Female Founders: Alessandra Pollina of Quotable Media On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Persistence- you will not thrive or succeed if you do not persist when things get tough. Literally no successful business owner will ever tell you that it was easy all of the time or that the success they wanted came on the first try. The number one thing that business owners I’ve talked to on my podcast say, and what I truly believe myself as well, is that the only difference between someone who seems successful and everyone else is that they didn’t stop before they got to that point. To achieve a level of success is simply to keep going until you figure out a way that works, rather than quit before you’ve gotten there. That’s where persistence comes in.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alessandra Pollina.
Alessandra Pollina is the founder and owner of Quotable Media Co. which she launched in 2012 at just 23 years old. Quotable Media Co. is a PR and media agency which works to elevate female-led brands and produces Quotable: A Female Millennial Entrepreneur Podcast and Quotable Magazine. You can learn more at quotablemediaco.com.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I have been doing PR from the very beginning. I studied it in college, where I was in the school of communication and was most drawn toward the PR concentration because I liked the idea of getting to promote brands and causes that I cared about in a really conscientious way. Sharing important causes with the people who needed to know about them resonated with me, so I dove into those classes and I had a variety of internships in all different types of companies throughout, until I had a really good sense of what I liked and wanted to do. When I graduated it was tough out there, and I ended up with a terrible job that didn’t pay a livable wage, and I realized I needed to make a change. So within a year of graduating I started taking on my own clients while working part time for another small agency, and that’s when my business started.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
The whole experience of starting and running a business is interesting, but I don’t know that there’s one specific instance I can point to as the most interesting thing that’s happened. The most interesting part to me is getting to interact and be around other business owners and learn about what they’re doing in their businesses. I’m fascinated by people in general (I minored in anthropology in college because I just love learning about people and how we are the same, different, and how we’ve approached life throughout time) and find it so interesting to see the ideas other business owners have, how they choose to do things, the innovation, all of it. I guess I would say that getting to talk to hundreds of other business owners, between my agency’s clients, guests on my podcast, and interviews for our magazine, is something I never imagined I would do and is one of the most fascinating parts of my work.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I don’t know if it’s funny but the biggest mistake I made was charging too little for too long. Of course when you’re first starting out and have less experience you may charge less than people who have been in business longer, but I think that — maybe partly because I was also very young — I waited longer than I should have to raise prices and gain confidence in the value of my services. Looking back now I think some of the proposals I sent out to people and the fees I proposed for certain projects are kind of laughable, but not exactly funny. It was all part of the growth process, but also a mistake to let it go on for too long. I eventually learned that not every project is a good project, and if it’s not paying enough it’s probably not worth taking on and is just taking up space and time from a better client that might be worth waiting for. I realized over time that you have to consistently be working toward upward growth in business, and even if I took on small projects or charged less than I should have at the beginning I should have been working toward charging more and more with every proposal/client/quarter. You never get bigger or grow as much as you can if you aren’t consciously working toward it, even when it’s scary.
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?
There are two people that I consider instrumental in my business being where it is now. One is the person who led the small agency that I worked for when starting my business. He was my mentor from the very beginning- literally the first agency owner who took a chance on me with my very first internship in college when I had no experience, and then also hired me when I needed a new opportunity to get out of that first terrible job. I learned so much about PR and business from working with him, and he was so supportive of me starting my own company too. There was never competition, just support, and to this day we are great friends and support each other in business all the time. The other is my friend who I met through a networking group for female entrepreneurs that I began a few years into my business when I was craving connection with other women in business. While I had a viable and ‘successful’ business at that point, I wasn’t in growth mode and wasn’t making as much money as I wanted or could be. She has helped me for years now in believing in my worth, gaining confidence in my business, encouraging me to raise my prices more and take the scary leaps that I needed to in order to become more successful. I don’t think I would have seen the growth that my company has had in the past several years without her pushing and inspiring me in all the right ways.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
I think we have a really negative mindset around women founding businesses — and not that women don’t think they can do it but that there is so much negative talk about how hard it is to get funding and things like that, that it makes people think it will be too hard to reach success and that it may not be worth getting involved in. I’m not even talking about the women who want to start the business but other people who maybe would be investors or other key players — it’s exhausting to try to convince them to come on board, because they’re already coming into the conversation with stats like that one from EY in mind and think it may be a losing battle. I also think that women are more likely to start companies that need less or different funding, so it makes it look like we’re not starting businesses based on stats like that, but really we may be starting different types of businesses or being more creative about funding. Ultimately I think if we encourage women to found companies and show that they’ll have the support they need, there will be more and more who do it. The main blocker is fear, and feeling like it may be the wrong time for your life or family. We need to encourage women and reiterate that there is no right or wrong time and you can have a family and a company, and do whatever else you want to do in life!
