womeninbusiness Archives - Don't Stop Us Now

Succeeding with Co-Founders – Future Proof Me

March 15, 2022March 16, 2022
by Claire

This week’s mini episode explores what it takes to build a successful partnership with a co-founder.

One thing we’ve noticed with numerous early stage startups is the challenge in those very early days of finding a co-founder, or co-founders, whom you can really work with for the long term, even when the pressure’s on.

So often you hear of acrimonious founder breakups and it got us asking ourselves, how do you create a good working relationship over time if you have co-founders?

One person who’s brilliantly navigated the co-founder challenge is serial Scottish entrepreneur Lesley Eccles, who with her 4 other co-founders built a blockbuster business called FanDuel. We spoke to Lesley on the podcast a year ago and she has some amazing stories and experiences if you haven’t heard that episode.

In this mini episode you’ll hear how Lesley and her co-founders made a success of working and pivoting together for more than ten years to create a business that has ultimately been valued over $11 billion.

We also share some of our observations from the four years of producing this podcast and from years of observing and advising numerous startups first hand.

As the saying goes: “it takes two to tango” and it typically takes two or more to build an epic business. So enjoy this mini episode on Succeeding with Co Founders.

Links

Link to Lesley Eccles original episode

Link to Adina Jacobs orig episode

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – Beating Burnout

November 9, 2021
by Claire

We’re in the ‘home straight’ heading towards the end of the year and following the crazy year so many of us have had (thanks COVID!) we thought what better time to remind ourselves of tools to help prevent burnout?

We were lucky enough a few weeks back to run an online seminar on burnout with the best selling author, psychologist and leadership expert, Dr Jacinta Jiménez, and, as so many people signed up, we decided we should revisit Dr Jacinta’s amazing advice from our conversation on the podcast with her some months back.

Following the release of her science-backed, best selling book, The Burnout Fix, Dr Jacinta is definitely the one to turn to for advice dealing with burnout. She has deconstructed what burnout is, how it can be caused, and of course how to recover from burnout.

In this info-packed mini episode, you’ll hear that burnout for all of us is caused by one of six mismatches between who we are and our work or roles. Then you’ll hear how using Dr Jacinta’s PULSE model can help you keep burnout away.

Enjoy this mini episode and don’t forget to schedule yourself a mini break for today too! 🙂

Useful Links

Our full episode with Dr J

Link to the Mentor Walks Webinar we did with Dr J

Jacinta’s new book: The Burnout Fix

Amazon Kindle link

Amazon Hardcover link

Jacinta’s website

Jacinta on LinkedIn

Interview

Tessa Clarke – The Difference One Person Can Make

November 1, 2021November 2, 2021
by Claire

We’re excited to be bringing you an inspiring and very relevant guest this week given world leaders have been meeting at COP26 in Glasgow for vital climate talks as this episode goes to air.

Tessa Clarke is Co-founder and CEO of the international food sharing and household goods app called OLIO. Her passion for sustainability and for creating simple ways to help all of us to take simple but powerful steps to help the environment is just what we need right now!

Tessa and her Co-founder (whom she met at Stanford doing her MBA) launched OLIO in 2015 and originally focused on food waste in the home, although now you can find new homes for all kinds of other items as well.

OLIO has just successfully closed a Series B fundraising round raising $43 million dollars from top tier VC firms who have described OLIO’s 5-fold growth in the past year as phenomenal. More than 5 million OLIO users in 53 countries are now reducing not only food waste but also preventing more than 3 million household goods going to landfill as well.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How Tessa wished she’d made the time earlier in her career to stop and really reflect about what she was passionate about doing in her career
How Tessa came up with the idea for OLIO;
Her four tips for female founders raising funds;
How food waste globally results in greenhouse gas emissions that would make it the 3rd largest country in emission terms in the world.
And last but not least, Tessa shares how western householders make up for HALF of all that food waste.

So dear fellow citizen of Planet Earth, please make haste and devour this episode with the determined and passionate Tessa Clarke. Enjoy!

Useful Links

OLIO website

OLIO in the App store – Google & Apple

Dana Kanze TED Talk on the real reason female founders get less funding

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me: Key to Fulfilment

October 12, 2021October 12, 2021
by Claire

Welcome to this week’s Future Proof Me mini episode.

For many of us the past few months have shrunk our world to the confines of our homes and our local suburb. What we’ve noticed can sometimes come with that, is a tendency to lose sight of the bigger picture and of others who may be doing it tougher than we are.

It’s why we thought it was really timely for this beautiful reminder from social entrepreneur Ronni Kahn of the value we personally derive from helping others, even now when uncertainty and disruption is still so prevalent in our own lives.

We were really moved by her first hand testimony of how her experience has been that you get so much more than you give, and that time is so precious we all need to think about what we’re doing now, not putting things off for “one day” in future.

This point was brought vividly home to us as we just heard the news that one of our recent guests, artist and muralist Taylor White has been injured in a serious road accident in Iceland. Fortunately she’s confident of making a full, if slow, recovery so we’re sending her love and heartfelt “Get well soon Taylor” wishes.

