Debug Information

Processing Details

• VTT File: ADL7038919558.vtt
• Processing Time: September 10, 2025 at 08:51 AM
• Total Chunks: 1
• Transcript Length: 79,663 characters
• Caption Count: 801 captions

Prompts Used

Prompt 1: Context Setup

You are an expert data extractor tasked with analyzing a podcast transcript. 
I will provide you with part 1 of 1 from a podcast transcript. 
I will then ask you to extract different types of information from this content in subsequent messages. Please confirm you have received and understood the transcript content.

Transcript section:
[00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:07.200] A mochi moment from Mark, who writes, I just want to thank you for making GOP1s affordable.
[00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:12.240] What would have been over $1,000 a month is just $99 a month with Mochi.
[00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.640] Money shouldn't be a barrier to healthy weight.
[00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:17.920] Three months in, and I have smaller jeans and a bigger wallet.
[00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:19.120] You're the best.
[00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:20.240] Thanks, Mark.
[00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:23.120] I'm Myra Ameth, founder of Mochi Health.
[00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.040] To find your Mochi Moment, visit joinmochi.com.
[00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:30.400] Mark is a mochi member compensated for his story.
[00:00:30.400 --> 00:00:36.320] Monday Sidekick, the AI agent that knows you and your business, thinks ahead and takes action.
[00:00:36.400 --> 00:00:37.600] How's it anything?
[00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:38.560] Seriously.
[00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:41.760] Monday Sidekick, AI you'll love to use.
[00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:44.880] Start a free trial today on monday.com.
[00:00:46.160 --> 00:00:48.080] This is team.
[00:00:54.480 --> 00:01:01.840] Hi, I'm Sonara Madani, a mom of two, daughter of an immigrant, and an unlikely entrepreneur who built a billion-dollar business.
[00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:03.360] Yes, billion.
[00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:06.880] Now I'm doing it again and building my second unicorn, work.
[00:01:07.440 --> 00:01:14.320] Shockingly, less than 2% of female founders ever reach $1 million in revenue, and I'm on a mission to change that.
[00:01:14.320 --> 00:01:20.480] At CEO School, we mentor thousands of women to help them level up in business and in life.
[00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:26.640] We believe that you deserve to have it all because honestly, nothing bad happens when women make more money.
[00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:27.360] More money.
[00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:30.480] Grab a seat because class is officially in session.
[00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:33.040] Welcome to CEO School.
[00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:40.640] You are a self-proclaimed, highly caffeinated time hacker.
[00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:43.440] And I was like, my team and everyone's like, we want to be that.
[00:01:43.440 --> 00:01:44.720] Tell us what that means.
[00:01:44.720 --> 00:01:52.480] Oh, I've gotten so much more calm in the last several years, but I'm definitely highly caffeinated, that's for sure.
[00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:59.960] I think productivity is something I've naturally just had to get better at as a CEO and especially as a working mother.
[00:01:59.520 --> 00:02:02.440] I have an eight-year-old daughter and a five-year-old daughter.
[00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:08.520] I've been building companies since I was 25 years old and had kids along the way.
[00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.400] And so, honestly, time is our most precious commodity.
[00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:16.600] And especially when you're a busy mom running business, you have to be really mindful of that.
[00:02:16.600 --> 00:02:21.000] And so, I feel like I've found every which way to time hack.
[00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.840] And I do think that I've a productivity expert for sure.
[00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:28.040] Okay, so we're going to need all of those tips and tools today, for sure.
[00:02:28.040 --> 00:02:34.840] I think there's a lot of our audience that really wants to know how to use their time more wisely, understand how to be more productive and effective.
[00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:37.560] But I want to start off by, actually, let's just dive into that.
[00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:38.440] Let's talk about that.
[00:02:38.440 --> 00:02:42.920] Like, what did you used to believe time management was?
[00:02:42.920 --> 00:02:50.280] And now, having been so effective for this many years, what have you now come to the conclusion that what time management actually is?
[00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:53.560] Freedom of dollar is what we all start to chase, right?
[00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:54.840] And there's nothing wrong with that.
[00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:59.560] There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting financial success for yourself, for your family.
[00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:05.080] And so, freedom of dollar is something that when I started my journey, that was one component of building the business.
[00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:07.560] But really, it became about freedom of time.
[00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:13.000] Even if you have that level of success with freedom of dollar, we still all have the same amount of time.
[00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:18.520] And so, it really is about that freedom of time and being able to enjoy the journey along the way.
[00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:23.160] I want to be able to do what I call the $1,000 tasks, not the $10 task.
[00:03:23.160 --> 00:03:27.320] And for me, a $1,000 task is when I get home, I want to cook with my family.
[00:03:27.320 --> 00:03:28.520] Can I outsource that?
[00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:29.080] Absolutely.
[00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:31.800] But that to me is not a $1,000 task.
[00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:34.360] That's a $10 task for some others.
[00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:41.080] But for me, spending time with my family is like the number one most important place where I'm trying to keep my time freedom.
[00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:44.200] It's really, really important that I think about tasks in that way.
[00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:45.520] It's something I really encourage.
[00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:49.680] I mentor so many women in business, and we have a lot of responsibility.
[00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.840] Like there is this extra layer of responsibility.
[00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:00.160] I'm not saying, I mean, I have such an incredible partner, such an incredible husband, and we co-parent, we do all the things.
[00:04:00.160 --> 00:04:05.600] But as a working mom, there's just that extra layer of a million things that have to get done.
[00:04:05.600 --> 00:04:08.800] As a CEO, everyone wants a piece of your time.
[00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:12.080] How you spend your time is, it's everything.
[00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:22.080] And so really thinking about what are your thousand dollar tasks and just focusing on those and everything else, finding a way to either delegate it or delete it.
[00:04:22.080 --> 00:04:24.160] Do we even like actually have to do it?
[00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:26.480] I have this process of like, do delegate, delete.
[00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.440] So every couple of weeks, I'll do a time audit.
[00:04:29.440 --> 00:04:30.320] I love this already, Beth.
[00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.040] Yeah, I do a time audit because your seasons are changing.
[00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:35.040] Like what you're doing right now, travel is insane.
[00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:36.400] Whatever else it is, do a time audit.
[00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:40.320] So we do a time audit and I take a look at how am I actually spending my time?
[00:04:40.320 --> 00:04:42.480] Is it, and I'm intentional about my time?
[00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:44.560] How do I want to spend my time?
[00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.520] And so if I see, you know, certain habits and certain things and I'm like, okay, no, this has to come off our plate.
[00:04:49.520 --> 00:04:50.880] This can be delegated off.
[00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:53.120] Am I spending too much time in one area?
[00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:59.360] This can apply to anyone at any point is to do a time audit and to take control back of it.
[00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:00.560] And it's also important.
[00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:04.000] I think when you ask the question of like, how do I view time now?
[00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:12.960] I used to have this mantra that I used to say every day because things are so crazy busy and running two companies, the podcast, the kids, all the stuff.
[00:05:12.960 --> 00:05:16.480] Every morning I'd wake up, Jay, and I'd say, I have all the time in the world.
[00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:17.600] I have all the time in the world.
[00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.040] I have all the time in the world.
[00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:20.000] But I didn't.
[00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.840] And I didn't believe it inside because I didn't have all the time in the world.
[00:05:23.840 --> 00:05:29.440] And now a lot has shifted where I actually do believe I have all the time in the world.
[00:05:29.440 --> 00:05:31.240] And that just comes with presence.
[00:05:29.760 --> 00:05:41.720] That just means that wherever I'm going to be, and I learned how to be really present in everything that I was in, I was in with such intention that I did have all the time in the world.
[00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:46.120] I think that those are some ways that have really shifted my perspective about time.
[00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:49.160] But I do think it's the most important commodity that we have.
[00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:53.880] It's the biggest gift that you can give yourself to everyone around you.
[00:05:53.880 --> 00:05:56.360] And I think the world is changing so fast.
[00:05:56.360 --> 00:06:06.840] We're such an on-demand, everything, everything is so speedy, everything coming at us from social media to life to work, everyone's life.
[00:06:06.840 --> 00:06:09.320] There's not, it's not a CEO's life that's busy.
[00:06:09.320 --> 00:06:12.920] Every single person that's probably listening feels exactly that feeling.
[00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:14.840] It's so busy.
[00:06:14.840 --> 00:06:17.560] But is it busy or is it full?
[00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:17.880] Right.
[00:06:17.880 --> 00:06:19.000] And that's the shift.
[00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:25.080] I was busy before and I learned how to make my life going from busy to intentionally full with purpose.
[00:06:25.080 --> 00:06:30.760] When you're coming up with criteria for do, delegate, delete, how do you decide?
[00:06:30.760 --> 00:06:37.160] Because I find that often, especially in the beginning, and I'm sure it was the same for you, and we'll get to that in a second.
[00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:40.120] But there's a feeling like I have to do everything.
[00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:43.240] And I probably have to because I can't afford to delegate.
[00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.160] You may not have a team in the beginning.
[00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:51.480] So when you start growing or when you start building, how do you find the ability to decide, okay, this is what I'm still going to do.
[00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:52.520] This is what I delegate.
[00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:53.720] This is what I delete.
[00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:59.640] Because often founders and startup owners or anyone will say to me, I think everything's important.
[00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.280] How do I decide what's important to do with my time?
[00:07:02.280 --> 00:07:04.120] It's one, understanding where you want to go.
[00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:08.920] So I think it starts with: don't just do, know where you want to go.
[00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:23.200] So if you know where you want to go, and this can be for your company, this can be for your personal goals, this can be for a hobby or an athletic goal, you have whatever it is, you have to define what that end goal looks like so that you can work backwards.
[00:07:23.200 --> 00:07:29.920] And I think that is an important part of even in business, especially as startups, you want to do all the things, but you just can't.
[00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.480] So it's really deciding what are the three things.
[00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.080] And I'm a huge believer in this, in the rule of three for everything.
[00:07:36.080 --> 00:07:37.600] I can't remember more than three things.
[00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:39.600] Like everything is about threes for me.
[00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:44.160] And so it's three goals for, let's say it's for the quarter, for the year.
[00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.640] How do we work backwards that that's the goal?
[00:07:46.640 --> 00:07:48.960] And then everything else is a delete.
[00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:49.760] It's a no.
[00:07:49.760 --> 00:07:58.800] And every day I look and I plan my needle movers is like in business is, you know, a very common term, but it's not just about getting everything done.
[00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:05.680] It's what are the three most important things that I'm going to get done that are going to be towards the goals that are going to get me there.
[00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:09.760] And so you have to start getting really comfortable with saying no.
[00:08:09.760 --> 00:08:13.680] You have to start getting comfortable with you not being the one to do it.
[00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.480] And even if you don't have a team, even if you don't have the resources, it starts with you, right?
[00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.120] You are the core nucleus of your company, of your life, of the things.
[00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:29.040] That DNA then breeds into the next, your first hire that you're going to do and the next hire that you're going to do.
[00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:35.120] And the job of a CEO is helping everyone prioritize.
[00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:37.120] Like that's my job every day.
[00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:39.040] My job is not to do the rowing.
[00:08:39.040 --> 00:08:46.160] So I think about, you know, in rowing club or like the coxswain that's at the front of the boat, his or her job is not actually to row.
[00:08:46.160 --> 00:08:50.560] It's to give direction, to cheer everyone on to make sure that we're going in the right direction.
[00:08:50.560 --> 00:08:52.880] He or she's not actually the one rowing.
[00:08:52.880 --> 00:08:56.880] And so your job is just to keep everyone rowing in the same direction and prioritizing.
[00:08:56.880 --> 00:09:01.400] And that's probably the hardest job as well: is what is priority, what you asked.
[00:09:01.400 --> 00:09:06.200] But if you don't know it, and if you're not in line with it, then your team's not going to be in line with it.
[00:08:59.680 --> 00:09:08.360] Your life is not going to be in line with it.
[00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:14.520] And this is something that I've realized that falls into like the CEO part and the life part.
[00:09:14.520 --> 00:09:15.240] Always both.
[00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:16.200] It's the same.
[00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:21.480] The thing that really hit me because I've been thinking a lot about this is the needle moving part.
[00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:27.160] Because often what we think of delegation or roles as, we also think, oh, someone else will take care of all the little stuff.
[00:09:27.160 --> 00:09:28.200] I'll do the big stuff.
[00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:33.880] And actually, you're then deprioritizing that person because you also want them to be doing needle-moving things.
