Heroine

Before Nidhi Kulkarni co-founded Spitfire, she did what many of us do after graduating college – she found a good, safe job where she worked hard and burned a lot of midnight oil. But she soon realized she was only pushing herself to avoid the fact that she felt lost and creatively unfulfilled. When the chance came to take a creative side project to the next level, she took it and launched Spitfire Athlete, a strength training and weightlifting app of thousands of users that helps women build physical and mental strength.

Nidhi and her co-founder have created a community of women that focuses on reconnecting with your body and building a confident mindset. What’s just as special is that they did it their own way, going against the “founder myth” that tells us we have to raise a buttload of money from VCs (most of whom are men). For you good girls with a passionate creative side project wondering whether to take the leap, Nidhi offers some wonderful advice.

Show Notes:
-Nidhi growing up: On being quiet and introverted, her love for sports, and testing her own limits. [3:38]
-The teacher who helped change her trajectory and what it was like being the only girl in her programming class. [8:05]
-Nidhi reflects on the reasons for holding herself back in the past, and why she forces herself to do things she’s afraid of. [12:46]
-On practice, intimidation, and the rigors of studying computer science at MIT. [16:38]
-Dealing with stress, the importance of rowing (exercise), plus
-Nidhi’s brief encounter with “imposter syndrome”. [22:02]
-After college: Nidhi talks about feeling lost for a while, working a lot, and the encounter that forced her to decide between taking a chance and playing it safe. [27:46]
Starting Spitfire Athlete and a new phase of life. [34:12]
-From a super high to a frustrating low: Nidhi shares why buying into the “founder myth” and following a prescribed set of steps didn’t work for them (and what they did instead). [38:03]
-The vision behind Spitfire Athlete: Taking a unique and vital approach to women’s fitness by growing strength and confidence. [43:23]
-Nidhi shares an incredibly moving success story from one of their users. [49:17]
“Nothing compares to doing something that is fully your own.” -Nidhi’s advice to women with side projects they want to move forward. [51:04]

References:
Spitfire Athlete at spitfireathlete.com

Spitfire Athlete is a fitness app that helps women build their strength and power through structured training programs. The app features bodyweight and weight training programs for a variety of goals and sports from rock climbing to triathlons to powerlifting. The app has helped women around the world lift more than their bodyweight, learn how to do their first pull-up, and train to overcome anorexia.
Training with Spitfire Athlete is about cultivating the athlete’s mentality — it’s not about what you look like, it’s about what you can do. The warrior’s mentality of strength, mental toughness, grit and dedication.

Download their app: https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id822040342?pt=2083816&ct=heroinepodcast&mt=8

Music by Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com

This episode's sponsors:
UENO (ueno.co),
InVision (invisionapp.com/company#jobs)

This is the 10th and final #flashwisdom episode in the series, The 10 Blocks to Creative Confidence, and it’s all about being overly independent. Many of us (especially women) find it difficult to ask for help or fear being a “burden” to anyone. As a result, we’re so eager to achieve financial independence that we often choose paths that focus more on financial reward than heart.

Join Maria as she talks about the harm in being overly independent, sharing her own examples of how she grapples with this today. Learn how pride, fear, and the inner critic prevent us from following our most meaningful path in our quest for independence. Do some gentle introspecting to uncover whether or not you’re comfortable asking for help or if you’re being blocked by a “make it on your own” mindset.


Show Notes:
-Download Maria’s free playbook and catch up on all ten blocks at mariamolfino.com/free-playbook
-Music by Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com

Have you heard of the Broadway musical Hamilton? It’s a story of one of America’s founding fathers, featuring a score that blends hip hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway. It has won 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and our own President has seen it. In today’s episode we hear from one of the show’s stars, Ariana DeBose, a woman who had the courage to follow her intuition, drop out of school, and fulfill her dreams.

Ariana is a young, passionate, multi-talented woman with many creative projects already under her belt. We talk about her challenges as an outspoken girl and one of the only students of color in her peer group, her encounter with anorexia and the pressure she felt as a teenager to be perfect, and what it means to her to be a true creator.

