WIN/WIN: Women in Innovation - podcast cover

WIN/WIN: Women in Innovation

WIN/WIN is an original podcast from Women In Innovation featuring conversations between Zoia Kozakov and women leaders who’ve carved careers in the historically male-dominated innovation space (innovation consultancies, innovation departments in Fortune 500 companies, and the startup ecosystem) — defining their own futures and creating a world where we all win. Each episode presents a one-on-one interview with a compelling innovator, delivering practical advice, strategies, and the stories of what drives them.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Episodes

#100 Enshalla Anderson | Global Head of Brand & Creative @ Google Cloud

In this episode, we celebrate the 100th episode of the WIN/WIN podcast by bringing back the incredible Enshalla Anderson, who is the Global Head of Brand & Creative at Google Cloud. Enshalla was the very first WIN/WIN podcast guest, and she comes back to discuss her trajectory since the podcast and what she’s learned about the world of innovation through her new role and experiences. Listen for advice on: How to create impact in meetings as an introverted person Building in learning opportun...

Mar 02, 202337 min

#99 Whitnee Hawthorne | Chief Customer Officer @ Navan (Formerly TripActions)

In this episode, Whitnee Hawthorne, Chief Customer Officer of Navan (formerly TripActions) joins the podcast to discuss innovation in the world of travel, and how she’s thinking about it in her current role. Whether it is exploring the consolidation of expense management, travel bookings, and corporate cards or imagining the airport of the future, Whitnee is a multi-faceted leader with tangible and tactical advice on how to succeed in the field. Listen for advice on: How to implement customer in...

Feb 13, 202334 min

#98 Sharon Gauci | Executive Director, Design @ General Motors (Global Buick, GMC, GMC Hummer)

In this episode, Zoia sits down with Sharon Gauci, Executive Director, of Design at Global Buick, GMC, and GMC Hummer at General Motors. They discuss Sharon’s career and rise in the world of automotive. They touch on big trends in the electric car industry and how Sharon thinks beyond innovating on a “feature level.” Listen for advice on: Navigating innovating 5-10 years ahead (vs. for the short-term) Working cross-functionally with Engineers, Designers, and Product managers The importance of fi...

Feb 06, 202328 min

#97 May Zabaneh | VP, Product - Blockchain, Crypto & Digital Currencies @ PayPal

In this episode, Zoia live-podcasts from Las Vegas with May Zabaneh, Vice President of Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies at PayPal at Money 20/20, the world’s most prominent financial services and payments conferences in the world. May shares what it’s like to lead next-generation payment innovations at a major financial institution and how she thinks about leadership in the space. Listen for advice on: Approaching risk-taking in an innovation career How to get onto 0-to-1 or start-up t...

Nov 07, 202236 min

#96 Kat Wang | Head of Product @ Jasco Games

In this episode, Kat Wang, Head of Product at Jasco Games talks about what it’s like to develop a card game and player experience for one of the most loved anime series in the world, “My Hero Academia.” Kat breaks down how she is building out her team and thinking about innovation simultaneously, and balancing forging ahead. Learn more about: Why being a different background and demographic from your customer can help you build better products How to develop complementary and additive digital ex...

Nov 02, 202234 min

#95 April Koh | Founder & CEO @ Spring Health

In this episode, April Koh discusses her journey to starting Spring Health, a precision mental healthcare platform. April is the youngest woman at the helm of a unicorn (Spring Health was valued at $2 billion dollars when April was just 29) and is tirelessly working to innovate mental health in the hopes of breaking all barriers to fixing problems around it. Listen for advice on: Finding the balance between intuition and tactics when it comes to your MVP How to approach the notion of failure as ...

Oct 24, 202239 min

#94 Ty Montague | Chairman and Chief Purpose Officer @ co:collective

In this episode, we feature our first ever solo male guest, Chairman and Chief Purpose Officer at co:collective, Ty Montague. Ty sits down with WIN’s very own Global Development Lead, Lizzie Azzolino, to discuss purpose-driven innovation and business models, and opine on what it takes to successfully run and stand up such an organization. Listen for advice on: How to distinguish between purpose-driven and share-holder-driven firms The role of marketing and communications in innovation Why design...