[00:09:33.880 --> 00:09:46.680] And you may be doing bigger, larger, more long-term needle-moving things, but you don't want to be like, oh, I'm going to hand off all the little things to someone else to deal with because those little things may actually become a distraction to you and that individual.
[00:09:46.680 --> 00:09:52.680] So anyway, I want to go back to when you start thinking about building this billion-dollar empire.
[00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:59.560] And did you know the day you started Stacks that you wanted it to be a billion-dollar business?
[00:09:59.560 --> 00:10:03.160] I didn't know I could go build a million-dollar business, let alone a billion-dollar one.
[00:10:03.160 --> 00:10:03.720] I love hearing that.
[00:10:03.800 --> 00:10:04.440] That's great.
[00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:05.800] I had no idea.
[00:10:05.800 --> 00:10:10.200] I was 26 years old, no money in my bank account.
[00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:13.080] I was working for a financial services company.
[00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:15.080] I was the first person in my family to graduate college.
[00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:18.920] I grew up in the most incredible, incredible household.
[00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:21.080] I was getting my MBA without even knowing it.
[00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:23.160] So my parents were immigrants.
[00:10:23.160 --> 00:10:25.240] They came from Karachi, Pakistan.
[00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:27.880] I was born in Chicago, so I was first generation here.
[00:10:27.880 --> 00:10:29.080] We moved to Texas.
[00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:34.200] I went to 10 different schools in 12 years, which is an insane part of my story.
[00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:36.520] But it was the pursuit of the American dream.
[00:10:36.520 --> 00:10:43.120] And for my parents, it was about allowing us an opportunity to be anything we wanted to be, to get an education.
[00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:47.280] That is 100% every Indian, you know, Pakistani culture.
[00:10:47.280 --> 00:10:49.120] Like, education is so important.
[00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:50.560] So, I was a really great student.
[00:10:50.640 --> 00:10:53.840] I'm the firstborn, eldest daughter, all the things.
[00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:55.360] And I loved my childhood.
[00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.400] Like, I loved, you know, see my parents work really hard.
[00:10:58.400 --> 00:11:03.280] Everything wasn't perfect, but we had the best family values.
[00:11:03.280 --> 00:11:08.000] Like, I was surrounded by so much confidence around me.
[00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:15.520] My dad would wake me and my brother up every morning, and he was this like loud, energy, like four in the morning wake-up kind of guy.
[00:11:15.520 --> 00:11:19.920] Every morning, he'd wake us up and he'd say, Sonny, that's my nickname.
[00:11:19.920 --> 00:11:21.440] He'd say, You have it.
[00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:23.200] Like, that is what I grew up around.
[00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:26.320] Every single day, somebody telling you that you have it.
[00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:28.800] And it was the most annoying thing.
[00:11:28.800 --> 00:11:32.480] They're just our biggest champions, my brothers and I'm biggest champions.
[00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.280] And so, you carry that level of like responsibility.
[00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:38.240] You want to, you want to succeed, you want to do well.
[00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:44.080] And growing up in also a Muslim household, like I didn't feel at all like my gender.
[00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:45.600] Like, I was just the eldest kid.
[00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.080] And so, that meant that I got to do everything first.
[00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:52.560] Like, I never felt my gender until I went into the workforce.
[00:11:52.560 --> 00:11:53.600] Wow, that's yeah.
[00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:54.960] Not even in college.
[00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.920] In college, like, you know, I went to the University of Florida.
[00:11:57.920 --> 00:12:00.880] We had like three championships in my four years of college.
[00:12:00.880 --> 00:12:01.840] I studied abroad.
[00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:04.560] I did all of these amazing, cool things.
[00:12:04.560 --> 00:12:10.640] And then I get into the workforce and I saw that there were no women in any of the companies that I worked for.
[00:12:10.640 --> 00:12:12.560] I worked for three different companies.
[00:12:12.560 --> 00:12:19.360] And the only women that I saw working in the organizations, we were in either customer support or in admin roles.
[00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:20.640] There was nobody in technology.
[00:12:20.640 --> 00:12:24.560] There was nobody in anything else besides supporting roles.
[00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:27.440] And that was the first time that I was like, I'm different.
[00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:30.280] For the first time, I noticed my difference.
[00:12:30.280 --> 00:12:32.920] And I think it was that confidence.
[00:12:29.680 --> 00:12:34.760] I never had that negative self-talk.
[00:12:34.920 --> 00:12:42.200] And the self-talk actually started to get created at that point in my early 20s, but I never had that going into it.
[00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:44.200] And so I feel super grateful.
[00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:48.280] And I think that's how I try to parent as well: you can't overlove a kid.
[00:12:48.280 --> 00:12:51.720] Like, that's where the confidence comes from, especially for young girls.
[00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.840] Because in a world like today, no one is telling them.
[00:12:54.840 --> 00:13:06.440] And then their negative self-talk, because of how the world looks, because of the inequities that are plainly there, we start to form those conversations in our own head.
[00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:18.920] And so I'm so grateful that I had super cheerleaders that I didn't even know that I was rolling my eyes at that really carried me through where I was like, no, I am different and I do have it and I can see things differently.
[00:13:18.920 --> 00:13:20.680] So I was that bad employee.
[00:13:20.680 --> 00:13:23.320] I would challenge the status quo.
[00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:29.080] And then I had this really amazing idea to go start a subscription-based processing system.
[00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:34.600] And I took it back to my male bosses and I was pretty much laughed out of the room.
[00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:40.840] Like it was, you know, little girl, great ideas, but this is not going to work.
[00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:45.880] And so I came back home and I flew back from Houston to with family dinners.
[00:13:45.880 --> 00:13:49.080] That was always something we always were around food and family.
[00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:54.200] And my dad looks to me and, you know, so disappointed in how the conversation went.
[00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:57.560] And he said, Sonny, he goes, why don't you just go start the company?
[00:13:57.560 --> 00:13:59.240] And I said, Dad, where do I go find Mr.
[00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:00.200] Visa?
[00:14:00.680 --> 00:14:01.160] How?
[00:14:01.160 --> 00:14:02.040] I'm 25.
[00:14:02.040 --> 00:14:03.880] Like, where do I go build a fintech?
[00:14:03.880 --> 00:14:05.080] I don't have, I don't know.
[00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:06.520] And he said, you'll figure it out.
[00:14:06.520 --> 00:14:08.360] And so that's exactly what I did.
[00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:10.760] And I moved back into my parents' house.
[00:14:10.760 --> 00:14:13.960] And he's like, and if you don't, in six months, you'll get your MBA.
[00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:16.240] That was it.
[00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:16.640] That was it.
[00:14:16.640 --> 00:14:17.920] It was as easy as that.
[00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:24.400] For me, spending time with my family is like the number one most important place where I'm trying to keep my time freedom.
[00:14:24.400 --> 00:14:29.440] As a working mom, there's just that extra layer of a million things that have to get done.
[00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.480] How you spend your time is, it's everything.
[00:14:32.800 --> 00:14:34.480] Everyone's life is busy.
[00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:38.080] Every single person that's probably listening feels exactly that feeling.
[00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:42.960] It's so busy, but is it busy or is it full?
[00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:48.000] I loved what you said about the idea that you can't overlove someone.
[00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:49.280] Like, that's beautiful to hear.
[00:14:49.280 --> 00:14:53.280] And I always feel that my mom's love was like that for me.
[00:14:53.280 --> 00:14:55.680] I always grew up believing I was lovable.
[00:14:55.680 --> 00:15:03.280] My mom's love shielded me from so much of the other pain and stress and everything else I saw happening around me.
[00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:17.360] And a lot of what you just said about women, I see to be so true today because I've seen research and studies that show that if a man sees a job specification and can do less than half of it, he'll still apply.
[00:15:17.680 --> 00:15:24.880] And if a woman sees something and even if she can do 80% of it, she won't apply because she can't do the 20% remaining.
[00:15:24.880 --> 00:15:36.960] And so even when I talk to my male friends today, and I know a lot of their wives and partners and girlfriends and whatever else it may be, they all find that so many women are scared to go out there and start a company.
[00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:38.400] They're scared to take that risk.
[00:15:38.400 --> 00:15:45.840] They're fearful that they can't, or they're waiting till they have everything, like all their ducks in a row before they give themselves an opportunity.
[00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:53.840] How did early on in your life, your dad saying this repetitive statement to you, how did that not become a pressure?
[00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:56.000] And how did it feel empowering?
[00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:03.800] Because I feel that sometimes if you're told you've got it, you can do this, a lot of people see that as pressure and then they feel they can't live up to it.
[00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:06.840] What was different about the parenting aspect of that?
[00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:10.600] Because I think a lot of parents listening may take a lot from what your dad did, right?
[00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:12.520] I was always brought in on all the conversations.
[00:16:12.520 --> 00:16:23.800] I think something that my parents did, we had struggles and we had challenges and we had to move and we had to various businesses, but we were always at the dinner table having the hard conversations.
[00:16:23.800 --> 00:16:31.960] You know, if there were hard things that were, you know, taking place about money or about business or about family, we were solving problems together.
[00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:35.240] So my parents would always ask our perspective.
[00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.040] That is something that I do feel is very interesting.
[00:16:38.040 --> 00:16:43.640] Just as a child, I try to do that with my daughters at the dinner table now is to ask them like what they think.
[00:16:43.640 --> 00:16:47.560] So thinking about solutions versus, you know, how they would think about solving it.
[00:16:47.560 --> 00:16:51.960] So I feel like I was really involved in hearing my voice felt heard.
[00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:57.800] And I think that's important because as women, I do feel like we're, you know, our voice isn't heard.
[00:16:57.800 --> 00:17:01.800] And so I grew up in a place where my voice was not just heard, it was really valued.
[00:17:01.800 --> 00:17:03.560] And my perspective was valued.
[00:17:03.560 --> 00:17:06.040] And there's like so many memories that I can think of.
[00:17:06.040 --> 00:17:08.440] I had such an amazing, amazing childhood.
[00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:10.440] And I know a lot of people don't have that.
[00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:12.840] On my 17th birthday, this is really crazy.
[00:17:12.840 --> 00:17:16.600] So we went to Atlantic City for a Bollywood concert.
[00:17:16.600 --> 00:17:18.360] It was like a Charlotte Khan concert.
[00:17:18.360 --> 00:17:23.480] Then when they would come out and do the shows, we went to Atlantic City for this concert.
[00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:25.640] And, you know, there was a casino.
[00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:28.840] I'm not even of legal age to gamble.
[00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:31.000] And my dad takes me to the blackjack table.
[00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:31.320] Okay.
[00:17:31.320 --> 00:17:35.160] And he was an avid, like, he definitely had not the best habits as well.
[00:17:35.320 --> 00:17:38.280] And it's, and it's important to see, like, you can see both sides of your parents.
[00:17:38.280 --> 00:17:39.160] Things weren't perfect.
[00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:46.000] I look back and I think about mostly the positive, but sitting at this blackjack table, so I'm all dressed up to go to this concert.
[00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:47.040] I'm sitting next to him.
[00:17:47.040 --> 00:17:48.240] My parents were also really young.
[00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:49.440] They had me when they were like 20.
[00:17:49.760 --> 00:17:52.800] And so people are probably assuming I'm like his girlfriend or something.
[00:17:52.800 --> 00:17:59.200] And, you know, but I'm sitting at the blackjack table next to him and he hands me a pile of chips and he's like, bet.
[00:17:59.520 --> 00:18:02.640] And in my head, I'm like, well, how much is this?
[00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:04.720] Like, am I going to lose the money?
[00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.720] You know, what's the value?
[00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.520] And his response, he goes, just feel it.
[00:18:09.520 --> 00:18:11.920] He's like, if you feel like you're going to win, bet more.
[00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.640] If you feel like you're not going to win, pull back.
[00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:22.160] My ability to now take risks and listen to my gut and not worry about, you know, like scared money doesn't make money as well.
[00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:22.400] Right.
[00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:26.480] So my ability to be able to say, okay, I feel like I'm going to win.
[00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:32.400] I feel like look at looking at the hands or learning blackjack and I was great at math and I can get this concept.
[00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.520] That was one of my like a core memory that I can think of.
[00:18:35.520 --> 00:18:38.080] But I was always involved in the conversation.
[00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:44.000] I feel like it was more tactical with action, not just being told that you should go do this.
[00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.160] I definitely feel very blessed that I, that I did have that.
[00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:48.880] And now my mom lives literally across the street from me.
[00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:53.280] She's like one rock away and we get to, she gets to raise my kids with me.
[00:18:53.280 --> 00:18:54.400] So it's wonderful.
[00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:55.200] It's amazing.
[00:18:55.600 --> 00:19:02.320] When you go from pitching your idea to all of your bosses and they kind of look at you like, this is going to fail.
[00:19:02.320 --> 00:19:03.920] This isn't going to work.
[00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:06.320] And then obviously your dad gives you that encouraging statement.
[00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:08.080] You said that you moved back home then.
[00:19:08.080 --> 00:19:08.560] Yeah.
[00:19:08.560 --> 00:19:14.960] So I'm imagining that you were making a decent amount of money working at a financial services firm.
[00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:18.880] And when you choose to start a company, I'm guessing you took a massive pay here.
[00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:22.320] And I assume you were living out and then you moved back home.
