The Female Founders Network

Today we're talking to Venese Lau, a globetrotting freelancer and founder of a Tokyo-based events and marketing company. Venese shares how her experiences living in several countries helped her to create a unique offering. She also discusses pivoting to launch a second passion project business — an online platform for entrepreneurs — during the pandemic. Listen to get advice on starting passion projects, delegating effectively, and learn how experiencing different cultures can inspire innovation.

Claire Summers, the founder of Gratitude Glass Jars, is with us today. Claire's story is truly inspiring. After a near-death experience, Claire took a risk and decided to move to the US. She presented her glass jar creations at trade shows across the country and was discovered by Oprah in New York City. After being presented with the opportunity to be featured on “Oprah's Favorite Things,” she went all in and poured her entire savings into the launch of her first product.

Today we're speaking with Christine Jurzenski and Erica Schultz, two American expatriates who recently launched a women's health product in Sydney, Australia. Christine and Erica's company, Cranel, provides an all-natural, sugar-free solution for a common yet seldomly spoken about the problem: Urinary Tract Infections. Christine and Erica share their experiences solving a problem that many women face and give advice on maintaining a 9-to-5 while growing a passion business. (Photos: Peter Braig)

Join us as we chat with Moniquea Spiteri, a somatic psychotherapist and award-winning entrepreneur. She’s the founder of Enveco Health, a social enterprise that helps people struggling with mental health conditions to regain wellness, retain employment, and get support. We discuss how she launched her private practice, nonprofit and podcast, Transcending Trauma.

Today we sit down with MaryEllen Reider, the founder of Yarlap — a vaginal health device that treats urinary incontinence and improves sexual performance. MaryEllen shares how she brought this product to market in partnership with her father, a medical engineer. She also explores the challenges of marketing a women's sexual health product in a patriarchal world.

Hi guys! Today we're speaking with a tech founder and one of Forbes Asia's 30 under 30, Madhavi Shankar. In this episode, Madhavi will speak about going abroad to discover who she was and what she wanted, finding a global business partner, and launching a student housing-focused software solution to assist educational institutions. We hope you enjoy this episode!

Today we're speaking with Annabelle Chauncy, the world-changing founder and CEO of the School of Life nonprofit in Uganda. In this episode, Annabelle will talk about how she transformed from a post-graduate backpacker in Africa to a nonprofit founder and global educator. She also discusses how she's built and run three primary, secondary and vocational schools in rural Uganda to date, and provided clean drinking water, electricity, community outreach and medical treatment to its surrounding communities. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Today we're speaking with Britney Chu, the founder of Estamos — an all-natural and healthy margarita mix that she founded as a passion project during the COVID pandemic, but has now become a legitimate business with huge growth potential. In this episode, Britney shares the inspiration and story behind Estamos and how she's building her brand from the ground up. We hope you like this episode.

Today we're speaking with Dr. Michelle Deaker, the founder of Aussie-based venture capital firm OneVentures as well as a trained scientist and a former e-commerce founder. In this episode, Dr. Deaker will discuss the importance of the pitch in any negotiation, how she built and exited her e-commerce business, and how she went on to build her venture capital firm. If you like this episode, please subscribe on iTunes or Spotify and tell your girlfriends, too! We hope you enjoy the episode!

When we think of admirable women, we might think Eleanor Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo or Rosa Parks, but there were so many more incredible leaders throughout history that we haven’t been taught about. Women have done so much for the world that has gone unnoticed, unappreciated and under-represented throughout history. Today we’d like to talk about a few of them — because they deserve recognition, and they deserve to have people say their names. We hope you enjoy this episode.