Dear FoundHer...Real Founder Stories for Women Small Business Owners

“I spent the first five years of my business building community,” says Laney Schwartz, Founder of the food blog Life is But a Dish. “It was, is and continues to be the foundation of my business.”  A former first grade teacher who loved to cook, Laney decided to combine her two passions by starting the blog. With it, she helps busy people gain confidence in the kitchen by learning to cook with...

“Influencers built Freshly Picked,” says Susan Petersen, of her company that is one of the most recognizable names in the baby space. In 2009, after making a few pairs of moccasins for her son Gus, and featuring them on her then-struggling blog, she immediately got attention from potential customers and began building a following. Five years later, an appearance on NBC’s “Shark Tank” would prove p...

“You have to let people know what you’re doing,” says Annie Scranton, Founder of Pace PR, which helps their clients understand and achieve their goals by placing them in meaningful spots within traditional media. TV is still the most prestigious platform for promotion, lending a client instant prestige. This makes it the most competitive medium to be placed in, which is where a PR company like Pac...

“Meet other women,” advises Camille Burns, CEO of Women Presidents Organization, “You do not need to do this alone.” WPO's mission is to help second-stage female entrepreneurs around the world take their companies to the next level of success. At any stage of one’s career, though, being an entrepreneur can be quite lonely, and being a female founder has its own unique set of challenges. This is wh...

“It’s crazy to me that we have made this industry so confusing and so secretive,” says Jessica Willis, Founder of Pocketnest, a financial platform that she licenses to financial institutions, as well as employers for employee financial wellness. A self-proclaimed finance wizard, Jessica knew she wanted to help others who may be intimidated or less knowledgeable to be able to organize and optimize...

“We’re the political podcast for people who hate political podcasts,” says Sarah Stewart Holland, Co-Founder and Co-Host of the Pantsuit Politics podcast. She and Beth Silvers felt that there was an independent space for people who found themselves somewhere in between the increasingly divergent polls of the political spectrum. And this emphasis on community is what has made their podcast so succe...

“From a young age, I saw food as little treasures,” says Katrina Markoff, Founder of Vosges Chocolate, “to me it was really special.” This is the experience she has created for her customers for nearly 30 years with her gourmet chocolate confections. Not only was she a pioneer of adding unconventional ingredients like silver or olive oil to chocolate and making chocolate a slow-eating, full sensor...

“Our platform is almost a reflection of what’s going on in culture,” says Lara Vandenberg, CEO and Founder of Publicist, an online marketplace to source premium-vetted marketing and communication experts. Not only does it serve industries such as cryptocurrency, fintech, healthcare and more than 60 others, it has coincided with the major cultural shift in attitude in the workplace since March of 2...

“We really try to tap into the types of humans who would want to buy our products,” says Cristie Besu, Founder of Eat Me Guilt Free, a line of better-for-you baked goods and bread products that swap out traditional ingredients for healthy ones while still being delicious. A former ER nurse and sports nutritionist, Cristie wanted her concept of better-for-you to apply to all types of health needs....

“You need to know how to utilize your community for growth because when you engage with them, they will help you,” Lindsay says in this second of two solo episodes where she shows you how to grow and leverage your community to help you scale your business. Each of the steps she shares is valuable because they create the kind of momentum that will spare you a number of mistakes and save you years o...

“There’s so much between being fully at home with your children, and fully climbing the corporate ladder,” says Kim Rittberg, Video Strategy Consultant and Host of Mom’s Exit Interview podcast, “There are a lot of ways to create a flexible life, and I’m just so excited to explore that and to bring it to listeners.” Kim realized she needed to change her approach to work-life balance when she was sc...

“Your community is your greatest asset and your content is your greatest marketing tool,” Lindsay says on this solo episode of Dear FoundHer. The first of two episodes in which she shares with listeners what she has emphasized throughout the 72 episodes of the podcast thus far: the importance of building your community. In fact, the more you show up as your authentic self, sharing your personal st...

“I think that we’re both better humans and better at life because of it,” Lauren Abney says of the Well/Behaved podcast that she co-founded with best friend Stephanie Biegel. And this is not an overstatement. As self-described connectors, they talk with a variety of experts from the wellness space about everything from astrology to tequila. In turn, those connections have since taken them on as br...

