Interview with Michelle Tunno Buelow of Bella Tunno

Bella Tunno company logo

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!

Link to Webinar: Speaking with Confidence and Authenticity

Casey Carpenter during her webinar discussion

Your communication skills have a direct impact on your ability to raise funds and motivate your team. In today’s socially distanced environment, it’s more important than ever that your message shines through, even when you’re not able to address your audience in person.

This skill-building webinar session led by professional speaker and coach Casey Carpenter will help you discover how to pitch with confidence and authenticity in a virtual setting. You’ll walk away with tools to craft a persuasive message and techniques to deliver that message in a way that engages your audience. Click here to access the recording of the 4/8/21 talk.

More information about Casey Carpenter’s company as well as links to resources mentioned in her talk can be found here.

The World Needs More Bonobos In Charge

two bonobos interacting

This piece from NPR’s All Things Considered shares research being done at a bonobo sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Both bonobos and chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of humans – but the social dynamics in bonobo and chimp social structures are noticeably different.

While chimps tend to be more male-dominated and aggressive, bonobos place a higher social status on females. According to the NPR piece, “Chimps tend to rely on cunning and competition. Bonobos emphasize cooperation and sharing.” In addition, research has shown that “bonobo brains include special circuits for social interaction that are not found in chimpanzees. The result is an animal predisposed to sharing, tolerance, negotiation and cooperation.”

Sounds like Bonobo matriarchies are the way to go!

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!

Women in eCommerce Supporting Each Other

Woman's thumb scrolling on an iphone while looking at a screen that mentions eCommerce.

Women represent 32% of the eCommerce sellers online. While that is a much higher percentage that the number of women that are found in C-suite jobs, it still places women in the minority. This article in Entrepreneur encourages women in eCommerce to seek each other out for mentoring and support. The article states, “By building your community around other women, you can unlock the hidden power of wealth through shared strategies, tools and hidden secrets.”

7 Women Scientists Who Changed Science Forever

woman in protective gear looking into a microscope

This Newsweek piece that was released for International Women’s Day highlights seven women who have defied the odds within STEM fields (only around 30 percent of STEM researchers globally are women). The article features some well known women and some women that you might not have heard of yet.

  • Rachel Carson – author of Silent Spring and launcher of environmental movement
  • Tu Youyou – Nobel prize winner for her work in anti-malarial medicine
  • Kizzmekia Corbett – co-developer of the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine
  • Barbara McClintock – Nobel Prize winner for her work in better understanding how genetic elements can move on chromosomes
  • Susan Band Horwitz – co-developer of the drug Taxol which helps treat breast, ovarian and lung cancer
  • Sally Ride – astronaut and physicist – also the first American female and youngest American to travel to space
  • Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi – immunologist who focuses in tropical medicine

Navigating Three Major Challenges in Entrepreneurship

Headshot of Karima J. Mariama-Arthur

In this piece in Entrepreneur from December 2016, founder and CEO of WordSmithRapport, Karima J. Mariama-Arthur (who is also an eCornell program facilitator!) shared three challenges of entrepreneurship. While the article is a few years old, her words still ring true to entrepreneurs today. Mariama-Arthur states that fear, distractions and work ethic are the three biggest hurdles. If anything, those hurdles are even more present during the past year of navigating COVID!

Are “Returnships” A Solid Option For Women?

photo of woman standing inside a cave in a beam of light that is streaming in from opening

Many adults need to take an off-ramp from the professional workplace during their careers. Birthing/caring for children, looking after aging family members, following a partner due to dual-career challenges and military service are just a few of the reasons why people – especially women – may find themselves reducing hours or taking a complete leave of absence from full time work. The demands placed on women have become even more apparent during COVID when virtual schooling and the lack of available childcare have placed more pressure on parents as they try to keep all the balls in the air.

One opportunity that may help more women re-enter the worplace as we find our way out of the COVID tunnel is the concept of “returnships”. Returnship programs are similar to internships but are meant specifically for those who are looking to rejoin the workforce after taking time away. This link from August 2020 shares a list of 15 companies that have instituted returnship programs. In addition, this piece from Fortune shares thoughts on how this model may be particularly useful for women in a post-COVID workforce.

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!

Women Entrepreneurs You Should Be Following

cartoon with word "follow" and an index finger about to press it.

This piece from the Motley Fool highlights ten female entrepreneurs to follow as we head into 2021. The piece has links to different podcasts hosted by these women as well as links to resources and their twitter feeds. These leaders include:

  • Arlan Hamilton – Backstage Capital
  • Barbara Weltman – lawyer and founder of Big Ideas for Small Business, Inc
  • Lizelle van Vuuren – Undock
  • Amanda Boleyn – She Did It Her Way
  • Sonia Thompson – Thompson Media Group
  • Sallie Krawcheck – Ellevest
  • Emily Thompson – Almanac Supply Co
  • Kathleen Shannon – Braid Creative and Consulting
  • Beth Buelow – author and podcaster
  • Ahyiana Angel – Mayzie Media