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
I think we should focus more on the success and achievements of women founded companies than on the obstacles and challenges. It’s been proven that female led companies are more profitable, nicer places to work, and can be just as successful, but for some reason people don’t focus on that enough and instead always focus on how hard it can be for them to get started. I think one of the things to keep in mind too is that women are often so strategic and smart with funding and how to get a project going in a really thrifty way that they often don’t need as much funding, yet media only want to talk about startups that are receiving tons of funding, as if that somehow means they’re more viable or more important. In reality, women-led companies tend to fly under the radar more, so people aren’t as aware of what’s even happening with them, and then it looks like the male-run companies are more prevalent — but really they’re just spending more money, because they can.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Women are smart and able to come up with unique solutions to problems. Women are compassionate, and make great leaders, and as I said, are able to make a lot happen with little resources. We’re extremely efficient, which I think comes from generations of having to make our personal projects happen along the fringes of our other responsibilities of running a household and taking care of children. When women lead, it creates better workplaces, happier families, great role models, and innovative companies, all of which help make our society stronger.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
The main myth is that being a founder means you have to be working 24/7, and that you’re always putting out fires and struggling to get or stay ahead. In reality, if you set your company up in a solid way, and create and maintain the right systems and have the right people in place to support you and the company, things should run smoothly a lot of the time. You can absolutely take time off and have room for personal growth, if you take the time and effort to create the right support as you grow. A lot of people skip that or don’t put the effort in to set their business up like that, so then they feel constant stress or pressures, but that’s a personal choice and something you can resolve if it’s important to you. You can run a strong business and have a life outside of it. As I said before, you can be a founder and have a family and do the other things you want to do in your life, and I think sometimes people don’t believe that.
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?
Absolutely not everyone is cut out for it! There is a lot that goes into being a successful founder beyond just having a good idea for a business. I just did a podcast episode for my Quotable Podcast on some of the things that I think go into creating a strong business with longevity, and a lot of what I talked about has to do with not giving up. That’s a certain mindset that can be really tough to hold onto throughout years of building a business. There will be so many things that come up over time that might make it feel like it’s easier to just do something else or give up, and it will be tempting to give in to that. You have to be willing to not make a lot of money for a while, to potentially deal with difficulties for a long time before things are running smoothly, and maybe even put a lot of other things on the back burner for a while, without a guarantee that what you’re working toward will pay off — all of which are things that most people aren’t willing to do long term. It’s a big gamble and you need to have a lot of faith in yourself and just an unwavering belief that you will make it work eventually — and of course the drive and skill to actually make it so. Most people don’t have that kind of belief in themselves and would rather have a steady paycheck and not take on the stress of being responsible for their wellbeing or that of others. Most people would rather rely on someone else owning the business and just show up for work each day even if over time they don’t have the opportunity for growth that they would if they started their own business. And that is totally fine! Also, I think to be successful you need to have a certain amount of personability. You need to be someone that people want to work with, and who can get people to want to be a part of whatever you’re doing, whether it be employees or other stakeholders, and even just other community members whose buy-in you’ll need at some point. You can found a business without it, but there’s a certain amount of personality that I think is important to actually becoming successful, because people want to work with people they like. Being likable can take you far.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
#1 Grit #2 Motivation #3 Persistence #4 A strong support system #5 Self-belief
- Grit- it’s not easy. Even if it feels easy at first because you’re so aligned with what you’re doing and you feel so called to this business, I think for almost everyone there will come a point where you find yourself in a tough spot. Whether it’s a tough business decision, a negative experience, a hard situation with a client or customer, frustration at not making enough money as you hoped or needed, having to fire an employee, having stock shipments delayed, or having a sick kid at home on a day when you had a huge meeting planned, there will be times that are not easy. Having grit will get you through. Not taking no for an answer, consistently figuring out a way to make ‘it’ work, never letting someone’s harsh words make you quit, just having the stamina to make it through the tough times and not let them break you or your love for the business- these are all the ways that having grit will help you succeed. There’s a certain capacity for letting things roll off your back, and also for plowing forward when you know you’re right that I consider the grit you need to succeed.
- Motivation- a lot of people I’ve seen start businesses and quit before they felt successful because they lacked motivation. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just a fact of life. Sometimes you lose motivation for your business or whatever you’re doing. Some people just aren’t very motivated in general but maybe decided to start something because it seemed fun or easy, but then didn’t want to stick with it once that part of it wore off. The people who I’ve seen succeed and thrive the most are those who have an innate level of motivation within themselves and/or constantly seek to build and hold onto motivation. I think it’s important to continuously create motivation within yourself so as not to risk losing it. My motivation is always reinvigorated by talking to other successful business owners and hearing about what cool things they’re creating or have worked on. It keeps me excited for new possibilities and motivates me to do more and do better. Whatever motivates you, I think it’s important to consciously take part in that on a regular basis and make sure you don’t let your motivation die.
