope that statement doesn’t come back to bite me while they’re teens!)

Neda: Founding a business is sort of like having children. It requires a lot of patience and perseverance, and I think women are best suited for this role! I also agree with Rachel’s comment on time management. Females, especially mothers, have to wear a lot of hats and be incredibly time efficient. Founding a business requires just that, but it also allows for more control over your schedule so you can wear your mom hat when you need to, even if it’s during the work day.

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

Rachel: I think people often look at massive, overnight success stories and forget that rapid success for entrepreneurs is far more uncommon than not. It’s easy to get distracted and disheartened comparing your path to others who are getting more attention. Every entrepreneur’s path is unique, and it’s typically rockier than anyone lets on, so it’s important to stay focused on your own goals and the best path for you to achieve them. All entrepreneurs think that massive success is within their reach, or they probably wouldn’t be a founder, but it takes a lot of hard work and often some luck too.

Neda: 100% agree with Rachel. I think another myth is that as a founder, you can’t have any life outside of your business. We have seen hundreds of successful founders raise families while running their businesses, as well as having involvement with other businesses as advisors and board members. It is possible to found a company and still maintain a life outside of the company.

Rachel: The only quality that’s ESSENTIAL for founders is a willingness to take risks. Putting yourself out there with an idea, having people invest money in it, and being responsible for generating your own income, are all risky endeavors. Beyond that, anyone can be a founder. I do think you have to have an honest conversation with yourself about your own strengths and weaknesses — if you recognize your deficits, you can find a co-founder or build out a team that helps balance you out.

Neda: I don’t think everyone is necessarily cut out to be a founder, as it takes a few key traits to launch something and stick with it. Being brave and not afraid to put yourself (and your idea) out there is one that is very important. Risk tolerance, is another. A founder needs to be ok with living in the unknown — not knowing exactly what their path will be and if they will actually succeed. For someone who needs stability and control, this can be challenging. A founder also needs to be flexible and pivot when needed.

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.)

Rachel:

Get used to not sleeping at night. Seriously — having a new business is like having a baby — it needs your constant attention and will result in many sleepless nights. Whether you’re up worrying about funding issues, other team members, or what the competition is doing, the stress level is real. But often the late night thought avalanches can result in some great ideas as well. Early on in our development, I was up one night stressing about how we could know for sure what teens would want — then I was struck with the thought that we could include them in our planning through polls and social media engagement, which is now something we implement regularly. I make sure to keep a pad of paper and pen by my bed for any middle-of-the-night ideas!
Raising money isn’t a given. Institutional investors love the line “you’re just a little too early for me,” and I think it’s problematic, because it can give founders false hope that more money is right around the corner. We made the mistake of spending too much money up front on some things that helped us reach certain landmarks faster, but were based on what we thought would impress investors and not necessarily what was good for our long term business plan. Make sure to plan for two tracks — one with a tighter budget based on what you (and any friends and family) are comfortable investing, and another that layers in what you’d like to invest in with additional funding. Don’t mix up the two.
No one will care about your business as much as you. This reality comes at you from all touch points — investors, customers, friends, employees, and it’s important to strip away your inherent biases when considering your strategy and plans from these others’ perspective. I think this is especially important when it comes to motivating employees — respecting boundaries and understanding what will make them keep showing up for you is key, because it’s not just belief in your mission.
E-comm: just because you build it, doesn’t mean they’ll come. Having come from a brick & mortar background, I totally took for granted how easy it was to attract paying customers just by having a physical presence in people’s lives. With ecomm, it’s often more “out of sight, out of mind” (see: “no one will care about your business as much as you”). There are dozens of things easier about running a website than a physical store, but customer acquisition and marketing require a lot more work and planning.
Getting comfortable with self-promotion is a must. Some people are born salesmen — I am not one of them. I get extremely sheepish when in a situation where I have to promote something I’m working on. It makes me uncomfortable and feels “pushy.” But I also know I have to let that go in order to be successful. If I’m not excited about what I’m working on, how will I get others to be? (See, again: “no one will care about your business as much as you”). One time I was rewarded for stepping out of my comfort zone was at a live taping for the Glossy Podcast. I recognized editor-in-chief Jill Manoff’s voice from being a fan of the podcast, so I walked up and introduced myself to her. She was excited to hear what we were developing with Woodley + Lowe and she covered our launch and has included me in interviews for Gen Z related topics.

Neda:

You need to have patience! With all the excitement and energy that goes towards building a business and flipping the switch on, there is often an expectation for how things will play out post launch. With so many success stories of start-ups discussed regularly in the media, many entrepreneurs envision a similar path for themselves. After all, if the concept is a good one and a lot of sweat and tears are put into it, isn’t it supposed to be a success!? Well, not always, and certainly not overnight. Having patience and a long-term view is critical. I have to continually remind myself of this, particularly in the early days of getting a business off the ground.
Being nimble and pivoting when needed. There are so many factors that go into play when you launch a business that are unpredictable. So, no matter how great your idea and execution are or how well you know your audience, a founder has to be able to pivot when needed. It is very important to look at the data and take every piece of feedback you can get, while also following your gut. If something is not working, then figure out an alternative plan or a pivot. When we built Woodley + Lowe, we wanted to fill a void in the apparel space initially, but as we started evolving our concept and introducing it to the world, we realized there was more to do than just sell apparel, that we had to think bigger, and that we needed to create a brand and experience that was sticky and long lasting.
It’s hard. There is a certain glamourization of start-ups, especially with such much buzz of these billion dollar+ unicorns in our world today, but what people don’t talk about as much is all the sweat, money and stress that go into a start-up. There are so many aspects of building a business that I find rewarding, but I it’s important to recognize that it is not easy.
Know your audience and product inside and out. I think the most successful entrepreneurs are those that truly understand their audience and the product or service they have created. If you are not in touch with your audience, then you will constantly be chasing ideas and searching for answers. This understanding and connection with your audience and product/service is key to creating an authentic brand. For example, I could never launch something in the pet space, b/c I have never had pets in my life and do not understand the psychology behind being a pet owner and consumer of anything related to pets. No matter how many experts you bring to the team, the founder(s) need to be intimately in touch with their customer base and product.
Stay in your lane. I find it so hard not to look at other start-ups and compare our trajectory, audience, funding, etc. However, I know that the key to moving forward is staying in your own lane. It’s important to be hyper aware of others in your space, but you can’t let it distract you or doubt your decisions. Stay in your lane!

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

Rachel: We founded Woodley + Lowe with intention — we didn’t want to just create more junk — we wanted our business to have a purpose beyond just making money. Gen Z is passionate about climate change, but they aren’t always in the position to put their money where their mouth is. We are on a mission to educate them about the power of their consumer choices, and that spending a little more on something that will last you a lot longer is the better environmental decision. Additionally, the community we’re creating around our brand allows them to connect on this, so they are having conversations about this with each other, and it’s not just corporate rhetoric.

Neda: In addition to Rachel’s comments on the purpose behind our business, we also are on a mission to create a brand that makes anyone (not just an influencer or micro influencer) feel included. We have taken a community first approach to building Woodley + Lowe, which we have not seen any other teen brands do thus far in an authentic way. Through this community, we believe there is so much potential beyond just selling clothes.

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.

Rachel: Wow, this is a difficult question — it’s overwhelming how much work needs to be done, even just in the US, let alone worldwide. So I’ll use this opportunity to plug an initiative my sister started called K12 Climate Action. They are reimagining ways the public school system can be a positive force toward climate action, through both curriculum and infrastructure improvements. They can use all the visibility and support they can get!

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.

Rachel: We would be thrilled to have a well-known angel investor back our brand — someone who’s a positive influence for young women and/or has connections or experience in the apparel business. Sarah Blakely, Serena Williams, Katie Couric, Tory Burch all come to mind, but I’m sure there are more!

Neda: There are so many, it’s hard to choose! Sarah Blakely, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marc Lore, Mickey Drexler, Chip Wilson, and Reese Witherspoon to name a few☺

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

Female Founders: Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk of Woodley + Lowe On The Five Things You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Sedge Beswick On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

A founder is only ever as good as the team they have around them. A good founder will hire people that are better than they are. For example, I am a self-starter, I have a million ideas a minute but plenty of them need production and project management. I’ve hired detail-minded finishers to help me deliver to the level I’m imagining. We can’t be good at everything but knowing our own weaknesses can be a real strength.

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

Sedge has grown the innovative influencer marketing agency SEEN Connects from the ground up, expanding it internationally and pushing the boundaries of her industry. Before setting up Connects and working with brands like Nike, eBay and Panasonic, Sedge shaped Red Bull and ASOS’ social and influencer strategies.

Setting up my own business was never part of my master plan. I fell into it but have never looked back. For 11 years, I worked for brands, running and building their social and influencer teams. After five years at ASOS, I was looking for a new challenge, and coincidentally a contact at Nike introduced me to SEEN Connects’ first investor. Before I knew it, Connects was founded, and I was signing Nike as our first client.

