Erin Barrett was a systems engineering major who pivoted into consulting for the free Starbucks, landed at McKinsey during the 2020 food tech boom, and then got so sick from COVID that it completely rewired her relationship with food and health. By the time she got to Stanford GSB, she was serving experimental cocktails out of mason jars through her dorm room window, and Goldilocks was born.

In this episode, Erin gets into why the canned cocktail market is more broken than most people realize (hint: your favorite Aperol Spritz has as much sugar as a soda), how she cold-called 40+ food scientists and got told "don't bother" by most of them, the sneaker drop-inspired launch strategy that had liquor store owners in Chelsea asking "what is going on," and why LinkedIn, not Instagram, not TikTok, became her most powerful growth channel with zero dollars spent on marketing. If you're building something the industry says won't work, or you just need a reminder that scrappy and imperfect beats waiting for perfect, this one's for you.

🍸 Find Goldilocks:

🔗 drinkgoldilocks.com

📲 @drinkgoldilocks

Find Womansplain:

📲 @womansplainpod

✉️ [email protected]

Dr. Mia Wiston is a licensed clinical psychologist, solo practice owner, and the creator behind @dishingdaily, a food and lifestyle account with 147K followers that she built while seeing patients from her Lower East Side apartment. This is her first podcast ever.

In this episode, Mia gets real about what it's actually like to run two businesses from your living room, why she rebranded from her beloved "Lower East Side" handle to Dishing Daily, how she uses Instagram Q&As to break down the stigma around therapy, and the ethical tightrope of having patients follow your food account. She also talks about why she'll never do couples therapy, how CBT works for the type-A NYC woman, and what it felt like when her boss let her take her patients with her, something almost unheard of in the psychology world. Whether you're building a side hustle alongside your career, navigating how much of yourself to share online, or just need restaurant recs from someone who was #2 on Beli, this one's for you.

Find Dishing Daily:📲 @dishingdaily

Find Mia Wiston, Psychology:🔗 drmiawiston.com

Find Womansplain:📲 @womansplainpod✉️ ⁠[email protected]⁠

Emily Steele went from running neighborhood revitalization projects in Des Moines, Iowa to building pop-up yoga brands, leading FemCity Des Moines into the most successful chapter in the U.S., and launching her own marketing agency, Love Local. Somewhere along the way, she realized the most powerful marketing tool wasn't a billboard — it was a neighbor telling a neighbor. Now she's the CEO and co-founder of Hummingbirds, a creator economy platform that's turned 40,000+ everyday people into brand ambassadors for companies like Olipop, Goodles, and MUSH — across 40+ cities and counting. Oh, and she raised $13M in venture capital. From Iowa. And never left.

In this episode, Emily gets into why she started building communities long before she ever called herself an entrepreneur, what it's really like to raise venture capital as two women in the Midwest (hint: 100 conversations for 3 term sheets), why nano creators will outlast AI in the marketing world, how she found co-founder Charise Flynn and why that changed everything, and what it actually looks like to run a 40-person company while raising two young kids. If you've ever felt like you're not in the "right" city or don't have the "right" background to build something big, this one will change your mind.

Find Hummingbirds:🔗 hummingbirds.com📲 @hummingbirdshq

Find Emily:📲 @emily.steele

Find Womansplain:📲 @womansplainpod✉️ ⁠[email protected]⁠

Kendall Kransdorf left her strategy career at Boston Consulting Group, detoured through the startup world, and bet everything on a hunch that cottage cheese deserved a glow-up. Now she's the founder and CEO of Cotto, a high-protein whipped cottage cheese dip brand she's building from the ground up in New York City — and we mean from the ground up. She's making every batch, hand-stickering every container, and meeting customers in parks after dark.

In this episode, Kendall gets into why she always had the "end in mind" but still wasn't fully prepared for the reality of solo founding, how her disordered eating journey led her to create food that's joyful again, the strategy behind launching with nostalgic flavors instead of trendy ones, and what building in public actually feels like when you don't have a product to sell yet. If you've ever dreamed of turning your kitchen experiments into a real brand — or just need a reminder that you don't have it all figured out to start — this one's for you.

🎁 A gift from us + Cotto: Use code WOMANSPLAIN at checkout on getcotto.com for a special treat from the Womansplain community.

