The Make and Create Podcast

I’m your host Jen Veguilla- Lezan and I am back this week with an interview featuring Aditi Shekar – the founder behind finance tech start up – Zeta.

Aditi is truly an international woman who has lived all over the world growing up as her mother worked for the UN. While it may come as a surprise – moving to the US for college at NC Chapel Hill it was a culture shock. Her mother left her with one piece of important advice as she left her for her freshman year – she told her Aditi, you can’t get a credit card! While it may seem odd, she realized she didn’t know much about credit and while her and her mother had discussed money, sheb didn’t really have a good concept of things like credit. Living on her own, though, gave her a crash course on the concepts of finance, budgeting and eventually investing and she became obsessed. After spending years working with young professionals, she was surprised at the lack of financial support they had access to. Moreover, she was frustrated by her own experience in trying to merge her finances with her significant other. To solve both these problems, Aditi launched Zeta. throughout the episode we talk about her journey from working at a start up to launching her own. She shares a candid recap of the journey, the realities of funding and building out a company from concept to final product. We get into the details of Zeta, how it helps people manage their finance, the concepts of social entrepreneurship and what her goals are for the coming years. If you are someone interested in tech startups or finance or just want some good insider information on how you can manage your own financials, then this is the episode for you. If you like what I am doing and want to support, take a moment to check out the show’s patreon page at patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast. Any pledge amount can help me with the admin side to keep creating the content on this show.

Welcome back to Make + Create – the podcast dedicated to empowerment in the creative and business space. For this last season, I’ve been focusing on women who are doing things differently and aren’t afraid to take risks. Women who are unabashedly themselves, and who are open to sharing the good, bad and ugly parts of running their own business. This episode I speak with Susan Griffin-Black – the CEO of EO Products. If you are someone who cares about what is in your home and bath products, then you’ve likely used EO. If you like what I am doing and want to support, take a moment to check out the show’s patreon page at patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast. Any pledge amount can help me with the admin side to keep creating the content on this show.

This week is a continuation of exploring careers and journeys that are outside of the norm and that have a spiritual vibe to them. This week, I talk with the conjure queen herself. She’s made quite the name for herself on Youtube with her channel dedicated to sharing and teaching the mysteries of the occult and helping her viewers to elevate their minds. Conjure Queen is a Spiritual Adviser, Motivational Speaker, Teacher, Holistic Healer, and Mentor. Viewers tune into her channel to develop their spiritual consciousness, get an eye opening perspective on latest trending news, and to hear the inspirational gems that the queen drops. If you like what I am doing and want to support, take a moment to check out the show’s patreon page at patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast. Any pledge amount can help me with the admin side to keep creating the content on this show.

I’m your host Jen Veguilla- Lezan and I am back this week an interview featuring a local Chicagoan who has truly shown that you can make a career work for you, wherever you are if you have the passion and drive to pursue it. I interview Xochil Herrera Scheer about her journey in the Fashion industry here in Chicago. She provides professional pattern making and fashion design services to businesses and individuals in the Chicago area, and remotely to clients throughout the US. Xochil's journey highlights how small indie manufacturers and production focused companies are helping change industry norms.

If you like what I am doing and want to support, take a moment to check out the show’s patreon page at patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast. Any pledge amount can help me with the admin side to keep creating the content on this show.

I am back this week with a fun, interesting and different interview. I had the opportunity to talk with Claire Gallagher – the Body Astrologer. If you haven’t heard of Claire, I’m surprised, but you will be in for a treat. As many of you who have followed along – you know I have a penchant for all things mystical, magical and cosmos related – I’m a latina woman who comes from healer ancestors and I am still working to find my own healing path. I am a firm believer in energy work and I think Astrology is an incredibly under rated and under utilized tool and so does Claire! So, it was such a fun opportunity to learn about how she uses it in her business and get a better insight about how she applies it to her daily life. On top of all of that I am inspired by women entrepreneurs who are doing things on their own terms and not letting societal norms get in the way of their success. If you like what I am doing and want to support, visit: patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast.