Connects has continued to grow because we have a powerful USP. We believe brands and their perfect influencers can be aligned to a shared archetype — a common set of needs, drives, and desires. We identify their shared archetype so we can create engaging, exciting, and authentic content that ultimately converts them. It’s this deep understanding of an audience that has helped us build loyal communities for our brands. Creating these synergies keeps me excited and passionate about my industry.

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

Let me tell you, there is never a dull day when you’re running your own business. The same can be said for my industry — the platforms are always evolving, as is the role of influencers in society to be fair.

One of the most interesting things that I’ve discovered since starting Connects is the power of my network. Working at brands like Red Bull and ASOS, I built relationships with a group of super-savvy people who I trust deeply.

When I first started the business, the thing that kept me up at night was thinking about scaling our client base and our subsequent sales funnel. As it turns out, this is the area that I find most rewarding because so many previous colleagues have come forward with briefs. It shows the power of building, maintaining and making time for your network. I say, help others when you can as you never know where people will end up.

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

The funniest lesson I learnt was when I tried to save costs on a cleaner. We had just moved into a new office space and I decided to go into the cleaning cupboard and spend my weekend dusting the office. Skip forward to Monday morning when I found out I’d used the cloths and products that had previously been used to clean the toilets. I’d smeared toilet juices all over the office! I had to pay for an urgent deep clean of the whole place and learnt the hard way, you can’t do it all by yourself!

Though not funny in a laugh out loud way, when I look back, our early costing model was hilarious. We charged our second client $1K per month (today we’d charge $15K+). They signed a year’s contract upfront, which we honoured but when it came to an end, I explained our new costings. They laughed and said: ‘Why do you think we signed up so quickly?’ Coming from brand-side, it was a learning curve to get a handle on how to cost a project and bring in value for the business, whilst still being able to pay the team.

I have a long list of people that I will forever be indebted to, who championed and mentored me and picked up the phone late at night. For Connects, my investor, Paul Seligman, stands out.

I’ll never forget that he listened when a 27-year-old who met him in Soho House for no more than 20 minutes, wearing Nikes and a Metallica tee, passionately told him how he *needed* an influencer agency. He didn’t ask many questions and trusted implicitly that with my passion and enthusiasm, it was worth a punt. Honestly, I am not sure I would have invested in myself. Without him, SEEN Connects would never have been born. He believed in me before there was a business, and for that, I will always be grateful.

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?

Across most industries, men still dominate the majority of leadership positions. As a woman working your way up the career ladder it becomes harder to visualize yourself occupying those roles, whether as a business leader or owner.

I believe, especially in my sector, that there has been a huge shift and women are slowly building the confidence to back themselves. However, I see more and more that’s it’s women supporting other women to get their businesses off the ground. We need men to not just make space, but support burgeoning female-led companies find their footing.

There was a study, released this January, that revealed in the Netherlands there are more CEOs called Peter than female CEOs. Facts like this need to be talked about more. We need to encourage businesses and industries to make room for more women to take their seats in the boardroom.

From my experience, women are more nervous about money and undervalue themselves and their businesses. This has a knock-on effect on the success and growth of their companies. We need to better empower our women from a young age to help resolve this.

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

I can’t count the obstacles that prevent women from taking leadership positions or starting their own businesses. Some problems are systemic, they filter from the classroom into offices and create barriers for knowledge, confidence and empowerment that have a direct effect on women. This is coupled with the stagnation of careers because of the glass cliff of maternity leave.

For most women, having a child means they take a step back at a critical stage in their careers (while men continue to learn and progress). It tends to happen at the worst possible time — once they’ve accrued experience, confidence and a network of contacts. This is only further burdened by the domino effect of thereafter needing to prioritise their personal life like never before.

When you count it up, the early installment of a lack of business confidence, the lack of role models within boardrooms and a lack of flexibility for mothers, the cards are stacked against us.

I’ve been very lucky to have fantastic mentors who have been there for me whenever I have a question. It’s why I’m so bloody passionate about guiding the next generation and making space on my team for people from all backgrounds and upbringings. At Connects we host an annual grad event where we offer mentorship sessions to the next-gen, we also have an in-house upskilling programme called Connected Thinking, and this year we introduced our first apprenticeship. In small and meaningful ways, Connects (and I) do what we can to push away the obstacles.

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?

I’ve been very lucky to spend my career (so far) surrounded by more women in leadership positions than men. From my experience, they have always been determined, focused and incredibly organised. I don’t want to generalise but from where I stand, when a woman says they will do something, as impossible as it might sound in the moment, they will find a way to make it possible. Perhaps this is an inherent need to beat expectations and overcome the obstacles we previously discussed, but I see so much more fight in female bosses. We fight for our place in the boardroom and to prove our worth. There’s no cutting corners or taking the easy way out for us. It is straight-up blood, sweat and tears.

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

That you’re the best. That you’re the most experienced person in the business. It’s absolute BS.

A founder is only ever as good as the team they have around them. A good founder will hire people that are better than they are. For example, I am a self-starter, I have a million ideas a minute but plenty of them need production and project management. I’ve hired detail-minded finishers to help me deliver to the level I’m imagining. We can’t be good at everything but knowing our own weaknesses can be a real strength.

I can’t tell you if you’re cut out to be a founder, only you can. OK, you can have a good idea and even some seed money, but it’s really based on the individual’s needs, commitments and what they want out of their work-life balance.

Naturally, I see lots of benefits in being your own boss, but it’s also incredibly isolating and that isn’t for everyone. While there are people in my team who are very ambitious, are constantly working their way up to the next promotion, I also have employees who are comfortable in the role they have. Some people look at me and wonder why I am happy to be out of the country for months at a time, miss seeing friends and stay up to 1 am tackling my inbox. Each person has different wants and desires from their career, and I believe that should be respected and valued.

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 should have paid more attention at school. I loved school…for socialising and for selling yoyos at breaktime. I didn’t pay much attention in class. I thought working hard was desperately uncool. Little did I know then that maths would be the coolest effing thing and something I needed every damn second of the day. I love the metrics side of running a business so if I could go back I would have paid a hell of a lot more attention than I did.
Enjoy the downtime. Nearly six years in and I still panic if I have a quieter day or an hour spare. It is stupid, I know, but I struggle to shift this attitude. I have to remind myself to take that time for myself — get my nails done, see my osteopath or call a mate. When you run a business, there is always something to do, but making time for you drives more value than anything else to the business.
Hire ahead. I know to the penny how much money Connects needs to bank in terms of gross profit per month and the right number of people in the office for the business to be profitable. Why? Because when we win a new piece of work and it’s not panic stations. I now hire ahead to make sure I can continue to grow the business without impacting workflows.
I will need an Executive Assistant. Honestly, I was told this a 1M times before I hired Vanessa. For me, I thought an EA made me sound arrogant. I am organized and can manage my own diary. I am responsive and can manage my own inbox. In the end, I was basically told to get on and hire someone by my investor. They could see that I wasn’t always using my time well. I hired Vanessa nearly a year ago and have since realised how good… scrap that, exceptional an EA is. Honestly, it’s changed my life. I feel supported and I can focus on what I am good at.
Future proof the business. Some days I am so in the thick of the business and getting through the day that I need to look up and make sure I know what is ahead. Not just for me, but for the team too — they need and deserve the same headspace. To grow the business, requirements change so we can never plan for best and worst case scenarios enough.

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

What a question! Throughout my career people took the time to listen to my ideas and to mentor me along the way. Those individuals helped me when I didn’t know what I needed help with, they taught me things that make the business a success today. It’s because of them, I give my time to people from underprivileged backgrounds looking to kickstart a career or navigate a career rut. To date, I have placed around 50 people in roles and still answer their calls and WhatsApps to help and support wherever I can.

I would rip up the recruitment rulebook and make careers and jobs accessible to all. It is about the people, not the grades. I didn’t pay attention in school but that hasn’t stopped me, so I think we should make space for more unorthodox ways into a job.

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

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

Modern Fashion: Tami Fujii of KINONA On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand…

Modern Fashion: Tami Fujii of KINONA On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today

An Interview With Candice Georgiadice

An intimate knowledge of your target market — By intimate, I mean who are they? How old? What kind of car do they drive? Where do they like to vacation? What brands do they have an affinity for? Getting very clear and specific about your target audience is critically important in regards to who you are designing for, what your marketing campaigns look like, and what your messaging is. Personify your customer by giving him/her/them a name.

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 Tami Fujii, KINONA’s Co-Founder.

Tami is a mother, wife, and daughter. Her career can be characterized as a fashion and tech sandwich having started (and hopefully ending) her career in fashion with consumer and tech product marketing in the middle. She calls herself the oldest living entrepreneur.

