Woman Inc.

Seasoned entrepreneur and health visionary Lisa Odenweller has redefined the wellness industry over the last decade. Lisa is Founder and CEO of Kroma Wellness, (https://kromawellness.com/) a functional superfood nutrition company. Kroma and her earlier venture, Beaming Wellness, are considered two of the most successful cult brands in the history of the industry. Lisa is known for her ability to design innovative health food concepts and build robust ecosystems of influential investors and loyal customers. Lisa’s wellness endeavors are rooted in her passion for superfoods, which she began championing long before they were mainstream.

Lisa entered the wellness space in 2011 with the founding of Beaming Wellness, an organic superfood café concept with locations throughout Southern California. The brand quickly attracted a cult following that established it as a trailblazer in the culinary and wellness industries. After exiting Beaming in 2018, Lisa began developing a larger-scale project with more ambitious reach: a direct-to-consumer superfood program offering functional, delicious products that simplify nutritional wellness. Out of this vision, Kroma Wellness was born.

Lisa launched Kroma in July 2021 after conducting one of the most impressive capital raises in the history of the wellness industry. The brand’s early angel investors, assembled by Lisa during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic consisted of celebrities, entrepreneurs, and notable public figures. Today, Kroma is 90% funded by women.

Kroma offers delicious, high-quality on-the-go foods and beverages that deliver maximum nutrition and require minimal preparation. Kroma’s menu of just-add-water bone and veggie broths, adaptogen superlattes, elixirs, snacks, and teas incorporate nutrient-dense superfoods and are known for their incredible flavor. The brand’s hero product is the 5 Day Whole Body Reset that is revolutionizing the way people think about cleansing and detoxing. Focusing on nourishment over starvation, the Reset allows users to customize the program according to their needs and goals. Since its launch, Kroma has experienced astronomical growth and has become a go-to health optimization tool among celebrities and health-minded individuals worldwide. Customer retention is extraordinarily high and projected revenues continue to climb year-to-year.

Beyond her reputation for architecting transformative wellness concepts, Lisa’s ability to grow brands from capital raise to consumer zeitgeist has landed her on MindBodyGreen’s list of “100 Women to Watch in Wellness.” She has also been profiled in Forbes, Vogue, Glamour, The Skinny Confidential, and The Art of Being Well, among other top publications and podcasts.

With uncommon energy, perseverance, and conviction, Lisa continues to grow Kroma alongside her daughter Lexi. She also tours the country as a keynote speaker and mentors other female entrepreneurs. Lisa is a lifelong Californian and currently resides in Santa Monica.

SASHA PLAVSIC,

FOUNDER, ILIA BEAUTY (https://iliabeauty.com/)

 Topics: clean beauty industry, growing and scaling a business, sustainable production, minimalist beauty

 Born in Vancouver and raised in a rural, ocean-side setting just outside the city, Sasha has always been close to nature. Her younger brother and now business partner, Zac, suffered from acute asthma and allergies as a young child. Her mother, a true pioneer in health and wellness at that time, sought out homeopathic remedies to help heal her son. This included co-founding an organic food co-op with several families in the area, as organic food did not yet exist in the grocery stores. Through trial and error, Zac was healed primarily through diet, and went on to compete in sailing in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. This was an amazing accomplishment, especially after the doctors had predicted he would never be able to play sports. 

 Sasha’s interests fell into design, studying Typography in London and New York. She found herself in Los Angeles in 2006 and spent several years working as a branding executive within the fashion and beauty industries. After moving home to Vancouver for a brief sabbatical, her mother encouraged her to read the ingredient list on her favorite lip balm. Sasha was shocked to discover many of the ingredients were not safe, and it’s something she used daily. The challenge was set –recreate her favorite lip balm so that it would be safe, effective and natural. And so the story of ILIA begins.

Catherine Powell is the Global Head of Hosting at Airbnb. In her role, Catherine leads Airbnb’s global hosting organization, helping 4 million+ Hosts of Homes and Experiences deliver best-in-class, quality hosting. Catherine's responsibilities include overseeing the Host insights and research team and the Experiential Creative Product team, as well as developing standards, education, products and features for Airbnb's Host community. Catherine also serves as executive sponsor of Airbnb.org, the company’s independent nonprofit, leading the team’s collaboration with the company to ensure Airbnb.org has the resources it needs to scale its impact in support of people in need of emergency stays.

