MADWOMEN

Meet Ara Katz, Co-Founder of Seed, the microbiome science company pioneering innovations in probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics. Seed’s work spans from gut and skin health to coral reef restoration—and even microbes in space.

Before founding Seed, Ara worked in media, design, and tech. After a personal health experience reshaped her perspective, she set out to reimagine how science is communicated.

In this episode, Ara shares how she and her team transformed microbiome science into a cultural movement, bridging the gap between cutting-edge science and everyday life.

In this episode, we get into:

• Why you can’t brand your way to trust
• Seed’s anti–gatekeeping approach to knowledge
• M- The most underrated ingredient in product design
• Launching the first vaginal synbiotic and evolving women’s health
• Why AI can be a tool for empowerment—not replacement.

This is: The Science of Trust

Welcome to the MADNESS.

Connect w/ Ara Katz & Seed

https://www.instagram.com/arakatz/

https://www.instagram.com/seed/

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

Connect w/ the MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

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Meet Kristen Naiman, The RealReal’s Chief Brand Officer and the creative mind behind Kate Spade’s iconic Misadventure series with Anna Kendrick. Before The RealReal, she spent seven years at Isaac Mizrahi, styled Hanson (yes, the boy band), and began her career styling for Harper’s Bazaar, Teen Vogue, Paper, Nylon, The New York Times Magazine, and Rolling Stone.

This MADWOMEN episode is about creativity. But it’s also about our roles in capitalism. Kristen’s philosophy? True creativity comes from noticing the world around you, surrounding yourself with diverse voices, and really listening.

If you’re interested in…

✨ Sharpening your creative instinct

✨ Building the world you want to live in

✨ Challenging consumption cycles

✨ Creative leadership that lifts others up

✨ How a brand creates real value

✨ Why Misadventure became a viral phenomenon

✨ A secret way to use the The RealReal

…then join us for this week’s episode.

This is: The Art of Listening in a Noisy World: Capitalism, Creativity, and the Stories We Hear

Welcome to the Madness.

Connect w/ Kristen Naiman & The Real Real

https://www.instagram.com/kristennaiman/

https://www.instagram.com/therealreal/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-naiman-26449528/

Connect w/ the MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

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Meet Natalie Holloway, Bala’s Co-Founder, the brand that turned dumbbells into design objects and redefined what it means to move.

After a career in advertising, Natalie and her husband, Max, launched Bala with one goal: to make fitness delightful. From the cult-favorite Bala Bangles to collaborations with Ralph Lauren, Spanx, and Pucci. Bala has become a global symbol of play, color, and creativity in wellness.

In this episode of MADWOMEN, Natalie shares how Bala reimagined fitness—proving that design-led products do more than just sell.

Why you need to listen (even if you don’t have a physical product), because we get into:

• how design itself can be the product strategy
• why rest and movement are essential to building something that lasts
• the power of building your roadmap with your community, not just for them
• knowing when to protect the vision—and when to walk away
• saying no to influencers and yes to collaborations

This is: Designing for Delight: The Bala Way

Welcome to the Madness.

Connect w/ Natalie Holloway + Bala

https://www.instagram.com/natalieholloway/

https://www.instagram.com/bala/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-holloway-bab86521/

Connect w/ the MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

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Meet Bobbie’s Chief Brand Officer, Kim Chappell. She’s reimagining a culture that truly supports parents and kids, and the role brands play in it.

The Bobbie brand has been honored by Time’s 100 Most Innovative Companies, the Webby Awards, and the Shorty Awards. Kim was named one of Forbes’ 50 Most Entrepreneurial CMOs.

Before joining Bobbie, Kim was a journalist, and storyteller at Square, not a traditional marketer. That’s exactly why her approach works. She builds brands by making people feel, not by chasing metrics.

From assembling her own desk in a basement to launching the first breastfeeding billboard in Times Square, Kim has helped turn Bobbie into a movement that’s redefining culture. Under her direction, Bobbie has launched bold campaigns featuring Meghan Trainor, Ashley Graham, Tan France and landed her product on Target shelves nationwide.

If you want to shape where culture is headed, this episode will inspire you to:

• Build lasting trust with your audience
• Launch before you have a product
• Turn followers into a true digital village
• Avoid performative marketing
• Lead with empathy—not just KPIs

And added bonus, we unpack what it means to lead with your gut—reflecting on authenticity, noise, and staying inspired in an algorithmic world.

This is: How to Build a Brand That Shapes Culture

Welcome to the Madness.

Connect w/ Kim Chappell + Bobbie

linkedin.com/in/kim-chappell-3599415

https://www.instagram.com/kimgchappy/

https://www.hibobbie.com/

Connect w/ the MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

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Meet Jason Ikeler, Hearst Magazines’ VP of Video and Creative Strategy. From Cosmo to Harper’s Bazaar to ELLE, Jason is likely the reason you can’t stop scrolling. He’s behind some of your favorite videos on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube—everything from celebrity interviews to fashion shoots. Jason has created hit series with stars like Billie Eilish, Julia Fox, and John Legend.

In this episode, Jason takes us inside the chaos and craft of creating original content:

• How to balance personal taste, ad $$, & audience expectations
• Jason’s philosophy: “there are no new ideas”
• Originality > Trends
• Why Phoning It In became a viral hit w/ Billie Eilish, Julia Fox, etc
• The role of failure
• Where ideas come from (not from 15-person brainstorms)
• What it really takes to get celebrities off script
• The secret sauce that keeps Hearst at the center of culture

This is: The Chaos, Craft, and Cost of Virality

Welcome to the MADNESS

Connect w/ Jason Ikeler

https://www.instagram.com/jasonikeler/

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

Connect w/ the MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

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Meet Malena Higuera, CEO of NOYZ. Malena spent nearly two decades at L’Oréal shaping iconic brands like Urban Decay and Dermablend, after early roles at Maybelline and Avon.

