Ariana Pierce

Arianna Pierce is an entrepreneur turned Web three expert. She has seamlessly transitioned from starting and growing a successful, now polished business to becoming a pre eminent leader and educator on the blockchain. One of the remarkable things about you is that you transitioned from being this beauty entrepreneur to being this sort of queen of Web three. How did that come about? Really? I still do both. So I love entrepreneurship. I love inspiring others to own businesses and

to have multiple streams of income. But through that I also started investing. So I believe naturally investing came, you know, just as a part of being in business. You know, I'm in business now, I want to know how to invest. So I was day trading and I was doing four X trading and crypto trading, and I said, wow, this is really awesome. And of course that is male dominated. So I'm like, of course I'm getting into another industry

that is male dominated. I'm taught now. It was good because I met my fiance, So maybe that was awesome that it was male dominated, because when I went to the meetings there was no competition, so no UM. But on the other hand, I said, man, we need some more women in this space to dominate, just like in the entrepreneurial world, just like how I helped them to build six and seven finger brands, Let's bring this over into the investing world. So I got really good at that.

I ended up creating a strategy that goes along with trading and UM foreign currency and how to move in the markets. I end up creating my own strategy, which led me to teaching and creating a group for young women. And of course the men wanted to join as well, so we let them join, and then which caused me to get into n f t S because that comes naturally with being in the crypto world. And so when I got into n f t S, I said, okay,

yet again, this is a male dominated space. We need to train up the ladies on how they can win. Because I was talking to someone the other day and I said, you know what, this really is an opportunity for us to build wealth at a very early stage. For example, what do I mean by that? You know, there was the oil and gas industry. Those who took advantage of that early they're uber wealthy. Right then you had the car right industry. Then you had the software

or internet or the tech industry that launched. And those that invested in that early, I mean now they're super wealthy. Okay, Now I feel like we are on the brink of another industry with Web three, with crypto, and those that get in on it early, they're gonna be able to change the financial legacy of their entire family. Why not have women get involved in this because they can do

it now. In the past, there may have been some restrictions and you know, restraints on women, But now they can get involved with this because the one thing about Web three and n f t S is that it doesn't know your face, it doesn't know your background. It doesn't know if you're a criminal or if you have

a squeaky clean background. And I'm not saying anyone should be a criminal, right, But what I'm saying is is that it does not know and you can really win in this space, and I wanted to help my ladies win. I feel like you're constantly learning and you're constantly challenging yourself. If you ever get exhausted and not want to learn the next definitely, oh yes. I mean there comes a time where I'm just like, listen, I just want to chill out. I want to watch some movies, and I

just want to do nothing. Don't bring a question to me. I don't want to read an email. I don't want to answer anyone today. That definitely happens. And what I try to do is, at least once a week have a brain break right where you just say, you know what, I'm gonna chill out. I'm going to not answer any calls, I'm not going to rush to do any emails. But after that, I'm gonna get back to work. And I look forward to those days. They're awesome. I spend time

with my family. We normally go out to a brunch every single Sunday, so that gives us time to get away from the office, focus on us, and really, you know, what's really important and focus on our health and um, you know, just our relationships with each other. So definitely, yes, there are those times. But then I said, you know what, I gotta get back to work because it's bigger than me. It's not you know, I have to get out there and help others really understand this. So, Marianna, you referenced

that you were again in a male dominated industry. Were you referencing the beauty industry. Well, funny that you asked that, because the beauty industry really is, or at the time

was male dominated. I remember going to meetings and it would be a meeting with maybe another cosmetic company or maybe we were doing some type of deal, and I remember sitting there one being the of course the youngest in the room, you know, I'm at the head of the table like you know, the youngest, and them looking at me like oh, because they didn't really know my face. I didn't put my face with the company, so people didn't know who was running it because I knew being

a young minority woman, right, young girl. Really at that time, they may not take me seriously, so you didn't see my face. This wasn't oh, Arianna, No, it wasn't that. So when they contacted us and said, oh, we would like to do a deal with you all, or we would like to discuss this with this reality TV show,

