Create & Cultivate 100: STEM: Ayah Bdeir
THE CREATOR.
THE CREATOR.
Join her current.
Ayah Bdeir is the founder and CEO of littleBits, an open source library of modular electronics that snap together with magnets. It is an award-winning platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks that empowers kids everywhere to create inventions, large and small. What does that mean?
The company she founded in 2011 makes technology accessible across all ages. It sells a library of modular electronic units that can be easily connected for projects from night lights to sound machines to droids. (These are the droids you're looking for.)
Electronic building blocks are color-coded, magnetic, and reusable. Ayah designed everything herself to all fit together magnetically, so that the circuits always join correctly. Currently there are over 400k possible inventions with the littleBits starter kit. It's like your childhood erector set on Bulletproof-- to put it mildly.
She is an engineer, interactive artist and one of the leaders of the open source hardware movement.
More from Ayah below.
Where did your passion for creative technology start?
When I was growing up I was very good at math and science and I spent a lot of time taking things apart and putting them back together. I studied engineering in college and I didn’t feel like there was any room for creativity. After I graduated and discovered MIT I was introduced to the power of engineering when you pair it with creativity.
What inspired your mission behind littleBits?
My mission was to figure out how to bring this access to technology to people who were outside of engineering like designers, artists, kids. I wanted to find out how we could make technology easy, accessible and fun. littleBits is a platform of easy to use electronic building blocks for people creating inventions without a background in engineering. The world is changing constantly and for kids, we need to prepare them for careers that haven’t been invented yet.
The world is changing constantly and for kids, we need to prepare them for careers that haven’t been invented yet.
You’ve raised over 60 million for your company, how did you get to this point?
It wasn’t easy at all to raise the money in the early days. I think being a woman played a part in that but I got a lot of good advice from other entrepreneurs to make my pitches better. I learned that women tend to speak in questions marks so I practiced speak in more direct sentences. I also realized that women tend to overcompensate in their pitches with data when in reality the investors are looking for vision.
How do get your inspiration for new bits?
Early in the business I used to get a lot of inspiration from reading customer service tickets. I used to read almost every ticket and see what people were asking and get new ideas from those. Not so much anymore though, now I get inspiration from other things. When new pieces of technology come out I ask my team how can we make this fun and more accessible? Sometimes other fields.
"You can’t let things break you."
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What advice would you give someone who is looking to follow in your footsteps?
If you want to start a company, I’d advise that you do that only with an idea that you’re obsessed with. It’s every minute of your life and every single day. If you have a really strong belief in that mission of what you’re trying to achieve, it will carry you through the ups and downs. My second piece of advice is ask people for help. People are generally very willing to help someone who has drive. When they see someone with drive for a mission they want to get behind it.
What would you credit your success to?
The fact that I’m not afraid to ask when I don’t know something. Also, the understanding that I am a work in progress as a Founder and as a CEO I am constantly trying to work on myself. Tenacity is definitely a big part of being an entrepreneur. We have to have thick skin and you can’t let things break you.
This interview has been edited and condensed from multiple sources.
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE STEM LIST CLICK HERE.
Bumble Queen Whitney Wolfe's Best Real Talk Advice
Plus, 7 other women give us the truth on National STEM Day.
Written by: Tyeal Howell
Nearly all of the fastest growing occupations in the U.S. are within the STEM/STEAM industries. The gender gap in these industries is unreal. #NationalSTEMDay was created to celebrate, inspire and encourage the younger generation to explore their interests in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math fields. To join the celebration, we talked with 8 Women in STEM to get the best “real talk” advice they’ve ever received:
Stay humble.
Know that your career path and your goals may change over time, but stay true to yourself along the way. - Latinas in STEM
Your close crew matters.
“Who you hang out with determines what you dream about and what you collide with. And the collisions and the dreams lead to your changes. And the changes are what you become. Change the outcome by changing your circle.” -- Seth Godin - Claire Burke
Breathe.
Take a deep breath and move on! You will realize that you are a lot stronger than you think. - Leura Fine
Honestly, be authentic.
Answer honestly, support authentically, share resources and share other women's work. - Heather Lipner
Get thick skin.
The bigger the risk, the more likely the failure. You have to develop thick skin if you want to accomplish a lot in life. - Rachel Tipograph
Celebrate the small wins.
I've tried to actively start celebrating small milestones and successes, since I know that I'm really bad at recognizing how far we've come as a company. - Aarthi Ramamurthy
"A successful career is earned and requires sacrifice."
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A successful career is earned and requires sacrifice. It truly is done through dedication and a lot of hard work, nothing is handed to you. - Melissa Grillo
Don't sweat it.
Snap out of it! It always looks better in the morning. - Whitney Wolfe
What other women in STEM are you inspired by today? Comment below!
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The One Thing That Gives Women Power Over Men
And other GEMS from our #CreateCultivatexMarriott Portland popup.
Portland went off last night. Last night we landed in the PNW for a night of cocktails and conversation! We'll talked all things entrepreneurship, creative & tech with women who are breaking down barriers and actively putting in work to build a better future. Over 300 guests attended the popup at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront, hearing from panelists Grace Mahary, Jessica Naziri, Karen Okonkwo, and Heather Lipner about their life in STEM, their aspirations, and how women are the true superheroes.
Read some of our favorite takeaways below and head to our Facebook to watch the full live stream including our keynote with Sonja Rasula.
FIND YOUR TRIBE
TechSesh founder Jessica Naziri quit her job in the startup world when she felt like she didn’t belong. She told the crowd, “I never want to feel like that again. I want to make it my mission to empower myself and empower others.” So she taught herself to code— well, with a little help from her friends. “I am part of a network called Persian women in tech. We all meet once a month.” One of the women in the group help Jessica learn to code. “I’m not going to say I’m a programmer. I know the basics and that enabled me to understand the foundation. Even if you don’t want to code, just knowing a little bit is so important. These days it’s so easy— you can take an online course and empower yourself.”
Model and Project Tsehigh founder Grace Mahary also brought up that in such a digitally dependent world, there is no way to survive without getting involved in STEM in some way. So get on it.