[00:19:22.320 --> 00:19:31.960] Now, the reason why I'm pinpointing that moment is because I think those golden handcuffs that so many of us tie around ourselves with the safe corporate job.
[00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:40.680] And when you've got a great degree and you finally get that job you've been waiting to get for like 18 years of your life and everyone respects you for it.
[00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.160] It looks good on your LinkedIn and your resume.
[00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:48.200] I found so many people struggle at that point to say, well, I'm willing to take less money.
[00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:51.400] I'm willing to downgrade my lifestyle.
[00:19:51.400 --> 00:20:01.720] I'm willing to postpone and delay the gratification of having nice things because chances are if I live with my parents and I'm not making the money anymore, life changes.
[00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:18.600] Walk me through deeply that decision because I think for so many of our community listening and so many people that I mentor, coach, speak to, this seems to be one of the most pivotal moments of their life that were you willing to go two steps backwards in order to go five steps forward?
[00:20:18.600 --> 00:20:25.240] And so many of us are so scared to go two steps backwards because we've got so used to a certain level of lifestyle.
[00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:27.880] So walk us through that key decision point.
[00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:31.160] I actually ask myself, would I do it again?
[00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:36.440] And I think that it also depends on like it's the risk-taking ability, right?
[00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:38.840] It takes courage to take risk.
[00:20:38.840 --> 00:20:43.160] One of my favorite, most favorite books that I've recently read is Die with Zero.
[00:20:43.320 --> 00:20:44.920] It is such an incredible book.
[00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:50.600] It's this crazy concept of just taking risks and you have your golden years of your life.
[00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:53.720] Like we should be spending our money, doing our things in our prime.
[00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:55.160] And that makes complete sense.
[00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:59.880] And the risk tolerance that you can take also changes with your age.
[00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:05.880] Would I take these risks if I had two daughters at home and maybe if I was a sole breadwinner or where I don't know?
[00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:09.080] And so I can look back and say I didn't have much to lose.
[00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:10.360] It was a level of risk.
[00:21:10.360 --> 00:21:12.120] I had a steady job.
[00:21:12.120 --> 00:21:13.880] I was on a career path.
[00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:16.320] I could have totally miserably failed.
[00:21:16.320 --> 00:21:20.960] I think you have to think about not what is the risk in doing it.
[00:21:21.280 --> 00:21:24.640] I think you have to think about what is the risk in not doing it, right?
[00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:27.680] So what is the risk if you don't do the thing?
[00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:31.280] And that's kind of how I try to make those risky decisions today.
[00:21:31.280 --> 00:21:35.920] And I know we're going to talk more and this journey is going to come full circle in 10 years.
[00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:50.960] I left my company at the most record high of the company, but the risk of me staying was a detriment to my health and my burnout and my all the things that I had left to go accomplish.
[00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:55.280] And so it's really about the risk of not doing the action.
[00:21:55.280 --> 00:21:59.040] But at that time, I think it was, I was young and I could.
[00:21:59.040 --> 00:22:01.440] And you do have to take a step back.
[00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:06.880] And I would say, I think social media does a horrible job of showing us success.
[00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.200] There's so much saturation of success.
[00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.160] There's not enough failures that are being shown.
[00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:12.960] It's not enough.
[00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.200] It is hard to build a business.
[00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:19.920] You know, less than 2% of female founders ever even break a million in revenue.
[00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.320] That is the most insane statistic.
[00:22:22.320 --> 00:22:24.960] Men are eight times more likely to achieve that.
[00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:26.000] Venture capital, right?
[00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.680] I'm going to go build a fintech.
[00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:33.680] Less than currently 2023, less than 3% of capital goes to women founders.
[00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:38.000] Less than 1%, it's in the decimals, goes to minority founders.
[00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:43.520] What was I even thinking trying to go raise capital out of Orlando, Florida, not even Silicon Valley, right?
[00:22:43.840 --> 00:22:48.480] And so I think there's a naivete when you're young, and I think it's beautiful.
[00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:50.720] I think that it's the most amazing thing.
[00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:55.200] Like I even think about parenting, like, oh my God, now if I knew all the things that I knew, right?
[00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:04.360] When we're young and doing the things, I think that having a little bit of not knowing what's on the other side is actually really beautiful too.
[00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:05.560] Like embrace that.
[00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:14.680] Now that I know I'm building second time again and I'm building from experience, which means I can catapult faster and do things differently, but I also know what's ahead.
[00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:16.680] I loved when I didn't know what was coming.
[00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:19.560] So I didn't know that I could go build that billion dollar business.
[00:23:19.560 --> 00:23:24.120] And all I did was focus on putting one step, one foot in front of the other every day.
[00:23:24.120 --> 00:23:25.800] I showed up for a job.
[00:23:25.800 --> 00:23:29.480] I always say this, that was harder than the one I had yesterday.
[00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:32.120] Every day I had a job that was harder because the company was growing.
[00:23:32.120 --> 00:23:33.720] Something else was happening.
[00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:39.000] That's a pretty cool place to be in from a young growth perspective.
[00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:43.800] So if you enjoy that, then entrepreneurship is for you because it doesn't get easier.
[00:23:43.800 --> 00:23:46.440] You get better, but it doesn't get easier.
[00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:59.080] I actually think what you said makes a lot of sense that at that time, there was a sense of you didn't have the pressure of the success story that social media puts around you.
[00:23:59.080 --> 00:24:06.280] And so now it's like everyone thinks to themselves, I have to build a million dollar, billion dollar business.
[00:24:06.280 --> 00:24:14.120] And as soon as you say that, it's so hard because it's such a long journey to get there that it's such an overwhelming mountain.
[00:24:14.120 --> 00:24:18.120] And it's almost like you're standing at the base of a mountain and it looks so high.
[00:24:18.120 --> 00:24:21.000] And you're just like, how am I ever going to get to the top?
[00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:30.920] And I remember the same, like when we launched our podcast, I didn't have a number of downloads I was trying to reach or I didn't have a number of followers that I was like, oh, this would be success.
[00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:32.280] It was like, this is what I love.
[00:24:32.280 --> 00:24:34.040] This is the stories I want to tell.
[00:24:34.040 --> 00:24:36.360] This is how we want to serve our community.
[00:24:36.360 --> 00:24:37.960] This is the experience we want to build.
[00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:39.560] And that's how we started.
[00:24:39.560 --> 00:24:43.400] And then, of course, everything got more strategic as we developed and we learned more and everything.
[00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:45.000] But I didn't have that pressure on day one.
[00:24:45.120 --> 00:24:48.160] And I think if I did, I may never have put out a video.
[00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:58.480] I would never have put out a piece of content because it was going to be years or months or days until you actually reached this false goal you set yourself.
[00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:05.840] So when you're starting out, how do you set goals that are empowering and not dehabilitating?
[00:25:05.840 --> 00:25:09.600] Because I see a lot of founders setting very dehabilitating goals.
[00:25:09.600 --> 00:25:14.160] I think the goals have to be in line with why are you doing what you're doing?
[00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:17.840] I think that the numerical success will come from it.
[00:25:17.840 --> 00:25:24.240] But if that's what you're defining as your goals up front, you're not going to like that's that's where the mountain gets really high.
[00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:30.960] Versus if you're really just showing up to go serve the five audience members that you were like, hey, I just want to do this podcast.
[00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:34.080] And I just, whoever listens, listens, like, this is what I want to do.
[00:25:34.080 --> 00:25:38.640] When I first started the business, I knew that there was a gap in what I was, what we were doing.
[00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:43.680] I literally sold the first 100 customers out of the trunk of my car.
[00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:46.320] This is when like payment terminals were like a real thing.
[00:25:46.320 --> 00:25:47.760] And I would carry them in my car.
[00:25:47.760 --> 00:25:50.400] I'd, I'd go around shopping plazas.
[00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:51.680] It was just a completely different world.
[00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:54.000] I had to go meet my customers where they were at.
[00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:57.920] And every day my goal was, I just want one person to say yes.
[00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:58.880] That was it.
[00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:00.000] That's a great goal.
[00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:00.480] That's it.
[00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:04.240] And so if, and I knew what I wanted to serve small business, I had such a passion.
[00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:06.080] I knew what I could help them with.
[00:26:06.080 --> 00:26:08.400] And so it's really important to stay focused on that.
[00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:09.120] And it's hard.
[00:26:09.120 --> 00:26:15.760] Like, I really, that empathy comes from a place because I find myself in that now because I think social media makes it really, really difficult.
[00:26:15.760 --> 00:26:20.480] We see living in this comparison culture, living in, it's hard not to when you see it.
[00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:21.440] You see, and it's nice.
[00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:25.360] It's also nice to see success because you're like, hey, that's possible for me.
[00:26:25.360 --> 00:26:27.600] There's an amazing truth in that.
[00:26:27.600 --> 00:26:31.480] And you should have, I have my, I make my vision board every year, right?
[00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:48.920] And if I'm not going to have big visions and big goals, like I do believe in the power of dreaming big, but you have to stay rooted in showing up for that one person or that one customer and building your product and solution set to really serve.
[00:26:48.920 --> 00:26:52.440] I think that that's where most of the most successful companies come from.
[00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:54.280] And that's why I love women in business.
[00:26:54.280 --> 00:27:05.240] Like I love, love meeting, and I get an opportunity with everything that I do with the podcast and CEO school to just meet and mentor so many women.
[00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:10.360] I never meet a woman who's just started the business or a business for the sake of it.
[00:27:10.360 --> 00:27:16.440] Every woman I meet is building a business because somebody wasn't solving something for their kids' school.
[00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:19.720] Somebody wasn't solving something for their industry.
[00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:24.200] There is a technology that they see this world in a different way that no one's solving for.
[00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:25.560] There's a greater purpose.
[00:27:25.560 --> 00:27:27.240] And she's the last one.
[00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:30.280] She's so exhausted from nobody solving it.
[00:27:30.280 --> 00:27:31.640] She's like, screw it.
[00:27:31.640 --> 00:27:32.360] I got to do it.
[00:27:32.360 --> 00:27:33.320] I got to do it.
[00:27:33.320 --> 00:27:36.120] And that's literally how women are starting businesses.
[00:27:36.120 --> 00:27:40.280] We're not first to raise our hands to say, oh, yeah, entrepreneurship is where we're at.
[00:27:40.280 --> 00:27:43.400] We're solving real problems because we really care.
[00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:48.840] And I think that's the empathetic part, the nurturing part, the problem-solving part of women.
[00:27:48.840 --> 00:27:55.480] And women actually end up becoming the most successful investments for venture capitalists.
[00:27:55.480 --> 00:28:01.080] Women actually end up becoming the most incredible leaders in organizations.
[00:28:01.080 --> 00:28:11.560] I do think that the world would look very, very different in the environment that we are in today if we had more, more women at the top across the world on a global standpoint.
[00:28:11.560 --> 00:28:14.800] So it is important because women build with purpose.
[00:28:14.360 --> 00:28:17.680] And I think that that's what you have to stay grounded in.
[00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:27.600] Nothing's going to take you there because when you talk about those goals, Jay, as soon as you start to reach, if it's just the goal, before you even get to the goal, you're raising the goal again.
[00:28:27.600 --> 00:28:30.160] Before you get to the next goal, you're raising that goal again.
[00:28:30.320 --> 00:28:31.520] You have to check yourself on that.
[00:28:31.520 --> 00:28:32.960] And I fell into that trap.
[00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:40.480] So once we started to get the success and we started to grow the business, our first year, we did 5 million in payments through our ecosystem.
[00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:42.640] Within year five, we did 5 billion.
[00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:43.840] It was real.
[00:28:43.840 --> 00:28:44.960] It was hard.
[00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:46.000] It was fast.
[00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:46.800] We were scaling.
[00:28:46.800 --> 00:28:47.840] We were growing.
[00:28:47.840 --> 00:28:57.360] And then I just became a product of living in this fintech boys club and defining success on everyone else's terms.
[00:28:57.360 --> 00:29:00.160] And I stopped checking in with what I actually want.
[00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:02.960] I stopped checking in with what my customers really wanted.
[00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:03.760] I stopped checking in.
[00:29:03.760 --> 00:29:08.560] I was just building because now there was this playbook of this tech playbook.
[00:29:08.560 --> 00:29:10.880] This is how we have, this is series A, B, C.
[00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:11.520] Here's what's next.
[00:29:11.520 --> 00:29:13.120] Here's how it's all about value.
[00:29:13.120 --> 00:29:13.840] It's all about this.
[00:29:13.840 --> 00:29:16.240] It's about acquisitions.
[00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:23.760] And I definitely have a lot of lessons from building in that way that I had to really check myself when we reached the top.
[00:29:23.760 --> 00:29:26.800] Don't just do, know where you want to go.
[00:29:26.800 --> 00:29:32.720] Whatever it is, you have to define what that end goal looks like so that you can work backwards.
[00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:36.960] Social media does a horrible job of showing us success.
[00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:39.920] There's not enough failures that are being shown.
[00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:44.240] I think you have to think about not what is the risk in doing it.