Seize the day dear friends.

Links

Full interview with Ronni Kahn – The More You Give, the More You Get

Ronni’s Book – A Repurposed Life

OzHarvest website

Interview

Lesley Eccles – When Founding Another Global Startup was…

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021
by Claire

Have you ever felt totally blindsided or cheated?

That’s exactly what happened to our guest this week who spent more than ten years building a startup into a huge success, only to find the company sold by the other investors without receiving a cent. Just two years later the business was valued at over 11 billion dollars!

There’s no doubt that serial Scottish entrepreneur Lesley Eccles has ridden the startup rollercoaster on a grand scale. What we find so incredible and inspiring is how she’s bounced back from the devastating loss of her and her co-founders’ first business hit, FanDuel, to focus on starting a business all over again.

Lesley says she felt she had no alternative but to start from scratch again – but this time she’s brought her knowledge of running and scaling a technology business to build the number one relationship and self care app, Relish.

As Lesley shares her fascinating journey you’ll learn how:

Lesley, her husband and their 3 other co-founders weren’t sure if their start up would be successful until they were 7 years in
How their team, headquartered in Scotland, managed to become successful in the US market of fantasy sports building a team of 500 employees with 6million users
What lessons Lesley learnt as a result of the gut-wrenching sale of FanDuel
And why Relish is all about making the world a happier place.

Lesley’s story and lessons really are remarkable so don’t miss this episode with the resilient and gutsy Lesley Eccles.

Useful Links

Relish in the Apple App Store

Relish website

Lesley Eccles on LinkedIn

Interview

Naomi Simson – The Renowned Entrepreneur 1000s of Small…

April 7, 2020April 7, 2020
by Claire

We have a brilliant episode for you this week with the renown entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor Naomi Simson. Given these unprecedented times, this is just the tonic we needed and we think you will love her too.

On the topic of COVID-19, wherever you’re listening to us from, we hope you’re safe and well and not doing it too tough. Please know that you are not alone, #weareinthistogether . As you’ll hear in this episode, Naomi has some great thoughts for what leaders and businesses need to be thinking about.

Nearly 20 years ago, Naomi took her savings and founded her online business ‘RedBalloon’ when she was a Mum of two small children. The site she built is an aggregator of a vast variety of experiences that people can buy vouchers for from thousands of tourism and adventure operators around Australia and NZ, and they’re expanding internationally as well.

Today the ‘Big Red Group’ has 5 separate businesses under its umbrella with revenue over $70 million and literally millions of experiences sold to date. Thousands of small businesses rely on her company to deliver them customers, a big deal normally and an even bigger one now with COVID-19.

Naomi is also well known for sharing her positivity and business wisdom as a keynote speaker and author of two books.

In this episode you’ll hear Naomi talk about:

How she’s feeling in these uncertain times and how she’s coping with COVID 19 consequences
Her experience of stepping out of her business after splitting from her husband, only to later secretly buy back the company
What Naomi looks for when startups are pitching to her for investment
Why you’ll always see her wearing something red, and
Her advice to you in these times of uncertainty.

So stay safe, get comfy, and enjoy this episode with the super positive and impressive Naomi Simson.

One final note from us, given our leadership development business has understandably lost revenue, we’ve decided it’s timely to trial one or two ads at the beginning or end of each episode whilst taking great care not to damage your listening experience. This is a way to help us with all the hours we spend on bringing each episode to you. Thank you for being part of our community.

Links of interest

Naomi’s website

Redballoon

Big Red Group

Naomi’s books: Live What You Love & Ready to Soar

Interview

Que Dallara – Unlocks What It Takes to Be…

January 15, 2020
by Claire

From extreme disadvantage in her childhood, Honeywell Connected Enterprise (HCE) President and CEO, Que Dallara, has been driven all her life to ensure she and her family are far from the memories she has of begging for rice as a child refugee.

We’re in awe of what Que has so thoughtfully achieved over the years taking her from supporting her family and herself through school and uni, to reach the highest echelons of corporate America.

Que grew up in Australia and worked there for McKinsey and numerous corporates before moving to the US almost 20 years ago via an MBA at Insead. She worked in senior roles for Microsoft, TE Connectivity and now is running HCE for Honeywell. Que is leading the industrial giant’s transformative push into software sales and the Internet of Things.

Alongside all of this, she’s also the mum of three kids!

We urge you not to miss this episode which shares not only Que’s incredible life story but also some of the finest career advice you’re likely to hear.

In this episode you’ll learn:

What impact Que’s dramatic and dangerous escape from Vietnam has had on her life
How having to pay for her education and support her family, saw her running a successful business by the age of 16!
The one key thing Que realised she (and others) need to develop to keep progressing in their careers
How she goes about leading a major innovation play within a huge conglomerate.

Enjoy this episode with the humble, yet ever so impressive, Que Dallara.

