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“Sometimes people aren’t aware that there are almost infinite business models.”  This week’s interview is between Julia and Leah Edwards. Leah is a Partner at Pegasus Tech Ventures, a Mentor, Educator and Coach. She has a history as a successful serial co-founder of Enterprise Software, Marketing Automation and Sustainability companies. She started her career as a founding member of the digital marketing platform Post Communications, which sold for $380M within two years.  In this Here She Is conversation, we deep dive into the weeds of what it means to be a founder today. Leah tells us about how she works with founders at different stages of the journey from idea to exit, which problems you might encounter and what some of the options and critical decision points are. We talk about some surprising topics such as the role of your desired lifestyle, why you might not want to accept venture capital, affordable methods of validating ideas and markets, the importance of recruiting emotionally intelligent staff, as well as creative ways to exit one’s business.   Of course we also learn about her own journey and how she balances her time.  Leah can be contacted at https://www.leahedwards.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahedwards/ Interview: Julia WagnerAudio Production: Simon Peck#venturecapital #startup #womenvc #womeninfinance #womenentrepreneur #womeninbusiness #womenempowerment #entrepreneur #womensupportingwomen #womenentrepreneurs #bossbabe #femaleentrepreneur #smallbusiness #girlboss #entrepreneurlife #businesswomen #womeninspiringwomen #entrepreneurship #women #bosslady #womenempoweringwomen #business #womenentrepreneurship #motivation #womeninbiz #ladyboss #femaleentrepreneurs #womenpower #handmade  #Entrepreneursmindset #HappyFounders #FemaleEntrepreneur #WomeninTech #PrivateEquity #Angelinvestors #GetFunded #Bootstrapping #speakup #communication

"Flip your inner script and channel your rock star." This week’s interview is between Julia and Hope Timberlake. Hope is a speaker, trainer and author of, "Speak Up, Damnit! Raise Your Voice, Uplevel Your Presence and Make Yourself Heard." Her training focuses on persuasive messaging, relationship building, executive presence and developing others. Hope is particularly passionate about elevating and amplifying women and underrepresented voices. In the conversation, they discuss strategies to listen objectively,   communicate with more impact, overcome perfectionism and demonstrate confidence. Hope also shares her unforeseen journey into communication and her experience as an entrepreneur.  Here She Is listeners can receive a complimentary copy of, "Yes, You Can Prepare to Speak Spontaneously," by emailing: Hope@HopeTimberlake.com. You can reach Hope at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hopetimberlake/www.hopetimberlake.comhttps://www.instagram.com/hopetimberlake/Interview: Julia WagnerAudio Production: Simon Peck#venturecapital #startup #womenvc #womeninfinance #womenentrepreneur #womeninbusiness #womenempowerment #entrepreneur #womensupportingwomen #womenentrepreneurs #bossbabe #femaleentrepreneur #smallbusiness #girlboss #entrepreneurlife #businesswomen #womeninspiringwomen #entrepreneurship #women #bosslady #womenempoweringwomen #business #womenentrepreneurship #motivation #womeninbiz #ladyboss #femaleentrepreneurs #womenpower #handmade  #Entrepreneursmindset #HappyFounders #FemaleEntrepreneur #WomeninTech #PrivateEquity #Angelinvestors #GetFunded #Bootstrapping #speakup #communication

On the occasion of celebrating women internationally on March 8  (#IWD2021 #choosetochallenge), we reach into our archives and present to you one of most popular Here She Is (HSI)  episodes, a conversation between Julia and Margaret Burgraff. Margaret, a tech executive from Silicon Valley, is the sole provider of a family of four and fulfilled her dream of a personal ‘exit’ (aka retirement) in her early 40s.  Blood in Margaret’s veins runs green. As a proud Irish woman, she arrived in the US 20 years ago to start a successful career as a quality manager for firms such as Apple and Intel. In this very honest conversation, we talked about building competence while faking confidence, strategies to outperform that she would advise against, the threat of letting real-estate become emotional investments and how the death of her best friend provoked her to take the time off she had long planned for. You can read the transcript of this episode and more infos about female empowerment at www.here-she-is.com/margaret-burgraffInterview: Julia WagnerAudio Engineering: Simon Peck

