The Curious Middle

We love to shop. We love to do good. And in episode 8 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, we meet the woman behind our latest go-to gift for baby shower shopping. Katie Marie Grinold Sigfusson is the founder of Chicago-based luxury social impact shopping brand Babies4Babies. The site, which sells high-quality swaddle blankets, helps your dollars go further. For every one blanket purchased, four blankets are donated to save newborns lives in the developing world.

Previous to Babies4Babies Kate held positions at the World Economic Forum, FAIR Girls (formerly FAIR Fund) and IT.com. She’s also – get this, a 2009 Miss America Top 10 Finalist. On today’s podcast, Kate shares how she built took her idea to product, her tricks for managing business and dealing with fear.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S SHOW:

• On Facing Fear: “My biggest challenge was getting comfortable with the idea of failure, and that is what keeps most people from entrepreneurship.”
• On Getting the Guts: “I just believed in my idea so much I had to do it. I had to launch it. It wasn’t easy. It took a very long time. I had no idea what I was doing.”
• Making It Happen: Why Kate waited 3 months before pushing the launch button on her business
• Creating Comfort: Kate on getting familiar with the idea of failure, even when feeling afraid of it.
• That Solopreneur Life: Her techniques for surviving? “Tackling the things that give you anxiety first … always juggling priorities.”
• Perks of Being the Boss Lady: “As an entrepreneur, I have this unique opportunity to reimagine what work looks like. A type of integration that is flowing and changing constantly depending on your family’s or company’s needs … Here I am making my own path.”
• Perfect Partner: Babies4Babies NGO partner, Saving Mothers
• Idea, Meet Fruition: What is Kate’s advice to others with a business idea? “If you have an idea that grabs hold and won’t let go, you have to go for it.”
• Just Do It: Still hesitating? Just remember, Kate says, “You don’t have to be an expert to start.”
• Learn More: com
• On Twitter:Follow her @KMGrinold
• On Instagram: Follow her @Babies4Babies

Six years ago, Malia Cohen was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch of the City’s local government. She represents the southeast corner of San Francisco, District 10, home to more than 70,000 constituents living in neighborhoods like Bayview Hunters Point, Potrero Hill, Dogpatch and Visitacion Valley. District 10 also served as home to Malia, who grew up in the area she now represents.

In her job Malia also serves as county supervisor (as San Francisco is both a city and a county). Her job is simple, yet complex: Solve problems. One of those problems? Along with her other 10 elected colleagues, determine who gets how much of San Francisco’s $9 billion budget.

Malia also serves as chair of the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Transportation Committee, as vice chair of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System, as a member of the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee and on the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. During her tenure she’s spearheaded efforts to develop policies and legislation that provides improved transparency with limited services pregnancy centers, regulated background checks by employers and affordable housing providers, led homeownership investment for San Francisco’s middle class and also authored ordinances for firearm regulation.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S SHOW:

• A Moment Like This: The moment (in third grade!) when Malia just knew she was meant to work in public service.

• What Running In A Political Campaign Feels Like: “You kind of have to be tough about it,” she says, “and I would encourage any woman that is interested in running for office to definitely not talk herself out of it.”

• Political Warm-Up: Malia discusses her involvement in Emerge California, an organization she discovered in 2003 while working on the first mayoral campaign for Gavin Newsom. She credits the organization, which helps women who identify as Democrat with a crash course in politics, for helping her get her start.

• Discipline And Delayed Gratification: Find out how this instilled philosophy applies to where Malia is now.

• Yes, You CAN Get Involved: “I don’t want people to get caught up in, ‘I don’t have the education. I don’t have the background, or the connections or the network. Or, I don’t have the pedigree.’ I mean I don’t come from any of that. I don’t come from a wealthy family. I don’t come from a well-connected political family in San Francisco. I am a woman of color that really worked hard developed a strategy early on and really implemented the strategy.”

• Kitchen Cabinet: Why you need a strong advisory board.

• Cross-Industry Career Advice: “You can’t be afraid to ask questions.”

• On Women In Politics: “We need to lift as we climb,” Malia says.

