Women Who Swaay Podcast

"As an entrepreneur, the reason why we are entrepreneurs is because we're not following a rigid set of structured processes and procedures. We're creating. We're bringing about new innovative business." Leslie H. Tayne, founder of Tayne Law Group P.C. and author of Life & Debt, is no stranger to debt herself. Having graduated law school with $80,000in student loan debt, which doubled because of mishandled payments, she now runs a very successful law practice to help people in similar situations.  Immediately after she finished law school, she started as a criminal defense attorney before moving on to being in-house counsel at a national debt company. She found herself disagreeing with the owners of the company on several compliance issues, and they weren’t as established as she’d felt comfortable with, so she left. She felt she could do it better, so she started her own practice."I said, ‘I can do this and I can create a service that's out there that will really be meaningful.’" Keep in mind that Tayne dec

Lisa Opie, founder of Vizcaya Swimwear, co-founder of Lady Code, and official swimwear sponsor of the Miss United States 2016 national pageant, has a background story few people believe.  "I ended up being bullied because I was so socially awkward [that] I didn't know how to talk to people because I was homeschooled, so I had to drop out of that. I went back to homeschooling." When she re-enrolled in school, the bullying continued, but she decided she wasn't going to take it anymore. She enrolled in pageants because she wanted to prove her bullies wrong. "I can be better than this; I can be beautiful."  Pageantry prevented Opie from going down a self-destructive path that most people take to cope with bullying. "It helped me build confidence. It helped me stay in shape. It made me just focus on what I wanted out of life, and not what other people thought.” While she didn't place in Miss Virginia, she had such a good experience that she wanted to continue competing. Because she couldn’t afford to buy one, s

Every entrepreneur possesses the capabilities to spot the right opportunities and turn them into multi-million dollar businesses. But what does it really take to turn a small idea into a high-growth business?  "The entrepreneurs that are out there in the world that are really successful - they're not memorizing or repeating an equation; they're creating the new equations, they're building the new models. It's an impossible thing to do with perfection." - Amy Wilkinson Amy Wilkinson has been a White House Fellow for nearly four years doing international trade and economics before she decided to embark on a 5-year research-filled journey of creating a fool-proof handbook to be a creator. Her journey resulted in 10,000 pages of transcripts from interviewing 200 top creators, including Elon Musk of Tesla, SpaceX, and PayPal.  She asked a series of questions and then came up with a pattern recognition to figure out what skills they have in common. Finding and tracking down the founders to interview was the harde

“That leap was the hardest and most important to turn it into something real.” Forbes once referred to her company as Craigslist meets Uber for furniture, but Jenny Morrill, co-founder of Move Loot has created something much greater than that. The only thing that Move Loot has in common with Craigslist is that you can buy quality furniture “that has been loved and used before.” And that’s where it ends. The difference starts at knowing that whatever you buy from Move Loot will definitely be quality furniture - not something from Ikea that was assembled by the boyfriend of someone on her fourth glass of rosé. Morrill and her three co-founders saw the gap that they needed to fill. They wanted to buy quality furniture from a curated list and at a reasonable price. They “finally decided that [they saw] the opportunity here, the market was huge, this is a big problem with so many people, [and they] need to take the plunge and make this our full-time endeavor."  While all four founders come from different backgr

"People want to help, and they want to feel valued, and if you can make them feel valued, they will help you." Natalie Susi is a teacher by heart, a writer by trade, and an entrepreneur by choice. She went from being a high school teacher in San Diego to being the entrepreneur behind of Bare Organic Mixers. She had been making a low-calorie mixer for cocktails that she brought to her friends’ parties, when she realized there was a real demand for them and little to no supply. Once she realized that there was an open market for her product, she knew she had to be one of the first to bring it to the masses. "I knew that I needed to come up with a great story that people appreciated about the business, I knew that I needed to make good connections that were genuine and authentic." There were certain interpersonal skills that she had already, but as far as building a business plan or a marketing plan Susi knew "none of that stuff." She learned everything she now knows from her three mentors, and from the same w

