"Mental Health Is Critical When You’re Launching a Business"—Here’s How I Developed Resilience in the Face of Challenges

“Life doesn’t stop to clear a path for you to pursue your startup."

—Thai-Anh Hoang, Founder of EmBeba

Starting a business is a huge challenge, and one thing a lot of entrepreneurs don’t think about before they take the leap is the fact that life doesn’t stop to clear a path for you to pursue your startup. Throughout my adult life, I’ve struggled with my mental health, both because of clinical depression and stressful experiences. And yet, I have managed to build a business during two of the most challenging years of my life. 

Being honest about mental health is important in opening up the conversation, and it also allows those of us who are struggling to feel less alone as we develop the skills we need to stay mentally well. My entrepreneurial journey has taught me many things, but perhaps one of the biggest surprises is that I’ve learned how to better cultivate resilience in the face of challenges.

I was diagnosed with depression in my early twenties due to work-related stress and I went to therapy for a year because of it. Then, several years later, my mental health took another hit when my daughter was born and I was diagnosed with severe postpartum depression. While incredibly difficult at the time, this was a blessing in disguise: I became more proactive and aware of my mental health and understood the important balance of therapy, medication, and specific personal habits that could help me.

In 2018, I was on a family trip to Europe with my husband and my infant daughter. It was during this trip that the idea for my clean family skincare brand, EmBeba, came about. The idea for the brand’s first product, a diaper balm, was sparked by a homemade balm a family member gave me in Bosnia. Inspired, I returned home and channeled my energy into building EmBeba, applying modern technology to an age-old family recipe. Redirecting my focus onto a new purpose and entrepreneurial venture was a good strategy for me, and I spent nearly two years building a product and brand that I expected to launch in the spring of 2020.

To say it has not been smooth sailing would be a tremendous understatement. As I worked on launching my business, we lost my dog in a hit-and-run accident, and I miscarried shortly after. But this time, I was able to quickly recognize the signs that I might be sliding into depression. I began taking proactive steps that I knew benefitted my mental health: exercising more often, gardening, and spending time with my family, to name a few. I also reminded myself that I have a lot of positive things in my life and that we are bound by fate. And I became laser-focused on building EmBeba.

Then came COVID. Like many brands expecting big things in early 2020, I was devastated when the pandemic’s effects meant we couldn’t get products or launch the brand I’d been working on for two years. My family also contracted the virus, and my husband and I faced the challenges of recovering while caring for our toddler in isolation. It was a difficult time, but when we emerged I recognized we’d survived–and that was something to be proud of.

We’ve since launched EmBeba. It was later than we’d planned, and we—like many—have had a challenging year. But when I look back at my journey to bringing our first product to market, the resilience and mental toughness I built through my personal challenges really helped me in starting my business. Despite the multiple challenges that came my way while launching my business during COVID, being comfortable with the strategy of tackling each problem as it came kept me from being overwhelmed.

And, having gone through so much in the past several years, I feel like I’ve developed better coping mechanisms—and a steely spine—to plow ahead. Focusing on a goal allowed me to compartmentalize my feelings and redirect my energy positively.

As female founders, we’re often on our own when we start—and that can be a challenge when it comes to developing good habits for managing your mental health. By sharing my story, I hope to open up a dialogue around some of the challenges women entrepreneurs are facing and how we can prepare for and leverage them whenever possible. 

Below, I’m sharing three strategies that have helped me cope with disappointment, grief, and uncertainty along the way.

Tune into your mental health.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in your life or business and push down any negativity. My early experience with depression helped me become better attuned to recognizing the potential of falling back into depression. While life is busy and it’s easy to become distracted, I always make sure I’m paying attention to how I’m feeling.

Recognize your triggers.

To that effect, I recognize the triggers that can send me down a slippery slope, having battled with them before. Understanding what situations may be more challenging for you allows you to put support systems or positive habits in place proactively.

Have a plan.

In my case, exercise, gardening, and spending time with my family are all activities that really help me stay positive and well. Take the time to recognize what makes you feel good, and be sure to build that into your plan to stay mentally healthy.

Of course, the challenges of running a business don’t stop after launching—I was in the midst of launching my business while pregnant with my second child. While a product launch and a new baby are two happy, momentous occasions, they come with their fair share of overwhelm. But as I channel my energy into something I’m passionate about, I’m provided with an opportunity to think positively towards the future and cultivate the resilience required to balance motherhood and entrepreneurship.

About the author: Thai-Anh Hoang is the founder of the clean, family-friendly skincare line EmBeba. A daughter of entrepreneurs, she was inspired to start the company after a family member gifted her a generations-old, homemade balm that worked miracles on her family’s sensitive skin. She’s a mom of a toddler with another child on the way.

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What the International Black Lives Matter Movement Meant for My Business in 2020

Photo: Courtesy of Andréa Jones

Last year was a challenging year of growth for both me and my business. Although I was by no means new to the entrepreneurial world, the events of 2020 would take my business to new heights because of the Black Lives Matter Movement. 

Heading into 2020 I was excited to renew focus on my coaching and course offerings. I was feeling good about my revenue and I wanted to pour my efforts into producing more automated programs. But in March, when the pandemic really started to get attention in the U.S. and Canada, my team and I realized that we needed to pivot and service offerings were the fastest way to revenue growth at the time. 

Over those first few months of 2020, like many others, we did lose some clients, particularly our clients in the event space who essentially lost their businesses during the pandemic. We also had a few clients who decided to take social media in-house as a way to cut costs. We experienced a lot of major changes within our business as I'm sure other business owners did as well.

But even though it was a challenging time, my team rose to the occasion and quickly turned things around. Within a month we had compensated for the abrupt slowdown and reached the March goals that we had previously been behind on. I’m incredibly proud to say my team really weathered the COVID-19 storm with tremendous grace and success. We headed into May feeling really great about our perseverance and growth as a company.

This would later become crucial to helping me stand with confidence about how my company serves its clients and brings value. Because once again, 2020 threw us another curveball and we found ourselves in the midst of worldwide demonstrations for Black lives following the death of George Floyd. Suddenly my company was put front and center because it was Black-owned and I really wrestled with if that was a positive thing or not.

When the Black Lives Matter movement started to pick up widespread media attention, a lot of businesses in the online space began tagging Black entrepreneurs or business owners they worked with as an effort to uplift Black voices. From there, many business owners began examining their network of contractors, or the agencies they hired from a diversity standpoint, realizing they should make a more conscious effort to diversify the people they work with. That’s when I really started to notice a shift in my own business leads. I checked almost all of the marks for someone looking for a diverse team. I am a Black woman, I have team members who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and I have team members based all over the world as an internationally based agency. A lot of companies found this quality of our company attractive and hired us. 

When the light was shone on me as a Black business owner, I felt very uncomfortable at first and dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome, especially since I do not consider myself to be a Black rights activist. An avid follower and supporter, yes. But an activist? Hardly. The Black Lives Matter movement also put a lot of emphasis on me as a Black woman, but before last year, I had honestly not thought of myself as a Black woman business owner, simply a business owner. 

I never foresaw the color of my skin being the reason people noticed me and wanted to work with me. It felt like a lot of the reason people were deciding to hire me and my company was only because I was Black. There was a lot of work that I had to do around that to shift my mindset. 

What helped me work through this imposter syndrome I was feeling were two things, really. The first was reminding myself that these prospective clients may have been seeking me out because I was Black, but they certainly weren’t hiring me or retaining my services because I was Black.  

My team does incredible work, as we had proved several times, including during the pandemic. We were able to sustain the rapid growth we were experiencing because we had designed a great service that was set up on the back end and we were getting results for our clients. So, whenever I had feelings of doubt, I reflected on how awesome my team was, and then I reminded myself that I had built that team.

The second thing that really helped me through this imposter syndrome I was wrestling with was something my dad told me. (What’s really funny is his wisdom actually came in the form of a sports metaphor and I am the least sporty person out there.) I told him about the unease I was feeling over all the attention I was receiving and asked him how he was dealing with the Black Lives Matter movement as a Black business owner himself. I absolutely loved his response, which was: “Think of it as your ‘at bat.’” He went on to say, I should think of this time as my turn at the plate. Just because I step up to the plate does not always mean I am going to hit a home run. It doesn’t even mean I’ll necessarily hit the ball. But I do get my chance at the plate, so why not take it? It was that mindset shift that helped me be okay with the attention I was getting and lean into it. 

By learning to embrace the attention I was receiving because of the Black Lives Matter movement, I overcame the imposter syndrome and my business was able to grow both monetary and team-wise. In fact, over the course of 2020, my business tripled in revenue and we added over six new members to our team. Because of that growth, we’re able to reach and help more people. We’re able to show up in a different way, offer more services, and expand our reach. 

And the movement didn’t just impact my clientele, but also my personal professional circle. A surprising realization I had was that my own professional circle was not diverse enough. It’s no secret that the digital marketing industry is chock-full of white men, but I fell right into the trap of just going along with what was right in front of me versus making a conscious effort to create change. After critically looking at the group of people I had connected with initially, I started spending concerted time and effort diversifying my network.

One of the resources I went to is the We Should All Be Millionaires Club by Rachel Rodgers. Her fantastic and diverse group of business owners helped me realize just how much I needed to be around people who were going through the same things that I was. They were business owners like me who were also getting a giant spotlight shone onto their businesses because they were Black and we got to share how everyone was dealing with it.  

Some were celebrating finally being able to show up and be seen and seeing these business owners’ positive energy around the attention they were receiving helped me really accept the spotlight on my business as well. 

I remember how personally invested I became in the movement, and as I reflect on this, I think one of the reasons is because the Black Lives Matter movement really shone a light on the things I had been doing and striving for already in my business. Essentially, the rest of the world was catching up to where I had always been, and I was finally reaping the rewards from that work. Instead of hiding from it, they encouraged me to embrace it.

This whole year taught me lessons that I will carry with me as an individual and as a CEO and business owner for the rest of my life. It’s reinforced the importance of diversity and allowed me to embrace my experience as a Black business owner. I vow to always employ a diverse staff and foster a diverse social and professional group of people around me to influence and guide my thinking and decisions.

If I can leave you with my biggest lesson from the Black Lives Matter movement it is this: everyone should examine their professional and social circles and make a concerted effort to diversify those circles. The experiences and lessons we gather from having a diverse circle can do amazing things, and I think we can all use that as a guiding compass as we continue into this new year. 