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 picking strawberries at our family strawberry farm in Troutdale Oregon and on the weekends (for fun), I got to drive with my mom to visit her family who were bedding plant growers…the smell of dirt and fertilizer were part of my childhood. My mom was a working mom and both of my parents had an incredible work ethic. I am third generation Japanese — American and I think they felt I would bring shame upon our family if I didn’t keep busy.

One summer, fearful I would be relegated back to the berry fields, I got a job working the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. From there, I knew I wanted a career in fashion.

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

My career has been a bit of a windy road but the “image” of being in the fashion industry is what fueled me. I was addicted to reading Seventeen Magazine, followed by Mademoiselle, Vogue, Bazaar, and InStyle. The lifestyle looked very glamorous. The irony is that my first “real” job after graduating from college was being an assistant buyer in the “hosiery” department at a department store in Seattle. The glamor in this job was sorting pantyhose by size and by color.

The one constant in my career has been a fascination with the consumer. Really trying to understand their wants and needs has always been a constant drumbeat for me, as well as trying to identify trends and build products that would meet their needs.

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

While I started in fashion, I left for several decades to pursue interests in consumer products and tech. My business partner today is a longtime friend and colleague who I worked with over 30 years ago when we were both product managers for Eddie Bauer. We traveled the world together sourcing and developing products and taking golf vacations. We always talked about starting our own women’s golf apparel company because of the frustration with not finding products that fit our sense of style. I knew that we had a small window of opportunity to turn this dream into a reality before we both started steering ourselves towards retirement. I am happy to say that we have been successfully working together for five years and looking forward to many more.

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?

Grit — My interpretation of this leadership trait is that it is hard to have empathy and understand your team if you personally haven’t dug into some of the work yourself. There are challenges to this in senior leadership roles, but it goes a long way to understanding the situation, especially when you have lived it yourself. My example of this is that I personally touch every single product SKU in our assortment. I have loaded them in both our retail system and online store and understand the workarounds. I can now coach and train others to do this work. Yes, it is monotonous, but at least I can feel confident in understanding the systems and technology to help coach and train others.
Scrappiness — I define scrappiness as the direct opposite of throwing money at the problem. Whether you are in a startup or Fortune 100 company, having the ability to find alternative solutions is part of being a great leader. I have mostly worked for “challenger” brands with tight budgets. I think when you have these parameters you can be so much more creative. I was about to launch a new consumer product brand at The Housewares Show in Chicago. We did not have the budget or the brand recognition to attract buyers to the booth to set up appointments, so instead we sent out a clever invite to everyone on our mailing list and had them bring their invite to the booth and we would give them a free sample. It was so successful that it even caught the attention of the Target stores’ buyer.
Customer Empathy — A slightly overused term I know, but it’s so important. If you don’t have passion or empathy for the problem that you are trying to solve, then what is the point? I have always had a personal connection to the brands and businesses I have built. Because of this, I feel like I have a more authentic point of view and can literally put myself in the shoes of the customer or consumer. It helps to see all parts of their journey, from discovering you as a brand, to making the first purchase.

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

What makes KINONA stand out is our product and approach. When we started the brand, we wanted to have a different look and feel from other women’s golf brands. Instead of hiring a designer who had worked in the golf industry, we hired a former colleague, Jarlath Mellett, who came from the fashion industry and has been the head of design for brands such as Brooks Brothers, Theory, and Ministry of Supply. Jarlath is inspired by vintage, interiors, and nature and this is very much reflected in KINONA’s “look.” Dianne and I layer in the product requirements to ensure that dress and skort lengths are golf course appropriate and that the features we build in (i.e., zippered pockets, taping around the legs of our undershorts to prevent them from riding up) are ready for play. We are a women’s golf brand that does not look “golf-y”.

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

“Live a life that you have designed” — Instead of having life happen to you, how can you design a life and career where you have a bit more of a roadmap? I tell my 25-year-old son to always run towards (instead of running from) something. When you are thinking of leaving a job or career, instead of complaining about it and running away from it, use it as an opportunity to run towards something new. This phrase is also relevant in managing relationships as well. Be in the moment. My biggest regrets are when I DIDN’T do something versus regretting something that I did.

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?

Sustainability — As you know, apparel is the biggest culprit in our landfills. 85% of our clothes end up there. 60% of apparel is not recyclable. The industry is trying to take an active role in this, but we are far from where we need to be.
Emerging out of our cocoon — As the world slowly emerges from the pandemic, I think there will be a transition from the cozy athleisure wear we have all been consuming and a cross over into more street and evening looks that possess the same level of comfort, but done in a high fashion way.
Embracing Technology as part of the shopping experience — The use of virtual reality/gamification to help consumers engage with your brand. Consumers who are engaged with your brand stay on site longer (thus increasing loyalty and conversion) and can use gamification to shop for discounts, learn more about how your product is made, and have a more authentic experience with your brand.
Every Size Counts — We look forward to seeing more representation across sizes. Not just XXXS. We love that brands are embracing models of different sizes and shapes as that is reality.

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

Our goal is to empower women golfers to feel like they belong on the golf course. Golf is a very male dominated sport and industry (28% of all golfers are women). There are still men’s only country clubs and men’s only dining rooms in the US. At KINONA, we want women to feel welcomed into the sport and to stay engaged through participation. Part of this starts with what they are wearing. KINONA, which means “shape” in Hawaiian, incorporates shape-flattering details into all of our products so that women can feel confident on the course and off.

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

KINONA develops apparel with meticulous intention and is committed to adhering to earth-friendly practices. KINONA selects suppliers that adhere to rigorous sustainability standards including OEKO-TEX, Marks & Spencer, and Global Recycled Standard. The company also uses Econyl recycled-nylon yarns in products.

Our Italian fabric is our core differentiator, and we are also proud to partner with a women-owned and operated fabric mill outside of Milan.

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?

Our clothes are built for women who are busy and don’t have time to be replacing their golf clothes season after season. Because we use high quality Italian fabrics, our products are built to last season after season and can be worn from the golf course to a meeting, or dinner. The ability to look appropriate for “Apres golf” is very important and helps women transition through their day much easier. Our motto would be less is more. Fewer, higher quality pieces that can be worn throughout the day.

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.

A Plan — What are you trying to achieve? What does success look like? How much money do you need to invest to make it grow? What is your plan once the money runs out? Having a plan and a roadmap that can lead and guide your team is essential so that everyone is clear. When I started KINONA with Dianne, we spent an entire weekend mapping out our business plan and how the two of us would engage. We were clear that our friendship was more important and needed to ensure that we were clear on our roles and responsibilities.
An intimate knowledge of your target market — By intimate, I mean who are they? How old? What kind of car do they drive? Where do they like to vacation? What brands do they have an affinity for? Getting very clear and specific about your target audience is critically important in regards to who you are designing for, what your marketing campaigns look like, and what your messaging is. Personify your customer by giving him/her/them a name.
Cash Flow — While this is tied into #1, understanding how you are funding your business and how you will continue to fund it as you scale is important to building a fashion brand or any business. Dianne and I bootstrapped KINONA on our own for the first year. In order for us to scale, we quickly had to pivot to fundraising mode by building decks and asking friends and family to invest in our company. At the end of the day, every brand needs to have a sense of what you are “going for”. We knew that we did not want to give up all of our equity in the business in order to grow. At times, we opted to slow down growth in order for us to preserve more of the business than giving away equity. These are very difficult decisions to make.
Supply Chain expertise — The design is only a part of fashion. Being able to actually build it and deliver it is a long road. Especially in today’s market with all of the long delays, if you don’t have great supply chain partners that you trust, the design is all for not. Because of our backgrounds and solid reputation, we have built a great supply chain at KINONA. We used relationships that were established long ago and tapped these suppliers in helping us build KINONA. Because of these relationships, we have been able to maneuver through the supply chain issues brought on by the pandemic with very little impact.
The Ability to Listen — Listen to your customer, listen to your sales team, listen in on your customer service calls. You will never be 100% right so understanding the pain points and where the friction is in the selling process is critical to execute your brand.

Dianne and I continue to be on the front line selling the brand to our customers, as well as consumers. We still are very hands-on in this process, as it keeps us connected to our end consumer. We still do trunk shows as a way to get feedback, witness first-hand how the product is fitting, and to listen to what our customer has to say.

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

Solving the issue around sustainability and waste.

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. 🙂

Closing the circle and repurposing your products to build something new. (Not a new idea, but something that our industry needs to pay more attention to!)

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Please visit www.kinonasport.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamifujii/

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

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

Women In Wellness: Samira Daswani Of Manta Planner On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help…

Women In Wellness: Samira Daswani Of Manta Planner On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Set your boundaries. I’m a self-proclaimed workaholic. I love what I do and enjoy working hard. I need to understand my limits, set my boundaries and respect the boundaries I set. I’ve been doing that. I’m now fairly strict that by 6pm in the evening my laptop is closed, my email inbox will not get responses and my phone messages (work-related) will not be answered.

