Sheventures

Amanda Lannert raised $20 million in venture capital for Jellyvision, a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform that helps employees make financially sound choices about their benefits. Lannert gives smart tips for other women trying to make headway. Lannert managed global brands for global advertising giant Leo Burnett before becoming CEO of Jellyvision. She completely changed the direction of Jellyvision with her sharp instinct and talented team. Lannert’s pivots come from reading the marketplace and not being afraid to adapt in order to survive — a huge feat for anyone following the tech crash of 2001. (Yes, Lannert has been at the helm for that long!) The company has grown to serve hundreds of mostly Fortune 1000 clients with ALEX®, the most helpful employee decision support platform on the planet. In 2017, nearly 17 million employees and $101 billion dollars’ worth of premium decisions were entrusted to ALEX. How did she do it? Find out on this episode of SheVentures.

She’s a former Brooklyn high school English and theater teacher who transitioned to founding a conflict resolution business. Who is this incredible woman? Sara Steinweiss takes center stage when she talks to SheVentures about how she coped with her father’s death, her debilitating anxiety disorder, bullying — and the importance of getting help. Steinweiss provides wisdom for meeting one’s teen where she or he is and discusses how the arts saves lives.

What if you could receive a 0 percent small business loan from a group of SheEOs? It’s called #radicalgenerosity, created to focus on time-sensitive world issues through entrepreneurship. That’s what today’s guest, Vicki Saunders, has dedicated her life to by founding the transgressive SheEO. With a society more focused on the financial return of an investment than on its environmental or social return, Saunders has vowed to blow up the system and press the reset button. SheEO has rejected the traditional business loan paradigm and created a community of mostly female “activators” who collectively fund loans at a 0 percent interest rate. How can this possibly work, you may ask? Saunders will tell you how simple it is on this episode of SheVentures.

This woman won more than $100 million in sales for Broadridge — a company that offers financial advisors a platform to connect with their clients — so when it comes to the industry, Linda Wittich knows a thing or two. With her pivot to industry giant IBM, Wittich embraced AI — and advised fintech startups that brought this technology to the forefront of financial services, a major pivot for the industry as well. Today, Wittich, founder of Top Line Focus, acts as both a consultant and an advisor to the fintech sector. Discover how she navigated these male-dominated fields, what made her an effective sales leader, and the inside scoop on the 2008 financial crisis, on this episode of SheVentures.

Anyone who creates a product knows how important a supply chain is, especially if you lose control of it.  That’s what happened to Flores in her first entrepreneurial venture. Starting with creating hair extensions — after a long stint in financial services — Flores and her partner found that importing hair first from China and later India provided challenges in quality and logistics. Her “come to Jesus” moment involved a business pivot to an entirely new product for the customers she already attracted with her hair extensions. Enter her mid-tier line of CBD-infused beauty products, Victoria Flores, our fiftieth guest, shares lessons galore. Lux Beauty Club is a brand of holistic beauty products that are “from farm to shelf.” Flores and her team directly oversee the entire process to ensure the best quality as well as total control over their supply chain. Find out how she navigates an industry that is still illegal on the federal level during this episode of SheVentures.

Sally Outlaw created something remarkable. She took on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to be able to create a bond that yields a 5 percent return, can be bought in $10 increments, and her company, Worthy Peer Capital, reinvests that money as a loan to small U.S. businesses. What happens if a company defaults? Outlaw invests only in asset-backed/inventory-based companies, so Worthy would theoretically recoup any losses. Making bonds understandable and accessible, as well as providing customers an app to easily withdraw or add money, is a pioneering concept in the financial services industry. Outlaw speaks about helping the 99 percent gain financial security. Find out about her early career as a documentary maker and how she took on the SEC on this episode of SheVentures. 

What would you do if divine intervention careened your career in a wildly different direction? In the midst of retirement after a 24-year stint in teaching, school administration, and graduate and doctorate studies, that’s exactly what happened to Sara Thurman. Thurman never picked up a paintbrush or easel, or took an art class before her faith spoke to her and she became an artist. Since 2014, she has sold more than 750 paintings and written a book about her experience. The proceeds from sales of the paintings go to missionary workers around the globe. Now, Thurman has come full circle and is a speaker and mentor once more, hosting e-courses and retreats, all to spread the message she received from God. Curious? Listen to her speak authentically about her life-changing pivot.