TURN PASSION IN PROJECTS
Heather Lipner, the founder of then now-closed, but highly popular, Clashist (they made James Franco leggings) and now Drawsta, knew that she wanted to continue in the fashion world, but incorporate tech. “Augmented reality at that point was not really even a word people were talking about.” Before Snapchat even came out with face filters, Heather was doing R&D to figure out how to make Augmented Reality work in the fashion sphere. “If you don’t know what it is, it’s adding a digital layer to a physical thing you can touch and feel, and the digital layer can only be experienced through a device like an iPhone. With Drawsta you can have real time changes to your clothes. With AR you can upload a new animation— you can program your clothes in real time. It’s a powerful tool and a new way to experience wearing something. With Snapchat and Instagram stories everyone is changing their face, but it could be on clothes and surfaces.”
It could also make fashion more sustainable— something that Grace Mahary brought up.
OFFSET YOUR WORK
"I work in an industry that’s one of the most polluting on the planet, so it’s all about offsetting,” the activist told the crowd.
Project Tsehigh (PjT) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing uninterrupted energy to impoverished or remote communities around the world via renewable energy sources.
“While I was visiting and living in some of these developing nations I realized, very quickly, I couldn’t charge my phone, I would go to a restaurant and the power would go out. When you live in that condition you’re forced to see how people live and wake up every day. To think that you can't wake up every day and have facilities that run consistently— that’s how I became passionate about it. We’re working with solar panels, and as of this month, we’ll be launching our first project in Eritrea, and we’re donating 101 solar units to households — and then a school, a church, and a mosque.”
PROMOTE INCLUSITIVITY
Karen Okonkwo of TONL, a which seeks to transform the idea of stock photography by displaying images of diverse people and their stories around the world, explained, “For people to feel welcome in any industry, they need to see online that there are other people that look like them, in those particular fields. Imagery, in the form of advertising, is the first step in saying, ‘hey you are welcome and we want you here.’ That angle is very powerful and underutilized.”
“Sometimes, especially in the black community we feel tokenized,” Karen told the crowd. "I’m not trying to act like the spokesperson for the black community. I’m simply someone who is trying to provide change and influence. I may have some missteps along the way. Try to give people grace as they launch their businesses and feedback.”
She also dropped a version of this gem: Be your own Dora the Explorer and teach yourself.
"Be your own Dora the Explorer and teach yourself."
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“If you don’t see what you want— anyone who has a skill set, be that change. Start your own Facebook group or start your own meet up, or agree to mentor one person, that’s how we create that cascade of people who can enter into STEM. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, either. That knowledge is there for you to take."
WOMEN ARE FREAKIN SUPERHEROES
“A lot of money is controlled by men, and that’s the biggest problem," shared Heather when talking about raising money and going into VC meetings. "When you go and try to raise you’re almost always talking to a man and they don’t understand the female perspective. Until you experience something or have that problem, you’re not going to understand what the solution is. It’s harder for women to get funded, it sucks,” she said frankly. “For me I’ve been jumped into a room and seen a total glaze.” Which is why she says, "The money has to also be diverse in category, gender, race, and everything so you can create companies that are targeted for what your niche is.”
Heather then dropped this AMAZING bomb during the Q&A portion.
“I just had a baby. The baby was in me and then it came out of me. And I feed the baby with my breasts. Men cannot do that. I wish I could go back to all the VC meetings I had and to the men in those rooms say, ‘You have no power.’ I wish I could have a different mind shift and just go for it without being intimidated or being scared. It’s a crazy thing to think about. They might have the money. It’s artificial. It’s contrived. And we can change that. You just need that mind shift.
Any questions?
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Meet the Latinas in STEM Inspiring the Next Generation
These 5 MIT grads took matters into their own hands.
Jazlyn Carvajal, Diana Albarrán Chicas, Cecilia Fernández, Kimberly Gonzales, Joanna Gonzalez, Desiree Lassiter, Maribel Mendoza, and Nidia Trejo make up the Latinas in STEM Board of Directors, an organization founded by 5 MIT alumnae looking to formalize the service work they were doing in their respective communities.
The founders of the organization are all first generation American women who have been the first in their families to attend college. They have careers in industry with a long track record of community service. The current board consists of professional Latina women who are interested in providing Latinas with mentorship, resources, and access to careers in STEM.
The stats around women in STEM aren’t great. And the barriers to entry for women of color are compounded. A lack of role models, lagging outreach, and overall limited parental awareness, leads to dismal numbers. So you’ve heard.
But with organizations like Latinas in STEM, founded in 2013, there is hope. And not only on the horizon.
Their goals include: inspiring young women to consider STEM careers, increasing the number of Latina women pursuing STEM careers, and creating a network that enables women in STEM to survive. Their programs include K-12 student and parent outreach, college student support, and professional development that enables their network to grow and reach more students.
It’s vital work that serves the community and world.
More from the Board of Directors below.
What is the most important step you took to get here?
The most important step was starting a dialogue among friends about the need in our communities and our desires to help our communities in a more formal matter. It was a simple Facebook group message sent among friends that eventually led to the formal organization of Latinas in STEM.
What are some challenges you’ve encountered along the way?
There have been many challenges for us as a group. To begin, the group is currently completely volunteer run, meaning that we all have day jobs as STEM professionals. As such, one of the challenges has been carving sufficient time to help our organization progress along the way. Luckily, we have had a lot of support from our networks and other organizations who have similar goals.
What keeps you going?
Knowing that we can encourage Latinas whose shoes we were once in -- to do well in math and science subjects, get good grades to enter college, and follow a career path of their dreams.
Who are the people you consider your mentors or influences and why?
Our first mentors and influences for many of us were our families. We have all had various mentors throughout our careers including each other.
What is the best piece of "real talk" advice you've received?
Stay humble. Know that your career path and your goals may change over time, but stay true to yourself along the way.
What is your favorite life advice?
One of the greatest things we can have as women is education. Our knowledge and opinions are valuable to share with the world to help make it better.