About the Author: Andréa Jones is fiercely committed to helping businesses and podcasters build profitable online communities through simple social media solutions. She's the host of the Savvy Social Podcast, which was nominated for “Best Business Series” at the 2020 Canadian Podcast Awards.

Andréa is also the creator of the Savvy Social School, a digital platform designed to teach its 100+ members (predominantly small business owners) how to implement organic social media strategies. For those businesses seeking a curated, done-for-you approach to growing an engaged online audience, Andréa and her team of seven serve nearly two dozen notable brands across the globe.

Named one of Social Report's top marketers to follow, Andréa can routinely be found speaking at highly-publicized events, including Alt Summit, Podcast Movement, and PodFest. You can find her online at onlinedrea.com or @onlinedrea on Instagram.

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5 Strategies for Building a Business That Can Weather the Ups and Downs

Photo: Courtney Jones Photography

It goes without saying, but 2020 has been a challenging year. As a business owner, there's no go-to “playbook” on how to survive a global pandemic. Our company, like many others, was impacted when much of the world went into lockdown in mid-March. When sales suddenly take a hit, it's hard not to start rethinking everything. Don’t do it. Resist the temptation. Instead, this is the time when you really need to focus on solidifying the fundamentals of your business. 

Over the last decade-plus, I’ve learned a lot as a business owner and entrepreneur. COVID-19 is certainly one of the greatest challenges we’ve faced as a business. However, it’s not the first hurdle, and it definitely won’t be the last. After a challenging early spring, we’ve managed to turn the corner and are expecting a strong holiday season. We didn't press the "reset” button. Instead, we doubled down on our long-term goals. No matter what comes your way, here are a few words of advice for weathering the ups and downs and coming out stronger on the other side. 

Don’t compromise your brand. 

Now is not the time to completely rethink who your customers are and what your brand stands for. I personally care a lot about authenticity. Early on in the pandemic, we took the time to look back at our mission statement and brand values. We’ve allowed them to guide us through this challenging period. Leatherology’s mission is the redefine simple, everyday luxury and celebrate the everyday. What does this mean for us today? We’ve always had a large gift business and we realized more than ever, customers wanted to send meaningful gifts to loved ones far and wide. We leaned into this and created a “Gift Joy” campaign. This holiday, we’re collaborating with four partners to create unique gift sets featuring some of our most popular items. 50% of net proceeds from each sale will go to a non-profit organization of the partner’s choosing.

Diversify opportunity and risk. 

Never put all your eggs in one basket. While direct-to-consumer online sales have always been core to Leatherology’s business, we consider ourselves more than just a DTC brand. Consumer shopping behaviors are constantly evolving, so we’ve challenged ourselves to think beyond just direct-to-consumer. We have invested in a variety of customer acquisition channels and diversified our marketing mix. As a business, your growth should never be solely reliant on a single channel, such as paid social advertising, where rising costs can quickly deteriorate profitability over time.

Drown out the noise. 

When the going gets tough, you start looking around to see what your competitors and peers are doing. While it’s always important to have a pulse on your industry, don’t do something simply because you see others doing it. Avoid the FOMO. What works for someone else may not work for you. Even though we've seen huge demand for PPE, we resisted the urge to suddenly offer new products like facemasks when they just didn’t fit our brand strategy. We also felt that the market would be incredibly crowded and prohibit us from being a leader. Instead, we made iterative changes. We planned up inventory in our home accessories line to meet increased customer demand while scaling back our travel accessories category.

Learn from the positives to prepare for the negatives.

How you get through a downturn is largely dependent on what you do when things are going well. Don’t get carried away by great sales. Business is cyclical, and you can’t assume things will always remain on an upward trajectory. Use this time to dig into the mechanics of your business. Track everything and gather as much data as possible to help you understand why things are going well. This will also help you uncover potential blind spots and get ahead of warning signals you may not have noticed otherwise. 

Take care of your people.

This is arguably my biggest piece of advice. Building a great team is the hardest but most important part of the job. Great people are the backbone of any successful business. Take the time to understand what motivates each individual and how to support them through ups and downs. Never ask them to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself. David and I are fortunate to work with an amazing and diverse team of creators, analysts, artisans, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Leatherology wouldn’t be where it is today without our team.

“How you get through a downturn is largely dependent on what you do when things are going well.”

-Rae Liu, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Leatherology

About the Author: Rae Liu is the co-founder and the creative director of Leatherology, a direct-to-consumer brand of beautifully crafted, personalizable leather accessories, built on the premise of providing attainably priced luxury. Rae graduated from Columbia with a BA in Political Science. She worked for several years at the World Bank before making a complete career pivot to pursue her passion for product design, studying accessories at FIT. in 2008 she helped Alexander Wang launch his accessories and footwear business.

During her years working in fashion, Rae was struck by the fact that as a young woman living in New York, she could not afford the very products she spent her days creating, and that the ones she could afford did not have the level of design thoughtfulness, craftsmanship or quality of materials she knew was possible. Thus in 2011, she moved from New York back to her hometown, Dallas, to build Leatherology. She lives in Dallas and has two young children.

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4 Ways Failure Led Me to Become a Solopreneur

“Had I ‘succeeded’ in my past endeavors, I’d probably be sitting in a corporate office racking my brain over some superfluous comment my boss made in our morning meeting.” 

-Sarah Lempa, Writer, Entrepreneur, and Creative Media Strategist

I used to crack jokes about being the black sheep of my business school in college. Mingling with corporate recruiters, relentless internship hunting, networking events that were more awkward than an eighth-grade dance—none of them were quite my forte. “What am I even doing here?” I’d ask friends with a sheepish grin, in between classes where I wrestled to keep my focus. Under the jokes, however, there was a gnawing fear that I wasn’t good enough.

Me and failure? Oh, yeah. We go way back.

We’re old pals, really. Between wiping tears on the sleeve of my Ann Taylor suit (that I loathed) after career fairs and feeling like I got punched after yet another job rejection, we’ve gotten to know each other painfully well. What I didn’t know back then was that failure had a secret agenda the entire time: To align me in a direction congruent with who I really am.

Two-and-a-half years, one self-designed career, and 40+ countries later, I couldn’t be more grateful for my so-called failures. Without them, I’d probably still be taking lunch break naps in my car at an office job. Here’s how each blunder and botch catapulted me into becoming a solopreneur.

1. Each rejection prodded me to try something new.

Early in college, I chased big-name corporate internships. I never received a single offer. Taking everything far too personally at age 19, I’d stew in the sullen sting of failure, agonizing over why I didn’t make the cut.

After moving on to pursue advertising agencies, I was beside myself that I had ever attempted working in corporate America. My personality wasn’t suited for a “normal” office, I thought. I should work somewhere with colorful bean bag chairs, a place where people swear in their emails, I convinced myself. While it was comparatively better, the agency world offered little improvement when it came to freedom. Not even all of the Friday office beers in the world could make up for that. As fate would have it, none of my job prospects materialized anyway.

With each perceived screw-up, I gained insights about what would actually make me happy. It wasn’t freedom within the office—it was freedom from the office. I wanted to travel the world like a crazy vagabond, not spend 97% of the year daydreaming of a meager 10-day vacation. That revelation was scarier than any rejection, as I knew it would be much harder to achieve.

2. I learned exactly what I didn’t want for my career—much faster.

A fancy name tag, gargantuan skyscraper office views, glossy high heels that echoed in hallways... I used to think I needed these things to be successful. It turns out that was only what other people around me wanted at the time. Failure bopped me on the head like a Whack-A-Mole, time and time again, saying you don’t want any of that anyway. I lusted after their approval, mirroring others’ dreams that weren’t suited for me. I can only imagine how much longer this realization would have taken had I not gotten turned down from the start. 

In a last-ditch effort to get a job that provided some semblance of freedom, I applied to be a flight attendant. I wanted to try freelancing while flying for a living, hoping I could figure out self-employment while on-the-go. I made it to the third round of the interview process and never got a callback. I sobbed at the news, thinking I had officially lost all chance at freedom in my career. Little did I know that crushing letdown would later lead me to take a leap into freelancing full-time, something I’d later look back on with immense gratitude.

“I wanted to travel the world like a crazy vagabond, not spend 97% of the year daydreaming of a meager 10-day vacation.”

-Sarah Lempa, Writer, Entrepreneur, and Creative Media Strategist

3. It made me a more resilient and courageous person.

Reminiscent of first heartbreak, those initial flops in your professional life can leave you feeling like you got dumped on Valentine’s Day. To make matters even worse, there probably isn’t any leftover chocolate laying around either. I used to put so much emotional stock into each application, meeting, and interview — forming lofty attachments that would only come back to bite me. As the years passed, I eventually learned to peel myself out of the pity zone a bit faster. 

Don’t get me wrong: Sometimes I still feel heart-sinking pangs of disappointment when things don’t go how I’d like. I’m only human, after all. The difference nowadays is that mishaps feel less apocalyptic; resilience has taken the stage. I started to accept (and even embrace) the unknown. Risk-taking became commonplace when I realized I wouldn’t get high rewards by staying comfortable. Failure is the devious cousin of risk, and you have to invite ‘em both unless you want your party to be painfully boring.

4. Without other options, failure forced me to try that one “crazy idea.”

Jobless as a fresh graduate, I couldn’t find a single reason to hold back. Without these bumps in the road, I would’ve never hopped on a one-way flight to Vietnam in pursuit of building my own location-independent career. I would have never felt the goosebump-raising thrill of building something that felt so authentically me in all ways. And I certainly wouldn’t have been able to manage the tumultuous roller coaster that comes with paving your own way as a solopreneur. 

Had I “succeeded” in my past endeavors, I’d probably be sitting in a corporate office racking my brain over some superfluous comment my boss made in our morning meeting. 

Like a friend dishing out tough love after a breakup, failure yanked my hand and swung me exactly where I needed to be. And while we’ve come a long way, this is a lifelong journey.

Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Lempa

About the Author: Sarah Lempa is a writer, entrepreneur, and creative media strategist covering the joys (and challenges) of freelancing, travel, and solopreneurship. Her work has appeared in Business Insider, Fodor’s, and SUITCASE Magazine, among others. Currently based in Indonesia, she’s called multiple countries home and has ventured across 6 continents along the way. When she’s not chipping away at a piece, you’ll find her jamming out to groovy beats or riding a motorcycle. Keep up with her on Instagram @travelempa.