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

Samira Daswani is the Founder and Creator of Manta Planner, an all-in-one planner for cancer patients and caregivers that works as a companion tool from diagnosis to survivorship. A health care executive and breast cancer survivor and thriver, Daswani sought out to create a tool that weaves hope with organization, helping patients and caregivers to make decisions about treatment options, track and manage symptoms, stay organized, and mindfully check-in with emotions. Manta Planner was newly launched in February 2022 and is currently available online for purchase.

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

I’ve worked in healthcare for the last decade of my career. I started out at McKinsey & Company as a Business Analyst focused on healthcare. I then went on to become a Director at a young cancer-startup called COTA. Soon after I became the Chief of Staff/VP at Accretive, a private equity firm that incubates & launches new companies. I helped launch 2 companies — one in the fashion-AI space and the other in the healthcare space. I took a sabbatical from work and came to Stanford University to get my Master’s in Healthcare-Design. My master’s thesis focused at the intersection of design-healthcare-and AI. After graduation, I am the VP of Product at a medical diagnostic company — Visby Medical where I helped launch a COVID-19 product.

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

I like to say that it’s unfolding right now! Manta Planner came from my personal experiences as a cancer patient. It wasn’t meant to become a product. However, the response from others has been incredibly meaningful. It’s the main reason I keep doing what I’m doing. It is incredibly humbling to create something that can support a person through one of the toughest chapters of their life. I’m not doing this work to make an income, I’m doing it because I truly believe it’ll help someone in their darkest moments. And in that lies my own fulfillment.

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

Manta Planner came from my personal experiences as a breast cancer patient. I was diagnosed a week after I turned 30. As an AYA cancer survivor, I am on a mission to help patients, survivors and caregivers gain back some control over our cancer journey.

I was lucky — I had a lot of support from my loving family and wonderful community. Despite being relatively well-prepared (yup, that’s a thing!) this was the most overwhelming 2 years of my life. Sometimes I still feel out of control.

Planning helped me and my loved ones know what is going on and what the next day/week/month will look like. Together we designed Manta Planner as a way to give back to this wonderful family that we now belong to.

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

1. Establish habits, one at-a-time. Starting on a lifestyle change can feel overwhelming. Start with 1 thing at a time. Give it at least 2 months, or until it becomes your default. In my case, I started with changing my diet. I gave myself all of 2021 to identify a nutrition plan that was right for me, learn how to shop & cook within it, and for it to become a part of my daily lifestyle. 2022 is all about gaining strength.

2. Nutrition is key to overall health. When I completed treatment for cancer, I started reading a lot about how to prevent a future recurrence from happening. I tried going vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free and fasting. None seem to truly work. I did a personal-genomic test upon the recommendation of my doctor. We discovered that in my specific case, I needed to eat a heavily plant based, low-carb (not keto), pescatarian diet. I’ve now been doing that for the last 6 months, and I feel great!

3. Focus on the small things that make you happy — I ask myself each day — if I only had today what would I do? And most days I try to do that. It’s usually the small things — a good cup of coffee, a walk with my dogs, calling my parents, sketching/painting.

4. Move daily. It can be whatever works for you — yoga, walking, gym, swimming,

5. Spend time in nature. I realized that I got a lot of energy from being out in nature. We now go daily. Our dog walks are our excuse to spend time amongst the trees, grass and ocean.

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

I think I’m doing it now through Manta Planner. My experiences as a patient made me realize that I needed to have more control over my medical decisions as well as my overall wellness. I want others to be able to i) identify what makes the most sense for them (i.e., personalize wellness) ii) support the creation of new habits (i.e., lasting / long term wellness) iii) to ultimately feel in control of their mind + body.

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

I’m applying this to the “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before Starting Cancer Treatment”:

1. The road to recovery is long and slow. You have to be the tortoise (not the hare)

2. Set your boundaries. I’m a self-proclaimed workaholic. I love what I do and enjoy working hard. I need to understand my limits, set my boundaries and respect the boundaries I set. I’ve been doing that. I’m now fairly strict that by 6pm in the evening my laptop is closed, my email inbox will not get responses and my phone messages (work-related) will not be answered.

3. Stay organized over your health information — if you don’t, no one else will. Our doctors rely on the data we provide them to make decisions on our short + long term health. We need to stay organized. Leverage the tools you have or get new tools to help you.

4. Asking for help is an act of courage. I am a very self-reliant person. I don’t enjoy asking for help — it makes me feel weak. Cancer is the ultimate knock-you-down moment. However, it can also be a moment where asking for and accepting the help you get allows you to reckon with yourself.

5. Breathe, and literally take one day at a time.

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

Mental Health and Mindfulness. I learned from my personal experience that cancer can be an overwhelming journey for both patient and caregiver alike. The idea for Manta Planner came to me as I was going through treatment, and scribbling treatment notes on scraps of random paper in my purse — it was a scattered, unorganized way to approach my treatment and it affected my mental health. I knew there had to be a better, and more mindful way, to effectively organize the different touchpoints of my cancer journey. That product did not exist, so I decided to create it.

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

Women In Wellness: Samira Daswani Of Manta Planner On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Wendie Colter of The Practical Path On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help…

Women In Wellness: Wendie Colter of The Practical Path On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Breathwork is a great way to relax the body and mind. My favorite stress-buster is taking a deep breath in to the count of 3, holding it for the count of 2, and then breathing out to the count of 4.

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

Wendie Colter has been a professional medical intuitive for more than 20 years. The founder/CEO of The Practical Path®, Inc., she offers intuitive development programs to clinical health professionals, complementary and alternative practitioners, and the general public. She is an invited speaker and instructor at some of the premier integrative health centers in the US and the author of Essentials of Medical Intuition: A Visionary Path to Wellness (Watkins/PRHPS). For more information, visit www.thepracticalpath.com

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

I was intuitive from a young age, as many children are. As I grew up, I became interested in biofield healing practices and began studying various energy modalities. As I developed my skills, I noticed that my intution grew as well. Eventually, I found I was able to “see” into a client’s physical body, both their anatomy and physiology, as well as their biofields (chakra and aura systems). I was interested in discerning the potential root causes of health imbalances, not only to support physical wellbeing, but also emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. My clients found these assessments deeply informative and useful “roadmaps” to help guide their health journeys.

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

Early in my career, I met a young woman with persistent, debilitating back pain. Her doctors could not find the cause of her distress and could only offer her opioid medications for her pain. In our medical intuitive session, I was able to discern a kidney issue that had been missed, and the details of the imbalance. After the session, she found a specialist who was able to successfully treat her issue. Sadly, she had become addicted to the opioids and died of an overdose. This tragic and heartbreaking outcome made me realize the importance of medical intuition, and how it could potentially save lives. It became my goal to teach healthcare professionals this paradigm-changing skill.

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

I was fortunate to work with directly with doctors fairly early on in my practice. Physicians would contact me when they had a challenging case, or when people weren’t healing despite best efforts. In retrospect, I could have asked them if they would be willing to share their experiences with their colleagues of working with a medical intuitive, and if so, would that have helped build more acceptance of the field.

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

My accredited certfication program, The Practical Path® Medical Intuitive Training™, has been pivotal in helping doctors, nurses and wellness professionals develop and optimize their intuition. I have taught and presented at some of the premier integrative health organizations in the U.S. I completed my pilot study, “Assessing the Accuracy of Medical Intuition,” which showed 94–98% accuracy rates, and was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. I also recently completed my book, “Essentials of Medical Intuition: A Visionary Path to Wellness.” The book presents a deep dive into the scientific literature on intuition in healthcare, and a vision for a future of healthcare that integrates medical intuition. It has been wonderful to see how many doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals resonate with and appreciate this perspective.

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

There is much our bodies and energy systems would like us to know. Some great “tweaks” that can enhance the mind-body connection are:

A regular meditation practice. Quieting the mind can help us listen to our intuition more clearly.
Keep an intuition journal. Noting when your intuiton is present or active can help you to grow it naturally.
Breathwork is a great way to relax the body and mind. My favorite stress-buster is taking a deep breath in to the count of 3, holding it for the count of 2, and then breathing out to the count of 4.
Getting out in nature, even for a few minutes, can be very rejuvenating and help to build resilience.
I teach a workshop in how to intuitively tap into our body’s own wisdom for self-care and self-healing. The workshop, Medical Intuition for Healing™, is open to everyone who would like to learn how to create their own mind-body connection to support essential self-care. Please see more at www.thepracticalpath.com

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

To have a certified medical intuitive practitioner in every hospital and clinic, and to incorporate medical intuition into healthcare education.