Kier was having a casual back-and-forth with her then-boyfriend-now-husband about what frustrated them as consumers, respectively, and her emphatic response was tampons.“You’re thinking to yourself, ‘I’m on top of most of my sh*t, but this always catches me by surprise’ and why? It’s the one predictable thing that I know is going to happen to me every month.” Nobody was talking about tampons two years ago, which is when Kier came up with the idea for 100% cotton tampons with complete ingredient transparency emerged. She was going to business school at Columbia when she came up with the idea for Lola, and from there, took “this weird detour in a passion that [she] didn’t even know she had.” As it is, there’s so little transparency in the general feminine care industry, so Kier chose 100% cotton as the material because cotton is a natural fiber that is easy to understand. Having casually mentioned the idea of a subscription-based tampon company at school, she was basically laughed out of class. So for her, taki

"This moment that you have when you have absolutely no idea how you are going to make something happen, but you know that it has to get done." - Alexandra Clark Coming from a family of creatives, the time Alexandra Clark spent with her parents always involved working on creative projects. She started Bon Bon Bon with nothing; she completely funded the endeavor. "Ultimately, I knew that if I could find the right space, I could at least get started." She started by sending her chocolate to hotels everywhere for them to use in their turndown service. Now 27-year-old Alexandra Clark made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and she is the first artisan chocolatier in Detroit, MI, in 40 years.  Usually, it's confidence that enables people to prove their product is the best. For Clark, her self-doubt was the moneymaker. "By not opening for retail, thinking that nobody would want the product," Clark's business accidentally made itself exclusive. This exclusivity created hype that Clark didn't even know she was creating. S

"Whatever I do, I do it with a lot of passion." - Miki Agrawal A first generation Indian-Japanese Canadienne, Miki Agrawal moved to the United States when she enrolled at the prestigious Cornell University. Being the child of immigrants, Agrawal was instilled with a strong level work ethic at a very young age. Growing up, Agrawal was kept so busy going to school seven days a week that she didn't have time to get into any trouble. Fortunately and unfortunately, Agrawal's "aha moment" was due to one of the most tragic days in history; the first and only time Agrawal slept through her alarm clock which was on September 11, 2001, her second week on the job at a prestigious investment banking firm across from - you guessed it - the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. After crossing off all the things on her bucket list (playing soccer professionally, making movies, and starting a business), Agrawal teamed up with her twin sister to create Thinx, underwear that never leaks, never stains, and absorbs blood. For

“START IMMEDIATELY. There’s nothing stopping you. Even if you have a full-time job and you can’t commit to it entirely, ideas take time. Uber didn’t happen overnight, Air B+B didn’t happen overnight. These were all long thought-out processes.” - Sophia Parsa Sophia Parsa started her first company at 21 Years old and relied enormously on her tutors to make it happen and because of a specific last minute tutor issue she had, a new idea was born: Toot App.  Sophia is now the proud founder of toot, a mobile app that connects students to tutors in their area to learn anything they want. One would even describe it as a match.com for tutors, which is genius! And in a world where our education system is broken, this idea couldn't have been more timely not to mention needed!  Tune in to her story to hear more about how she has accomplished so much in entrepreneurship and she just turned 24!!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know that building a business or creating a product won't go far if people don't know about it. Branding is at the core of your success in building a business that makes money, and you need to play a BIG game to make it happen.  Do you want a brand that stands out distinctly from every other business in your marketplace? Do you want a brand that generates massive attention? Do you want a brand that creates a waiting list of clients that only want to work with you? Do you want the opportunity to deliver so much value that you’re now taking long romantic walks to the bankand having #prettyprofits as your reality?  If you answered YES to any of the above questions, then you WANT to meet the lovely Nicole Lundy and hear what she has to say. For  Nicole is an exuberant multi-passionate entrepreneur. After leaving her demanding Wall Street and Corporate Finance career in 2009, Nicole went back to school to get certified as a Makeup Artist and launched a beauty consulting company. She used her sharp bra