[00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:47.360] I think you have to think about what is the risk in not doing it.
[00:29:47.360 --> 00:29:59.520] The statistics you mentioned a couple of moments ago about the number of female founders, funding going to female founders, those are so alarming, and they're not even close to being good.
[00:29:59.520 --> 00:30:01.640] No, like they're so far behind.
[00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:09.080] What were some of the blocks and the barriers you saw for women that you had to learn to navigate?
[00:30:09.080 --> 00:30:11.880] And how would you encourage women who are in that space right now?
[00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:19.800] Because it can get so easy to get discouraged, it's so easy to become bitter, it's so easy to become completely disempowered.
[00:30:19.800 --> 00:30:24.760] And by the way, all of that would be extremely valid based on the statistics you just shared.
[00:30:24.760 --> 00:30:38.200] What did you learn that if you were like, here are three lessons, masterclasses, moments of navigation that I learned that helped me play the game and figure it out, as opposed to give up on the game and quit because it was too hard?
[00:30:38.200 --> 00:30:46.200] What would you say were the biggest three things that you were like, these three things taught me how to play the game, and I had to learn to navigate these in order to win in this world?
[00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:49.400] I would say the first thing is to build your network.
[00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:50.760] Like, that is the number one thing.
[00:30:50.760 --> 00:31:01.480] I think what has made the boys club so successful is they do business on the golf courses and through relationships and through this college and they went to this school and there is a network.
[00:31:01.480 --> 00:31:03.880] There is a boys club network.
[00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:06.120] We haven't had an opportunity to build a network.
[00:31:06.120 --> 00:31:10.600] We've only been in the workforce, you know, since the 1940s, 50s, since post-World War.
[00:31:10.600 --> 00:31:14.120] Like the business world has not been designed for women in mind.
[00:31:14.120 --> 00:31:18.840] And so it is important to start building that network immediately.
[00:31:18.840 --> 00:31:22.280] And so get out of the screen, get into the room.
[00:31:22.280 --> 00:31:29.080] So that's like the number one first piece of advice that I have for every woman building everywhere: build your network.
[00:31:29.080 --> 00:31:32.040] And the boys' club isn't bad, right?
[00:31:32.040 --> 00:31:36.200] And so find the right supporters, find the right allies.
[00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:41.720] And so I had the most incredible, I had two male co-founders, my brother and my other brother.
[00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:47.680] And so we built alongside, and I had the most amazing mentors, male mentors that had been there, done that.
[00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:53.680] And so I do think that you have to find the right men around you for support as well.
[00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:56.080] So seek allies and ask for help.
[00:31:56.080 --> 00:31:56.720] Great point.
[00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:58.880] Because the world isn't one or the other.
[00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:00.160] People do want to help.
[00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:05.680] And I think as women, this goes back to like the number two is that we carry all of the burden.
[00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:07.840] We carry all of this extra mental pressure.
[00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:10.640] We carry all of this self-talk, the doubt.
[00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:15.440] And again, all valid, but we never were the last to ask for help.
[00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:17.120] We're always pouring into everyone.
[00:32:17.120 --> 00:32:18.640] I see this from my own mother.
[00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:19.920] I see this me as a mother.
[00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:24.000] I have to remind myself that I need to be poured into as well.
[00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:26.400] We're just, that's how our DNA is.
[00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:33.600] This is how we've been physically designed and built from our primitive years and days, you know, from the stone ages.
[00:32:33.600 --> 00:32:34.560] That's what our jobs were.
[00:32:34.560 --> 00:32:35.280] We're nurturers.
[00:32:35.280 --> 00:32:38.800] We're, we're part of, but we were part of the village, right?
[00:32:38.800 --> 00:32:41.520] We didn't have to do it alone in this world.
[00:32:41.760 --> 00:32:43.760] Why do we feel like we have to do it alone?
[00:32:43.760 --> 00:32:46.720] And so get comfortable with asking for help.
[00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:49.680] So getting those allies, super, super important.
[00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:55.440] Third piece of advice that I have for female founders is to do it anyway.
[00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:57.680] Like go for it anyway.
[00:32:57.680 --> 00:32:59.920] And so there's going to be a lot of noise.
[00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:02.640] There's going to be a lot of people that are going to doubt you.
[00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:09.040] Every time you're going to step into a room, there's going to be somebody, and I've experienced this in every room that I've been in.
[00:33:09.040 --> 00:33:17.360] I can name countless stories of the misogyny, of the sexism, of the racism, and even the ageism, right?
[00:33:17.360 --> 00:33:19.280] Like even being young, you're doubted.
[00:33:19.280 --> 00:33:26.640] I can think of my first CEO conference when I got investors, was, you know, venture-backed, you know, and it's not anyone's fault.
[00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:29.120] It's just I was the first portfolio company that was founded.
[00:33:29.120 --> 00:33:30.840] Like that was a female-founded portfolio company.
[00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:38.840] And I arrived to this conference, and every CEO walking in through the door stopped me and was like, Hey, where's the event?
[00:33:38.840 --> 00:33:40.440] Hey, where do I get my name badge?
[00:33:40.440 --> 00:33:41.160] Hey, where do I get?
[00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:50.680] They just assumed that I was like the event manager until you know one of the LPs was like, I'm welcoming our newest portfolio CEO, Sonira, and their faces, right?
[00:33:50.680 --> 00:33:54.600] And so just ignore it as best as you can.
[00:33:54.600 --> 00:34:00.040] And you just have to keep showing up in those rooms and be authentically you, right?
[00:34:00.040 --> 00:34:09.400] I think that's if I like, that's the third piece of advice: it took me so long to get comfortable with fully showing up as myself.
[00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:10.680] And I mean, it's not my fault.
[00:34:10.680 --> 00:34:12.040] I had to put on a lot of armor.
[00:34:12.040 --> 00:34:14.920] I was one of the only women in the boys' club.
[00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:17.880] And there's so many stories of how I would show up.
[00:34:17.880 --> 00:34:19.800] I called myself a man in a skirt.
[00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:24.600] So, like, how I would dress, I could not eat another steak at a steakhouse.
[00:34:24.600 --> 00:34:27.720] Like, it was like I was doing all the things to fit in.
[00:34:27.720 --> 00:34:28.520] And that's natural.
[00:34:28.520 --> 00:34:29.640] That's human tendency.
[00:34:29.640 --> 00:34:31.080] You want to be part of the club.
[00:34:31.080 --> 00:34:33.240] So I'm not going to disrupt the norm.
[00:34:33.560 --> 00:34:45.320] But, you know, I think that where the change really happened for me was standing up to my board and to the team and being comfortable and leading the way that as Sonera that came later for me.
[00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:46.680] And it came through confidence, right?
[00:34:46.680 --> 00:34:51.160] It came through like doing it and finding the courage to be confident in my own ability.
[00:34:51.160 --> 00:34:52.840] But I wish I found that sooner.
[00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:59.000] So my third piece of advice is to just do it anyway, show up in the rooms and show up as you.
[00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:00.920] You don't have to be a man in a skirt.
[00:35:00.920 --> 00:35:02.760] Like be exactly how you are.
[00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:05.880] And I think that the world is, I think it's changing, Jay.
[00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:08.120] So I think it is, it's getting better.
[00:35:08.120 --> 00:35:09.560] The statistics aren't there.
[00:35:09.560 --> 00:35:11.320] And I've got thoughts on why the stats aren't there.
[00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:14.520] And it's like it's because we're not holding institutions accountable.
[00:35:14.520 --> 00:35:16.320] There is an accountability component.
[00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:19.360] Shit does not change unless you hold somebody accountable to it.
[00:35:19.680 --> 00:35:23.040] So venture capitalists, you know, where is the funding going?
[00:35:23.040 --> 00:35:29.040] Why aren't we mandating that at least percentages of these funds go towards women-owned businesses?
[00:35:29.040 --> 00:35:32.720] Lending, banking, that's exactly why we're building worth again.
[00:35:32.720 --> 00:35:35.360] I did not want to go be a serial entrepreneur.
[00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:44.000] I am exhausted of building businesses, but there isn't an equitable landscape, and we have to hold institutions accountable as well.
[00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:53.680] And so I'm trying to do that by standardizing the business credit score and holding institutions accountable for equitable lending and for an equitable financial ecosystem.
[00:35:53.680 --> 00:35:59.440] But I think that those things have to change as well as our consumer behavior, as well as so many things.
[00:35:59.600 --> 00:36:01.600] There's so many things that have to change.
[00:36:01.600 --> 00:36:04.960] And I do believe that the dialogue is happening, which is important.
[00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:06.320] That's where it starts.
[00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:09.040] But action comes from doing.
[00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:11.520] And so that's going to be the next big step.
[00:36:11.520 --> 00:36:16.880] And I'm really curious to see how we're going to do that in, you know, in my generation.
[00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:18.320] I want my daughter's generations.
[00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:23.680] I want my kids to, I have two daughters for them to grow up in a world that they can be and do.
[00:36:23.680 --> 00:36:27.200] And right now they have no concept just like I did, right?
[00:36:27.200 --> 00:36:28.960] And so I'm raising them in the same way.
[00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:36.000] And they're so strong and so independent and so cool and so different and all the things.
[00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:48.240] And I hope that that continues, like they can always continue to be themselves and have that positive dialogue, not just from me as a parent, but from their own self, because the world hopefully looks different for them.
[00:36:48.240 --> 00:36:49.760] Yeah, no, great, great advice.
[00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.880] And you reminded me of a story I heard when I was in England.
[00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:59.760] I heard the speaker talking about, and I may get the date wrong, but I think she built a big tech company in the 80s in England.
[00:37:00.040 --> 00:37:10.920] She talked about how when she started out, she used to call other CEOs and she'd pretend to be her own assistant.
[00:37:11.240 --> 00:37:14.440] And she'd say, I'm setting up a meeting for Steve Shirley.
[00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:16.520] Her name was Stephanie Shirley.
[00:37:16.520 --> 00:37:18.920] And she'd be like, hey, I'm calling on behalf of Steve Shirley.
[00:37:18.920 --> 00:37:20.920] Steve Shirley would love to come and meet you.
[00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:24.120] The person would book in the appointment and then she'd turn up as a woman.
[00:37:24.120 --> 00:37:25.400] And they'd be like, wait, how's your name, Steve?
[00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:28.600] She's like, oh, they go, I go by Steve because I'm Stephanie.
[00:37:28.600 --> 00:37:32.520] And her name became Steve Shirley because that's what she was known as.
[00:37:32.520 --> 00:37:33.960] And that's what it took.
[00:37:33.960 --> 00:37:43.160] And now I'm hoping times are changing and things are shifting, of course, drastically since then, but still that feeling of women feeling like, I have to go to a steakhouse.
[00:37:43.160 --> 00:37:44.680] Maybe I have to hang out here.
[00:37:44.680 --> 00:37:46.280] We're hoping culture's changing.
[00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:51.880] But if we're completely honest, if you didn't do those things, would you be successful today?
[00:37:51.880 --> 00:37:52.440] I don't know.
[00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:55.320] And yeah, no, it's, and it's such a valid point.
[00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:58.200] This is a conversation we're having with friends last night at dinner.
[00:37:58.200 --> 00:38:01.560] You know, a friend asked, what would I look back and do different?
[00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:04.440] And so many things is what I want to say, right?
[00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:05.880] Hindsight's 2020.
[00:38:05.880 --> 00:38:08.040] But the truth is nothing, right?
[00:38:08.040 --> 00:38:14.120] Because it took me to the next step and it took me to the next room and it took me to the next table and the next conversation.
[00:38:14.120 --> 00:38:21.800] And it made whatever decisions I made allowed me to, for me to get that, land that customer, to me to land that partnership and that investor.
[00:38:21.800 --> 00:38:25.560] And I do think that it is important not to lose yourself though.
[00:38:25.560 --> 00:38:33.320] And so although I was showing up at the steakhouse and at the things, like I would invite my counterparts to come like to see it from a different lens.
[00:38:33.320 --> 00:38:44.120] And I'm always like every one of like my investors, mentors, like they're all probably rolling their eyes laughing at like this is the typical scenario conversation is like how they can be better for us too.
[00:38:44.120 --> 00:38:45.520] I'm like, okay, next time instead.
[00:38:45.520 --> 00:38:50.240] And so the next year at that conference, my wonderful investor, and they're so incredible.
[00:38:50.240 --> 00:38:52.720] So it was not their intention to make me feel left out.
[00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:55.120] And it was a golf tournament on the second day.
[00:38:55.120 --> 00:38:57.440] Of course, it's a golf tournament on the second day.
[00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:01.520] And so they set me up at a spa appointment, which was so sweet of them.
[00:39:01.520 --> 00:39:03.200] But I'm not here to go to the spa.
[00:39:03.200 --> 00:39:05.920] I'm here to network with other CEOs and get business done.
[00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:06.400] Right.
[00:39:06.400 --> 00:39:09.200] And so I ended up just writing the golf carts, right?
[00:39:09.200 --> 00:39:12.400] And I ended up writing the golf carts and we had such a great time.
[00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:16.240] And like by the end of it, you know, next year they're like, what should we do different?
[00:39:16.240 --> 00:39:16.960] And I'm like, nothing.
[00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:18.720] Just invite me to the golf course.
[00:39:18.720 --> 00:39:19.040] Right.
[00:39:19.040 --> 00:39:20.640] And maybe I'm not going to golf.
[00:39:20.640 --> 00:39:22.560] And maybe I may leave early from a dinner.
[00:39:22.560 --> 00:39:26.800] Maybe I won't stay overnight at a conference because I've got my kids to go like to get home to.
[00:39:27.120 --> 00:39:30.240] But I want to be invited to the, like, I want to just be part of the thing.
[00:39:30.240 --> 00:39:33.520] I don't want to have this like curated extra experience.
[00:39:33.520 --> 00:39:38.480] And so I'd always invite them, like, they would invite me back into that conversation of what they could do better.
[00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:41.360] But I don't think if I voiced it, they wouldn't have known.
[00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:44.960] If I just went to the spa, didn't say anything, right?
[00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:50.320] And so I do think that that's where I was, you know, the early parts of having your voice heard is important.
[00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:54.480] You can't make change if you're not going to express those ideas.
[00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:56.880] So you have to get comfortable and it's hard.
[00:39:56.880 --> 00:39:58.320] I know it's so much easier said.