Show Notes:
-Ariana’s childhood: Her early love for cinema and how she connects that love to her passion for theater today. [2:55]
-On being raised by a mother who treated her like an adult, never being afraid to ask questions, and her start with dancing. [10:24]
-The challenge that took a self-assured teen out of her comfort zone, plus Ariana’s perspective on needing approval from others. [13:46]
-Her struggles fitting in, always being the smart girl, and rubbing people the wrong way with her focus and ambition. [17:04]
-“I thought I had to be perfect.” Ariana’s struggle with perfection and finding solace in dance. [20:31]
-How her inner faith and intuition helped her fight the odds, drop out of college, and move to New York to become a dancer. [23:18]
-How she came to realize the importance of being there for the creation of projects she worked on, and making her broadway debut. [27:53]
-Lessons from the last six years: Not taking things too personally, knowing your own worth, and fighting stereotypes. [31:35]
-On what it means to Ariana to be a creator, and how it felt getting the part in Hamilton. [36:20]
-“What are some of the internal barriers women face today who want to create?” Ariana shares her insight. [40:31]

Music by Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com

Episode Sponsor: UENO at ueno.co

In this flash wisdom episode, host Maria Molfino gets personal about the 9th block to creative confidence – Pressure. She shares about the pressure she once felt to repay her immigrant parents for their sacrifice, and how her “save the world” complex left her feeling stressed, angry, and unable to follow her true path.

Listen to her story of the lesson she learned during her travels in India that helped reframe her perspective around pressure, and how small acts of kindness really can make a difference in the world and in yourself. Alleviate some of the pressure in your life by taking a step back and bringing this tendency into your awareness.

Show Notes:
-Download Maria’s free Creative Confidence Playbook at mariamolfino.com/free-playbook
-Music by Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com

It’s not uncommon for girls who grow up in a patriarchal society to wonder if being a boy would be better; to see masculinity as more powerful than femininity. That was the case for Emily LaFave Olson, but a conversation with her mom led her to a realization that changed her life (and her perspective on the feminine).

Emily is a fierce entrepreneur whose choice to take back her maiden name and become co-CEOs with her husband sets her apart as a woman unafraid to ask for what she wants. We cover a lot of ground in this episode, like how to manage the voice inside our heads that tells us we’re not good enough or smart enough, why women often struggle to ask for what they want, and how to get in touch with the inner feminine in a hyper-masculine world.

Show Notes:
-Emily’s childhood: Growing up close to her dad, a natural leader, and always believing she could do whatever a boy could do. [3:14]
-Teaching herself to cook from magazines and beginning to see the world through the lense of food. [9:30]
-College years, their first business, and feeling “not smart enough”. [13:12]
-Why she had to reach out to her parents to help reconcile her inner critic and her huge realization about the power and strength of the feminine. [20:40]
-Standing up to fear: When and how it clicked that she needed to change her name back and become co-CEOs with her husband. [25:57]
-How to get what you really want, plus the importance of her husband’s participation in her vision. [30:55]
-On internalized patriarchy, making Big Asks, and why women have a hard time demanding what we want. [33:52]
-How to get in touch with the inner-feminine while surrounded by hyper-masculinity at work. [39:54]

Music: Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com

Episode Sponsor: UENO at ueno.co

What is chronic stress? Unlike acute stress, chronic stress is constant and low-grade, wearing and tearing on the nervous and immune systems over time. You may not even realize you’re being affected, but studies show that chronic stress makes it harder for us to be creative, think outside the box, and be mentally flexible.

In this flash wisdom episode, host Maria Molfino explains how this form of stress cripples our energy and willpower, inviting the inner critic to come out and play. Practice some compassionate self-inquiry to reveal the impact chronic stress has over your life and learn basic steps you can take to keep it in check.

Show Notes:
-Download Maria’s free Creative Confidence Playbook at mariamolfino.com/free-playbook
-Music by Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com

A big piece of the heroine’s journey is reclaiming what’s been lost. For some of us, it’s our intuition, our creativity, or our sense of self trust. For Eileen Fisher, it’s been her voice and her courage to lean into difficult conversations. This design magnate has scaled an incredible organization that generates over $300 million a year in revenue, but she didn’t have an easy start or a path paved with roses.

What makes her shine even more is her passion for sustainability, empowering women, and living life with purpose. In her interview you’ll learn the conditions she’s created for her success, her thoughts on purpose and embodiment, and the principles that guide her leadership today.

