She Leads with Carly

This episode was first recorded and released in September, 2020.

Angie Bastian, the visionary co-founder of Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, ignited a global popcorn revolution from the confines of her Minnesota garage in 2001. She crafted a beloved brand of gluten-free, non-GMO popcorn that has taken the world by storm. In 2017, Conagra Brands recognized the exceptional appeal of Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP and acquired the company, propelling it to new heights of success.

Angie's outstanding achievements have garnered her well-deserved recognition. She has been honored as a Pioneer in Food and proudly inducted into the esteemed MN Women's Business Hall of Fame. Beyond her role at Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, Angie actively contributes to various ventures, serving on the boards of Prospera Foods and Opportunity International Nicaragua. A former Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, she made the bold decision to retire from her nursing career in 2011, fully dedicating herself to the world of entrepreneurship.

With an enduring partnership spanning 28 years, Angie and her husband have built a legacy that extends beyond business success. Together, they have raised two remarkable children and remain an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere. Angie Bastian's extraordinary journey exemplifies the power of determination, innovation, and unwavering commitment to creating something truly extraordinary.

-----

Past guests include Margaret Wishingrad, Kara Goldin, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Ann Miura Ko, Linda Avey, Sarah Leary, Becky Sauerbrunn, Miriam Haart and many more.

Follow us on Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube

-----

If you're enjoying the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review!

Aisha is the founder of Bossy Cosmetics, a hyper-growth independent beauty company that inspires, empowers, and champions ambitious working women. Under her leadership, the company has grown from a purely digitally native footprint to retailing in over 600 retail doors across the country, including JCPenney and Nordstrom, as well as on Amazon.com. The brand was selected (numerous times) as one of the coveted “Oprah’s Favorite Things”, and has won honorable mentions and awards from Fast Company in Innovation by Design and various product awards from Self and Ebony Magazines. In the 5 years since its founding, Aisha has redefined the way beauty companies “see” professional women and has been featured in NPR’s How I Built Resilience,, Forbes, W Magazine, InStyle, Refinery29, amongst others.

Prior to founding Bossy Cosmetics, Aisha led a different life - as a 20-year global finance executive having worked over the course of her career at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Standard Chartered Bank, World Bank, and Rand Merchant Bank. Aishe has worked on over $130 billion in M&A, private equity financings, IPOs, and public capital market transactions. 

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University, an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and was a Fellow in the Distinguished Careers Institute at Stanford University. 

Perhaps even more impressive than all of this, Aisha is a wife and the mother of three sons! 

-----

Past guests include Margaret Wishingrad, Kara Goldin, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Ann Miura Ko, Linda Avey, Sarah Leary, Becky Sauerbrunn and many more.

Follow us on Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube

-----

Show Notes:

1. Welcome to She Leads
2. Aisha's Childhood and Values
3. Emphasis and Importance of Education 
4. Grappling with her Dual Identity as a Nigerian Growing Up in America
5. The Value and Optimizing for Money and Finding Financial Security Growing Up
6. Navigating Career Paths – Tackling Job Security Vs. Passion
7. Optimizing for Wealth as a Woman
8. Rising Up in Investment Banking and Finance Career Path Ladder 
9. Choosing to go to Harvard Business School 
10. Aisha's Mental Health During  the Pinnacle of Her Banking Career
11. Quitting her Banking Job (and the Health Scare that Led to this)
12. Work + Family 
13. Moving to Palo Alto and the Distinguished Careers Institute Fellowship at Stanford 
14. Founding Bossy Cosmetics + Early Days 
15. Venture Capital Responses + Rejections of Bossy Cosmetics
16. Aisha Defining Success - Then and Now 

Please share She Leads with a friend!

My guest today is Wendy Weston.

Wendy Weston started Perfect Picnic with a dream, a small blanket and endless drive and passion. She decided to hang up her figure skates, moving on from her career as a successful competitive skating coach. She has worked her way from the bottom literally - from the basements of Chinatown to her Perfect Picnic storefront across from Central Park. Wendy now delivers her vision of delicious food, and a luxury experience to New York City, The Hamptons and Cape Cod. 

Over the past 13 years Weston has transformed her vision into a successful business selling millions of dollars worth of picnics. 

She additionally has paved the way for others in the fast growing "Picnic Industry". The idea "if you can make it here you can make it anywhere" has kept her going as she balanced being a single mother determined to show her daughter what a strong woman could accomplish on her own. She has turned a quiet corner of the Upper West side to a destination for New Yorkers and travelers from around the world. She was recently awarded the Women in Business award from Chase Bank.

