Entrepreneurial Journey – Page 3 – More from the Institute for Women's Entrepreneurship at Cornell

How Does Your Work Leave You Feeling At the End of The Day?

This October 2022 article from Fast Company explores the topic “How To Find A Job That Energizes You Rather Than Drains You”. The author shares that while many people are in situations where they may not have the luxury of being particular about what job they have, if you are fortunate enough to have flexibility in your career path, you should seek tasks in your job that fill you with energy. He goes on to state that finding that energy might not require a radical change, like quitting your job. Instead, it might simply involve a conversation with a manager about ways to change up tasks and projects – or you could look outside your full time job for an activity or side gig that excites you.

Turning a Personal Brand Into Side Hustle Income

Patrina Dixon, author of It’$ My Money and graduate of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Certificate program at Cornell was recently featured in this article in Business Insider.

In this piece, she shares her thoughts on how to generate side income. Specifically, she states the importance of determining your existing skills, experimenting with different opportunities for growth and outlining income streams that best work for you and your needs. Keep up the amazing work, Patrina!

Two Entrepreneurs Enabling Safer Travel for Women

Srishti Mendhekar and Priyansha Mishra are the founders of On Her Way, a platform that connects women travelers to a local woman who can help them awareness about safe spaces and general information about the area. “Women have needs and issues, which can be broadly categorized into safety and hygiene, and no one is solving that. The current travel ecosystem is made by men for men. We want to change that,” says Srishti. Read more by accessing an article about how they founded their startup in YourStory.com.

LOULOU LOLLIPOP Evolves from Side Hustle to International Brand

When co-founders of LOULOU LOLLIPOP, an eco-friendly baby product company, looked to expand their company globally, they realized they didn’t have the right to use their name in Europe and China. It was a three-year legal battle with a hefty price tag to nail down the trademark issues. Co-founder Eleanor Lee shared, “There will be challenges and mistakes along the road, there were for us. They’re stepping-stones. Don’t dwell on them.” To read more about their adventure in launching a global brand, read this piece in Women of Influence.

Interview with Founder of Hiring Platform, We Are Rosie

This piece in Inc. is a conversation with We Are Rosie‘s CEO Stephanie Nadi Olson. She shares how the challenges of trying to juggle a family and the demands of a high powered corporate job – and then a startup job – led her to launch her own business focused on finding “good work for everyone who needs it in a way that aligns with their life and treats them with dignity and respect”. Her company now has over 15,000 contractors in the marketing and advertising space – whose contracts are capped at 40 hours per week. She states, “For culture to be truly compassionate, it cannot be prescriptive. Leadership decisions cannot happen in a vacuum.” Click the link above to read more about this incredible leader.

All Women eXXpedition Sailing Crews Tackle Ocean Plastic

Led by ocean advocate and skipper Emily Penn and founded in 2014, the nonprofit organization eXXpedition strives to shift the way people feel, think and act by building a global network of multidisciplinary women who can contribute to world-class scientific studies, explore solutions, and use their unique skill sets to tackle the problem from all angles. eXXpedition has been on a mission to “make the unseen, seen”—the unseen being women in sailing and science, the plastics and toxins polluting our oceans, and the diverse solutions to the problem. Read more about their work in this Upworthy article.

Togethxr—A Women’s-Focused Media Platform

Togethxr is a media brand that is tied to four legendary athletes from a diverse cross-section of sports. Cofounder and chief content officer Jessica Robertson says that Togethxr has a culture that recognizes that women’s sports is “ground zero for every single -ism that’s in culture – which means this is a brand that is going to touch issues of race, gender, sexuality, human rights, voting rights, and so much more.” Check out this article in Fast Company to learn more about this up and coming brand!

Female-led Startups Bring Innovation to Reproductive Health

Reproductive health issues have certainly been a topic in the news over the past few weeks in the United States. At Johns Hopkins University, two teams led by female graduate students are bringing much needed innovation to the reproductive health product marketplace. One company, Ovubrush, is a technology-enabled toothbrush that monitors biomarker in saliva to identify ovulation windows for conception. Another company, NovvaCup is redesigning menstrual cups to have different collapsible states which will increase ease of insertion and removal. To read more about these companies and the women behind them, check out this article posted in Johns Hopkins HUB.

Graduate Shares Her Experiences In the Women’s Entrepreneurship Certificate Program

Tina Fears completed the Women’s Entrepreneurship Certificate program in February 2021. In the interview, Fears shares that after completing the program, “I immediately implemented new business practices that reflect who I am as a leader, a woman, and an entrepreneur. The program also addresses the importance of negotiation, contracts, and critical legal issues women in business face.” Read more about Tina’s experience in this article in the Gwinnett Forum.