Entrepreneurial Journey – Page 5 – More from the Institute for Women's Entrepreneurship at Cornell

Discussion with Sustainable Fashion Founder Anne Marie Johnson

Anne Marie Johnson - founder of Bitter Grace

This October 24, 2021 Fortune article shares an interview with Anne Marie Johnson about the founding of her sustainable fashion company, Bitter Grace, and the company’s first few years in business. During the discussion, she shares that the goal of her company is to present a holistic approach to help women align their external selves with their inner selves in order to be as authentic as possible. Johnson also discusses strategic decisions that enabled the company to grow throughout the pandemic and where she sees the company heading in the next five years.

Offering Free Childcare Slashes Turnover At Small Business

In this article from Fast Company, Starr Edwards, founder of Bitchin’ Sauce, shares how offering free childcare augmented retention and hiring, especially during the worst of the pandemic. Edwards shares, ” Everyone touts work-life balance—and this is one of the most essential forms of that. Can you care for your family and work at the same time? If people can find ways of doing that, whether it’s subsidizing outside care or doing it internally like we have, I think ultimately it’s in the company’s best interest.”

Accelerating Your Success As A Female Founder

woman entrepreneur standing outside door holding "welcome - we are open" sign

This recent piece in Entrepreneur entitled “How to Accelerate Your Success as a Female Founder” shares that there are basically two steps to starting a business: doing something to get the ball rolling, and then saying, “I’m doing this.” The article states that many female entrepreneurs struggle with the second part and provides ideas on how to get unstuck and feel more comfortable with self promotion.

Interview with Yael Vizel on the $200MM sale of Zeekit

Yael Vizel is the founder of the startup, Zeekit, which uses artificial intelligence to enable customers to try on clothes via a virtual platform. Vizel is also one of the only Israeli women to seal a nine-figure exit deal with an acquirer (in this case Walmart). This article shares a fascinating interview with her as she discusses the deal and also the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur.

Interview with Michelle Tunno Buelow of Bella Tunno

This interview in Medium is one of a series entitled “Second Chapters: How I Reinvented Myself in the Second Chapter of My Life.” In this piece, Michelle Tunno Buelow shares stories from her journey to found and launch Bella Tunno. Bella Tunno is a baby accessory brand on a mission to end childhood hunger. For every product sold, Bella Tunno donates at least one meal to a hungry child. To date, Bella Tunno has donated more than 5.5 million meals.

In the interview, Michelle Tunno Buelow shares the importance of finding and embracing your purpose in life. She also outlines some key attributes that have enabled her to succeed as an entrepreneurs: her resilience, ability to be comfortable with the uncomfortable and overall scrappiness. She discusses her battles with imposter syndrome as well as the importance of being able to “fail forward”. Wonderful lessons and insights from an inspirational entrepreneur!

Quantity Breeds Quality

asian woman working on shaping a bowl on a pottery wheel

This article from Inc. highlights the concept of the 70-20-10 rule. The meaning behind this rule is that with whatever you are working to produce – be it something artistic or a product or a service – 70 percent of your attempts will be mediocre, 20 percent will be poor, and 10 percent will be amazing. The key takeaway is that the only way to get better at something isn’t to sit and stare at the blank piece of paper waiting for the perfect idea or to try to research every last thing before starting, but rather to roll up your sleeves and do it! The more you try, the more results you will end up having in that 10% amazing bucket!

Podcasts For Women in Business

Women's feet in sneakers - walking outside

If you have found yourself doing more walking/jogging during COVID – either because your gym is closed or you are just looking to get out of your home for a bit – perhaps you have started listening to more podcasts.

Here is a list of the top 35 “women in business” podcasts. Each podcast listed includes information on how often new episodes are dropped, the number of followers/subscribers and what year the podcast originated. Definitely worth scrolling through if you are looking for something new to put on your listening list!

Pandemic Results in More Women Launching Businesses

black business woman at laptop writing a note

According to this article from Time, in December 2020, America lost over 140,000 jobs – and all those jobs belonged to women. It’s no surprise, that the Washington Post just reported that this has likely been partially responsible for the “pandemic-fueled rise in female entrepreneurship”. This Post piece highlights stories of women who either saw changes in the economic landscape that encouraged them to launch their ventures or were forced to pivot and turn to entrepreneurship because of job losses and stay-at-home orders.

Link to Webinar – Starting a PPE Company During A Pandemic: Lessons Learned

In Spring of 2020, Dr. Gabrielle Page-Wilson, Dr. Samira Brown and business executive Alexandra Stanton, launched Little Lives PPE, a Black and woman-led company changing the personal protective equipment (PPE) landscape for American families and communities.

In this webinar, Dr. Page-Wilson and Ms. Stanton discuss the challenges of launching a PPE company during the COVID pandemic and how the business and product lessons they learned can apply to any aspiring entrepreneur who is thinking about launching, managing, or scaling a business during this unprecedented time.

SBA Launches Largest Expansion of Women’s Business Centers in 30 Years

According to this recent post, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced grant funding along with the launch of 20 new Women’s Business Centers (WBC) that will be opened across America. These new centers will serve rural, urban, and underserved communities. The move to open 20 new WBCs is the largest single expansion of the program since it began 30 years ago. Check out the post to read more about where the centers will be located as well as to access other resources from the SBA.