• On Legacy: Malia hopes to be remembered for her time serving as Supervisor as being fair, compassionate, approachable and extremely thoughtful – a person who did not shy away from conflict, fear or intimidation.

• On Twitter: Follow her @MaliaCohen.

Alisha Gaddis is the consummate I Want Her Job Leading Lady. She's an actress, musician, author, comedienne, wife and mom. Not only does Alisha wear a plethora of hats, but she's also damn good at what she does. She is an Emmy-winning actress, to be exact, and along with her husband, Lucky Diaz, the two are the first Americans ever to win a Latin Grammy in the children's category for their music in Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band. In addition, the two lovable entertainers who are reminiscent of a modern-day, kiddo-friendly Lucy and Ricky, star in Lishy Lou and Lucky Too! on The Friday Zone on PBS. And with 26 episodes under their belt, Alisha and Lucky are set to film season two.

In addition, Alisha is an editor and author of multiple books, including Women's Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny, and the just-released book in the same applause acting series, Teen Girls' Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny. And Alisha knows a thing or two about being funny. She's performed comedy in top venues and on multiple network TV channels and has even opened for Ray Romano, Drew Carey and Sarah Silverman. Alisha also has an innate eye for design, and her Silverlake home with Lucky was even featured on Apartment Therapy – twice!

At I Want Her Job we adore Alisha so much. Since our interview with her three years ago, we've watched her career in awe, and consider her the ultimate Leading Lady. She's graceful, successful, kind, humorous and a champion of women. She even let us use her likeness for our "About" page. [Talk about nice!] Listen to our latest episode and you'll walk away a fan girl, too.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S SHOW:

• Her Music: How Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band came to life and to living rooms everywhere!
• Success Sauce: Find out the secrets to Alisha's wild success. A hint? Alisha always says "yes" when opportunities appear and does not stop at rejection. For reals. She got her first literary agent after 250 rejections!
• The Creative Process: Alisha discusses her self-study masterclass approach to teaching herself how to start new creative projects in music, theatre, TV shows and book publishing. "You have to know the structure of what comes before you in order to bust out and create your own work," she says.
• Discovering Her Calling: "Be open to what the universe presents you," Alisha says.
• The Art of a Deal: Despite an amazing opportunity with a big box store falling through, Alisha was determined a book was still in her future. Based on her inspiration by fellow female comedians, Alisha pitched her agent the idea for monologue series that's now five books strong. Find them on Amazon here.
• In 5 Years: In an interview with our site five years ago, Alisha had just started out in her band. We asked her where she saw herself in five years. Her predictions, including winning a Grammy, game true! "Never let someone tell you your goals are too big or too silly," she says.
• Family First: Alisha shares how her father, a successful football coach, and her mother, a kindergarten teacher, influenced her work ethic, ambition and joyful optimism.
• Pursuing Comedy As A Career: "You can make people see more truth if you are making them laugh than if you are preaching to them," Alisha says.
• Never Give Up: Alisha believes in pushing past rejection and has a mantra of "work wins!" She advises to never stop pursuing your dream because, "You could be just three feet from gold."
• Additional Advice: Read more about Alisha and find out her advice for fellow women entertainers on her I Want Her Job interview.
• Learn More: Get more information about Alisha Gaddis and her body of work here.
• Connect: Follow Alisha on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Katherine Brown, practice lead for investors industries, focuses on impact investing for the World Economic Forum. Known for its annual Davos conference, Katherine shares what it's like to work for the WEF, including her role influencing impact investing for communities around the world. She also shares her unpredictable path that led to her role at WEF, as well as why she loves her job -- and the impact it makes -- so much. 

Topics Discussed In Today’s Show:

• Advice for joining a mission-aligned organization.
• Katherine's work for the World Economic Forum and the Forum for Young Global Leaders: Learn more here.
• Her participation in the SOCAP conference.
• The 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony: Why dancing in the Opening Ceremony was one of the best things Katherine has ever been involved with.
• Katherine's book recommendation for finding balance: Check out Essentialism -- The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.
• The future of impact investing: Check out this inspiring video from the WEF website.
• Why we need more women in finance: Check out this article here.
• Learn more: Get more information about impact investing here.

