Disruptive CEO Nation

Show Notes Disruptive CEO Nation Podcast with Allison K. Summers Episode 145 Kate Westad, Founder, Palette by Pak Kate Westad is the inventor and founder of Palette by pak, a refillable, reusable, sustainable beauty system.  While packing for a trip after a long day at the office, she realized that there had to be a better way to bring, store, and reuse the many goops, glops & glam™️ she was taking with her on her vacation.  As an attorney by trade, Kate began the research process and soon learned that the beauty industry was fueling its sustainability crisis. With statistics including the ones below, Kate knew she had to change the beauty industry from disposable to sustainable.  She's a Forbes Next 1000 honoree, has been featured in Glossy, Martha Stewart, Travel + Leisure, Women's Health, Glamour, and more. In our conversation, Kate explains: Her packaging and inventory management with her products. The steps she took when inventing her product and creating her brand. How Kate balances her work life and home life as an entrepreneur. The tips and tricks Kate has created in order to keep organized and build her company. Be sure to check out Kate’s social links listed below.  Enjoy the show! Connect with Kate Westad: Website: https://palettebypak.com/pages/contact LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katewestad/   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com  #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you want to follow the innovations happening in the blockchain and NFT space then you need Manuela in your network. Manuela Seve is co-founder and CEO of Alpha’a & alphaa.io through which she is changing the way we think of asset ownership by connecting the physical and digital realms via blockchain certification, licensing, and dropshipping.   She has been in the tech and art sector for the past 8 years successfully raising funds from industry leaders such as: Metaprop vc, EOS VC, Chingona Ventures, and Gaingels among others funds. With a background in finance, Manuela worked as an equity analyst at GáveaInvestments, one of Brazil’s most reputable investment management firms.   Alphaa.io gives brands verified proof of who their biggest fans are and provides special access to anything online or offline.   Some great intelligence and insights shared with us: - How Alphaa.io is using blockchain for authenticity, resale tracking, and community building for sports teams, luxury brands, and companies. - How this technology allows for ongoing royalty tracking on the resale of products, memorabilia, autographs, and more leading to residual revenue, community tracking, and more. For example, 80% of athletes go bankrupt 18 months after they leave the courts but by putting a resale royalty for articles that they create during their careers they can continue to earn income. - How businesses such as Starbucks are using NFT loyalty programs, which is basically just the evolution of the punch card but on a much more massive scale that can also utilize geofencing and provide loyalty rewards in an entirely new way. These digital wallets are the way of the future. - Other unique aspects of NFTs allow for people to purchase NFTs as a pre-order on products which becomes production on demand and can significantly zero waste. - How the rise of the backend revolution and how it will upset power dynamics and what this could mean in terms of government organizations is massive.   Connect with Manuela: Website: https://www.alphaa.io/home Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alphaaio/?hl=en   Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/  Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO     #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Przmek Szleter has built his business on the theme of ‘Changing ideas into digital products’. DAC.digital is a team of engineers & problem solvers who deliver value across areas of #IoT, hardware, embedded systems, #bigdata, #machinelearning, #blockchain, DevOps, and software engineering. Today, DAC.digital is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Europe.  In our conversation we touch on: -      The differentiating factor of being a scientific-based tech company with Ph.D. thought leaders on staff to keep them on the leading edge. -      Some insights into current projects such as gaze estimation and eye tracking software on smartphones and the complexities of building IoT software and interfaces. -      The driving objectives for why he started the company and why he is passionate about showing the world that there are world-class tech professionals in Poland. -      Scaling lessons: paying others before yourself, “hiring smarter” than you, and when to bring in support at the top. -      The future vision of opening offices in Germany and the US. -      Not waiting for the world to show you what to do but being in the position to lead the world.  Przmek holds over 14 years of professional experience as a Business & IT Executive and has MSc-level degrees in tech and business gained at universities in the UK and Poland. DAC.digital has delivered over 60 dedicated tech solutions for clients in a range of industries, including Fortune Global 500 companies in over 20 countries. They’ve worked with partners like Estee Lauder, Thales, and Infineon. They have received recognitions such as: Leading Service Provider 2020 by Clutch as one of the top IoT developers in Poland; PwC awarded the title “Polish Company – International Champion” in 2020; cited in the "Master of Innovative Transformation" competition organized by ICAN Institute; a special mention from the Editorial Board of MIT Sloan Management Review in "Technology and market" category; and more.   