9 to 5ish with theSkimm

Lauren Bush Lauren has diplomacy in her blood. Former President George HW Bush is her grandfather, and President George W Bush is her uncle. But Lauren has built a legacy all her own. She’s the CEO and co-founder of FEED Projects, the company that sells products like bags and accessories...and uses the sales to help distribute food all around the world. Lauren came up with the idea in college whil...

We're baaaack. With vino. And Barbara Corcoran. You know Barbara as one of the sharks on “Shark Tank.” But the show is just one part of her story. After college, Barbara took a job as a teacher. She quit after a year and moved on to waitressing. A little while after that, she started her own real estate business...and turned it into a multi-million dollar empire. She sold it in the early 2000s. Si...

Midterm elections are in T minus 6 days. Politicians are trying to convince you to hire them. And behind every politician...is a communications director helping them get the word out. So we brought in two of them to talk to us about how they do their jobs -- and how they made it to the top of the political game. Episode 2: Jennifer Palmieri. Jennifer has a long history in politics, starting when s...

Midterm elections are in T minus 6 days. Politicians are trying to convince you to hire them. And behind every politician...is a communications director helping them get the word out. So we brought in two of them to talk to us about how they do their jobs -- and how they made it to the top of the political game. Episode 1: AshLee Strong. AshLee has worked in communications roles all over Washingto...

When Sylvia Acevedo was 7 years old, she was a Girl Scout. One night, her troop leader caught her looking up at the stars...and encouraged her to pursue that interest. Sylvia took that advice. And became a rocket scientist at NASA right out of college. Eventually, she switched tracks and went down the business-leadership path. She’s been a leader at companies like Dell, Apple, and IBM, and she eve...

Katie Couric is one of the most recognized faces in journalism today. You’re probably one of the millions of people who have tuned in to one of Katie’s shows over the years, whether that was “Getting There” with us at theSkimm, the TODAY Show, or the CBS Evening News. Which -- by the way -- made her the first solo female anchor of a major nightly news broadcast. But that’s not where her story star...

Tory Burch is the founder, chairman, and CEO of … Tory Burch. You know her as the woman (and the name) behind so many of your favorite clothes. But way before she created those iconic Reva flats, she built a career in fashion PR, working for designers like Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang. Tory eventually made the switch from PR… to designing her own clothes, and running her own business. That was 2004....

You might know Taraji P Henson as Cookie on “Empire,” or from her roles in movies like “Hustle and Flow” and “Hidden Figures.” But you might not know the rest of Taraji’s story. She’s always wanted to be an actor. But she didn’t take her passion seriously until she flunked out of precalculus in college. After school, she moved to Los Angeles to chase her dreams -- with just $700 in her pocket. And...

Nancy Brinker started the Susan G Komen Foundation in 1982 after her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Back then, she had just $200 and a list of potential donors. Now, it’s one of the largest cancer charities in the world. In the 40 years since the organization got started, Nancy and the foundation have raised $3 billion to help fund cancer research. On the couch, she talks to us about sta...

Christina Tosi started baking at home with her family. And after going to college for applied mathematics, she decided to get back to those baking roots. She went to culinary school and worked in a few different restaurants around NYC. Eventually, Christina landed at Momofuku – where she started the franchise’s first bakery, Milk Bar. She serves as its founder and CEO. Today, the bakery has expand...

Susan Lyne’s career isn’t easy to Skimm. She grew up in Boston, and after going to college for a while, decided to skip school and get straight into her career. Susan was a journalist. Then she switched into entertainment, and even started her own magazine. Since then, she’s been an exec at major companies like Gilt, AOL, Martha Stewart, and ABC. Meaning, yes, you can thank her for “Grey’s Anatomy...

Kat Cole started her career as a waitress at Hooters. At first, she was just helping out her family. But in her second year of college, she decided to turn that side hustle...into her main hustle. So she went to work at Hooters corporate instead of graduating. And at 20 years old, she was helping the company open franchises all over the world. A couple years later, Kat became a VP at the company....

Margaret Brennan is the moderator of “Face the Nation” and a senior correspondent for CBS. But she didn’t always plan to be a journalist. At first, Margaret thought she wanted to be a diplomat, so she studied foreign affairs, the Mideast -- she even learned Arabic. But then she interned at CNN in college. And decided journalism was the path for her. Since then, she’s covered business news for CNBC...

