Wonder Podcast: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs to Change the World

In this special 2-part episode, Kalika is joined by Marshall Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen, the authors of the book, How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job. They talk about women's distinctive behaviors that provide them with many advantages, as well as the habits that can hold them back in their careers. Tune in now!

Timestamped show notes

00:45 Kalika is joined today by Marshall Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen, authors of How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise.

01:10 Marshall's friend pitched the idea to do a more female-focused version of his bestselling book, What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful, which in turn became the inspiration to publish How Women Rise.

02:30 Women are much more harder on themselves than men, which perpetuates the concept of The Perfection Trap.

03:46 Women can rise by identifying and acting on their greatest strengths, and which behaviors that have been previously effective but can now hinder you from becoming more successful.

04:20 One of the behaviors that could hinder women from having a more successful career is the concept of really letting your job get ahead of your career, sacrificing long-term success for having a stable job.

08:15 Based on Sally's observation among her speaking and coaching tours in the US, women usually expect others to spontaneously notice and value your contribution.

12:40 The book highlights that there are behaviors that are not necessarily bad that were good to have for now, but not good when you get promoted.

16:12 The book is dedicated to Frances Hesselbein, one of the best examples of a great woman leader.

Key Takeaways

1. To bring attention to your work, you have to take responsibility, you have to step up, and you have to find a way that you are comfortable with of representing what your achievements and values are.
2. Women in organizations tend to be valued for and promoted because of precision and correctness, where as men are valued for and promoted for boldness, big-vision, and risk-taking.

Resources

Entrepreneurs' Organization

How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job

What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful

EO 360° Podcast

On this Wonder podcast episode, Kalika sits down with Rich Russakoff, speaker, CEO and Founder of Coach to the Best. As an entrepreneur, Rich is passionate about supporting women in entrepreneurship and helping others reach their potential. Don't miss the episode as Rich shares how you can find your passion and the importance of finding your "zone of genius". Tune in now to this inspiring episode!

On this episode, Kalika is joined by sweetriot CEO and founder, Sarah Endline. Sarah is an EO member who is a social entrepreneur and a self-proclaimed 'hippie capitalist'. sweetriot is an activist candy company which aims to create a sweet movement to fix the world through the ultimate dark chocolate fix. She talks about how she started her company, from picking out the wrapping of the product to how she got her spot in big stores such as Whole Foods. Learn more about her story and tune in now!

Timestamped show notes

01:02 Kalika introduces today's guest, Sarah Endline

01:11 Sarah shares how her interest in entrepreneurship with social change in mind has led her to starting sweetriot.

03:20 She believes that as good as their products are, the wrapping must also be well-thought-out. sweetriot products are wrapped in art from local artists.

05:11 Meeting Simon Sinek helped her come up with her Why.

06:30 Inspired by working in Yahoo, Sarah details how the sweetriot name came to be.

10:11 She recalls some of her first customer stories, from building a relationship with Zingerman's Ari Weinzweig to her products landing on the shelves of Whole Foods.

17:44 Reinventing the company by way of getting into the chocolate bar category was a very challenging time.

19:30 What Harvard Business School associate dean, Frances Frei, has done to help level the gap between men and women in terms of female students' scores and achieving tenure for female professors.

26:00 Sarah is currently one of the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence at Harvard Business School

27:42 She got into Harvard Business School because it was her dream to get more education. She was a small town public school girl who was trying to change the world.

29:10 Her passion for social entrepreneurship came to be due to being part of AIESEC.

31:11 Sarah's journey to create the sweet movement to fix the world continues.

Key takeaways

1. It's okay to be crazy. The greatest visionaries were absolutely called crazy at the beginning. If you read the dictionary definition of crazy and visionary, they will sound very close.
2. (On recognizing the different effective learning methods for men and women) It's not one against the other, it's just simply saying let's have the right education awareness so that we can really celebrate our differences. It's just about lifting everyone.

Resources

Entrepreneurs' Organization
sweetriot
EO Nerve
AIESEC
B Corporation Certification

Today's episode features Tonya Lanthier, CEO and founder of DentalPost, the premier online and mobile dental job board and community, which connects dental professionals with careers. On this episode of Wonder, Tonya walks us through her path to a dentistry career that began after a bicycle accident when she was 8 years old. Tonya relates how she built DentalPost from her experience in the dental industry and how women entrepreneurs can thrive in their businesses while being successful in their personal life. Tune in now!