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

Please visit the website at www.thepracticalpath.com for information on upcoming programs, classes and workshops. Join our newsletter and find us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

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

Female Founders: Alice Bast of Beyond Celiac On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a…

Female Founders: Alice Bast of Beyond Celiac On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

Be real. You are not superhuman, but this is all-consuming work. Be honest with yourself and have an honest understanding with your spouse if you are married about what it will take to be successful. It’s not easy to be married to a founder.

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

Alice Bast’s personal experience with celiac disease ignited her passion to help the estimated three million Americans suffering from the disease receive a prompt and accurate diagnosis. Since then she has expanded the mission of her nonprofit Beyond Celiac to not only help people get diagnosed, but also to make it possible to live full and healthy lives after that diagnosis; to live, travel and eat without fear in a world Beyond Celiac.

My story begins just prior to 1990, when my husband Will and I started our family. My first pregnancy was uneventful, but my second was the opposite. Early on, severe fatigue set in. I couldn’t get enough sleep because severe diarrhea, joint pain and migraines kept me awake through the nights. Two weeks before the due date, I could sense that something had changed with my baby. Unfortunately our worst fears were realized — I delivered a full-term stillborn daughter, whom we named Emily.

I continued on to have multiple miscarriages before finally delivering my youngest daughter, who weighed only 2 pounds at birth. I was grateful, but my problems didn’t go away. For the next eight years, I visited 22 doctors, none of whom could identify the source of my ailments. At 5’9″, I had wilted to a mere 105 pounds and was convinced that I was dying. I wondered if doctors would ever find the problem with enough time to treat me.

It wasn’t until talking to a family friend, a veterinarian, that I found the source of my pain: my diet. My friend mentioned “celiac disease,” and said that animals can have reactions to wheat. I went ahead and visited my 23rd doctor. He said I was too tall to have celiac disease. I knew there was a blood test, so I insisted. “Here’s my arm,” I remember saying. “Give me the blood test.” Sure enough, the results came back positive. After eight years of struggling, I finally had my answer: celiac disease.

So after learning of my diagnosis of this autoimmune disease, I began the difficult task of eating gluten-free. I joined and later led support groups for people diagnosed with celiac disease. But still… I wondered how many people were out there suffering for years without answers as I had. My illness had remained undetected for years in part because awareness among medical professionals is extremely low. I also did not fit the description of the “typical” person with celiac disease — I wasn’t short, wasn’t a child, and I looked “fine.”

I knew I needed to do more. I enrolled in a graduate program at University of Pennsylvania in nonprofit management. I did a SWOT analysis and gaps analysis to identify the best way to serve the patient community. Since no organizations were working on raising awareness, in 2003 I decided to create the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, now called Beyond Celiac, with a dual mission: to increase awareness of celiac disease in order to make early diagnosis standard, and to raise funds to support medical research and education.

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

Maybe one of the most interesting things is that I’ve done some things that people said were impossible. For example, right when we were starting out, I landed an NIH grant to raise awareness about celiac disease. I was the primary investigator on the grant and it’s kind of rare for a layperson to get an NIH grant, but I am very persistent. The need was there, the idea was sound, I was able to recruit the right people who had experience who could help me, and I was so passionate to help other people get an accurate diagnosis that we were successful. Then we were told that there was no point in increasing diagnosis if the treatment — the gluten-free diet — was unavailable. So instead of just accepting that answer, we took on the project of increasing availability and affordability of gluten-free food. I learned that the lack of availability of gluten-free food was actually a barrier to diagnosis and research for additional treatments. So I set out on a quest to build a market when the naysayers said it was impossible. I camped out in Benton Arkansas at the Walmart headquarters to, over time, raise awareness about the need for the availability of affordable gluten-free food. Today, Walmart has shelves and sections labeled “gluten-free.” Additionally, we partnered and worked with Whole Foods, Wegmans, and even Anheuser Busch to bring all kinds of products to market. We helped introduce the first mainstream gluten-free beer!

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

We did a series of events called Appetite for Awareness. We traveled to cities all over the country and held events in which we paired high-end restaurant chefs and top doctors to do cooking demonstrations, talk about celiac disease and the need for safe gluten-free meals when dining out. It was a great campaign! But there was this one event in the Bay area that went a little off-plan. The event was on Treasure Island, a San Francisco neighborhood that is accessible only by one bridge. My team and I had arrived early to set up, and the doctors and chefs were on their way. As the event time approached and the guests had yet to arrive, I started getting a stream of texts — and pictures — from the guests who were en route. Turns out, the commute time happened to coincide with the local edition of the World Naked Bike Ride, and the naked bike route was across the same bridge! Hundreds of naked bike riders occupied most of the lanes of the bridge. Traffic there is always tough, but this caused an exceptional “gaper delay” for sure! Not only were we competing for the roadway, who do you think the press wanted to cover that day? The lesson learned was to be sure to know the landscape and competition, both metaphorically and literally.

I’m grateful for support from so many people! One is Ed Snider. I met Ed, then chairman of Comcast Spectacor and the owner of the Philadelphia Flyers Hockey team, in the early 2000’s. He’d had health issues and ultimately I helped him on his journey to a celiac disease diagnosis. As I was founding Beyond Celiac, he believed in me and became a mentor to me. He became a founding board member and committed both personal resources and corporate support. Even when others told him that he had no business getting involved in a little nonprofit startup, he did it anyway. He was the chairman of Comcast Spectacor which owned large sports arenas in Philadelphia. He donated space for fundraisers, paid for the event expenses. It was he believed in my vision that we were able to move so far so fast.

I also want to recognize Nancy Ginter, the Beyond Celiac Director of Administration. We actually met in nonprofit management program at Penn. She had already retired at that time, but soon found she wasn’t very good at being retired. We graduated together and she joined me at Beyond Celiac; she was my very first employee, although when there are only two of you it’s less of a boss-employee relationship and more of a partnership. I will always be grateful for her support and experience in those early days. She’s 80 years old and still with me today — I’m dreading the day she retires for a second time and we have to figure out how to keep our paperwork in order without her!

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

In order to start a viable business or nonprofit, you have to be bold, take the risk, believe in yourself, believe you can do it. It’s easy to have doubts but do the mental work necessary to not be self-limiting and know that you are not an imposter. You need to be 100% focused. When you get distracted and are torn between work and non-work, it’s a lose-lose situation.

There are internal barriers that we have to address. I do think women are still cautious when it comes to work. It’s good to take calculated risks, but ultimately you have to take the plunge. Men of the world aren’t holding themselves back! It’s like being a parent: there are lots of self-help books and classes you can take, but nothing can truly prepare you for the experience except for, well, experiencing it! Dive in — you may be surprised at how much you can accomplish.

And, no matter how confident you are, if you lack support systems, it can be difficult to get started. If a woman can’t afford childcare or college, if she lacks generational wealth or access to networking events, or, more simply, if she lacks resources and community, it will be very difficult to start her own business. Not impossible, but very difficult and stressful, enough to discourage many women.

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

For individuals: Support working women. We’ve evolved our society to be centered around the nuclear family, with much less community and intergenerational support. For many women, it’s a no-win situation. While we need systemic support, informal networks can fill a gap. If you find a resource that could help, send it to her; buy from women-owned businesses; spread the word about her new business once it’s open; if you’re family, offer to pick up her kids from school on busy days.

For society and culture: We need to reframe the cultural mindset. Expect the same caretaker responsibilities if it’s a two-parent household. There’s an unequal expectation of who should care for the children and manage the household, with women shouldering the lion’s share of the work. Any adult can change diapers, pick up and drop off kids, take sick days to care for them, make appointments, and pack lunches, so let’s stop perpetuating the myth that men aren’t good at or aren’t appropriate for that sort of work. And when more men do it, it will, no doubt, become viewed as more valuable to society. And let’s work to overcome the subtle societal implications that working women are not also good mothers. Workplaces can make accommodations that support career and family life. Covid-19 has shown us that flexibility in the workplace and with schedules does not mean less productivity.

The government: Pass laws to support childcare, paternity leave, equal pay enforcement, and tax breaks for working parents. Further, we need to adopt a systemic approach to building equity for women in leadership positions. This has been proven effective in especially in Europe. In fact, more than 10 years ago, Norway successfully legislated that at least 40% of corporate board seats be occupied by women. Waiting for companies to achieve this on their own accord is taking too long.

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?

I think there’s a distinction to be made between “I want to be a founder” and “I want to solve a problem.” I have always been a problem-solver. From my childhood, if I saw a problem I looked to solve it. I saw litter and organized clean-ups of the river bank near my home when I was in elementary school. It’s the mindset. I didn’t start out to start a business. I started out to solve a problem, which turned me into a founder, an agent of change, a social entrepreneur.