-----

Past guests include Margaret Wishingrad, Kara Goldin, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Ann Miura Ko, Linda Avey, Sarah Leary, Becky Sauerbrunn, Miriam Haart and many more.

Follow us on Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube

-----

Show Notes:

1. Welcome to She Leads
2. Wendy's Childhood + Figure Skating 
3. The Impact and Challenges of Leaving Figure Skating on Her Identity
4. The Importance of Freedom and Independence
5. Lessons Learned Along the Way with Finding Independence
6. Evaluating Opportunities and Navigating Life
7. Dealing with Disappointment and Expectations 
8. Inspiration for Perfect Picnic 
9. Rewards and Challenges of Founding a Company
10. Work-Life Balance and Putting Yourself First 
11. Separating Success from Self-Worth 
12. Learning Curve of Founding Perfect Picnic
13. Passion for Women's Sexual Health 
14. Contrary Opinion of Birth and Death 
15. The Practice of Acceptanance 

Wendy's Passion? Women's Sexual Health and the Difference of Discourse 
Wendy's life-time craft she is honing? Acceptance

If you're enjoying the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review!

Holly is the Co-Founder of Kabam – a mobile gaming company that sold for approximately $1B to NetMarble in 2017. They grew Kabam to over 1500 employees with 6 offices worldwide. 

Prior to Kabam, Holly graduated from UCLA with a degree in Communications and East Asian studies and received her Masters from Berkeley in Information Management and Systems. She started her professional career in consulting and working as a User Interface Designer at AOL. 

Throughout her 10-year tenure as the Co-Founder of Kabam, Holly led efforts in a variety of roles: including User Experience, HR, Development and People. Her work has contributed to record revenue growth for Kabam year over year from $0 to $400MM annually, that led Kabam into the unicorn club in 2014. She led the design for Kabam’s award-winning "Kingdoms of Camelot" franchise, which has grossed over $250 million in less than four years and the extension game, which was the top grossing app on iOS in 2012. 

After Kabam, Holly transitioned to the other side of the table as an investor. She spent 2 years as a Visiting Partner at Y Combinator - the leading startup accelerator for entrepreneurs. 

She is a consummate entrepreneur, executive, and startup mentor. Naturally, Holly has been a leading woman in gaming and entrepreneurship, named by Fortune as the “10 Most Powerful Women in Gaming”. 

-----

Past guests include Margaret Wishingrad, Kara Goldin, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Ann Miura Ko, Linda Avey, Sarah Leary, Becky Sauerbrunn, Miriam Haart and many more.

Follow us on Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube

-----

Show Notes:

1. Welcome to She Leads
2. Holly's Early Life and Influences 
3. Navigating and Finding Peace with her Asian Identity 
4. Meeting Co-Founders and Initial Brainstorming Ideas 
5. Founding a Company Idea 1: Social Corporate Network
6. Challenges in Building a B2B Business
7. Pivoting to Community Apps on Facebook 
8. Entering the Gaming Industry 
9. Navigating the 2008 Recession 
10. Scaling Culture 
11. Balancing Diversity & Scaling in Hiring 
12. Experience as a Woman in Gaming 
13. Selling Kabam for Over $1 Billion Dollars 
14. Book Recs & Lifetime Craft 
 
Holly's book recommendation? The bible 
Holly's life-time craft she is honing? Being Open

If you're enjoying the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review!

Fran is a serial entrepreneur and Super Founder with over 25 years of experience pioneering category-disrupting B2C and B2B internet businesses. Fran is widely recognized for her leadership as Co-Founder and first General Manager of the online dating service Match.com, Founder of the privacy compliance tech company TRUSTe (now known as TrustArc), and Founder and CEO of her current venture, BabyQuip, the #1 global baby gear rental brand.  BabyQuip currently serves over 2k markets and maintains a network of independent gig economy entrepreneurs in the thousands. 

 As an award-winning business icon, trailblazer for women in tech, and advocate for female entrepreneurship, Fran has been named to the “150 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” by the SF Business Times, “Top 25 Women in Tech to Watch in Silicon Valley” by AlwaysOn and she is the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Jerry I. Porras Latino Leadership Award from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she earned her Bachelors and MBA. Fran was also a featured expert on entrepreneurship in the acclaimed documentary film “She Started It” and appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank.

-----

Past guests include Margaret Wishingrad, Kara Goldin, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Ann Miura Ko, Linda Avey, Sarah Leary, Becky Sauerbrunn, Miriam Haart and many more.