Show Notes:
-Eileen’s upbringing: Early desires for a simplified wardrobe, the subconscious influence of Catholic school uniforms, and making her own prom dress. [3:25]
-How she used her math skills to help her in business and in finding creative expression. [8:23]
-Falling in love with the concept of simplicity and putting together her first pieces. [11:47]
-How a design-thinking mindset gave her the confidence to move her ideas forward. [16:12]
-Eileen’s biggest challenges starting out (and how she overcame most of them through sheer resourcefulness). [17:31]
-Overcoming her fear of communication and reclaiming her voice. [22:23]
-On being a mom, getting divorced, and trying to run a business (the toughest part of her journey). [26:18]
-The quality that allowed her to keep going during the hard times. [30:38]
-Meaning, purpose, and other principles that guide Eileen’s leadership today. [33:12]
-Beyond profits: The importance of sustainability, organic materials, and supporting women’s bodies. [39:15]
-Eileen’s daily advice for supporting relaxation (which in turn, supports creativity). [45:33]

Discover Eileen’s newest initiative, the Learning Lab, where she is creating opportunities for people to get enlivened and inspired through a focus on the mind-body connection, creative leadership, and purpose-driven living. With online and on-site workshops and events, the Learning Lab offers space to try on new ways to live and work that feel more integrated and authentic.

Connect soon and sign up to be a part of Eileen's vision at www.eileenfisherlearninglab.com

Music by Lucia Lilikoi: lucia.bandcamp.com

Sponsor:
UENO
http://ueno.co

We live in a culture that medicates feelings. Women are especially under constant pressure to restrain our emotional lives; we apologize for our tears, suppress our anger, and tone down our passion out of fear of being called hysterical.

Join Maria in this flash wisdom episode about the 7th block to your creative confidence and expression: numbing feelings. Learn the consequences of this tendency, such as missing out on feelings essential to the creative process, and the important role feelings play in creative leadership. Maria offers empowering wisdom to help you bring this tendency into your awareness and leverage your feelings to great effect.

Show Notes:
-Download Maria’s free Creative Confidence Playbook at mariamolfino.com/free-playbook

References:
-Medicating Women’s Feelings by Julie Holland (NY Times, Feb. 2015)
-Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability (TEDx Houston, Jun. 2010)
-Music by Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com

Imagine graduating from college and flying to Europe for your first job as a journalist. Instead of things going as planned, you end up bartending in the red-light district to survive. That’s Andrea Mallard’s “fall from grace” story, but it’s not where her story ends.

From making friends with the head pimp on the street to becoming Chief Marketing Officer at the inspiring and innovative company, Omada Health, Andrea’s journey is filled with personal insights about finding the creative confidence to lead on your own terms. In her interview she busts a few myths that keep you second-guessing yourself, shares her perspective on work cultures that support whole people, and offers advice on how to integrate work and home life.

Show Notes
-Maria introduces Andrea Mallard. [1:45]
-The “lost year”: How Andrea ended up stranded in Paris and tending bar in the red-light district. [3:55]
-The wake up call she needed to stand up for herself and land a job at Forbes Magazine. [9:59]
-Analytic vs. creative and Andrea’s decision to be both, plus the epiphany that helped her get confident fast. [14:52]
-The big secret around feeling like an imposter and how to stop getting in your own way. [20:02]
-On sexism in the workplace, being a working mom, and how to integrate work and home life together. [25:00]
-Why it's so important to be your authentic self at work. [30:52]
-Andrea talks about being a leader on her own terms and shares a 100% unique example of creative confidence. [35:31]
-The most exciting thing about working at Omada, plus Andrea’s advice to her younger self. [40:48]

References:
www.andreamallard.com
Omada Health: www.omadahealth.com

Music:
Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com

Do you hold back from going after what you want because you’re too tied to how things will turn out? Host Maria Molfino shares how our attachment to outcomes is keeping us from the joy and pleasure of our creative process. In this short 'n' sweet episode, learn how to create space between your work and the results and maintain a healthy outlook around how other people perceive you and your own expectations.

Show Notes:
-Download Maria’s free Creative Confidence Playbook at mariamolfino.com/free-playbook
-Music by Lucia Lilikoi at lucia.bandcamp.com