Connect with Przmek: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/szleter/ Website: https://dac.digital/   Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO    #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #businesspodcast #podcast #fertility #femtech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is a known fact in today’s marketplace that businesses worldwide struggle to meet employee expectations and create authentic engagement. Equally, employees have experienced higher stress and lack of balanced well-being. Enter, Ally Fekaiki, a man on a mission to create positive change in #futureofwork with the founding of Juno. Branded as Juno: the life company®️, the Juno platform lets staff choose perks that chime with their definition of well-being, using credits allocated by their employer each month. Employees can choose from hundreds of options (from fitness classes to healthy meals, to mental health support) or use their points to reimburse things like cleaning and childcare. Juno's user base grew tenfold last year as employers looked for new ways to support hybrid teams, improve work-life balance and retain staff. In this episode, we discussed: - The motivation behind Juno and why it is so personal to Ally that employee benefits are not treated as a ‘one size fits all’. - The path from startup to scale-up to serving customers in 70+ countries with 400 global product solutions. - The imperative for businesses to care about employee wellness and benefit options and how employee choice leads to employee satisfaction. - What Juno points are and how they can be used to purchase a range of services and products for their wellbeing – from organic vegetable boxes to therapy sessions and language courses. - How Ally is harnessing marketing to be a category leader and build a globally recognized brand.   Ally Fekaiki founded Juno at the start of 2019 to tackle what he believes to be a well-being crisis in the workplace. Ally is a Social Impact founder with a demonstrated history of growing early-stage businesses from Seed to Series A and beyond. Prior to Juno he held positions as head of growth and head of user engagement at Cleo, Yolt, and LOQBOX. Be sure to check out Ally’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Ally: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allyfekaiki/ Website: https://juno-7d66b1.webflow.io/ Instagram: @with__juno   Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO    #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With pandemics and global health concerns in the headlines, it is good to know there are companies like Anima Biotech leveraging advanced technology to accelerate pharma solutions. Under the leadership of Co-founder and CEO Yochi Slonim, the team at Anima Biotech is advancing mRNA Lightning, a novel platform for the discovery of small molecule mRNA drugs and their mechanisms of action. If you do not understand what this means, take a listen as we promise you will be fascinated and learn something new. In this episode, we discussed: - How Yochi made the leap to founding a company that is at the leading edge of the intersection of technology and medical discovery. - How using AI and machine learning is a complete game changer in #medtech. - Why mRNA Lightening is so critical to the swift discovery and treatability process for existing and evolving diseases. - How their differentiated approach combines high-scale phenotypic screening that automates millions of experiments in live mRNA biology with MOAi technology using AI to elucidate the mechanism of action of active molecules. - Why the best people and best solutions require a global team to make up Anima and so their eye is on expansion and partner networks. Yochi Slonim is a serial entrepreneur in software and biotech who has built multiple companies through all phases of growth all the way to IPOs and large M&A exits. As a Co-founder and CEO of Anima Biotech, he is driving the company's vision and strategy, fundraising, and partnering. Prior to Anima, Yochi was a co-founder of Mercury Interactive. As CTO and VP R&D from the company's early days, he created product vision and strategy and led a multi-product organization of 200 developers. After going public and reaching revenues of over $1B annually, Mercury was acquired by HP for $4.5B. In 2000, Yochi was the founder and CEO of Identify. The company reached revenues of $50m in less than 5 years and was acquired by BMC in 2006 for $150m in cash.   Yochi founded ffwd.me, a unique startup acceleration program where he led a team that worked with over 25 startups in diverse areas and technologies, developing strategy, products and go-to-market operations while raising multiple rounds of financing from VCs and private investors.   Be sure to check out Yochi’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Yochi: LinkedIn: https://www.animabiotech.com/ Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yochislonim/?originalSubdomain=il   Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO    #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #construction #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roger Krulak has over 35 years of bringing innovation to the construction and development sides of the real estate business. For twelve years, Roger served as SVP of Mixed Use and Residential Development at the Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC). During that time, he was responsible for entitling and planning over 1,000 residential apartment units integrated into many of FCRC’s retail projects. In our conversation, we discussed: - How Roger fell in love with modular construction and why he started his mission to be one of the global authorities on this form of urban development. - Construction represents 13% of the global economy, but how we build needs to change - How modular construction provides a high-quality product, delivers more predictability in the build time, is safer, uses less water, and reduces on-site time.  - The role Roger plays as a consultant to the world as others seek out his expertise and guidance. - The future vision for FullStack Modular in opening locations, franchises and strategic alliances. In 2016, Roger formed FullStack Modular after assembling an investment group to purchase FC Modular’s IP and facilities from FCRC. Since its founding, FullStack Modular has established itself as a first mover in using advanced technologies for building design and using high-rise modular construction. Their current pipeline includes hundreds of thousands of buildable square feet for hospitality, multifamily, and student housing. Notable wins include the Grant Ave Municipal Lot RFP by New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD)—an RFP specifically issued to support modular construction for the city’s affordable housing supply.   Be sure to check out Roger’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Matt: Website: https://www.fullstackmodular.com/  Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/  Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO     #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Navid Alipour is the Chief Executive Officer at AI Med Global, a company focused on Artificial Intelligence Technology that improves healthcare and helps save lives. AI Med Global is a roll-up of two companies Navid co-founded, CureMetrix and CureMatch. He is also a founder of an AI-focused VC fund, Analytics Ventures.   In our conversation, Navid explains:   The critical way that CureMetrix harnesses AI to address women’s health releated to mamograms and inidicators for heart health.   The use of intelligent data interpretation as a predictor for the best personalized cancer treatment care.   His founders journey from being in the investment world to leading cutting edge medical companies.   Insights as a business leader learned and what it means to him now as a partner at Analytics Ventures.   Be sure to check out Ronan’s links listed below. Enjoy the show!   Through the founding of multiple Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies, Navid is a long-time entrepreneur in the AI space with an emphasis on the convergence of AI and the life sciences, which is also called Wellness Science. He seeks to identify scientists and domain experts in their respective fields that are solving massive pain problems to take to market, by building companies from inception. While he is a VC and part of the founding of Analytics Ventures, he considers himself an entrepreneur at heart.   Connect with Navid: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navid-alipour-a295777/ Website: https://aimedglobal.com/ Twitter: @aimedglobal Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO  #CEO # medtech #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ronan Burke is the co-founder and CEO of Inscribe, the leading fintech solution for fraud detection and risk management. He and his twin brother, Conor Burke, co-founded Inscribe in 2017 with the goal of creating a more fair and efficient financial services ecosystem.  In our conversation, Ronan explains: The mission to reduce fraud in the #Fintech space, for example, first-party and third-party application fraud that costs the industry countless dollars lost each year. How smarter tech can lead to more fair and equitable practices for access to loans for more people. The journey from Ireland to the US and why the relationship with his co-founder works. Experiences with Y Combinator and how it changed the trajectory for the organization. His philosophy of giving people autonomy and setting up the right environment for people to really flourish and do their best work. Be sure to check out Ronan’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! A 2020 Forbes “30 Under 30 Europe” honoree, Ronan is a frequent guest on industry podcasts and has been featured in Fast Company, VentureBeat, and The Irish Times. He graduated from the University College Dublin with a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering and later completed the Y Combinator startup accelerator program. An Ireland native, Ronan currently splits his time between Inscribe’s San Francisco and Europe offices. Connect with Ronan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rnnbrk Inscribe: https://www.inscribe.ai/ Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO     #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ross Maguire, CEO and co-founder of Azure Printed Homes, the first-to-market construction company to utilize 3D printing technology and recycled materials to create modern prefab units 70% faster and 30% less expensive than ever before, while making a positive impact on the environment. Ross holds an MS in Civil Engineering and has 13 years in construction, design and project management. He grew his London-based construction company for 8 years, and co-founded Azure in 2019. Azure initially bootstrapped its growth and raised a pre-seed angel earlier this year. The company generates $400K/mo in revenue and has $11.5MM in pre-orders. Mass production of the units will begin before the end of this year. Ross holds over a decade of front-line construction experience - committed to ensuring client gratification, guiding design development to achieve & surpass client desires whilst always keeping two eyes on live & anticipated costs, two hands on swift & precise delivery whilst maintaining two feet on the ground - providing open and honest communication from beginning to end with every benefactor of the process. In our conversation, Ross explains: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure: the importance of recycling during the homebuilding process Factory-made homes bring a level of consistency not found during the traditional homebuilding process Word-of-mouth advertising is sometimes all you need to grow a business, as long as you have a product that sells itself Using crowdfunding as a seed money source to maintain independence Your family is your refuge; finding strength in loved ones Be sure to check out Ross and Azure Printed Homes listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Ross Maguire LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-maguire-77093b40/ Azure Printed Homes: https://azureprintedhomes.com/ Azure LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/azure-printed-homes/ Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO   #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

