social media Archives - Don't Stop Us Now

Taking on Goliath – Sue Fennessy

July 11, 2023July 11, 2023
by Claire

We have a truly incredible guest in this week’s episode. We don’t think we’ve ever met someone with so much drive and conviction as serial entrepreneur, Sue Fennessy.

Sue’s vision for her latest, purpose-led-business ‘WeAre8’ is absolutely epic. So large is the vision, that she’s spent the past 8 years building the technology platform required to take on the social media giants of the world. Yes, this one woman ‘tour de force’ is taking on the goliaths of social media with a determination to make social media better for all.

She’s also invested more than $11 million of her own money to get WeAre8 to where it is today. She’s been able to do this because of her phenomenal track record building and exiting businesses. To date, she’s scaled and sold three previous businesses.

The last business that Sue co-founded and then sold in 2022, the global Standard Media Index, was bought for $200million. SMI, as it’s also known, was a pioneering data and technology business recording global media spends across different advertising channels. It required years of persistence and serious influence skills to get all the world’s largest media agencies on board to have access to all that data. Sue has these in spades!

These days, after numerous years living in New York, Sue is based in London where we visited her at her HQ in central London.

In this epic conversation you’ll learn :

How Sue thinks about her Purpose in life
How she plans to transform the worlds of social media AND digital advertising
The high personal cost of Sue’s single minded focus on making WeAre8 a success; and
The crazy and sexist things Venture Capitalists have said to her.

In short, this is a truly memorable conversation so please enjoy this episode with the purposeful and driven, Sue Fennessy.

Useful Links

WeAre8: https://www.weare8.com/

Sue on LInkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-fennessy/

Interview

From Side Hustle to Multi Million Dollar Business –…

September 19, 2022September 20, 2022
by Claire

Our guest on the show today is a successful entrepreneur who has leveraged the power of social media to grow her one-time side hustle into a multi million dollar business.

Chi Mai, was born and raised in Hanoi in Vietnam. She came to Australia to study and it was in Melbourne some years later that her career took an unexpected turn.

Instead of the corporate career she’d always imagined, she ended up with no experience and barely in her 20’s, starting a jewelry business.

In just two short years since its founding in 2018, Chi’s business, called S-kin Studio Jewelry, was taking off.

In this episode you’ll learn:

The marketing strategy that changed everything and created an explosion in the growth of Chi’s business
How and when Chi decided to let go of her day job and devote herself full time to S-kin Studio
What she’s learnt as an introvert so she can successfully lead and delegate to her team of 9 staff;
How having a baby has changed her work habits; and
What success looks like for Chi.

Without further ado, enjoy this fascinating episode with the entrepreneurial and passionate Chi Mai.

P.S. You’ll only hear Greta this week as poor Claire lost her voice with a flu virus.

Useful Links

Chi on LinkedIn

S-kin studio website

S-kin studio on Instagram

S-kin studio on Facebook

S-kin studio on Pinterest

S-kin studio on Tiktok

Interview

Ellen Broad – Her Surprising Path to Big Data…

November 3, 2020November 13, 2020
by Claire

Brought to you by Microsoft’s The New Next

This week’s episode features a woman who never dreamt she’d end up working in a high tech environment. In fact, Ellen Broad imagined she would be a lawyer or librarian when she was younger.

However this tech exec and academic is now a Senior Fellow at the 3A Institute at the Australian National University. The Institute is a multi-disciplinary department created to help humans prepare for, and navigate, a world that will be forever altered by AI-powered ‘cyber-physical systems’.

A little bit more about Ellen, she trained as a lawyer (more about that in our conversation) and she’s worked in data-related roles in the Hague and in the UK, including being an expert adviser to the UK Secretary of State on Data, and head of Policy for the UK’s Open Data Institute.

Not only that, but Ellen has also written an award winning book on AI and its impact on humans called ‘Made By Humans’.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How Ellen navigated moving countries, and finding work, without having any network in her new home-base
How she’s found her voice to speak up against gender bias
What it’s like working in a truly diverse team – hint it’s not always easy
Why she’s using social media a lot less these days, and
Where she thinks technology will go in the next five years.

Enjoy this episode with the unassuming and very smart Ellen Broad.

Links

3A Institute website

Ellen Broad’s website

Ellen’s Book – Made by Humans

Griffith Review Article – Computer Says No

Resources Recommended by Ellen

Coded Bias Documentary

Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble

Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil

PAIR Program with Google

The Coding Train – Daniel Shiffman

Interview

Sophia Athas – 20-Something Founder and Creative Trendsetter

October 20, 2020October 21, 2020
by Claire

Brought to you by Microsoft’s The New Next

We’re excited to introduce you to the youngest woman we’ve had on the show to date. But age isn’t the reason we’re happy for you to meet 27 year old Sophia Athas.

Sophia is the self-taught, entrepreneurial founder of a thriving new-age creative agency called Hatrik House.

Sophia’s business started out simply as a creative outlet and side hustle for when she was studying law at university. In the years that followed, Sophia realised she had the makings of a business as her work on social media attracted attention and turned her into a brand influencer in her own right.

Hatrik House has now grown to become a fully fledged agency focusing on social media and content with a talented team of women helping service a whole host of brands.

And full disclosure here, we were so impressed with Hatrik’s work when we saw one of their clients on Instagram, we hired her ourselves about two years ago!

In that time we’ve watched as Sophia’s business has grown and admired how she continues to navigate all the challenges that come with leading a fast growing business as a young woman.

In this episode you’ll hear:

Sophia’s experiences of being taken seriously (or not) as a female boss in her 20’s
What she believes have been the most important factors in running her business
How she thinks COVID will affect both digital and real-life experiences going forward
And, her advice if you’re thinking of setting up a side hustle.

Without further ado, here’s our conversation with the composed and creative Sophia Athas.

Links

Sophia on Instagram

Hatrik House website

Hatrik House on Instagram

Interview

Gaby Dalkin – How Her Food Side Hustle Took…

April 23, 2019
by admin

We’re so impressed by how this week’s guest has grown her business and her brand from pre side-hustle stage, to become the entrepreneurial ‘foodie’ success it is today. We think you’ll love getting to know Gaby Dalkin, the California based chef, author and influencer.

Gaby is the CEO of ‘What’s Gaby Cooking’. She and her team are a content and recipe creating machine! She has more than 450,000 Instagram followers, she’s published 2 cookbooks with another on the way, she’s appeared on some of America’s most watched TV shows, she has several product ranges at kitchenware giant Williams Sonoma, and has numerous other brand partnerships as well.

When we met Gaby we were blown away by her obvious dedication and commitment. We actually met her whilst on holiday in Patagonia and in between our horse riding and hearty ‘estancia’ (ranch) Patagonian BBQ lunch, Gaby was clearly working on social media and we were intrigued.

So intrigued, we got chatting and the rest is history!

And in today’s episode you’ll learn:

How this famous foodie had never tasted fish until she started at culinary school
The secret to her building up such a loyal and ever-growing number of followers
How her business smarts and initiative led her to her first product line with Williams Sonoma
And the biggest challenge she’s had to overcome in order to be able to delegate and grow her business

We hope you enjoy this episode with the super smart and delightful Gaby Dalkin.