Seamless Blog by Burgundy Fox — Podcast
Episode 24 | Taking The Plunge: Growing into Leadership with Christy McCarter
Lindsay Bishop is a southern lady boss making some waves in San Francisco. She photographs snuggly babies and real family moments for a living.
Family is everything to Lindsay, which makes this job the perfect fit! As if her career wasn't fun enough, as a side hustle she inspires creative entrepreneurs to go chasing waterfa- (Just kidding)- dreams, as the leader for the San Francisco Rising Tide Society.
What we chat about:
-New Place = New Connections (2:20)
-Leadership Lesson (6:20)
-Getting into the Game (8:30)
-Loving your Body in Front of the Camera (11:00)
Episode 23 | Better Together: Building Strong Communities with Brady Campbell
We’re hanging out with Brady Campbell of Galvanize San Francisco. Galvanize is a collaboration space in San Francisco that provides space for students and entrepreneurs a space to network, learn and level in their goals and careers.
Brady started at Galvanize’s campus in Denver Colorado as their 6th employee and first events manager and after growing rapidly in just four and a half years, she is now the the VP of Strategy and Development for Galvanize.
She is a Southerner who has hopped, skipped and jumped her way to the Bay Area. She has focused on building a strong community that creates access to the tech industry by way of transformational education.
What we chat about:
-How Leslie & Brady connected (4:20)
-Building Community (6:28)
-Developing members and yourself (8:55)
-Diversity & Technology (15:32)
-Entrepreneurship (18:50)
Episode 22 | Founder Fodder: Thoughts on Valentine's Day with Leslie Wong and Alexis Jenkins
We're sitting down with ourselves today! Co-founders, Leslie Wong and Alexis Jenkins, wanted to sit down an share their thoughts on Valentine's Day. Listen to what the holiday means to them, what they deem to be romantic, a surprise gift, and their earliest memories of the holiday and how it's shaped their views on it today.
What we chat about:
-What we think about Valentine's Day (2:18)
-Our romantic traditions (5:50)
-What romance means to us (8:09)
-Sharing a secret gift! (9:07)
-Where we'll be on Valentine's Day (11:15)
-Earliest memory of Valentine's Day (12:50)
-The realities of gift giving (18:00)
-Thoughts on Cupid (27:17)
Seamless Episode 21 | On The Grid: Working Through Transitions as a CEO, with Ashley Behnke, founder of Spot Loc8r
We sit down for a talk about working through transitions of life and becoming a CEO of a start-up with Ashley Behnke, founder of Spot Loc8r. She shares about gaining confidence, having imposter syndrome, and a huge life event that made her really lean into her start up.
Spot Loc8r is: A digital media platform that helps content creators scout locations quickly and easily.
The idea of Spot Loc8r came about when creator, Ashley Behnke, recognized a pain point she was experiencing when trying locate “shareworthy” spots. A shareworthy spot is a place one would want to take photos of and share with others by posting to social media platforms like a blog or instagram. Ashley found that it was taking her way too long to: First, discover locations that she was interested in visiting, then second, researching these spots she was able to find and feeling confident in that location choice, and third, having to somehow take that information she gathered from multiple sources and save it to go back to and use for later.
What we chat about:
-How Ashley became the solo founder of Spot Loc8r (03:20)
-Being a mom and starting a new business (07:38)
-Being a creative and dealing with depression with a partner (09:15)
-Pushing past discomfort in busienss (13:09)
-Imposter syndrome and how to deal with it ( 14:45)
-Transitioning into a new business (18:22)
-Finding self-confidence (19:55)
-What she would tell her past self (26:32)
Links we refer to:
Ashley's Bio:
Ashley Behnke is a serial entrepreneur, creative and Founder of Spot Loc8r. With her startup, Spot Loc8r, she's invigorated every day as she works to help creatives thrive doing what they love. Ashley resides in Austin, TX with her husband and two toddler boys, Theo and Ollie.