You know Arianna Huffington as the woman who put the Huffington in The Huffington Post. But she’s got a lot more on her resume. Including ‘best-selling author’ and ‘ran for office.’ But in 2007, after working 18-hour days, she collapsed in her office. And decided it was time to focus on herself more. Enter: Thrive Global. Aka the company Arianna started to help people reset, recharge, and get a lo...

Michele Promaulayko fell in love with magazines as a teenager. Since then, she’s gone from dreaming about magazines...to building a career in publishing, working at places like Women’s Health and Yahoo Health. Today, she’s the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan. Meaning teenage Michele is very happy. Oh, and she’s trained in transcendental meditation, too. NBD. On the couch, she talks to us about whe...

Growing this B was not easy. Translation: we ask our family for advice all the time. In this episode, we talk to our dads about some of the things that we’ve learned from them along the way. And we play a game. It's inspired by the new Netflix dramedy "Like Father," about a father-daughter relationship. Listen in here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melanie has a personal rule for herself: if she hears about something three times, from three different people, she has to try it. That rule has led her to new books, restaurants, and… SoulCycle. Which she did while she was a VP at Equinox. Melanie eventually came on as Soul’s COO, and helped grow the biz from a few NYC studios...to more than 80 around the world. Now, she’s the company’s CEO. And...

Katrina Lake spent the first part of her career watching other entrepreneurs pitch their companies to her VC firm. But then she decided she wanted to try it out herself. So she went to Harvard Business School and started her own company. Today, you know it as the multibillion-dollar online styling service Stitch Fix. And when she took Stitch Fix public in 2017, Katrina became the youngest woman to...

Mindy Grossman graduated college at 20 and was on her way to law school. But then she changed her mind – so she broke her engagement, packed her bags, and moved to New York City. Luckily, that gamble worked out: today, she’s on Forbes’ list of the most powerful women in the world. Over her career, Mindy’s headed up companies like Chaps Ralph Lauren, the Home Shopping Network, and NIke. In 2017, sh...

Tyler Haney is the CEO and founder of Outdoor Voices. Today, you know OV as one of your favorite brands to wear to the gym...or to walk your dog around the block. Tyler got the idea for her company when she was on a jog. Since then, she’s grown it into a multi-million dollar national brand. And this week, Tyler is our guest on the couch. She talks to us about turning an investor's no into a yes, l...

Our guest this week is Shan-Lyn Ma. She started her company Zola in 2013, after she realized that buying wedding gifts is fun for...pretty much nobody. Flash forward to now, and hundreds of thousands of people use Zola to register and shop for wedding gifts every year. On the couch, Shan-Lyn talks to us about building her team, not taking no for an answer, and convincing male investors to take Zol...

Ariel Kaye's career in home goods started out as a side hustle. But in 2013, she decided to leave a stable career in advertising and turn that side hustle... into her main hustle. She called it Parachute. These days, if you're like us, you might go to sleep and wake up in Ariel’s products every day. On the couch, Ariel talks to us about staying zen, using her advertising background to grow her bra...

Our guest this week is Linnea Roberts. She’s the founder and CEO of Gingerbread Capital, the venture capital firm she started after she ‘flunked’ retirement. Inspired by her mom Ginger, her company is all about investing in female-founded companies. Including theSkimm (thanks, Linnea). On the couch, she talks to us about making it in the finance world, finding a support system, and (figuratively)...

On the couch, Gregg Renfrew talked to us about being a manager. And how it’s not exactly her favorite thing to do. We can relate. Figuring out how to manage people was something we had to learn along the way. This week, we’re answering some of our go-to interview questions about management mistakes, bad advice, and how we made failure a part of our company culture. Learn more about your ad choices...

Gregg Renfrew is all about side hustles. On her resume: everything from starting a cleaning company in college...to launching a biz to make dress shopping less awful for bridesmaids. These days, she’s the founder and CEO of Beautycounter. Aka the company that makes beauty and skincare products, minus all the harmful chemicals. On the couch, she talks to us about tapping into the female millennial...