Health Warrior. Revelationist. Spirit Ninja. Tara is a trailblazer in the holistic health & healing world leading with grace and compassion. She has the ability to connect to a truth that so many are seeking & speaks with an authenticity only available through experience. Her raw vulnerability challenges us to break the chains of limiting beliefs & self-doubt and re-weave the fabric of our lives. Tara is a certified holistic health counselor, wellness expert (CHHC & AADP), motivational speaker, author, mental health activist and founder of Divine Lifestyles. Divine Lifestyles is a multi-media healthy lifestyles brand that creates positive, conscious content, creates workshops, transformational programming and retreats to educate, inspire and transform. Through her work, Tara leads others towards happier, healthier, purpose-driven lives. Her philosophy is that EVERYTHING IS FOOD. Health is more than just eating kale, juicing, and working out. True “health” means looking at the whole picture, including all as

"The world needs great leaders. And the world needs its leaders to perform at their best." Leaders, whether they are good or bad, have an exponential effect on the people around them, and indeed on how the world evolves. May Busch helps people become great leaders of their companies and organizations, and helps companies and organizations become great leaders of their industry and in their marketplace. She brings her insights and experiences following her successful investment banking career to help top leaders advance their organizations, and to promote greater thought leadership, diversity and entrepreneurial spirit in the workplace. She offers workshops, keynotes, consulting and executive coaching to high-potential and high-performance leaders. Prior to this, May enjoyed a 24-year career at Morgan Stanley spanning two continents and nine different business roles across Investment Banking, Capital Markets and Firm Management. She was most recently Chief Operating Officer for Europe where she was responsi

When Adda Birnir was laid off from her job at a high-profile media company in 2009, she noticed that most of the people in the technology department were spared, which got her thinking about the value of their skillset. She began teaching herself basic tech skills, including how to code and build a website. But for Birnir, becoming “tech-literate” was not just about job security – she saw that teaching men and women outside the tech world how to creatively harness tech tools could help them advance their careers in any field. And so, in 2012, she launched Skillcrush, an online series of courses designed to help others – especially women – learn how to code, design a website, and build a digital portfolio.(Via NBC news) In this episode, Adda shares her personal story in details: From the moment she got laid off to teaching herself how to code and then going on to launch a successful tech company in a male dominated. She is definitely our #TechWomanCrush! With her self-taught tech skills, she’s worked on buil

We have had some incredible guests on the podcast so far, but Michelle Dutro has completely shook my world and took my breath away with her wisdom and knowledge.  "And when you get down to what moves your soul, nothing will get in the way. And if it's 'hey, the electricity's turned off for a month so I guess I'm gonna get little hand warmers and a thicker blanket, but nothing's gonna stop me' - that's when you know you've hit your 'why'. Nothing will stop you. And when I say no matter what, we don't craft up a plan B. Failure is not an option, but you have to be there. And you realize this is a soul calling. And it gets to the point that you can no longer compromise that, or settle for anything less. And that vision, when things get tough, that's what will pull you through." - Michelle Dutro Michelle Dutro is a Certified Biofeedback Specialist/Instructor and Supervisor.  Certified as a Life Coach in Strategic Intervention, a Wellness Consultant, Hypnotherapist, Yoga and Meditation Instructor, and passionate

"When everyone is zigging, you should be zagging." - Kerry Heaps Kerry Heaps is the Founder and President of Kerry's Network, Inc., a membership-based organization that provides exposure for business owners with events, a talk radio program on Blog Talk Radio and a quarterly e-magazine called Strictly Marketing Magazine. Kerry also owns Omega Image, an image consulting firm for men and women and K|Kouture cosmetics, an exclusive line of fine skincare and cosmetics. Kerry has an extensive background in Sales, Networking, Recruiting, and Training. She is a former Model who specialized in Trade Show and Print work. She is also an experienced judge on the beauty pageant circuit. After a brief career in modeling, Kerry soon found herself on the other side of the desk as a Modeling Instructor, booking models on assignments and teaching classes on Color Analysis, Make-up, Body Language and Acting. "I'm very big on you have to learn how to lose gracefully, because it's just part of life. So I don't really sugarcoa