maybe doing some type of collaboration. I would go to the media with my assistant and they would be very surprised and say oh wow, right, and it would be a lot of men in the room, and of course people to three times my age, So that definitely was was something that was a factor. So you make Web three seem like something that's approachable for anyone, right, and you're encouraging everyone to participate. But what's the first step. How do you get over that hurdle of feeling like

you missed the boat already? Well, let me tell you this, you have not missed the boat. When it comes to Web three. We are still in the very, very very beginning stages of it. But I would advise people to get in on it now, because of course, the earlier that you get in, the more you are going to be able to absorb absorb it, and the more that you'll be able to win in this space. But the first thing that I tell people is one follow those

who are already in this space. You don't want to go on this journey alone because there can be a lot of hiccups that come along with doing this. I'm talking about n f t s being stolen, crypto being stolen, you know, weird things happening to your wallet. You're like, what just happened? How did that happen? So definitely find

some people that you can connect with. One of the people that I really love, her name is board Becky and you can look her up on Instagram, but she has a great podcast on you know, n f t s and this entire space, so it's really really awesome. So really getting that education so that way you can do this journey with someone who's already have navigated this space. So follow those who are already in this space. You can follow me as well. I do a lot of

UM teaching on how the basics of this. And then two, I would say setting up your wallet, which would be something like a meta mask. That's the one that I recommended the industry standard learning how to set up meta mask because if you're gonna be in web three, they're always going to ask you, hey, where is your wallet? So you want to be able to have a wallet to participate in this space. Then the third thing that I would say that's a basic is learning how to

buy ethereum. Now there are n f t s and web three can be on many different block chains and coincide with different cryptos, but the majority of them, again, the industry standard is ethereum as of right now. That may be changing, but right now ethereum. So learning how to buy your ethereum would be something that's very important as well if you're going to be in this space. You said you met your fiance in the crypto space. How did you meet and how did you know he

was the one for you? So we actually met in New York City. I'm from Orlando, and so I was traveling to New York for a tour that my mom and I both hope it's our success tour. So we host a success tour every single year, and we were doing this one in New York at that particular time. I remember it was in May of that year, and um, we went to New York and I was asked a few days before our meeting to speak on fifth AV at a trader's event. Okay, so it was day Traders.

So I went there and I spoke about my story with day trading, how I got started being in the industry, wanting to impact more women's lives in this industry. Just giving my full story about how I started with day trading. Well, after that, we ended up going to dinner, you know, all of us, and I of course was the only lady there. So it was nice, you know, there was

a lot to choose from, I'll say that. And Um, I went to dinner and there was a guy that was sitting across from me, and he kept looking at me, and so I'm like, is he looking at me because I have something on my face? Or is it because he like me? And so we just kept talking and you know, just sharing within the room about day trading, about crypto and different things like that. Then afterwards he came up to me and said, hey, you know, UM, I really enjoyed talking with you tonight. Can I connect

with you on Instagram? Now? Why he didn't ask for my number? I guess maybe that's our generation's way of connecting with one another. So he did that and I said okay, and then I knew them when he asked for the Instagram I said, oh, yeah, he really likes me, um, and so and so we did that, and a few days later, I invited him to our event uh that my mom and I were hosting in New York, and he was the only man that came, and I said, okay, awesome, I'm glad you came. He was the only individual that

came from that group, and I said, all right. So we were just flirting the entire day, and then that evening we all went to dinner with our staff to celebrate, and I invited him to come along with me, and so we sat there we talked all night. It was like no one else was in the room. He lived in New York, I was in Orlando. So in the back of my mind, I'm like, okay, this is nice, but I don't really know how this is gonna work out, but I'll try it anyway. And so we talked and

we have never stopped talking since. Well fast forward about six months later, he said, you know what, I really am serious about this relationship. I want to be with you. I see myself marrying you. So I'm gonna move from New York to Orlando so that way you can know that I'm serious about this. Because he said, I know that if I don't move You're gonna find someone else and I'm gonna lose you. And I said, okay, So

I never told him that he had to move. I just let it be his decision, and he did it within that first year of us being together, and the rest is history. And now we're engaged. So what is a success tour? You said that you and your mom were going to New York and success to her? What is that? This is our tour that we host every single year, and it's our tour where we inspire ladies from around the world and we teach them about business and marketing and branding, and so that's really our specialty.