Is there a time in your lives when you've thought, 'I can't do this anymore?'
We’ve all overcome a lot of adversity in our lives. We move forward and make opportunities by being proactive.
What’s next? What are the five year goals?
Next, we plan to expand the organization, and hire full-time administrators to help us continue the work that we are doing. As we mentioned, currently we are 100% volunteer run, but we want to expand our work by reaching out to more people nationwide. We need more woman power, and so we hope to formalize the group even more.
What is a habit or routine you swear by?
Share your big goals with others- it makes you accountable and also may open new doors.
"Share your big goals with others- it makes you accountable."
Tweet this.
How have your relationships to your careers changed in the last five years?
Embracing the idea that mentoring the next generation of STEM experts outside of our individual, professional work is an important part of our career journeys.
How have your personal relationships changed in the last five years?
We encourage one another to embrace failures and share these stories with our Latina members. It’s important for our members to know about our successes as Latinas in STEM, and it is equally important to tell our stories of roadblocks and lessons learned. Although it can be difficult to think back on difficult situations, our stories can be what inspires our members to continue pursuing and thriving in STEM fields.
What does female empowerment mean to you?
It means supporting and mentoring one another to achieve our goals. It means being critical of each other in a way that helps build other women up, and not tear them down. It means helping other women achieve their dreams.
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STEM: Heather Lipner
Taking on fast fashion with AR.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Taking on fast fashion with AR.
Heather is wearing Keds' Champion Originals.
Heather Lipner, tech maven, has worked in the dude-heavy tech industry for "at least 13 years." As the former creative director of MySpace, co-founder of Uncovet, and founder of Clashist, that oh-so-pop-culture-meme-tastic apparel line approved by James Franco, the entrepreneur has a few tricks up her techie sleeve.
Drawsta is her latest newest venture. An augmented reality fashion concept that adds an unexpected layer to wearables. “I created Drawsta.com because I love creating products that are allow the customer to really express themselves,” says Heather. With Drawsta, customers can write their own animated text and emojis on t-shirts and share the augmented reality digital experience via social media and/or show how it works in person. It’s also a backlash against the greed of fast fashion. Why change your shirt when you can change the image on said shirt?
It was during the course of running e-commerce brand Clashist that Heather witnessed “how fast people got sick of fashion trends.” Instead of succumbing to the masses and embracing the world of fast, she instead opted to “let people digitally wear, create, and swipe through different graphics.”
While Heather loves being able to create new graphics for people to wear, she admits that new takes some adjustment. “Experiencing fashion via augmented reality is new and with anything new it takes a bit longer to pick up then let's say a smiley face on a tee.”
"With anything new it takes a bit longer to pick up then a smiley face on a tee.”
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It’s also the first business she launched without funding. “Doing it all myself is mentally challenging,” she explains, but says her boyfriend, Drawsta’s customers who are “highly influential on what gets designed and built out,” and her “incredibly supportive friends and family," keep her motivated.
Heather shares that she’s not “into all of the girl boss and girl gang stuff - I think it keeps gender segregated rather than ensuring that men and women are both sitting at the table. We should all be networking together and making sure men see us as women not girls, not in a girl gang, but as equals who want the same things.”
“We should all be making sure men see us as women not girls.”
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Over her decade plus in tech Heather has accumulated her fair share of lessons. Practically speaking she likes to get the stuff she hates (paying bills and going to the gym) out of the way first thing in the am. She also shares that she doesn't make five year goals. "I let opportunities arise and choose to do or not to do them, instead of getting stuck into a long term plan." But what the future personally holds for the inventor is clear: "Answer honestly, support authentically, share resources and share other women's work."
We'd put that on a t-shirt. 100.
Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.
STEM: Latinas in STEM, Board of Directors
Inspiring the next generation.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Inspiring the next generation.
Jazlyn Carvajal, Diana Albarrán Chicas, Cecilia Fernández, Kimberly Gonzales, Joanna Gonzalez, Desiree Lassiter, Maribel Mendoza, and Nidia Trejo make up the Latinas in STEM Board of Directors, an organization founded by 5 MIT alumnae looking to formalize the service work they were doing in their respective communities.
The founders of the organization are all first generation American women who have been the first in their families to attend college. They have careers in industry with a long track record of community service. The current board consists of professional Latina women who are interested in providing Latinas with mentorship, resources, and access to careers in STEM.
The stats around women in STEM aren’t great. And the barriers to entry for women of color are compounded. A lack of role models, lagging outreach, and overall limited parental awareness, leads to dismal numbers. So you’ve heard.
But with organizations like Latinas in STEM, founded in 2013, there is hope. And not only on the horizon.
Their goals include: inspiring young women to consider STEM careers, increasing the number of Latina women pursuing STEM careers, and creating a network that enables women in STEM to survive. Their programs include K-12 student and parent outreach, college student support, and professional development that enables their network to grow and reach more students.
It’s vital work that serves the community and world.
More from the Board of Directors below.
What is the most important step you took to get here?
The most important step was starting a dialogue among friends about the need in our communities and our desires to help our communities in a more formal matter. It was a simple Facebook group message sent among friends that eventually led to the formal organization of Latinas in STEM.
What are some challenges you’ve encountered along the way?
There have been many challenges for us as a group. To begin, the group is currently completely volunteer run, meaning that we all have day jobs as STEM professionals. As such, one of the challenges has been carving sufficient time to help our organization progress along the way. Luckily, we have had a lot of support from our networks and other organizations who have similar goals.
What keeps you going?
Knowing that we can encourage Latinas whose shoes we were once in -- to do well in math and science subjects, get good grades to enter college, and follow a career path of their dreams.
Who are the people you consider your mentors or influences and why?
Our first mentors and influences for many of us were our families. We have all had various mentors throughout our careers including each other.
What is the best piece of "real talk" advice you've received?
Stay humble. Know that your career path and your goals may change over time, but stay true to yourself along the way.
What is your favorite life advice?
One of the greatest things we can have as women is education. Our knowledge and opinions are valuable to share with the world to help make it better.