The U.S. cannabis industry is on fire — last year it grew to $11.3B. Genifer Murray has played a key role in the weed world since cannabis was legalized in Colorado, and now boasts more than nine years of experience in the business. She is also a staunch advocate for women in the hemp and cannabis industries.   As a lobbyist, scientist, speaker, entrepreneur, and influencer, Murray helped found one of the first analytical cannabis testing labs in the U.S. She was ranked one of the 100 most influential people in the cannabis industry by Cannabis Business Executive magazine. She now runs her own cannabis-inspired jewelry line, GENIFER M.    Murray explains the state and federal laws impacting cannabis, her passion for enforcing testing standards, and alludes to where she sees the future of this commodity headed. You’ll get it all on this episode of SheVentures.  

A pioneer in her field who started in her early 20s, Nicole Dahlstrom is leveling the playing field for female-health related startups across the U.S. and beyond.    Dahlstrom is the founder of FemTech Collective, a 500 female-founder strong network that connects innovators in female-focused health tech through events, media, and an online platform. It’s a place for women to join forces and strive to solve bias and barriers to entry in the tech industry.   Listen as Dahlstrom discusses these barriers, especially when it comes to female sexual health and the stigma surrounding it. All this and so much more, on SheVentures.

These two women hope to change the stigma at-home caregivers routinely face through their app and platform. Lifelong friends Aileen Kelly and Felicia Kashevaroff were able to stay home after their children were born. Like many stay-at-home caregivers, they felt their work was invisible, undervalued, and unappreciated.  Kelly and Kashevaroff created Persistiny, a web platform to address the inherent inequality of at-home caregivers. Check out the hundreds of articles encouraging women to speak about their experiences with other women and their partners.  The duo then created an app: Tend is a task manager and journal. Its purpose? To promote self-care, acceptance, and an open and honest dialogue around caregiving. Kelly and Kashevaroff hope that journaling will enable caregivers to realize just how much they do. The women also hope to use the data from the app to understand user pain points even better.

New York is the backdrop of Daniella Stromberg’s tale, pushing her toward peace in a chaotic world. She saw beauty in the streets, admired the elegance of prostitutes and transvestites, seen through the eyes of a young girl through the window shades of her mother’s Greenwich Village studio apartment. Stromberg sought out her own luxurious bubble in a city of grit. From working with the one percent to opening her own holistic day spa in the heart of Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood, Stromberg’s travels and her study of kinesiology inspired her vision for her spa business. The holistic luxury spa, D’Mai Urban Spa, is Stromberg and her patrons’ escape from the hectic rush of the city. Stromberg was recently honored by the Brooklyn Borough President as a leading businesswoman, notably one who gives back to diverse and under-served Brooklyn communities. Learn how she and her wife built the business in part by hand, why she used her own apartment as collateral on her small business loans, and so much more on thi

Imagine losing a 9-year-old daughter to cancer, facing a divorce, and dealing with mounting financial struggles. Jen Thoden’s world was gray — and in need of a transformation. A chance upload of an ebook for window dressing helped Thoden identify a gap in the market. Novices wanted instructions on how to create window dressings. She delved into her first successful ebook entrepreneurial venture from her garage while raising three children. One day after her divorce, Thoden caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror. The death of her daughter, the end of her marriage, and the unyielding demands of her business and growing children took their toll on Thoden both physically and mentally. Thoden knew she needed to pivot to survive, so she turned to color. Her business, YourColorStyle helps thousands of women (and men!) identify what colors work best for them, accounting for their personality and other personal details. Every month Thoden helps her customers regain their confidence through the way they dress and acce

Knowing firsthand what teachers are up against, Shayna Pond is taking her knowledge of teaching and applying it to helping educators in the classroom. She started with a side tutoring business, which was an unintentional pilot for the two nationwide businesses she runs today, Model Teaching and Action Potential Learning.  In this episode of SheVentures, Pond delves into many issues entrepreneurs face when they scale in their niche. Today, her businesses help with professional development for teachers, administrators, school districts, and tutors. Pond tells SheVentures just how she made it all happen. If you are an educator or are learning how to scale your business, this episode is for you.