Useful Links

Que’s LinkedIn

Honeywell – click on Honeywell Forge to see Que’s Division

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Interview

Jodie Fox – The Rise and Demise of Her…

October 24, 2019October 24, 2019
by admin

Our guest this week has been on an incredible journey in the past decade – building an iconic online retail empire to global heights and then having no choice but to close it all down last year. We’re talking about Shoes of Prey co-founder, Jodie Fox.

The trailblazing Shoes of Prey became a global start-up and fashion darling during its nine years in business – offering shoes that its customers could personally design and customise online. It was a truly innovative concept.

Big name VC firms thought so too, and Jodie and her two male co-founders raised around $30 million over the life of the business before coming to the heart-wrenching decision to cease trading in August last year. The problem? Despite a stunning launch years earlier, they simply couldn’t get the scale to make the business sustainable in the long term.

Jodie was the Chief Creative Officer and public face of Shoes of Prey, so coming to terms with having to shut down the business, and its global offices, has been particularly confronting for her in the past year having spent the past ten years living and breathing the brand.

In this episode you’ll learn :

How and why Jodie went from being a risk averse young lawyer to a start-up co-founder
What it was like to be married and then divorced to one of her co-founders whilst still having to work in the business together
The three key lessons she’s taken away from the high profile failure of their venture
And, how vulnerable she feels sharing so much of her personal story in her new book.

This is Jodie’s first podcast interview since Shoes of Prey was shut down and it comes as she’s launching her book about the incredible journey she’s been on: ‘Reboot – More Than You Ever Probably Wanted to Know About Starting a Global Business’.

We loved this discussion and Jodie’s generosity in sharing what she’s learnt. Be sure not to miss this one and be among the first to hear her fascinating stories. Plus, enter our competition to win one of ten copies of Jodie’s book that we are giving away to lucky subscribers.

Happy Listening!

Jodie with co-Founders Michael Fox and Mike Knapp; the early days of Shoes of Prey; a Shoes of Prey concept store in the US; Jodie

Links of interest

Jodie’s website

Win one of 10 of Jodie’s new book

Jodie’s Youtube Channel

Jodie on Insta

Jodie on Linkedin

Buy Jodie’s new book – Reboot, More Than You Probably Ever Wanted to Know About Starting a Global Business

Booktopia – Australia

Amazon – US

Amazon – UK

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Interview

Jordy Fu – Child Prodigy Artist to Sought After…

October 8, 2019
by admin

This episode features a super creative thinker and former child prodigy who’s on a quest to bring beauty and emotion to all that she creates and builds. We’re talking about renown architect, interior designer, fashion designer and artist, Jordy Fu.

Jordy grew up in Chengdu in China. At the age of just six years old, 200 pieces of Jordy’s art work were exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Beijing Capital Museum. By the time she was seven a book of her artworks had been published!

Jordy went on to study in London at the iconic art school, Central Saint Martins, before qualifying as an architect and eventually starting her own multi-disciplinary firm.

Now based in Bangkok, Jordy and her team work on a diverse range of projects… and Jordy in particular works on everything from iconic buildings in China to statement fashion pieces for the runways in Dubai.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Why she believes most architects are boring
Why being a child prodigy can make you feel like a failure when you’re an adult
How she manages to juggle multiple projects and be a parent; and
How she’s trained herself to have a positive attitude, and how you can too ….

If you aspire to be more creative or have a more positive mindset, then don’t miss this episode!

Jordy as a six year old at Beijing Capital Musuem; artwork she drew as a five year old; Jordy’s fashion collection at Dubai Fashion Week; putting the final touches on her paper chandelier; Jordy in her egg chair in her office; Greta Thomas, Jordy Fu and Claire Hatton in her Bangkok office; one of Jordy’s architectural designs.

Links of Interest

Marques & Jordy Website

Jordy’s TED Talk

Jordy on Linkedin

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Interview

Dr Cath Ball – Flying High with Drones and…

September 24, 2019September 24, 2019
by admin

In this week’s episode we meet an entrepreneur and innovator who’s been through more than her fair share of challenge and trauma, yet has found a way to forge her own unique path. We’re talking about the irrepressible Dr Catherine Ball.

Catherine, or Cath, grew up in a pretty poor, single parent household in an industrial town in the UK. Unlike her peers she was determined to go to university where she studied environmental protection. She then went on to complete a PHD – a process she now describes as torturous.

Needing to pay off her student debt, her path then took her into the corporate world where she worked with a number of engineering consultancies in the UK and then in Australia.

Just as Cath was being recognised as a leader in her space receiving the Queensland Telstra Business Woman of the Year award in 2015, her company merged with a competitor and she, to her surprise, was made redundant.

It was this shocking jolt that led her to start her first company and led to her building on her already existing experience working with drones.

Since then she’s be recognised as a true thought leader in emerging technologies, having been awarded many accolades in Australia, including then AFR Women of Influence and Top 25 Women in Robotics Lists, both in 2016.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How she’s carved out her unique path as an entrepreneur;
How she manages her time involved with 10 different projects plus having a young toddler and another one on the way;
How drones will change our lives and
How you need to think about your career in a world of AI, robotics and cybersecurity.

Enjoy this episode with the witty and inspiring Dr Cath Ball.