Is there a time in your lives when you've thought, 'I can't do this anymore?'
We’ve all overcome a lot of adversity in our lives. We move forward and make opportunities by being proactive.
What’s next? What are the five year goals?
Next, we plan to expand the organization, and hire full-time administrators to help us continue the work that we are doing. As we mentioned, currently we are 100% volunteer run, but we want to expand our work by reaching out to more people nationwide. We need more woman power, and so we hope to formalize the group even more.
What is a habit or routine you swear by?
Share your big goals with others- it makes you accountable and also may open new doors.
"Share your big goals with others- it makes you accountable."
Tweet this.
How have your relationships to your careers changed in the last five years?
Embracing the idea that mentoring the next generation of STEM experts outside of our individual, professional work is an important part of our career journeys.
How have your personal relationships changed in the last five years?
We encourage one another to embrace failures and share these stories with our Latina members. It’s important for our members to know about our successes as Latinas in STEM, and it is equally important to tell our stories of roadblocks and lessons learned. Although it can be difficult to think back on difficult situations, our stories can be what inspires our members to continue pursuing and thriving in STEM fields.
What does female empowerment mean to you?
It means supporting and mentoring one another to achieve our goals. It means being critical of each other in a way that helps build other women up, and not tear them down. It means helping other women achieve their dreams.
STEM: Claire Burke, Goby
Giving a dental damn.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Giving a dental damn.
Brush up for a minute on Claire Burke, co-founder of Goby’s career trajectory. After graduating from NYU’s Stern School of Business with a dual BS in Finance and Accounting, she worked at investment bank Lincoln International for six years. Simultaneously, she pursued her personal passion for film and media by co-founding a production company. In 2013, Claire left investment banking to pursue an MBA at Columbia Business School. While at Columbia, she immersed myself in media and technology, working for The Raine Group, Hearst, theSkimm, and Female Founders Fund, each of which expanded her interest in startups and exposed her to the value and power of brand.
Take a breather.
Deemed “Cavity Claire” by her family growing up, Claire was inspired by her own struggles with good oral care. Determined to enhance consumers’ oral care experience by creating a value-driven oral care product with a relatable brand personality, Cavity Claire (and co-founder Ben) got to work, hoping to change the experience of oral health care.
And now, the founders current largest challenges include filling roles at her company, not in her mouth.
More from Claire below.
What is the best piece of "real talk" advice you've received?
A close friend recently bought me the book "You are a Badass." The gift, and the advice, was self-explanatory. Reading it has transformed the way I look at myself and interact with the world.
What is your favorite life advice?
“Who you hang out with determines what you dream about and what you collide with. And the collisions and the dreams lead to your changes. And the changes are what you become. Change the outcome by changing your circle.” -- Seth Godin
Is there a time in your life when you thought, ‘I can’t do this?’
I tend not to think this way. I try to breathe through any challenge, see the bigger picture, and move forward.
What’s next?
Continuing to build Goby into a lasting brand.
What’s a habit or routine you swear by?
Daily mantras. You control your thoughts and your mood, and mantras help to ensure you're in the right mind-state throughout the day.
International Women’s Day is coming up. It's a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. If you could steer the conversation around International Women’s Day, what would that dialogue be about?
The first step in removing disparity, is recognizing that the disparity exists. Encouraging men to participate in the conversation and admit that there is inequity is a goal of mine on IWD.
How has your relationship to you career changed in the last five years?
In the past five years I decided to pursue what I was passionate about, even if it came with significant sacrifice in the near-term, as opposed to pursuing what provided short-term benefit but wasn't fulfilling.
How has your relationship to yourself changed in the last five years?
Significantly! I think positively, support myself and don't fret the small stuff. I definitely used to beat myself up a lot, and I've stopped doing that in the last five years.
What does female empowerment mean to you?
"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." Female empowerment to me means that women are able to lead self-actualized lives, regardless of the life they choose to live, and regardless of the fact that they are women.
STEM: Aarthi Ramamurthy, Lumoid
Try before you buy, 2.0
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Try before you buy, 2.0
Lumoid Founder & CEO Aarthi Ramamurthy is betting that the only thing better than buying is trying. Because purchasing gadgets can pricey (read stressful), Lumoid is eliminating the guesswork with an online service that lets you rent and test professional quality camera and audio gear, fitness trackers, drones, and more. This way, you can guarantee your satisfaction with a product before committing to it. Even better? The money you spend on renting goes toward the total purchase price. What’s not to love?
Coming from Chennai, India, Ramamurthy was recruited by Microsoft a year before even graduating college. Prior to founding Lumoid three years ago, she worked as a software engineer at xBox and Netflix, becoming an expert in consumer electronics and studying the psychology behind how people buy. “Getting the product off the ground was easy,” says Ramamurthy, “But, hiring is always a challenge — as it should be — really good people are few and hard to find.”
In 2017, women sadly still hold less than 25% of all jobs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). It’s a gross gender gap that Ramamurthy takes seriously, and does her part to remedy. “I feel strongly about how few women are taking up STEM and engineering courses, and I’d like to change that and see more women enroll in them,” she explains. As one of the few female founders in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Ramamurthy embraces her role as inspiration and mentor. “I help other female founders who are earlier in the process of building their company — I try to help with fundraising, introductions, or just talking through their issues.” While she’s all for supporting other women, she looks forward to a time when female CEOs no longer need to be interviewed about their definition of female empowerment. Point taken.
As Lumoid continues to achieve new levels of success — moving into swanky, designer offices, securing new rounds of funding, and expanding into the wearable market — Ramamurthy has been making personal and professional strides, and taking inventory along the way. “I've tried to actively start celebrating small milestones and successes, since I know that I'm really bad at recognizing how far we've come as a company,” says the founder, whose capitalizing on the universally appealing ethos of try-before-you-buy. “I’ve come to appreciate the journey a lot more, stop worrying and focus on what's going right.” Rather than stressing over a career bucket list or a five year plan, she prefers to take it one day at a time.
STEM: Miki Agrawal, THINX
Taking on taboo with invention.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Taking on taboo with invention.
