Startups in Stilettos

“Try to help them understand why we're doing what we're doing and let them see how it's going to benefit them in the long term, why we have to be compliant, why we have to be profitable, why we need to market our business. And really talk to them—always going back to what we called in school the ‘Three Legged Stool.’ So, we're always trying to balance profitability, access, and quality care.” With...

“One in five women with menopause have considered dropping out of work, have foregone promotion. And we are just at the top of our game and to take us out at 50 is not okay. It's about empowering women to be the best that we can possibly be.” When Dr. Sophia Yen co-founded Pandia Health, the idea was to provide free birth control delivery to anyone with insurance, from private options to Medicaid....

“We're being bombarded all day with so much content and noise. “Please, please. I need your attention here, here, here.” You really have to learn to think about who's listening. Really ask yourself, what is the takeaway for the person listening? Why does that matter? And if you can't think of that, then you don't need to talk about it.” Patrice Poltzer is a storytelling and personal brand expert a...

“In the beginning, if you don't have a team or a system or community around you, it's very easy to feel lost. There are these amazing communities out there for amazing female founders that will really help guide and support you. So, the greatest lesson I learned pretty quickly was that you're never alone. Or, if you feel alone, there are ways to get out of that.” When trademark attorney Lauren Ber...

“One big thing that sets us apart from other people in [the fertility] space is that we are a team of medical professionals and it's all within our scope of practice to guide you through these things.” After a decade at one of New York City’s top fertility clinics, Leyla Bilali was approached by one of her previous patients with a business plan for a company designed to cater holistically to those...

“Commit yourself to the discipline and the habit of tracking what is going on. If you're doing that, you are already 10,000 steps ahead of any other business owner who does nothing. If you take this all or nothing approach of, ‘I can't afford a CPA, can't afford a bookkeeper, I can't afford to outsource this yet.’ Guess whose job it is? It's yours to figure out how to do a version of it that you c...

“A lot of people have the misconception that PR is only intended for large brands, and that is so not true. PR is really a formula, right? It is building brand awareness, gaining visibility to earn credibility, which equals profitability.” Amy Roberson was climbing the corporate ladder when she realized that being gone for 12 hours a day and having a nanny raise her young son just wasn’t the life...

“I became hyper detailed on the processes and how the business should run. Any good business, this should be the baseline. Nothing else, like this is it. How does your business run without you? My team understands that everyone's on board, so they just move through the system systematically. And so if they have any questions, they pop their head up, ‘Hey, I wasn't able to find this,’ someone can r...

“Everybody has an unfair advantage. Use it. It could be an expertise that you have, that could be contacts you have in an industry that's adjacent to the industry of your startup or can help your startup—use that. When Marina Khidekel started her search for a solution to her nighttime anxiety, she turned to weighted blankets to aid her bedtime routine. After trying multiple options on the market,...

"I really care about people and I really care to see people thrive in communities where they feel welcomed." Amanda Smith is the Founder & CEO of Dallas Girl Gang, a 50,000 plus global community of engaged women connecting in career, business, and life. Amanda, a former elementary music teacher, has grown Dallas Girl Gang from a simple Facebook group into a thriving platform offering events, mento...

“I didn't realize that it was my gift. I know it was something that I enjoyed and it's something that I loved, but I didn't learn that it was my gift until I got into my 30s.” As a young girl, Joanne Thomas used her Easy-Bake Oven to make the best light-bulb-baked brownies that anyone had ever tasted—but it took her decades to realize that the culinary arts were her true calling. Today, Joanne is...

“I've tried so many things, I've been in the feast and famine cycle. First you struggle to get clients or customers and then you struggle with your marketing to keep up with that. It's never ending. There's always something to do and it's important to take a pause and step back and look at how far you've come. So, I'm always grateful for how far I've come rather than being so fixated on ‘Why can't...