We have an entire business school where we teach women how to do this with taking their businesses from you know where it is today to leveling up to that next um you know, profit bracket or whatever that may be for them, creating products, creating digital products, marketing in their brands, getting into stores, all of those types of things. We help them with that. And so we decided, Okay, this is awesome. We love having our business school, but

let's take that on the road. And so we took it on the road and we were able to travel with that and so we call it our success tour because we're helping them to be successful in their businesses and in their brands. And now a quick break. Are you a woman owned business looking for a new sales channel. I'm so excited to tell you about our newest partner in the W Marketplace. Founded by two women, it's a nationwide e commerce site for women entrepreneurs and the shoppers

who support them. It offers favorable terms and is a supportive community for female founded companies. With over five hundred women owned businesses selling thousands of products and services, the W Marketplace might be your favorite new sales channel. Intrigued learn more at Join the W Marketplace dot com. One of the threads start what you've done is really the marketing to all of these customers. How do you attract the people on your success tours? Or how did you

attract your nail customers, your no polish customers? How do you attract your now crypto audience? Well, of course, like I mentioned with starting that nail polished company, it all started with realizing, Okay, if I can connect and build relationships with people who I have never met online, then that that I can also attract people into my business that I have never met through social media as well.

Of course we have ads that are going out, but really under all of that, because you can have the ads, you can make the social media post and still attract little to know people. But really it's building a lifestyle around your product and service. And that's been something that has really helped us and really helped me go to the next level with my um business. So what do I mean by that? Not just delegating or telling people what they should do, but really demonstrating it in our

own lives. And when they say okay Ariana or Dr Station that happens to be my mother, um Ariana and Dr Staa, they're doing this. They're succeeding in this there, Okay, they are building wealth in this area as an entrepreneur. You know, they're doing their conferences, they're teaching women this, they're starting their business school. I want to do that, so let me connect with them. I think that is my secret sauce that I'm letting out today with more.

You know, of course you want to do those other things when it comes to marketing and branding, but when you can really show people the lifestyle that you are also I guess quote unquote selling that is really where you take your business to the next level. How do you show people that lifestyle? What are they looking at if they go to your Instagram or follow you? So when you come to my Instagram, you see a lot of travel, right, because I love being able to travel.

I love being able to really live a freedom based lifestyle. What do I mean by that? You know, because we're building our wealth portfolios because we have our own businesses. That means that in the middle of the week, something as simple as I can go get my nails done and it's not bragging. So I don't want it to sound like, oh, she's just bragging on her page. No, no, no, that's not it. I want to show them that it's real because I can tell you what to do all day.

But if I don't show you how it's done and what it's done for me, then one you're probably not gonna believe it, and too you may not believe that it's possible for you. And again, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging. So when you come to my page, you're gonna feel motivated and not defeat it because I'm not just showing you that I can do it, or that we can do it, but that you can do

it too. Are you ever afraid of failing? Absolutely, especially when I am launching something new, when I am maybe introducing something new, when I have to get on stage and tell others something about maybe I'm invited in to speak, I'm like, man, I really hope that I don't disappoint the crowd. I really hope that they get, you know, what they came for. So definitely I do have that fear.

But then I also remember that I personally believe that we were all created to help inspire others, and I believe that when you're being authentic to what you know, authentic to your destiny, authentic to your purpose, then you're always gonna show up and deliver because you're being authentic to you. It's only the times where I try to be something else or someone else that I really end up failing. And so I go back and I tell myself, Okay, remember you don't have to try to compete against this

person or them because of their industry. You show up, do what you were called in to do, and you're going to be successful. How did you end up in Orlando? Did you grow up in Michigan, which is how you ended up at Michigan State. So I did grow up in Michigan. I'm originally from Grand Rapids. Went to Michigan State University, and then once I graduated from college, I ended up moving down to Florida. And so my parents always had this dream of, uh somewhat being in Florida.