[00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:00.640] It takes courage to do that.
[00:40:00.640 --> 00:40:10.240] But I think if you do it in a way that's kind and if you do it in a way that's loving and if you do it in a way that's empathetic and it's not belittling and it's not, oh, you made me feel.
[00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:11.600] It's not you language.
[00:40:11.600 --> 00:40:13.920] It's, I'm really excited for this.
[00:40:13.920 --> 00:40:17.120] And I see a lot of good in people.
[00:40:17.120 --> 00:40:29.240] And even though I faced a lot of the things that I faced, I knew that very, very few times where I felt that I was malicious or intentional, but most of the time it wasn't.
[00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:30.360] They just don't know.
[00:40:29.200 --> 00:40:31.720] They just don't know.
[00:40:32.040 --> 00:40:40.040] And so I think if you invite people into a proactive conversation, a co-created conversation, that change can happen that way.
[00:40:40.040 --> 00:40:44.760] And that's how I was able to navigate the boys' club once, doing it again.
[00:40:44.760 --> 00:40:49.240] I mean, finding it still hasn't like the fintech space is different.
[00:40:49.240 --> 00:40:54.680] But I do think that we can co-create a more beautiful experience for all.
[00:40:54.680 --> 00:41:01.160] Yeah, no, thank you for being so honest as well, because I think it's like you said, it's been 10 years and it still hasn't changed drastically.
[00:41:01.160 --> 00:41:08.280] It's changed a little bit, but your ability to deal with it positively and proactively has helped you move along.
[00:41:08.280 --> 00:41:11.720] And one of the things you did, and you said to me, like, you built your business with family.
[00:41:11.720 --> 00:41:12.360] Yeah.
[00:41:12.360 --> 00:41:15.720] And that's rare, I feel, as well in this day and age.
[00:41:15.720 --> 00:41:20.040] I feel like there were companies like a century ago, which were family-built, family-owned.
[00:41:20.040 --> 00:41:22.120] They passed it down through generations.
[00:41:22.120 --> 00:41:24.120] Family-built businesses are more rare now.
[00:41:24.120 --> 00:41:30.840] And I've even had a lot of friends and family members that I know that have built things with their friends, investments, companies.
[00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:33.320] And at some point, there's a breakoff.
[00:41:33.320 --> 00:41:35.560] There's a breakdown in communication.
[00:41:35.560 --> 00:41:38.840] There's potentially distance that's created.
[00:41:38.840 --> 00:41:46.200] And I think people can sometimes be quite naive and trusting when they go into family-based or friend-based businesses.
[00:41:46.200 --> 00:41:50.600] And at some point, the friendship kind of changes because of money.
[00:41:50.600 --> 00:41:52.600] The family falls out over money.
[00:41:52.600 --> 00:41:58.440] Generally, money seems to be this force that has the power to break some of the deepest bonds.
[00:41:58.440 --> 00:42:13.960] As someone who's built a successful relationship with their family and built a business at the same time, what three warnings or cautions or clarifications would you put into place for anyone listening right now thinking, I'm starting this with my friend.
[00:42:13.960 --> 00:42:14.600] I'm super excited.
[00:42:14.600 --> 00:42:15.280] We love each other.
[00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:16.160] We don't need anything.
[00:42:16.160 --> 00:42:17.360] Contracts, forget it.
[00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:20.320] Or someone with their family is just like, of course, I trust my family.
[00:42:20.640 --> 00:42:25.360] What would you be three things you'd lay out for them to say, here's how to get it right, and here's what we did?
[00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:26.880] It's definitely very rare.
[00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:35.280] So I, and I've seen it with my own friends firsthand of what you're saying is so true because you go into it with that level of trust, that excitement.
[00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:42.880] With my brother, when he came into the business a year after, almost a year after, he was supporting me on a back end.
[00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:46.400] And then when things really started taking, like, taking off, I needed help.
[00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:47.040] I needed to grow.
[00:42:47.040 --> 00:42:48.800] And he was an expert in different things.
[00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:53.280] And I think advice number one is don't just partner up for the sake of partnering up.
[00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:55.440] We definitely had so much trust.
[00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:57.200] I mean, we have the same DNA, right?
[00:42:57.200 --> 00:42:58.880] Like there's like same value system.
[00:42:59.200 --> 00:43:05.680] Like there's nobody in my life that has gone through almost every life experience with me than my brother.
[00:43:05.680 --> 00:43:09.760] Like that's such a cool bond as siblings that you get to have, right?
[00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:13.680] They really understand all of the craziness, the family stuff.
[00:43:14.080 --> 00:43:20.080] They're really your, you know, the other half of you in a different way in your, the primary part of your growing up.
[00:43:20.080 --> 00:43:21.600] So we had so much trust.
[00:43:21.600 --> 00:43:24.320] Everything that made me great made him great.
[00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:28.720] Everything that, you know, would be things that maybe messed us up, messed him up, right?
[00:43:28.720 --> 00:43:33.600] So we had this true bond, but he was different in his skill set.
[00:43:33.600 --> 00:43:42.480] I had really strong strength in people and brand and marketing and just the ability to inspire and get talent and drive.
[00:43:42.640 --> 00:43:45.040] He was so great at sales and operations.
[00:43:45.040 --> 00:43:47.440] And that was the skill set that I needed.
[00:43:47.440 --> 00:43:52.000] And so I think advice number one is stay in your lanes.
[00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:57.200] So I think where what happens is like when you're, you know, in each other's lanes, that's where it becomes tough.
[00:43:57.200 --> 00:44:00.520] So having clear roles and responsibilities.
[00:43:59.840 --> 00:44:02.440] And then that's where the trust component comes in.
[00:44:02.520 --> 00:44:08.520] Because if you really trust each other, then you have to let them run it the way that they would run it.
[00:44:08.520 --> 00:44:13.080] And they have to trust you in running that lane the way that I would, like that you're going to run it.
[00:44:13.080 --> 00:44:16.040] And so I think that that's number one: to divide and conquer.
[00:44:16.040 --> 00:44:18.280] Number two, you brought up money.
[00:44:18.280 --> 00:44:21.080] Money is, it's tough, right?
[00:44:21.080 --> 00:44:27.000] And so in it, that is truly what has, I've seen broken families and relationships.
[00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:37.000] And one thing that, you know, when Sal came on board, I could have maybe offered a different equity stake, or when we were like trying to figure out how we're going to do this.
[00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:38.840] And it was 50-50.
[00:44:38.840 --> 00:44:40.040] It wasn't even a question.
[00:44:40.040 --> 00:44:50.840] And even though I was started, like, started the company first, whatever it was, but I knew that I never wanted money to be our relationship is the most important thing.
[00:44:51.160 --> 00:44:53.960] And so I never wanted to build, like, what if the business is going to fail?
[00:44:53.960 --> 00:44:54.680] We're going to have success.
[00:44:54.680 --> 00:44:55.240] We're going to fail.
[00:44:55.240 --> 00:44:58.840] We're going to, I didn't know what was going to be the outcome, but family is forever.
[00:44:58.840 --> 00:45:00.440] Like, I didn't want to ruin that.
[00:45:00.440 --> 00:45:03.800] And so to avoid not letting money come in the way.
[00:45:03.800 --> 00:45:09.960] And I know this isn't practical for many people, but that was the reason why it was 50-50.
[00:45:09.960 --> 00:45:12.600] I got 2% more because I'm two years older.
[00:45:12.600 --> 00:45:14.440] So older sister and all like that.
[00:45:15.720 --> 00:45:16.440] That was the deal.
[00:45:16.440 --> 00:45:19.240] And actually, this company now we're building again together.
[00:45:19.240 --> 00:45:21.800] And this time he has 2% more to make life fair.
[00:45:22.520 --> 00:45:22.920] Yeah.
[00:45:22.920 --> 00:45:29.480] So, but we came from a place, and what that allowed, it wasn't about me feeling great or him feeling great.
[00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:32.120] We both came from a sense of partnership.
[00:45:32.120 --> 00:45:51.920] And so, every decision that you make, and whether that's with your friend or with your spouse or whoever you're doing, a business partner that you're doing business with, if you guys are coming at it from this same equitable lens, then you know that like there's that extra level of trust because there isn't any other gain or benefit for Sal or for myself.
[00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:55.120] We're always coming at it for the same outcome.
[00:45:55.120 --> 00:46:00.080] And I know that's not perfect for all kinds of businesses, but it's all about value, right?
[00:46:00.080 --> 00:46:03.600] Where there's not that disconnect is when someone doesn't feel their value.
[00:46:03.600 --> 00:46:08.960] And so, really sitting down and understanding the value component of it, it's super critical.
[00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:14.160] And then, just advice that it is important to talk about what happens if it doesn't go well, right?
[00:46:14.160 --> 00:46:22.960] So, to have that conversation, have that conversation and to have things in place to say, if it doesn't go well, here's how we're going to solve through it.
[00:46:22.960 --> 00:46:25.520] But I think it's not just having the end in mind.
[00:46:25.520 --> 00:46:27.920] We actually never signed a like a contract.
[00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:30.400] So, that's actually, I'm giving the advice.
[00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:32.160] I never took the advice.
[00:46:32.160 --> 00:46:40.320] And I will say, what did get us through it is any business partnership, business is personal, like period.
[00:46:40.320 --> 00:46:41.600] It's a relationship.
[00:46:41.600 --> 00:46:44.640] I mean, you are the guru of relationship advice.
[00:46:44.640 --> 00:46:46.960] Like, it is, you have to nurture this relationship.
[00:46:46.960 --> 00:46:48.800] You have to spend time in this relationship.
[00:46:48.800 --> 00:46:53.760] It's a relation, you have to ensure that the other person is feeling seen, heard, valued.
[00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:58.080] And you've got to ensure that there's strong communication in the relationship.
[00:46:58.080 --> 00:47:00.960] So, Sal and I, we're siblings.
[00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:04.400] We fight more than any, like it is nonstop.
[00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:08.160] Like, I disagree with him a hundred times a day, a hundred times a day.
[00:47:08.160 --> 00:47:13.680] But we also make up very quickly because the way that I talk to my brother, there's probably nobody in the world I could ever talk to.
[00:47:13.680 --> 00:47:16.240] That is like, it's just how siblings work.
[00:47:16.240 --> 00:47:21.520] But we have a great level of communication, and we got an incredible coach to support us.
[00:47:21.520 --> 00:47:25.200] We had almost like a therapist, a business therapist, because that's what this is.
[00:47:25.200 --> 00:47:26.480] It's a relationship.
[00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:28.160] And so, I think it's never too early.
[00:47:28.160 --> 00:47:34.760] So, if you do have a partnership, to have a third party that you can communicate, just like couples therapy, right?
[00:47:34.760 --> 00:47:41.800] That you can go to and you're like, we're both committed to making this work, but it's so annoying when she does this, or it's so annoying when he does that.
[00:47:41.800 --> 00:47:50.840] And so it's not coming from a lens of me against him and that there's like a third party there that's been super helpful and just building upon that communication.
[00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:52.840] So trust is super important.
[00:47:52.840 --> 00:47:57.800] And that communication, it's where it goes wrong is when you start brushing it under the rug, right?
[00:47:57.800 --> 00:48:00.120] When you're like, that's where resentment forms.
[00:48:00.120 --> 00:48:04.200] Where relationships fail, business relationships, personal relationships, it's resentment.
[00:48:04.200 --> 00:48:05.560] We don't talk about it.
[00:48:05.560 --> 00:48:07.320] We're not addressing it.
[00:48:08.200 --> 00:48:10.280] We're not finding a solution for it.
[00:48:10.280 --> 00:48:14.040] And then the next time it happens, you're like, oh, remember that last time that that happened?
[00:48:14.040 --> 00:48:14.520] Remember that?
[00:48:14.600 --> 00:48:18.040] So like all of this triangulation, that negative conversation.
[00:48:18.040 --> 00:48:20.040] I'm a huge believer.
[00:48:20.040 --> 00:48:23.080] I'm like always hard on my sleeve, always.
[00:48:23.080 --> 00:48:24.520] And so that's what's worked.
[00:48:24.520 --> 00:48:26.840] Just be honest and have those conversations.
[00:48:26.840 --> 00:48:29.720] And if you need help, then get that third person involved.
[00:48:29.720 --> 00:48:31.960] But that's been what's worked really well for us.
[00:48:31.960 --> 00:48:36.520] I think there's something to be said for relationships where you already have a deep understanding of each other.
[00:48:36.520 --> 00:48:46.600] When Radhi and I started Juni together, which is our tea company, it was so much about leaning into each other's strengths and trusting each other with what we knew.
[00:48:46.600 --> 00:48:49.640] So I know that Radhi deeply understands flavor profile.
[00:48:49.640 --> 00:48:51.400] She really understands ingredients.
[00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:53.240] She knows what's good for people's health.
[00:48:53.240 --> 00:48:54.680] She's, that's her world.
[00:48:54.680 --> 00:48:57.480] Like that's, that's what she's dedicated her life to.
[00:48:57.480 --> 00:48:58.360] She's a nutritionist.
[00:48:58.360 --> 00:48:59.560] She's a dietitian.
[00:48:59.560 --> 00:49:01.560] She has a background in that.
[00:49:01.560 --> 00:49:03.960] And so I can trust her with that.
[00:49:03.960 --> 00:49:05.800] And then I love storytelling.
[00:49:05.800 --> 00:49:06.600] I love symbolism.
[00:49:06.600 --> 00:49:07.480] I love aesthetics.
[00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:08.840] Like that's, that's my world.
[00:49:08.840 --> 00:49:13.000] And I love the idea of how something can become a part of someone's routine.
[00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:17.600] And, you know, we have a junior for the morning and a junior for the evening and a junior for midday pick-me-up.
[00:49:14.680 --> 00:49:21.680] And I understand how people need to use products in order to feel better.
[00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:27.520] And when there's that trust and that understanding, now it's like, okay, we don't need to tread on each other's toes.
[00:49:27.520 --> 00:49:33.200] But we'd been together for probably like nine, ten years when we started something together.
[00:49:33.200 --> 00:49:34.960] So there's such a deep understanding.
[00:49:34.960 --> 00:49:39.120] Whereas if we started it in year one, chances are it would have been a lot more difficult.
[00:49:39.120 --> 00:49:52.880] And so I think if you are building something with someone you know, if you know them well enough, it's more likely to be effective as opposed to like, oh, we just hit it off and we kind of got some chemistry and then, you know, you don't really know them well enough.
[00:49:59.920 --> 00:50:03.520] This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
[00:50:03.520 --> 00:50:08.400] Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash?
[00:50:08.400 --> 00:50:14.160] Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies.
[00:50:14.160 --> 00:50:16.480] Try it at progressive.com.
[00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:19.440] Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates.
[00:50:19.440 --> 00:50:21.280] Potential savings will vary.
[00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:23.360] Not available in all states.
[00:50:23.360 --> 00:50:27.760] You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday.
[00:50:27.760 --> 00:50:30.640] How can you find amazing candidates fast?
[00:50:30.640 --> 00:50:31.360] Easy.
[00:50:31.360 --> 00:50:32.880] Just use Indeed.
[00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:36.640] Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites.
[00:50:36.640 --> 00:50:44.480] With Indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster.
[00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:52.560] According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed have 45% more applications than non-sponsored jobs.
[00:50:52.560 --> 00:50:53.840] Don't wait any longer.
[00:50:53.840 --> 00:50:56.880] Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed.
[00:50:56.880 --> 00:51:07.880] And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com/slash P-O-D K-A-T-Z 13.
[00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:17.240] Just go to Indeed.com/slash PODKATZ13 right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.
[00:51:17.240 --> 00:51:18.680] Terms and conditions apply.
[00:51:18.680 --> 00:51:19.480] Hiring?
[00:51:19.480 --> 00:51:21.400] Indeed is all you need.