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How I Found the Courage to Quit Stable, Prestigious Careers to Become a Founder at the Age of 29

“Starting a business is scary. It affects every part of your life. People think you’re crazy, and they’re kind of right.”

-Isharna Walsh, Founder and CEO of Coral

Are you thinking about starting your own business? Do you have a little voice in your head that whispers ideas and dreams about things you want to create? Are you unsure whether you should listen to that voice?

I had that voice, too, and for the longest time didn’t know what to do with it.

As a half South Asian woman, I was raised to get straight A’s, stay out of trouble, go to a prestigious school, and forge a stable career. I followed the rules, getting law and economics degrees, and spending my twenties working in government, management consulting, technology, and venture capital. Then, just before my thirtieth birthday, I quit my job without a safety net to start my company, Coral, which helps people improve their sexual well-being. (Can you imagine what my mother said?).

There’s lots of advice out there about whether or not to take a risk and run headfirst at a business idea, and the truth is that nobody can answer that for you. But looking back now, I can see two things clearly: The time I spent trying on different careers and identities taught me valuable lessons. It wasn’t wasted. Yet it’s also true that these highly demanding, great-on-paper work experiences were my way of stepping right up to the edge of what I really wanted to do before I found the conviction to close my eyes and jump. 

Starting a business is scary. It affects every part of your life. People think you’re crazy, and they’re kind of right. It threatens your finances, your mental health, and your career trajectory. You’ll face judgment from your parents, your friends, prospective partners, investors, and strangers who read about you on the internet. And it’s more likely than not that your business will fail.

Stepping into that vulnerable space—and being comfortable there—is especially difficult if you haven’t been conditioned to embrace fear, and don’t have a model that looks like you. As a woman, I hadn’t been groomed in resilience since my first crush rejected me in the schoolyard, like my male classmates. I’d also rarely personally encountered women in positions of leadership, and had never had a female boss. Successful entrepreneurs, in my mind, were either men or celebrities—people who look and act nothing like me.

So what gave me the confidence to go for it? I had to create the space to acknowledge and examine that knowing inside of me, rather than drowning it out with distractions. 

For me, this took meditation and introspection. I sat with my self-doubts and learned the subtle distinction between self-preserving fear and self-limiting fear. I let myself acknowledge the knowing that told me entrepreneurship was my path and identified the narratives that held me back as self-limiting and socially constructed, rather than real obstacles. (And in the meantime, I used my jobs as crash courses in high-growth startups, technology development, and the dynamics of venture-funded businesses until I found the business idea I couldn’t ignore).

So when the idea for Coral came, this time the voice in my head was so strong that not doing it felt harder than giving it my all.

If you’re considering whether entrepreneurship is the right path for you, spend time with yourself, in the quiet. Journal, meditate, go for walks, turn inward.  Acknowledge the hurdles, personal and societal, and how they might be affecting you. Think through whether you have the self-belief, resilience, and determination to back yourself and push your idea forward through the obstacles—because it’s not easy, and you will want to give up. 

When you stop and ask yourself what you want to create with your one short life, chances are that voice will shout. 

And you’ll know what you have to do.

About the Author: Isharna Walsh is the founder and CEO of Coral, a sexual wellness app that offers evidence-based guides to better sex for all humans. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Australia, Isharna worked for the Australian Prime Minister, Boston Consulting Group, and a Los Angeles VC firm before turning 30. After realizing that nothing that is so essential to our health and happiness is as neglected as sex and sexuality, she raised $3 million in seed funding to launch Coral in November of 2019. One year later, Coral is a sexual wellness pioneer that’s helped hundreds of thousands of people create their best sex lives. 

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How This Female Veteran Used Her Military Training to Build a Multi-Million Dollar Company

“As a combat-trained pilot, I am always thinking, ‘Miles ahead of the jet.’”

—Riley Rees, U.S. Air Force Officer and Founder of Sofia Health

I served in the Air Force both as an enlisted Aeromedical Evacuation Technician and an Officer turned C-17 pilot before launching Sofia Health, an online health and wellness platform. 

The military isn’t the first place that most people think of for entrepreneurial training, but as it turns out, this experience provided an elite and unique education that has provided core fundamentals I still use every day. The military has a proven track record of teaching leadership, strategic planning, creative problem-solving, task execution, and resiliency—all traits that are essential to running a business or building a startup.

Below, I’m sharing three major takeaways that helped me and can be translated to help any entrepreneur as they startup.

Takeaway #1: Prepare

Gather data, make decisions, be strategic.

In a startup, you are building a solution to a problem and you are in search of a scalable business model. There is no checklist that can guarantee success. Even if you have been successful in the past, when you start a new company, you are in uncharted territory. This can truly be scary when you are spending your valuable time, energy, and money. 

But in order to be as successful as possible, do your homework and be prepared. You need to understand the environment into which you are trying to build, do your market research, and understand your customers' problems intimately. 

As a combat-trained pilot, I am always thinking, “Miles ahead of the jet.” You need to know where you are, what your capabilities are, and be able to handle any threats that may or may not happen. As an Aircraft Commander on the C-17, I was responsible for flying into combat zones. People’s lives were in my hands. We could spend days planning for one single moment. 

In the early stages of a startup, you need to do the same planning. It’s necessary to gather as much information as possible on users, the problem you are solving, the market, investors, competitors, and potential partners. This information and preparation serves as your foundation and will help guide your strategy and execution.

As a flying target, I needed to be ready to handle any situation inside or outside my jet. The key in any of these situations is preparation. We know that no matter what situation we are in, we are prepared to handle it. 

Takeaway #2: Collaborate

To achieve a specific objective, it takes a team of people willing to give their best effort in alignment with the mission. 

Military leaders are effectively running companies. You might have five people below you as a new Lieutenant and thousands as you progress in your career. This exposure to leadership inherently teaches you how to take a group of individuals with a diverse range of backgrounds and turn them into an effective unit. 

When you launch a startup, one of the first things you can do before you bring on any members is to establish your mission statement. This sets the direction for your company and helps create cohesion. Even in the beginning, this ensures every member of your team, from volunteers to employees, understands your company’s objectives, goals, and values. 

This simple task creates unity and helps each team member understand how they can contribute for maximum impact. You’ll find that your mission statement significantly increases teamwork, progress, and can even help ensure you hire people who are aligned with your core values.

Overall, establishing your mission statement will produce huge dividends for your company.

Takeaway #3: Persevere

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. 

Entrepreneurship requires unparalleled discipline, persistence despite challenges, and a special mental toughness that allows you to move from one failure to the next with positive, determined enthusiasm. 

The military cultivates leaders who have the confidence to take risks. You are consistently pushed out of your comfort zone and develop a unique mental and physical toughness. Failure is not an option. Instead, you learn to figure it out. You become a disciplined, innate problem solver who is comfortable being “uncomfortable.”

When you launch a startup, you are going to face challenges. Every customer or user will not love your company and your alpha or beta product may not be the prettiest. The entire experience can be uncomfortable, but this is one of the most incredible learning experiences you can have.

To help overcome this, adopt a growth mindset, and keep going. Every single day you will be making astronomical progress, so don’t let any of the challenges get you down! The key to success is perseverance. As Wayne Gretzky has said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

About the Author: Riley Rees is a U.S. Air Force Officer. Soloing in an airplane before she was 18, she has flown a wide variety of civilian aircraft. She has flown the T-6, T-1, and the C-17 for the Air Force and most recently the B-757, B-767, B-777 for United Airlines. In 2019, with a mission of making holistic health and wellness care more accessible, Riley founded Sofia Health, an online platform making it easy to find, book, and connect to holistic health and wellness practitioners.

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My Business Wouldn't Exist If I Hadn't Been Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Photo: Courtesy of Monica Ruffo

We often make ourselves smaller than we are because it somehow feels safer. Maybe we’re afraid of being considered too ambitious or too confident. Maybe being strong doesn’t fit into a social construct of who we think we should be. Or maybe we’ve been belittled or not taken seriously in the past and playing small somehow feels right. Whatever the reason, can you imagine what a better place the world would be if we all came out from hiding and played to our full strength instead of hiding behind it? 

A few years ago, I underwent treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer. From the moment I heard the diagnosis—that very scary “C” word—I decided that it would not crush me, that I would thrive through the treatment, and that something extraordinary would come of it. I advocated for myself every step of the way and got second and third opinions for every option. I even researched a treatment that allowed me to keep all my hair through all 12 rounds of chemotherapy. I advocated to make this treatment available to myself, and then, eventually, for others at the hospital where I was treated.

This made a huge difference in my journey with cancer and allowed me to maintain some form of normalcy for myself and for my children. It also allowed me to keep my cancer private as I continued to work throughout those 18 months without telling anyone that I was sick. I also insisted on undergoing over 100 high-dose vitamin C infusions during that same time period, which I’m convinced helped me mitigate the side effects of both the chemo and the radiation. This too, I had to advocate for. 

During this time, I started questioning everything that I was putting into my body, which is when I discovered that I couldn’t find 100% plant-based clean supplements or remedies. Ultimately, something extraordinary did come out of my breast cancer as Well Told Health was born out of that revelation.

Perhaps, because I felt backed into a corner at that time and had no choice but to step up, I tapped into my deepest strength. I discovered a well of inner power and resilience that I didn’t know I had. But the truth of it is that the inner power and resilience were always there, they were just concealed behind carefully constructed walls I had built around myself. While I’ve had many hurdles to overcome and triumphs to be proud of before that, it took my breast cancer journey for me to finally be willing to harness my strength and nurture it, and especially, to use it and love myself for it. 

That was several years ago, and the incredible irony of embracing my strength is that it has made me feel so much more vulnerable today than I have ever felt before.

Yes, this has been very scary at times. But I think we often avoid tapping into our full strength because if we don’t put it all on the line, then technically, we can’t really fail, and perhaps—even more critically—we can’t get hurt. It’s hard work, but I no longer want to let myself hide inside a smaller version of myself.  As Marianne Williamson famously said, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

Every day, I now work on putting all of myself out there, stepping outside of my comfort zone, voicing my opinions, and using every inner tool at my disposal. I won’t lie, it’s hard. And there’s no secret formula.

Some days, I feel like I truly have a magic wand because of it. Other days, I feel like I can’t seem to make things happen. But I have learned to take it in stride, let things go, and forgive myself through daily meditation and expressions of gratitude for everything around me including myself. That last part has been a real eye-opener, as being grateful for myself, my own gifts, and (the hardest of all) forgiving myself, were not things I had really considered before. The simple practice of daily self-gratitude and forgiveness has had a huge impact on my trajectory.

