In 2019 our guest, Karen Bussen, a world renown leader in the celebration space, founded Farewelling to redesign how we think about, talk about and plan for an essential part of our human journey. Farewelling has helped thousands of families navigate the loss of a loved one with memorial websites, virtual events, and a whole suite of tools and resources to create a truly personal tribute to someone special. During our delicious conversation, Karen shares an abundance of founder gems to help you ...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 7 min
From in-person meetings, to speaking from the stage, to Zoom calls: your unique brand will be amplified when you have an authentic, signature style. Our guest, Solita Roberts, is the creator of Style to Impact, an image consulting platform. She teaches women entrepreneurs and professionals how to ditch the boring corporate uniform and adopt a more self-expressive wardrobe that empowers them, influences others, and has a bigger impact on their career or business. Through one-on-one and group imag...
Jan 21, 2022•59 min
How does a bootstrapped founder find funding without giving up a significant chunk of equity? Through founder-friendly non-dilutive debt capital! Our guest, Charlie Feng, is a seasoned founder, an operator angel investor and Co-Founder of Clearco, a fintech startup that provides founders and entrepreneurs with a suite of performance financing products and services tailor-made for founders in all stages of their journey. A pay-as-you-grow pioneer and the world’s largest ecommerce investor, Clearc...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 7 min
How can a founder create an effective PR campaign when they’re bootstrapped, time strapped, and don’t have connections? Our guest, Alyson Campbell, is the CEO & Founder of Heart & Soul PR, Inc., and she’s ready to help you gain the media attention you need to soar in 2022! With her 15 years of experience in PR/marketing in New York City and Los Angeles, Alyson has served a range of leading consumer brand clients including Mercedes-Benz, British Airways, Hewlett-Packard, the Timberland Co...
Jan 04, 2022•1 hr 4 min
When we show up as founders, we’re bringing our joyful purpose to the world. Which also means we’re solving big hairy problems and trying to navigate the harrowing roller coaster ride of startup life... all while protecting our joyful purpose and vision. Seasoned fab female founder, Mia Voss, joins me for the 2nd Annual Andelicious Startup Life LIVE Holiday Celebration! She's a cheerleader for the things she loves and a voice for things that need attention, and we dive into hot topics: * toxic p...
Dec 22, 2021•2 hr 26 min
High school students need a more connected and collaborative way to study and explore their futures together. Our guest, Tán Ho, is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Fiveable, a social learning company that seeks to democratize learning and empower high school students through educational content, community, and collaboration. Fiveable has carved out a large presence in the edtech space with its platform that connects students and teachers for virtual after-school help sessions via l...
Dec 17, 2021•1 hr
Participatory art and story-sharing projects have a unique ability to uplift and connect anonymous strangers in a moment of shared humanity. And what can be more important right now, when loneliness and anxiety are on the rise and wellbeing and empathy are on the decline? Our guest, Amy Giddon, is the Chief Connection Officer and Co-Founder of the Daily Haloha app. A seasoned leader providing businesses with the clarity and alignment they need to grow, serve customers, engage partners and fulfil...
Dec 14, 2021•1 hr 6 min
An entrepreneur can have a brilliant idea that solves a real problem, but are they prepared to launch, brand and build a business? Enter incubators and accelerators – an ideal opportunity for newly minted founders to get the business acumen they need to succeed. Our guest, Ivy Syovata, is an ecosystem builder and a serial entrepreneur. She is passionate about entrepreneurship, especially the development of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystem in Africa. Ivy is the CEO of the Incubator N...
Dec 10, 2021•1 hr 1 min
When you read tech articles and social posts – it appears raising a round is the only way to grow a business. What would happen if you repurposed all the time and effort spent on raising capital and focused it on bootstrapping your startup? Our guest, Naveen Prasad, understands the value of bootstrapping a startup before you begin raising capital. He’s the Founder & Managing Partner of Group Agilis (Agilis Advisors and Agilis Capital), where he manages a mandated portfolio in excess of $4 bi...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 6 min
The race for recruiting top talent is fierce and highly competitive. Our guest, Darrian Mikell, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Qualifi, a SaaS platform that powers the fastest phone interview experience in the world and helps recruiting teams hire great candidates faster than ever before. Qualifi’s frictionless screening platform saves both recruiters and candidates time while maintaining a human touch. The best candidates are off the market in 10 days and typical phone interviews have been shown ...