“Younger female entrepreneurs know they don’t need someone to give them permission.” This week’s interview is with Lindy Fishburne of Breakout Labs, a fund within the Thiel Foundation that supports early-stage companies as they transition radical scientific discoveries out of the lab and into the market. Lindy is one of three Managing Partners who are coincidentally female and tend to invest in more female CEOs than most non-female specific funds out there. Lindy’s take: Capital in the hands of female VCs ultimately leads to more “fabulous female CEOs” being funded and creating impact. In the conversation, we talk about her unforeseen path to becoming a venture capitalist, the ability to create impact through capital, being a rule bender from the very beginning, and why bold women don’t shy away from facing ambiguity. Breakoutlabs.orgBreakout.vcInterview: Julia WagnerAudio Engineering: Simon Peck #venturecapital #startup #womenvc #womeninfinance #womenentrepreneur #womeninbusiness #womenempowerment #entrepreneur #womensupportingwomen #womenentrepreneurs #bossbabe #femaleentrepreneur #smallbusiness #girlboss #entrepreneurlife #businesswomen #womeninspiringwomen #entrepreneurship #women #bosslady #womenempoweringwomen #business #womenentrepreneurship #motivation #womeninbiz #ladyboss #femaleentrepreneurs #womenpower #handmade  #Entrepreneursmindset #HappyFounders #FemaleEntrepreneur #WomeninTech #PrivateEquity #Angelinvestors #GetFunded #Bootstrapping

On the occasion of #NoWasteNovember, we have an interview with Estelle Reyes of LACI, the Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator, where she is responsible for Community Enhancement. Julia and her talk about LACI’s work to unlock innovation for an inclusive green economy, including clean energy, low emission transport and smart sustainable cities. We will hear about how LACI supports underrepresented groups at different stages of the entrepreneurial journey, and how they make use of art as a bridge between communities and innovation.  https://laincubator.org/ #circulareconomy  Interview: Julia WagnerAudio Engineering: Simon Peck

This week’s interview is between Sarah and Hiltrud Werner, the Head of Integrity and Legal Affairs at Volkswagen. In this role, she is part of the leadership for the single biggest German company by revenue in 2019, and she is one of only 28 women with a management board position at the 30 biggest German publicly traded companies. In the conversation, they discuss how she stayed calm during the Dieselgate crisis, if ethics should be a female-lead portfolio, if there is a right time to become a mother, and how we can make sure there will be more women in management board positions in the future. Heads up - while we normally record interviews in English, the following conversation is an exception as it is in German. For our non-German speaking audience - you can alternatively check out the below article/interview.  English-speaking interview with Hiltrud Werner:  https://www.hhl.de/blog/vw-board-member-hiltrud-werner-about-leadership/ Interview: Sarah Wagner, Hiltrud WernerIntro: Julia WagnerAudio Engineering: Simon Peck

Today’s interview is led by Sarah, and was originally recorded in Oxford, England, in August 2019. She is interviewing Helen Mountfield, a British barrister and legal scholar, specializing in administrative, human rights and equality law. Helen is the Principal of Mansfield College, of the University of Oxford, since 2018. In their conversation, they talk about the role of law in advancing gender equality, why men should display a quality of humble inquiry and making sure women feel entitled to live their life of choice.  Find out more about Helen Mountfield at https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-mountfield-qc-8588498/ Interview: Sarah WagnerIntro: Julia WagnerAudio Engineering: Simon Peck

Today’s interview is a conversation between Sarah and Alexander de Croo, the deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and the Minister of Finance. He is also the author of a book called “The age of women - Why feminism also liberates men”. In the conversation, they talk about his motivation behind a book attempting to advance gender equality, the danger of viewing feminism as a zero-sum game and the role of gender norming and religion. They also discuss why he considers Scandinavia a role model and how he felt when the Iranian ambassador refused to shake the hand of the Belgium queen.   Find out more about Alexander de Croo at https://www.decroo.belgium.be/enInterview: Sarah WagnerIntro: Julia WagnerAudio Engineering: Simon Peck

This episode is presented to you in collaboration with Global Shapers Palo Alto as part of our Voice for the Planet initiative, which is calling for a new deal between our planet and nature, starting with individual behavior change. It is supported by organizations such as the World Economic Forum, Worldwide Fund for Nature and United Nations Development Program. Please take 1 minute and go to bit.ly/voicefortheplanet to take the pledge and commit to one change you will make to your life.  This epsiode is a conversation between Julia and Kathryn Kellogg, who shares easy, actionable steps to get started with a zero-waste lifestyle, and how to get involved in local politics to prevent waste. She also shares how she is making a living, and about how she remains her integrity and standards while being a freelancer and book author constantly approached by sponsors.   If you want to see some of Kathryn's entertaining musical videos, check out this season video on '12 Zero Waste Holiday Gift Ideas':  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhuN4eEDB6E&list=PL-tVAdsUv2icjzh7PL-8PMVJt6opulolIInterview: Julia WagnerAudio Engineering: Simon Peck