- Persistence- you will not thrive or succeed if you do not persist when things get tough. Literally no successful business owner will ever tell you that it was easy all of the time or that the success they wanted came on the first try. The number one thing that business owners I’ve talked to on my podcast say, and what I truly believe myself as well, is that the only difference between someone who seems successful and everyone else is that they didn’t stop before they got to that point. To achieve a level of success is simply to keep going until you figure out a way that works, rather than quit before you’ve gotten there. That’s where persistence comes in.
- Support system- most of what I’m listing are innate qualities that you ultimately have within yourself, while this one is not. I do realize that people have succeeded without a strong support system, but I also believe a strong support system is one of the things you need to fully thrive- to fully *feel* like you’re thriving. Without it, you can still succeed but I don’t think you’ll feel as much of a sense of thriving and feel like you’re succeeding. Without a support system it’s easy to overlook your success or not even feel or believe in it at all. With a strong support system, people succeed faster and thrive more. You have the power to create your support system. This isn’t built in, and it’s not something you can just say you don’t have if your family or friends are not that supportive of your business. You get to create your support system, and build the group of people around you, so you have full control over your support and what it looks like and provides for you, which is really empowering. Your support needs may be different from someone else’s. It may be one person who you know will champion you no matter what. It may be a small group of business owners who you can bounce ideas off of. It may be an online group that you interact with on a monthly basis for questions and feedback. Or it may be a perhaps more traditional support system of a husband who will make dinner when you have to work late and family who live in town and can watch the kids if you have a last minute meeting. Whatever it is for you, feeling supported helps people do the things they need to do and be in the mindset they need to be in to truly thrive so I think creating that for yourself is incredibly empowering and important.
- Self belief — different than just having confidence, self-belief is there even when the confidence wans or wavers. Sometimes I’m not feeling super confident about something specific or for a certain period of time, but I always believe in myself and know that at the end of the day I’m capable and going to make things happen. Failure to accomplish what I want throughout life is not an option and I wholeheartedly believe I have the power to accomplish things. It’s this self-belief, even in the face of uncertainty, or when your general confidence isn’t quite where you want it, that ensures you won’t give up.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I believe strongly in reaching back to pull up those behind you. We’re all stronger together, and anything that one woman can do to help another succeed is something they should try to do. The first thing I did was found a networking group for other female millennial entrepreneurs, so that we could all learn from and be inspired by each other, as well as aid each other along our journeys. These connections I find to be invaluable, and it’s something I feel strongly about creating and facilitating. I like to think that this group has created positive opportunities for lots of other women and helped them build their business. In 2020 I started a grant for women in business, where we supported a women-founded startup. We gave $5,000 to one woman who was working to start a business but needed that leg up to really get it going. We plan to offer this grant annually and hopefully grow it over time.
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.
I’ve always wanted to start a nonprofit daycare center specifically for single mothers who have little support. It will be free to attend, and provide mothers an opportunity to have the space and time to go to work or school, or even just ‘be’, while knowing that their child is safe and well taken care of without having to piece together childcare or take days off when they don’t have access to it. It would also provide free resources for going back to school, or improving job prospects if they desire to take part in these opportunities, so they can improve their situation in life. I imagine it as a sort of community center, where children and their mothers will both feel at home and supported, in a place that is not tied to religious, educational, or government funding or obligations. I think there are so many women who have a hard time getting the leg up they need because there are many obstacles in the way if you don’t have family or money to help, and if we can remove just one of these obstacles (limited access to affordable childcare) many families will be able to crest the hill and become self-sustainable and be able to thrive and set their family up for generational success, which will have a tremendous positive impact in the long term. I don’t think it’s fair that single mothers end up having to put their dreams on hold and often never are able to live out their potential. I guess if we were going to turn it into a movement, I’d dream to have one or several in every major city, so that this kind of organization was the norm and not a one-off place in one city. I hope to actually get started on the first one in the next 2 years so that may be my next project!
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I’d love to have lunch with Whitney Wolfe Herd of Bumble. I found it really inspiring when she took her company public earlier this year and would love to hear more about her journey. It’s incredible to see the level of success she’s reached, especially given we’re the same age and I started my company before she did, so I can imagine the timeline of what she’s done, but she scaled so quickly and effectively!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Alessandra Pollina of Quotable Media On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.