Nov 30, 2021•59 min
Singapore is home to fewer than six million people, yet it leads the ASEAN region in venture capital investment and has been home to 10 unicorns. Our guest, Prantik Mazumdar, is a Singapore-based entrepreneur, investor and mentor, and he’s sharing his startup stories along with an insider’s view of the Singapore startup ecosystem. After pursuing a major in Computer Engineering and a minor in Technopreneurship from the National University of Singapore, Prantik kick-started his career with the Sin...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Raising businesses and babies at the same time, especially during a pandemic, requires tremendous courage, resiliency, tenacity, and commitment! Our guest, Jeannette Abayie, founder of three business and mother to five children, exemplifies all the ingredients needed to juggle the demands of both worlds. This remarkable skillset was not created overnight, and it has not been an easy journey. With a bachelor’s degree in Biological Science and a prepharmacy education on pause, Jeannette needed fle...
Nov 19, 2021•1 hr 1 min
The current tea market is boring, stiff and whitewashed. Our guest, Shanae Jones, founder of Ivy’s Tea Co., believes the holistic health beverage industry should reflect all cultures, all people. Not just those who are blond or do yoga. Ivy's Tea Co. is a pop culture and Hip-Hop inspired holistic brand that provides herbal tea and herb-infused sweeteners for the culture. The teas and honeys are small batched and handmade with ingredients that are locally-sourced whenever possible. Ivy’s Tea Co. ...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Imagine having a place to easily organize and store all your travel dreams, plans and adventures. Our guest searched for such a platform, and when she couldn’t find one, she created it! Jacqueline Hampton is the founder of Portico, your ultimate travel organizer that helps you save, plan, and share amazing adventures, all in one place. Portico was born by fusing together aspects of Jacqueline’s professional and personal life: merging her knowledge from being CEO of Springpad (a personal organize...
Nov 09, 2021•59 min
Good conversations are taking place around reducing bias and increasing diversity in tech hires. But real change happens when infrastructure is implemented and executed within an organization. Our guest, Everett Harper, is an experienced Infrastructuralist, and has the studies and results to show how tech companies can positively change hiring practices. Everett is co-founder of Truss where, for 10 years, they’ve been helping startups scale and large enterprises and public agencies transform fro...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Founders love to solve problems! While earning his MBA, our guest, Dave Salvant, realized there was a need and a demand for people that wanted to get haircuts, and for small barbershops that needed a tech solution to solve their business needs. Dave solved that problem by launching SQUIRE, an all-in-one platform to power small barbershop businesses and help them maximize profitability while creating an outstanding customer experience. Since its inception in 2015, SQUIRE has acquired over 2000+ p...
Nov 02, 2021•52 min
Are you launching a tech startup and wishing you had a step-by-step guide to help you? Our guest, Shirish Nadkarni, has exactly what you need to succeed with his book, From Startup to Exit: An Insider’s Guide to Launching and Scaling Your Tech Business! A serial entrepreneur Shirish Nadkarni came to the U.S. as a teenager with $25 in his pocket. After graduating from Harvard Business School, he worked at Microsoft where he engineered the $400 million acquisition of Hotmail and launched MSN.com, ...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Have you ever felt like a deer in headlights when an investor asked you a question you had no idea how to answer? Our guest, Renata Merino, knows exactly how you feel, and she’s ready to help you deliver the best responses to investor questions! A 25-year operator, former investment banker, and Chicago Booth MBA merit scholar, Renata is a Latina serial entrepreneur turned investor and venture capitalist. She relishes in helping founders scale and has been featured in the media on women empowerme...