Timestamped show notes

01:06 Kalika introduces today's guest, Tonya Lanthier.

01:27 Tonya shares her experience of being part of Entrepreneurs' Organization.

02:17 She recounts how she got started on her dentistry and entrepreneurial career at the age of 8 due to a biking accident.

05:20 DentalPost opened as she wanted more flexibility when she became a new mom.

07:13 Her mom was struggling with and it created a big impact in her life and helped cultivate her leadership skills by understanding why people do the things they do

10:09 Knowing her mom has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affected her family life growing up.

16:15 It is natural for women entrepreneurs to keep fixing and finding a solution and the same habit applies to the personal life.

18:07 Going through divorce was difficult but having a great support ecosystem enables her to raise her twins in the best possible environment.

19:33 Tonya talks about the importance of taking care of yourself.

20:27 To keep stress at bay, Tonya recommends exercising and eating right. Getting tested for food you might be allergic to is also something she suggests to do.

21:54 Women won't ask, and they won't step up and they won't believe in themselves. And that's something that has to be really worked on.

23:41 Kalika talks about what's coming up for Tonya.

Key takeaways

1. When you use your head instead of your heart, sometimes you can pick the wrong decision.
2. Women entrepreneurs tend to make use of the masculine energy a lot but it's okay to ask for help. If you never ask, you'll never know.
3. You can do anything you wanted, but you cannot do everything.

Resources

Entrepreneurs' Organization
Dental Entrepreneur Woman

Mike Jones joins Kalika for today's EO Wonder podcast episode. Mike is the CEO and Co-Founder of Science Inc., a LA-based startup studio. He takes us to the behind-the-scenes of Science Inc. and how their selection process for incubations. Mike also shares what he considers to be the best trait to be successful. Listen now!

Timestamped show notes

01:06 Kalika introduces today’s guest, Mike Jones.

01:26 Mike Jones started his entrepreneurial journey at a young age as his parents are entrepreneurs as well.

03:40 He talks about start of Science Inc. and what their main goal is as an organization.

04:52 Mike gives some background about one of their high-profile incubations, Dollar Shave Club.

06:30 As Science Inc. is a startup studio, Mike explains what criteria or what they look for in companies or CEOs that they can take in. He highlights that he looks for leaders that people would want to follow and having a vision that compliments their organization’s values.

09:53 Being curious is Mike’s secret to being successful.

11:40 While Science Inc. works with a lot of women CEOs, Mike says it’s not intentional but they are happy to host a diverse group of CEOs.

13:01 He enumerates a number of mistakes entrepreneurs are likely to commit, including how the thinking “pursue your passion” can inadvertently lead to bad business ideas and decisions.

16:09 Mike stresses the importance of having a mentor, especially in the early stages of his career.

18:51 His current big goals are tied to Science Inc. and their family foundation that is focused on improving welfare of children.

20:55 The key is not juggling everything. Select a few things you can do really well and not try to do anything else.

23:00 Understanding that everyone has ebbs and flows is the habit that keeps him motivated, as well as establishing routines.

Key takeaways

1. When entrepreneurs don’t have a big enough vision, they build for the vision they know. They build for small vision.
2. (On work-life balance) Realizing that one couldn’t have it all and there’s only a limited time in a day, one should give up some things to focus on what really matters.

Resources

Entrepreneurs' Organization
Science Inc.
Dollar Shave Club

Warren Rustand, lifelong entrepreneur, CEO of Summit Capital Consulting LLC, and former NBA player, sits down with Kalika Yap for today’s Wonder podcast episode. Warren is very passionate about giving a lot of focus on the entrepreneur’s family life and shares the impact of creating a vision statement for the family. He also talks about giving back to the community as an integral part in preparing for the future. Tune in now!

Timestamped show notes

01:29 Warren shares some tips on how to be a better entrepreneur. He opens about the concept of the 10/10/10 program, a habit that you have to do at the start of your day to prime yourself for success.

03:05 As a former NBA player, they briefly talk about the best lessons he has learned as a professional athlete that can also be applied to being an entrepreneur.

03:43 Focusing efforts in our family is vital because they are the support system that creates success.

05:39 Men and women have different leadership styles. Women are more nurturing, team-based, more empathetic, and more interested in the development of those around them.

06:37 It is important that all entrepreneurs are engaged in a cause greater than themselves.

07:17 The finest leaders are servant leaders. Those that help others be successful.

08:08 Warren tells an anecdote about a particular incident in Los Angeles.