Prior to joining Airbnb, Catherine held a number of leadership positions at The Walt Disney Company, most recently serving as President of Disney Parks Western Region with a team of 120,000 cast members reporting into her, which included Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida; Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California; and Disneyland Paris in Coupvray, Marne La Vallee, France. Before that, she served as Présidente for the Euro Disney group, operator of Europe's leading tourist destination, Disneyland Paris. She also held the positions of Senior Vice President in charge of media distribution for EMEA, and General Manager for The Walt Disney Company in Australia and New Zealand.

Catherine is Airbnb’s first Global Head of Hosting. As a leader, she is passionate about employee development and creating an equitable and inclusive culture that empowers people of all backgrounds to be great at what they do. She has pioneered a number of integrated and innovative strategies to drive revenue, reach and results across businesses and territories worldwide. A strong collaborator, Catherine is an experienced communicator and has worked to bring together and coordinate a wide variety of businesses and teams.

Catherine is a mentor and board member at Ceresa, a non-profit leadership development and mentoring platform. She also sits on the board of Pophouse Entertainment, which operates in the fields of music, live entertainment, podcast, gaming and hospitality.

Tanya Taylor is an independent fashion brand based in New York City. Founded in 2012, the brand presents a unique and refreshing vision inspired by the city's energy, art, and the diverse women who inhabit it. Tanya's world is modern, artful, and liberating.

Raised in a creative environment, Tanya was encouraged to explore art from a young age. From taking art classes to painting vibrant murals on the walls of her childhood home, it all led her to find her purpose as a creative entrepreneur. Taking an artistic, thoughtful approach to fashion, she intertwines the use of color, texture, and original hand-painted prints with uplifting and celebratory silhouettes into each size-inclusive collection, so all women have a way to express themselves creatively and confidently.

Tanya received her Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from McGill University and is a graduate of the AAS Fashion Design program at Parsons School of Design. She currently acts as CEO and Creative Director of the Brand. She lives in New York City with her husband and two sons where she continues to be inspired by the city and finding new ways to create.

Brie Olson is the Co-CEO of Pacsun, the popular youth retailer. Ms. Olson has

played an instrumental role in building and strengthening Pacsun’s brand

through innovative strategies with a Gen Z focus, including leading Pacsun

as the first retailer in its space to accept Bitpay.

As an Innovative, tech-centric retail executive who consistently drives brand

strength and revenue growth through game-changing merchandising and

marketing initiatives, Brieane leads with creativity, innovation, and a digital

first mentality.

During her tenure at PacSun, Olson spearheaded innovative collaborations

for the LA based lifestyle brand, including working closely with Kanye West

on his first clothing launch for Donda in 2013, and the signing of Kendall +

Kylie clothing partnership exclusive to PacSun when the girls were 12 and

15. She also took PacSun global with the first ever shop footprint in London,

launching both Men’s and Women’s shops at Selfridges in 2018 with launch

parties hosted by PacSun partners Jerry Lorenzo. She has also promoted

both her VP’s of Merchandising from within the company, true to her core

leadership belief in nurturing in-house talent.

Brieane graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a

Bachelor of Arts, Mass Communications & Business and attended Harvard

Business School’s Advanced Management Program, where she is currently

an AMP Ambassador. She is a board member at Women In Retail

Leadership, Shoptalk, Pacsun and Design Thinking for UC schools. She

currently resides in Newport Beach, California with her two children, Colette

and Rousseau, ages 8 and 10.

Lindsay Kaplan is the Co-Founder of Chief (https://chief.com/), the most powerful network of executive women in the world. What began as an idea to drive more women into power and keep them there is now a $1.1 billion unicorn with a network of 20,000 executive women who collectively manage $800 billion of the economy. Today, over 77% of Fortune 100 companies have Chief members in their ranks.

Prior to founding Chief, Lindsay spent the majority of her career leading marketing for high-growth startups, including Casper, which transitioned from a mattress product company to a beloved global sleep brand under her leadership. Lindsay has been named a New York Times DealBook Groundbreaker, one of Business Insider's Most Innovative CMOs in the World, and one of Ad Age’s Leading Women.

