The Curious Middle

Paume founder Amy Welsman openly shares the story of starting Paume, a luxury hand care product brand made with sustainably produced, bio-degradable and plant-based ingredients. Although Amy got the idea for a luxury hand sanitizer as a new mother in 2019, Covid gave her the nudge she needed to quickly and boldly enter the hand sanitizer market. In our conversation Amy shares how she went from idea to product, spanning areas such as sourcing, sales channels, funding, wholesale, selling directly to consumers, pitching to buyers, PR, design, operations, marketing and the importance of an advisory group. If you are curious about what it takes to start a product based business, we think you will love Amy’s candor and how generously she shares her entire journey. This conversation is guaranteed to bring you new insights and and inspiration.

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Jaime Rich, Program Specialist at Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) shares how she works to reduce underage drinking and driving through education and advocacy. Jaime shares some sobering stats about drunk driving that hopefully inspire you to listen in to the conversation, and find a way to get involved:

“In 2019, 10,142 people died in drunk driving crashes so that is one person every 51 minutes. Every two minutes a person is injured in a drunk driving crash, and 2 out of 3 people will be involved in a drunk driving crash.” 

Staggering statistics for a problem that is completely preventable. Prior to her role at MADD, Jaime spent 12 years working on policies to reduce underage substance abuse with the Center for Human Development. Jaimie shares some of the wins in her career, how she stays optimistic, and ways you can get involved in this important issue. The passion from teenagers  who are energized to  help prevent substance abuse, keeps Jaime motivated and focused on the work, even when progress seems slow and limited. Listen in to hear some of the ways MADD is working on reducing drunk driving and how you can get involved.

In our conversation Paige shares the inspiration for starting Naborforce and the lightbulb moment that gave her the idea for a business model and the confidence to make her idea a reality. Naborforce is an online platform that connects "nabors" to seniors requesting help for everyday tasks such as household chores, groceries and driving. "Nabors" get extra income and a meaningful way to connect to people in their community. Paige's finance experience gave her the skills to research the market and create a business model that fit the varying market needs by region. Today, NaborForce offers standard hourly pricing or monthly plans and packages so seniors can get assistance from a trusted network of care providers. Naborforce is also signing up partnerships with employers so employees can get help balancing work with the type of caregiving activities that often push stretched employees to leave their jobs.

In our conversation, Paige shares the milestones in getting Naborforce started, how she is building her business and her expansion plans. We love Naborforce's mission and are thrilled to share this conversation with you!

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If you are interested in investing, specifically in early stage investment funds, you will love this conversation with Leslie Goldman, Co-Founder of The Artemis Fund. Leslie shares how her 20 year legal career as General Counsel led her down a path  to board advising, investing and then to finding two co-founders who were the perfect partners for Artemis. The Artemis Fund’s vision is to invest in companies  democratizing access to wealth, encouraging sustainability, and reducing friction in the care economy.

We discuss how Leslie and her partners raised their first fund,”one check at a time”. Leslie predicts between her partners and their networks they probably had 1000 meetings and talked to any accredited investors who were willing to listen. Leslie shares how her partners decide on investments, their diligence process  and Leslie tells us about a few of their exciting current investments, including unest, Dressx and Hop Skip Drive. Leslie shares the biggest challenges in managing an investment fund and how her responsibilities are growing as their portfolio companies grow. If you listen to this episode and start to dream about working for an investment fund, Leslie shares how she learned about the space and how she started her first investments. For those considering angel investing, Leslie suggests tiny bets with sites like Seedinvest and to be aware,  “If you are going to start investing in this asset class - first of all you need to have money you can lose.” Leslie suggests you learn how to do diligence and analyze companies, and then you can start making bigger bets or invest in a fund. This is a fascinating conversation with a woman who is so clearly meant for her career path, her role and the impact she is making for female founders and the world.

The Artemis Fund

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Sofia Ramirez Shares How Tend, a Digital Personal Finance Platform that Just Launched in the USA and Mexico, is Modernizing and Simplifying finances While Building Community.

