Female Startup Club

Today I’m joined by Margaret Wishingrad, Founder of Three Wishes Cereal. In the 12 months since launching, Margaret and her husband slash business partner Ian have built a multi-million dollar business through thoughtful retail expansion, unique guerrilla marketing moments, and a tasty better-for-you product that people want to keep buying. We’re going through the blueprint to launch and why it’s important to keep your customers' behavior front of mind. Three Wishes is a healthy cereal that tastes like childhood indulgence, led by the cereal aisle’s first female founder, Margaret Wishingrad. While other cereals on the shelf force customers to choose between flavor and nutrition, there’s no compromise with Three Wishes. It’s high protein, low sugar, gluten and grain-free, and made from ingredients like chickpeas, pea protein, and tapioca. In this episode, we discuss Three Wishes' extremely successful launch strategy, how to go about the financials after making sure you have a great minimum viable product, and making sure to get your product on Amazon.I absolutely loved chatting to someone who's such an innovator in a traditional space. Our top five learnings (it was hard to narrow it down!) from chatting with Margaret are the following:There is no ‘too early', once you have a product that you’re comfortable with and ready to get into retail you should start talking to those buyersWhen something isn't working, instead of freaking out and not knowing what do, take a step back, pivot quick, change and keep goingHaving the flexibility and understanding of how to quickly turn things around and be resourceful is an absolute saving grace A total of 45% of searches begin on Amazon, it’s a search engine in its own right and for that reason a very important channel to focus on. If you're scared to get started, yank the band-aid, just go for it - whatever is holding you back, look it in the eye, just go for itBy the way! Have you heard about our private network open to Founding Members? If you’re a woman in ecommerce and you’re looking to build your network, get access to women on the show for mentorship and experts to help you build your brand - join the waitlist. We have a limited number of Found Member spots available and you can pop your name on the list at femalestartupclub.com/waitlist.LINKS WE MENTIONThree Wishes Cereal's InstagramMargaret's InstagramFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for eCommerce businessesFemale Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve got Michelle Cordeiro Grant, the founder of LIVELY, talking us through how she founded and sold her company within 3 quick years for 105 million dollars. I. know. It’s crazy but the story is even crazier. I don’t want to give too much away but we talk through her unique launch that was a combination of strategy and luck, generating 130k emails in 48 hours. LIVELY is a brand that empowers women and provides a sense of community. They deliver lingerie, activewear, swimwear, loungewear, and self-care that take the best elements of high-style and ultimate comfort from each category to achieve a brand new POV of lingerie called Leisurée. But it’s more than its product — since launching in 2016, LIVELY has built an Ambassador network of 150,000+ members, opened four retail stores, developed several sustainable product collections, maintained its commitment to “Price Equality,” hosted hundreds of IRL and virtual events, launched a podcast, provided a platform for its community to share their passions and projects, and developed retail partnerships with Nordstrom, Madewell, and Target (launching a diffusion line called All. You. LIVELY with Target.com and select stores). Growing from its concept stage, to $15m in funding to fuel its growth, all the way to an acquisition of $105M by Wacoal in 2019, LIVELY is poised to grow even more and make bigger and bolder strides towards its mission of inclusivity, community, sustainability, and accessibility. LIVELY is an experience and mindset that reminds, inspires, and enables its customers to live life passionately, purposefully, and confidently, doing what they love, with the people they love.The key learning here is that Michelle is an absolute queen at building community. “The secret is to build a brand, with the world. Not to build a brand and try and sell it to the world. Let’s build this thing together.” This is two-fold. Building a community digitally, and also bringing women in physically. Build the relationship, and then build the machine. And they didn’t build the machine (LIVELY) until 1.5 years after the community was founded. It is important to get people on board that know how to take content, are passionate about showing their personal brand and then simply reach out to them. When it comes to the physical, the magic of focus groups is that they create invaluable data. Physical focus groups help you understand whether this is the image, this is the focus, or this is the tagline. It does take time. But when you know all your focus women are on board, you have the confidence that this content is going.Now, let's get to it.LINKS WE MENTION:Michelle's InstagramLIVELY's InstagramLIVELY's WebsiteLIVELEY's TwitterLIVELY's FacebookFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for eCommerce