Then What?

Lynne McNelis is founder of fave4, a Texas-based hair care line. Lynne launched fave4 after years of experience in the professional salon industry because she wanted to make higher quality, high performing, affordable clean formulas for the professional market and for women and busy moms like herself. It was all born from wanting to take a leap of faith, to build something she knew she would love. Which explains her title: "CEO", which, for Lynne, stands officially for Chief Excitement Officer. If you don’t love what you do and voice that excitement, how can you get others to love it? Lynne joins Lahari Neelapareddy to share how it all happened quickly; the challenges of the seeming stigma of being a beauty brand from Texas;  the importance of making sure her kids know what she does; why whom you surround yourself with matters so much; how a community was built from faithful users and their reviews; why the challenge of learning the ropes of doing business on Amazon is worth it; how coming from a dance background led to Lynne and her company giving back even though they were still just an emerging brand; why it pays to have the right systems in place from the beginning; and why Lynne’s journey to her vision is never quite finished.

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The people we celebrate, in business and in life, are often those who take a big leap. There is that moment when they have to decide: am I going to stay on this side? Or will I leap to the other side, take the risk, and really go for it? That leap, and what we do once we have leaped (a then what moment)  is where the difference really can be. Electra Davis, founder of Mysteek Naturals, is believed to be one of the first women to have created a chemical free hair color product, having started developing the product in 2016. The company is a Black/woman/veteran-owned small business. Plus, she’s a mother of two. Electra left the security of a 9-to-5 job and took that leap, going all in on her own business. It isn’t easy, but making that leap can help propel you to the next stage of business. Electra shares her story with Lahari Neelapareddy, including how actually slowing down to establish processes, and find the right team and partners, allowed the company to really scale up. And why, for her, it was more about managing and preparing for growth than achieving it.

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Aaron Watkins, President of Cupshe, cut his business teeth with big-deal positions with giants like WalMart, Facebook and Pinterest. It might not seem like a next, obvious and logical step to leave a high rung of the corporate ladder to run a beachwear brand inspired by and created for the most vibrant, fun, and fearless women all over the world. But for Aaron, professional decisions haven’t always been about  the biggest paycheck. They’ve been about learning and gaining experience and then asking: then what? What do you do with what you’ve learned? Founded in 2015, Cupshe has built an incredible community of women who move forward in confidence, comfort, and style. The company’s high caliber team has remained committed to staying true to their roots in their mission to empower women everywhere to look and feel their best in affordable swimwear. Aaron joins Lahari Neelapareddy to share the push to build a brand with that mission, his unexpected  journey and why he jumped from that corporate ladder, and the drive to always ask what can be done with what we’ve learned so far.

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Sima Azadegan is a remarkable woman. A pianist and opera singer, she has also served as a board member to numerous charities and humanitarian organizations and boasts an impressive collection of accomplishments and career milestones. And after all this she still asked herself—then what? Sima took that challenge, and now is an acclaimed fashion designer behind the widely acknowledged Sima Collezione. But even deeper, Sima has a vision “to create the most beautiful dresses the world has not yet seen”, and a mission to empower ladies by creating bold, unique dresses which bring out the beauty and light within each woman. Sima shares with Lahari Neelapareddy a deep look into her brand dedicated to empowering women, creating incredibly vibrant dresses made up of 50 distinct designs that have already landed her in a spotlight at the 2021 Fashion Week, and with a fast unfolding future as vibrant as her dresses.

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Tiila Abbitt loves to create “firsts”, like her self-funded company Aether Beauty (the world's first zero-waste makeup product, winner of Allure’s Best of Beauty Awards for 2021, a pretty big deal). And  -- she simply doesn’t compromise. Tiila has  proven you don’t have to sacrifice efficacy or payoff to create a clean and natural brand with good intent. She joins Lahari Neelapareddy to share how she built a fast growing company on a shoestring budget; why she’s opening up the company to the public; the importance of understanding infrastructure and materials sourcing; and the worst thing a brand can do in trying to become sustainable. Plus, what happened in Tiila’s “Then What” moment, when she faced the reality of the pandemic, with every door of her biggest retail partner closing --  indefinitely.

