**A GIFT FOR "And So, She Left" listeners: until December 8, 2023, get 20% off all regular priced items at www.cheekbonebeauty.com with code ASSL20**

With $500 in a basement in St. Catherines, Ontario, Jenn Harper started Cheekbone Beauty.  

She had zero experience working in the beauty space, making the leap from a career in the food industry’s hospitality and sales sectors. Like all great entrepreneurs, Jenn’s vision eventually rocketed the company to earn multi-million-dollar revenues. But unlike other founders, Jenn’s vision was literal: in January 2015, a dream popped into her head of three little indigenous girls, giggling and covered in lip gloss.  

Battling alcoholism and intergenerational trauma, she started Cheekbone on the side. But today, Cheekbone Beauty sells every kind of colour cosmetic you can think of in stores like Sephora and JC Penny.  

This is the story of how Jenn carved out a unique space in the nearly $600 billion beauty industry as a newcomer. You’ll hear how her cultural background served as a guiding light, her greatest advice for entrepreneurs venturing into new industries, and the practical methods she used to quickly scale her company to the next level. 

Jenn talks about:

• The literal dream that inspired her business
• Going from $500 to selling products in Sephora and JC Penny
• The role that her identity plays in helping her brand to stand out
• The sacrifices she and her husband have made to create Cheekbone
• Her greatest pieces of advice for entrepreneurs entering a new industry
• How she uses lab testing to carve out a unique advantage in the beauty space

We'd love to hear your feedback! 
Here's a quick 5-question survey. Your answers will help us to make the show even better: https://forms.gle/5JnfCUWbgLRw1NTa8 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "I Refuse to Accept That There's Nothing I Can Do About It," "The Lower Third Hall of Fame,"  " They Call It Nature," "I Should Have Been More Human," "Short Song 010923."

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

Entrepreneurs are deep thinkers. We each have a million ideas zipping around in our heads, and if we’re lucky, a great one pops up every now and again.  

But there’s a stark difference between the people who dream and the people who do.  

Tiffany Jones-Lewis made that realization after serving 8 years in the navy. Before launching TJL Collection, a fashion brand aimed at tall women, she was a lifelong dreamer. The tallest one in the room from a young age, her height had always matched the loftiness of her professional goals…yet the security of her HR day-job held her firmly in place.  

You’re about to hear Tiffany’s journey from dreamer to doer, the stumbling blocks she faced as a taller woman in fashion, and how she eventually learned to choose her own path.

Tiffany talks about:

• Cultivating an environment that allows her to dream big
• Why striving for perfection actually hinders your progress
• How she brought her vision and bring it to life through action
• How the internet pressures us to achieve rapidly at a young age
• Leaving the navy for entrepreneurship & proving doubters wrong 
• Starting her business with her husband in Hawaii during the pandemic

We'd love to hear your feedback! 
Here's a quick 5-question survey. Your answers will help us to make the show even better: https://forms.gle/5JnfCUWbgLRw1NTa8 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "Hitchcock Would Have F***ed Up Charade," "Short Song 011223,"  " Short Song 020323," "Short Song 020723," "Short Song 030223," "Take Off and Shoot a Zero," "Another Version of You."  

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

Do you think of yourself as “tough?” It’s actually a challenging question to answer. We’re certainly eager as entrepreneurs, always ready to tackle the next challenge ahead. But what does toughness actually look like? 

Today’s conversation with Shara Ruffin reminds us that true resilience comes from hitting our lowest points. Today, she’s a bestselling author, LinkedIn influencer, and the Founder of Journey to Licensure. Her journey was brutal. She spent years facing every personal problem imaginable, often at the same time. But she still carved out a thriving business to help social workers take control of their careers.

Shara talks about the many overlapping personal challenges she's been through that molded her into a truly resilient entrepreneur like parenting during times of grief, dealing with divorce, and engaging in destructive behavior like alcoholism.  

Shara talks about:

• Spreading hope by building a personal brand on LinkedIn
• Feeling financially stuck at a low point, and what she did about it
• Facing medical struggles, marital issues, and work stress head on
• Overcoming maladaptive coping practices and tackling alcoholism
• How sharing a video of her struggles on LinkedIn changed everything
• How she created a business guiding colleagues through their licensing challenges

We'd love to hear your feedback! 
Here's a quick 5-question survey. Your answers will help us to make the show even better: https://forms.gle/5JnfCUWbgLRw1NTa8 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "It Takes a Lot to Keep a Figure Like This," "I Refuse to Accept That There's Nothing I Can Do About It,"  " Is This the Spirit Everybody Keeps Talking About?," "They Call It Nature," "Raise Your Hand If You Think Evil Is Increasing in This World," "Short Song 021523." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

This episode is sponsored by The Diversity Agency.

A few weeks ago, we got to talk with Anita Grant (Hello Hair), Salem Berhane (IncluSV Beauty Solutions), Kristina Knox (Arbre), Monique Gallivan (Gyallivant), and Seyi Adaghe (ROUN Beauty) are the five winners of this year's Shea Moisture Dream Fund Grant.