Lesley Thornton is the founder of Klur - a holistic, purpose-driven, eco-inclusive, botanical skincare line. Before founding Klur, Lesley made her way across the beauty industry spectrum, beginning at Estee’ Lauder as a beauty trainer. She then transitioned to working as a freelance makeup artist specializing in editorial and advertising. From there Thornton was cast as an on-air beauty expert for the TLC network. After a decade in the beauty industry, she realized that there was little to no representation for people of color in the clean beauty space.  

 In 2010 she obtained her esthetician’s license and started her own private practice. After years in the industry, she was equally frustrated by the harmful but hard-working conventional beauty products, but also the lack of rigorous R&D and science to back up green beauty products. 

 She realized that the real issue lay in the lack of consideration for science and data, prioritization of Eurocentric beauty, and absence of education available to most consumers. So, she quietly built Klur, from top to bottom, with no team or funding, relying on her own relentless desire to build responsible products that deliver consistent results through elegant and luxurious formulations. 

Klur is a skin wellness brand cultivated to reflect the values of clean, ethical, and inclusive beauty.

Based in Los Angeles Klur integrates the principles of high-performance technology and botanical sciences to create the most efficient, effective and eco-conscious line possible.

 Klur formulas are made by implementing low impact practices, advanced green chemistry, and are comprised of 100% biodegradable ingredients; as well as bio-identical and lab-derived materials when necessary to advocate for the preservation of the natural environment.

Klur passionately and sustainably manufactures their entire range of goods in the United States, carefully choosing every component of their product offerings with significant consideration toward post-consumer recycled, and biodegradable materials which resonates greatly with their eco-conscious customers.

Happy Friday our Woman Inc. listeners! Our guest this week is Elizabeth Pearson, Performance Coach & Trainer.

Elizabeth Pearson is a nationally recognized performance coach and trainer, international motivational speaker, and forthcoming author who helps Sr. Director to C-Suite level clients overcome subconscious blocks so they can get clarity around what will bring lasting peace and fulfillment. 

During Elizabeth's career, she created and executed multiple sales and marketing plans for brands with little to no brand awareness or budget. She solicited and secured national distribution for those brands in: Whole Foods, Target, Costco, Walmart, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, Hudson News, as well as various other chain retailers. 

Elizabeth spends her time inspiring others to ask questions, examine their values, and ensure they're in purposeful alignment with their highest potential. A contributor to Forbes magazine, she regularly appears in the media both in business and spiritual publications. 

We hope you enjoy this episode, and as always, come back to IG to let us know your favorite part!

Happy Friday our Woman Inc. listeners! Our guests this week are Jo Ann Corkran & Loretta McCarthy, Co-CEOs and Managing Partner of Golden Seeds.

Golden Seeds, the leading US angel network backing women-led businesses, evaluates over 1000 entrepreneurs annually with a rigorous due diligence process. Their investments exceed $175 million across 240 companies like Little Passports and Brandwatch. As pioneers in the women funding women movement, they've transformed a landscape where just 5% of angel investors were women and 3% of funded startups were led by women in 2004, to today's 40% female angel investors and 31% women-led angel-funded firms. Accomplished finance executives like Loretta, former Chief Marketing Officer at OppenheimerFunds, and Jo Ann, former Managing Director at Credit Suisse, are actively seeking promising women-led companies and investors who want to join them in this work. Drawing on their experience, they empower women to realize their aspirations of becoming successful leaders.

We hope you enjoy this episode, and as always, come go to Instagram to let us know your favorite part!

Ariela Safira is the Founder + CEO of Real, a mental health care company building a new therapy model. Ariela has been passionate about improving mental healthcare for years. Starting her career at IDEO, she studied, researched and developed new concepts to approach mental healthcare and mental wellbeing. Ariela earned a BS in Mathematics and Computational Science from Stanford University, where the impetus for her work began. Later, she joined Columbia’s Clinical Psychology program to train as a therapist and left the program in 2019 to launch Real. She's biked across multiple countries to fundraise for suicide prevention, is the recipient of the 2019 American Psychiatric Association’s Innovation Award, and was recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Impact.