Follow us on Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube

-----

Show Notes:

1. Welcome to She Leads
2. Tanya's Early Life + Entrepreneurial Spirit
3. Her First Yogurt Shop at Stanford
4. Transition Post-Stanford into Consulting and Clorox Co.
5. The Rise of the Internet
6. Founding Story of Match.com
7. Reflections + the Impact of Match.com
8. Lessons Learned + Advice for Female Founders
9. Living in the Future and Identifying Opportunities
10. Career Trajectory: Transition to Women.com and Founding TrustArc
11. Gaining Confidence in each Career Pivot
12. Founding BabyQuip
13. Navigating Challenges and Adapting to the Gig Economy
14. Recognizing true PMF
15. The Importance of Timing in Entrepreneurship
16. Working with Family in Business
17. Ever-Changing Perspectives on Success
18. Addressing Gender Biases and Stereotypes
19. Challenging Misrepresentation and Advocating for Women
20. Changing Perspectives on Marriage
21. Honing Patience and Being Present

 
Fran's changed perspective in the last decade? Marriage
Fran's life-time craft she is honing? Patience + Being Present

If you're enjoying the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review!

My guest today is Emily Harburg.  Emily is the Cofounder and CEO of PairUp, a B2B SaaS platform that boosts workplace knowledge-sharing, increases connectivity, and helps you solve problems more efficiently at work 

Emily’s background spans industry, startups, and academia. She has worked at Walt Disney Imagineering where she designed technology for the Disney theme parks, at Facebook (Meta) where she worked as a UX researcher, and at EF Education First where she led the Emerging Tech and Innovation team designing tech to support millions of students around the world. In 2015, Emily co-founded Brave Initiatives, an organization dedicated to helping women build tech skills and confidence in coding for social impact. 

Emily’s academic research lies at the intersection of technology and social behavior, and the role that technology can play in building self-efficacy and confidence. Her research has been published and shared in global conferences, academic journals, case studies, and news publications -- including the Harvard Business Review, TEDx, CNN, and more.

Emily graduated with a B.A. in Social Anthropology and Psychology from Harvard College, and with a Ph.D. in Technology and Social Behavior from Northwestern University. 

-----

Past guests include Margaret Wishingrad, Kara Goldin, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Ann Miura Ko, Linda Avey, Sarah Leary, Becky Sauerbrunn, Miriam Haart and many more.

Follow us on Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube

-----

Show Notes:

1. Welcome to She Leads
2. Emily's Childhood and Early Interests
3. Navigating College and her Career Path
4. Designing Technology for Walt Disney
5. Imposter Syndrome and Confidence
6. Pursuing a PhD
7. Taking Risks, Following Passion, Quieting the Inner Voices
8. Overcoming Self-Doubt and Taking the Founder Leap
9. Founding Story of PairUp
10. Fundraising and Hiring Challenges
11. Building a Supportive Founder Community
12. Lessons Learned and Advice for Founders
13. Defining and Evolving Company Culture
14. Importance of Mentors and Champions
15. Passions + Book Recs + Lifetime Craft
 
Emily's Rare Obsession? DJ-ing
Emily's Book Recommendation? Viktor Frankl's 'Man Search for Meaning'
Emily's life-time craft she is honing? Bravery

▶️ Video interview available on Youtube.

If you're enjoying the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review!

Fiona is the Chief Technology Officer at Wayfair, an American e-commerce company that is the destination for all things home  – a place to find the right furniture and home goods online. With 25+ years of experience leading technology teams, Fiona began her professional career working at top technical companies, including Oracle, TIBCO Software and Ariba. At TIBCO, she rose up to be the Vice President of Engineering in her 16-year tenure at this intelligence cloud data company. 

Prior to Wayfair, Fiona served in executive leadership roles at Walmart – first as the Senior VP of Engineering for Customer Technology at WalmartLabs and then as the Senior Vice President of U.S. Technology at Walmart.

Fiona earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT and her masters in computer science from Stanford University. 

In this episode, we cover the following topics:
1. Fiona's childhood and the emphasis on education
2. Studying Computer Science at MIT
3. Gender disparity in Computer Science
4. Transition from college into the professional workforce
5. Her long tenure at TIBCO software
6. Transition from Consumer to Enterprise Software companies
7. Impact and challenges working at Walmart
8.  Hiring and building a team
9. Transitioning from coding into managerial role
10. CTO role
11. Balancing perfection from good enough
12. Reflecting and learning from previous mistakes
13. Women in STEM
 
Fiona's life-time craft she is honing? Cooking

▶️ Video interview available on Youtube.