Miki Agrawal did what many inventors do: find the white space. Or in her case the red. No, we're not talking wine. We're talking periods. The CEO and co-founder behind the period-proof underwear, THINX, saw a need in a 15 billion dollar industry and went after it.
But converting people isn’t simple. At one point the company was $60K in the hole. “I had a struggling partnership,” she shares, “and investors who didn't ‘get’ the product…” So Miki once requested a male investor to wear a maxi pad over the course of a meeting. The point: to give him first-hand experience.
It’s her out-of-the-box approach to all topics taboo that make Miki a force, and not just in the period space. She’s taking on incontinence with ICON, pee-proof underwear, as well as the booty with TUSHY, a bidet attachment for the toilet that she says, “elevates the American pooping experience to the 21st century.”
Get to know Miki, why a life coach changed her life, and what she’s looking forward to below.
What is the most important step you took to get here?
Put one foot in front of the other (and also put reminders in my phone to breathe).
What are the challenges you encountered along the way?
Wrong partnerships, manufacturing struggles and generally growing a business!
What keeps you going?
Changing culture and helping people at the same time. Truly.
Who are the people you consider your mentors or influences and why?
My friends! They are all entrepreneurs or creatives and inspire me on the daily.
What is the best piece of “real talk” advice you’ve received?
Hire slow; fire fast.
What’s your favorite life advice?
Everything’s gonna be alright.
How has your relationship to your career changed in the last five years?
I've worked hard on myself to become a better leader and human, cop to my mistakes quicker and be softer on everyone including myself.
How has your relationship with yourself changed in the last five years?
Seeing a life coach has changed my life. It has forced me to face myself like I never have before and really find full integrity with what I am thinking, feeling and saying.
What's on your career bucket list?
Impact a billion people and build a billion dollar company :-)
What does female empowerment mean to you?
Women deserve a seat at the table. ALL studies point to the fact that women-led companies outperform male-led companies, boards that include more women have outperforming companies than only all-male boards, all signs are pointing to the fact that women absolutely deserve to have equal rights to men. It's time.
STEM: Rachel Tipograph, MikMak
Saw the future of digital and commerce.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Saw the future of digital and commerce.
“What risks can you afford to take?” This is the question Rachel Tipograph, founder and CEO of the world’s first mobile video shopping network MikMak, asks herself with every new challenge she faces. And in building a startup that takes on the Goliath that is the $250 billion home shopping industry, you can be sure the challenges abound. “The bigger the risk, the more likely the failure. You have to develop thick skin if you want to accomplish a lot in life,” says the 29-year-old minimercial mogul.
Tipograph, whose groundbreaking platform creates short, shoppable videos to market beauty, tech and home related products all priced under $100, has been destined for a career that bridges comedy and commerce since being crowned an eBay power-user at age 13. And she harnessed the power of social media to launch an up-and-coming comedian she managed while attending NYU.
“The bigger the risk, the more likely the failure. You have to develop thick skin."
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After graduating, she cut her teeth working as a digital strategy consultant for corporate giants including Levi’s, GE, and PepsiCo. And then came the proverbial big break. By age 24, she was named Global Director of Digital & Social Media at Gap. “It was there that I saw the future of media and commerce, and decided to quit my job to build MikMak,” says the mobile shopping maven. With MikMak, Tipograph is on a mission to reinvent the traditional infomercial for the millennial generation. No more cheesy late-night sales pitches or impractical gimmicks. Just 30 second, mobile-friendly spots featuring actually-engaging comedians as spokespeople.
While Tipograph may have some of the biggest names on her resume, nothing has quite prepared her for the uphill battle that is building and running her own business. In May of 2016, a deal she spent four months orchestrating fell apart. For the first time in her impressive career, there was nobody to rely on but herself. “I was exhausted. After a momentary pause where I allowed myself to feel defeated, I remembered I was the one who chose to build MikMak. No one will ever want this company to succeed more than me. The moment that energy waivers, it will spiral,” she explains. “Starting MikMak is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I am MikMak. When you work for someone else, it’s not the same.”
As a CEO turning channel-switching ads into must-see entertainment, Tipograph does things differently, and that includes company culture. Every Sunday, she sends out the “MikMak Attack,” a weekly email that breaks down the goals by department and offers company-wide visibility into all high-level initiatives. “Each email ends with me answering the question: ‘What’s inspiring me to attack the week?’ The time I put in Sundays to organize saves me hours during the week.”
Just a little over a year old, MikMak has already raised its first millions in funding. And for Tipograph, it’s nothing short of all-consuming. “It’s my number one priority,” she says. “I do hope within the next five years it reaches a point where I can allow for other life milestones to occur. I want to own a home, start a family and for all the founders who do all of that while running a company, I have so much admiration for you.”
STEM: Leura Fine, Laurel & Wolf
Found a hole in design. Patched it right up.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Democratizing design.
Leura Fine, CEO and founder of Laurel & Wolf, the interior design company that offers its services online only, has come a long way and is bringing the design world along with her.
A Jewish, southern girl who grew up in Alabama, Leura moved to Montreal to study at McGill University. But she graduated early, moved to LA where she worked for a world famous Burlesque dancer, all the while building a career as an interior designer. Then, she started a tech company. All before the age of 30.
An innovator in the online design space, Laurel & Wolf has developed a platform and software to allow for easy communication between a client and a designer, from anywhere. The entire service takes place in the digital world, and has opened the industry of interior design to people who never thought they could afford such services.
Luckily her experiences in the interior design world made a few things quite clear to the budding techie.
First, “the days of physical style boards and long, unproductive in-person meetings,” needed to go. “The future of design could be digital.”
Second, she noticed that most designers could not afford to support themselves because their were not enough people who could pay traditional industry rate.
And third, and most important, people wanted interior design help, but couldn’t afford it. There was a design hole.
“It was time to figure out a path to allow designers to earn a living doing what they love,” says Leura, “and for far more people to be able to afford access to those services. It was time to democratize design.”