In our conversation, Sofia shares how Tend plans to make banking easier for young people through transparency, debit banking with cash back services  and less costly international transfers coming soon. Tend launched recently in the USA and Mexico with plans to expand further internationally. We also discuss Sofia’a career milestones that led her to Tend, her career in marketing and finance, and her advice for others who are interested in similar paths. If you are interested in how to disrupt established industries with modernized and enhanced services based on community needs, we think you will love this conversation.

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Rachel Praetorius shares the career path that led to her dream job as the Director of Sustainability for Amazon Devices and Services.   Rachel started as employee number 1 at Amazon's Lab 126 Program Management Office and eventually moved into her current role. If you are interested in sustainability programs at Amazon, or what it is like to work as a sustainability lead for a tech company, this conversation is for you!

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Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician, former health commissioner for Baltimore, professor of health policy and management, contributing columnist for The Washington Post, CNN medical analyst, and author shares stories from her new memoir, Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health. Dr. Wen has an incredibly inspiring immigrant story of struggle, sacrifice and tremendous achievement. In our conversation, Dr. Wen shares how the early hardships she experienced shaped her character and her career goals. If you are looking for an inspiring career story, Dr. Wen's path is guaranteed to lift your spirits. We also discuss some of the innovative programs Dr. Wen led during her time serving as Baltimore's Health Commissioner.

This is a must listen episode!

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There is no doubt that Christina Dorr Drake was meant to be a co-founder of Willa's Oat Milk. Christina grew up drinking her grandmother's special recipe of oat milk. When Christina and her sister, Elena Dorr Zienda, realized the market was missing an oat milk that was both delicious and nutritious, like the one they had as kids, they saw the opportunity and went for it. Christina and Elena decided they had the recipe, experience and complementary skills to launch their own brand and they lovingly named it after their grandmother. Christina's background in marketing and strategy for food brands combined with Elena's experience in food manufacturing and distribution gave them the skills and confidence to launch Wila's Oat Milk.

In our conversation, Christina walks us through how they actually started Willa's. We discuss how they handled packaging, manufacturing, distribution channels and the ways Willa's has committed to creating organic, nutritious products with sustainable practices. We also discuss the quick sales channel changes the co-founders had to make when their launch coincided with Covid. Today, Willa's future is looking very bright. Oat milk is currently the second most popular plant based dairy product, and demand continues to grow. Listen to hear an inspiring startup story and you may be inspired to start something new in your life.

Willa's Oat Milk

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Claire Bidwell Smith is a grief counselor and author. Claire's path to her current profession came from losing both her parents to cancer while Claire was still young. At first, Claire was in shock and tried to run from the overwhelming grief and anxiety she was feeling. Eventually, Claire decided to become a therapist and worked in private practice for over a decade. Claire went on to write three books about dealing with grief, anxiety and loss. Today, Claire is continuing her work to help people with grief by speaking widely and working with organizations devoted to helping people find end of life and grief support.

In our conversation, we discuss how Claire found her way to becoming a therapist and writer. Claire shares the experiences that changed her and we talk about some of Clarie's adventures while researching for her book, After This, an exploration of what happens when we die. If you have faced grief, or want to prepare yourself for dealing with grief that eventually reaches all of us, you don't want to miss this conversation.

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Cheryl Saban’s extraordinary life is a beautiful tapestry of diverse experiences, different careers, and helping others. In the latest chapter of her life, Cheryl is focused on her glass blowing business and her philanthropy work.  Through the Saban Family Foundation, Cheryl and her husband have donated $420 million to 1000 organizations and causes focused mainly on children, education and women's health including the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, The Rape Treatment Center and Birthright Israel. At Saban Glass, Cheryl fulfils her artistic calling by immersing herself into the process of creating exquisite glassware. Cheryl has published books, written for television and holds a doctorate in psychology. 

Life was not always easy for Cheryl. In her early twenties, when Cheryl was a single mom struggling financially, she went to a free clinic in Los Angeles. In our conversation, Cheryl recalls being moved by the kind treatment she received there, and also convinced of a need for free community clinics. Through the Saban Foundation, Cheryl has donated $10 million to the Los Angeles Free Clinic, currently named the Saban Community Clinic due to the generous support of the Saban Foundation. In our conversation, we discuss some of the full circle moments in Cheryl’s life, major milestones and Cheryl shares advice on making major life choices.

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