We need more women in leadership positions, just as we need better BIPOC representation at the heads of organizations. Women see the world through a lens that is unique to our gender. Women very likely are better equipped to solve problems that women and girls face. We need that perspective to effectively address the needs of those we are serving. We need leaders in all sectors to truly understand the challenges and needs of all our constituents, audiences and consumers. As we shift decision-making to being more inclusive, we will be closer to building a fair and equitable society.

Frankly, if not us, then who? I started Beyond Celiac because no one was doing the work I felt so passionately needed to be done. It wasn’t a gender thing, but after working within the structure that existed prior to the founding of Beyond Celiac, it was clear that waiting for someone else was going to take too long. I had a young family, but I had a supportive husband and I had this urgent calling to help other women avoid the suffering that I had gone through. To not take action did not feel like an option.

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

It’s a myth that “founder’s syndrome” is inevitable. Being a founder in itself doesn’t mean that you can’t delegate or surround yourself with smart and talented staff and collaborators. Founders absolutely need to hire the best people, and hire people with different strengths — complimentary skills, people who bring something different to the table.

This is related to the myth that founders are unbearable bosses, driven, unforgiving, and relentless. I strongly value a workplace that embraces the full lives of my employees, and I deeply appreciate the viewpoints of staff and many trusted advisers. We work hard, but we work collaboratively, and the experience is much more enjoyable because we are all in it together. A significant number of my staff of 17 have celiac disease or a family member with celiac disease, or a related autoimmune condition. We are in this for the common cause of driving research for treatments toward a cure by 2030, which will improve the lives of millions, including people on my team. I am the CEO, but it’s only with the work of this group of dedicated individuals that we will achieve that goal.

Another myth is the Steve Jobs/Bill Gates genius-inventor building stuff in his garage or dorm room image. The notion that a good idea fueled with a lot of imagination does have a basis in reality. But in the case of Beyond Celiac, the “good idea” wasn’t a bolt of lightning out of the sky, it was borne of a lot of research about what was available and not available to solve the problem that I had learned about first hand. And I didn’t work alone, toiling on the project. I had to get support and partners and collaborators. The first big donation to Beyond Celiac was from Ed Snider, the CEO of Comcast Spectacor and the owner of the Philadelphia Flyers who himself had lived with celiac disease for years. There was no going it alone and in secret.

Not everyone is born to be a founder, but I think that “founder characteristics” can be cultivated. Founders need conviction, need to believe in their mission even when tasks seem too difficult, too impossible. They need to stay calm, be resilient, to be able to get back up and attack an issue with the same vigor as the first time.

If you want to be a founder, you need to get used to standing your ground. If you dread conflict, disagreements, and making decisions, you may feel more comfortable in a regular job as an employee, but if that describes you, then I challenge you to explore under what conditions you might think dealing with conflict and making decisions is worth learning to manage your discomfort. I didn’t start out to be a founder. I didn’t look around for what business I could start. I started Beyond Celiac because there was a problem to solve and the work wasn’t being done anywhere else. I don’t love conflict, but I do love that I can learn from it and take those learnings and turn them into information to make better decisions for the future.

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.)

Be able to reach out and ask questions. Ask and find answers. Surround yourself with really great advisors. You don’t need to be the smartest person in the room. Be yourself. Lead from your heart.
Recognize the need for and build in operational efficiencies. In the beginning, you might feel like you can fly by the seat of your pants, but before you know it, you’re going to need a better plan. You’ll need a balance between ideas and operations. Take time to develop your plan and budgets and how you’ll build the organization. As you grow, you need to have the processes in place.
Do your homework — market analysis, gaps analysis. Set your goals and stay with them. Focus is key. If you choose to pivot, be intentional. It can be tempting to chase shiny objects or deals that look too good to pass up, but if it’s not in line with your goals, it’s just a distraction in a nice suit of clothes.
Focus on what you’ve done well, and don’t look back too long. Sometimes you’ll get scooped and the second mouse gets the cheese. You can’t win them all, so learn and move forward. Maybe you’ll be someone else’s second mouse next time.
Be real. You are not superhuman, but this is all-consuming work. Be honest with yourself and have an honest understanding with your spouse if you are married about what it will take to be successful. It’s not easy to be married to a founder.

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

The success of my organization, Beyond Celiac, has led to getting more people diagnosed with this insidious disease enabling them to live healthier and happier lives. Through the first-ever national celiac awareness campaign with CNN anchor Heidi Collins and a partnership with Quest Diagnostics, we helped increase the diagnosis rate from just 3% to an estimated 50% today. People are finding answers for health battles that have lasted for years, sometimes decades.

And part of living healthier and happier is making sure there is safe and affordable food. When I was first diagnosed with celiac disease, our community had to order gluten-free food from Canada. Gluten-free pasta was $12.99 a pound, and frankly, it was terrible. Through our work with food manufacturers and the restaurant industry, we’ve increased the availability and affordability of gluten-free food so that people can eat without fear.

However, we know that gluten-free diet isn’t always effective, and poses significant burdens to quality of life, travel, socializing, and dining out. Because of this, today we are accelerating research into celiac disease, which will have the future benefit of getting us to treatments beyond the gluten-free diet. Researchers are digging into how this disease works, which could lead to increased understanding of how all autoimmune diseases function, which ultimately could help the 50 million Americans living with autoimmune disease also live longer, healthier lives.

Overhaul the healthcare system to yield better care for all. We can take so many lessons from Covid-19. When there is adequate financial support and an incentive for companies to work together or by using open source data to increase the brainpower to solve a problem, we can get there so much faster. We need to promote equality & ensure that systems are in place to optimize care and not be solely about driving revenue. For a country as wealthy as the United States, we should be the healthiest country in the world. Let’s set that goal and figure out what we need to do to get there. Let’s inspire a movement. Let’s fix the systems that are broken.

Specifically for celiac disease, we need health equity and more empathetic doctors. So many in our community are told that they “couldn’t have” celiac disease because they don’t look like they have it, or that their symptoms are not “typical.” Part of achieving this aim involves improving the health system here in America so doctors can really see their patients and not feel rushed and overwhelmed by paperwork and an unending stream of patients. It’s a big job, but you don’t realize how much poor health affects every aspect of your life until it’s clear you may not get better. It’s terrifying. Preventative measures like annual screening covered by insurance can catch diagnoses before they become debilitating. In the richest country in the world, everyone should be able to get the care and testing they need without having to worry about money. And, my big hairy audacious goal is to prevent autoimmune diseases in the first place.

I have two! Celiac disease has largely been underfunded, and as a health-related advocacy nonprofit, we need investment from philanthropic and government leaders. On the philanthropic side, I’d love to have a meal with Mackenzie Scott to share with her our work in health equity and to get her perspective on the role of philanthropy in creating a more fair and just world.

The other is Joni L. Rutter, PhD. She is the head of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the NIH. “Translational Science” is defined as moving basic research as quickly as is safe and feasible to treatments to help people. Celiac disease is the only autoimmune disease with a known trigger — gluten — and I’d love to get her perspective on how we might start thinking in new ways to synthesize the current body of research in autoimmunity with what we know about celiac disease, and through what avenues we could increase funding for celiac disease research.

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

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

Women In Wellness: Roxanne Wise of Rookie On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support…

Women In Wellness: Roxanne Wise of Rookie On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

There’s no roadmap for something that hasn’t been done before. Sometimes we want to copy other successful brand or campaign ideas because we saw them have success- but they are not you and you are not them. Try new things!

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

Rookie is a sustainable sourced, Vegan brand that is simplifying supplements so anyone can be well. Rookie is Non-GMO, Gluten free, soy free, dairy free and is made in the USA. The brand is committed to clean, kind practices through every part of the process. The brand partnered with wellness experts to include immune boosting supplements, along with morning/evening and pre-workout supplements all made with bioavailable super nutrients like Vitamins, Ginger, Elderberry, Magnesium, melatonin, Guarana and Ashwagandha to name a few.

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

I am a mom of two busy boys, and started Rookie because I wanted to take care of myself. After 10+ years in advertising and ecommerce, I was tired. I had had two kids during that timeframe, scaled two successful businesses, and found myself depleted. I created Rookie because I wanted better options for me and my family that felt accessible, and fit into my lifestyle.

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

Two separate times in my career I vividly remember realizing that there wasn’t anything to be afraid of. I have pitched multi-million dollar accounts to boardrooms of executives, and stood toe-to-toe with C-levels and Presidents asking me for advice. Nobody has all of the answers. It doesn’t matter what your career “pedigree” or background says- anything is possible if you believe you can do it. Everybody is making it up as they go.

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

Wanting things to be perfect, and asking TOO many questions. Questions are good- trying is better. I figured this out early on, and believe it made me a better doer. Present ideas, present plans, and then ask for feedback. This has formed Rookie and every company I’ve been a part of.