STILRIDE is a Sweden-based startup pioneering industrial origami – a cutting edge sheet metal shaping procedure using origami folding techniques, laser cutting and industrial robotics. Bringing innovation and disruption to the personal transport space, their products are built from sheet metal that has been folded to perfection by artisanal robots to deliver sustainably conscious electro-mobility machines that are designed for the future. We caught up with, CEO Jonas Nyvang in the semi-secrete lair to hear about their startup story. In this interview he explains: - How two friends decided to build a multi-national corporation building bikes with green metal - The importance of doing market research before charging forward with a product - Designing a manufacturing company that can be set up anywhere in the world - Using origami as a construction method, first as small paper, then as larger sheet metal - Creating local production hubs to satisfy local demand, reducing the need for transportation and shipping   Jonas brings over two decades of fashion, marketing and business development experience to STILRIDE. He is the founder of several successful companies, including software engineering and digital product agency Ape Group. He has also been instrumental in developing the marketing, sales and business development at Fox Interactive Media, Starcom MediaVest and the Björn Borg group. STILRIDE officially launched in 2019 and has quickly made its presence known.   Be sure to check out Jonas’ links listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Jonas Nyvang: Website: https://www.stilride.com/ Jonas’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonasnyvang/ Stilride’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stilride Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stilride/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stilride/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/stilride   Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: www.DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO    #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #tech #AI #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dorian founded Squirro ten years ago, a company that focuses on building insight engines for financial institutions, to aid them in the process of analyzing and working with unstructured data. In the past ten years Squirro has established itself as a successful competitor in the industry and has been recognised by Gartner as a Visionary in their Magic Quadrant report. Apart from winning numerous awards such as; the Big Innovation AI Excellence Award, the SEF4KMU Label by the Swiss Economic Forum and many more, Squirro is also proud to count the likes of Bank of England, European Central Bank and Standard Chartered to its clients.   Dorian himself has been selected among the top 100 Digital Shapers in Switzerland for the past three years and therefore was inducted into the “Hall of Fame'' by Bilanz & Le Temps. Dorian has also been named among the top 30 Digital Leaders in Switzerland. For his entire professional career Dorian has looked for ways to innovate industries and has done this fortuitously with other companies he has founded such as, Local.ch and Memonic.   In our conversation, Dorian Selz explains:   -       Dorian’s marketing strategy for Squirro -       Dorian’s best advice for a startup leader or business builder. -       How one can invest in sustainable development funds Be sure to check out Dorian’s listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Dorian: Website- https://squirro.com/about/ LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dselz/   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At 24 years old, Jem Bourouh has spent the last four years launching and selling 7-8 figure eCommerce brands, with totals of more than $20 million in sales. After his massive success, he decided it was on to his next projects. He launched his marketing agency called Adcubator in 2018, which also acts as a VC and invests in smaller direct-to-consumer brands. Jem also has an education-focused entity called eCom Incubator. With extensive knowledge in marketing fundamentals, consumer behavior, branding and positioning, business strategy, media buying, copywriting, and creating landing pages, he and his team manage the entire Google Ads platform and take eCommerce businesses to million and multi-million-dollar success stories. His drive and motivation to dominate the industry make him an inspirational powerhouse with a talent for teaching others to think outside of the box and solve problems from a unique perspective. He leads with the belief that if you are working hard enough, it is not if you will succeed, but when. This makes him and his company unstoppable. In our conversation, Jem Bourouh explains: What is the future of e-commerce like? How do I show the respect of products benefits to a prospect? An example of a brand that he has helped recently that he’s been really excited about. Be sure to check out Jem’s listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Jem Bourouh: LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jem-bourouh/   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com  #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gillian O'Brien, Founder in Residence, Pilot, California, USA - Why companies can benefit from a Founder in Residence and why being loud about failure can lift up the startup community. At 27, Gillian has had more adventure in her career than others do in a lifetime.  