In this episode, Whitnee Hawthorne, Chief Customer Officer of Navan (formerly TripActions) joins the podcast to discuss innovation in the world of travel, and how she’s thinking about it in her current role. Whether it is exploring the consolidation of expense management, travel bookings, and corporate cards or imagining the airport of the future, Whitnee is a multi-faceted leader with tangible and tactical advice on how to succeed in the field.

Listen for advice on:

• How to implement customer insights into features and innovations
• Prioritizing between the customer and business to reach goals
• Finding the balance between being authentic and professional
• Positioning yourself to be considered for innovation roles/projects

Learn more:

• Whitnee Hawthorne (guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneehawthorne/
• Zoia Kozakov (host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia
• Women in Innovation: https://www.womenininnovation.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Zoia sits down with Sharon Gauci, Executive Director, of Design at Global Buick, GMC, and GMC Hummer at General Motors. They discuss Sharon’s career and rise in the world of automotive. They touch on big trends in the electric car industry and how Sharon thinks beyond innovating on a “feature level.”

Listen for advice on:

• Navigating innovating 5-10 years ahead (vs. for the short-term)
• Working cross-functionally with Engineers, Designers, and Product managers
• The importance of finding the right mentors
• How to think about career growth in traditionally male-dominated industries

Learn more:

• Zoia Kozakov (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia
• Sharon Gauci (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-gauci-0780207/
• Women in Innovation: https://www.womenininnovation.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Zoia live-podcasts from Las Vegas with May Zabaneh, Vice President of Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies at PayPal at Money 20/20, the world’s most prominent financial services and payments conferences in the world. May shares what it’s like to lead next-generation payment innovations at a major financial institution and how she thinks about leadership in the space.

Listen for advice on:

• Approaching risk-taking in an innovation career
• How to get onto 0-to-1 or start-up  teams in large companies
• What it means to be an innovation leader
• Measuring success across next-generation initiatives

Learn more:

• May Zabaneh (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayzabaneh/
• Zoia Kozakov (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia-kozakov
• Women in Innovation: https://www.womenininnnovation.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Kat Wang, Head of Product at Jasco Games talks about what it’s like to develop a card game and player experience for one of the most loved anime series in the world, “My Hero Academia.” Kat breaks down how she is building out her team and thinking about innovation simultaneously, and balancing forging ahead. 

Learn more about: 

• Why being a different background and demographic from your customer can help you build better products
• How to develop complementary and additive digital experiences to physical products 
• What it means to execute and innovate in a start-up setting
• How to grow digital communities and garner customer feedback 

Links: 

• Zoia Kozakov (Host): http://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia-kozakov
• Kat Wang (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-wang-6760026a/
• Women in Innovation: http://www.womenininnovation.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, April Koh discusses her journey to starting Spring Health, a precision mental healthcare platform. April is the youngest woman at the helm of a unicorn (Spring Health was valued at $2 billion dollars when April was just 29) and is tirelessly working to innovate mental health in the hopes of breaking all barriers to fixing problems around it. 

Listen for advice on:

• Finding the balance between intuition and tactics when it comes to your MVP
• How to approach the notion of failure as a start-up founder
• Thinking about KPIs and scale as it pertains to your company mission
• Navigating preconceived notions about women in leadership

Learn more:

• April Koh (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilyjkoh/
• Zoia Kozakov (Host): http://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia-kozakov
• Women in Innovation: http://www.womenininnovation.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we feature our first ever solo male guest, Chairman and Chief Purpose Officer at co:collective, Ty Montague. Ty sits down with WIN’s very own Global Development Lead, Lizzie Azzolino, to discuss purpose-driven innovation and business models, and opine on what it takes to successfully run and stand up such an organization. 

Listen for advice on:

• How to distinguish between purpose-driven and share-holder-driven firms
• The role of marketing and communications in innovation
• Why design is the most critical function in innovation
• Tactical ways to implement purpose into a company’s operations

Learn more:

• Ty Montague (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/tymontague/
• Lizzie Azzolino (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizzieazzolino/
• Zoia Kozakov (Host): http://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia-kozakov
• Women in Innovation: http://www.womenininnovation.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we feature our first ever solo male guest, Chairman and Chief Purpose Officer at co:collective, Ty Montague. Ty sits down with WIN’s very own Global Development Lead, Lizzie Azzolino, to discuss purpose-driven innovation and business models, and opine on what it takes to successfully run and stand up such an organization. 

Listen for advice on:

• How to distinguish between purpose-driven and share-holder-driven firms
• The role of marketing and communications in innovation
• Why design is the most critical function in innovation
• Tactical ways to implement purpose into a company’s operations

Learn more:

• Ty Montague (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/tymontague/
• Lizzie Azzolino (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizzieazzolino/
• Zoia Kozakov (Host): http://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia-kozakov
• Women in Innovation: http://www.womenininnovation.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Zoia Kozakov sits down with Jennifer Smith, Founder & CEO of Scribe, who raised over 30 million dollars to battle the innovation antithesis: over-indexing on processes. Jennifer shares her start-up founder journey and her trajectory to building and launching her product, which is used by thousands of companies and users around the world.

Listen for advice on:

• Going from consulting and investing to being an operator
• How to approach go-to-market while being agile and iterating
• Why you should build B2B companies to focus on the end-user first
• Balancing processes at large companies while continuing to innovate

Learn more:

• Jennifer Smith (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferreneesmith/
• Zoia Kozakov (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia-kozakov/
• WIN: Women in Innovation: https;//www.womenininnovation.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Zoia sits down with the two co-CEOs at Splendid Spoon, Nicole Centeno and Elise Densborn, to talk about what it means to share a leadership role while staying agile in a start-up environment. The two leaders discuss how their own lived experiences have inspired the trajectory of the company and their views on what it takes to make it as a blooming start-up.

Listen for advice on:

• What it means to co-create in positions of leadership 
• The role of trust in enabling innovation
• Positioning a multi-faceted company for fundraising
• The benefits and drawbacks of a D2C company

Learn more:

• Nicole Centeno (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolecenteno/
• Elise Densborn (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/elise-densborn-597505b/
• Zoia Kozakov (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia-kozakov/
• WIN: Women in Innovation: https;//www.womenininnovation.co
• This episode is sponsored by frog: www.frog.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen for advice on:

• Navigating fundraising during a challenging economic and social climate
• The importance of platforms in eCommerce and true end-to-end customer experiences
• Why brands must continuously connect to a customer's identity and values
• How innovating in retention versus acquisition can enable meaningful growth

Learn more:

• Latoya Tucciarone (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriayoung/
• Ruthie Berber (Guest): https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravimehta/
• Zoia Kozakov (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoia-kozakov/
• WIN: Women in Innovation: https;//www.womenininnovation.co
• Previous Yotpo episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1SffnGYZ4H2Y7xo4TYtG9k

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.