I don't want to stay retiring in Florida because they still are very active and busy and entrepreneurs, but they always had this dream. You know. We would come on vacation all the time when I was young girl, and they said, I would love to live in Florida. We were in the heat, There's Disney, there's Universe, so you know, there's all these different things, and we're like, oh my gosh,

we would love to be in Florida. And it manifested for us later on, and so the opportunity came up and we ended up taking that dive and moving to Florida. And I'm so happy that we did because I love it here. I love having, you know, the warm weather all the time. One of the most incredible things about your story is how early it began. You started your first business in high school. What made you think you could do that? Yes, I did, so I started this

journey very very early. And what inspired me was seeing my mom really as a female entrepreneur, I mean ever since I can imagine growing up just UM, seeing her work, seeing her be a mom, seeing her be a superhero to myself and my younger brother. I wanted to be

just like her. And so when I was younger, I would put on those Lemonates ends and I would ask her to buy me the entrepreneurial books from American Girl Doll and all of those things, and she said, Okay, you have a bent that you want to go into, and I see that it's entrepreneurship. And so of course that's what launched UM. What made me launch my business as a teenager, but really seeing my mom being this

superwoman made me want to do the same. What was the first business and how did you come up with the name. So my first business was the Billionaire Girls Club, And we came up with that because we wanted every young girl to feel rich, to feel wealthy. But also this was a business UM that was centered around proper etiquette, how to relate to your teachers, how to relate to your parents, things that young girls go through. So what happened was, over time, chapters almost like a sorority. Chapters

were started around the country, which was really awesome. We would go and speak at these various events where young girls would be, their teenagers would be, their high school students would be there, and it really just exploded around the country and we started chapter. So that's where the name came from. And really just wanting, like I said, wanting every every young girl to feel like they were wealthy, that they were queens, that they were princesses, and that

they were worthy of success in their dreams. How did that all become important to you? When I was younger, I was bullied somewhat in school, in middle school and in high school because of my weight at the time.

You know, young boys would come up to me and laugh and they would say, oh my gosh, you look like this, or you look like that, or we don't like you because you know you're overweight or whatever those names, and they would call me me names or you know, I would go to class and they would say, why do you look like that? Or why is your hair

like that? Right? Um, and so it it just made an impression on me, and I said, I would come home and I would talk to my mom about it all the time, and really both of my parents and I would say, I don't like how this makes me feel. I'm sure I'm not the only person going through this, and um, because of that, that's what inspired me to really do this. How did you handle the nays I mean,

definitely it did come with some naysayers. It came with people saying, oh, you think you're better than us because you have a business now, or you know, I was traveling at a very young age. I remember organizations would bring me in to speak maybe to their young girls, to say, oh, you know, this is what we can do. This is an inspiration and they would say, oh, you think you're better than us. But again, that came to having an open, open conversation with my mother. And I'm

glad that she was in my face. Let me just say that, I'm glad that she didn't just send me off to school and just say, Okay, whatever happens happens, let me not check in on you. But every day when I came home, she would say, what happened at school today, What did the students say to you today? How did that make you feel? And so that opened up the conversation for us, and it helped me to do with it now. On the other hand, my parents gave me great advice and they said things like, listen,

you don't have to worry about that. Yes, that's easier said than done. But people are going to talk about you when you're doing something in life. And then they would show me real life examples. So because they were in business, they would show me conflict or different things that would happen with them as entrepreneurs. And I would say, Okay, it's not just the kids in high school or middle school.

This is just what happens in life. You go to college and you launched an entirely new kind of business. Did you do that right away or did you first become a college student and acclimate to the culture there. I jumped right in. Okay. So when I was seventeen years old, graduating from high school heading into Michigan State University, I had already launched Superstar Nail Laquer, which is our current nail polished company. All right, So I launched that and it was let me tell you, it was not

easy because I didn't have the normal college experience. So what it was like for me was, Okay, you study early in the week, make sure your classes are on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Leave the weekends for your business. So sometimes I would try to make it to a game. But when people say, oh my gosh, you went to Michigan State, I know they throw great parties, I'm like, I don't know about those parties because I was doing my business right from the jump. So it was something that I wanted to do.