Oct 23, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Whether you’re standing in line for coffee, or you’re at a Demo Day, or attending a virtual networking event where you’re asked to quickly share your value prop on screen – you need to be quick-pitch ready! Our guest, Donna Griffit, is a Corporate Storyteller who has worked globally for over 17 years with Fortune 500 companies, Start-Ups, and Investors in a wide variety of industries. Donna has the ability to magically spin raw data into compelling stories that captivate audiences and drive resu...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 5 min
No one plans to become a caregiver. And when they are thrust into this new role, family caregivers often don’t know what they need help with or they fear asking for help because they don’t want to be a burden. Especially when they have no idea if it’s going to be nine days, nine months, or nine years. This leads to deep isolation and loneliness. Our guest, Jessica Kim, is the co-founder/CEO of ianacare – a health tech platform on a mission to encourage, empower, and equip family caregivers with ...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Over 4 million businesses were launched last year – a 24% increase from the year before and the biggest increase on record. However, many of these newly minted founders struggled with the transition from being an employee to being an entrepreneur. Our guest, Tina Wells, is an entrepreneur, business strategist, advisor, best-selling author, and the founder of RLVNT Media, a multimedia content venture serving entrepreneurs, tweens and culturists with authentic representation. Tina dove into entrep...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Studies show women use their wealth to make positive change for their families, their communities, and the world at a much higher rate than men. How can female founders use their businesses, not just for income, but to build generation wealth, so they can increase their impact? Our guest, Erin Austin is a consultant and attorney who combines her 25+ years practicing law – including roles as COO and general counsel at IP-driven companies – to help female founders build wealth by identifying, prot...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr
Did you know Black college graduates have a lower homeownership rate than white people who dropped out of high school? Ruby "SunShine" Taylor, M.S.W is an advocate for closing the racial wealth gap to make our world more financially equitable. She’s the CEO and Founder of Financial Joy School, a virtual educational platform that provides access to financial education and investment tools to Black and Brown youth and their families. Ruby is a double HBCU alumna (Howard University and Virginia Uni...
Sep 25, 2021•1 hr 15 min
Are you leaving money on the table? There are growth and revenue opportunities you may be missing by not pursuing government and commercial contracts. Our guest, serial entrepreneur Linda Chatmon, is a Federal Acquisitions Expert and Business Growth Strategist with nearly 25 years of experience helping businesses succeed in the federal market. As the CEO of Contracts and Grants, LLC, Ms. Chatmon heads a team that is responsible for more than $13.2 billion in government contract negotiations and ...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr 2 min
That which gets measured, gets improved. Especially when you’re in the roofing business! Our guest, Abraham Ventura, is Founder and CEO of Pitch Gauge, the most powerful and popular roofing software for business. In 2008, after Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana, a friend of Abraham’s who owned a roofing company asked him to help aid the recovery process. Abraham quickly realized how difficult and dangerous the job could be and searched for software solutions that calculated roof angles to better pr...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Are you building a tech startup without having a tech background or prior tech experience? Our guest, Nelly Yusupova, is a CTO with over 18 years’ experience leading companies to technical excellence. A start-up tech advisor, outsourced CTO, and the creator of TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs, Nelly is on a mission to help entrepreneurs minimize technology mistakes. Through her online masterclass TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs, she provides the roadmap to successfully manage technology teams and project...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Buckle up Founders! MarTech Founder + Marketing Agency Founder + Music Director serving 20 million Listeners + Sirius On-Air Host + Award-Winning Radio Producer = a delicious, jaw-dropping conversation you don’t want to miss! Our guest, serial entrepreneur Kate Bradley Chernis, has decades of experience in multi-media marketing and a track record of outstanding results delivered for large and small brands. Her strong founder/market fit and results-driven background helped Kate raise $3 million f...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 22 min
What happens when a Greek yogurt product founder has two beloved pets with digestive track challenges? He creates a probiotic-based pet food company! Basel Nassar is the two-legged creator of Boss Nation Brands Inc., a line of innovative pet products that promote gut health through probiotic and prebiotic nutrition. Nassar’s best friends and loyal followers, a 170 pound Rhodesian Ridgeback dog and an 11 pound Siamese Lynx cat, were his inspiration for founding Boss Nation Brands Inc. with the Bo...
Sep 07, 2021•51 min
Loneliness and isolation were on the rise before the pandemic and now it’s become an epidemic. Our guest, Julie Schechter, and her co-founder Monika Shah created an easy way to share the love, perfect for any occasion or just because, in the time it takes to brew a cup of coffee. Their ecommerce platform, Small Packages, is a curated care package company that sends major love in just 5 minutes. It offers pre-curated care packages based on different occasions, from break-ups to new babies. Each b...
Aug 27, 2021•55 min
Woo Hoo! It’s the 100th Episode of the Startup Life LIVE Show! To help us celebrate this meaningful milestone is Jenny Lefcourt, the extraordinary entrepreneur, operator, board member, advisor, and investor. Jenny has been in tech for over 25 years, and she’s currently a General Partner at Freestyle, a San Francisco-based early-stage VC firm whose investments include Airtable, Intercom, Patreon, BetterUp, Snapdocs, Digit, and many others. Jenny is also a founding member and Board Member of All R...
Aug 20, 2021•1 hr 9 min