“We learn the financial services, we learn what is in that system. We don't learn about our relationship with money. We don't learn about our relationship with success. We didn't learn anything that has to do with the emotional and mindset side of money. You might know the instruments, you may know the old literacy that you want. But if you're lacking this other part, it's never going to work.” Al...

“Everything started because somebody started it. Somebody felt that need, ‘Okay, this is not there. Let me take care of this and let me contribute the way I can.’ Of course we can't conquer the world—we're not capable. But we can all do our part and contribute in some ways and we have to start because I believe doing is powerful… because not doing is not.” Growing up in India, Pallavi Pande spent...

“Just because you don't know people, just because you don't have the budget,  just because you don't know anything about the media space doesn't mean that you aren't valued and that you shouldn't put your foot in the door.” When Nicole Pearl Kaplan joined Clubhouse, she was incensed by the advice 'quote unquote experts' were giving to small business owners, which led her to realize she had valuabl...

“The responses that I had to my intro post inside of Entreprenista pales in comparison to all of these other networks that I've introduced myself in. I've met so many wonderful women there. And that is part of my marketing strategy, is that every week I have a consistent amount of time that I invest in these groups… Investing in those relationships has paid off immensely.” Mariana Henninger had a...

“As a leader, I knew that it was important for me to know the job. I have to know what it takes financially, physically, mentally to do any job. I would never want to tell somebody to do a job and be responsible for managing them in that position if I didn't know what the job entails.” When Lena Jenkins-Smith decided to make a major pivot in her entertainment career, she knew she would have to ove...

“We don't have to do a million things, we just have to do the right things. We often feel like ‘I don't have a big budget to spend on ads and that's why I'm not successful.’ We're chasing all of these different marketing tactics… In truth, we don't actually need to be doing that much.” Lindsey Breitwieser spent nearly a decade of her career in marketing working in-house for international agencies,...

“You know, it hurts. Nobody likes rejection and somebody didn't like you—whether it be in a relationship or in a job. But you have to figure out how to get up and dust yourself off and make it work. And that's a large part of what I try to impart to my clients, too, when I'm working with them.” After Billé Frazier was laid off from what she believed to be her “dream job,” she decided to take it as...

“Show up dressed as your next level self. So, whoever that ‘her’ is that you're projecting—whether that's five years or 10 years—show up as her. Embodying her, not just dressed as her… Proving to yourself like, ‘Hey, I just did it 10 years before I thought that I could do it.’” When Dr. Noor Ali moved back to the US after completing her medical training and starting her career as a surgeon in Bang...

“In the beginning, if you don't have a team or a system or community around you, it's very easy to feel lost. There are these amazing communities out there for amazing female founders that will really help guide and support you. So, the greatest lesson I learned pretty quickly was that you're never alone. Or, if you feel alone, there are ways to get out of that.” When trademark attorney Lauren Ber...

“It's a crowded space. It's expensive. It takes time. And not everybody is an overnight success. So, I think it's important to know how to play with the rules of the game and how to set yourself in a way that is really going to differentiate you and… is going to serve you. I want to make sure that your formulation, that your packaging, that anything you develop is aligned with your vision.” When E...

“We really have to get into this mindset of, ‘Maybe I'm not the best at sales, but I'm doing my best.’ I'm going to get better every conversation I have. I'm going to learn with every conversation that I have. We're going to get better with every single call.” Candice D’Angelo spent the first year of her corporate career having doors slammed in her face and getting fired—six times! Though she even...

“You don't need to always feel like you have to belong to six or seven networking relationship groups that account for thousands and thousands of members. As I always say, go narrow and deep.” -Carlyn  Hey Entreprenistas! It's Stephanie and Carlyn here and we’re talking about some of our favorite relationship and network-building tips. We’re covering all you need to know about networking as an int...

“I see that a lot of these young women are struggling to feel like their impact matters and I really want to create something that incorporates my own stories, my own journey, to show them that our choices matter. But more importantly, that they matter, and that everything they bring to the table is significant and meaningful.” When Brianna Ruelas and her husband were thrust into entrepreneurship...