businessesFemale Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve got Michelle Cordeiro Grant, the founder of LIVELY, talking us through how she founded and sold her company within 3 quick years for 105 million dollars. I. know. It’s crazy but the story is even crazier. I don’t want to give too much away but we talk through her unique launch that was a combination of strategy and luck, generating 130k emails in 48 hours. LIVELY is a brand that empowers women and provides a sense of community. They deliver lingerie, activewear, swimwear, loungewear, and self-care that take the best elements of high-style and ultimate comfort from each category to achieve a brand new POV of lingerie called Leisurée. But it’s more than its product — since launching in 2016, LIVELY has built an Ambassador network of 150,000+ members, opened four retail stores, developed several sustainable product collections, maintained its commitment to “Price Equality,” hosted hundreds of IRL and virtual events, launched a podcast, provided a platform for its community to share their passions and projects, and developed retail partnerships with Nordstrom, Madewell, and Target (launching a diffusion line called All. You. LIVELY with Target.com and select stores). Growing from its concept stage, to $15m in funding to fuel its growth, all the way to an acquisition of $105M by Wacoal in 2019, LIVELY is poised to grow even more and make bigger and bolder strides towards its mission of inclusivity, community, sustainability, and accessibility. LIVELY is an experience and mindset that reminds, inspires, and enables its customers to live life passionately, purposefully, and confidently, doing what they love, with the people they love.The key learning here is that Michelle is an absolute queen at building community. “The secret is to build a brand, with the world. Not to build a brand and try and sell it to the world. Let’s build this thing together.” This is two-fold. Building a community digitally, and also bringing women in physically. Build the relationship, and then build the machine. And they didn’t build the machine (LIVELY) until 1.5 years after the community was founded. It is important to get people on board that know how to take content, are passionate about showing their personal brand and then simply reach out to them. When it comes to the physical, the magic of focus groups is that they create invaluable data. Physical focus groups help you understand whether this is the image, this is the focus, or this is the tagline. It does take time. But when you know all your focus women are on board, you have the confidence that this content is going.Now, let's get to it.LINKS WE MENTION:Michelle's InstagramLIVELY's InstagramLIVELY's WebsiteLIVELEY's TwitterLIVELY's FacebookFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for eCommerce businessesFemale Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joining me on the show today is Ju Rhyu, Founder of Hero Cosmetics. Hero makes super-powered skincare products to put you back in control of your skin and to help restore your confidence and they’re best known for their Mighty Patch acne patches. And here’s a super fun fact, they sell a box every 15 seconds with over 2 million boxes sold in over 8,500 retail doors.That’s pretty Mighty I have to say, right? But what’s even crazier is that I just did a quick google of her last week when I was making a TikTok biz breakdown of the Hero journey and now she boasts of selling a product every 3 seconds. THREE Seconds. Can you imagine? In 2021 last year she did more than 100 million dollars in annual rev, in just 5 years of starting her biz. If that’s not wildly inspiring I don’t know what is. I discussed all sorts of things with Ju—from how she launched her brand exclusively through Amazon to how she found a manufacturer in South Korea and how she goes about driving crazy growth. But there’s one key takeaway in particular that I want to focus on today: Bootstrapping puts focus on profitability. Together with her two co-founders, each partner put personal capital into a dedicated bank account to get the business going. Many startup entrepreneurs find that having limited capital can prove to be a blessing in disguise. Because having a tight budget forces you to think twice about every move and be resourceful and creative. Further down the line, showing an investor that you’ve gone through this process and made it to the other side can be seen as a big plus for credibility and ultimately set you a higher valuation for the business.  Bootstrapping was good because it forced them to really focus on being profitable from the very beginning. They couldn’t pay themselves fancy salaries or spend too much on PR firms and those kinds of things. So it was ‘boots to the ground, approach’ which means they were always really resourceful. Which in turn makes them more attractive as a business to investors.And I think this is such a key insight. We can get caught up in these stories and articles we read in the media celebrating founders who are going out raising millions of dollars before even launching a product and think that’s what we should be doing, but having to prove out your concept first, get traction and actually build a profitable business will put you in a much better position to raise down the track if you need to. Focus on bootstrapping your business in the beginning until you’ve proven traction and figured out the foundations. You might then find you don’t need to raise.  