Trailblazers

This week we chat with the successful serial entrepreneur, Christina Wallace!A self-described "human Venn diagram," Christina Wallace has crafted a career at the intersection of business, technology, and the arts. After a decade as a serial entrepreneur, she joined the faculty of Harvard Business School where she is the course head of the first-year entrepreneurship class and runs the HBS Startup Bootcamp. Her latest book is The Portfolio Life: How to Future-Proof Your Career, Avoid Burnout, and Build A Life Bigger Than Your Business Card (Hachette, April 2023).On this episode the pair go back to the start of Christina's journey and breakdown motivation and challenges along her way to success. A frequent public speaker on topics including entrepreneurship, failure, and women in tech, Christina is also known for her viral TED talk on using a sales funnel for online dating and her TEDx talk about portfolio careers and the future of work. Conversations on failure, startup businesses, and the spirit of entrepreneurship at its core is just a glimpse into this week's episode. Twentysomethings, get ready for an hour with the inspiring and creative, Christina Wallace!Follow Us!Christina Wallace: Instagram @cmwalla // Twitter @cmwallaThe Portfolio Life: (website here)Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we’re talking all about Bootstrapping vs. Raising VC Money for a start-up with our host, Erica Wenger! Having established three successful start-up businesses of her own and now entering the world of venture capital, Erica offers an inside scoop into the world of raising money for start-up businesses. While there are several different routes concerning this topic, Erica is here to share her tips, tricks, advice, and solutions with us this week! In this episode, Erica shares her experience with bootstrapping as an aid in her own start-up companies and her take on this method. While reflecting on the benefits of bootstrapping, Erica compares pros and cons to the raising venture capital method. Not only does Erica emphasize the importance of the weight that borrowed money holds, but she offers insight into the brainstorming that comes with venture capital investments. Conversation on smart profit investments, building and learning over time, and establishing the right to borrow money.Twentysomethings, if you’re starting a business and navigating bootstrapping vs. raising venture capital funds to build your business, this is the episode for you! Featuring our host, Erica Wenger!Follow Us!Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with the ambitious, Yasmin Moaven!Yasmin is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Pipe, one of the fastest growing fintech's in history. Leading all marketing, communications, partnerships, and investor-relation efforts, Yasmin builds and establishes recurring revenue as a new asset class.In this episode, Yas shares her decade of experience managing and running marketing, communications and investor relations for both publicly traded and emerging private technology companies. Prior to joining Pipe, she was one of the first employees at Fair.com, the car subscription app, spearheading investor relations, communications, and marketing, and raising over $1.4 billion in debt and $500 million in equity. Conversations on daily stoicism, University of California (USC) experiences, and her journey towards the CMO title are just the beginning. Twentysomethings, listen now for an hour with the inspiring, Yasmin Moaven!Follow Us!Yasmin Moaven: @yas_moavenPipe: @pipe (website here)Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we’re talking all about Angel & Limited Partnership (LP) Investments with our host, Erica Wenger! Having worked on several successful start-up businesses of her own and now entering the world of venture capital, Erica has experienced both sides of the coin and is here to talk all about it. If you’re curious about investing your money in any capacity, this is the episode for you! In this episode, Erica breaks down the similarities and the differences between Angel (start-up business) Investing and Limited Partnership (funding) Investing. Why invest at all? How to invest? Which investments are right for you? Erica is here to answer all of these questions and more while also including us in on some tips and tricks of the trade this week.Twentysomethings, if you’re curious about financial investments and ready to have a new experince with money, listen in for an episode that has all the answers with our host, Erica Wenger!Follow Us!Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with the ambitious, Siff Haider!Siff is an entrepreneur, host of Dear Media's The Dream Bigger Podcast and Co-Founder + CEO of Arrae, a holistic wellness brand that features 100% Naturopathic Doctor-formulated Bloat + Calm Alchemy Capsules, designed to supercharge your digestion and relax your mind. Prior to launching Arrae in March 2020, Siff spent her time in the publishing industry working for ELLE Canada, and then moved on to launch a successful blog titled Icing & Glitter, which she launched in 2016.Siff founded Arrae after struggling with many different health issues for years and found that natural remedies were able to cure many of her day-to-day issues. With that intention of bridging the gap between finding natural, organic, high-quality supplements that solved targeted problems, Siff created and expertly-formulated Arrae Bloat + Calm capsules. Arrae is the only bloat pill that has undergone 3rd party clinical trials and is beloved by celebs and influencers, such as Hailey Bieber, Melissa Wood Health, Hannah Bronfman, and more!Originally from Bangladesh, but grew up in Toronto and Dhaka, Siff graduated from the University of Toronto in 2013 and Conde Nast College in 2014. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and Arrae co-founder Nish Samantray, where they spend their free time cooking, reading, and traveling the globe together. Twentysomethings, get ready for our first interview of season three with the inspiring Siff Haider!Follow Us!Siff Haider: @siffhaiderArrae: @arrae.coErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

Twentysomethings, we are so excited to have you back for a third season and what better way to get started than with a solo episode with our host, Erica Wenger!In this episode, Erica reflects back throughout the seasons and touches on bits of progress and the personal growth that has been achieved since then. There is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes, and the countdown for Erica's big announcement regarding her next business venture has begun...Dear Twentysomething is an experience-sharing platform at its core, we want to thank our listeners who have been with us on this journey from the start and also offer a warm welcome to all of our new listeners as well! We are so happy to have you guys here, listen in now for a sneak peek into Season 3 and stay tuned for new episodes every Tuesday!Follow Us!Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we’re wrapping up season 2 of your favorite podcast; bringing you a finale of reflection and excitement with our host, Erica Wenger! Highlighting some of the best moments of season 2, Erica reflects on explained episodes, special guest interviews, and her own personal growth looking back on this season! Listen in for a sneak peek on what's to come as she ventures into season 3... Twentysomethings, it's been quite the season! Be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates as we count down to Season 3 where we'll be bringing you more episodes that we hope continue to inspire and educate you as they have for us! We can't wait to have you back soon, and a special thanks to our host, Erica Wenger!Follow Us!Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

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