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"Clean fuel for the bold" is one of the descriptions of EBOOST, a Non GMO, Gluten and Soy-Free, natural low sugar energy drink. Being bold is also a fitting word to describe EBOOST cofounder and Josh Taekman who, along with his partner, set out to change the way people energize, replenish, and feed their well-being. They saw a white space and imagined being able to create something they would actually use themselves. By staying true to mission, even when it was more rewarding to abandon it,  and by being willing to take risks, it was that boldness that helped navigate them through each “then what?” moment. Josh shares with Lahari Neelapareddy how a visit to a candy shop inspired Josh to become an entrepreneur at a young age; how EBOOST overcame a  disastrous show by the rapper 50 Cent that seemed like the end of the world; why great relationships are like currency; why making sure you deliver something of value is so important; how selling a Blackberry on CraigsList led to a key hire; and, why Oprah, Bruce Willis, and Bill Murray each played pivotal roles in building confidence in EBOOST.

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If you don’t start with passion, you can’t get to the big deal. They are just too hard to get. August Vega, cofounder of the amazing company Malk Organics, the only cold-pressed line of organic plant-based milks made with sprouted nuts & 6 ingredients or less, has passion that is evident with every fiber of her being. So much so, she sees her company as a kind of second child. And the moment she knew she could only bring it so far, despite how far she had brought it, she asked herself— "OK look at what we have accomplished? So, then what?" She knew a new leader was the only way her second child could grow up to be what it needed to be. August joins Lahari Neelapareddy to share how a dairy allergy-inspired an opportunity for industry disruption; why COVID presented real obstacles for Malk Organics’ production; the challenges and rewards of working with family; how an unforeseen business disaster led to the two weeks during which August never thought she’d smile again; important thoughts on overcoming burnout and being nimble to innovate quickly; and the importance of hustle, drive, and blinders.

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When you think of health and wellness you may not think of cleaning products. Mat Franken, founder of Aunt Fannie's (offering plant-based ingredients, probiotics, and essential oils for healthier housekeeping) has a mission to bring wellness to our homes. Mat and his team have succeeded in changing the perception of cleaning products as part of wellness by helping consumers surround themselves with what’s best for them, and doing so with a give-first mentality. It’s been said that we spend 95% of our lives inside. With a global pandemic, that’s more true than ever. Why not make the very best of it?

Mat joins Lahari Neelapareddy to share how education has played an important part in the journey of Aunt Fannie's and how the company was born out of personal adversity in Mat’s own family and the lack of information to solve it; facing the choice to compromise on values for profit; why being shameless has helped with fundraising; how helping people instead of taking advantage of an opportunity has paid off; the importance of a community of first time entrepreneurs; and the inspiring story of how the company got its name.

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Strategic planning and implementing change are inevitable for any entrepreneur or leader when arriving at big moments of change --  those huge “then what” moments.  And every leader needs an advisor and confidant with the experience in assisting them with effectively leading their teams through change, difficult times or rapid growth. Often, leaders need input from someone with unbiased perspectives and solutions to deploy. For Lahari Neelapareddy, one of those people has been Renata Porter. Renata shares why Organizational Design and Development and  Leadership and Executive Coaching can both be so crucial for any entrepreneur to move to the next big stage of their business or to overcome major challenges; how her work with me and my company LN Accounting Advisor has been transformative; and, why being candid and being willing to have hard conversations is key in achieving real growth.

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The power of science, the right ingredients, in the right combinations -- it’s the only way to get results. Dr. George Sadowski blended the power of science with the power of entrepreneurialism, founding the luxe skincare brand NB Natural. This was all on the belief that a clear, healthy complexion is within the reach of everyone. With specialized training in molecular biology and biochemistry, Dr. Sadowski shares how he and his team developed a comprehensive skincare solution dedicated to the science behind healthy, beautiful skin that will help you look and feel like your best, most confident self, how nourishment reaches beyond the skin, and into the community at a time when we need health and wellness insights more than eve, and why it’s what you do with that science next, once you ask “Then What”, that makes it really matter.

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