In this episode, we’re covering why they decided to launch the brand exclusively through amazon, how she went about finding her manufacturer and what they do today to drive crazy growth. LINKS WE MENTION: Hero Cosmetic’s Website Hero Cosmetic’s TIkTokHero Cosmetic’s InstagramJu Rhyu’s InstagramFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for eCommerce businessesFemale Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joining me on the show today is Ju Rhyu, Founder of Hero Cosmetics. Hero makes super-powered skincare products to put you back in control of your skin and to help restore your confidence and they’re best known for their Mighty Patch acne patches. And here’s a super fun fact, they sell a box every 15 seconds with over 2 million boxes sold in over 8,500 retail doors.That’s pretty Mighty I have to say, right? But what’s even crazier is that I just did a quick google of her last week when I was making a TikTok biz breakdown of the Hero journey and now she boasts of selling a product every 3 seconds. THREE Seconds. Can you imagine? In 2021 last year she did more than 100 million dollars in annual rev, in just 5 years of starting her biz. If that’s not wildly inspiring I don’t know what is. I discussed all sorts of things with Ju—from how she launched her brand exclusively through Amazon to how she found a manufacturer in South Korea and how she goes about driving crazy growth. But there’s one key takeaway in particular that I want to focus on today: Bootstrapping puts focus on profitability. Together with her two co-founders, each partner put personal capital into a dedicated bank account to get the business going. Many startup entrepreneurs find that having limited capital can prove to be a blessing in disguise. Because having a tight budget forces you to think twice about every move and be resourceful and creative. Further down the line, showing an investor that you’ve gone through this process and made it to the other side can be seen as a big plus for credibility and ultimately set you a higher valuation for the business.  Bootstrapping was good because it forced them to really focus on being profitable from the very beginning. They couldn’t pay themselves fancy salaries or spend too much on PR firms and those kinds of things. So it was ‘boots to the ground, approach’ which means they were always really resourceful. Which in turn makes them more attractive as a business to investors.And I think this is such a key insight. We can get caught up in these stories and articles we read in the media celebrating founders who are going out raising millions of dollars before even launching a product and think that’s what we should be doing, but having to prove out your concept first, get traction and actually build a profitable business will put you in a much better position to raise down the track if you need to. Focus on bootstrapping your business in the beginning until you’ve proven traction and figured out the foundations. You might then find you don’t need to raise.  In this episode, we’re covering why they decided to launch the brand exclusively through amazon, how she went about finding her manufacturer and what they do today to drive crazy growth. LINKS WE MENTION: Hero Cosmetic’s Website Hero Cosmetic’s TIkTokHero Cosmetic’s InstagramJu Rhyu’s InstagramFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for ecommerce businesses.Female Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m so proud to be bringing you this episode. It’s with a friend of mine, who you probably have seen on the likes of Instagram doing her super cool things. Lil is Australia’s favorite woman. Truly. How Lil Ahenkan (aka Flex Mami) built her empire, Flex Factory, through deep conversations talking about sex, life, and everything in between.It’s a big call, I know, but she’s definitely one of mine and I know a lotta folks who agree with me. My bet is she’s about to be one of yours. She’s a dj, podcaster, best-selling author, diy guru, hilarious Instagrammer as well as an entrepreneur. And a damn good one, at that. So in this episode let us take you behind the scenes into her story, but first - and if you haven’t been blessed with her content on Instagram - just pop on over. Have a quick peek. Have a lol. Do some critical thinking and then come on back to listen to how she’s built her colourful world and business, Flex Factory.For Lil it's nice to be working on the business every day, chipping away at it, working intentionally, because it does make the biggest difference. I love Lil's approach to the financial part of the puzzle. She's always - are the numbers reflecting our efforts? Are the numbers reflecting our decisions? If not, they're not doing it properly. Initially, she thought this was a really stringent and restrictive way to run the business. How can you be your full creative self if you have to think about numbers? But now, she loves seeing really clear boundaries and restrictions. Within that perimeter, you can make the best creative decisions. Knowing what you have, what you don’t have, what you need, what you don’t need.Let's get straight into it.LINKS WE MENTION:Lil Ahenkan's InstagramFlex