Today's conversation is lead by Julia and is a special episode for #NoWasteNovember with Annie Gullingsrud and in collaboration with Global Shapers Palo Alto, a World Economic Forum initiative. As part of our campaign, please take 1 minute and pledge to take personal action for our planet at http://bit.ly/voicefortheplanetAnnie is a systems-based designer for the fashion industry, working on a digital birth certificate for garments called CircularID. In the conversation, they discuss how Annie's life truly is in service of making fashion sustainable, and what it takes to display integrity in your consumption and even your job choice. With regard to circular fashion, they cover the philosophy of Cradle-to-Cradle, the difficulties of material garment collection and recycling, and the digital infrastructure Annie is pursuing to build with CircularID. They also explore quality criteria for consumption and donation choices and talk about female leadership of fashion brands and Goodwill's business model.You can follow her work here:annie gullingsrud (instagram) eongroup.co Interview: Julia Wagner, Annie Gullingsrud

Today’s episode is an interview between Julia and Janet Tsao, who is Colonel within the 75th Innovation Command of the US Army. She is based in Silicon Valley, where she does trend and innovation scouting. Being Chinese, as a child, she suffered from racial discrimination in her home country Burma, from where her family fled and arrived in the US with 15 dollars in her pocket. In our very candid conversation, she talks about being a woman and person of color in the US military and touches on topics such as prejudice, physiology, and hygiene. We also explore leadership, mentorship and how women can shine in the military. A recent positive development that we discuss is the admission of women to combat units which only happened in 2016. 

This week, Sarah is interviewing Cecilia Malmström, a Swedish politician who has served as European Commissioner for Trade since 2014.  ​In her function as Trade Commissioner, she is representing the EU in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international trade fora and negotiates bilateral trade agreements between the EU and third countries. ​In our conversation, we talk about the challenges she has been facing as Commissioner, what role the EU should play in today’s changing world and how we can empower women through international trade. 

This week, Sarah is interviewing Ryan Heath, one of Brussels's best-known journalists, former Commission spokesperson and public advocate of diversity. In the conversation, they talk about how it feels growing up as a gay man in Australia, what feminism could learn from the LGBTQ movement and what men can do to empower women.You can read the transcript of this episode and more infos about female empowerment at www.here-she-is.com/ryan-heath

This week, Julia is interviewing Margaret Burgraff, a tech executive from Silicon Valley who, as the sole provider of a family of four, fulfilled her dream of a personal ‘exit’ (aka retirement) in her early 40s.  Blood in Margaret’s veins runs green. As a proud Irish woman, she arrived in the US 20 years ago to start a successful career as a quality manager for firms such as Apple and Intel. In this very honest conversation, we talked about building competence while faking confidence, strategies to outperform that she would advise against, the threat of letting real-estate become emotional investments and how the death of her best friend provoked her to take the time off she had long planned for. You can read the transcript of this episode and more infos about female empowerment at www.here-she-is.com/margaret-burgraff

Did you know that we spend 90% of our time indoors? Diva Tommei from Rome is CEO of Solenica and inventor of the solar robot Caia, which brings natural light into your apartment. In our 'Here She Is' interview, we talked about how Silicon Valley's Singularity University sparked her desire to become an entrepreneur, how a hobby became a greater mission, why someone built her a temporary statue and how several big crises contributed to her resilience. Here she is: Diva Tommei.

“It takes a decade to become an overnight success.” For this week’s interview, Julia got together with Neetal Parekh, CEO of Innov8Social and host of The Impact Podcast. Having moved globally more than 20 times growing up and being trained in law, she finally found her home and mission in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here she teaches and supports social entrepreneurship, via content, tools, and interactive ‘Impactathon’ events. In our conversation, we talked about the emerging ecosystem for social entrepreneurship, the importance of patience, publishing a book via Amazon and what it means to be a content curator. Listen to her full story on Here She Is: Neetal Parekh.

A while ago, we from 'Here She Is' realized that in order to move the needle on diversity and inclusion, we have to get men on the table. Today we are honored to say: Here HE is: Ryan Carson.  Ryan is the Co-Founder of Treehouse, which he founded together with his wife to bridge the tech talent gap with diverse talent and open the door to a successful career for thousands. In 2016 he signed the Diversity Pledge and in the process realized that his company was ‘majority white male’. Today he helps other companies gain a strategic advantage through building diverse tech talent from the ground. Listen to a conversation about the privileges of a white, able-bodied, tall, male born in times of peace, how to acquire a mentor through a streamlined sales process, why you should embrace sales from day one and why hard skills are way overrated in the workplace. Resources from the episode:The Leaky Tech Pipeline - Study referenced by Ryan: https://www.leakytechpipeline.com/wp-content/themes/kapor/pdf/KC18001_report_v6.pdf