In January 2014 Leura began concentrating full-time on Laurel & Wolf. The first version of the site was up that month. "I was the algorithm" she says about the company's beta site, a very bare-bones version of what exists today. Instead of spending 100k on a website build out, she paid a local LA-based developer 5k to build out eight pages with no backend. "I started spreading the word through friends and friends of family, putting it out on social media, saying, 'Hey who is looking for interior design services that only cost 300 dollars?'"
She had about 1,500 people sign up over the course of six weeks. The first iteration of Laurel & Wolf took users through a "style quiz,"-- that had no outcome. What Leura was testing was the public's interest. The BIG question: Would people be willing to pay for an interior design service online?
It's a simple, but brilliant idea-- take a service that only a small percentage of households can afford, and open it up to more people. More people=more work=more revenue.
And then there were more questions, more late nights, and the step of raising money.
“There are all sorts of moments you have as a founder and CEO where you might question the path you are on,” says Leura. “However, usually after a good venting session, a good cry, a few glasses of wine, I feel refreshed and ready to conquer the world.” Feeling failure she explains is an important part of the process, but you can’t dwell. “Take a deep breath and move on! You will realize that you are a lot stronger than you think.”
You’d have to be to work her hours. “My career has evolved from having a job to being the job. My life life is Laurel & Wolf, which is how it should be when you start your own company.”
But she says she can rely on herself more than ever before. “In my job, I’m constantly having to push myself harder to learn more, do more, be more, and as fast as possible. For the first time, I’ve realized I can actually meet those demands along the way.” That doesn’t mean she always gets it right, nor does she have the expectation she will, but knows if she’s willing to fight for it, there’s nothing she won’t accomplish. Which includes taking Laurel & Wolf public.
Beyond democratizing design, Leura wants to level the playing field for dreams as well. “Little girls should dream of being scientists, designers, or CEOs and they should have women to look up to in every single field.When I was a little girl, I never dreamed I could be a CEO because I never saw one. We have the power to change that and therefore change the course of history.”
Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.
STEM: Melissa Grillo Aruz, Forerunner Ventures
Investing in women. Investing in future.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Investing in women. Investing in future.
Meet Melissa Grillo Aruz: VP of Platform at Forerunner Ventures, the early stage venture capital firm investing in some of the buzziest, cultiest, most disruptive brands of the moment, including Dollar Shave Club, Birchbox, and Glossier.
Now 39, the Brooklyn-based mother of two launched her career at ad agency Razorfish, where she handled retail accounts for Victoria’s Secret, Ralph Lauren, and Abercrombie & Fitch. “This was in the early 2000s and these were the brands that were on the forefront of media, launching brand pages on Facebook and yes, MySpace, which now seems obvious, but back then was very innovative,” says Grillo, once behind such digital milestones as creating the first live streaming concert with Fergie for Victoria’s Secret Pink, as well as the first sponsored blog post with Refinery29. A different time, indeed.
From there, Grillo moved onto marketing for Gilt Group during their period of landmark growth, and consulted for J.Crew, Madewell, and Warby Parker. “I started to get excited about this next generation of consumer facing brands that had a strong POV, really connected with their customers in a fresh new way and came to life online,” she explains. It was through this work that she became acquainted with Kirsten Green, future boss and Forerunner Ventures founder. For the last two years, they’ve been forging the future of retail and backing some of this generation’s most sought after startups.
After fifteen years in the fashion space, Venture Capital was still uncharted territory. But Grillo isn’t one to be easily deterred by the unknown. “There was a fun and steep learning curve when I came on board, and I am lucky to be a part of a group that sees the value in disciplines outside those which traditional Venture Capital firms typically offer their companies,” explains Grillo, whose intuition for supporting promising and profitable young brands makes her an irreplaceable asset to the VC firm behind the explosive growth of Bonobos and Outdoor Voices. “It was exciting to know I could be a part of how Forerunner differentiates itself. I learned to capitalize on what I was good at while, at the same time, being humble enough to ask questions, read up on new topics, and as with anything involving startups worked my butt off to learn.”
"I learned to capitalize on what I was good at, while being humble enough to ask questions."
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While the finance industry is historically male-dominated (an antiquated reality that Forerunner is no doubt disrupting, however unintentionally), Grillo rarely feels like a fish out of water. “The key to dealing with these situations is to try to put yourself in other people’s shoes and understand what their motivations are,” says the VP, who leans on a close network of entrepreneurial women and hardworking moms for encouragement and support, and counts her professional teammates as mentors. “I can easily tell myself I’ve spent decades growing brands, creating and riding trends, and that I’m really good at what I do, and that internal pep talk usually does the trick! A successful career is earned and requires sacrifice. It truly is done through dedication and a lot of hard work, nothing is handed to you.”
Between running family and working at the fund, Grillo has little time leftover for herself — but one thing’s for sure, she never skips her bedtime routine. It’s the little things. “Every night, no matter how tired I am, I always take off my makeup, put on eye cream and moisturizer read a few pages of my book and off to bed.” When asked how she defines female empowerment, she replies, “Today, for me, it means asking intelligent questions with confidence and walking into a room without questioning whether I belong there or not. As I start my day tomorrow it will mean something else, but it always means operating with confidence and self love.”
"A successful career is earned and requires sacrifice."
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That big things are in the future for Melissa Grillo and the team at Forerunner — now that’s something we’d put our money on.
STEM: Whitney Wolfe, Bumble
Giving them something to buzz about.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full STEM List Here.
Making the dating world buzz.
Changing the way we date and shifting the power dynamics between men and women, those are just two of the issues that Whitney Wolfe, founder and CEO of Bumble wanted to address when she launched her dating app that requires women to make the first move.
“One of the biggest challenges has been rewiring people's opinions on women making the first move,” shares Whitney, an experience that challenged her more times than she can count. But she’s made the female-led approach work, exclaiming that “well over a billion messages,” have been shared on the app that boasts over 10 million users.