“What I’ll tell you in three minutes, it took me ten years to learn,” says Haley Geffen, Co-Founder of Coed Studios, and 6-time Emmy award-winning director and filmmaker. Here she shares invaluable lessons gained from working with some of the biggest brands and names in the entertainment industry. She’s directed videos for Netflix, Dove, and Crest, and co-directed the 2021 All-Star Game open featu...

“I’m a big believer that it’s never too late in your life to do something that you’re really passionate about,” says Lili Foggle, Founder of Impressive Interviewing, “It’s also never too late to pivot.” After 12 years of studying acting, Lili blew an interview for a major audition with a Broadway actor. It was this experience that led Lili to redirect her career into the nonprofit sector and soon...

“I was forced to do this,” says Laura Shafferman, Founder of Legally Addictive, “I don’t think I would have done it if I hadn’t been forced to turn my life around.” After her commercial real estate firm laid her off and held her to a non-compete clause for a year, Laura wasn’t sure what she would do next. By chance, she baked a batch of chocolate and toffee covered crackers, a staple treat found i...

“As any founder knows, your brand is your baby,” says Genevieve Custer Weeks, Founder of Tutu School, which teaches preschool-age children the basics of ballet. It can feel scary to leave your brand in the hands of other people if you pursue a franchise model for expansion. For this reason, Genevieve says it’s important to be constantly evolving as a brand so that you are both supporting all of yo...

“I truly, wholeheartedly believe the world will be a better place when women have full autonomy over all aspects of their lives,” says Kiley Peters, whose dedication to helping female business owners create fulfilling careers and home lives through entrepreneurship led to founding her company Rayne IX. This executive consultancy firm asks clients what they truly want, what their pain points are, a...

“Who’s coming with me to Washington?” Kitty Brandtner asked, the day after the July 4th mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois.  Kitty had been attending a similar event nearby with her young family when a man with an assault weapon opened fire on families and parade goers. In a mix of grief and fury, Kitty took to social media and nearly overnight, she mobilized a team of citizens who were...

“We went where she was,” explains Mahisha Dellinger of the marketing strategy that built CURLS, an organic hair product line she founded 20 years ago.  This was the strategy Mahisha used to launch her brand and grow it through a DTC model before it was one of the first four brands to launch the ethnic hair category in Target.  Word of mouth spread and a customer base was built that doubl...

“Something that really bothered me,” says Sascha Mayer, Co-founder and CEO of Mamava, “was the invisibility of this human function that many of our population deals with.” As a new, breastfeeding mother, Sascha found herself struggling to balance a busy job with a milk pumping schedule. It’s a cumbersome, time-consuming, and emotionally demanding process, requiring privacy that isn’t afforded by t...

It's been exactly a year since Dear FoundHer... host, Lindsay Pinchuk, exited the corporation who bought the company she founded.  In this episode, Lindsay celebrates the last year having no regrets and knows that she is exactly where she is supposed to be. Today, Lindsay shares with our community:  How she made the decision to leave. (3:06) The first step she took after her exit. (...

“Fyli stands for ‘tribe’ in Greek and ‘family’ in Latin,” explains Jaclyn “Jax” Brennan, founder of Fyli, a private support network for female founders. Just as the U.S. locked down, Jax acted as a conduit for connection, reaching out to every mastermind she knew to create 150 online masterclasses, and offered them to beginner founders at no cost. Fyli soon evolved into its current model, and when...

“People want to be your advocate. They want to be your helper,” assures Elizabeth Rees, Founder of Chasing Paper, a company that pioneered removable wallpaper. As the third-generation in a family printing business, Elizabeth saw a need for peel-and-stick wallpaper made of traditional materials, designed with original imagery. Without a PR or marketing team, she networked relentlessly, attending ev...

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Jenn Sherman asked herself when she sent an email to John Foley, who was looking for people to join his new company called Peloton. She thought the last thing anyone in the youth-obsessed fitness industry would want was a 40-something mother of two. She and John hit it off instantly, and soon she became Peloton’s original  instructor. The Peloton community...