Today, I am determined to let my light shine through and not let anyone else decide what I can and can’t do or who I am. I will no longer live in fear of my strength. I’ll leave the fear of my strength to others. 

“The incredible irony of embracing my strength is that it has made me feel so much more vulnerable today than I have ever felt before.”

Monica Ruffo, Founder of Well Told Health

About the Author: Monica Ruffo is a serial entrepreneur and award-winning leader with a long-standing passion for health and wellness. Unable to find 100% clean supplements after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Monica set out to create a modern source for natural supplements made with organic botanicals and nothing else.

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Ever Heard of a Shmask? Meet the Hybrid Mask Kids Actually Want to Wear

“I’m so motivated and so proud to make something that makes this super weird moment a bit softer.”

—Karine Nissim, Founder of Shmask

March 2020 was the month I cried myself to sleep every night. 

Between tears, death tolls, and hilarious coronavirus memes, I stewed on about what would be. On how my children's lives would irrevocably change and how ill-prepared I was to parent them in this new normal. 

It was out of despair and desperation that I wanted and needed to make this moment better for my children. I couldn't fathom mask-wearing in all its clinical glory as a reality for my family, so I created something better: the first-ever shirt with a mask attached for kids (and grownups).

It's called the Shmask! Shirt meets mask. It is super duper soft, breathable, adjustable, and just so easy to wear. 

If you know me, you know I've traveled with a pack of sanitizing wipes in my purse for the last ten years. My elaborate cleansing of all airplane surfaces around my seat is a source of embarrassment to anyone who's traveled with me.  

Suddenly, I felt validated.  

If I had a dollar for every time I barked at my children not to touch anything in a public bathroom, I'd probably have an extra $30,000.  

None of this eased my nerves. I stayed home. I quit my job as a film professor. I came up with the most elaborate routines to properly cleanse our Instacart groceries and Amazon packages. My hands were so dry that I even started to sanitize the sanitizer.  

And turns out I hate Zoom. I especially hate it when the image freezes and my four-year-old daughter walks away from the screen but all her classmates get to see me in my pajamas. Without a bra on. I really hate it when it is the only means to console my grieving cousins on the loss of their father.

I put out a question on my Instagram story.  "Would you rather send your children to school in a mask or keep them at home?" 70% opted to send them in masks. The thought was unimaginable to me.  I resolved to keep mine home. Maybe. I might miss the world though, probably. 

But then time went on, and well, it turns out I suck at being a school teacher. And, frankly, after cooking three meals and three snacks a day, doing all the laundry and dishes all the time, I'm not my most awesome self. Also, my kids needed other kids and other grown-ups who know the answers to things without asking Alexa first. Incidentally, Alexa knows a lot about space.

And then, we needed to renovate. A burst pipe left brown water stains across our ceiling which was a real eyesore in every single Zoom angle. Also, my kitchen was a relic of the ‘90s, and I couldn't fathom the idea of spending another six months home-bound cooking in that cave of a room.  

An impromptu road trip meant we were suddenly doing things well outside my comfort zone. Hotels. Shared elevators. Public bathrooms. People. Lots of people. 

The kids and their masks were such a source of stress. The little one dropped hers on the street and found it 20 minutes later with evidence of heavy foot traffic. My oldest kept playing with it despite touching every surface imaginable first. And my middle son had a habit of putting his on backward.  

Photo: Courtesy of Karine Nissim

At this point, I'm out in the world, and I'm living the challenge of required mask-wearing with three young kids. I'm experiencing how that looks for my family of five and for my in-laws who were with us.  And, it's a pain in the ass.  It could be better, so I set out to make it so.

But here's the thing: aside from pouring over every Vogue issue my mom got in the 80s, and a brief stint as an intern at Harper's Bazaar, I had zero experience in fashion. I loved it though and always have. And I knew the idea was good. So good that I was afraid to tell people who could do it faster and better than me.  

And then something supremely magical happened. I started asking "friends" on Facebook questions. 

"Are any of you in the T-shirt business?" 

"Does anyone know any patent lawyers?" 

I peppered these in-between images of my dream kitchen and asking for advice on which oven range to buy.  And you know what? People answered me! Lots of opinions on kitchen appliances, but also introductions. Offers of time chatting, getting into how they run their own business, and how I could create mine.  

I would look to my husband at night—as we clacked away on our laptops with Friends reruns in the background—and I would say, "I'm not sure what good I've done in this life, but well it's nice to know people will help me when I ask." And they did.  

My friends who have ever worked in fashion or who’s input I love would come over in the evening and sit six feet apart on my patio, in their masks, and watch my children model my first Shmask prototypes. They would chime in on the pros and cons of design.  

I'll never forget the resounding theme of one of those wonderful conversations. They all agreed: comfort trumped all. A comfortable shirt meant compliance. Compliance with an otherwise alien behavior. If it was soft, breathable, and we could hear their little voices, then they would wear it. And they wouldn’t mind. Neither would we. 

So began a slew of conversations with factories, brokers, consultants, and fabric mills. This was also a pain in the ass, and not what eight-year-old me dreamed being a fashion designer would be. 

But then my kids would hear me say that they inspired me. I called them my business partners. Mostly, they were reluctant models. But really, they are my muses. It’s their soft cheeks and little noses I want to protect. It’s all of ours. I’m so motivated and so proud to make something that makes this super weird moment a bit softer. And now I hear my kids tell their classmates in Zoom that their mom created something. Something they are proud of too. 

Shmask isn’t my first business, but it’s the first time I’ve felt so supported, not just by my family, but by a community of parents who love their children as much as I do. And as much as mask-wearing has been politicized, it’s also been required. And if it’s required, then I want the Shmask to make it easier. 

I am a woman of many ideas. Many, many ideas. My husband, also an entrepreneur, will always say, “The idea is nothing without the execution,” which is true. But, also, execution can’t happen without motivation, and that motivation was ever-present as we navigated this new normal.

So during a baffling pandemic, in the middle of a stressful home renovation, on an unplanned road trip, I developed the Shmask: a shirt-meets-mask concept that guarantees a safe and hassle-free solution for families and their kids.   

The shirt has an attached-face covering made of soft and breathable fabric with enough space in the nose and mouth area for kids to breathe and speak easily. There is a dip in the back, so it can seamlessly be worn or taken off. With the attached-face covering, Shmask helps eliminate the issue of kids complying with today's mask requirements. They can't lose it, drop it, trade it with their friends, or forget it at home. 

About the Author: In addition to being a mom of three, founder Karine Nissim, is also a three-time entrepreneur, an award-winning filmmaker, and professor and the co-founder of DogVacay (which is now called Rover, the “Airbnb for pets”). Shmask started as a passion project to help keep her kids safe during this super weird time. This is the first product of a broader line of apparel for luxe family living called Karine. Super soft clothing that solves the hard problems of our new world. Think protective layers, breathable fabrics, clothes that we can all play and work in, from pick up and drop-offs, Zoom meetings, park play dates, to workouts! You and your fam can look Insta-ready and feel pajama-party good.

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“Social Media Has the Power to Positively Change Our Lives If We Let It"—Here's How to Be Authentic Online

“Social media has the power to positively change our lives if we let it.”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

Keeping up with social media has always been a struggle for me. But it’s never been that I was “too busy” or that I didn’t understand the platforms. The issue was that I didn’t know how to be “authentic” online. I think that’s something that a lot of us can relate to.

How do you balance talking about intimate aspects of your life while still being professional? How do you show a “day in the life” while not fully letting on that you haven’t changed out of your pajamas? How do you talk about your relationship while being respectful and still reserving privacy with your partner? How can you share negative seasons of your life without being a total Debbie Downer? It’s also really easy to start making negative comparisons about your life and the lives of those that you follow. Do people really do their hair and put on makeup every single day? Is anyone’s house that clean all of the time? What type of relationship involves someone picking you up and spinning you around in a picture-perfect embrace on a toilet paper run?

The answer to all of those questions is: “Only the unrealistic ones.” So go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief. But social media matters. It matters because it’s a direct way of speaking to our generation… and that’s a powerful thing. 

I started becoming more active on social media in 2015. While Instagram had begun to grow in popularity, it was nothing like it is now. Back then, it was primarily an overly-edited and perfectly-filtered glimpse into the lives of a beautiful few. Today, it has transformed into a 24/7 display of people’s real lives. People now feel comfortable sharing their trials, as well as their triumphs. We see makeup-free faces, stretch marks, postpartum bodies. We see real life.

“The more I shared about the trials in my life, the more my channels began to grow.”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

And I think that represents a generational shift. We’re tired of seeing (and trying to live up to) these perfect lives. It wasn’t until I noticed things start to change that I realized just how inauthentic my online presence had become. I constantly felt like I was playing “catch up” with the trends, the lifestyle, and the never-ending display of perfection. I knew that my life looked nothing like my feed and I made a conscious effort to change that. 

I threw caution to the wind and started talking about what was really going on in my life: undergoing a preventive double mastectomy at 26. I started sharing the way that I felt about my body post-surgery, the impact that it had on my relationship, and how it would change a lot of aspects of my future. Prior to my mastectomy, I had been a Miss USA and Miss America contestant, I was a full-time model and all of that had been put on hold to proactively remove my breasts in an effort to prevent breast cancer. I did this because by the time I turned 16, I had already lost my mother, grandmother, and great aunt to the disease, and I was determined not to suffer the same fate.

I was shocked to see that the more I shared about the trials in my life, the more my channels began to grow. At first, I thought it was just the rubbernecking effect—people slowing down to look at the damage. But as the years went by, a true community began to grow. That community included women who had already battled breast cancer, those who carried a gene mutation that increased their chances of developing cancer, those who were about to undergo preventive surgery, and even those who just wanted to learn how to better support their friends or family members in the same situation. It was wonderful to be able to talk to others who had been in my shoes and those several years out who could offer me some long term perspective on what life might look like when the “dust fully settled.” 

Photo: Courtesy of Allyn Rose

What social media also did was introduce me to the struggles that many women were facing in learning about their options for breast reconstruction after a mastectomy. It got me thinking, “Why is there not a comprehensive resource for women undergoing this surgery? Why are women being forced to message strangers on the internet about these life-changing surgeries?” I put my head down and I got to work.