Factory's InstagramFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for ecommerce businesses.Female Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m so proud to be bringing you this episode. It’s with a friend of mine, who you probably have seen on the likes of Instagram doing her super cool things. Lil is Australia’s favorite woman. Truly. How Lil Ahenkan (aka Flex Mami) built her empire, Flex Factory, through deep conversations talking about sex, life, and everything in between.It’s a big call, I know, but she’s definitely one of mine and I know a lotta folks who agree with me. My bet is she’s about to be one of yours. She’s a dj, podcaster, best-selling author, diy guru, hilarious Instagrammer as well as an entrepreneur. And a damn good one, at that. So in this episode let us take you behind the scenes into her story, but first - and if you haven’t been blessed with her content on Instagram - just pop on over. Have a quick peek. Have a lol. Do some critical thinking and then come on back to listen to how she’s built her colourful world and business, Flex Factory.For Lil it's nice to be working on the business every day, chipping away at it, working intentionally, because it does make the biggest difference. I love Lil's approach to the financial part of the puzzle. She's always - are the numbers reflecting our efforts? Are the numbers reflecting our decisions? If not, they're not doing it properly. Initially, she thought this was a really stringent and restrictive way to run the business. How can you be your full creative self if you have to think about numbers? But now, she loves seeing really clear boundaries and restrictions. Within that perimeter, you can make the best creative decisions. Knowing what you have, what you don’t have, what you need, what you don’t need.Let's get straight into it.LINKS WE MENTION:Lil Ahenkan's InstagramFlex Factory's InstagramFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for ecommerce businesses.Female Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we are learning from Lezlie Karls, Co-Founder of Mid-Day Squares. What are Mid-Day Squares I hear you ask: They’re vegan protein bars that are also known as little pieces of heaven perfectly designed to stop your hunger or cravings in between meals. And they’re on a Mission To Take Over The World Of Healthy Snacks.In this episode we’re talking about a solid 10/10 sampling program they launched with overcoming hurdles with manufacturing and operations, turning down an acquisition and some crazy drama they went through when Hershey’s came banging on their door with a cease and desist.We cover so much in this incredible chat - she’s a real force to be reckoned with. Now a killing entrepreneur, Lezlie also bravely opens up about what it means to fail a business. How to fail, make the cut, and move on. We learn a lot from others’ successes, but there’s undoubtedly, even more, to learn about failures. They’re just a little bit trickier to talk about.Lezlie had no trouble pinpointing the exact reason her beloved luxury fashion brand, Hector, failed. And in this conversation, she’s ready to pass on her lessons. Number one derives from becoming a consumer of your own product, as is now the case with Mid-Day Squares. Number two is all about having those around you being able to support your product. Clothing line Hector was within the 1% price point. We’re talking high-end fashion. This meant Lezlie’s community couldn’t afford to support her. When launching Mid-Day Squares it became easy for people to buy her product. Easy for people to support. This all helps create virality. Number three is all around not putting herself out there enough. She was always behind the scenes. What is more engaging than seeing a 23-year-old running around NYC in heels trying to get into stores? If that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is. But she didn’t show that. She didn’t know how to. How to tell her story. How to put herself out there. How to market herself.At one point you need to know how to shut something down. A good Founder knows how to throw in the towel. So, she did. After 3 years. Took some time off and realized what to do differently in the next venture. Learning about Mid-Day squares you see how all of these learnings have really come into play to her approach this time around, and just goes to show how valuable it is to learn from your mistakes. Let's get stuck in!LINKS WE MENTION:Mid-day Squares InstagramLezlie's InstagramLezlie's LinkedInFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for ecommerce businesses.Female Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we are learning from Lezlie Karls, Co-Founder of Mid-Day Squares. What are Mid-Day Squares I hear you ask: They’re vegan protein bars that are also known as little pieces of heaven perfectly designed to stop your hunger or cravings in between meals. And they’re on a Mission To Take Over The World Of Healthy Snacks.In this episode we’re talking about a solid 10/10 sampling program they launched with overcoming hurdles with manufacturing and operations, turning down an acquisition and some crazy drama they went through when Hershey’s came banging on their door with a cease and desist.We cover so much in this incredible chat - she’s a real force to be reckoned with. Now a killing