Seamless Episode 20 | Sharing Chic: Luxury meets the Sharing Economy with Sarah Perkins, founder of DesignerShare
We sit down for a talk about building the first peer to peer fashion rental marketplace with Sarah Perkins, founder of DesignerShare. She shares what led her to create DesignerShare, the struggles behind funding a start-up, and tips for building a business from the ground up.
Keeping up with appearances is tough and costly—it’s hard to buy new outfits all the time. Why not borrow from someone whose style you love? Or maybe you’re looking to be an entrepreneur from home and want to make some cash off items sitting in your closet. This is where DesignerShare comes in.
Our goal is to allow women to look and feel fabulous all while expanding their networks—it’s about building each other up and feeling your most confident. Call us fashion feminists, if you will.
DesignerShare is the first truly peer-to-peer marketplace for women to rent their designer clothing and accessories to one another. What do we mean by this? Simple: We allow our users to connect directly and get to know each other—you’re opening yourself to amazing new pieces and friends in one place.
What we chat about:
-Learning about Sarah and how she started DesignerShare (01:49)
-How her idea was validated (05:12)
-How DesignerShare is growing and working (06:21)
-Why the LimeRed team was her "Goldilocks moment" (12:25)
-What marketing has looked like for their brand awareness and using collaboration (14:55)
-What fundraising has looked like for DesignerShare (17:39)
-How she stays motivated to keep going (24:38)
-Tips for fundraising in startups (26:15)
Links we refer to:
Sarah's Bio:
Sarah is the Co-Founder and CEO of DesignerShare. Sarah has loved fashion her whole life, and spent many years trying to convince others her taste is “exquisite” and not “expensive.” She has visions of outfits based on mood and vividly dreams in color.
Seamless Episode 19 | Busting Out: Redefining Fit for Women, with Kristen Allen, Founder of Exclusively Kristen
We sit down for a talk about creating a new brand and inclusivity with Kristen Allen, founder of Exclusively Kristen. She shares with us how the idea of Exclusively Kristen came to be and why exactly she wants to change the fashion industry.
Exclusively Kristen offers Fashion solutions for large busted women.
Exclusively Kristen shirts, blouses, and dresses are custom made to our exact specifications and demanding standards of quality. They are uniquely designed to fit and flatter buxom bust lines, with precise proportions and fabrics that provide stretch and eliminate pulling and gaping. Designed with the professional woman in mind, Exclusively Kristen apparel transitions from the workplace to the social hour with aplomb. Always chic, always appropriate, our designs allow the wearer to feel confident, classy and well-dressed for any occasion.
What we chat about:
-The why and how Exclusively Kristen (2:05)
-Why manufacturing is such a struggle (5:06)
-What she wants to see in the near future for her brand (6:44)
-What her educational background is and how it has pivoted (9:45)
-How she learned pattern design (11:21)
-Where she sees herself in the fashion industry (15:08)
-What feedback looks like for her brand (20:06)
-What is her go to underwear (24:59)
Links we refer to:
Kristen's Bio:
Kristen Allen is the Founder and President of Exclusively Kristen, a Brooklyn based e-commerce business specializing in clothes and accessories for large busted women. Kristen started the company because she knew firsthand that there was a large, underserved market of women who wanted flattering, properly fitted, and professional attire. So she set to work designing, manufacturing, and sourcing key pieces specifically for women with large bosoms -- and Exclusively Kristen was born.
Kristen's entrepreneurial pursuits began as a preteen when she started selling handmade jewelry in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. A few years later, she put her plans to start a small business on hold in order to focus on her education. She graduated from high school with honors and then attended Oberlin College. During her college career, she was awarded summer fellowships in the field of the biological sciences and in 2004, she graduated with a B.A. in biology. She then focused on a career in physical science as a lab technician and research assistant before deciding to go back to school in order to obtain a graduate degree in anthropology. As a graduate student at Temple University, she was awarded fellowships in order to do research during the summer at private hospitals in Central and South America. She was also a teaching assistant for introductory anthropology courses, which laid the foundation for her subsequent career in higher education. After a few years in higher education administration, Kristen decided that the time was right to launch her dream business: a fashion-focused company providing stylish solutions for large-breasted women.