She embraced e-commerce marketing before anyone believed in it and went on to pioneer digital-first strategies at scale. And she continues to lead the charge, now by optimizing omni-channel experiences—spanning personal DMs, a hotline, and a California scent tour.

What sets Malena apart? She blends an anthropologist’s curiosity, a marketer’s sharp instincts, and a mentor’s generosity, creating product experiences that are truly human-centered.

In this episode, we get into:

• How to win the “Hunger Games” (hint, it’s using innovation)
• The community as “founder”
• Why constraints breed creativity, with examples from L’Oréal
• The future: how AI, science, and personalization are evolving the industry
• What she’s learned from 174 coffee dates

This is: Cutting Through the Noise

Welcome to the Madness.

Connect w/ Malena

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

https://www.instagram.com/malenahiguera/

https://www.instagram.com/noyz_official/

Connect w/ the MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

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Meet Jordan Robin — Creative Director and Designer working at the intersection of fashion, art, design, and production. Jordan has shaped worlds at Calvin Klein under Raf Simons, led creative at Reformation, and now runs her own LA-based consultancy, JNR Studio. Jordan’s 360° vision and a talent for world-building blurs the boundaries of art, culture, and commerce.

What makes the worlds Jordan builds so rich? She refuses to rely on Pinterest boards or Instagram trends. Instead, she looks to the physical world. That approach, paired with her intuitive sense memory and sharp creative instincts, gives her work a depth and originality that cut through the noise.

In this episode, we get into:

• What it really takes to build a 360º brand world people want to live in
• Why the best ideas live offline
• How to build up creative reserves
• How collaboration becomes a craft and finding real partners
• The defense of rose-colored glasses

This is: 360 World-Building in Rose-Colored Glasses

Welcome to the Madness.

Meet Ansley Williams, she’s been shaping influencer marketing since the days when influencers were called bloggers. As Head of Influencer Marketing, North America at Ogilvy, she has grown this division by 900 % working with brands like CeraVe, IKEA, IBM, and many more.

Before Ogilvy, she built large-scale influencer teams and led everything from celebrity-driven commercials to social-first campaigns. Today, she's bringing her expertise to MADWOMEN and breaking down the strategy behind one of the most impactful influencer-led campaigns.

In this episode, we get into:

• The influencer play that cut through the Super Bowl noise
• How 450 influencers, a pop culture prank, and Michael Cera turned skincare into a cultural obsession
• The backstage pass to Influencer Marketing
• Why Human-First wins
• What happens when you rip up the playbook

This is: Feeding the Frenzy

Welcome to the Madness.

Connect w/ Ansley

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

https://www.instagram.com/ogilvy?igsh=cXhxMTl5emtmdXRh

Connect w/ MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

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Meet Aila Morin, founding CMO at Merit Beauty, one of the fastest-growing beauty brands. Every product she’s launched has hit #1 in Clean at Sephora.

In just three years, Aila has helped drive MERIT past $100M in sales, earning over 50 awards along the way—including VOGUE Business 100 Innovators and Allure Best of Beauty. Before MERIT she was the first Director of Marketing at Mejuri and now advises brands like Cameron Diaz’s Avaline Wine.

This MADWOMEN episode is rooted in beauty, but it’s really about the anatomy of modern brand-building. Aila hands us the mirror and asks:

• Are you actually different—or just new?
• Can your customer intuitively use your product? If not, why?
• Just because it worked for your competitor (hi, Hailey Bieber pop-up), will it work for you?

She makes a sharp case for why brand matters more than product, how Merit’s pivot away from discounts is rewriting the playbook, and why the traditional definition of CMO doesn’t cut it anymore. Aila leads holistically—across creative, product development, marketing, customer experience, digital, and retail strategy. Her full-spectrum approach cuts through the digital noise.

This is: Anatomy of Modern Brand-Building

Welcome to the Madness.

Connect w/ Alia

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

Connect w/ the MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

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Meet Karina Kogan, one of the sharpest marketing minds behind some of the most behavior-shifting brands of the last decade.

As the former CMO of Oura Ring and SVP at Peloton, she helped turn fringe products into must-haves and built brands that embed into people’s everyday lives. Now at Napster (formerly Infinite Reality), she’s creating a more human internet: one that’s 3D, conversational, and deeply personal.

In this episode, we explore how Karina turns emerging products into household names and why leading with empathy might be the real unlock for driving behavior change.

You’ll learn:

• Real lessons from how Oura went from a biohacking tool to a lifestyle brand everyone knows
• The behind-the-scenes story of Peloton’s pandemic boom and the marketing playbook that made it a household name
• How to build campaigns that spark real behavior change
• Where the internet is headed (hint: it’s shifting from 2D to 3D) and how to stay ahead of it

This is How the World’s Top Brands Change Your Behavior

Welcome to the Madness.

Connect w/ Karina

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

Connect w/ the MADWOMEN

https://www.instagram.com/madwomen_studios/

https://www.tiktok.com/@madwomen_studios

https://www.instagram.com/miapokriefka/ https://www.instagram.com/elissaodell/

www.madwomenstudios.com

💌 Subscribe for new episodes 💌