09:41 His purpose in life is to improve the human condition.

Key takeaways

1. People who live to do a higher purpose, actually perform better than those who do not.
2. No success in life compensates for failure in the home.
3. Great leaders don't need employees. Great leaders make other great leaders.

Resources

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Entrepreneurial Masters Program

Elisa Miller-Out, the co-founder of Singlebrook and Managing Partner at Chloe Capital, is an entrepreneur, investor, and mom to 2 daughters. She sits down with Kalika Yap to talk about her experiences at working in theatre and eventually working in tech. As part of the community of Women 2.0, she's a big purveyor of making the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. Tune in to the latest episode now!

Timestamped Show notes:

01:25 Elisa shares her journey and how she adapted to switch from one career life to another.
03:22 Her first company was a non-profit that she started with a partner she met in college, which was a theater production company.
04:00 There's a lot of skills you can learn from working in the theater that can be applied to other aspects of work and life.
10:00 Elisa and her husband built Singlebrook, a custom software development company, by acquiring the firm where her husband used to work at.
12:33 Despite her background in theatre and in entertainment, Elisa made a switch to working in technology as it offered a more flexible career for a new mom.
16:45 The secret of her success if having a great partnership with her husband.
17:47 After 10 years with Singlebrook, Elisa started new ventures to help empower women in the tech industry.
22:48 In the next part of her journey, rather than asking what she would like to work on, she thought about who does she want to work with.
27:50 What it means to have a more diverse tech, investing, and entrepreneurship landscape for our future.

Key takeaways:

• (When raising children) Having a great partnership, there's really no substitute for that.
• Persistence and hard work, there's no such thing as easy money or easy entrepreneurship.

Resources:
Entrepreneurs' Organization
Elisa Miller-Out's site
Singlebrook
B Corporation
Women 2.0

Tami Holzman, first-time author of the best-selling book "From C-Student to the C-Suite" joins Kalika Yap on this episode of Wonder podcast to share her story of being a "C" student to a successful author, angel investor, and women entrepreneurship advocate. Tune in to the latest episode of Wonder podcast!

Timestamped Show notes

01:00 Kalika Yap introduces today’s guest, Tami Holzman.

01:25 Tami Holzman recalls being an average student and having Harvard as her dream school.

02:02 She wrote her book “From C-student to C-suite” from a humorous perspective as there is a lack of fresh approaches to business guides and relationship-building.

02:30 She encountered an article from Forbes magazine that said 85% of getting business is because of emotional intelligence, which inspired her to write about her insecurities instead of her successes.

04:34 Tami describes herself as a perfect 7, better than average but far from perfect, and there's room for improvement.

05:10 The journey of writing the book was very hard because she had to evaluate the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of herself. Tami used to be very critical of herself so writing the book was quite therapeutic for her.

07:00 She remembers a time where she thought of herself as a failure because a company she built became a failure. She was so engrossed in the company that it felt it was her identity, an extension of herself and she took the failure very personally.

11:22 Tami talks about her beginnings in the entertainment business as a talent agent, to when she landed a role in the male-dominated space of sports.

17:51 Tami’s last mentor was her 18-year old intern. She believes that mentors come from all walks of life and that you can learn from anyone and everyone.

21:00 Having great relationship skills and understanding people is just as valuable as getting an A in school. Emotional intelligence is a much better standard to predict career success.

22:49 The hallmark of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. Being able to understand who you are is really important and also being able to understand how other people perceive you.

24:20 The stronger your relationships are with people, the more you'll benefit. The weaker your relationships are the harder it is to get your point across.

Key Takeaways

• You don’t need to be perfect to be successful.
• Showing vulnerability is a strength. If you're not being vulnerable, you're not taking chances.
• Women should invest more, especially in other women, to create more opportunities.

Resources

Entrepreneurs’ Organization

Tami Holzman’s book website

Cindy Whitehead is an American entrepreneur who built and sold two pharmaceutical companies. She subsequently founded The Pink Ceiling which invests in companies founded by, or delivering products for, women. The Pink Ceiling’s incubator - dubbed The Pinkubator - is based in Raleigh, NC. Cindy recalls her journey from working in Fortune's most admired company to building Sprout Pharmaceuticals, creator of “female Viagra”. She shares her top tips on how to be successful as a female entrepreneur and founder. Tune in to the latest episode of Wonder podcast!