And how that came about was I launched that business with my mother, but because her career really took off as a motivational speaker and entrepreneur, she said, Okay, you really wanted to start this thing, so you're gonna have to take it over. And I'm like, wait, wait, I thought this was both. She said, nope, you're taking this over. This is your baby. You're responsible for it. You gotta make sure that it goes well. And I love that she didn't baby me through that because it made me

into who I am today. So that's how it started. So it was a much different college experience, but I love it. It was amazing. So tell us about the business. How did you first begin? And here are your customers. I remember us wanting to get into the nail polish company, and now it may be a little bit easier because and that's not to put any other business down, but now it's you know, it can be one of those things where you pick some colors, you throw your name

on it, and now you have a company. Back then, this was no you're picking the bottles, you're creating the colors. You're doing the entire thing from grassroots. I mean, this was serious. And so that first step was really gaining the capital um to even start the business, because it was a whole lot of money to get into the beauty industry to break into that um. So that happened, and really how we raised capital was by having garage sales. Um.

We did it the old school way. We didn't just walk into the bank and say hey, can we have a loan. That wasn't how that was working for especially as a young girl. No, that wasn't happening. So it was like, okay, sell some clothes, sell have a garage selle put this out and sell it product, create a product and sell it and make money for it. And so that's really how it started. And then from there

are customers. What happened was the Instagram was not out at the time, but we did have Twitter and we had Facebook at the time, and this was at the beginning stage of social media marketing, and so I said, I was on there, and I said, man, if I can make friends from around the world on Twitter, why can't I get customers or gain customers from around the

world on Twitter and Facebook? And so I started to use those platforms because at the time, I did not have enough capital to just create a billboard or you know, to do all these magazine ads in Vogue where people would buy nail polish, and so I did that and people started to test it out and say, hey, guys, you gotta buy it in order to test it, let me give you a discount because there were you know, you couldn't try it on in the store. And um,

it blew up from there. And then I remember the ah ha, my big aha moment was I opened up Glamour magazine and I remember Eva Longoria was on the cover of that magazine and they had our pink nail polish and featured in that magazine. One of the editors had picked it up. They put it in the magazine as one of their UH Summer favorites, and so that was really the aha moment that took it over the top. What was unique about your nail polished compared to the others.

It was the first time where it was a vegan type of nail polished. And I remember being teased about that when I would go on these news stations, right. So I would go, let's say, on a news station, and they would want to interview me because they're like, man, this young girl, she's you know, she's in my minority, she's this and she has a nail polished company. We want to interview you. So we were getting all these interviews and I remember the news cat and it was

a woman as well. And remember I'm a young college student and she's like, oh, it's vegan, does that mean you can eat it? And she was making fun of it, and literally on TV she makes fun of me, and I'm like, wow, so I'm trying to keep my composure. Really, what you need is proper education. A lot of times when nail polished companies are creating polished with glitter and shimmer,

they use fish scales. We decided not to use fish scales, and we decided to use other things that create glitter or you know, something to that effect, and this is why it is vegan plus. It was uh Famil to hide Free and all these toxin free um in the nail polished and she said, oh, okay, now I understand. So um that's really what made its special show. It was toxin free. It was one of the first vegan nail polished companies, and we really created it with moms

and moms to be in mind. So how at your age in college did you have this idea for something that was really made partly with moms to be in mind? What drove you down that path? Seeing my mom, she

was pregnant, right, So I always was praying. I was praying for a younger brother, and I remember learning about nail polish and learning about the toxins and nail polish and what they do, even having friends around me who were pregnant or aunts and you know, different relatives that were around and them not being able to wear nail polish win you know, they became conscious of it. And of course you know that's where that idea came from.

So he said, okay, this will be perfect because we can answer that question, um, but also just the nail polished industry overall. I remember I wanted to be a fashion designer at the time, and I knew aching into the fashion industry it's pretty tough even now, you know, even with as many opportunities that there are out there, breaking into that industry now can be really, really hard.