That’s when The Previvor was born. In October 2019, I launched my nonprofit’s website, a digital women’s health platform that allowed women to be fully informed about all of their choices surrounding mastectomy. As The Previvor grew, so did an even larger community of women who were able to support one another through this very challenging time in their lives. I couldn’t believe that something like social media, something that had given me anxiety for years, was now a vital part of my everyday life. And instead of causing me anxiety and FOMO, it was now bringing me fulfillment and a community of my own. 

As the years went by, and I began to face new challenges like trying to start a family. Because of my family’s health history and being the carrier of a known gene mutation, I opted to undergo the IVF process, followed by genetic testing with Shady Grove Fertility. Because I knew that so many women who had undergone mastectomy were also carriers of the breast cancer gene mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2, I decided to publicly share my fertility journey. I hoped that it might remove some of the “fear of the unknown” from other women who may have to go down the same road in the future. I was blown away by the love and support that I received from women around the world. After 10 months of treatment, two egg retrievals, and an embryo transfer, I’m now 18 weeks pregnant with my first child. I really don’t know how I would have navigated this incredibly emotional experience without the support I received via social media. 

It’s hard to imagine navigating the last five years without the people I met on these platforms. It gets a bad rap at times, but social media has the power to positively change our lives if we let it. So I encourage you to stop trying to “keep up” and start sharing your most authentic self. You never know where it might lead you. 

“I encourage you to stop trying to ‘keep up’ and start sharing your most authentic self. You never know where it might lead you.”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

About the Author: As a 24-year-old Miss America contestant, Allyn Rose made headlines across the globe with the controversial decision to undergo a preventative double mastectomy after losing her mother, grandmother, and great aunt to breast cancer. Allyn's story inspired celebrities like Angelina Jolie and a new generation of women to take charge of their healthcare choices. Determined to encourage other women to know that their scars are beautiful, Allyn boldly became the first woman with a mastectomy to model for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. She is the founder of The Previvor, a 501(c)(3) non-profit women's health platform, which serves as a resource for women undergoing mastectomy and the creator of the #SelfExamGram, a social media movement encouraging women to perform a monthly self-breast exam.

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I Launched a Non-Profit Women's Health Website With $0 and No Experience in Web Design

“The goal was to put women back in the driver’s seat of their healthcare choices and allow them to advocate for themselves (sometimes even with their own doctors).”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

This October marks 10 years that I’ve been part of what’s known as the “Breast Cancer Community.” I once heard it referred to as “the worst club with the best members.” I don’t think I could put it better. 

In 2010, I was a college senior at the University of Maryland, College Park. Like most students, I was trying to soak up the final few semesters with friends, mastering procrastination, and asking myself the age-old soon-to-be-grad question: “What’s next?” While avoiding finishing one of my final papers, I received an e-mail on my sorority’s listserv entitled “Breast Cancer Charity Pageant.” I opened it—anything to avoid another 5 pages on legal theory. The e-mail was inviting students who had a connection to breast cancer to enter a new beauty pageant, benefiting a breast cancer non-profit. I was intrigued. Something inside of me said, “Just give it a try.” 

“

I was far from what you’d consider the beauty queen type. I wore high-top sneakers, leather jackets with studs and was a former member of a punk rock band.”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

My mother had lost her second battle with breast cancer just a few years prior and I knew that she would have given anything to see me in a beautiful gown, participating in something like a pageant. But you have to understand, I was far from what you’d consider the “beauty queen” type. I wore high-top sneakers, leather jackets with studs and was a former member of a “punk rock” band. Not exactly Miss USA. But throwing caution to the wind, I filled out the form, submitted my best MySpace profile picture, and pressed send. What happened next changed the trajectory of my life forever. I ended up not only becoming a contestant but winning that pageant (which, looking back, was nothing short of a miracle). Fast-forward three years, and I would have the opportunity to compete in Miss USA and Miss America. For a punk rocker at heart, it still doesn’t feel real. 

As a Miss America contestant, I chose to advocate for preventive healthcare as part of my charitable platform. As the daughter, granddaughter, and niece of women who lost their lives to breast cancer, I knew just how important it was that I be proactive in my breast health. At that point, I had already made the decision to preventatively remove my breasts in an effort to avoid breast cancer and hopefully prolong my life. This came after a hard conversation with my father where he had looked me straight in the eye and proclaimed “If you don’t take this seriously, you’re going to end up DEAD DEAD DEAD… just like your mother.” I was only 18 at the time, but the “kid gloves” had come off. My father knew that he needed to be that brusque with me if I was going to take it seriously. It gave me the long term perspective that I needed. 

“

While I didn’t end up walking away with the Miss America crown, I was given something that, looking back, was even better—a platform to speak to my generation.”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

A few months before the Miss America pageant, I received a call from a journalist asking about my decision to undergo surgery. I happily shared my story and looked forward to having a nice newspaper clipping that I could put in my scrapbook. I wasn’t prepared for what came next. I woke up the next morning with 17 missed calls, voicemails, a barrage of unread e-mails. I was now the top trending story on every major U.S. and international media outlet with the headline: “Miss America contestant, 24, to undergo preventative double mastectomy” and my quote “I’m choosing life over beauty.” The story seemed to take the world by storm. This was prior to Angelina Jolie’s revelation and women in the “beauty industry” simply weren’t talking about things like this. Hell, most people didn’t even know that a surgery like this even existed. 

Before I knew it, I was speaking at events across the country, I appeared on all the morning talk shows, I was asked to give a TEDx talk and my world didn’t stop spinning for months. While I didn’t end up walking away with the Miss America crown, I was given something that, looking back, was even better—a platform to speak to my generation. I knew that this was not an opportunity afforded to many people, so I put my plans to attend law school on hold and began working as a passionate advocate for preventive healthcare and educating women on their healthcare choices. As the years went by, I felt driven to do something more than simply share my personal experience—I wanted to provide others with a resource to help them in their journey. 

Photo: Courtesy of Allyn Rose

At age 26, I underwent a bilateral double mastectomy, becoming a Previvor— removing both of my breasts in an attempt to “previve” breast cancer. Being so public with my surgery and having had a positive cosmetic outcome, I soon started being inundated with messages from women all over the world asking about my surgery: “Are your implants over or under the muscle?” “Did you keep your nipples?” “Do you have fat grafting?” “Do you have any sensation remaining in your breasts?” I quickly realized just how difficult it was to be fully informed on topics like genetic testing (to identify if one carries a breast cancer gene mutation), types of mastectomy, and the accompanying options for reconstruction. Even having earned an honorary Ph.D. in Google, partnered with some of the best doctors in the world, and really having done my due diligence in preparing for surgery, even I didn’t have all of the answers. This didn’t sit well with me. And one day, I said to myself, “I need to stop waiting around for things to be different. Why not just build it myself?” So, with a budget of $0.00, no experience in web design, I set off to create what would become The Previvor Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit digital women’s health platform nicknamed the “Wikipedia of Mastectomy.” 

In October 2019, The Previvor went live, becoming a one-stop-shop for women wanting to learn about ALL of their breast health options. The goal was to put women back in the driver’s seat of their healthcare choices and allow them to advocate for themselves (sometimes even with their own doctors). Breast reconstruction had become an “assembly line,” with physicians offering patients one option for breast reconstruction and “out the door you go!” I wanted women to know that there are numerous options for surgery and what’s best for one woman’s body might not be what’s best for yours. And the more informed you are prior to surgery, the more likely you are to be satisfied with the outcome. My best advice: If your doctor says no to the surgery and you think is best for your body, it’s probably time to get a new doctor. 

The Previvor continues to grow, providing additional resources, and creating a community of empowered and informed women. To learn more or to donate, please visit www.ThePrevivor.org.  

“

If your doctor says no to the surgery and you think is best for your body, it’s probably time to get a new doctor.”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

About the Author: As a 24-year-old Miss America contestant, Allyn Rose made headlines across the globe with the controversial decision to undergo a preventative double mastectomy after losing her mother, grandmother, and great aunt to breast cancer. Allyn's story inspired celebrities like Angelina Jolie and a new generation of women to take charge of their healthcare choices. Determined to encourage other women to know that their scars are beautiful, Allyn boldly became the first woman with a mastectomy to model for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. She is the founder of The Previvor, a 501(c)(3) non-profit women's health platform, which serves as a resource for women undergoing mastectomy and the creator of the #SelfExamGram, a social media movement encouraging women to perform a monthly self-breast exam.

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I Had a Double Mastectomy at the Age of 26—Here's Why You Need to Know

“B

reast cancer screening, at any age, is vital to the health and well-being of women. However, it’s one of the latest victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

The novel coronavirus has impacted our world in ways many of us could never have imagined. But women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, including those trying to prevent it, have faced a unique set of challenges. 

Having a mastectomy can be life-altering. As someone who underwent a preventive double mastectomy at the age of 26, I know firsthand the physical and emotional repercussions of this type of procedure. I chose to preventatively remove my breasts because, by the time I turned 16, I had already lost my mother, grandmother, and great aunt to breast cancer, with my mother discovering her own breast cancer at 27. Her diagnosis was the result of an early mammogram, which she only received after months of persuading her doctor and being repeatedly told that she was “too young to have breast cancer.” Her first mammogram identified an invasive tumor measured at the size of a golf ball. By the time it was removed, only a few months later, the tumor had grown to the size of a grapefruit.

The sad reality is that my mother’s story is not unique. Young women are often denied screening. And by the time cancer is discovered, it’s too late. This is why breast cancer screening, at any age, is vital to the health and well-being of women. However, it’s one of the latest victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Access to life-saving screenings like mammograms, MRIs, and breast ultrasounds has been deemed “non-essential” in a COVID-19 world. These screenings afford women the opportunity to catch breast cancer early (when it’s most curable) or give them the information they need to save their own lives through preventative surgery. By postponing annual screenings, the healthcare industry is primed to receive an onslaught of late-stage breast cancer diagnoses, increasing the ever-expanding burden women face during this pandemic.

“B

y the time I turned 16, I had already lost my mother, grandmother, and great aunt to breast cancer, with my mother discovering her own breast cancer at 27.”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

Now let’s imagine for a moment receiving a breast cancer diagnosis in 2020. 

