Female Startup Club

Sahara Lotti is the total badass inventor and founder behind the award winning DIY lash extensions company, Lashify. And when I say that this is a must-listen episode - I truly mean it. It’s real and it’s raw and Sahara shares so much of her journey and the challenges she’s faced along the way; if there’s only one podcast you listen to this week - please make it this one. We talk about the absolute importance of patents and the ins and outs of how people can screw you over in any industry, how she actually found her manufacturer. (Spoiler alert: it involves karaoke and Celine Dion hits), the controversy that surrounded her brand in the early days that almost ended in a cancel culture moment (not ok) and the effects that had on her life and her mental health and investing $100,000 into a black-owned hair care brand. Plus so many incredible pieces of actual gold. Actual gold!! These are the learnings of a woman who has a clear mission and isn’t afraid to chase her dreams.Full disclaimer: the audio quality is questionable, but hey...tech can be a nightmare sometimes and this episode is more than worth it. Your ears need this. Trust me.LINKS WE MENTION:Lashify's WebsiteLashify's InstagramSahara's Instagram  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A disruptive bridal tech startup that has more than 4 billion options to customise a wedding dress, for a fraction of the cost of regular gowns. Genius! In this episode we're talking about the lightbulb moment that lead to Leslie starting the business with her now husband, how her background in product development at companies like Nike and Apple became one of their biggest strengths, key advice for fundraising and the moment that a random TikTok video went viral and generated 800,000 sign ups to their website in month alone.LINKS WE MENTION:Anomalie's WebsiteAnomalie's InstagramPodcast: Radiolab Podcast: How I Built ThisBook: Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tune in to this episode to hear from the founders of Favour chewing gum. This dynamic combo of 3 women across multi generations have come together to create a CBD product that helps ease stress and anxiety — and in the current climate, it's something we need more than ever. As passionate supporters and users of holistic and natural remedies, the three found CBD to be their saviours. The life-changing results have helped them combat anxiety, bodily pains, insomnia, stress, depression and all the daily disruptions they once had trouble managing. Coming from entrepreneurial backgrounds, the three have partnered together to create an education-first, functional brand powered by higher-bioavailability CBD. Do yourself a Favour, and listen to learn how they came up with the concept and launched to market. LINKS TO FAVOURFavour's WebsiteFavour's Instagram  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I’m joined by serial entrepreneur Christiane Lumieux. She sold her first company to Wayfair in 2013, going onto being their Creative Director and now owns The Inside, a home decor tech company that creates stunning, customised furniture at an affordable price - all for the modern consumer. Christiane shares her journey of selling her first bootstrapped company, through to launching a VC backed startup and her new book Frictionless - which has just been released - where she’s sharing all of her learnings and lessons along the way, among interviews with the most successful founders from around the world. We also talk about where we should be focusing our marketing efforts right now, and how the global pandemic has shifted our mindsets in business and our personal lives. LINKS WE MENTION:The InsideThe Inside's InstagramChristiane's InstagramFrictionless: Why The Future of Everything Will Be Fast, Fluid and Made Just For You Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine not being able to go to school or work because you don’t have the products you need during your period. Imagine having to use dirty rags instead of tampons or pads and being forced to drop out of school in elementary - all because of your period. For millions of women and girls around the world - this is a reality. Enter Cora. Cora is a purpose driven fem-care brand that’s on a mission to build a better future for all women, all around the world, founded by Molly Hayward. Molly is one of those sparkly women I felt like I could chat to for hours about her mission over the last decade and what she’s managed to build with Cora. An elevated period brand for the modern woman, with a major social 1 for 1 give back scheme to girls in need. Since 2016, Cora has donated well over 10 million pads and has helped provide reproductive health education to roughly 15,000 girls in Kenya and India. This is one of the most inspiring women I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing and I hope you love the episode.LINKS WE MENTION:Cora's WebsiteCora's InstagramMolly's Instagram Vitruvi----Female Startup Club is a platform designed for women-in-progress to learn and dominate through an insightful podcast, technical courses and resources. Check out our new course The Ads MBA to master the technical skills needed to launch and scale profitable Facebook and Instagram ads.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode with Kerry Benjamin we’re chatting about her journey to where she is today growing the business from the ground up completely self-funded, what’s working for her now and her top advice for women. This is the story of a woman who went through a major career change in the pursuit of happiness, found her focus and became an expert the second time around.LINKS WE MENTION:StackedSkincare's Website StackedSkincare Instagram  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While running a day spa together Courtney Dunlop and Michelle Feldman had a lightbulb moment to launch their own natural wine brand that wouldn’t leave you feeling hungover the next day, or with any blemishes on your skin. Enter Good Clean Wine! In this episode we cover their move to differentiate themselves on the shelf through branding, and doubling down to make their price point highly attractive to women who want good quality, European natural wine that doesn’t break the bank account.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gossamer’s a magazine for stylish people who smoke weed, but it's more than just a business trying to turn a profit. They’re a company that’s built on the promise of having a positive social impact on the world, shift perceptions and make a real difference to the people they touch.  We’re talking about the journey in creating this out of the box idea with her co-founder David Weiner, and how they’ve managed to successfully carve out their niche in a highly regulated space, her experience of raising money as a female with blatant sexism at play, and why we need to shift the stigma that surrounds cannabis - especially for people of colour.One of the gems in this episode is where we go through the economics of creating a print magazine and Verena's thoughts on making money in print - make sure you stick around for it!LINKS WE MENTIONGossamer's WebsiteGossamer's Instagram The Ads MBA Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Vogue to Forbes 30 under 30, Great Jones is the modern day cookware brand that everyone’s hot for. Lifelong friends Sierra Tishgart and Maddy Moelis, had the idea over dinner a few years ago and set out to create a luxury cookware company that’s more accessible and affordable for young folk. And these are the kind of pots you want in your kitchen. They’re pastel themed and designed with small New York apartments in mind - they’re so beautiful they can literally live on top of your stove. And the branding is something you need to see for yourself. I urge you to check out their website and their Instagram, these women know a thing or two about good looking stuff. It’s one of the best. We’re talking about the benefits of co-founders seeing a CEO coach early on in the journey to maintain a healthy friendship and working relationship, how to ask a mentor to be your mentor and raising capital through like minded high profile female founders.  LINKS WE MENTION Great Jones websiteGreat Jones InstagramSierra's Instagram  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joining me in this episode is Sarah Mcdevitt, founder of Core. A mental wellness company who have developed a device for meditation that uses grounding vibration patterns, light and clarifying breathing exercises to bring your mind back to focus. After suffering from anxiety and burnout in her career, Sarah changed direction and took her background in program engineering at Microsoft to set about creating a device to help her mental wellbeing.We cover her journey from the early stages of prototyping and why there might be more iterations needed than you think, through to the unique challenges women face when fundraising (and the advice she received from another female founder that helped her change tactics to reach success!) and why she thinks it's absolutely critical to share your idea to as many people as possible early on.LINKS WE MENTION:Core's websiteCore's Instagram  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.