If you're enjoying the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review!

Emily is an American former figure skater and Olympian.  She competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She then was the 2007 U.S. National silver medalist. 

After retiring from Figure Skating, Emily attended Harvard University and earned her Bachelors degree in Sociology. Her professional career began as a Consultant at Deloitte. After Deloitte, she worked at a handful of reputable companies, including Google, Johnson & Johnson – where she was the Director of Strategy and Operations in the Health Tech division, and Meta – where she spent time in sports-league partnerships and product marketing. 

Now, Emily works as a Business Lead at Grandstand– a sports tech startup that is connecting athletes and fans in a more meaningful way. 

In this episode, we cover the following topics:
1. Emily's childhood and early skating years
2. Sibling dynamics and Olympic Inspiration
3. Balancing skating and high school
4. Qualifying for the Olympics
5. Competing at the Olympics + Reflecting on that Experience
6. Post-Olympic transition and going to Harvard University
7.  Navigating the Transition and Leaning on Support System
8. Advocating for Yourself
9.  Challenges in the Workforce and Building Confidence
10. Skills from Athletics in Leadership Roles + Startups
11. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
12. Transitioning to Grandstand
 
Emily's life-time craft she is honing? Fostering and building community

▶️ Video interview available on Youtube.

If you're enjoying the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review!

Polly is the CEO and Co-Founder of Unbound, a rebellious sexual wellness company  with the goal to make sexual health accessible to all through elevated design, body safe products, affordable prices, and educational content.

As you will soon discover, Unbound’s inspiration stemmed largely from Polly’s experience at 21 years old. She was diagnosed with cancer that resulted in early onset menopause. Polly found herself shopping for a vibrator at a seedy shop next to the highway in St. Louis, Missouri - and this entire experience ultimately led to her founding Unbound with her cofounder, Sarah - ten years later. 

Before Unbound, Polly earned her bachelors from Miami University in Business Economics and went on to work as a consultant at Deloitte before joining an early-stage YC-backed startup in the dating app space called Grouper. Perhaps, more than anything, she learned what it meant to work at a failed startup. 

After Grouper, Polly decided to take the final leap in founding Unbound largely through her own personal experience with sexual health and wellness. 

In this episode, we cover the following topics:
1. Polly's upbringing in St. Louis, Missouri
2. Her cancer diagnosis at 21 years old and the impact it had on her life during college + the mentality she learned from it
3. The frustration with the medical system that inspired the founding of Unbound
4. Societal norms and the stigma around women's sexual health
5. Founding journey of Unbound, including the challenges and frustrations
6. Reshaping mentality and prioritizing enjoyment
7. Dealing with guilt and finding balance as a founder
8. Goal-setting, practicing personal growth, and overcoming fear of judgement. 

Polly's life-time craft she is honing? Storytelling

▶️ Video interview available on Youtube.

If you're enjoying the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review!

To put it most simply: Linda is a biologist and entrepreneur at heart . Perhaps most notably, she is the co-founder of 23andMe, a publicly held consumer genetic data company. She was the co-president of the company from 2006 to 2009.

Linda is also the cofounder and former CEO of Precise.ly, an intelligent assistant for clinical care settings. Linda is currently a member on the board of directors of the Human Immunome Project, which is building the world’s largest immunological dataset at a population level, and she’s a Member of the Board of Fellows at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. Linda graduated with a bachelors degree in Biology from Augustana University.

In this episode, we cover the following topics:
1. Linda's Childhood and her initial interest in Biology at Augustana University
2. Choosing a career path after beginning her career in research
3. Linda's Transition to the Biotech Industry
4. Linda's entrepreneurial journey in founding 23andMe and everything that led to this ultimate jump, including meeting Sergey Brin (Founder of Google) and the first time she saw at a trade show that you're able to get your genetic data from saliva. Immediate light bulb moment.
5. Her decision in *leaving* 23andMe in 2009.
6. The importance of choosing your cofounders and balance the different roles and dynamics that ensure at a startup, especially with 3 cofounders.
7. Balancing ethics + speed in a biotech company
8. Importance of a science background as a founder of a biotech company (+ which skills you need to lean on others)
9. Linda provides her perspective as an investor when she evaluates biotech companies.

Linda's Book Recommendation? "The Sovereign Self" by Acharya Shunya.  Here it is on Amazon!
Linda's changed opinion in the last decade? Psychadelics   
Linda's life-time craft she is honing? Self-reflection

▶️ Video interview available on Youtube.

If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave a review!