Pilot serves over 1,000 customers who are founders and business leaders with their accounting, finance and accounting needs. Having a Founder in Residence helps deliver insight, empathy, and meaningful ideation for their customer base. Pilot has a staff of 400 people strong and is valued at over a billion dollars. In our conversation, Gillian O”Brien explains: Her experiences at Y Combinator and why founders need a community of supporters. Her first startup Cherry, an HR Saas business, and her willingness to be public and 'loud' about lessons learned in failure as she had to shut down the company at the beginning of the pandemic. Understanding resources needed by founders and helping them with investor conversations. Be sure to check out Gillian’s listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Gillian LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillian-obrien/   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com  #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rabi is changing the way companies show their thoughtfulness in a way that captivates and engages customers and employees. His company, EvaBot, runs on AI-squared: The Artificial Intelligence to get deeply personal and he Actionable Intelligence to make better business decisions. In other words, it's the intelligence behind thoughtfulness. Rabi is a serial entrepreneur. Working alongside his current founding team for 10+ years, they have used AI to build recommendation engines, social platforms and enterprise software. His first startup iDubba/iCouchapp was a “TV show recommendations + social engagement” app that had 2M+ monthly active users at the time it got acquired. Rabi then made a bold move to Silicon Valley to start a new company. While there, Rabi became frustrated that the ability to build relationships lacked technological innovation and intelligence. And so, EvaBot was born. EvaBot is an emotionally intelligent gifting relationship solution that enables thoughtful companies to accelerate the key relationships that increase both growth and competitive advantage. With a platform built to generate emotional engagement and to collect actionable intelligence, they are the standard in amplifying the customer and employee experience, creating an unforgettable journey for the recipient and truly valuable insight for the company.   In our conversation, Rabi Gupta explains: -       How Rabi built his company, and the steps it took for him to do this. -       How Rabi created his start up in a new city, on his own in San Francisco, CA. -       The specific roles Rabi and his Co-Founders take on with EvaBot Be sure to check out Rabi’s listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Rabi Gupta LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabigupta Website- https://www.evabot.com Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily is an award-winning marketer and passionate entrepreneur who is empowering the next generation of work. She has reimagined the way projects are outsourced, creating the first agency marketplace for high-value, high-consideration transactions online. As Co-Founder of Breef, Emily uses innovative technology to empower brands and agencies to work better, together — improving productivity, business outcomes and relationships. Her leadership has grown the company's network to 5,000 digital and creative agencies globally with users in over 20 countries in less than two years, while securing significant venture funding for expansion. Prior to Breef, Emily brought early-stage startups into culture as a digital marketing leader, working with some of the most sought-after brands, including VSCO, POPSUGAR and S'well. Here she experienced firsthand the challenges in-house marketers face to keep up with the demands of modern marketing. In our conversation, Emily explains: -       How COVID and the opportunity of remote work helped Emily grow her business! -       Emily’s push of making her company as innovative as it can be. -       The idea that good things take time, and how success stories may not come over night.   Be sure to check out Emil Bibb’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Emily: Website- https://www.breef.com/emilybibb   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shriya Sekhsaria runs Lumhaa: The Memory Jar Company, which helps people create and save memories together in "memory jars" (online folders/albums). Lumhaa was founded based on her award-winning research from Princeton which showed that even 10 minutes with memory jars made people happy -- it's one of the first social media platforms (if not the only social media platform) that shows statistically significant improvements in psychological well-being. Aside from powering users across 190 countries (and ranking in Apple's Top 50 Social Apps in 90 countries), her company has helped a few dozen artists in Indian villages find dignified income through their physical memory jar product orders. Shriya is 25, currently lives in India, and has won awards like 2021 Superwoman of the Year award (in association with the Indian Govt) and 2020 STEM Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (AWIS In our conversation, Shriya explains: Why Shriya decided to create her company Lumhaa, and how she built her company up to where it is today! Why Shriya wanted to create a product that makes people happy and brings them joy. The idea of design thinking, understanding from people and their needs. Be sure to check out Shriya listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Shriya Sekhsaria: LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/shriya-sekhsaria-22964ba7/?originalSubdomain=in   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com  #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blima Ehrentreu is the Founder and CEO of The Designers Group, an interior design firm based in New York, Miami, and Toronto. As an MWBE (Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise) owner in the commercial real estate industry, she knew she had to build a brand that required acceptance and respect in such a male-dominated industry. Investing in the community and supporting women in the construction industry is something she is very passionate about. Blima opened The Designers Group in Toronto, Canada, back in 2009. After establishing the company in Canada, she took the company internationally by opening an office in New York in 2016. Cementing their presence in a design hub like New York proved to be a game-changer for The Designers Group. Since then, TDG has designed over 200 residential, healthcare, hospitality, and commercial projects. We have an incredibly diverse portfolio and are always looking for innovative ideas to stay on the cutting edge of design.  