Oct 17, 202239 min

#93 Jennifer Smith | CEO & Founder @ Scribe

In this episode, Zoia Kozakov sits down with Jennifer Smith, Founder & CEO of Scribe, who raised over 30 million dollars to battle the innovation antithesis: over-indexing on processes. Jennifer shares her start-up founder journey and her trajectory to building and launching her product, which is used by thousands of companies and users around the world. Listen for advice on: Going from consulting and investing to being an operator How to approach go-to-market while being agile and iterating...

Oct 03, 202237 min

#92 Nicole Centeno & Elise Densborn | Co-CEOs @ Splendid Spoon

In this episode, Zoia sits down with the two co-CEOs at Splendid Spoon, Nicole Centeno and Elise Densborn, to talk about what it means to share a leadership role while staying agile in a start-up environment. The two leaders discuss how their own lived experiences have inspired the trajectory of the company and their views on what it takes to make it as a blooming start-up. Listen for advice on: What it means to co-create in positions of leadership The role of trust in enabling innovation Positi...

Sep 28, 202236 min

#91 Latoya Tucciarone & Ruthie Berber | Amazing Women in eCommerce (powered by Yotpo)

In this episode, Zoia sits down with Latoya Tucciarone, CEO & Founder of SustainAble Home Goods and Amazing Women in eCommerce 2022 honoree, and Ruthie Berber, Head of Community at Yotpo and Program Director at Amazing Women in eCommerce. The conversation discusses the current state of affairs in the start-up world, how retail is evolving and changing to keep up with the times, and how women are showing up and innovating in the world of eCommerce. Listen for advice on: Navigating fundraising...

Aug 17, 202243 min

#90 Victoria Young & Ravi Mehta | Co-Founders @ Scale Higher

In this episode, Zoia hosts Victoria Young and Ravi Mehta, co-founders of Scale Higher, a company reinventing how people learn and grow through its development courses and coaching platform. Victoria and Ravi are both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, who have launched and worked on world-class products including Uber Pool, Trip Advisor, Tinder, Facebook Live, and more. Listen for advice on: How to approach your career as an innovation professional Lessons to be transferred from big companies to ...

Aug 01, 202258 min

#89 Kirin Sinha | CEO & Founder @ Illumix

In this episode, Zoia sits down with Kirin Sinha, CEO & Founder of Illumix, a leading augmented reality (AR) technology, and media company, focused on developing immersive experiences. They discuss the value of the metaverse and AR and the opportunities for women to create and innovate in hard sciences, and STEM industries. Kirin shares her observations about how women speak to themselves versus men and why she focuses on delivering a quality product over her founder story. Listen for advice...

Jul 25, 202239 min

#88 The Innovator’s Mindset: How The Most Impactful Innovation Leaders Navigate Leadership

In this episode, Zoia sits down with Lizzie Azzolino, the founder of Until Now, a coaching & culture transformation design and consulting practice and WIN’s very own Global Development Lead to talk about all things innovation mindset, actionable takeaways for aspiring (and current!) innovation leaders, and, of course, how to advance and develop your leadership capabilities. Lizzie shares insights and lessons from WIN Relay, a first-of-its-kind program for innovation leaders with 12+ years of...

Jun 15, 202234 min

#87 Cassidy Fein | Director of Product @ Vimeo

In this episode, Cassidy Fein, Director of Product, Enterprise at Vimeo, talks about the power of video and the challenges and opportunities it brings when it comes to balancing launching innovative products to market while maintaining focus on the user. The conversation also dives deeper into pivots, decision-making frameworks, and leadership in innovation. Listen for advice on: Understanding when incremental innovation can be valuable How to think about prioritization in a B2B business Leaders...