If you’re thinking: “Surely cancer patients must have access to care during the pandemic”—well, you’d only be half right. Women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and have undergone a mastectomy are also being denied access to breast reconstruction surgeries—now classified as “elective procedures.” However, affording women the ability to reconstruct their breasts is not elective, it is simply the completion of their medical treatment. And while breast reconstruction may look different for every woman, it is often vital to the health and well-being of those faced with a mastectomy. By denying access to this important part of medical care, we are likely welcoming a myriad of other health issues as a result. While we all take the necessary precautions to eliminate the spread of coronavirus, the healthcare industry should take particular caution in avoiding myopic restrictions impacting the health and well-being of women. 

As such, I would encourage all women to take time to learn what they can do to be proactive in their breast health. Small things, such as learning how to correctly perform a self-breast exam can be vital in early detection. Implementing this five-minute ritual once a month could save your life! Interested in learning how? A step by step tutorial (and other helpful tips) can be found on Instagram, YouTube, in blog form or you can tune into Create and Cultivate’s “Self-Care Sunday” on IG Live on October 11th at 10 AM PDT for a live demonstration. See you then!

“

I would encourage all women to take time to learn what they can do to be proactive in their breast health.”

—Allyn Rose, Women's Health Advocate & Founder of The Previvor Foundation

About the Author: As a 24-year-old Miss America contestant, Allyn Rose made headlines across the globe with the controversial decision to undergo a preventative double mastectomy after losing her mother, grandmother, and great aunt to breast cancer. Allyn's story inspired celebrities like Angelina Jolie and a new generation of women to take charge of their healthcare choices. Determined to encourage other women to know that their scars are beautiful, Allyn boldly became the first woman with a mastectomy to model for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. She is the founder of The Previvor, a 501(c)(3) non-profit women's health platform, which serves as a resource for women undergoing mastectomy and the creator of the #SelfExamGram, a social media movement encouraging women to perform a monthly self-breast exam.

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My First 2 Businesses Failed—Here's How I Turned It Around

Photo: Courtesy of Jonne Amaya

Growing up, I was told that everything is possible. I remember having a conversation with my dad when I was about seven years old. He would ask me to name what I’d like to be when I grew up, and then he would respond with, “How is that a career option?” I told him that I loved plants, and he said, “You’ll own a winery.” When I was young, I was not attached to the idea of a college experience or a common career path. And since my parents encouraged me to follow my passion, I felt free to experiment and explore.

I became intrigued by jewelry when I was just eight years old. My mom would allow me to order pieces from the Jewelry Channel on TV and then return them after I saw the pieces in person. When I was ten, my parents got me a 0.05-carat diamond ring for Christmas. I was always obsessed with jewelry, but it became a career prospect when I started creating pieces myself at bench jewelry classes in Barcelona. Deep down, I always knew that I would have my own company at one point in my life. 

I launched my first brand when I was twenty-one years old. It was a Renaissance-inspired, edgy jewelry line. I was working for a young L.A.-based jewelry designer at the time, and her marketing strategy was to take photos of local, It girls wearing her pieces. She was very successful, and I naively assumed that I could emulate this business model and achieve the same kind of success. But in eight months, I sold three pieces and received zero interest from stores or showrooms. I was so confused. I had cool designs, great imagery, and all the right assets.

I started my second company when I was twenty-five while working for Vrai & Oro (now known as Vrai). I was really impressed with their timeless design aesthetic, direct-to-consumer business model, and transparent pricing. I was convinced that the reason Walk the Chapel failed was due to my wholesale approach and the fact that the jewelry was not for “every day.” So this time, I went the D2C route and created modern, unisex pieces. 

A year into this venture, I was still not finding success. I was really frustrated. Around this time, I started taking custom orders from clients. When I would pick up the finished pieces from my jewelers in Downtown L.A., I saw all of their other work: it was an endless stream of generic jewelry, largely “replicas” of other designers’ pieces, produced in mass.

When I saw the amount of production the other brands had in comparison to the single, custom-designed pieces I was making, I realized that I didn’t want to contribute to this waste. When I was just starting out in the industry, I equated huge wholesale orders with success. Now, I have started to see mass production as the problem. 

Not only did the artistic process of jewelry design get lost through mass production, but it was also extremely unsustainable. I pivoted my brand strategy to demonstrate the value of repurposing and really dove deep into why it was important for consumers to change their buying behavior when it comes to jewelry. 

When I found my purpose, that's when I started seeing my luck turn around. Sharing my message and brand became my main priority. I understand now that when starting a business, it’s important to create a foundation around a core vision and purpose. Once you establish that and remain consistent, it all lines up from there.  

When I was younger, I undervalued the message behind my brand and overvalued the product itself. I see a lot of start-ups making the same mistakes, and they’re missing the most important part of the puzzle. It’s very clear to me now that there isn’t a single path to finding your way to success. Now, I mainly focus on getting my message heard by the right consumers who share my values.

“When I found my purpose, that's when I started seeing my luck turn around.”

—Jonne Amaya, Fine Jeweler and Founder of Jonne

About the Author: Jonne Amaya is an emerging fine jeweler who hyper-focused on sustainability. Born in Mexico and based in L.A., Jonne creates custom fine jewelry with intention and never designing in bulk. Through a personal, intimate process, she works with her clients, one-on-one, to create new designs or transform existing pieces into the jewelry of their dreams. Jonne began her jewelry design career by learning benchwork and then studying gemology in her native Mexico. She created her first piece by repurposing a family heirloom with sentimental value that had gone unworn. By giving the piece new life, she discovered her love of sustainable, intentional jewelry design.

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What Does It Mean to Be a Minority, Women-Owned Business in the Online Space?

“A

ll women and girls should have the opportunities to achieve success, whatever it may mean to them, on their own terms.”

—Annie Chang, Brand Strategist and Co-Founder of Olea & Fig

Over the past few years, there has been tremendous growth for women-owned businesses and organizations that empower women. Given that Olea & Fig is a women-owned business that supports other women entrepreneurs, we have experienced notable growth and a surge in demand.

As we move forward in our entrepreneurial journey as minority women, we’ve also experienced the impact and power of coming together with the different communities we are part of—women, women entrepreneurs, Asian women, and Asian American women.

Your voice and experience matters.

With the growth of women-centered communities and conversations that support minority-owned businesses, we have had the opportunity to be part of many of them. As a minority who has experienced both eastern and western culture, education systems, and work environments, I understand the different expectations and perspectives of those who share similar backgrounds as us face. My co-founder and sister, Terrie, and I quickly learned that our voices matter in ways we didn’t expect. 

Everyone’s voice does. 

It is our responsibility to share our voice, knowledge, and story with other people who are going through similar experiences and who are members of our communities.

Through workshops, events, and conferences, we have shared our perspectives and insights on wrestling with societal expectations as immigrants, women, Asian American women specifically, and how we can challenge and break free of barriers and navigate those waters through the possibilities we create. These meaningful conversations, exchange of ideas, and connections allow us to support and grow with others in our circles.

Join others who also believe empowerment drives growth.

We believe that all women and girls should have the opportunities to achieve success, whatever it may mean to them, on their own terms and this is our Brand Vision since the beginning of Olea & Fig. To help promote equity for minority women, besides all the business resources we provide to women businesses, we have been proactively partnering with nonprofit organizations and businesses that advocate for women and girls, and some specifically for Asian women.

It does not matter which market you are in, define your values and beliefs, and build them into your brand. Then find others who also believe that empowerment drives growth and whose values align with yours, and collaborate creatively to make positive changes together. Multiply your impact through synergy.

Photo: Courtesy of Olea & Fig

Your identity is your superpower.

In our experience and the experience of many women we work with, being a minority often leads to self-doubt and issues with self-esteem. These are battles we’ve struggled with in both the corporate and the entrepreneurial worlds. It is common that we, the minority, choose not to speak our minds and not to draw much attention, but to fit into “the norm” or majority instead. I experienced all of it from my personal experience in school, the corporate world, and during the early stage of my entrepreneurial path. I was working hard to become the majority - the white kids at school, the male colleges who are also working to get that promotion, the high-energy, and glamorous brands that are popular online…

But that’s not who I am. 

The community we grew through Olea & Fig gave me an entirely different perspective. I learned that my identity as a minority is actually my strength. I saw that there is a huge community of women around the world who appreciate and share our backgrounds, ideas, and beliefs. I met women who also strive to create mindful businesses, to live intentionally, and to build a life filled with passion, impact, and meaningful conversations.

To unleash your true potential and possibilities, draw from all of your identities, experiences, and story. Turn all of it into your superpower. Turn them into your strengths and the uniqueness of your business, and build your identity and story across your messaging, mission, values, design, content, and beyond! 

About the Author: Annie Chang and her sister Terrie “had it all.” Fancy degrees, big corporate titles from the outside they were living the dream, but they were unfulfilled, burnt out, and tired of hustling for someone else’s bottom line. They left their corporate careers to start a business of their own, Olea & Fig. They leveraged their backgrounds in design and marketing and created a company that enables women entrepreneurs to build successful, growth-focused, and mission-driven brands.

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Why You Should Stop with the #Squadgoals

photo credit: Half the Story

Written By: Karin Eldor

Celebrities, bloggers and founders have been vocal about the negative impact social media has had on their well-being, to the point where many have implemented a detox or complete hiatus from their digital channels. Kanye is currently inactive on social; Ed Sheeran quit Twitter this summer after he was dragged on social due to his Game of Thrones cameo; and Saturday Night Live’s Leslie Jones took a short Twitter break after trolls cyber-bullied her. (She returned two weeks later, because she always gets back up. Yaaasss Queen.)

Chrissy Teigen expressed her dismay when she recently stumbled on a website created with the sole purpose of cyberbullying her. Not only is she often publicly shamed for her parenting choices, but some haters even mock her for being open about her experiences with depression and IVF. Sadly, people can be this mean.

On this World Day of Bullying Prevention (which always falls on the first Monday of October) and with World Mental Health Day around the corner on October 10th, it’s critical to highlight cyberbullying and how we can make strides to take it on—together.

Let’s Get Real

Shoutout to #HalfTheStory for providing a platform for people to create real connections with others, while shedding light on mental health and cyberbullying in the process. Founded by fashion blogger and social media strategist, Larissa May, #HalfTheStory is a global community that encourages people to share parts of their lives that exist outside the standard social media narrative. Life unfiltered. No Instagram highlight reels: just realness.

It currently features over 2,500 stories about bullying experiences, mental health, struggles, and crucial life experiences. People who have openly shared their story on #HalfTheStory include Ban.do founder and CCO Jen Gotch and singer Grace VanderWaal.