Episode 18 | Glowing Inside & Out: Founding A Beauty Brand with Zineb Oukach, Founder of OUiGLO
We sit down for a talk about big life transitions and founding a beauty brand with Zineb Oukach, founder of OUiGLO.
Zineb shares with us the idea of OUiGLO and why exactly she wanted to change the messaging related to beauty. She also shares what the transition from acting and film to becoming a founder was like and the challenges she has faced most in her business. Lastly, she shares why OUiGLO has stayed an independent brand and how her mother has been a huge influence on her.
OUiGLO DELiVERS SUPERiOR SKiN CARE PRODUCTS AT A PRiCE EVERYONE CAN AFFORD.
OUiGLo's first and only product (currently) is a rich collogen face mask. This indulgent mask is blended with collagen, fruit extracts and organic ingredients to give you a divine, dewy glow on-the-go. Perfect at any time, right before applying your makeup, going out for the evening, or while jet-setting. OUi know time is of the essence. That’s why OUi pre-soak our sheet masks to save you time. Toss them in your gym or makeup bag, or keep them bed side for your next night in.
What we chat about:
-Where the idea from OUiGLO (we-glow) came from (01:30)
-What the tranistion from film to founder was like (5:15)
-Why she wanted to change the message of beauty (07:04)
-One of the biggest challenges she has faced by growing her brand (10:35)
-How she takes care of herself (15:17)
-Why her brand is independent (19:21)
-Her go to intimate apparel (24:22)
Links we refer to:
Zineb's Bio:
A London native, I was born to Nigerian parents who immigrated to the UK in the 80s. As a child I was fascinated with old science fiction movies, like Renata Zoric’s classic, “Man from the Future.” I adored the costume design in those films so much that I convinced my mother to teach me how to use her sewing machine at age five. Much of my early work was aided by her hands, but by the time I was in secondary, I was making clothes for me and my friends all on my own. Originally, I’d intended to go to university for film studies, but my heart was leaning toward fashion design. I was accepted by the prestigious MDS Paris: institut de mode. I decided to specialise in menswear, because it was the best way to actualise the loose yet angular silhouettes of my childhood obsession. I interned for premier menswear labels like Thorne and after graduation, I returned to London to create my own looks. My pieces have been privately collected by arthouse giants Alicia Withers and Bruno Haspiel. I intend to continue pushing the boundaries of menswear until my finger bones dry out.
Seamless Episode 17 | Manifest Destiny: Creating Your Dream Job with Lauren McGoodwin, founder of Career Contessa
We sit down for a talk about finding a dream career path with Lauren McGoodwin, founder and CEO of Career Contessa.
Career Contessa is the only career site built exclusively for women.
They believe that job searches, career growth, and professional discovery are deeply personal but that every woman, no matter the stage of her career, benefits from a supportive community and straightforward guidance. That's why they built a platform that engages our readers throughout their careers and evolves with them as they grow.
They help women cultivate successful careers through expert advice, interviews, and videos, one-on-one mentoring, online skills-based courses and resources, and a curated job board that speaks to their audience. Everything they do comes straight from the best kind of experts—real women who've been there and successfully done that.
What we chat about:
-How she found her journey to Career Contessa (01:07)
-What she found out when completing her thesis (08:55)
-What are the tangible things women need to advance their careers (11:44)
-Why you need to have resilience and surrounding yourself with people who really care (14:20)
-Ways women can support each other at work (17:03)
-What The Salary Project is and what salary transparency is (19:13)
-What is happening with Career Contessa in 2018 (21:01)
-What piece of lingerie would she be (22:49)
Links we refer to:
Lauren's Bio:
Lauren founded Career Contessa in 2013 after experiencing a gap in career development resources for women who might be job searching, soul searching, leading and managing, or trying to find new ways to advance within their careers. With women accounting for more than 50% of the workforce and the workforce being less defined than ever before, it seemed crazy (and outdated) that a resource for us didn't exist.