Whitney has made about every list and for good reason. She’s a game-changer, a rule-breaker, and an industry dominator in a male-dominated field. Dating startups are notoriously hard to grow and the new-kid-on-the-dating-block is always around the corner. But Whitney and her team have maintained their foothold, launching BumbleBFF where women can find friends and colleagues. In short, she’s an inspiration for young entrepreneurs everywhere, not just women. And at 27, she’s only getting started. Up next on her list: disrupting health tech.
How has your experience being a woman in tech changed since you first launched Bumble?
I had to grow a thick skin early on, and I had to realize that if you're lucky, people will underestimate you. No better way to debunk stereotypes than proving the archaic thinkers wrong. Supporting one another, and truly helping one another as women, with NO expectation of anything in return is going to propel the next generation of girls and women forward.
What are some of the challenges you've encountered along the way?
The list is too long. Sometimes the hardest things to break are bad habits, and women assuming men need to be in control is most certainly something that needed disrupting!
So, what keeps you going?
Changing the way relationships work and putting women in control to finally feel equal to the man. My team, their passion. The amazing stories that come from the millions and millions of connections we're making!
Who are the people you consider your mentors or influences and why?
My business partner, Andrey, is most certainly my mentor, he's beyond brilliant and talented. My fiancé is my rock and sees things in a visionary way and gives me a lot of perspective.
“If you're lucky, people will underestimate you.”
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What is the best piece of "real talk" advice you've received?
Snap out of it! It always looks better in the morning
What is your favorite life advice?
Be kind to everyone, because every single human on this planet is fighting a battle we know nothing about. There is nothing more important than motiveless kindness.
What is a time in your life when you thought, 'I can't do this anymore?'
I can count them on one hand, and I always in that moment, knew change needed to happen. And I went out and found and created that change. You have to listen to your gut, always.
What's next? What are your five year goals for Bumble? How do you continue to build community that's empowering?
I want to build Bumble into the Facebook for people you don't yet know, and I want Bumble to become a leading lifestyle brand both online and offline for all your introductions, with women always making the first move. Woman making the first move into the good, and out of the bad has the power to change the world.
What's on your career bucket list?
To be involved in disruptive health tech.
What does female empowerment mean to you?
It means confidence, being happy for women in a genuine way, and being equal to the man. It means never feeling inferior.
What do you do to support other women either personally or professionally?
I try to help with both personal and professional advice, investments, and for the good or the bad, snapping women out of it when they're stuck in bad relationships or ruts. One of my goals in 2017 is to do more, and to be a better mentor to more women. I've been so busy trying to build a company to empower women, that my personal capacity has been limited and I hope to have some spare time to devote to this.
Women have the power to:
Do anything. They are the power.
Brushing Up: You're Waiting Too Long to Swap Your Toothbrush
And what this new company is doing about it.
Claire Burke wants you to brush better. Which is why she and Goby, co-founder Ben Goldberg, are sinking their teeth into the business of oral hygiene. It may not sound like the sexiest venture, but it's one full of possibility. Last week Goby launched their first product, the first-ever direct-to-consumer rechargeable electric toothbrush combining unprecedented value and convenience. The toothbrush is available for $50 with a subscription and replacement heads start at just $4. The charging station has no cords and is designed to minimize post-brushing build-up. Sound like a dream clean?
We caught up with the entrepreneur to talk why teeth and how Goby is changing the game.
Can you tell us a little about your background? How did you end up as the co-founder of Goby?
I graduated from NYU’s Stern School of Business before working at investment bank Lincoln International for six years. Simultaneously, I pursued my personal passion for film and media by co-founding a production company. In 2013, I left investment banking to pursue an MBA at Columbia Business School. While at Columbia, I immersed myself in media and technology, working for The Raine Group, Hearst, theSkimm, and Female Founders Fund, each of which expanded my interest in startups and exposed me to the value and power of brand. I met Ben through a mutual friend from business school and was immediately drawn to the Goby mission. Deemed “Cavity Claire” by my family growing up, I was inspired by my own struggles with good oral care and was determined to enhance consumers’ oral care experience by creating a value-driven oral care product with a relatable brand personality.
With Goby you’re hitting a few of major markets and key trends— direct-to-consumer, health and beauty, and the membership business model. We’ve seen many businesses go this route. Why was now the right time for teeth?
We saw a significant opportunity to disrupt oral care because oral health is an overlooked space in health and beauty. Oral health is important! Many diseases have oral manifestations, oral issues are the leading cause of missed school and work days and 50% of people aged 30 and older have some form of gum disease. Leveraging the direct-to-consumer / membership business model was a natural starting point for us to enhance the brushing experience for consumers across the country. The average consumer changes their toothbrush every nine months as opposed to the dentist-recommended three months, so we offer a subscription to ensure that our customers can keep both their mouths and brushes clean without having to worry about running to the drug store.
"The average consumer changes their toothbrush every nine months as opposed to the dentist-recommended three months."
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What went into research and development? How long did it take from concept to product?
We tested all the various models on the market to determine which features were necessary and which were superfluous. We assessed dozens of other products, surveyed friends, family and colleagues and ultimately designed a product that fits seamlessly into the modern consumer’s lifestyle. From concept to product, it took about two years.
Why was the design element so important?
Design was important because it folds into so many aspects of the value proposition -- creating something intuitive and user-friendly that breaks through the currently overcrowded and over complicated market, ultimately providing the consumer with the best possible brushing experience at a fraction of the price of the competition.
How do you get people to look at something that they’ve used their entire life and think about the possibility of doing it differently?
It wasn’t as much about rethinking, but rather maximizing the consumer’s time and taking the onus off of the consumer -- having them think less about brushing and replacing, while simultaneously improving the quality of their brush and ultimately the state of their oral health.
Was it a hard sell?
We had been working on Goby for nearly two years, bootstrapping the vast majority of the way. The funding process was definitely not easy, but fortunately, our investors appreciated the problem we were trying to solve because they experienced the same problem firsthand -- frustration with today’s current oral care products. For both Goby and our investors, we experienced a pain point, and felt there must be a better way.
You have an investor specifically geared toward early stage tech products that transform consumer experiences for the better. How did you approach those meetings?
