The Social Impact Startup

Ghonva Ghauri is intentional in her life and her career. With a passion for mental health and identity development, she is creating a revolutionary platform to help uplift and support marginalized communities. She is the founder and CEO of The Katra Box, a subscription box that stands apart from the others. The Katra Box encourages South Asian American women to embrace their identity and be “unapologetically brown”. Ghonva noticed that there wasn’t a space that existed where these women could see themselves represented nor a place to address topics that are relevant to their lives, but are currently taboo to discuss openly such as homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, and even unorthodox career trajectories. The Katra Box is intentionally curated to support minority owned and ethical businesses so that the consumer can make more conscious choices, minimize their carbon footprint and increase the demand for companies to build better, more accountable businesses. What began as a wellness and lifestyle box is growing into a place where these marginalized communities have the ability to explore their own identities and foster their well-being from the inside out. We discuss how we can continue to promote solidarity across communities, why being present and listening can be one of the most powerful tools of support, and why integrity and honesty prevails in building an engaged audience. Ghonva also shares some insightful advice about entrepreneurship and how it can be another avenue for the lifelong journey of learning to love yourself. In her words, “As an entrepreneur you have to be okay with being lonely and not thinking that it’s a sad emotion. The journey of being okay in your own presence is more taxing than folks realize”. Cheers to Ghonva for creating a platform to help individuals learn to love themselves - unapologetically. 