Formerly, Lauren was a University Recruiter for Hulu focused on hiring, employer branding, and program management. Lauren has a Bachelors in Education from the University of Oregon and a Masters in Communication Management from the University of Southern California where she wrote her thesis on millennials and career resources.
When not Contessa-ing, you can find Lauren walking so she meets her 10,000 steps/day goal in Redondo Beach, CA where she lives with her husband.
Episode 16 | Color Outside The Lines: Redefining Nude with Atima Lui, Founder of Nudest
We sit down for a talk about growing a business with Atima Lui of Nudest. Nudest was founded at Harvard Business School by Atima Lui in January 2016 during her final semester as an MBA student. Atima grew up in Topeka, Kansas, and as the dark-skinned daughter of a Sudanese refugee and Black activist mother, she understood at an early age how her complexion did not meet the conventional standards of beauty. She decided to challenge these standards, beginning with fashion items labeled the color "nude," which do not match 84% of the global population.
With the help of her brother and software engineer Nyalia Lui, Nudest launched NUDEMETER™ -- proprietary computer vision technology that algorithmically matches a user's skin tone to fashion online.
By making it easy for women to find makeup, lingerie, hosiery, footwear and more that match their unique complexion, Atima and Nyalia endeavor to help everyone love the skin they're in.
What we chat about:
-How she started her journey and being an "accidental" entreprenuer (01:21)
-The journey of Nudest (03:42)
-How Nudest is creating smarter buyers (08:25)
-What lingerie piece that represents her (11:02)
-How has Atima grown personally and what keeps her going (12:18)
Links we refer to:
Atima's Bio:
Atima Lui was born to a Sudanese refugee father and Black activist mother in Topeka, Kansas where her dark skin tone never quite fit in with the standard of beauty in her community. Today as Founder and CEO of fashion and beauty tech startup NUDEST, Atima licenses patent-pending skin tone matching technology to help fashion and beauty brands produce and sell products for women of all skin tones. Named one of Shopper Marketing Magazine's "People to Watch" in 2013, Atima led the digital brand marketing initiatives at Walmart US before graduating from Harvard Business School in 2016 with her MBA . She has experience working for Google, YouTube and Apple in online ad sales, product marketing, and media roles. She earned her BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis where she started a full-service hair, nail and tanning salon targeted toward multicultural customers while triple majoring in International Business, Marketing and Spanish.
Seamless Episode 15 | Work Bravely: Pushing Past Career Boundaries with Sarah Sheehan, co-founder of Bravely
We sit down for a talk about starting a new business and pushing boundaries as a woman with Sarah Sheehan of Bravely. Bravely has built a next-generation resource for people and teams: a platform that connects employees with expert conflict coaches and “people” professionals called “Pros” for off-the-record phone conversations about all kinds of workplace stress.
No matter how great the company or the culture, there will always be employees who struggle to come forward with issues or concerns. Whether they’re struggling with a colleague or simply feeling stuck, it can be hard to have tough conversations about relationships and performance. The result: people let things bubble up instead of dealing with them head on. That is why Bravely began.
What we chat about:
-The how and why behind starting Bravely (1:30)
-How role playing can help people find their voice (05:59)
-Why speaking to a third person helps with taking feedback (08:20)
-What starting her own business felt like and having imposter syndrome (9:45)
-What piece of lingerie she would be (11:48)
Links we refer to:
Sarah's Bio:
Sarah is the co-founder and chief customer officer at Bravely. Bravely provides off-the-record coaching for employees navigating their workplace, giving them a safe place to start tough conversations. Our easy-to-use platform connects and schedules employees with experienced coaches and HR professionals for conversations about issues of all kinds — from manager-employee conflict to performance review prep. The result: employers retain talent, employees are more proactive and more productive, and work becomes a better place to work.