Prompt 2: Key Takeaways

Now please extract the key takeaways from the transcript content I provided.

Extract the most important key takeaways from this part of the conversation. Use a single sentence statement (the key takeaway) rather than milquetoast descriptions like "the hosts discuss...". 

Limit the key takeaways to a maximum of 3. The key takeaways should be insightful and knowledge-additive. 

IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON, no explanations or markdown. Ensure:
- All strings are properly quoted and escaped
- No trailing commas
- All braces and brackets are balanced
Format: {"key_takeaways": ["takeaway 1", "takeaway 2"]}

Prompt 3: Segments

Now identify 2-4 distinct topical segments from this part of the conversation.

For each segment, identify:
- Descriptive title (3-6 words)  
- START timestamp when this topic begins (HH:MM:SS format)
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Most important Key takeaway from that segment. Key takeaway must be specific and knowledge-additive.
- Brief summary of the discussion

IMPORTANT: The timestamp should mark when the topic/segment STARTS, not a range. Look for topic transitions and conversation shifts.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted, no trailing commas:
{
  "segments": [
    {
      "segment_title": "Topic Discussion", 
      "timestamp": "01:15:30",
      "key_takeaway": "main point from this segment",
      "segment_summary": "brief description of what was discussed"
    }
  ]
}

Timestamp format: HH:MM:SS (e.g., 00:05:30, 01:22:45) marking the START of each segment.

Prompt 4: Media Mentions

Now scan the transcript content I provided for ACTUAL mentions of specific media titles:

Find explicit mentions of:
- Books (with specific titles)
- Movies (with specific titles)  
- TV Shows (with specific titles)
- Music/Songs (with specific titles)

DO NOT include:
- Websites, URLs, or web services
- Other podcasts or podcast names

IMPORTANT: 
- Only include items explicitly mentioned by name. Do not invent titles.
- Valid categories are: "Book", "Movie", "TV Show", "Music"
- Include the exact phrase where each item was mentioned
- Find the nearest proximate timestamp where it appears in the conversation
- THE TIMESTAMP OF THE MEDIA MENTION IS IMPORTANT - DO NOT INVENT TIMESTAMPS AND DO NOT MISATTRIBUTE TIMESTAMPS
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Timestamps are given as ranges, e.g. 01:13:42.520 --> 01:13:46.720. Use the EARLIER of the 2 timestamps in the range.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted and escaped, no trailing commas:
{
  "media_mentions": [
    {
      "title": "Exact Title as Mentioned",
      "category": "Book",
      "author_artist": "N/A",
      "context": "Brief context of why it was mentioned",
      "context_phrase": "The exact sentence or phrase where it was mentioned",
      "timestamp": "estimated time like 01:15:30"
    }
  ]
}