Find Cotto:🔗 getcotto.com📲 @getcotto

Find Womansplain:📲 @womansplainpod✉️ ⁠[email protected]⁠

Season 5 is here, and we're kicking off our health & wellness season with a bang!

Samantha Mashaal went from McKinsey to Arianna Huffington's Chief of Staff to an existential career crisis to sliding into a fitness founder's Instagram DMs. Two and a half years later, she's the COO of Soto Method, the Tribeca-born workout brand expanding to Dallas this fall.

In this episode, Sam gets real about what it actually feels like to not know what's next, why she treats her career like dating, the art of giving feedback on all-women teams, and how she learned to separate a founder's personal voice from a scalable brand. Whether you're navigating a career pivot, building something from scratch, or just need a reminder that your excitement can outweigh your fear — this one's for you.

🎁 A gift from us + Soto Method: We've partnered with Soto to give the Womansplain community a free 1-month full-access subscription to their on-demand platform. Use code WOMANSPLAIN at checkout at sotomethod.com — unlimited classes, no expiration. Consider it your sign to start.

Find Soto Method:🔗 sotomethod.com📲 @sotomethod

Find Womansplain:📲 @womansplainpod✉️ [email protected]

Natalie Borowski is the founder and chef behind Sailor & Siren, a Brooklyn-based seafood brand bringing fresh Maine lobster to NYC. She is also the founder of OGC, a community for women in the venture ecosystem, and serves on the board of Naturally New York and the junior board of the Bronx Letters Foundation.Unable to find a lobster roll in NYC that met her standards after a decade of searching, Natalie launched Sailor & Siren in the summer of 2025. Her passion for food and community fuel the brand's soul, virality, and loyal following.Previously, Natalie worked as an investor at Coefficient Capital, deploying $3-50M+ checks across Series A to pre-IPO consumer companies. She launched Coefficient’s Consumer Trends series in partnership with The New Consumer, ran the firm’s data-driven sourcing strategy, and invested in brands such as Oatly, Magic Spoon, Lemme, and others. Natalie was recognized as a Business Insider Venture Capital Rising Star in 2023. Prior to her career in venture capital, Natalie worked at La Mer, the luxury skincare brand owned by Estee Lauder, and at McKinsey & Company. She received her Bachelor of Science in Economics with concentrations in finance and management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

From Finance to Food, Lily Rivkin Friend founded Rooted, a fast-casual NYC-based restaurant, ‘rooted’ in the values of simplicity and transparency. With every item on the menu crafted with 7 ingredients or less, Rooted instills confidence and trust in their consumers through ingredient transparency. Lily has gained over 40k+ followers on social by through filming BTS style content, giving consumers an inside look to the making of Rooted and what it's really like owning and operating a restaurant. Prior to Rooted, she worked at Citigroup in the sales and trading division and as in New Verticals/Products at Via, a transit tech company that IPO'd in 2025.

Bridgette Taylor is the Founder and CEO of Harridan Vodka. A whiskey and mezcal enthusiast, Bridgette sought to buck vodka's reputation as "neutral and flavorless", and instead create a spirit that captured the sweet and smoky tasting notes so celebrated in other categories. Since launching in 2020, Harridan has garnered accolades including "Best Vodka" honors from Rolling Stone, Robb Report, and Esquire, while also broadening the industry’s perception of both vodka and women-owned spirits.Before founding Harridan, Bridgette spent nearly a decade in the fashion, retail, and luxury goods industries, holding roles at Valentino and Stuart Weitzman. She began her career in equity research at Barclays and Goldman Sachs. Bridgette holds an MBA from Harvard Business School (graduated with distinction) and a BA from Dartmouth College (magna cum laude).

Judy Thelen is the co-founder and CEO of Beli, a restaurant discovery app built around the joy of remembering where you’ve eaten and sharing it with others. What started as a personal habit of ranking restaurants with friends during business school at Harvard has grown into a beloved platform used by millions, especially among Gen Z diners. Drawing on her background in investment analysis at McKinsey & Company, Judy has built Beli around a simple idea: food is better when it’s social, and the best recommendations come from people you trust.

Nirupa is the founder and chef behind Bazaar Supper Club, a monthly dinner series she runs out of her Brooklyn apartment. What began as a tiny communal dinner party in her studio apartment has turned into a sold-out supper club creating third spaces in New York. She has hosted 28 dinners to date, all built around a simple truth - food tastes better when it brings people together.