From Unilever brand Shea Moisture, The Dream Fund was created to support Black-owned women-led businesses across Beauty and professional services in Canada, awarding $10,000 to each of the winners.  

In part two of our interview with the winners, we sat down for a more personal roundtable discussion. The winners return to the issues we talked about in part 1 with a personal touch, and share their most impactful pieces of advice for new entrepreneurs. 

The Winners talk about:

• Their best pieces of advice for new entrepreneurs
• How their childhoods impacted their current businesses
• Their strategies for impacting future generations of black women
• The impact of Eurocentric beauty standards (and how to combat them)
• How they learned to embrace their true selves through their businesses

Exciting news...And So, She Left took home two Signal Awards (Gold + Listener's Choice)! Thank you so much to everyone who voted. Your support means the absolute world to us. Want to go above and beyond? If you haven't already, please take 30 seconds to rate & review the podcast here. Again, many thanks from the entire team. 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "Let the Pain Speak to Me," "Editing Beyond the Door III Again," "I Knew My Way Downtown and Walking Was Deluxe,"  "I Am Running Down the Long Hallway of Viewmont Elementary," "The Theatrical Poster for Poltergeist III," "There Are Days That I Don't," "Land On the Golden Gate." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

Warning: this episode contains mild language and themes that some listeners may find upsetting. 

It’s hard for us to talk about money. We often squirm a bit, glance at each other, and muddle through most discussions about personal finance. But we also don’t talk about it enough…especially as it relates to gender.  

Kristine Beese is the founder of Untangle Money, which aims to teach financial literacy to women everywhere. Kristine’s inspiration came from the glaring reminders about her gender that surrounded her at work. In both the engineering and finance sectors of the Oil & Gas industry, sexism was baked into workplace culture, in different flavours and severities across different cities and sectors. 

We talk about sexism in the workplace, the different ways in which it can present itself at work, and how widespread sexism persists on both a macro and micro scale in our professional lives.

Kristine talks about:

• Breaking down gendered messaging about money
• Working in the Oil & Gas industry, and different types of sexism
• Figure skating, and the power of focusing on what you can control
• Why products are generally designed with men as the ideal customer
• Gentlemanly sexism, proving worth, unequal power dynamics at work
• Creating a more equitable financial landscape for women through Untangle

We'd love to hear your feedback! 
Here's a quick 5-question survey. Your answers will help us to make the show even better: https://forms.gle/5JnfCUWbgLRw1NTa8 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "Cylinder Nine," "Heliograph,"  "Stories About the World That Once Was," "Your Mother's Daughter," "Short Song 020223," "Short Song 020423," "Short Song 030623," "The House Glows (With Almost No Help)." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

This episode is sponsored by The Diversity Agency.

Anita Grant (Hello Hair), Salem Berhane (IncluSV Beauty Solutions), Kristina Knox (Arbre), Monique Gallivan (Gyallivant), and Seyi Adaghe (ROUN Beauty) are the five winners of this year's Shea Moisture Dream Fund Grant. They know the costs and barriers of entrepreneurship.  

From Unilever brand Shea Moisture, The Dream Fund was created to support Black-owned women-led businesses across Beauty and professional services in Canada, awarding $10,000 to each of the winners.  

In this special episode, we sat down with the winners to hear about their journeys so far. They talk about the financial barriers facing black entrepreneurs, how they found the courage to take the entrepreneurial leap in precarious situations, and why community is at the heart of what they do. 

The Winners talk about:

• The biggest issues they faced when starting out
• Not being taken seriously by customers and funders
• Seeking funding as black women in the beauty space
• Their journeys starting their businesses during COVID
• Taking the seemingly precarious leap into entrepreneurship
• The importance of being vulnerable to connect with your community

We're nominated for a Signal Award!     (click here)
It's like the Emmys of podcasting. Remember when someone helped you in a small way, yet it made all the difference? 

Your vote matters. It will take 30 seconds, and help us to grow the show. Thanks for your support. 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "What Does Anybody Know About Anything," "I Don't See the Branches, I See the Leaves," "CGI Snake,"  "I Am Running Down the Long Hallway of Viewmont Elementary." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

Content warning: this episode contains graphic content.  

Maisa Mumtaz-Cassidy thought she was going to die.  

She's the Founder & CEO of Consciously, an ethically-sourced and sustainable fashion platform. Between an incredibly tense childbirth, starting a business in the grips of COVID, and contracting the virus herself, it wreaked havoc on her mind and body. But she managed to keep it all together.  

Being forced to walk such a winding path reminded Maisa of her own mother. Like her, she was an entrepreneur in the garment industry. And at just 26, she became a single mother of 3 after leaving an abusive marriage.  

This is an episode about determination, grit, and persistence. Maisa talks about the moments where she almost threw in the towel, the importance of buckling down on fair pay, and how the warmth of family keeps her striving forward.  