Timestamped Show Notes:

01:14 Built and sold two successful pharmaceutical companies.
The last being Sprout pharmaceuticals, which was known for bringing what the media called female Viagra to market.
It wasn’t the female Viagra at all, actually it works on the brain, but what was the first ever drug for sexual desire in women.
The drug caused quite a public conversation to get there and ultimately ended up in a billion dollar transaction.

03:00 My two big brothers who would say I was going to be an entrepreneur because from the time I was little, I used to play games in which I started companies because it was my only mechanism to get my older brothers to play with me. So I would start in businesses, one of which I think I delivered things from the refrigerator to them on the couch -- not much of a business, but certainly, a good, a good opportunity to interact.

03:53 Choosing to work for Merck pharmaceuticals, fortune's most admired company at the time -- if I go and learn from Fortune's most admired company, I can take those skills anywhere. And the lesson to me in getting into that environment is I didn't fit in.

04:52 One of my big brothers had been very successful in the dot com era and had told me go smaller because they're gonna ask you to do things you will have never done before and you're going to say yes and you're going to learn along the way. And I think the curious mind can be fostered in those environments, I was given the tools and in fact the ability to spot people like me, the misfits, if you will, in classic cultures to come join me and start from scratch.

06:48 When I ultimately got this drug approved for women, a concept that no big Pharma had been able to do--I think it boiled down to this in its most basic form. I listened to women and when I listened to women it inspire other people to listen to women and all of the value judgements that were being made about how important it was to treat this dysfunction, a female sexuality. It started to go out the window when there was empathy. We in fact looked at the data before there was that lens of empathy. Nobody was looking at the data.

08:05 Why do people break rules, they break rules because of self gain, or some kind of power/status. I think the real game changers break rules on the basis of empathy.

09:29 How did you grow your business? So you first came up with this amazing idea because you listened. What was the next step?

09:39 So my, I'll give you a one word answer and my one word answer of how did you build your business is unconventionally...I think there are many paths in which you can get money. Money is available, money is out there for you. What they're doing is finding their way to you. You are actually the more unique asset, if you will, because people aren't investing in ideas alone. Ideas don't execute themselves. People execute ideas. And so that's really what they're making the decision on. And I think as I built mine, it was finding folks who understood me, understood the kind of culture that I was going to create in my organization and the mission that I was very deeply passionate about. So in an industry which is incredibly capital intensive I've built my businesses with Angel Investment and I did that with intention because I couldn't afford short term decision making and decision making just based on a spreadsheet, not with the kind of social mission that we were all about at Sprout. We talk about this term all the time, double bottom line investors who obviously were in there ultimately for me to deliver financial gain and value back to them, but also really cared about what we were trying to create.  

11:44 I believe that a super power that women have is intuition.

13:16 I disputed the FDA. Is that the road less traveled? It was such an important piece for me because patients had to be the center of the conversation. Women had to be the center of the conversation science, in fact, in pure data by pure numbers we had the answer, but we were sort of clouding it with all of this judgment.

15:07 What I tear my covers off for in the morning is fighting the injustices. That's what gets me going. And you know, we were fighting for healthcare and justice. I think at the ceiling we fight the injustice of women's lack of access to capital and the percent of venture funding that went to women last year based on pitchbook data. I think the unspoken truth and one of the other things that are holding up women entrepreneurs is lack of access to mentors.

15:50 There is no way that half of the population had just two percent of the good ideas and it is a construct of the folks that are sitting on the other side of the table that are dominantly men. I don't think these are bad guys with bad intention or bias. I think human nature is, if I can't relate to you or what you're pitching to me, I am less likely to invest.

16:38 I wouldn't invest. Said to me, he, Cindy, go and talk to, you know, all your friends who were, you know, passionate golfers. Tell them about the technology and see if they would. It would change their game. And they all said to me, oh my gosh, I would buy it tomorrow. I'd started to do the math. It would add up. I would say, holy cow, it's probably a smart investment, but somebody would actually have to ask me to do that for me to consider it that way. And I think that's what's happening often with women or men pitching email focused products is just that lack of relate, relate ability is causing a disconnect in terms of their funding.

18:46 My tip for female founders always is -- prepare to be underestimated. And you know, I think the tip isn't to prepare for it and then show up and kill them with competence, you will be underestimated. That is for sure by all of the data you can expect this. And I think you have two choices. It's either going to completely cripple you with self doubt and frustration will start to inform your decisions or you can harness it and use the element of surprise.