Seamless Episode 14: Turning heads: Launching a Beauty App for Women of Color with Jihan + Jenny of Swivel Beauty
We sit down for a talk about hair and hurdles in your business with Jihan and Jenny, co-founders of Swivel Beauty. Swivel Beauty is an app to discover and book the best stylists for textured hair. Whether you're on the hunt for a new stylist or just want to add more variety to your beauty team, they've got you. Search for top-rated salons and stylists (including those who come to you!) by hair type and desired style on their app. If you have textured hair, the struggle is no longer real.
What we chat about:
-What propelled these two women to create this app (01:50)
-How dry bars don’t work for women of color (05:05)
-How smaller stylists are being boosted by the app (06:13)
-How the women met and decided to work together (07:55)
-What business hurdles they have had (10:27)
-Their business idols(13:00)
-What piece of lingerie would they be (17:40)
-How they found people to help them create the app + asking for help (19:36)
-How living in two different cities work (22:39)
-Funding in business (24:02)
Links we refer to:
-
MarieClaire
-
Redbook
-
Oprah
-Jen & Jenni from
Rent the Runway
-
Emily Weiss from
Glossier
-
Sephora
Their Bio:
As two women who have visited hair salons on a frequent basis for the last 15 years, we understand the struggle.
We’ve endured soul-crushing, hair-breaking, money-wasting trial-and-error (don’t tell us you’ve never cried after a bad blowout!), dealt with awkward moments when a salon couldn’t handle our “ethnic” hair, and put up with bad service, long waits, and rude stylists…all in the name of beauty.
We’ve traveled to new cities and had no idea where to begin our stylist search (was anyone else’s hair in a bun 85% of freshman year?). We’ve resorted to chasing down complete strangers on the street to ask them where they get their hair done. We’ve been desperate enough to randomly pop in to the random “mainstream” salon and take a chance on a trim (all pictures from this era have been destroyed). We’ve been through it all.
All the while we’ve thought, There has to be a better way. We couldn’t find a solution, so we created one: A destination that makes it easy to build a beauty team that meets all your haircare needs. We hope you love it!
Episode 13 | Passion & Products: Creating A fashion label with Lily Chen and Maggie Bacon of Thistle & Spire
We sit down for a talk about passion, products, and commitment in your business with Lily Chen and Maggie Bacon, co-founders of T histle & Spire. Thistle & Spire is designed by juxtaposing luxe fabrics and alluring architectural details mirroring the multi-faceted sides of being a woman. An independent label owned and operated by a small team of creatives in Brooklyn, New York, we're proud to share their one-of-a-kind designs at Burgundy Fox!
What we chat about:
-How they met (00:45)
-If they ever thought they would become entrepreneurs (05:04)
-How they decided to start a lingerie brand (06:15)
-What the biggest challenge is for their business (07:20)
-What their best day in their business has been (11:20)
-How e-commerce has shifted their business (14:58)
-How they gauge the market for new items (18:16)
-Which piece of their collection do they love the most (21:04)
-What they think about empowerment and lingerie go together (22:44)
-Why you should be fearless in pursuing what you want (31:35)
Links we refer to:
Their Bio:
We are Maggie and Lily of Thistle & Spire a Brooklyn based lingerie company supporting women in pushing boundaries, breaking rules, and melting hearts.
We have always believed that lingerie is for yourself. As awkward teens growing up we found power in lingerie. That tiny secret to give you an extra confidence boost. No one was interested in kissing us as teens, let alone see our underwear! So lingerie became truly for us. We juxtapose luxe fabrics and alluring architectural details mirroring the mult-faceted sides of being a woman. After all, it’s what’s on the inside that counts ;)