Eliza Blank: The Power of Resilience in Building a Startup
Release Date: 07/21/2021
Kim Chappell: Storytelling, Motherhood, and the Power of Betting On Yourself
Career Memos withSarina
When Kim Chappell was offered to lead marketing for the infant formula company, Bobbie, back in 2020, she laughed; she didn’t think she had the credentials to take on the job. Even though Kim had spent ten years in the news industry and done extensive marketing work for tech startups like Weebly and Square, she still felt out of her league. It was a classic case of imposter syndrome. After some forward-thinking and reflection, Kim did eventually take the job, and today, she is the Chief Brand Officer of Bobbie, an AMAZING company that I personally have leaned on to feed my own babies. Her...
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Giovanni Vaccaro: Mindset, Purpose, and Building GLAMSQUAD
Career Memos withSarina
What happens when you take a big leap into the unknown, betting on yourself before you feel truly ready? Giovanni Vaccaro co-founded GLAMSQUAD in 2014, inspired by feedback clients had been giving him for years: they wanted on-demand hair services in their homes. At the time, he’d been working for the renowned French brand Frederic Fekkai, but he knew he wanted more. This was his opportunity to build something new. Fast-forward to today and GLAMSQUAD is a beauty-tech powerhouse. Giovanni is not only GLAMSQUAD’s Chief Brand Officer and Creative Director, but also a coach and...
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Sam Safer Valentine: Finding the Right Co-Founder and Discovering Product Market Fit
Career Memos withSarina
So many people featured on this podcast have been co-founders. But how do you know if you and your potential co-founder are the right fit? How can you test your working dynamic before making a MAJOR commitment? Sam Safer Valentine suggests working on a project first. This way, you can see if you have complimentary communication skills. See how it feels to be vulnerable with them – and how you might handle potential conflict later on. This is exactly what Sam did before she and her co-founders launched , an AI-powered marketing intelligence platform. Knowing she could trust her business...
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Julia Belt: How Mindly is Revolutionizing Youth Mental Health with Single Session Interventions
Career Memos withSarina
Is your market not ready for your product? Here’s an idea: try a different market. This is what Julia Belt and her co-founder, Margaret Hines did when their company, , a mental wellness platform focused on delivering digital single-session interventions, wasn’t taking off as fast as they expected it would. The economy was doing poorly and mental health budgets were being cut. One advisor suggested waiting a few years and trying again. Instead, they floated the idea to the youth mental health network. It took off like wildfire. So many founders think they need to find their market fit right...
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Katy Marshall: Rising Up to the C-Suite
Career Memos withSarina
One of the most transformative steps Katy Marshall took in her leadership career was hiring an executive coach six years ago. At the time, Katy was feeling fried and wasn’t getting what she needed out of her team. The bold first step her coach suggested? Gathering “360-degree feedback” from ALL angles: managers, peers, and direct reports. The impact and learnings were eye-opening and invaluable. Katy’s career journey has landed her a variety of roles, including coveted C-Suite positions. Now the COO of Thesis, she takes us through her fascinating story from management consulting at BCG...
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Nisha Dua: The Non-Linear Path to Success
Career Memos withSarina
What do venture capitalists ACTUALLY look for in the founders they take on? For Nisha Dua, co-founder of , it’s all about great storytelling. What problem are you trying to solve? Why is your team best positioned to solve it? Also: why now? BBG Ventures’ superpower is in supporting “overlooked” founders, particularly women and diverse groups who are targeting untapped markets. In this episode, Nisha sheds light on how demographic shifts post-COVID are presenting new opportunities for innovation and investment. Nisha has a fascinating story, too: she’s the daughter of immigrants and...
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Gabby Slome: On Entrepreneurship, Motherhood, and Ruthless Prioritization
Career Memos withSarina
Gabby Slome’s founder journey is one of passion, resilience, and an unyielding belief in herself. First, she experienced massive success with direct-to-consumer dog food subscription service and wasn’t afraid to put in the hustle to get the word out. We cover the gritty grassroots marketing tactics she tried around Manhattan, the impact of direct-to-consumer models, and the surprising results that came with asking for help (including how she ended up talking to the Head of Food Safety at Burger King!) After stepping down from Ollie, Gabby launched her next venture, , a...
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Emma Bates: How She Raised $20 Million Dollars for Diem, a Female-Centric Search Engine
Career Memos withSarina
Emma Bates had the idea for Diem while seeking answers on the internet about her health – and unable to find the kind of advice she wanted right then. The company she started with her co-founder Divia Singh, , aims to make conversations about women’s health more discoverable through a female-centric search engine akin to ChatGPT and Reddit. As it turns out, Emma wasn’t the only woman struggling to find what she needed on the internet. Before the company even went public, Diem amassed a wait list of 20,000 and raised $3 million dollars! In this episode, Emma shares the secrets...
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Lee Rotenberg: The Importance of Acting Fast, Being Open, and Just Going For It
Career Memos withSarina
Lee Rotenberg has exited not one, but TWO companies. Want to know the secret to her genius? Quick decision-making. If you’ve got an idea, get it out there, perfection be damned. Pivot and edit until you have that perfect market fit. In this episode, Lee shares her experience of starting and selling two businesses with her partner, Alex Schinasi: (business management software for interior design firms) and (early childhood AI-powered learning). You’ll hear a behind-the-scenes look at both ventures from beginning to end, along with great advice about co-founder relationships, productivity,...
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Jaclyn Johnson: How to Get Started as an Angel Investor
Career Memos withSarina
Have you ever been intrigued about angel investing, but unsure where to begin? The path to getting started can feel incredibly daunting. How much money do you need? How can you “break in”? Jaclyn Johnson is an inspirational trailblazer in the world of entrepreneurship and angel investing, and she’s here to demystify it all, while giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the process. With a portfolio that includes 25 companies (!), Jaclyn is also the founder of , a platform that uses dating app mechanics to connect angel investors with entrepreneurs. The investing world can be...
info_outlineThe Sill is the first “digitally native” houseplant brand and they’re on a mission to connect people with beautiful plants. Eliza Blank was, in her words, a typical young professional living in a small New York apartment, desperate to make it feel like home.
Going from a communications degree and working in brand strategy on both the agency and client side for Living Proof, to choosing a path in plants was certainly unconventional!
Eliza reveals the importance of resilience on her entrepreneurial journey in a niche she didn’t know a lot about at first, how she navigated early challenges without any funding, and the benefits and downsides to working with a co-founder. You’ll love the raw honesty shared in this conversation!