According to a recent Teen Vogue article, “cyberbullying can be even nastier than IRL bullying, since people sometimes feel less responsible for their words and less inclined to think before they type.” The article also lists the results of a 2016 study, which states that 34% of people experience cyberbullying at some point in their lives, and that it can have real consequences on one’s mental health.

34% of people experience cyberbullying at some point in their lives.

May explains: “As adults, many of us think that ‘cyberbullying’ is only something that applies to a younger generation, but I often overhear conversations about people judging and commenting about others’ social media profiles. The female community is stronger than ever, yet social media still seems to be a barrier to our positive human interactions.”

So how is #HalfTheStory taking the steps towards solving this issue?

About #HalfTheStory

First, here’s the behind-the-scenes story: When social media strategist/producer/fashion blogger Larissa May, a.k.a. Larz, decided to launch #HalfTheStory, she was a student at Vanderbilt University and juggling her other life as a fashion blogger, covering New York Fashion Week for media outlets. While on her way to interview Diane von Furstenberg, a completely burned-out May face-planted: juggling 17-hour workdays took its toll on her.

But the picture that May’s own hyper-curated social media feed painted was that of a girl who not only had everything together, but was living “THE. DREAM.” After all, May wasn’t posting photos of sleep deprivation, debilitating anxiety and stress-infused selfies. So she decided to invest her full self into #HalfTheStory.

#HalfTheStory celebrates hidden human talents, passions, beliefs, and struggles that connect us on a deeper, more human level.

May continues: “By sharing a part of our identity that is not regularly revealed through social media, we can encourage positive interactions on social media. Social media is a very vulnerable place and has opened another door for bullying, exclusivity and Instagram squads.”

"Social media is a very vulnerable place and has opened another door for bullying."

Tweet this.

But these squads are far from #goals.

“When I first started #HalfTheStory, I was balancing two worlds, as a full-time student at Vanderbilt and the NYFW scene. In both parts of my life, individuals expressed their concerns and dissatisfaction with the ‘disconnect’ that social media created. As female leaders, it’s our job to set the precedent for future generations by encouraging positive behaviors on social media, showing support for others, and preventing negative interactions.”

In addition to what #HalfTheStory is doing on social media, it’s also making an impact IRL, with workshops at Universities and Organizations about positive social media use. It has hosted workshops titled "The Power of Social Storytelling" and “Transcending the Stigma” at Fordham, Vanderbilt, The New School (including Parsons), and Miami Ad School, and the team is heading to University of Southern California this month. These interactive sessions serve to give participants a chance to learn about positive social media behavior and share their experiences with each platform.

Here’s What We Can All Do

Here are some tips to help prevent cyberbullying, or at least combat the effects of it, according to Larissa May:

1. Stand up for what you believe in.

Don’t be afraid to share your truth, despite the smoke and mirrors we tend to create on social media. This is stronger than authenticity; it’s having the courage to share your voice in your posts, without worrying about the likes, dislikes or unfollows. Also, keep in mind that like attracts like; so whoever un-follows you as a result of one of your posts is likely not aligned with your brand message anyhow. “Bye, Felicia.”

2. There’s no such thing as #squadgoals. Stop trying to create the illusion of a social media clique.

Yes, the feeling of inclusion creates a sense of community, but it can also have the reverse effect and make others feel lonely. Don’t feed (or buy) into this type of social engineering and instead create an inclusive, empathetic narrative on your social platforms.

"Create an inclusive, empathetic narrative on your social platforms."

Tweet this.

3. If you see a post that causes concern, give your friend a call rather than making a comment.

If you notice a friend’s post in which they seem sad or troubled, reach out rather than commenting on their social feed. #HalfTheStory’s mission is all about bringing the human touch back into our interactions, rather than being out of touch.

Ed note: We are definitely here for this, especially given the tragic events in Las Vegas. If you see something that concerns you, say something. You never know whose life it will save. 

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Need to Read Now: ABC Shark & Investor Calls Out Men Big Time

What else do women have to do to be taken seriously?

Seriously. 

We're still battling egregious sexism in tech and finance. This week made the blatantly clear. And earlier today, Chris Sacca, a former American venture investor (he was an early investor in Twitter and Uber), and ABC Shark Tanker with a front-seat to the happenings in Silicon Valley published the following essay on Medium. (We encourage everyone to click and read the whole thing.)

A crucial except reads:

“In my mind, because I hadn’t acted in a way that exploited an imbalance of power or vulnerability in a VC-founder relationship, I’ve generally considered myself one of the “good guys.

But’s that’s the crucial lesson I am learning right now in real-time: It’s the unrelenting, day-to-day culture of dismissiveness that creates a continually bleak environment for women and other underrepresented groups. I contributed to that, and am thus responsible for the unfairly harder road that everyone other than white men must travel in our industry.

I am sorry.

It’s also become clear to me that I didn’t consistently use my power and influence to call out bad behavior by industry peers. The passive acceptance of exclusionary words and deeds is not okay.”

To this we say YES, but we also want to know why? Is it something we said? Or wore? Or didn’t. Does misogyny and gender-biased investing really run that deep? Yeah, it does and a vital element of what Sacca is saying is that even well-meaning men are part of the sexist hamster wheel. To this we say: work harder. The investor is going on record that “As a white guy, even before I made any money, I benefitted from extensive privilege.” 

A privilege not afforded to women or any minority. 

"Even well-meaning men are part of the sexist hamster wheel."

Tweet this.  

Outspoken entrepreneur, founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn and self-professed “Michael Bay of Business,” (she blows shit up) Cindy Gallop took to her Twitter in praise of Sacca’s words. Gallup tweeted: “Tech world has missed out on many female-founded potential unicorns bc of systemic bias + sexual harassment.”  

It’s a bias that runs through almost every single meeting. Even though, as Austin mayor Steve Adler pointed out at the beginning of June in response to an angry letter about a female-only screening of Wonder Woman, “What if someone thought you didn’t know that women invented medical syringes, life rafts, fire escapes, central and solar heating, a war-time communications system for radio-controlling torpedoes that laid the technological foundations for everything from Wi-Fi to GPS, and beer?”

Yeah, what if. Again, is there something else we need to do to be taken seriously? More beer? Better GPS to steer you away from your sexism?

Earlier this month, Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and CEO of Warby Parker, told the crowd at inaugural Vanity Fair Summit that as his wife, Rachel Blumenthal, was securing funding for her company Rockets of Awesome her experience was vastly different than his. “When my wife was raising money,” the CEO shared with the crowd, “every male VC would ask, ‘How do you spend your time?’ She would say, ‘What do you mean?’ What they meant was, ‘You have kids.’” This was always a deterrent for male investors. Neil went on to say, “When I raised money VCs would use kids as a reason to bond with me. ‘Oh I have a great nanny recommendation.’ It’s insanity.”

Here’s ONE of the many problems woman face: it’s the every damn day micro-aggression (like those that Sacca refers to) that make women question their own competence. Micro-aggressions grind slow, but they grind fine. And they make us wonder if we truly do deserve a seat a the table. Or the money. Or the position. (Yes, we do.) But it’s hard to continually pump yourself up, when the world around you wants to bring you down. Or when we have a sitting President calling out a woman’s supposed freakin’ facelift on his Twitter. Talk matters. 

"Micro-aggressions grind slow, but they grind fine."

Tweet this.

So does putting your money where your mouth is. Investing in female-led and diversified companies IS the future. Those who aren't on board are welcome to fall off the ship. Men aren’t owed a life-preserver at this point. 

Women like 52-year-old former Wall Street maven, Sallie Krawcheck know this. Krawcheck who once ran such elite institutions as Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, and Smith Barney, is leveraging her 30 plus years of professional expertise to help women build and invest wealth and “unleash women’s financial power.” With Ellevest, Krawcheck is on a mission to close what she calls the “gender investment gap,” an extension of better-known disparities such as the gender pay gap and the gender debt gap. “I have become truly convinced that getting more money into the hands of women is a positive for everyone,” explains Krawcheck, asserting that the “gender investment gap” costs professional women hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, over their lifetimes. “Closing this gap helps the women themselves, but also their families, society, and businesses. It also solves a lot of society's problems: for example, the retirement savings crisis is actually a women's crisis, given how much longer we live then men (and that we retire with less money than they do).”

Cindy Whitehead, CEO and founder of the Pink Ceiling is on the same mission. “What rips the sheets off in the morning for me is fighting injustices," the CEO shares. "It is an injustice that women get 2% of funding. It’s a ridiculous idea that half of the population only has 2% of the good ideas.”

They say a woman’s work is never done. But not this time. This time men should heed the words of Sacca and put in the work.

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Why I Quit My Highly Coveted Job When I Was 8 Months Pregnant

image credit: Rick Rodney Photography

A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology confirms what women have known since the dawn of time—that we're damned if we do and damned if we don't. While this spot-on summary of the female experience could conceivably refer to just about anything (ranging from kegeling wrong to doing kegels), in this scenario, we're talking about taking maternity leave. More specifically, that a look at the attitudes of 200 working men and women in the US and the UK finds that a "woman who took time off was seen as less committed and competent at work" while the woman who didn’t was "judged to be a worse parent, a less desirable partner and a less caring person." SEEMS REASONABLE. 

Speaking of fair—the Pew Research Center reports that of 41 developed nations, the US is the only one doesn't mandate paid maternity leave. To put our antediluvian policies into perspective: Estonia offers more than a year and a half of paid leave to new parents, while 31 of the 41 aforementioned countries have modest plans in place for fathers, with Japan, Korea, Portugal, Norway, Luxembourg and Iceland leading the way, offering a minimum of two months leave for new dads.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s the US, where the Department of Labor found that 1 in 4 women return to work within 2 weeks of giving birth. If you’ve yet to firsthand experience the miracle of life and all its glorious indignities (speaking of: see pooping article here), it’s quite common for women to bleed from their vaginas and wear industrial diapers for up to six weeks postpartum. Frankly this is on the lesser end of the symptom spectrum, which includes: leaky breasts, perineum pain, abdominal cramps, difficulty urinating, cracked nipples, postpartum depression, and on. Needless to say, two weeks ain’t gonna cut it.

Amazingly, while the US ranks dead last for parental leave and the majority of mothers return to the office before they’ve even had a change to slather themselves in nipple butter and get a decent night’s sleep, we’re still finding it in our cold, capitalist hearts to judge the fortunate few who’ve received a couple of measly paid weeks leave. Talk about getting the sh*t end of the positive pee stick.