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

The days of grandma’s portable pill holder are gone- people are fast-paced, complex, and unique. I wanted to offer supplements that matched that. Our blends are advanced level ingredients for on-the-go, meant to be built into whatever kind of lifestyle you have. Forget adding ashwagandha to your protein shake and taking a B complex along with your multivitamin- why not add a single stick to water and get all of the benefits of the above in one drink?

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

1. Stay true to you. Adapting a new personality or trying to take on a lifestyle you aren’t familiar with is not only unsustainable, it’ll set you up for failure.

2. Just try. Start today, try again tomorrow, make a change for good. Small consistent steps are better than getting up and training for a triathlon.

3. Get a buddy. If you are trying a new class, or making a commitment to a new workout regimen- find someone to go with you. It’s so much more enjoyable to do it with somebody else, and makes us feel more accountable to our commitments.

4. Try new things! Sometimes we prevent ourselves from trying because we are afraid of failing, or looking stupid. I encourage my kids all the time to try new things, but it’s some of the hardest advice to give adults. I recently got back into horseback riding after 15 years of not doing it and am loving it! I also took my first ski lesson with my 5 year old this year. I fell A LOT, but was so proud of myself for trying!

5. Ask questions! When we are learning the best course of action is application, and doing the movement you don’t understand in a class only opens ourselves up for injury or worse! How do I isolate in that movement? Is this right? How did you train for that? Nobody likes looking dumb- but to be honest nobody identifies with the know it all either. We like people who are open, so why not be that.

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

I hope Rookie is it! I felt there was a gap in wellness where it caters a lot to the already fit, or already very well versed in adaptogens and blending their own nut milk. What about me? I am a regular mom trying to do my best, and I think there are a lot of women like me. I want to normalize being a ‘rookie’, no matter our experience levels so that we all feel like we have a place in wellness.

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

1. Just because someone doesn’t like peanut butter and jelly doesn’t mean PB&J isn’t good. We are not for everyone, and that is okay.

2. Nobody has all of the answers (see above ;))

3. Be flexible. Ask for feedback. Make changes that better your business.

4. Find a mentor, or a sounding board. It’s so helpful to bounce ideas off of someone, or talk through hard times.

5. There’s no roadmap for something that hasn’t been done before. Sometimes we want to copy other successful brand or campaign ideas because we saw them have success- but they are not you and you are not them. Try new things!

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

Definitely mental health. I think mental health is equally as important as physical health, and love that we are able to talk about it. My mom’s generation wasn’t able to, and I think we saw a lot of silent suffering from that age group. Normalize it, talk about it, exercise it just as you would your body.

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

@rookiewellness

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

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

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Michelle Augustine Of W L Gore & Associates On The 5…

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Michelle Augustine Of W L Gore & Associates On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned from Her Experience

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

To be a leader, you must have followers and followership is earned — This is a distinct difference between leading and managing. Leadership required authenticity and humility and a self-less focus on what your team needs to be successful and how you can enable that success.

As a part of my series about “Lessons from Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Augustine.

Michelle Augustine is a career technology and business development leader with W. L. Gore & Associates. After earning her Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware, Michelle joined Merck Pharmaceuticals in 1992. Shortly thereafter, she joined Gore in 1993 and worked on early innovation and technology development for next generation GORE-TEX footwear and garments. Michelle has driven technology development through the entire product life cycle for both derivative and disruptive innovations, including serving as a global platform champion for the company’s proprietary chemical and biological protection capability. She has led numerous cross-functional development teams in Gore’s Fabrics, Medical, and Performance Solutions Divisions, requiring deep skills in business analysis, operations, product design and material technology. In 2007, Michelle helped build the Eastern U.S. technical and operations organization for the company’s Medical division, which included leading new business and new product development, and technical support for operations. In 2015, Michelle took the commitment to provide technical leadership for Gore’s emerging business focused on delivering unique high value products for the pharmaceutical and biologics industry.

She then transitioned to an Enterprise commitment to build business processes and digital capabilities, initiating and sponsoring a program to develop enhanced enterprise innovation portfolio governance and new product development capability. In 2018, Michelle became the business execution leader for the Performance Solutions Division, providing leadership for strategic and operational planning, business capability development, project and portfolio management, and strategy execution. In June of 2021, Michelle became the Global Business Group Leader for Gore’s new Clean Energy business. This new business is focused on delivering double digital growth through new products and solutions leveraging proprietary Gore materials to address challenges in the emerging Hydrogen Economy and Global Energy transition markets. Michelle resides in Landenberg, PA with her husband and two sons, ages 21 and 18. She enjoys sports, running, hiking, reading and cooking.

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 path to becoming the Clean Energy Business Group Leader at W. L. Gore & Associates was an interesting one. I grew up always wanting to be a pediatrician. Not many people in my family had gone to college before me, so to those around me my aspirations were high. I didn’t have much opportunity for career exploration throughout my upbringing, but I always had a passion for math and science. In high school, I was selected to participate in an engineering Outreach program sponsored by DuPont. This acquainted me with what engineers do in a world-renowned science and materials company. At the same time, my high school chemistry teacher, who was very influential in my life, recommended that I pursue engineering as an undergrad. Even though I wanted to go to medical school, he convinced me that engineering would provide a strong foundation and would eventually open up other possibilities for me. I attribute a huge amount of my successful pursuit of a STEM career to the influences I received in high school, both from this teacher and the DuPont program.

Fast forward to after completing my undergraduate degree in engineering, I was debating whether I wanted to attend medical school. I knew I wanted to get experience in the workforce first, so I took a job at Merck Pharmaceuticals. I had interviewed at Gore and had received offers for a few different positions, but I chose to take an offer from Merck, seeking to gain experience in the medical field. About a year into my time at Merck, Gore approached me with a different opportunity. I decided to take the offer from Gore because the innovative company culture intrigued me and offered an opportunity to challenge myself as an engineer while being innovative in my pursuits — both areas that I found deeply satisfying.

Tell us a little about that company culture you mention. What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

What makes Gore different is the fundamental belief in associates and their ability to do amazing things. Other companies try, unsuccessfully, to replicate this. Here, it’s a very real thing. Our brand promise makes it clear — “Together, improving life.”

Gore believes in dreaming big and acknowledges that success comes from creating an enterprise where risk-taking and creativity are promoted and encouraged. One of my favorite quotes from one of our founders Vieve Gore is, “Make someone a hero every day,” and I feel a strong commitment from Associates helping each other develop and grow and maximize their impact on the Enterprise throughout the company today.

Over the course of my 29-year career at Gore, I’ve had the opportunity to work in almost every division of our global Enterprise, and many times I was given “stretch” opportunities to do meaningful and challenging work long before I was probably ready for it.

In the Fabrics division, I was asked to champion one of the largest research and development investments for the division. We were working to win a contract for a U.S. government program that would be pivotal to building this new business. I had never been responsible for negotiating with a customer before, let alone such a massive undertaking as a contract with the U.S. government. Despite this, Gore offered unlimited support and trust and pushed me into this role where I was able to represent Gore and the product. While there was clearly a huge belief in my capability, I never once felt left on my own to navigate this new responsibility.

One other unique aspect of Gore is their commitment to “fitness for use.” We stand behind our products and our commitment that they will do what we say they will do. No matter the product, we go to great lengths to ensure they perform as promised in their intended application every time. For example, after launching GORE-TEX apparel, there were product performance issues and Gore effectively bought back all the garments and did not release new garments to the market until we had solved the problem. Our promise was for these products to keep you dry and we didn’t stop until we delivered on that promise.

Eventually, I transitioned to working in the Medical Products division, leading new product development and manufacturing support teams. This led me to new business development opportunities in both Medical and Performance Solutions divisions, followed by business execution leader as part of our Performance Solutions division leadership team.

My ability to explore so many facets of this global enterprise was due to both the company culture at Gore, as well as the solid STEM background I developed through my undergraduate degree in engineering. Engineering teaches you to think critically. That skill can apply seamlessly to life, communication, business, and so much more. With Gore believing heavily in the individual, and my STEM foundation opening many doors, I was well equipped to thrive within an otherwise competitive industry.

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

A few years into my career at Gore, I received a page from a number I didn’t recognize. I answered and, lo and behold, it was the president and CEO of the company Bob Gore. I almost hung up, as I was so taken aback. He said, “What are you doing? I have an idea I want to test out.”

He knew I was working on a new material technology, and he asked me to meet him in the lab in one hour. He truly believed that the technology’s performance would be different than what had been originally presented. After working together in the lab to test his theory, we ended up disproving his hypothesis. His response? The same excitement that would have come had he been proven right.

It was through this experience that I learned that Gore has an unparalleled willingness to support Associates as they form their own ideas, testing and challenging them, and pivoting in the faith of disproving evidence, ultimately celebrating and applying their learning to new ideas and opportunities.