May 16, 202233 min

#86 Vrinda Gupta | CEO & Founder @ Sequin

In this episode, Zoia is joined by Vrinda Gupta, CEO & Founder at Sequin a fintech behind the first debit card to build credit. Vrinda talks about how her mother’s fears around the financial system fueled her desire to build tools to empower women to better leverage and gain access to credit. She shares how she entered a rotational program at Visa, applied for and got rejected from the Chase Sapphire Reserve card — a product she helped build, and ultimately founded her own FinTech company. L...

Apr 18, 202238 min

#85 Tui Allen | Product Director @ Shopify

In this episode, Tui Allen talks about how adaptability and curiosity created opportunities for her career pivots, moving from consulting at EY and Disney to product management at Blackbaud and Shopify. She shares how growing up in Montreal with an entrepreneurial mother fed her desire to learn, and why she wants to use technology to solve problems in the social good space. Listen for advice on: Creating trust with stakeholders How to think about customer pain points What’s coming next in eComme...

Apr 11, 202233 min

#84 Lucie Buisson | Chief Product Officer @ Contentsquare

In this episode, Lucie Buisson, Chief Product Officer of ContentSquare discusses her transition from being a Customer Success Manager to heading up Product and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Whether it is immersing herself in qualitative or quantitive research or restructuring company processes at every step of ContentSquare’s scaling, Lucie is quite the expert on consumer-centric innovation and product development. Listen for advice on: Prioritizing innovating consumer behavior over s...

Mar 28, 202236 min

#83 Elyssa Byck | Co-Founder & CEO @ Kindred

In this episode, Elyssa Byck shares her path from creating her own roles at Buzzfeed to founding her own company, focused on reimagining corporate leadership training and building values-based communities. She talks about how her entrepreneurial upbringing ignited her to be relentless and scrappy, enter situations with a learning mentality, and embrace vulnerability in professional settings. Listen for advice on: How to bring your whole self to work authentically Figuring out what to evaluate in...

Mar 21, 202232 min

#82 Anne Olderog | Senior Partner @ Vivaldi

In this episode, Anne Olderog highlights the importance of having a different point of view when it comes to problem-solving — something that’s been essential during her 25-year consulting career, including time at McKinsey, BCG, and Goldman Sachs. She talks about how having a global outlook, leading with compassion, and reading a lot of novels has helped open opportunities for connecting with consumers and colleagues. Listen for advice on: How AI and human intelligence can best work together Wa...

Mar 14, 202234 min

#81 Joy Phua | Chief Operating Officer @ Heka Global

In today's episode, Joy Phua, Chief Operating Officer at fintech start-up Heka Global, breaks down how she approaches solving multi-billion dollar problems in the financial ecosystem while applying her liberal arts background and hunger for entrepreneurship in the process. The conversation touches upon the importance of diversity at any scale of a company, why innovation careers are not linear, and how saying yes to challenges has skyrocketed Joy's trajectory and ability to operate in unknown te...

Mar 09, 202233 min

#80 Sarah Lux-Lee | Founder & CEO @ Mindr Global

In today's episode, Sarah Lux-Lee, founder and CEO at Mindr Global, discusses her journey to building out a consultancy and technology platform to help the world's leading workplaces develop their workforces. Sarah's path has always encompassed social impact through her work at the UN's campaign to End Violence Against Women and at the World Health Organization, but she shares how she's built a company focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion at scale and the intricacies of her entrepreneuria...

Feb 28, 202230 min

#79 Laura Teclemariam | Head of Product Innovation, Animation @ Netflix

In this week's episode, the WIN/WIN podcast celebrates Black History Month through a conversation with Netflix's Head of Product Innovation, Animation, Laura Teclemariam. Bringing a plethora of innovation roles at companies like Electronic Arts, Tapjoy, Deloitte, and Microsoft as well as experience as an entrepreneur, Laura breaks down what we can all learn from the innovation and experimentation in the worlds of gaming and animation. Listen for advice on: The importance of finding your people &...