First, we tried to clearly articulate the problem. What we found with the investors that ultimately invested was they personally experienced the problem, too, and saw value in our solution. Second, it helped that the market opportunity is significant. Everyone brushes their teeth, but most people don’t do it well. Electric toothbrushes provide value, yet less than 15% of people in the U.S. use them. Goby’s improved experience has a measurable impact on consumers’ oral health.
From your perspective, what goes into building a strong brand?
Developing a brand personality that the consumer can connect with, while simplifying and maximizing the consumer’s experience with the product.
Why do you think there hasn’t been much innovation— aside from bristles and grip— in the toothbrush space?
In the electric toothbrush space in particular, there hasn’t been much innovation because the market is dominated by two large companies and is thus zero-sum. For the incumbents, there’s no need to innovate from a business model, messaging or experience perspective, but consumers are consistently expecting more from the brands with which they affiliate. Goby aims to resonate with those who are looking for an easier, relatable and more affordable oral care experience.
What do you hope to achieve with Goby?
We want to improve oral care by providing a brush that is affordable, intuitive and relatable -- overall, we want to enhance the oral care experience.
Cavity Claire, your nickname as a kid. If you had to blame one food, what was your go-to indulgence as a kid? And now?
I always had and always will have a sweet-tooth. I can’t blame my cavities on one specific food item, but in general, sugar was the culprit.
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3 Reasons Women Are Needed in STEM Now More Than Ever
Because to have gender diversity in the workspace gives way for thought diversity as well.
STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics. STEM doesn’t mean you’ll be working in a lab your whole life. It could result in speeding around a race track for your job or working on the next mobility frontier, or it could result in being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
I started my career in the auto industry because I like fast cars. A well-crafted fast car is the ultimate marriage between form and function. There is something very exciting about sitting in a beautiful car with flowy, swoopy lines and pushing it to the limit. For a chance to work on making them even faster, I went into electrical engineering and joined the Society of Automotive Engineers. I found being involved in engineering and co-op programs to be extremely helpful and valuable jumping off points for my career and expanded my views of what I can be capable of with my degree.
I would like to paint a small picture of just some of the opportunities that STEM has to offer and share three reasons why women are needed in the STEM fields: Creativity, Diversity, and Curiosity/Skepticism. Hopefully, my experience will inspire other women to pursue the art of STEM.
Reason #1: Women have a unique sense of creativity.
Most people associate art and creativity with paintings, literature and music. Engineering and mathematical formulas typically aren’t the first thing to pop in your head. That is a miss. Success within engineering is often achieved through creativity. It’s achieved by looking at a problem differently and more creatively than anybody else and using math and technology to present the solution.
At first glance, that may not be obvious to a lot of young women, and young professionals considering going into STEM. STEM isn’t just numbers by-the-book. A career in STEM will provide an opportunity to use your unique way of looking at the world to identify and solve problems. If you can do that, there’s no limit to where your career can go and fun you can have on the way.
I still am a lover of arts and literature, and it has never been an either/or decision between arts and STEM or STEAM. I incorporate and practice art in my job on a regular basis. In the same way that artists may use paint or a camera to communicate their unique vision, open your eyes and expand your experience, I use math and science. I create with numbers and formulas and other cool tools technology affords me. There is quiet satisfaction in identifying an unrecognized opportunity and implementing solutions that hundreds of millions of people will use. Today, my tools are software and code.
And now that Chevrolet has gone one step further in creating this connected car ecosystem, it’s my job to determine where to paint next.
STEM isn’t just numbers by-the-book. A career in STEM will provide an opportunity to use your unique way of looking at the world to identify and solve problems.
Reason #2: Diversity in the workspace among men and woman is crucial.
Diversity in this field is crucial. That’s where I think the STEM industry doesn’t always do itself justice. Success in this field won’t be determined simply by who can solve an equation the fastest, but by who solves a problem creatively. Beyond diversity of gender or diversity of race, the more important aspect is diversity of thinking. Ability to look at the world a little differently lets you see opportunities that other people may have missed. You can then express your creativity in providing a solution using technology and science as a medium.
I saw this practice first hand, when Chevrolet rolled out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto through its vehicle lineup. When we first embarked on this project, some people questioned whether a large global automaker can be nimble enough to work successfully with established tech companies like Apple and Google. There was the also added challenge in rolling out this new feature across the entire Chevy lineup, from a Chevy Cruze to the Malibu, because we believe this is something all our consumers would value.
The quiet steady work that GM has put into nurturing diversity of talent paid off in this instance. Today, Chevrolet offers these technologies on more models than any other automaker in the industry. This was possible because of engineers and developers with different opinions, poking holes and advocating passionately for the best ways to deliver customer experience in implementing CarPlay and Android Auto.
Reason #3: Women are encouraged to have a healthy sense of curiosity and skepticism.
My career in the industry started out with a co-op position that eventually turned in to a full-time position with General Motors where I was fortunate enough to indulge my curiosity in all different aspects of engineering and more. My insatiable curiosity kicked again. I got my MBA and jumped in with both feet on the business side of the automotive industry, leading to various stints in internal consulting, corporate strategy and business development. Today I’ve been given the challenge of leading innovation and strategically figuring out where to take OnStar and our connected car ecosystem.
In addition to working in different areas of engineering, I was lucky that GM offered me a chance to indulge my curiosity and work in the business side of the automotive industry after my MBA, leading to various stints in internal consulting, corporate strategy and to business development and new technology. Working at GM exposed me to opportunities beyond traditional STEM activities that I did not know I really needed to understand in order to excel in business, but I am grateful that I was exposed to them.
I would also advise women that a healthy amount of skepticism is not a bad thing. You should be asking questions, and trying to find ways to solve a problem differently. Don’t let others dictate what you should think – you have a unique way of thinking for a reason, use it. A career in engineering and technology will provide an opportunity to use your unique way of looking at the world to identify and solve problems. If you can do that, there’s no limit to where your career can go and fun you can have along the way.
An original version of this article appeared on Darling Magazine. Written by Saejin Park