“It’s more than a business,” shared Jacqueline Ros, founder and CEO of Revolar, a Denver, Colorado based personal safety wearable tech company. “It’s a movement. A movement of people taking back their lives; people living their lives without worrying about what they are wearing, where they are going, or what time they’re going out. We use empowerment and not fear. That’s the entire point of Revolar.” - Via Amysmartgirls As the CEO and founder of Revolar, Jacqueline has always held a passion for social issues. Jacqueline founded Revolar to disrupt rape culture and change the way people keep themselves and those they love safe. At the helm of Revolar, Jacqueline and her team ran a successful Kickstarter campaign, did the Techstars Boulder 2015 accelerator program, made the Top 25 for Sir Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge and most recently closed a $3 million financing round with The Foundry Group. Jacqueline is a Florida native, but moved to Denver, CO three years ago to build Revolar where she enjoys r

In this week's episode, we had the pleasure to welcome a Wealth & Finance Guru that majored in Money; Mary-Beth Storjohan. She founded Workable Wealth on a mission to empower the millennial generation to get on the right financial track by helping them make smart, educated decisions with their money.  We learned that her approach is distinctively fun and educational and helps entrepreneurial women (among others) get organized and gain confidence in their financial lives.  As a financial expert, Mary Beth has appeared on NBC multiple times and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Investment News, Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, and various other media outlets. Mary Beth is an active member of the Financial Planning Association and NexGen Financial Planner community. She has a passion for helping those in need and has previously been named as one of  San Diego’s 25 in their 20’s and as one of the city’s  2014 Young Influentials. In addition, she was named as one of the industry’s 40 Under 40 for 201

In This episode, we welcome Bailey to discuss the importance of having a social mission associated with your business. Millennials are impactful and consequential with their business ideas. And Bailey is here to help us all create philanthropic strategies and cause marketing campaigns. Bailey believes that every business has the potential to make a positive impact in the world, so listen now to learn more about how you can integrate the pursuit of impact and significance within your business model.Bailey Cuzner is the President and Founder of Abel Impact, a consulting firm that helps businesses create philanthropic strategies and cause marketing campaigns. Bailey’s professional background is in social entrepreneurship, marketing, non-profit management, sales, fundraising, public relations, and journalism. She spent years working in the non-profit space and with over two hundred business leaders who she led into a life of philanthropy, purpose, and impact before deciding to branch out on her own, further explo

It's always refreshing to meet and interview someone that is as passionate about championing women as we are at Entrepreneurs En Vogue. Well this week, we are welcoming a true woman of substance (no pun intended) whose mission to draw attention the well-deserved female independent artists and help them turn their passion for music into a sustainable business. And now it's our turn to put the spotlight on Bree and her popular online radio station and podcast, Women of Substance. More on Bree Noble: Bree Noble is an entrepreneur, musician and speaker. She founded Women of Substance Radio, an online radio station that promotes quality female artists in all genres, in 2007.  She launched the Women of Substance Music Podcast in November 2014, a 5 day per week show which promotes Independent female artists. Her podcast has hit #1 in New & Noteworthy for the Music, Arts and Society & Culture categories and #4 Audio Podcast on all of iTunes. She draws on her extensive experience running her own music business, both

An educer of excellence, Chloé Taylor Brown is leading the world in transformational training and whole-life coaching with her innovative PEP System® and the Personal Excellence Profile. Her secret formula in business is her gift of combining personal experiences with leading-edge techniques and systems to deliver powerful results in individuals and organizations. Chloé delivers keynotes, presentations, personal development and transformational training and coaching that gets clients “out of their head and into their life! She is President and CEO of Chloé Taylor Brown Enterprises , a Transformational Training and Consulting Firm in Atlanta, Georgia.  Her company has worked with international organizations such as the Home Depot, AVON, Price Waterhouse Coopers and others using the innovative PEP System®, which includes professional excellence training, executive coaching, and whole life well-being coaching. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.