Feb 25, 202236 min

#78 Brittany Driscoll | Founder & CEO @ Squeeze

In this week's episode, Zoia is joined by Brittany Driscoll, Co-founder & CEO of Squeeze, a completely fresh approach to a way better massage experience, brought to you by the founders of Drybar. The conversation covers the importance of creating delight in commoditized experiences in order to infuse hypergrowth in a business as well as Brittany's journey scaling Drybar from $30M to $100M business and then launching Squeeze as CEO. Listen for advice on: Finding the right moments to infuse su...

Feb 14, 202234 min

#77 Lisa Wang | Crypto Brand Advisor & Investor, Board Member @ Fast Company

In this week's episode, we hear from Lisa Wang, a board member and contributor to Fast Company, Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, and former Head of Brand and Communications at Republic. Lisa actively invests in the crypto space as well as advises blockchain companies on establishing their brands and marketing practices to help them to connect with consumers. In this conversation, Lisa uncovers the future of innovation, the importance of women in crypto and Web3 as well as the role that gender and r...

Feb 07, 202232 min

#76 Cara Shortsleeve | CEO @ The Leadership Consortium

In this week’s episode, we hear from Cara Shortsleeve, who is CEO at The Leadership Consortium, a leadership development company that helps organizations create the conditions for all leaders to accelerate and thrive. Pulling from over ten years at Google, her tenure at Morgan Stanley, as well as experiences at New Balance and Saucony, Cara discusses the role of leadership development in innovation. Listen for advice on: How a culture of curiosity can spark innovation Why leadership development ...

Jan 31, 202232 min

#75 Neetu Rajpal | Chief Technology Officer @ Oscar Health

In this episode, Neetu Rajpal shares how her passion for problem-solving led her to study computer science and her time navigating an 18+ year career at Microsoft — starting with Internet Explorer 3. She talks about finding her voice as a woman in STEM, employing her identity as an immigrant to adapt and solve problems, and entering the health care space —joining OscarHealth nine days before the pandemic began. Listen for advice on: What questions to ask before a career transition How to combat ...

Jan 18, 202232 min

#74 Anastasia Leng | Founder & CEO @ CreativeX

In this episode, Anastasia Leng recounts her journey from working on an ad product team at Google to bootstrapping a business and finding her way to becoming a CEO. She talks about how a side-project turned into a company, navigating through receiving “nos” at over 100 investor meetings, and how listening and project management helped her build a tech company without a tech background. Listen for advice on: Navigating difficult conversations as a team leader How the labels of “analytical” and “c...

Jan 10, 202234 min

#73 Vanessa Liu | Entrepreneur, ex-Vice President @ SAP.io

In this episode, Vanessa Liu talks about how working on building digital products at McKinsey spurred her to want to run businesses herself; thinking about her career as an opportunity for creating a diverse portfolio. She shares her approach to generating access for underrepresented founders through her time at SAP’s accelerator, and how her college behavioral neuroscience major is impacting her new work on a venture in the longevity and aging space. Listen for advice on: Putting diversity at t...

Jan 03, 202235 min

#72 Renan Gutman | Executive Vice President, Product @ Kaltura

In this week’s episode, Renan Gutman talks about her trajectory to becoming a product leader and what she believes to be innovative product leadership, especially in her role as Executive Vice President, Product. She shares what it was like to move from a large-scale company such as Microsoft to a growth-stage start-up, Kaltura, and the role of video in our ecosystem, while constantly embracing changes as an innovator. Listen for advice on: The ways that video can be used to enhance a product &a...

Dec 27, 202133 min

#71 Jil Dasher | Managing Director @ Corsica Partners

In this episode, Jil Dasher, Managing Director at Corsica Partners, explains how she transitioned her skill set from leading in the events planning space for over a decade to tackling a new career opportunity in executive search. She talks about summoning her inner Nancy Drew and love of learning to problem-solve and how she approaches bringing diverse candidates to roles, conferences, and events. Listen for advice on: Aligning your values with your career Being authentic and real in job intervi...

Dec 20, 202135 min
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