Maisa talks about:

• How she juggles parenthood & passion
• Her incredibly difficult pregnancy experience
• How she deals with "mom guilt" as a new entrepreneur
• Having a lack of mom friends who are also entrepreneurs
• The importance of supporting ethical manufacturing as a business owner
• Starting Consciously during the pandemic after giving birth to her first child

We're nominated for a Signal Award!     (click here)
It's like the Emmys of podcasting. Remember when someone helped you in a small way, yet it made all the difference? 

Your vote matters. It will take 30 seconds, and help us to grow the show. Thanks for your support. 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "Let Your Enemies Feel the Weight of Your Burdens," "Cylinder Three," "Heliograph,"  "Short Song 011723," "Short Song 021523," "There's a Special Place for Some People." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

Afton Brazzoni always had a deep passion for stories. 

From journalism to marketing and PR, Afton's storytelling muscle has had ample time to develop. But when she launched her own B2B content writing venture Scribe National, she soon learned about all of the other stuff that she had to grasp. Management. Budgeting. Leading. 

By embracing the unpredictability of entrepreneurship and building a fierce team, Scribe National scaled to a six figure company in its first year. The year after, their revenue doubled. And they're set to grow some more. 

Despite many challenges, Afton never abandoned her passion for telling stories. In our conversation, we discuss how she dealt with the immense pressures of learning about the business side of entrepreneurship. We also cover how she and her team were able to successfully scale so quickly, and the many secrets of effective content writing. 

Afton talks about:

• Putting together an all-star team
• Scaling to a 6-figure company in your first year
• How to scale while maintaining high-quality work
• Treating entrepreneurship as a learned experience
• Managing teams, dealing with pressure, and budgeting
• Why you need to recognize the human element in B2B interactions

SPECIAL OFFER for our listeners: From now until October 31, 2023, get $250 (10% off) a 3-month private coaching package with Scribe National: 1-on-1 Marketing Advisory for Service Businesses. Email Afton ([email protected]) with the code ANDSOSHELEFT to claim the discount, or if you have any questions, or want to book a meeting about it.

We're nominated for a Signal Award!     (click here)
It's like the Emmys of podcasting. Remember when someone helped you in a small way, yet it made all the difference? 

Your vote matters. It will take 30 seconds, and help us to grow the show. Thanks for your support. 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "What True Self- Feels Bogus, Let's Watch Jason X," "Chance, Luck, Errors in Nature, Destruction as a Finale," "Short Song 010923,"  "Short Song 012323," "Short Song 021123." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

Andria Barrett's career is like a slinky. From theatre to hospitality to sales, there are lots of twists and turns...but she's always kept momentum.  

When Andria's Jamaican grandmother taught her the concept of informal banking (known as a pawdna in her culture) Andria became fascinated with different models of cooperative finance. Today, she helps countless women-led businesses and non-profits to find support and scale through her company The Diversity Agency.  

Andria shares her best advice on how to scale with limited resources, get the most out of your business partners, and bridge the gap between mindset and meaningful results. 

Andria talks about:

• A simple, communal strategy for paying loans 
• Why you shouldn't sit on ideas for too long
• The importance of saying "yes" more often 
• Viewing failure as a means of learning and improving
• Understanding strengths, limitations, and finding the right team
• Her advice for small business owners and the importance of a growth mindset

We'd love to hear your feedback! 
Here's a quick 5-question survey. Your answers will help us to make the show even better: https://forms.gle/5JnfCUWbgLRw1NTa8 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "Thanks for Trying to Rescue Me, But You Made Things Worse," "There Are Days That I Don't," "Maybe Tomorrow All My Dreams Come True,"  "Everybody's Got Problems That Aren't Mine," "Another Version of You." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License

When Candice Collison's first daughter was born, she ran into a problem. She wanted to wear fashionable and functional clothing as a new mom that was ethically sourced. She looked everywhere...and found nothing.  Seeing a major pain point for new moms and moms-to-be, Candice left her high-level job at Facebook to found Mod + Ethico - later, Of an Origin. Both offer mix-and-match options with motherhood in mind.  

Candice shares about the difficulties she faced as a mother when it came to clothing, along with the challenges of leaving her job in tech for a completely different kind of career. She also covers why she's so passionate about the work that she does, and how working from home has given her the greatest gift: the freedom to spend time with her kids. 

Candice talks about:

• The problems facing new moms when it comes to sustainable, functional fashion
• The journey of venturing into a completely new industry from tech
• How working from home has enriched Candice's life
• How to draw from your deepest passions as an entrepreneur
• The motivational piece of advice she received that convinced her not to quit
• Overcoming fear to build confidence and competence.

We'd love to hear your feedback! 
Here's a quick 5-question survey. Your answers will help us to make the show even better: https://forms.gle/5JnfCUWbgLRw1NTa8 

Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.

Music by © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: "Air Hockey Saloon," "Candlepower," "Divider" "Wonder Cycle"  "CGI Snake" "Short Song 022123," "Short Song 030423," "Short Song 030723." 

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License