Trailblazers

This week we chat with the remarkable Ashley Sumner.Ashley is the CEO & Founder of Quilt, a social platform for meaningful friendships. Ashley’s startup career started 12 years ago in NYC at a matchmaking company. With an intuitive ability to bring people together, she turned her passion into a career as a community developer for brands such as Wanderlust and Breakout, which ultimately led to the creation of Quilt.Quilt is not your typical wellness company... but rather a social network for supportive conversations and spontaneity. On this episode, the two start at the beginning of Ashley's journey to entrepreneurship in the theatrical scene. Between studying, dancing, acting, and interviews, Ashley learned the value of hard work and persistence early on but upon moving to LA she realized the struggle of burnout is real. Seeking to heal and treat her mind and body, Ashley now lives in Los Angeles, like every other New Yorker. And then was the start of Quilt. Conversations on mindfulness, dinner series, and bi-coastal living are just the beginning. Twentysomethings, get ready for an hour with the mindful and inspirational Ashley Summer!Follow Us!Ashley Summer: @ashleyjsummerQuilt: @wearequiltErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week, we're stating the new year off right with an episode from our host, Erica Wenger!Let's take an hour to reflect back on this last year together... Erica recalls her personal and professional accomplishments along with the lessons learned along the way.How can we use last years' experiences as a foundation for the goals we want to set and achieve this year? Erica is here to break this down and covers it all in this weeks episode.Twentysomethings, we're so happy to have you here for the first episode of 2023, get ready for an episode with our favorite host, Erica Wenger! Follow Us!Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Shivana Siroya!Shivani Siroya is the founder and CEO of Tala, the leading financial technology company in emerging markets. Prior to founding Tala, Shivani held a variety of positions in global health and micro-finance and investment banking. Millions of people have borrowed through Tala's smartphone app, which provides instant personalized credit to under-served customers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Tala is backed by leading venture and impact investors, including PayPal, Revolution, IVP, and more... Earlier this year, Forbes named Tala as one of the top-50 tech companies in the world Tala's work has been highlighted by the New York Times, Financial Times, and Wall Street Journal among many others. In this episode, the pair start from the beginning of Shivani's journey where she discovered a key eye for problem solving. Applying solution to a problem seems to be the underlying thread in Shivani's experiences guiding her through college where she received an MBA from Columbia, and later then into the workforce. Conversations on the difference between comprehension and experience, the advantages of alumni networking, and the passion to serve underpopulated regions is just the start!Twentysomethings, get ready for an hour with the problem-solver of our generation, Shivani Siroya!Follow Us!Shivani Siroya: @shivsiroyaTala: @talamobile (and website here)Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with the expert on all things Personal Finance, Maia Monell. Founder, Maia Monell, is shaking up the financial technology space (industry defined as fintech) through Nav.it. Founded in 2018, Nav.it provides personalized financial coaching to create lasting behavioral change around financial habits. Through daily check-ins, insights, and community conversations empower users to live financially well. Maia is devoted to closing wealth gaps perpetuated by a system not built for the majority of America and believes that financial wellbeing is an integral part of creating a healthier and more equitable society. Through her work as a founding team member at BridgeAthletic, a performance technology using prescriptive AI for fitness coaching, training, and reporting, Maia saw firsthand the detrimental effects poor financial and mental health could have on one’s physical performance. Maia took her overall health and wellness obsession and aimed to tackle financial fitness. Maia reveals her passion for changing the narrative around money to be inclusive, positive, and practical in its experience. Pioneering a new way to serve customers in the fintech space, Maia’s strength is in building competitive brands in the start-up space through brand strategy and community management. Under her expertise, Nav.it has grown over 150% in the last year and launched two new distribution channels.In this explained episode, the pair bridge Maia’s journey from an English degree, to a fitness company, to her venture into the Fintech space as she now stands as the Chief Growth Officer of her company, Nav.it. Breaking down the basics of personal finance and comparing large-scale company tactics to everyday-language, Maia offers an inside scoop into better money habits for us all. Conversations on changing your mind, anti-procrastination, and a fascination with money are just the beginning...Twentysomethings, get ready for an hour that will change the trajectory of your financial journey with the expert herself, Maia Monell!Follow Us!Maia Monell: @maiamonell (and LinkedIn here)Nav.it: @letsnavit (and website here)Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with finance mogul, Alexa Von Tobel.Alexa von Tobel, CFP® is the founder and managing partner of Inspired Capital and the New York Times-Bestselling Author of Financially Fearless and Financially Forward. Founded in 2019, Inspired Capital is a $500M early-stage venture capital firm that invests across categories of innovation. Prior to Inspired Capital, Alexa founded LearnVest in 2008 with the goal of helping people make progress on their money. After raising nearly $75 million in venture capital, LearnVest was acquired by Northwestern Mutual in May 2015 in one of the biggest fintech acquisitions of the decade. She later assumed the role of Chief Innovation Officer through which she oversaw Northwestern Mutual’s venture arm.In this episode the pair trace back to the start of Alexa’s “work hard” approach to success, recalling her high school years as a student athlete and her psychology studies at Harvard University. Alexa breaks down how a positive attitude is the key to success and offers insight to achieving and maintaining a positive space. Conversations on building success with her husband, the road to finance in NYC, and mixing talent with passion to achieve dreams are just the beginning… Twentysomethings, get ready for an episode with the woman of the hour, Alexa Von Tobel!Follow Us!Alexa Von Tobel: @alexavontobelInspired Capital: @inspiredcapital (and website here)Learn Vest: @learnvest (and website here)Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

Discover the art of cold outreach and its pivotal role in networking success. Learn effective cold emailing techniques that prioritize clarity and brevity. Explore how active listening can transform connections and drive results. Understand how jealousy can be channeled into motivation for achieving your goals. Gain insights into the importance of confidence and competence in communication. Uncover actionable tips that empower you to create endless opportunities for personal and professional growth!