Welcome back to Make + Create. I’m your host Jen Veguilla- Lezan and I am back this week with another insightful and inspiring interview. I spoke with Tyzza Macias a few months back about her journey launching her indie cosmetics brand: Factory Glam alongside her cofounders Eva and Natasha. Tyzza’s career as a beauty professional and entrepreneur began after graduating cosmetology beauty school in 2007. She continued her beauty career as a makeup artist, brand ambassador, product educator and developer for the beauty industry. After years of working with corporate brands, she knew she was meant to do something even bigger. Her experiences provided her with the knowledge to create something on her own with a team and the mission to share the excitement regarding Factory Glam beauty products and her company and brand culture. If you like what I am doing and want to support, take a moment to check out the show’s patreon page at http://www.patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast!

For this recent episode, I had the opportunity to talk with Agathe - the founder of Red Velvet NYC. Red Velvet is a company that creates dessert kits that make baking gourmet desserts foolproof. The brand launched in 2015 delivering kits with everything needed to bake cakes, tarts, cupcakes and more right in the comfort of your own kitchen. Agathe shares her journey on how she bootstrapped the company and grew it to now expand into shelf-stable kits sold at gourmet markets and further develop the online side of the business. She’s working to not only make an impact on the business world, but the brand also believes that giving back is an important part of the value they bring to the world through charities such as Bright Pink, a nonprofit, working to save womens lives from breats and ovarian cancer by empowering them to live proactively at a young age. If you want to support the podcast - check out: https://www.patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast

Hello Listeners!

Welcome back to Make + Create. I’m your host Jen Veguilla- Lezan and this week I had the opportunity to talk with the duo behind Store - Revolving Curation. It’s the latest indie shop concept in Chicago and the brand showcases how fashion forward vintage and thrift clothing can be and why it’s becoming so important in the fight against the world of fast fashion that continues to leave a negative impact on our environment.

I hope you are enjoying the show and if you feel so inclined, take some time to subscribe to us on iTunes, AnchorFM via your RSS feed or any podcast listener you utilize. You can find a new episode live every other Friday!

If you like what I am doing and would like to support, please take a moment to check out the show’s patreon page at patreon.com/makeandcreatepodcast . Any pledge amount can help me with the admin side to keep creating the content on this show and there are some great perks that go with each level.

Hello Listeners -

Welcome back to Make + Create! The podcast that introduces you to individuals pursuing the path less traveled when it comes to creative pursuits, careers and life. This space houses inspiration to keep you motivated and will hopefully empower you while on your own journey! I’m your host Jen Veguilla-Lezan and this week I had the opportunity to talk with the Kritikka – the founder of Soothi – a line of beautifully curated, socially conscious journals for the art of work. At Soothi, journals aren’t just where they work, but also why they work. Krittika launched the brand after she found her that journey in the corporate world was unfulfilling and not leading her in the direction she wanted to take her life. While she credits her experience in the traditional 9-5 world with helping her build the skills necessary to run her business, she didn’t find her calling in a corporate job. Krittika shares some great insights on her journey of creative entrepreneurship this week.

Hello listeners!

Welcome back to Make + Create. The podcast that introduces you to individuals pursuing the path less traveled when it comes to creative pursuits, careers and life. This space houses inspiration to keep you motivated and will hopefully empower you while on your own journey! I’m your host Jen Lezan and this week I had the opportunity to talk with the founder of Beauty Lynk – Rica Elysee- Beautylynk is the latest in on demand mobile beauty services that cater to a diverse population including people of all backgrounds, cultures and abilities. Rica is legit taking the beauty industry by the horns and shaking things up. I talked with Rica about her journey leading into launching Beauty Lynk and what she is doing to innovate within the industry. She highlights that although adding a tech aspect through her app, her innovations go much deeper – focusing on ways to help the beauty industry offer services for people of all backgrounds, cultures and specifically abilities.