In our conversation, Blima explains: Bold ambition to grow her company internationally and the lessons she learned along the way. What motivated her to create The Designers Group. Creativity and her experience in design. Be sure to check out Blima’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Blima Linked In- https://www.linkedin.com/in/blimaehrentreu Website- https://www.thedesignersgroup.com   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com  #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vanessa Karel, is a second-time Founder, Serial Entrepreneur, Storyteller, and Creative Producer. She was recently named as one of the 100 rising Latinx Startup founders to watch through her work founding Greether; a travel startup that helps women travel safer. Vanessa is also currently leading Girls in Tech, San Francisco as their Manager Director. Born in the USA, raised in Mexico City. Growing up constantly traveling, Vanessa always found an interest in exploring different cultures and expanding horizons. In 2020, she finally realized what had been lacking throughout her solo journeys, while traveling alone being stranded in Morocco in the middle of the pandemic. Which led to her founding a safety platform for female travelers around the world named Greether. The platform targets some of the most important SDGs and sustainable UN development goals, which are to reduce safety risks for women and to increase income opportunities for them through sustainable tourism. Having only worked on Greether for a year, the web application has organically grown users in over 80 countries and 300 cities around the world. In our conversation, Vanessa Karel explains: Vanessa’s travel experiences in other countries and why she created Greether to keep travelers safe in unknown countries.  Vanessa’s journey into Silicon Valley and the other various tech startups she has managed.  Increasing job opportunities for women.  Be sure to check out Vanessa’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Vanessa Website- https://www.greether.com/vanessakarel LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-karel/ Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/greet.her/ Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com  #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melissa Bauknight is a multi-passionate entrepreneur, adventurer, mother, wife, and a Business and Life Coach. As a collegiate athlete, she graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Finance and has since earned an applicable Ph.D. in Life. She garnered over 15 years of sales and business development experience in the corporate world working across 6 states and consistently performing in the top 10% of her peers. Having checked many boxes on her life goals list - traveling the world, achieving corporate success, marrying a loving husband, and starting a family, she still felt anxious and incomplete.  She knew there were untapped parts of her soul longing to be unleashed. Melissa chose to boldly follow that inner knowledge leaving her corporate career and went on to be in the top 1% of a social impact direct sales company, build a coaching business at The Ripple Connection, and coach over 1,000 women in sales, mindset, and life alignmen In our conversation, Melissa explains: -      The most admirable common traits among successful women. -      The more common barriers and roadblocks women may face in business and how to overcome them. -      Using your own inner wisdom as your GPS. Be sure to check out Melissa’s links listed below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Melissa: Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/therippleconnection Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/therippleconnection Website- https://www.therippleconnection.com/   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Fraser, the founder and CEO of Estated (based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada). Estated’s open-source API provides easy and transparent access for clients from a wide range of industries to integrate and implement property data into their workflows to start generating insights into their customers within minutes of signing up to our intuitive platform. Each property record contains hundreds of different data points from parcel and boundary information, structural building data such as square footage and roof type, historical deed information including sales and transfer of ownership, market value which uses an industry leading AVM to accurately valuate properties, taxes, and assessment data, as well as current ownership information. Estated works with a variety of industry leaders including State Farm, Capital One, Swiss RE as well as emerging proptech, real estate tech, and insurtech startups like Obie, Kin, and Blend Insurance.   In our conversation, Josh explains: -      How Estated operates and the various types of technology Josh’s company uses in the real estate market! -      How Josh started Estated based on other companies he worked with, and how he built leads and advertising resources for Estated. -      How Josh and his team find the best results and what they use for their development process   Be sure to check out Josh’s below. Enjoy the show! Connect with Josh: LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgfraser Website- https://estated.com   Connect with Allison: Website: allisonksummers.com #tech #SAAS # business #designthinking #AI #creativesociety #teambuilding #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #futureofwork    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices