How She Does It Karen Finerman

Making the decision to have kids is one of the biggest decisions a woman can make in her life, and increasingly, women (and men) are not waiting until they find the right person to have kids with — they’re walking the journey on their own. 
With a wide array of options from sperm and egg donors to surrogacy or adoption, there are more options than ever for those choosing the journey into parenthood. When Leigh Gallagher, Senior Managing Director at Teneo, was in her early 40s, she decided she was done waiting for the “dating gods” and made the choice to have a child on her own. She says that while she’s famously bad at making decisions, this was actually the easiest one she’s ever made. 
Listen in to hear details on how she chose a sperm donor, how she’s built a village of childcare to support her, and why her daughter knows that above all, they are always a team. 

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:05:02 - Decision to Have a Baby
00:11:31 - Pregnancy and Preparing for Parenthood
00:13:46 - Choices as a Single Parent
00:14:21 - Life Changes After Having Her Daughter
00:17:06 - Challenges of Single Parenthood
00:18:58 - Destiny and Parenthood
00:21:31 - Advice for Prospective Single Parents and Current Parents
00:24:09 - Lightning Round

Takeaways:

Making the decision to become a single mother by choice can be empowering and fulfilling.

Having a strong support system, such as a nanny or trusted babysitters is crucial. 

The process of fertility treatments and choosing a sperm donor can be challenging but ultimately rewarding.

Transparency is key when talking to children about their unique family structure.

For those considering becoming single parents, it's important to talk to others who have gone through the same experience and to think about the long-term impact of the decision.

Despite the challenges, being a single parent can bring immense joy and fulfillment.


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Women’s ability to access high-quality, affordable, healthcare is a huge issue. From conception to asking questions about IVF and egg freezing, to our peri and postmenopausal life stages, we need easy access to specialized care for a lifetime. That’s exactly why Kate Ryder created Maven Clinic, a comprehensive 24/7 virtual platform that offers support and referrals related to fertility and family planning, pregnancy, postpartum health, adoption, surrogacy, parenting, and menopause. 

Kate details how she went from journalist to startup founder, and how Maven provides straightforward access to care for women at all life stages. 
Takeaways:

Increasing access to affordable fertility care is crucial for women's health.

Maven Clinic provides comprehensive support and referrals for various stages of women's health.

The need for more women in the healthcare industry and venture capital

The impact of recent IVF restrictions in Alabama on patients and clinics.


Chapters: 
00:00 Introduction and the Importance of Access to Fertility Care
06:52 The Origin Story of Maven Clinic
14:43 Expanding Services to Support Conception and Menopause
26:53 The Unprecedented Situation in Alabama
28:17 The Need for Comprehensive Women's Health Services

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We’re always so impressed when we hear about female founders who can turn a product they start making in their homes into a multi-million dollar business. So, how did they do it? Did they always dream of starting something bigger or did it take time for them to realize that their humble idea could really scale? And do the skills it takes to run a small business translate to running one with many employees, where the day-to-day tasks are wildly different?
Starr Edwards is one of those founders. In 2010, she was looking for creative ways to provide for her young family, and with just $200 and a used Vitamix, she started selling her dips, with a clever name – Bitchin' Sauce. After starting with small sales at the San Diego Farmers Market, today the company is a $50 million dollar business, and their vegan almond dip is sold everywhere from Costo to Whole Foods. Edwards shares how she scaled her company while raising a family of five, and what she learned when she shipped the sauce to Colorado (hint: it got messy!)

Takeaways:

Starting small and scaling organically can lead to significant growth over time.

Learning from peers and industry experts can be invaluable in navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship.

Maintaining a personal connection to the brand and product can drive passion and success.

Providing childcare as a benefit can have a significant positive impact on employees and the company as a whole.

Finding the right fit for team members and harnessing their talents can lead to greater fulfillment and value for the company.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction and Background
00:03:29 - Scaling Production from Home Kitchen to Manufacturing
00:04:32 - Getting into Whole Foods and Challenges with Distribution
00:09:20 - Balancing Family Life and Business Growth
00:11:10 - Learning from Peers and Avoiding Mistakes
00:18:18 - Benefits of on-site Childcare
00:21:32 - Future Aspirations
00:23:55 - Hiring Strategy and Building a Team
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Finding out about our family's history can tell us so much about ourselves, and our place in the world. For a long time, Deb Liu, CEO of Ancestry.com, said she felt like a victim of her history. She grew up in South Carolina, and since she was one of the only Asian-American kids in her classes, she was often made the target of pranks and bullying. She had to fight for her place in the world. 

Fast forward years later, Liu credits Sheryl Sandberg, her mentor at Facebook, for helping her come out of her shell and embrace her true self. One day after a meeting, Sandberg pulled her aside and said, “You can stop fighting now. You can be gracious.” This statement profoundly changed the way she worked. Listen in to hear her advice on leading with warmth, how to avoid falling into the trap of ‘strategic ambiguity’ in your career, and why she thinks more women should plan their marriages the same way they plan their wedding day.

Takeaways:

It's important to speak up and advocate for yourself in the workplace. Don't be invisible; make your contributions known.

Building relationships is key. Seek out allies, mentors, and sponsors who can provide advice and open doors for you.

Transition from a mindset of fighting to one of building connections. Success in the workplace is about teamwork and relationships, not just individual achievement.

 Plan your marriage with the same care as your wedding. Discuss expectations and roles to create a partnership where both parties contribute and support each other.


Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:43 The Road to Becoming a CEO
03:23 Speaking Up and Building Relationships
06:27 The Importance of Allies, Mentors, and Sponsors
09:25 Asking for What You Want
10:34 Transitioning from Fighting For What You Deserve to Building Connections
14:27 A Swim Lane Marriage
21:14 The Vision for Ancestry.com
26:36 Lightning Round
29:43 Where to Find Deb Liu

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Women often have a blur of busy days — going from meetings and important phone calls to the grocery store or soccer practice. It often feels like the day goes by in a blink of an eye. This, of course, leaves many of us feeling drained at the end of the day, or inspired to push off our most important tasks to next week — or we forget about them completely. 
So how can we better juggle our busy work days, the challenges of raising a family, and all of the other tasks in-between, while still making time for fun? Laura Mae Martin has cracked the code. She’s Google’s Executive Productivity Officer, and she coaches Google’s top executives on time management and efficiency. 
She offers her take on how to cut out time-suck meetings once and for all, and why discovering our “power hours” does wonders for our creativity and productivity. 

Takeaways:

Manage your email inbox like doing laundry - sort, prioritize, and focus on one task at a time.

Use the list funnel method to organize tasks and prioritize based on timeframes.

Limit and optimize meetings by setting agendas, evaluating their necessity, and providing feedback.

Identify your power hours and schedule important tasks during those times for maximum productivity. 

Minimize multitasking and manage email effectively to improve productivity.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
05:24 Optimizing Time for Emails
07:10 The List Funnel
13:58 Working with Executives on Productivity
15:06 Limiting Meetings
19.32 Power Hours and Structuring Productive Days
24:33 The Importance of Flexibility in Work Hours
26:01 Productivity Mistakes: Multitasking and Email Overload
28:06 New Research on Productivity
29:12 Lightning Round: Quick Questions
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There’s been a major shift in the fashion industry over the past few years, with a noticeable shift away from Fast Fashion. H&M, once a stock market darling, is now well below 50% of its all-time high. This, in no small part, comes from the concern over the waste emanating from the fast fashion pieces that now fill our landfills.
Jensen Neff and Ellie Chen found out just how much fabric goes to waste in the fashion industry (14 million pounds of fabric daily, to be exact) and created their sustainably sourced clothing brand Oddli as their senior capstone project at Stanford. Fast forward to today, they’ve grown into a multi-million dollar profitable brand. Listen in to hear how they used social media to build a following from the start, and their best advice for other young female founders.
Takeaways: 

The fashion industry is shifting away from fast fashion and embracing second-hand retail due to concerns over waste.

Oddli was founded by Jensen Neff and Ellie Chen, who met at Stanford University and shared a passion for creating ethically sourced clothing that promotes community connection.

Oddli sources excess fabric, known as deadstock, from warehouses in downtown LA to reduce fabric waste in the fashion industry.

The founders of Oddli believe in staying true to their vision and have chosen a non-traditional approach to fundraising and scaling their business. 

Balancing ethical production and affordability is a challenge in the fashion industry, but transparency and education can help consumers understand higher price points.

Social media platforms like TikTok can be powerful tools for brand growth and reaching a wide audience.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Shift Away from Fast Fashion
01:21 Introduction to Oddli 
10:23 Sourcing Raw Materials and Accessing Excess Fabric
15:50 Ignoring Conventional Wisdom in Fundraising
23:38 Navigating the Industry as Female Founders
31:22 Ambitions for the Future
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