In my personal experience as a woman living, working and expecting in California-—the state considered to be the gold standard of maternity leave for the United States (which, is kind of like saying a Southwest Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Salad is the healthiest thing on the McDonald's menu)—the system is broken. Without a full legal team in your corner, it’s nearly impossible to decode and navigate. Case in point: After two years of running a successful freelance business, I found myself four months pregnant, craving stability (AKA a reason to put on pants in the morning) and accepting a full-time offer as Editorial Director for a popular fashion brand that sells Pantone perfect mules to a customer base that’s probably 17% aspiring mommy blogger. It felt like a perfect match. 

Now, while I didn’t take the job for the promise of paid maternity leave, it was definitely a perk I firmly and directly addressed with Human Resources during the interview process. I was explicitly mislead that I would be getting said perk. Foolish me for not getting this in writing (always get it in writing kids). because as my due date approached and I began coordinating the plan for my departure, it became clear that my employers had no intention of giving me any paid time off. Fine print: I had not been at the company for one year. Under the California Pregnancy Disability Leave Law I was entitled to keep my job with up to four months unpaid leave, however, being a stubborn-ass feminist and not wanting to feel like a disposable resource, I politely gave my two weeks notice.

Women across the United States deal with this every single day, as a vast number of companies remain committed to shelling out the bare minimum. Why wouldn't they? It's what they're legally allowed to get away with. Even those that claim to be feminist. Take for example, recent headlines haunting the fashion world outing female founders whose internal company structures don’t practice the feminist agendas they preach. This fauxminist phenomenon runs so deep that the humorists at McSweeney’s even penned a  “Guide for Brands That Have Recently Discovered Women.” It encourages companies patting themselves on the back for “rah-rah-ing women” on their twitter to ask themselves, “Does our family leave policy reflect the real world or was it drafted with giraffes who give birth standing up and then go about their business in mind?”

Thankfully, there's growing minority of modern thinkers-—including Netflix, Etsy, Spotify, and a slew of tech heavy-hitters-—who are realizing that supporting mothers is not a frivolous expense, but an investment in their future. One such pioneering label is Innerwear brand Richer Poorer. Despite being a startup, the company extends all female employees a full, 12-week paid maternity leave and even offers the dudes a flexible six-week paternity leave policy that is a transition back into full-time.

"Supporting mothers is not a frivolous expense, but an investment in their future."

Tweet this.  

“Regardless of our size, we are very much a people and family-first business at Richer Poorer,” says co-founder and CEO Iva Pawling. “My Co-Founder Tim and I are both parents, so we hold a lot of value in supporting the other parents on our team, and especially the new, or soon-to-be-new bunch.” While the logistics of being small and having a valuable team member out on extended leave are certainly complicated, Pawling says it’s a choice to make a long-term investment in the business, and one that’s proven to work. “We really have found that the rest of the team picks up the slack in their absence and carries the projects or responsibilities forward.”

No brainer:

Internal company structures should practice the feminist agendas they preach.

Even if you're lucky enough to work at a company with some kind of paid parental leave, knowing your rights and navigating the loopholes and complexities of the system can feel like it requires PhD. Full disclosure: numerous phone calls and hourlong wait times to determine my own eligibility for government wage replacement since returning to freelance has brought this writer to tears on more than one occasion. (I may have threatened to call the police on one representative. Their crime? Deliberately withholding information). My child is due in a week, and I’m still not totally clear on what, if anything, I’m entitled to, and how exactly to go about claiming it.

That’s where Lauren Wallenstein, Founder of Milk Your Benefits, a consultancy that helps expectant parents maximize their parental leave in the State of California, comes in. Wallenstein explains that expectant mothers often mistakenly believe that they are entitled to at least 12 weeks of leave. This is frequently not the case, due to varying factors including duration of employment, hours worked, employer size, etc. She says that many times confusion around leave is exacerbated because employers are themselves unclear of how to correctly explain and administer benefits due to lack of standardization. I’d venture to say many employers prefer their employees to remain in the dark and disempowered about these decisions.

“Expectant parents need to ask for written policies so that they can interpret the available benefits for themselves,” Wallenstein urges. “Never depend on what a friend or coworker tells you as the information is very often incorrect or is being incorrectly applied to your case. If human resources answers your leave questions, make sure you get them in writing and have HR provide the source documents that formed the basis of those answers. Most importantly, if something doesn't sound right to you, don't settle. Milk Your Benefits can help you sift through the paperwork so nothing is left on the table.”

“Expectant parents need to ask for written policies so that they can interpret the available benefits for themselves." 

Tweet this.

In a Wall Street Journal Op Ed, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki argued that “Paid maternity leave is good for mothers, families and business.” As evidence, she cited that the rate at which new moms left Google fell by 50% in 2007 when the company increased paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 18 weeks. She should know, as she was Google’s first employee to take maternity leave in 1999. This sentiment is echoed by Wallenstein, who says that “forward-thinking employers recognize that paid parental leave benefits act as a retention tool for employees.” Furthermore, she notes, “Parents who receive paid leave and who are physically and emotionally ready to return to work are more likely to feel a sense of loyalty to that employer and are less likely to leave their jobs. When an expectant parent gets the sense that the employer is encouraging a short leave, is being stingy with money, or is being less than helpful explaining benefits, it leaves a powerful and lasting bad taste in their mouth. Because what it suggests is a company ethos that doesn't value work/life balance.”

Until paid leave is mandated for all, the burden will continue to fall on business owners to implement change, start a dialogue, and set precedents. “The responsibility is on all of our shoulders, men and women alike who are in position of power as employers, to make the right decisions and to become more vocal about the subject of both maternity AND paternity leave,” says Richer Poorer’s Iva Pawling.

If doing what’s right for new parents and ultimately for your business isn’t enough to incentivize employers to step up to the plate, perhaps they’ll be motivated by the desire to avoid ending up as the target of a scathing Glassdoor review. When Donald Trump’s approach to maternity leave is a more progressive than yours, it’s perhaps time that you engage in a healthy dose of soul-searching. And while you’re at it, please remind yourself that before you were all up in the boardroom, you too were snuggled up in a cozy womb.

---

Jane Helpern is a freelance writer, copywriter, and founder of Jane Says Agency. She enjoys helping brands find their voice, writing about fashion and feminism, and walking-at-an-incline-with-wine™

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Roundtable Talk: How We Really Feel About Additional Social Platforms

Source: @felixcartal

The addition of Instagram Stories raised a few eyebrows last week, not only because the newest arm of the photo-sharing app looked like a carbon copy (minus the dog filters) of Snapchat, but because it was yet another piece of the social layer cake that has many already feeling stuffed. Thanksgiving style. 

There are now a total of five major social players: Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest. Add in the characters that are brand specific-- YouTube if you're in the beauty space, Vine if you're in comedy, and LinkedIn if you're a business, and your social Rolodex is on constant spin. Update one. Then the next. Tweet this. Pin that. Share. Share. 

SHARE.  

It's OK to be tired and over it and at the same time want to keep up. Making the decision to stay off a social media platform can come back to bite you, especially if you're a brand. And for those whose JOB it is to keep up, the job description is as shaky as a fault line. 

For social directors and bloggers the ever-shifting landscape is not only difficult to navigate, but the addition of new platforms can feel completely overwhelming. For some, the challenge is exciting, keeping them on their toes and at constant warp speed. "If you want to work in social," says Priscilla Castro, Social Director here at Create & Cultivate, "you know what kind of a beast you're going to battle. It's not a secret that new platforms are added or that one day, a platform you worked really hard to build up, could all of the sudden become obsolete. But that's the great thing about this space-- regardless of your background, you learn as you go because it's constantly evolving. It's safe to say that it's quite different from when I started working in it 3 years ago." 

That's not to say it's not disheartening. "There's definitely an 'all that work for what?' feeling to it sometimes, but that's also the challenge and where the exciting part of the job is. How to stay relevant. How to be an early adaptor. How to be social, but for business. It's the new communications major." 

Artist Tania Debono who runs the popular Instagram @thewriting also makes a living as a social media strategist. Tania says that "the influx of content is drowning us all."

"The influx of content is drowning us all."

Tweet this. 

Regarding Instagram Stories she believes, "brands with a strong community on Instagram have been trying to find their ‘voice’ on Snapchat for some time, but with the new update many brands and personal brands that haven’t properly broken into Snapchat will abandon the platform to invest time into Instagram as a whole."

For her, "Snapchat has become an after-thought, I want to share more meaningful content on the fly with my Instagram community only. I’ve noticed a decline in updates from people and brands too, and those in my real life community that didn’t invest time in Snapchat are creating brilliant content through Instagram stories."

So how do you decide what your social strategy should be if it's always changing? Or when and if you can KO a platform? 

Adrianna Adarme who founded the food blog A Cozy Kitchen says, "I haven't explored Instagram Stories a ton but I do think think it can be really beneficial for people who already have a strong following on the platform; it's sort of nice that it's all in one place."

And that's the general current sentiment. It is "nice" that it's all in one place because shifting gears through the apps is exhausting, for both content creators and consumers. Adds Adrianna, "I don't think it's the end of Snapchat though, I think its core audience was and always will be a teen, early twenty-something audience and I believe they'll continue to use it. I'm testing out both to see what works for me but I already miss the dog filter and stuff." Therein lies the rub. We all fall prey to "testing out both," and before we know it, we've added them all.  

It's something that colleges have taken note of as well. Social Media degrees are becoming more popular than ever, teaching students how to engage audiences through creative content and impactful messaging. 

University of Southern California offers a master's program in digital social media from its journalism school. The degree, according to the program's website, "teaches you leadership and management of social media, digital media, and online communities," so that student, "develop expertise in the practice, theory, and strategies that are essential for success in today's business and social landscape."

But what is impactful one semester, might not be the next. The same goes for your social strategy. 

"While a degree in social media is amazing and useful," says Priscilla, "the curriculum you learned in a semester in college will be obsolete by the time you enter your work field. There is no way to 'do' social media 'by-the-book,' because it's always evolving." 

"There is no way to do social media 'by-the-book,' because it's always evolving."

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"To do it right," she adds, "you have to move with the ebbs and flows of the space and not dismiss new platforms that will change your day one strategy. Just get with it, get your hands dirty, and create amazing content that you know your audience will love."

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