19:33 By the data, eighty percent of women wish they had a mentor. Having a mentor today. Ninety percent wish that mentor was a woman. I get that because there's a different conversation that will be had. I think that there is a candor that can happen in a female to female conversation and that needs to happen right now because we're having such a great moment in terms of talking about women entrepreneurship.

22:32 You can learn from basically anybody and everybody every day. And as I haven't had traditional mentors over the course of my career I've sought out places of excellence to learn from. That's been a constant looking to who's doing this well and how can I have a conversation with them so they can teach me. I encourage all entrepreneurs to really foster that creativity. And that curiosity every day.

23:36 Send your pitch in to [email protected] -- We are @thepinkceiling for social media. I'm @CindyPinkCEO. Women deserve power. Money is that power, and I know that when they make it, they will pay it back not only into their communities but actually into other women doing great work, but 90 percent of their money will be invested back. So I think the ripple effect is what we're trying to create.

Resources:
Cindy Whitehead's Website
EO Network

Tanya Chernova is a voice of inspiration, empowering people worldwide as a celebrated speaker, author, mentor and business expert.

Tanya has traveled over 50 countries as a sought after educator to some of the world’s largest brands such as L’Oréal Professionnel, Polyconcept, Cisco, Henessy, and NASA. Tanya transforms companies and people with the mindset and skill set to succeed.

Timestamped Show Notes:

01:04 Neuroscience and leadership--leadership helps both leaders and managers understand what's at the core of an employee's behavior.

02:06 Limiting subconscious beliefs are actually creating the perception of a reality that the economy is not open for either their product or their price point and they talk themselves out of a sale. Not Consciously, but subconsciously.

03:08 What's important for leaders today is to get into the subconscious minds of their individual employees to find out what is it that could be sabotaging their success and productivity in any area of the organization.

04:03 A specific line of questioning that we go into an order to break apart what that perception of reality is for the speaker so they can start to realize that based on their perception of what they're going through they themselves are actually creating the block and then, and then how to overcome it.

04:55 How leaders can control their own subconscious mind. So if you're a leader thinking, OK, where do I need to make the breakthroughs? In my leadership style? Start to investigate in your subconscious mind what could be driving those results because you're ultimately created them.

05:53 10 city tour with EO of India and Bangladesh and Nepal and Dubai -- no matter which country I presented to the results were pretty much the same in the belief survey. Certain questions came up recurrently for these entrepreneurs. So either I constantly doubt or question myself and mistrust my judgement.

06:44 Not trusting people with the important things -- it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

07:59 New paradigm to see conflict as something positive.

08:54 How do you figure out your mindset or first discovering it or being aware of it, what are the steps?

09:39 What happens when you have your subconscious beliefs is that you're so clear that that's the way reality is, that it actually creates blind spots in your periphery and you don't really see where you can trust or where you can make more money or where the opportunities lie.

10:27 What results would I create if this is how I thought?

11:12 Try taking action based on this new thinking.

12:49 Two psychological responses to “I’m not enough”.

14:34 Right. So that's another factor of it. What are the other ways these subconscious beliefs, the sabotage our life, our, I am not enough to tell you that it's not just, I'm not enough. It's we always perceive it in three ways. I am not a knife, you know, you are not enough. Like you're the peop the people who are in your life that you were looking at. And also life is not enough. So for example, you know, I know for me, I definitely grew up on that one and if I feel like I'm not happy with the way things are or that I'm not happy with myself in that moment because something triggers me and I feel like, you know, it's not enough where I'm doing or how things are going. And I look at my spouse and I think, yeah, you're not enough either and I look at my child and I think you should be doing better to, you know, and then, and then so we project that, you know, that psychological projection and then we think also does not enough.  

16:43 If you're a person who feels like I'm all alone or I don't trust or I'm not worthy, you're going to create teams like that.

19:52 Seven self-sabotaging beliefs and creating an app for that purpose, due to launch sometime in the summer of 2018.

20:49 First of all identify the limitations in your thinking and start realizing, and this is not positive thinking, I want people to know it's actually productive thinking.

21:32 Take everything that you think and turn it around, the subconscious test has turnaround statements. Create them as and record them. It's important that we record them into a phone or a device to hear our own voice because the sound of our own voice almost casts a spell upon ourselves.

22:27 Saying no to opportunities inadvertently on a daily basis when our subconscious mind is locking in possibilities.

23:30 The defining moment which created this thought in the first place -- “I just can't ask for the money or what I want.”

Resources:
Tanya Chernova's Site
EO Network