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

I once submitted a new material solution to a government program for consideration. These programs are often defined by a detailed contract and are conducted over multiple phases. Our first step was to submit pieces of our material solution for testing, followed by submitting larger quantities to manufacture garments for field trials. After a year following the material submission, we were continuing to innovate and improve the material. We chose to submit the improved version for the field trials, not knowing that the contract stated that no changes could be made from the first phase submission. I took the situation to my leadership, sure that I would be reprimanded for not familiarizing myself with the contract. To my surprise, nobody was angry. There was no focus on the mistake I had made, but rather on how to rally and move forward. Gore made the decision to tell the government what had happened and offered to pay for a new first round of testing on the improved material, to take away any inconvenience put on them. Despite this being a costly fix, Gore’s commitment to providing the best product outweighed their concern about an honest mistake.

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

Gore decided as a company to invest in developing innovative material solutions to help enable the decarbonization of the planet. By trying to use our unique materials to create solutions that reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we are effectively contributing to cleaner energy and addressing one of the most pressing global challenges of our time.

One of our leading businesses in this space is driving the continued growth of fuel cell technology for vehicles. By investing in technical advancements in our materials, we’ve been able to enable the performance necessary for fuel cells to power all types of vehicles from passenger cars, commercial trucks, ships, trains, buses, and even airplanes. We are also actively trying to develop material solutions to produce green hydrogen from water with zero carbon dioxide emissions using electrolyzers that are powered with wind and solar energy — critical clean energy advancements that have enabled more than 40,000 fuel cell vehicles and have reduced more than 150,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

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?

I don’t think anybody is satisfied with the current state of women in STEM. Although more women are going to college every year and we are making progress at the university level, it is not yet translating into organizations at all levels of leadership. Women are not reaching senior leadership levels in the same way men are, particularly when you look at minority women. What I think we need to do to help close the gap, especially for women represented in senior leadership of STEM roles, is to look at the early talent selection and development. There is a lot of inherent bias in internal talent selection processes in most organizations. Often, it’s men making these selections. We desperately need to integrate more women into the selection process who are empowered to advocate and sponsor women coming into the field early in their careers, to gain the experiences that position them as ready when some of these bigger leadership opportunities become available. It really needs to be a multifaceted approach to successfully increase the number of women in our talent pools and in our hiring teams, as well as increase representation of women in our internal talent and assessment process.

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?

Women, more often than men, face the situation where they are the only female in a room, especially within the STEM field. Oftentimes, women find themselves in a place where their perspective is different from everyone else, which can make you start to question your own point of view and might make it difficult to fit in. I think women make choices to hold back or change a piece of who they are to gain acceptance, and I don’t feel that men find themselves in these situations as much, as they are often surrounded by other men in business meetings.

Another important aspect is that women are often overlooked for stretch opportunities, or work that may be a bit of stretch for them based on their current skills and experiences. They are often held to standards that differ from their male counterparts. Women are expected to have demonstrated capability when they are being considered for some of these new opportunities, while men are more often afforded the benefit of the doubt and can be seen as having higher potential.

About 10 years into my career, I had a male leader who I felt held me back from challenging opportunities. I was always raising my hand saying, “I think I can do this in addition to what I’m currently doing,” or “I can tackle more,” and he always said I needed more experience. I finally reached my breaking point and brought my concerns to another technical leader. He told me, “You know what, Michelle, it’s not you. It’s this other person.”

He took it upon himself to address this with the individual I was having trouble with, and the leader that had been holding me back instantly shifted to giving me opportunities, trusting me, and treating me differently. I really believe that there’s a component of sponsorship and advocacy that is critical to closing the gender gap in STEM. Men, and women, in leadership roles need to call out biases when they arise to ensure all individuals can excel in this industry.

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

The biggest one is that people believe women are less likely to take on a stretch assignment because of their desire to focus on family. In my experience, this conversation generally takes place behind closed doors among leaders. These leaders make assumptions about an individual’s commitments to their work life vs. their home life. However, this rarely happens when considering a man for a role, even though they may be in a similar home life situation. Many times, the women being talked about don’t even know these conversations are happening and aren’t given an opportunity to weigh in.

The reality is that women are just as likely as men to take these opportunities and are oftentimes more motivated than their male counterparts. We need to present opportunities fairly to women and allow them to make the decision for themselves.

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.)

To be a leader, you must have followers and followership is earned — This is a distinct difference between leading and managing. Leadership required authenticity and humility and a self-less focus on what your team needs to be successful and how you can enable that success.
Be curious, seek first to understand, then act — I have been in situations where people made comments that someone was doing XYZ or that situation XYZ was very bad which painted that person or that situation in a very negative light. However, when I spoke to the person in question or probed the situation more deeply, their perspective or the situation was completely different. If you always lead with questions for understanding, you’ll find that your choices and actions are more aligned with the needs of the person or situation.
Encourage bold thinking and risk taking — celebrate mistakes that lead to learning. This is where innovation and new ideas come from which is critical any businesses long term sustainability and success.
Recruit great people, align them with their sweet spot, seek their commitment, and become a ‘snowplow” — find people whose passion, skills and goals align with that of your business. Find a place for them that allows them to use their unique skills and, as a leader, do everything in your power to remove the barriers that could keep them from achieving success.
You get what you walk by — you must be willing to step into messy situations that others avoid, if they impact your team, work environment, or your ability to deliver results. This requires a tremendous amount of courage to be a role model but when it comes to leadership, actions speak louder than words.

*Bonus lesson: Work yourself out of a job — Leaders should have a relentless focus on developing the people they lead. Empowering individuals on your team to take on aspects of your job to help them grow and develop is critical to engagement and ultimately to business success. Building a strong and capable team of talented individuals also allows you take on new opportunities and gain new experiences.

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

The most powerful teams are those that have clear objectives. When goals are clear, and a team operates in a way in which each member is empowered to bring their unique capabilities to achieve a common goal, the greatest successes are achieved. As a leader, you should create an environment where challenge and risk taking are encouraged, respect and humility are accepted, and diversity is sought out. Set clear priorities for your team to achieve the best results.

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

I currently manage a global team. I find that the best method for leading a large team is to be clear about the results that matter the most. There are a lot of ways to describe what winning is, but when the leader is clear about what is expected, the team can more effectively work to achieve that goal. Establish shared goals that are necessary to deliver results for the entire team. These goals should not be achievable by a single individual or function, but rather require multiple disciplines to work collaboratively to achieve.

None of us can 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?

One of my former engineering leaders — my very first leader at Gore — was one of the most impactful people in getting me to where I am today. When I first started at Gore, I viewed myself as a technologist. I wanted to drive discovery and my entire identity was tied up in being an expert. However, I have always gravitated towards helping others succeed and finding ways to monetize inventions. My engineering leader saw something in me. At one point he said, “Other people want to follow you. They view you as a leader. Other people believe in you more than you believe in yourself.”

This was a pivotal moment in my career because it gave me the courage to move into a leadership position — something I had never seen as an option for me. This helped launch into a trajectory towards becoming a business leader. Because of the confidence my former leader had in me, I am now able to fulfill my passion of bringing business, technology, and people together to solve meaningful challenges in society.

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

I’ve always spent a lot of time coaching individuals one-on-one. About five years ago, I realized that I had amassed significant influence within the Gore enterprise. I was now able to do more than just help a few people. I started by reaching out to four women to discuss and address the systemic issues that were holding women back from advancing within the organization. Our company promises to “Together, improving life,” but that was not the reality that everyone was experiencing. We wanted the enterprise to live up to the promise it had made to its Associates. We banded together and created a proposal that we took to the Board of Directors that focused on increasing representation of women in disciplines that needed it as well as hiring women at all levels of leadership. We created goals around gender representation and established the Women’s Inclusion Council to hold the enterprise and leaders accountable.

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. 🙂

I would love to drive a movement around curiosity. I believe that differences should be celebrated. If people could seek to understand one another’s differences, we could address so many issues in the world. It’s also a part of driving innovation. Curiosity for the sake of understanding could effectively eliminate bias across the globe.

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

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget what you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

This quote gives me the courage to be the person I want to be at work. I can be who I am at Gore, which is why I’ve stayed as long as I have. I believe that little moments of interaction and genuineness that you have with others make the biggest impact. People often perfect and rehearse what they are going to say, but at the end of the day, mistakes will be made. If you come from a good place, that is what will be remembered.

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 love to share a meal with Melinda Gates. I recently read her book and was astounded by the work she is doing, tackling one of the longest standing societal issues surrounding gender. She is systemically using science and the human spirit to bring about change. I am very impressed with her methodology of getting to the root of issues and taking technology solutions and adapting them to be deployed against the individual needs of different cultures. Recognizing that what works in one culture might not work in another is essential to creating lasting broad change. If I could have breakfast with her, I would love to learn more about how she decides where to focus and prioritize her efforts and the efforts of her team.

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

Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Michelle Augustine Of W L Gore & Associates On The 5… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.