entrepreneur, Lezlie also bravely opens up about what it means to fail a business. How to fail, make the cut, and move on. We learn a lot from others’ successes, but there’s undoubtedly, even more, to learn about failures. They’re just a little bit trickier to talk about.Lezlie had no trouble pinpointing the exact reason her beloved luxury fashion brand, Hector, failed. And in this conversation, she’s ready to pass on her lessons. Number one derives from becoming a consumer of your own product, as is now the case with Mid-Day Squares. Number two is all about having those around you being able to support your product. Clothing line Hector was within the 1% price point. We’re talking high-end fashion. This meant Lezlie’s community couldn’t afford to support her. When launching Mid-Day Squares it became easy for people to buy her product. Easy for people to support. This all helps create virality. Number three is all around not putting herself out there enough. She was always behind the scenes. What is more engaging than seeing a 23-year-old running around NYC in heels trying to get into stores? If that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is. But she didn’t show that. She didn’t know how to. How to tell her story. How to put herself out there. How to market herself.At one point you need to know how to shut something down. A good Founder knows how to throw in the towel. So, she did. After 3 years. Took some time off and realized what to do differently in the next venture. Learning about Mid-Day squares you see how all of these learnings have really come into play to her approach this time around, and just goes to show how valuable it is to learn from your mistakes. Let's get stuck in!LINKS WE MENTION:Mid-day Squares InstagramLezlie's InstagramLezlie's LinkedInFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for ecommerce businesses.Female Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on the show we’re learning from Nicole Centeno, the founder of Splendid Spoon.The spark for Splendid Spoon came to Nicole in 2012. Working at Condé Nast and pregnant with her first son Grover, she came to realize how unattainable it was to achieve a healthy lifestyle alongside a demanding career and the day-to-day realities of being a working parent. What she wanted was to find a way to make nutritious, and, importantly, delicious plant-based food accessible to everyday Americans.While working full time, Nicole began attending culinary school, dabbling in catering (by delivering soups on her lunch break that she’d cooked earlier that morning!), hosting pop-ups, and teaching cooking/nutrition courses at Columbia University. These experiences — coupled with her studies in diet therapies, a penchant for entrepreneurship, and a conviction that there must be a better way to eat well — convinced Nicole to take the leap and leave her corporate career to pursue food full-time.What I love about this story, is that Nicole talks about having none of the business language, but all of the instincts when she was first starting out. She knew how to ask for things, she knew where she needed to get to but just didn’t have the language or the model to explain these things. This is so often the case for first-time founders. We know where we're going, and we have a plan, but we don’t speak the business jargon. In the end, the magic lay in being very passionate about what she believed in. That was the most powerful part of it. People had the conviction that she would keep trying. Had that tenacity, She had a story. With the key pieces to convince someone that she could make this bigger, she could get stuck in.We’re covering her journey of side-hustle to 8-figure biz, the challenges that the food industry faces, and how to do a friends and family round. So much good stuff in here I know you’re going to love it!And remember that if you want a signed copy of my book, this week and next I’m sending them out to anyone who creates a TikTok video about Female Startup Club. All you need to do is post the video and slide into my inbox at hello@femalestartupclub.com.Have the best day and enjoy the episode, this is Nicole for Female Startup ClubLINKS WE MENTION:Splendid's WebsiteBook: The Hard Thing About Hard ThingsBook: The Artist's WayBook; Soup Cleanse Cookbook Blog: First Round CapitalFemale Startup Club's InstagramDoone's InstagramDoone's TikTokTo redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/Learn more about Athletic Greens and get your FREE gift at Athleticgreens.com/STARTUPTry Zapier for free today at zapier.com/STARTUPLearn more about Dymo at Dymo.comIn partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for ecommerce businesses.Female Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club’s Private Facebook GroupSay hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.comFemale Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star📱 Join 160K smart chicks in the Female Startup Club universe→ Apply to join our inner circle: https://apply.femalestartupclub.com/apply→ Female Startup Club's Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalestartupclub→ Doone Roisin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/dooneroisin→ Get opportunities delivered to your inbox here: https://female-startup-club.beehiiv.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.