Margot Kane from the Calvert Foundation joins us to discuss impact investing. If you are want to know more about an entirely new way of investing that allows you to invest money while improving communities around the world, join us as we discuss the work Margot is doing. You may be surprise to learn if you have a tax ID and twenty dollars, you too can become an impact investor today! We discuss what impact investing is, projections for growth in this tremedously exciting sector, examples of impact investments, and the potential within impact investing to transform some of our biggest social issues around the world. 

Topics discussed in today’s show:

• If you want to learn more about this field, don't be scared off by the Finance side. Margot Kane says “ Finance is not rocket science, it’s more fancy arithmetic”.
• “Women are basically going to be running all of this, so don’t be shy about jumping in with both feet if this is what excites you”
• “Impact investing is a mismatch, a multi-disciplinary practice, it encompasses everything” says Margot.
• Margot’s projects for communities and women investing in women.
• Learn more about impact investing at GIIN and  read here to for inspiration on why we need more women in finance.

With an abundant passion for technology, we're excited to introduce you to Jocelyn Goldfein, an angel investor and technology company adviser. With a resume that includes tenures as an engineering leader at VMware and engineering director at Facebook, Jocelyn is now using her experience and influence to help technology startups build teams and grow business. In our conversation with her, we discuss her career path, how to tackle the issue of a low percentage of women in tech jobs and her thoughts on how our world could change if that number doubles! We're sure that by the end of this episode you'll want to work for Jocelyn as much as we do!

Dona Sarkar is an Engineering Lead for Microsoft's HoloLens, a fashion designer, blogger and author of several books. We talk to Dona about her career in technology and how following your interests on the side can enhance your career.

Dona compares learning to coding to learning a new language, it takes time. We discuss online resources to start learning new skills, and the massive opportunity to build products for the 5 billion people who are currently underserved in the markets. "We keep going after the same 2 billion people over and over again in tech, but why, lets go after 5 billion."

Growing up in Detroit, Dona didn't have a lot of money or resources, so she made up her own stories and characters. Dona talks about how writing and the benefits of growing up with a need to constantly use her own creativity to entertain herself. Dona says "when you don't have very much, consider it your superpower". Dona also explain how a lack of resources can help you understand the 5 billion undeserved people in the market today.

Dona's Blog

Topics discussed In this show:

• Tips for getting started in technology
• Coding is just building things for people and how not to be scared when trying to learn technical skills
• If you don't succeed at something, Dona suggests "do it again!"
• Resources to learn new skills (skillfeed, udemy, youtube, Lynda, codeacademy)
• Dona's time management secret
• Dona talks about her book on eating disorders in minority women
• We talk about the opportunity to make products for 5 billion people
• How growing up with less can be your superpower
• Dona's philosophy on staying away from non believers and negativity

We also speak with Brianne Perleberg, the founder of I want her job, about how the website was founded, and a lot more!

Dona Sarkar is an Engineering Lead for Microsoft’s HoloLens, a fashion designer. blogger and author of 7 books with 3 on the way. We talk to Dona about why more women should consider careers in technology, the power of learning to work in technology careers and how having a full life and following interests on the side will also enhance your career.

Dona compares learning to coding to learning a new language, it takes time. We discuss online resources to start learning new skills, and the massive opportunity to build products for 5 billion people who are currently underserved in the markets. “We keep going after the same 2 billion people over and over again in tech, but why, lets go after 5 billion”

Growing up in Detroit, Dona didn’t have a lot of money or resources, so she made up her own stories and characters. Dona talks about how writing was and stil is a comfort,  and the benefits of growing up with a need to constantly use her own creativity to entertain herself. Dona says “when you don’t have very much, consider it your superpower”. Dona also explain how a lack of resources can help you understand the 5 billion undeserved people in the market today.

Dona's Blog 

Topics discussed In this show: 

We also speak with Brianne Burrowes, the founder of I want her job, about how the website was founded, and a lot more!