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Erin Person genuinely wants others to succeed. With a passion for solving problems, her desire to create solutions for society’s underlying issues led her to a law degree. However, feeling stifled by the lack of creativity in a law office, she moved over to the entertainment industry where she was responsible for negotiations, working with startups and developing strategic partnerships. As her career progressed, she noticed that strategic partnerships, support systems and problem solving were exactly the key elements that startups needed in order to succeed. After being laid off, she took it as an opportunity to truly become an advocate for creation. What started as supporting her friends in building their businesses grew into a digital platform for entrepreneurs. As the founder and CEO of ConnectEO, Erin’s goal is to put something into the world that can benefit people and create a domino effect of impact. Specifically, she wants to help underrepresented communities be able to take ownership of their own path in life versus the one that society has delegated for them. Erin is building a vetted space where creators can build and operate sustainable businesses by relying on a community of entrepreneurs to uplift and support them. A reciprocal system, ConnectEO is meant to solve the problem of startups and their failure rates by incorporating the idea of “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together”. We discuss her journey as a founder, why we should all be creating versus always consuming and how to take the power back over your own life, despite what society may say. A true advocate for ownership and creation, Erin is helping to show that sustainable success comes from community, taking chances, and being conscious creators. In Erin’s words:  “We are created to create - so create”.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Natalie Grogan’s  goal is to help business leaders create outstanding places to work. A newly coined term, “Talent Optimization” is the process of aligning business strategy with talent strategy to help solve problems surrounding attracting top talent, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, company culture and team dynamics. A role she is rightfully suited for, Natalie’s career trajectory demonstrates exactly how to optimize each situation you may be thrown into for your benefit. Her work history extends back to being fascinated with her father’s work and trying to help in any way possible to becoming one of the first members of a small online marketing company during her senior year of college that led to a buy out, a nice chunk of change, and the interest in entrepreneurship altogether. Her path led her in many directions before eventually starting her own company. From the East Coast to West Coast and teetering between sales and marketing roles, she eventually landed on a job that gave her the experience necessary to create a successful consulting career. After being laid off not once, but THREE times in a row, Natalie took it as a sign to take the leap and create her own company. Persistent and dedicated to bettering the workplace, she now works in partnership with the Predictive Index to conduct behavioral, cognitive and job assessments to truly optimize how a company chooses the best suited people for specific roles. An advocate for the platinum rule, to treat others the way that they need to be treated, she understands that fundamentally people work and succeed differently and wants to encourage those in leadership positions to help others become the best version of themselves as the effects are beneficial for both the company and the employee. We discuss exactly how the Outstanding Company helps to implement these strategies, why it’s beneficial for both large enterprises and small startups, and why this strategy supports diversity of thought. We also discuss burnout, how to maintain your routines when traveling, and why it’s always ok to ask for help. We all know that it’s the people who make the place and this conversation delves deep into why prioritizing your people and acknowledging diverse strengths and weaknesses leads to a stronger organization overall.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Tara Debek is the founder of T. Digital, a digital marketing and PR agency focused on growing and scaling innovative and impactful brands. Tara did a complete career 180; with the intention of becoming a lawyer, she studied law during undergrad and began working in the non-profit space in Washington, DC after graduating. She discovered her love for digital marketing and made the leap from working for someone else to being a founder - and from law to marketing! Moving to a new city and starting a new career is no easy feat and her methodology of becoming successful quickly is admirable and demonstrative that modern career paths are anything but linear. An extrovert who loves building and developing relationships, she sought out every opportunity to network in order to make that shift.  Digital marketing is essential to any brand’s strategy in the modern business landscape, but especially for impactful brands that we want more awareness and support around. Creating an engaged audience requires developing relationships and being authentic in your approach, especially in our saturated market. We discuss everything from the importance of SEO, whether email marketing is still relevant and why the disappearance of likes on Instagram isn’t the end of the world. We also discuss why data is imperative to strategy, why she only works with businesses that are conscious and relatable, and her wellness routine that keeps her grounded. Her advice to founders, and anyone scared to make a leap in their career? “Look all of your fears in the eyes and keep moving forward because at the end of the day it’s all you can do and you owe it to yourself”.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Lisa Magill is the Cofounder and COO of both Aleria and ARC (Aleria Research Company). She understands how important it is to create an inclusive work environment and is passionate about rebuilding the outdated systems that put up endless barriers for specific people and not others. Coming from a background in both Finance and Technology, she experienced many obstacles herself in the workplace simply because she is a women - less pay than male coworkers, limited networking opportunities, and being questioned on performance abilities based on whether she would choose to have children or not. With a fire under her, she sought mentorship and hosted workshops to create a community of women who could empower one another. She didn’t stop there. A true impact entrepreneur,  Lisa has dedicated her career to solving big picture problems and ensuring that every step taken isn’t just for profit, but for creating lasting change in society. Her work at ARC and Aleria do just that. ARC is a non-profit that focuses on conducting research related to diversity and inclusion and Aleria utilizes that research to help companies progress and create more equitable opportunities for their employees while also driving profit and performance. Their approach for creating an inclusive workplace is innovative because they utilize complexity science and intersectionality instead of just statistics. In our conversation we discuss the problems surrounding ‘performative diversity’, why data and science prove the benefits of being inclusive and diverse, and her advice to impact entrepreneurs trying to build and scale. If you are passionate about building a company, you have to be passionate about prioritizing the people who are helping you to build it. Community and culture are everything and this episode brings awareness to how necessary it is to be a leader in your industry for both innovation AND inclusion.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Monica Meng wants more people to invest in good. She is the Co-Founder of Good Capital Investment Group, a financial advisory firm that empowers individuals to plan and invest in their future while supporting their values. With a background in finance, education, and working at startups, Monica believes in the importance of lifelong learning and making educated decisions - especially when they involve your finances. After attending Harvard graduate school of education, Monica and her husband Gideon, a financial advisor, decided to combine their skill sets and create Good Capital Investment Group - an outlier in the financial industry because they only invest responsibly. We discuss what exactly constitutes impact investing, how their approach is different from other investment groups, and why it’s one of the best ways to use money as a means for change. We also discuss why people, especially women, should invest and why it’s essential to be your own advocate in life. This conversation sheds light on the fact that when utilized correctly, financial literacy and conscious investments are stepping stones to a better future.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Zoe Waters is the founder of Necessary Behavior, an organization that speaks out against unhealthy social norms and is focused on creating a culture of consent and promoting healthy sexuality. Through Necessary Behavior she is building an educational platform that helps to eradicate internal biases and help people better themselves. Zoe is a master-level sexual abuse advocate and prevention educator in the state of Iowa  and therefore predominantly focuses on sexual assault advocacy. The statistics are staggering - 1 in every three women, one in every four men, and one in every two transgender people have experienced sexual violence - and that is only what is reported. We need a serious cultural overhaul and that’s where Zoe’s work lies - in helping and supporting survivors, bringing education and awareness to classrooms and colleges campuses, and promoting social justice. In this episode we discuss why social justice is uncomfortable and if you are comfortable - you’re not doing enough, why cancel culture is problematic, and her advice for people wanting to make a change and don’t know where to start. This episode delves into an important topic, one of which we all need to take steps to combat. In Zoe’s words “It takes a community to break down the culture of violence we have created”.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Joy Yap is the Founder and CEO of Wyld Skincare. Wyld stands for ‘what you love doing’ and it’s no surprise that Joy loves exactly what she is doing: demonstrating exactly how a clean beauty business should operate. Coming from a background in marketing and PR, it was ultimately the combination of her love of travel, passion for ocean conservation and the need for a new skin product that was lacking in the current market that led to her starting a company. But she didn’t just start any company. She created the model of exactly what clean beauty businesses should be: sustainable, transparent, authentic, zero-waste, cruelty free and vegan. Not only that, but with every purchase proceeds go back to ocean conservation. Joy implements the concept of ‘doing well by doing good’ into her business model, making it easier for consumers to make better choices in the beauty world. In our conversation we discuss how Wyld went from concept to company, how to educate yourself as a consumer, that each day we should strive for progress - not perfection, and that ultimately it’s up to you to start taking action to create the world you want to see.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Adrienne Romine is the founder of HALF HALT, a sustainable furniture company. Living her life as an artist, she credits her early childhood homeschooled education and her family’s insistence upon travel as crucial elements to her creative process. After getting a BFA, she worked building window displays for Anthropolgie and decided to take her talents to woodworking. We discuss how she initially taught herself using YouTube, how she built up her clientele, and how she was able to overcome imposter syndrome in a heavily male dominant industry by facing her fears and learning to take up space. We also discuss how patience is the biggest requirement when creating meaningful experiences, products and a life -  especially when competing against a culture centered upon mass production and instantaneous results. The movements are here: Slow food, slow fashion - here’s your dive into the world of slow furniture.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/

Cat Bradley is the founder of SewEthico, a company focused on business growth hacking. Basically - she is the business brain behind big ideas. Coming from a background in nonprofits, business and working on Wall Street, she realized that she wanted to create a bigger impact by supporting ethical businesses in becoming successful. She works to build and implement systems within these companies to help them scale, including marketing, overall strategy, and even taxes. In order to work with Cat, however, there’s one catch: you must be a mission driven founder with a bigger purpose than just profit. In our conversation we discuss why your customer is the most important factor, why you should always show up for your community and the three things that you can’t fake in a business. She also talks about the businesses she wants to see more of in the world and why when you’re an entrepreneur there is no such thing as ‘it’s not my job’.  Ready to scale and create a sustainable, ethical business? This episode is for you.

Our podcast theme song is "Pico & Westwood" by Esbie Fonte. For more info, visit https://www.esbiefonte.com/