Kate Walling knew entrepreneurship was in her blood. At 24, she cooked up a digital recipe startup long before Nailed It became a family pastime. Then 2008 happened. Enough said. Originally from the deep South, Walling moved to rainy Seattle to build a boutique consulting agency, Scrappy Face. The company thrived, but her personal life got complicated as she faced divorce. And did we mention the rain? Walling had her “screw it” moment and left both her business and Seattle to experience Silicon Valley. Her latest venture, Traction Hero, is an agency solving high-growth companies’ marketing challenges. Listen to the twists and turns of Walling’s life and how she came out on top in this episode of SheVentures.

Find out how Reesy Floyd-Thompson handled the stigma and financial challenges that came with her husband’s prison sentence. Today, she helps other prison spouses acclimate, provides tips on how to survive financial hardship, and reveals her top marketing tips for free. Find out how she balanced her life while building a superstar marketing career on this episode of SheVentures.

Growing up in Nigeria’s male-dominated society was tough for a feminist with a strong ambition to further herself and her education, but Dr. Lola Adeyemi never stopped. She came to the U.S. to study public health at John Hopkins University and sustainability and environmental management at Harvard University. Now she seeks to revolutionize the health-care industry in her home country with Magna Carta Health, a company she founded to focus on preventive care. She found that changing people’s behavior is challenging. While it makes sense to see a doctor before one gets sick, it’s often left to an urgent, last-minute decision. This makes it more likely to have an outcome that is both adverse and expensive. Adeyemi works with individuals and companies to change this. Adeyemi also values community and mentorship. As a result, she founded Mentoring Her, a platform that links female professionals with other women they can learn from. Find out how she has navigated the Nigerian government to establish her company an

Imagine commanding 83 soldiers and $35 million of intelligence equipment, vehicles, and weapons dispersed over six locations in a war zone — that’s the experience Valerie Lavin stores in her professional arsenal. A retired Army sergeant who spent 21 years in the military, Lavin is drawing on her background and skills for her new venture Luminary Global, and is eager to share her tips and tricks. Luminary Global provides emergency medical service, fire, law enforcement, and military personnel as well as private citizens, with the equipment and supplies they need to save lives at home and abroad. Listen as Lavin describes the military and her business, and how the two overlap significantly, on this episode of SheVentures.

Deepti Sharma, named on the esteemed Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, embodies “the pivot,” whether through volunteer work or her own startup. Community is her passion. She served on the board of directors for the Business Center for New Americans, a microlender that creates a pathway to self-sufficiency for immigrants, refugees, and women. Today, as founder and CEO of corporate catering concierge service FoodtoEat in NYC, Sharma continues to empower immigrant women and minorities specifically, providing a platform as food service providers. The marketing mind behind #IMadeYourFood puts a human face behind any catering event she hosts. Sharma is a mother of two boys and also one of 17 mentors at WE NYC (Women Entrepreneurs NYC), an initiative dedicated to helping women start and grow their businesses. Find out how Sharma does all this, and so much more, on this episode of SheVentures. For more information, visit the show notes at https://sheventures.centsai.com

Imagine being diagnosed with a crippling digestive disorder in your early 20s, and as a result, identifying a gap in the market: healthy food made and delivered to busy professionals years before the food-delivery craze caught on. Bonnie Coberly created a recipe for success in the D.C. area out of her desire to help herself and others. Fast forward three years, and Coberly was stunned to discover that her co-founder embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving her in debt and in an even worse mental state. She met the challenge, repaid the debt, and eventually sold the business, allowing her to start anew as a coach for entrepreneurs who struggle with burnout, self-care, exhaustion, and a myriad of other issues.  On this episode of SheVentures, listen as Coberly discusses her story, her pivot, and the stark reality of depression in entrepreneurship with actionable tips on how to start healing.

A med-school dropout turned entrepreneur, author, angel investor, and venture capitalist, Renata George is doing her damnedest to pave the way for women in the VC industry. Born in Poland, George spent most of her life in Russia and studied in the U.K. She launched a media business in the former USSR and had a successful exit, making it possible for her to become an angel investor and venture capitalist herself. On a “short trip” to the U.S. in 2012, George woke to a Twitter message informing her she had been named on Forbes’ list of female angel investors to watch. She’s been here ever since. On this episode of SheVentures, George breaks down the stats in her uber data-driven approach and reveals the mistakes female entrepreneurs are making when raising capital.