And so I thought, I said, hmmm, if I created a nail polished company, which was still not easy, but it's a lot easier than trying to come up with a clothing company at that time, let me do this to break into the industry. And I ended up falling in love with nail polish and now a quick break. We are going to have to go to our speed around. Now, Aim, do you want to ask the first question? What book are you reading? Asked by Mark Victor Hansen. So your

parents dream was to move to Florida one day? What is your long term dream? I would love to have a home or maybe spend summers in Europe. I went to school uh Impair Ris and London, Belgium, and um a few other places in Europe, and so it was the best experience that I ever had. So I would love to be able to do business and still be able to live in Europe and just have this amazing summer in Europe cooking and you know, touring and doing all these amazing things. So that would be my my

long term dream. Wait, when did you go to school in Europe? When I was at Michigan State University my last year, my senior year, I took pretty much the entire year, almost the entire summer and fall to study in Europe. And so I did that, and it was a marketing program abroad, which really taught me more being overseas and marketing in real life than being back on campus. So stay at college. But it was a great experience. If you can do study abroad, definitely do it. Who

leaves you start strack? Well, someone that inspires me would be Sara or Blakely. She's absolutely incredible. I would love to meet her one day and talk with her about how she created her brand and how it became this, you know, how she became like the superhero. Because as I navigate, you know, getting married and of course having children, I want to be a super mom like that. So um, not someone that I'm really I look up to and say, wow,

she's amazing. What is your top and f T pic right now, I would say Boss Beauties by Lisa Mayor because of how amazing it is the utility that comes with it, I mean what they have already giving us, and not that you just get an n f T for what they can give you. I'm not saying that, but the utility and the community that comes with being in the Boss Beauties community is absolutely incredible. Another one that I really love is maybe on as well UM

with Michelle Reeve. So that's really awesome. That's nice one. But I would say those would be the top my top picks right now. Well, lu Burns has been listening to this interview and he always comes on at the end with the final question from the male perspective, I want to know more about like what are you doing with all this money you making? Like what are you spending on? What are the charities that you fund? Really

I'm pretty conservative. Again, like I said, investing in women UM really helping them to build their businesses and their brands. And we do have some scholarships for those that are in our business coaching or those who are who attend our events, those who are in our Women in Wealth Club. We do various things for them UM all throughout the year. So that's where a lot of our money and a lot of my money is going to. Of course I

love to give to UH. It's a place for young girls who are troubled and who are struggling at home, but they still to be in school, they still want to go to the next level. So we recently just paid for their entire prom for them to have their own prom because we wanted them to experience those things as well. Because you don't have to UM. Just because you had a shaky pass doesn't mean that your future

has to be shaky. So that and then, of course, on the other hand, spending money on n f T s, learning these different projects, seeing what's out there, and buying up crypto. So that's also what I'm doing, so a lot of investing right now for my future, especially as we're getting married. That's really what I'm spending a lot of my money on. I don't know if you remember in but the reason we first got connected to Arianna because my best friend from high school, Larra sask she

is following Arianna. She's like super into crypto and she's been following Arianna for a long time. Now. One of the things that I think Arianna does exceptionally well is she is the first person in the world who has given me a basic understanding of Web three because she breaks things down like everyone else. I'm like, you're speaking German and I don't speak German, so we're not going to be able to do this. And but like, Mariana

does an incredible job. And I think part of it might come from the fact that she is clearly somebody who is curious and learns and like really dives into things. I mean, this is a woman who was constantly learning. Well. She has an excellent way of describing things too. I mean we saw that when we interviewed her a couple of weeks ago on stage, and she just really is able to pare it down without being condescending or patronizing.

She's just she want to learn more from her, You want to spend more time with her, and I mean, I want to take her course now. She teaches these incredible courses online and in person, and she's really remarkable. One of the things she shared amy that was so fascinating to me was, especially with my background and personal branding, I was like, Okay, she's a genius. The way she shares her lifestyle and why she shares it was unlike

anyone I've heard about that before. It is okay to plan what you share about your life and to be intentional about it. In building your personal brands, like you don't need to like put every single thing onto the internet, right, share the parts of you that tie it all together. Like that was really that was really interesting, Like building a personal brand is great. You can monetize various parts of your life and we all want everybody to make a lot of money. Thanks for listening to What's Her

Story with Sam and Amy. We would appreciate it if you leave her review wherever you get your podcasts, and of course, connect with us on social media at What's Her Story podcast. What's Her Story with Sam and Amy is powered by my company, The Riveter at the Riveter dot Co and Sam's company, park Place Payments at park place Payments dot com. Thanks to our producer Stacy Para and our male perspective, Blue Burns