This week we chat with renowned celebrity divorce attorney, Laura Wasser.Laura is a family law expert, author, entrepreneur, and Chief of Divorce Evolution at Divorce.com. Laura has made it her driving purpose to help people divorce through less combative, more affordable modern solutions—in large part by founding online divorce service It’s Over Easy, which was folded into Divorce.com’s expansive platform in 2022. Finding common cause with Divorce.com, Laura also joined as Chief of Divorce Evolution, empowering her to share her passion for easing the devastating toll divorce can take on families and children.For over a decade, Laura has been changing the face of divorce. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller, “It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way: How to Divorce Without Destroying Your Family and Bankrupting Yourself.” She also hosts the Divorce Sucks! and All’s Fair podcasts, where she shares her expertise and guides divorcing couples in reclaiming control of their destinies.In this episode the pair trace back to the start of Laura’s journey as a rhetoric major at Cal Berkeley, transforming the art of argumentation through literary analysis into her lifelong career in law. The trials and tribulations of Laura’s twenties are seen as the defining moments of her future career and this week we’ve got the inside scoop. Conversations on the challenges of law school, nightclub employment, and high-profile clients are just the beginning… Twentysomethings, listen now for an hour of stories and wisdom from the successful Laura Wasser!Follow Us!Laura Wasser: @laurawasserofficialDivorce Evolution: website hereErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with the expert on “Enneagrams”, Leah Elias. Leah studied Chinese at the University of Michigan as a means to challenge herself and spent her first five years post-grad in Beijing, cultivating the skills that landed her a Chief of Staff position. While achieving success and strides on paper, she found herself struggling with burnouts in her twenties. Leah was introduced to the Enneagram when she was looking to free herself from her lifelong struggle with perfectionism. This discovery was so profound and enlightening, she quit her job as Chief of Staff and is now a full time Enneagram coach and writer. In this explained episode, the pair breakdown just how this enneagram system of personality typing describes patterns in how people interpret the world and manage their emotions. Leah touches on the nine different enneagram types and explains how with each type, there lies an associated fear and desire acting as a driving force in the behaviors, decision making, and communication of that person.Leah ties her experiences with perfectionism, burnout, tainted relations and more back to her enneagram type and connects how all of these affairs of her life are improved and enriched as a result of understanding and working with enneagrams. Conversations on burnout at the peak of her career, frustration without solution, and improved relations as a result of enneagram work is just the beginning…Twentysomethings, get ready for an hour with the expert on all things enneagrams, Leah Elias!Follow Us!The Enneagram Studio: website hereFree Enneagram Test: website hereErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with the young and ambitious model-turned-writer and producer, Emily Ruhl. Emily is the founder of Public School Pictures, a full-service creative studio currently producing her first TV series, 13th Stepping. Before venturing into the world of film and production, Emily was the face of our favorite magazine prints and makeup lines for nearly a decade, starting at only age thirteen! Transitioning from the spotlight of the fashion and beauty industry to her role behind the scenes in film, this episode covers it all…In this episode the pair go back to the beginning of Emily’s journey at New York Fashion Week, age thirteen, where she was scouted and signed to her first modeling contract in Tokyo. Appearing as the face of everyone’s favorite magazines and makeup lines, Emily offers insight into her teenage years and what it meant to grow up fast in a city that never sleeps. She then dives into the challenges of growing up in the public eye as she transitions into film. Now, at twenty-three years old, she’s embracing the film industry not only through acting, but now writing and producing her first TV series, 13th Stepping, through her own production company, Public School Pictures. Conversations on mental obstacles, living alone in NYC as a teenager, and the inspiration behind her films today are just the beginning…Twentysomethings, listen now for an hour of inspiration with the incredible Emily Ruhl!Follow Us!Emily Ruhl: @emilyruhlPublic School Pictures: @publicschoolpicturesErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we’re talking all about finances with our host, Erica Wenger! Everything from making money, to spending, saving, and investing… Erica covers it all this week taking us back to the beginning of her personal finance journey. Establishing her perspective and relationship with money throughout the way, we see her personal evolution with finances and the role it plays in her career in social entrepreneurship. In this episode, Erica takes us through her personal practices for money management, the establishment of financial priorities, and offers tips and tricks for budgeting and saving. Conversations on a childhood support system to her present financial situation, Erica breaks down her “August strategy” and shares her inside secrets to investments and passive income. Twentysomethings, if you’re navigating a rough financial road, this is the episode for you. Listen now for a journey filled with gems and tips on managing personal finances to get you out of the rut with our host, Erica Wenger!Follow Us!Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @Deartwentysomething