If no media is mentioned, return: {"media_mentions": []}

Full Transcript

[00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:07.200] A mochi moment from Mark, who writes, I just want to thank you for making GOP1s affordable.
[00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:12.240] What would have been over $1,000 a month is just $99 a month with Mochi.
[00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.640] Money shouldn't be a barrier to healthy weight.
[00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:17.920] Three months in, and I have smaller jeans and a bigger wallet.
[00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:19.120] You're the best.
[00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:20.240] Thanks, Mark.
[00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:23.120] I'm Myra Ameth, founder of Mochi Health.
[00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.040] To find your Mochi Moment, visit joinmochi.com.
[00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:30.400] Mark is a mochi member compensated for his story.
[00:00:30.400 --> 00:00:36.320] Monday Sidekick, the AI agent that knows you and your business, thinks ahead and takes action.
[00:00:36.400 --> 00:00:37.600] How's it anything?
[00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:38.560] Seriously.
[00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:41.760] Monday Sidekick, AI you'll love to use.
[00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:44.880] Start a free trial today on monday.com.
[00:00:46.160 --> 00:00:48.080] This is team.
[00:00:54.480 --> 00:01:01.840] Hi, I'm Sonara Madani, a mom of two, daughter of an immigrant, and an unlikely entrepreneur who built a billion-dollar business.
[00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:03.360] Yes, billion.
[00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:06.880] Now I'm doing it again and building my second unicorn, work.
[00:01:07.440 --> 00:01:14.320] Shockingly, less than 2% of female founders ever reach $1 million in revenue, and I'm on a mission to change that.
[00:01:14.320 --> 00:01:20.480] At CEO School, we mentor thousands of women to help them level up in business and in life.
[00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:26.640] We believe that you deserve to have it all because honestly, nothing bad happens when women make more money.
[00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:27.360] More money.
[00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:30.480] Grab a seat because class is officially in session.
[00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:33.040] Welcome to CEO School.
[00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:40.640] You are a self-proclaimed, highly caffeinated time hacker.
[00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:43.440] And I was like, my team and everyone's like, we want to be that.
[00:01:43.440 --> 00:01:44.720] Tell us what that means.
[00:01:44.720 --> 00:01:52.480] Oh, I've gotten so much more calm in the last several years, but I'm definitely highly caffeinated, that's for sure.
[00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:59.960] I think productivity is something I've naturally just had to get better at as a CEO and especially as a working mother.
[00:01:59.520 --> 00:02:02.440] I have an eight-year-old daughter and a five-year-old daughter.
[00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:08.520] I've been building companies since I was 25 years old and had kids along the way.
[00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.400] And so, honestly, time is our most precious commodity.
[00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:16.600] And especially when you're a busy mom running business, you have to be really mindful of that.
[00:02:16.600 --> 00:02:21.000] And so, I feel like I've found every which way to time hack.
[00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.840] And I do think that I've a productivity expert for sure.
[00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:28.040] Okay, so we're going to need all of those tips and tools today, for sure.
[00:02:28.040 --> 00:02:34.840] I think there's a lot of our audience that really wants to know how to use their time more wisely, understand how to be more productive and effective.
[00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:37.560] But I want to start off by, actually, let's just dive into that.
[00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:38.440] Let's talk about that.
[00:02:38.440 --> 00:02:42.920] Like, what did you used to believe time management was?
[00:02:42.920 --> 00:02:50.280] And now, having been so effective for this many years, what have you now come to the conclusion that what time management actually is?
[00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:53.560] Freedom of dollar is what we all start to chase, right?
[00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:54.840] And there's nothing wrong with that.
[00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:59.560] There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting financial success for yourself, for your family.
[00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:05.080] And so, freedom of dollar is something that when I started my journey, that was one component of building the business.
[00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:07.560] But really, it became about freedom of time.
[00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:13.000] Even if you have that level of success with freedom of dollar, we still all have the same amount of time.
[00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:18.520] And so, it really is about that freedom of time and being able to enjoy the journey along the way.
[00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:23.160] I want to be able to do what I call the $1,000 tasks, not the $10 task.
[00:03:23.160 --> 00:03:27.320] And for me, a $1,000 task is when I get home, I want to cook with my family.
[00:03:27.320 --> 00:03:28.520] Can I outsource that?
[00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:29.080] Absolutely.
[00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:31.800] But that to me is not a $1,000 task.
[00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:34.360] That's a $10 task for some others.
[00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:41.080] But for me, spending time with my family is like the number one most important place where I'm trying to keep my time freedom.
[00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:44.200] It's really, really important that I think about tasks in that way.
[00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:45.520] It's something I really encourage.
[00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:49.680] I mentor so many women in business, and we have a lot of responsibility.
[00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.840] Like there is this extra layer of responsibility.
[00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:00.160] I'm not saying, I mean, I have such an incredible partner, such an incredible husband, and we co-parent, we do all the things.
[00:04:00.160 --> 00:04:05.600] But as a working mom, there's just that extra layer of a million things that have to get done.
[00:04:05.600 --> 00:04:08.800] As a CEO, everyone wants a piece of your time.
[00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:12.080] How you spend your time is, it's everything.
[00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:22.080] And so really thinking about what are your thousand dollar tasks and just focusing on those and everything else, finding a way to either delegate it or delete it.
[00:04:22.080 --> 00:04:24.160] Do we even like actually have to do it?
[00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:26.480] I have this process of like, do delegate, delete.
[00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.440] So every couple of weeks, I'll do a time audit.
[00:04:29.440 --> 00:04:30.320] I love this already, Beth.
[00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.040] Yeah, I do a time audit because your seasons are changing.
[00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:35.040] Like what you're doing right now, travel is insane.
[00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:36.400] Whatever else it is, do a time audit.
[00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:40.320] So we do a time audit and I take a look at how am I actually spending my time?
[00:04:40.320 --> 00:04:42.480] Is it, and I'm intentional about my time?
[00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:44.560] How do I want to spend my time?
[00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.520] And so if I see, you know, certain habits and certain things and I'm like, okay, no, this has to come off our plate.
[00:04:49.520 --> 00:04:50.880] This can be delegated off.
[00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:53.120] Am I spending too much time in one area?
[00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:59.360] This can apply to anyone at any point is to do a time audit and to take control back of it.
[00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:00.560] And it's also important.
[00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:04.000] I think when you ask the question of like, how do I view time now?
[00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:12.960] I used to have this mantra that I used to say every day because things are so crazy busy and running two companies, the podcast, the kids, all the stuff.
[00:05:12.960 --> 00:05:16.480] Every morning I'd wake up, Jay, and I'd say, I have all the time in the world.
[00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:17.600] I have all the time in the world.
[00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.040] I have all the time in the world.
[00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:20.000] But I didn't.
[00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.840] And I didn't believe it inside because I didn't have all the time in the world.
[00:05:23.840 --> 00:05:29.440] And now a lot has shifted where I actually do believe I have all the time in the world.
[00:05:29.440 --> 00:05:31.240] And that just comes with presence.
[00:05:29.760 --> 00:05:41.720] That just means that wherever I'm going to be, and I learned how to be really present in everything that I was in, I was in with such intention that I did have all the time in the world.
[00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:46.120] I think that those are some ways that have really shifted my perspective about time.
[00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:49.160] But I do think it's the most important commodity that we have.
[00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:53.880] It's the biggest gift that you can give yourself to everyone around you.
[00:05:53.880 --> 00:05:56.360] And I think the world is changing so fast.
[00:05:56.360 --> 00:06:06.840] We're such an on-demand, everything, everything is so speedy, everything coming at us from social media to life to work, everyone's life.
[00:06:06.840 --> 00:06:09.320] There's not, it's not a CEO's life that's busy.
[00:06:09.320 --> 00:06:12.920] Every single person that's probably listening feels exactly that feeling.
[00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:14.840] It's so busy.
[00:06:14.840 --> 00:06:17.560] But is it busy or is it full?
[00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:17.880] Right.
[00:06:17.880 --> 00:06:19.000] And that's the shift.
[00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:25.080] I was busy before and I learned how to make my life going from busy to intentionally full with purpose.
[00:06:25.080 --> 00:06:30.760] When you're coming up with criteria for do, delegate, delete, how do you decide?
[00:06:30.760 --> 00:06:37.160] Because I find that often, especially in the beginning, and I'm sure it was the same for you, and we'll get to that in a second.
[00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:40.120] But there's a feeling like I have to do everything.
[00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:43.240] And I probably have to because I can't afford to delegate.
[00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.160] You may not have a team in the beginning.
[00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:51.480] So when you start growing or when you start building, how do you find the ability to decide, okay, this is what I'm still going to do.
[00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:52.520] This is what I delegate.
[00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:53.720] This is what I delete.
[00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:59.640] Because often founders and startup owners or anyone will say to me, I think everything's important.
[00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.280] How do I decide what's important to do with my time?
[00:07:02.280 --> 00:07:04.120] It's one, understanding where you want to go.
[00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:08.920] So I think it starts with: don't just do, know where you want to go.
[00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:23.200] So if you know where you want to go, and this can be for your company, this can be for your personal goals, this can be for a hobby or an athletic goal, you have whatever it is, you have to define what that end goal looks like so that you can work backwards.
[00:07:23.200 --> 00:07:29.920] And I think that is an important part of even in business, especially as startups, you want to do all the things, but you just can't.
[00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.480] So it's really deciding what are the three things.
[00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.080] And I'm a huge believer in this, in the rule of three for everything.
[00:07:36.080 --> 00:07:37.600] I can't remember more than three things.
[00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:39.600] Like everything is about threes for me.
[00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:44.160] And so it's three goals for, let's say it's for the quarter, for the year.
[00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.640] How do we work backwards that that's the goal?
[00:07:46.640 --> 00:07:48.960] And then everything else is a delete.
[00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:49.760] It's a no.
[00:07:49.760 --> 00:07:58.800] And every day I look and I plan my needle movers is like in business is, you know, a very common term, but it's not just about getting everything done.
[00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:05.680] It's what are the three most important things that I'm going to get done that are going to be towards the goals that are going to get me there.
[00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:09.760] And so you have to start getting really comfortable with saying no.
[00:08:09.760 --> 00:08:13.680] You have to start getting comfortable with you not being the one to do it.
[00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.480] And even if you don't have a team, even if you don't have the resources, it starts with you, right?
[00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.120] You are the core nucleus of your company, of your life, of the things.
[00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:29.040] That DNA then breeds into the next, your first hire that you're going to do and the next hire that you're going to do.
[00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:35.120] And the job of a CEO is helping everyone prioritize.
[00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:37.120] Like that's my job every day.
[00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:39.040] My job is not to do the rowing.
[00:08:39.040 --> 00:08:46.160] So I think about, you know, in rowing club or like the coxswain that's at the front of the boat, his or her job is not actually to row.
[00:08:46.160 --> 00:08:50.560] It's to give direction, to cheer everyone on to make sure that we're going in the right direction.
[00:08:50.560 --> 00:08:52.880] He or she's not actually the one rowing.
[00:08:52.880 --> 00:08:56.880] And so your job is just to keep everyone rowing in the same direction and prioritizing.
[00:08:56.880 --> 00:09:01.400] And that's probably the hardest job as well: is what is priority, what you asked.
[00:09:01.400 --> 00:09:06.200] But if you don't know it, and if you're not in line with it, then your team's not going to be in line with it.
[00:08:59.680 --> 00:09:08.360] Your life is not going to be in line with it.
[00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:14.520] And this is something that I've realized that falls into like the CEO part and the life part.
[00:09:14.520 --> 00:09:15.240] Always both.
[00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:16.200] It's the same.
[00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:21.480] The thing that really hit me because I've been thinking a lot about this is the needle moving part.
[00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:27.160] Because often what we think of delegation or roles as, we also think, oh, someone else will take care of all the little stuff.
[00:09:27.160 --> 00:09:28.200] I'll do the big stuff.
[00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:33.880] And actually, you're then deprioritizing that person because you also want them to be doing needle-moving things.
[00:09:33.880 --> 00:09:46.680] And you may be doing bigger, larger, more long-term needle-moving things, but you don't want to be like, oh, I'm going to hand off all the little things to someone else to deal with because those little things may actually become a distraction to you and that individual.
[00:09:46.680 --> 00:09:52.680] So anyway, I want to go back to when you start thinking about building this billion-dollar empire.
[00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:59.560] And did you know the day you started Stacks that you wanted it to be a billion-dollar business?
[00:09:59.560 --> 00:10:03.160] I didn't know I could go build a million-dollar business, let alone a billion-dollar one.
[00:10:03.160 --> 00:10:03.720] I love hearing that.
[00:10:03.800 --> 00:10:04.440] That's great.
[00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:05.800] I had no idea.
[00:10:05.800 --> 00:10:10.200] I was 26 years old, no money in my bank account.
[00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:13.080] I was working for a financial services company.
[00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:15.080] I was the first person in my family to graduate college.
[00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:18.920] I grew up in the most incredible, incredible household.
[00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:21.080] I was getting my MBA without even knowing it.
[00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:23.160] So my parents were immigrants.
[00:10:23.160 --> 00:10:25.240] They came from Karachi, Pakistan.
[00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:27.880] I was born in Chicago, so I was first generation here.
[00:10:27.880 --> 00:10:29.080] We moved to Texas.
[00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:34.200] I went to 10 different schools in 12 years, which is an insane part of my story.
[00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:36.520] But it was the pursuit of the American dream.
[00:10:36.520 --> 00:10:43.120] And for my parents, it was about allowing us an opportunity to be anything we wanted to be, to get an education.
[00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:47.280] That is 100% every Indian, you know, Pakistani culture.
[00:10:47.280 --> 00:10:49.120] Like, education is so important.
[00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:50.560] So, I was a really great student.
[00:10:50.640 --> 00:10:53.840] I'm the firstborn, eldest daughter, all the things.
[00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:55.360] And I loved my childhood.
[00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.400] Like, I loved, you know, see my parents work really hard.
[00:10:58.400 --> 00:11:03.280] Everything wasn't perfect, but we had the best family values.
[00:11:03.280 --> 00:11:08.000] Like, I was surrounded by so much confidence around me.
[00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:15.520] My dad would wake me and my brother up every morning, and he was this like loud, energy, like four in the morning wake-up kind of guy.
[00:11:15.520 --> 00:11:19.920] Every morning, he'd wake us up and he'd say, Sonny, that's my nickname.
[00:11:19.920 --> 00:11:21.440] He'd say, You have it.
[00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:23.200] Like, that is what I grew up around.
[00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:26.320] Every single day, somebody telling you that you have it.
[00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:28.800] And it was the most annoying thing.
[00:11:28.800 --> 00:11:32.480] They're just our biggest champions, my brothers and I'm biggest champions.
[00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.280] And so, you carry that level of like responsibility.
[00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:38.240] You want to, you want to succeed, you want to do well.
[00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:44.080] And growing up in also a Muslim household, like I didn't feel at all like my gender.
[00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:45.600] Like, I was just the eldest kid.
[00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.080] And so, that meant that I got to do everything first.
[00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:52.560] Like, I never felt my gender until I went into the workforce.
[00:11:52.560 --> 00:11:53.600] Wow, that's yeah.
[00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:54.960] Not even in college.
[00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.920] In college, like, you know, I went to the University of Florida.
[00:11:57.920 --> 00:12:00.880] We had like three championships in my four years of college.
[00:12:00.880 --> 00:12:01.840] I studied abroad.
[00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:04.560] I did all of these amazing, cool things.
[00:12:04.560 --> 00:12:10.640] And then I get into the workforce and I saw that there were no women in any of the companies that I worked for.
[00:12:10.640 --> 00:12:12.560] I worked for three different companies.
[00:12:12.560 --> 00:12:19.360] And the only women that I saw working in the organizations, we were in either customer support or in admin roles.
[00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:20.640] There was nobody in technology.
[00:12:20.640 --> 00:12:24.560] There was nobody in anything else besides supporting roles.
[00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:27.440] And that was the first time that I was like, I'm different.
[00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:30.280] For the first time, I noticed my difference.
[00:12:30.280 --> 00:12:32.920] And I think it was that confidence.
[00:12:29.680 --> 00:12:34.760] I never had that negative self-talk.
[00:12:34.920 --> 00:12:42.200] And the self-talk actually started to get created at that point in my early 20s, but I never had that going into it.
[00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:44.200] And so I feel super grateful.
[00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:48.280] And I think that's how I try to parent as well: you can't overlove a kid.
[00:12:48.280 --> 00:12:51.720] Like, that's where the confidence comes from, especially for young girls.
[00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.840] Because in a world like today, no one is telling them.
[00:12:54.840 --> 00:13:06.440] And then their negative self-talk, because of how the world looks, because of the inequities that are plainly there, we start to form those conversations in our own head.
[00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:18.920] And so I'm so grateful that I had super cheerleaders that I didn't even know that I was rolling my eyes at that really carried me through where I was like, no, I am different and I do have it and I can see things differently.
[00:13:18.920 --> 00:13:20.680] So I was that bad employee.
[00:13:20.680 --> 00:13:23.320] I would challenge the status quo.
[00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:29.080] And then I had this really amazing idea to go start a subscription-based processing system.
[00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:34.600] And I took it back to my male bosses and I was pretty much laughed out of the room.
[00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:40.840] Like it was, you know, little girl, great ideas, but this is not going to work.
[00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:45.880] And so I came back home and I flew back from Houston to with family dinners.
[00:13:45.880 --> 00:13:49.080] That was always something we always were around food and family.
[00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:54.200] And my dad looks to me and, you know, so disappointed in how the conversation went.
[00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:57.560] And he said, Sonny, he goes, why don't you just go start the company?
[00:13:57.560 --> 00:13:59.240] And I said, Dad, where do I go find Mr.
[00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:00.200] Visa?
[00:14:00.680 --> 00:14:01.160] How?
[00:14:01.160 --> 00:14:02.040] I'm 25.
[00:14:02.040 --> 00:14:03.880] Like, where do I go build a fintech?
[00:14:03.880 --> 00:14:05.080] I don't have, I don't know.
[00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:06.520] And he said, you'll figure it out.
[00:14:06.520 --> 00:14:08.360] And so that's exactly what I did.
[00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:10.760] And I moved back into my parents' house.
[00:14:10.760 --> 00:14:13.960] And he's like, and if you don't, in six months, you'll get your MBA.
[00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:16.240] That was it.
[00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:16.640] That was it.
[00:14:16.640 --> 00:14:17.920] It was as easy as that.
[00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:24.400] For me, spending time with my family is like the number one most important place where I'm trying to keep my time freedom.
[00:14:24.400 --> 00:14:29.440] As a working mom, there's just that extra layer of a million things that have to get done.
[00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.480] How you spend your time is, it's everything.
[00:14:32.800 --> 00:14:34.480] Everyone's life is busy.
[00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:38.080] Every single person that's probably listening feels exactly that feeling.
[00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:42.960] It's so busy, but is it busy or is it full?
[00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:48.000] I loved what you said about the idea that you can't overlove someone.
[00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:49.280] Like, that's beautiful to hear.
[00:14:49.280 --> 00:14:53.280] And I always feel that my mom's love was like that for me.
[00:14:53.280 --> 00:14:55.680] I always grew up believing I was lovable.
[00:14:55.680 --> 00:15:03.280] My mom's love shielded me from so much of the other pain and stress and everything else I saw happening around me.
[00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:17.360] And a lot of what you just said about women, I see to be so true today because I've seen research and studies that show that if a man sees a job specification and can do less than half of it, he'll still apply.
[00:15:17.680 --> 00:15:24.880] And if a woman sees something and even if she can do 80% of it, she won't apply because she can't do the 20% remaining.
[00:15:24.880 --> 00:15:36.960] And so even when I talk to my male friends today, and I know a lot of their wives and partners and girlfriends and whatever else it may be, they all find that so many women are scared to go out there and start a company.
[00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:38.400] They're scared to take that risk.
[00:15:38.400 --> 00:15:45.840] They're fearful that they can't, or they're waiting till they have everything, like all their ducks in a row before they give themselves an opportunity.
[00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:53.840] How did early on in your life, your dad saying this repetitive statement to you, how did that not become a pressure?
[00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:56.000] And how did it feel empowering?
[00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:03.800] Because I feel that sometimes if you're told you've got it, you can do this, a lot of people see that as pressure and then they feel they can't live up to it.
[00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:06.840] What was different about the parenting aspect of that?
[00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:10.600] Because I think a lot of parents listening may take a lot from what your dad did, right?
[00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:12.520] I was always brought in on all the conversations.
[00:16:12.520 --> 00:16:23.800] I think something that my parents did, we had struggles and we had challenges and we had to move and we had to various businesses, but we were always at the dinner table having the hard conversations.
[00:16:23.800 --> 00:16:31.960] You know, if there were hard things that were, you know, taking place about money or about business or about family, we were solving problems together.
[00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:35.240] So my parents would always ask our perspective.
[00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.040] That is something that I do feel is very interesting.
[00:16:38.040 --> 00:16:43.640] Just as a child, I try to do that with my daughters at the dinner table now is to ask them like what they think.
[00:16:43.640 --> 00:16:47.560] So thinking about solutions versus, you know, how they would think about solving it.
[00:16:47.560 --> 00:16:51.960] So I feel like I was really involved in hearing my voice felt heard.
[00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:57.800] And I think that's important because as women, I do feel like we're, you know, our voice isn't heard.
[00:16:57.800 --> 00:17:01.800] And so I grew up in a place where my voice was not just heard, it was really valued.
[00:17:01.800 --> 00:17:03.560] And my perspective was valued.
[00:17:03.560 --> 00:17:06.040] And there's like so many memories that I can think of.
[00:17:06.040 --> 00:17:08.440] I had such an amazing, amazing childhood.
[00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:10.440] And I know a lot of people don't have that.
[00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:12.840] On my 17th birthday, this is really crazy.
[00:17:12.840 --> 00:17:16.600] So we went to Atlantic City for a Bollywood concert.
[00:17:16.600 --> 00:17:18.360] It was like a Charlotte Khan concert.
[00:17:18.360 --> 00:17:23.480] Then when they would come out and do the shows, we went to Atlantic City for this concert.
[00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:25.640] And, you know, there was a casino.
[00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:28.840] I'm not even of legal age to gamble.
[00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:31.000] And my dad takes me to the blackjack table.
[00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:31.320] Okay.
[00:17:31.320 --> 00:17:35.160] And he was an avid, like, he definitely had not the best habits as well.
[00:17:35.320 --> 00:17:38.280] And it's, and it's important to see, like, you can see both sides of your parents.
[00:17:38.280 --> 00:17:39.160] Things weren't perfect.
[00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:46.000] I look back and I think about mostly the positive, but sitting at this blackjack table, so I'm all dressed up to go to this concert.
[00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:47.040] I'm sitting next to him.
[00:17:47.040 --> 00:17:48.240] My parents were also really young.
[00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:49.440] They had me when they were like 20.
[00:17:49.760 --> 00:17:52.800] And so people are probably assuming I'm like his girlfriend or something.
[00:17:52.800 --> 00:17:59.200] And, you know, but I'm sitting at the blackjack table next to him and he hands me a pile of chips and he's like, bet.
[00:17:59.520 --> 00:18:02.640] And in my head, I'm like, well, how much is this?
[00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:04.720] Like, am I going to lose the money?
[00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.720] You know, what's the value?
[00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.520] And his response, he goes, just feel it.
[00:18:09.520 --> 00:18:11.920] He's like, if you feel like you're going to win, bet more.
[00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.640] If you feel like you're not going to win, pull back.
[00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:22.160] My ability to now take risks and listen to my gut and not worry about, you know, like scared money doesn't make money as well.
[00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:22.400] Right.
[00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:26.480] So my ability to be able to say, okay, I feel like I'm going to win.
[00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:32.400] I feel like look at looking at the hands or learning blackjack and I was great at math and I can get this concept.
[00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.520] That was one of my like a core memory that I can think of.
[00:18:35.520 --> 00:18:38.080] But I was always involved in the conversation.
[00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:44.000] I feel like it was more tactical with action, not just being told that you should go do this.
[00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.160] I definitely feel very blessed that I, that I did have that.
[00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:48.880] And now my mom lives literally across the street from me.
[00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:53.280] She's like one rock away and we get to, she gets to raise my kids with me.
[00:18:53.280 --> 00:18:54.400] So it's wonderful.
[00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:55.200] It's amazing.
[00:18:55.600 --> 00:19:02.320] When you go from pitching your idea to all of your bosses and they kind of look at you like, this is going to fail.
[00:19:02.320 --> 00:19:03.920] This isn't going to work.
[00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:06.320] And then obviously your dad gives you that encouraging statement.
[00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:08.080] You said that you moved back home then.
[00:19:08.080 --> 00:19:08.560] Yeah.
[00:19:08.560 --> 00:19:14.960] So I'm imagining that you were making a decent amount of money working at a financial services firm.
[00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:18.880] And when you choose to start a company, I'm guessing you took a massive pay here.
[00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:22.320] And I assume you were living out and then you moved back home.
[00:19:22.320 --> 00:19:31.960] Now, the reason why I'm pinpointing that moment is because I think those golden handcuffs that so many of us tie around ourselves with the safe corporate job.
[00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:40.680] And when you've got a great degree and you finally get that job you've been waiting to get for like 18 years of your life and everyone respects you for it.
[00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.160] It looks good on your LinkedIn and your resume.
[00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:48.200] I found so many people struggle at that point to say, well, I'm willing to take less money.
[00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:51.400] I'm willing to downgrade my lifestyle.
[00:19:51.400 --> 00:20:01.720] I'm willing to postpone and delay the gratification of having nice things because chances are if I live with my parents and I'm not making the money anymore, life changes.
[00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:18.600] Walk me through deeply that decision because I think for so many of our community listening and so many people that I mentor, coach, speak to, this seems to be one of the most pivotal moments of their life that were you willing to go two steps backwards in order to go five steps forward?
[00:20:18.600 --> 00:20:25.240] And so many of us are so scared to go two steps backwards because we've got so used to a certain level of lifestyle.
[00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:27.880] So walk us through that key decision point.
[00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:31.160] I actually ask myself, would I do it again?
[00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:36.440] And I think that it also depends on like it's the risk-taking ability, right?
[00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:38.840] It takes courage to take risk.
[00:20:38.840 --> 00:20:43.160] One of my favorite, most favorite books that I've recently read is Die with Zero.
[00:20:43.320 --> 00:20:44.920] It is such an incredible book.
[00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:50.600] It's this crazy concept of just taking risks and you have your golden years of your life.
[00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:53.720] Like we should be spending our money, doing our things in our prime.
[00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:55.160] And that makes complete sense.
[00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:59.880] And the risk tolerance that you can take also changes with your age.
[00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:05.880] Would I take these risks if I had two daughters at home and maybe if I was a sole breadwinner or where I don't know?
[00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:09.080] And so I can look back and say I didn't have much to lose.
[00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:10.360] It was a level of risk.
[00:21:10.360 --> 00:21:12.120] I had a steady job.
[00:21:12.120 --> 00:21:13.880] I was on a career path.
[00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:16.320] I could have totally miserably failed.
[00:21:16.320 --> 00:21:20.960] I think you have to think about not what is the risk in doing it.
[00:21:21.280 --> 00:21:24.640] I think you have to think about what is the risk in not doing it, right?
[00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:27.680] So what is the risk if you don't do the thing?
[00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:31.280] And that's kind of how I try to make those risky decisions today.
[00:21:31.280 --> 00:21:35.920] And I know we're going to talk more and this journey is going to come full circle in 10 years.
[00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:50.960] I left my company at the most record high of the company, but the risk of me staying was a detriment to my health and my burnout and my all the things that I had left to go accomplish.
[00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:55.280] And so it's really about the risk of not doing the action.
[00:21:55.280 --> 00:21:59.040] But at that time, I think it was, I was young and I could.
[00:21:59.040 --> 00:22:01.440] And you do have to take a step back.
[00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:06.880] And I would say, I think social media does a horrible job of showing us success.
[00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.200] There's so much saturation of success.
[00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.160] There's not enough failures that are being shown.
[00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:12.960] It's not enough.
[00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.200] It is hard to build a business.
[00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:19.920] You know, less than 2% of female founders ever even break a million in revenue.
[00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.320] That is the most insane statistic.
[00:22:22.320 --> 00:22:24.960] Men are eight times more likely to achieve that.
[00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:26.000] Venture capital, right?
[00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.680] I'm going to go build a fintech.
[00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:33.680] Less than currently 2023, less than 3% of capital goes to women founders.
[00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:38.000] Less than 1%, it's in the decimals, goes to minority founders.
[00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:43.520] What was I even thinking trying to go raise capital out of Orlando, Florida, not even Silicon Valley, right?
[00:22:43.840 --> 00:22:48.480] And so I think there's a naivete when you're young, and I think it's beautiful.
[00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:50.720] I think that it's the most amazing thing.
[00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:55.200] Like I even think about parenting, like, oh my God, now if I knew all the things that I knew, right?
[00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:04.360] When we're young and doing the things, I think that having a little bit of not knowing what's on the other side is actually really beautiful too.
[00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:05.560] Like embrace that.
[00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:14.680] Now that I know I'm building second time again and I'm building from experience, which means I can catapult faster and do things differently, but I also know what's ahead.
[00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:16.680] I loved when I didn't know what was coming.
[00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:19.560] So I didn't know that I could go build that billion dollar business.
[00:23:19.560 --> 00:23:24.120] And all I did was focus on putting one step, one foot in front of the other every day.
[00:23:24.120 --> 00:23:25.800] I showed up for a job.
[00:23:25.800 --> 00:23:29.480] I always say this, that was harder than the one I had yesterday.
[00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:32.120] Every day I had a job that was harder because the company was growing.
[00:23:32.120 --> 00:23:33.720] Something else was happening.
[00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:39.000] That's a pretty cool place to be in from a young growth perspective.
[00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:43.800] So if you enjoy that, then entrepreneurship is for you because it doesn't get easier.
[00:23:43.800 --> 00:23:46.440] You get better, but it doesn't get easier.
[00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:59.080] I actually think what you said makes a lot of sense that at that time, there was a sense of you didn't have the pressure of the success story that social media puts around you.
[00:23:59.080 --> 00:24:06.280] And so now it's like everyone thinks to themselves, I have to build a million dollar, billion dollar business.
[00:24:06.280 --> 00:24:14.120] And as soon as you say that, it's so hard because it's such a long journey to get there that it's such an overwhelming mountain.
[00:24:14.120 --> 00:24:18.120] And it's almost like you're standing at the base of a mountain and it looks so high.
[00:24:18.120 --> 00:24:21.000] And you're just like, how am I ever going to get to the top?
[00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:30.920] And I remember the same, like when we launched our podcast, I didn't have a number of downloads I was trying to reach or I didn't have a number of followers that I was like, oh, this would be success.
[00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:32.280] It was like, this is what I love.
[00:24:32.280 --> 00:24:34.040] This is the stories I want to tell.
[00:24:34.040 --> 00:24:36.360] This is how we want to serve our community.
[00:24:36.360 --> 00:24:37.960] This is the experience we want to build.
[00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:39.560] And that's how we started.
[00:24:39.560 --> 00:24:43.400] And then, of course, everything got more strategic as we developed and we learned more and everything.
[00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:45.000] But I didn't have that pressure on day one.
[00:24:45.120 --> 00:24:48.160] And I think if I did, I may never have put out a video.
[00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:58.480] I would never have put out a piece of content because it was going to be years or months or days until you actually reached this false goal you set yourself.
[00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:05.840] So when you're starting out, how do you set goals that are empowering and not dehabilitating?
[00:25:05.840 --> 00:25:09.600] Because I see a lot of founders setting very dehabilitating goals.
[00:25:09.600 --> 00:25:14.160] I think the goals have to be in line with why are you doing what you're doing?
[00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:17.840] I think that the numerical success will come from it.
[00:25:17.840 --> 00:25:24.240] But if that's what you're defining as your goals up front, you're not going to like that's that's where the mountain gets really high.
[00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:30.960] Versus if you're really just showing up to go serve the five audience members that you were like, hey, I just want to do this podcast.
[00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:34.080] And I just, whoever listens, listens, like, this is what I want to do.
[00:25:34.080 --> 00:25:38.640] When I first started the business, I knew that there was a gap in what I was, what we were doing.
[00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:43.680] I literally sold the first 100 customers out of the trunk of my car.
[00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:46.320] This is when like payment terminals were like a real thing.
[00:25:46.320 --> 00:25:47.760] And I would carry them in my car.
[00:25:47.760 --> 00:25:50.400] I'd, I'd go around shopping plazas.
[00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:51.680] It was just a completely different world.
[00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:54.000] I had to go meet my customers where they were at.
[00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:57.920] And every day my goal was, I just want one person to say yes.
[00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:58.880] That was it.
[00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:00.000] That's a great goal.
[00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:00.480] That's it.
[00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:04.240] And so if, and I knew what I wanted to serve small business, I had such a passion.
[00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:06.080] I knew what I could help them with.
[00:26:06.080 --> 00:26:08.400] And so it's really important to stay focused on that.
[00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:09.120] And it's hard.
[00:26:09.120 --> 00:26:15.760] Like, I really, that empathy comes from a place because I find myself in that now because I think social media makes it really, really difficult.
[00:26:15.760 --> 00:26:20.480] We see living in this comparison culture, living in, it's hard not to when you see it.
[00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:21.440] You see, and it's nice.
[00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:25.360] It's also nice to see success because you're like, hey, that's possible for me.
[00:26:25.360 --> 00:26:27.600] There's an amazing truth in that.
[00:26:27.600 --> 00:26:31.480] And you should have, I have my, I make my vision board every year, right?
[00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:48.920] And if I'm not going to have big visions and big goals, like I do believe in the power of dreaming big, but you have to stay rooted in showing up for that one person or that one customer and building your product and solution set to really serve.
[00:26:48.920 --> 00:26:52.440] I think that that's where most of the most successful companies come from.
[00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:54.280] And that's why I love women in business.
[00:26:54.280 --> 00:27:05.240] Like I love, love meeting, and I get an opportunity with everything that I do with the podcast and CEO school to just meet and mentor so many women.
[00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:10.360] I never meet a woman who's just started the business or a business for the sake of it.
[00:27:10.360 --> 00:27:16.440] Every woman I meet is building a business because somebody wasn't solving something for their kids' school.
[00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:19.720] Somebody wasn't solving something for their industry.
[00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:24.200] There is a technology that they see this world in a different way that no one's solving for.
[00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:25.560] There's a greater purpose.
[00:27:25.560 --> 00:27:27.240] And she's the last one.
[00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:30.280] She's so exhausted from nobody solving it.
[00:27:30.280 --> 00:27:31.640] She's like, screw it.
[00:27:31.640 --> 00:27:32.360] I got to do it.
[00:27:32.360 --> 00:27:33.320] I got to do it.
[00:27:33.320 --> 00:27:36.120] And that's literally how women are starting businesses.
[00:27:36.120 --> 00:27:40.280] We're not first to raise our hands to say, oh, yeah, entrepreneurship is where we're at.
[00:27:40.280 --> 00:27:43.400] We're solving real problems because we really care.
[00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:48.840] And I think that's the empathetic part, the nurturing part, the problem-solving part of women.
[00:27:48.840 --> 00:27:55.480] And women actually end up becoming the most successful investments for venture capitalists.
[00:27:55.480 --> 00:28:01.080] Women actually end up becoming the most incredible leaders in organizations.
[00:28:01.080 --> 00:28:11.560] I do think that the world would look very, very different in the environment that we are in today if we had more, more women at the top across the world on a global standpoint.
[00:28:11.560 --> 00:28:14.800] So it is important because women build with purpose.
[00:28:14.360 --> 00:28:17.680] And I think that that's what you have to stay grounded in.
[00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:27.600] Nothing's going to take you there because when you talk about those goals, Jay, as soon as you start to reach, if it's just the goal, before you even get to the goal, you're raising the goal again.
[00:28:27.600 --> 00:28:30.160] Before you get to the next goal, you're raising that goal again.
[00:28:30.320 --> 00:28:31.520] You have to check yourself on that.
[00:28:31.520 --> 00:28:32.960] And I fell into that trap.
[00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:40.480] So once we started to get the success and we started to grow the business, our first year, we did 5 million in payments through our ecosystem.
[00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:42.640] Within year five, we did 5 billion.
[00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:43.840] It was real.
[00:28:43.840 --> 00:28:44.960] It was hard.
[00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:46.000] It was fast.
[00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:46.800] We were scaling.
[00:28:46.800 --> 00:28:47.840] We were growing.
[00:28:47.840 --> 00:28:57.360] And then I just became a product of living in this fintech boys club and defining success on everyone else's terms.
[00:28:57.360 --> 00:29:00.160] And I stopped checking in with what I actually want.
[00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:02.960] I stopped checking in with what my customers really wanted.
[00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:03.760] I stopped checking in.
[00:29:03.760 --> 00:29:08.560] I was just building because now there was this playbook of this tech playbook.
[00:29:08.560 --> 00:29:10.880] This is how we have, this is series A, B, C.
[00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:11.520] Here's what's next.
[00:29:11.520 --> 00:29:13.120] Here's how it's all about value.
[00:29:13.120 --> 00:29:13.840] It's all about this.
[00:29:13.840 --> 00:29:16.240] It's about acquisitions.
[00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:23.760] And I definitely have a lot of lessons from building in that way that I had to really check myself when we reached the top.
[00:29:23.760 --> 00:29:26.800] Don't just do, know where you want to go.
[00:29:26.800 --> 00:29:32.720] Whatever it is, you have to define what that end goal looks like so that you can work backwards.
[00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:36.960] Social media does a horrible job of showing us success.
[00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:39.920] There's not enough failures that are being shown.
[00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:44.240] I think you have to think about not what is the risk in doing it.
[00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:47.360] I think you have to think about what is the risk in not doing it.
[00:29:47.360 --> 00:29:59.520] The statistics you mentioned a couple of moments ago about the number of female founders, funding going to female founders, those are so alarming, and they're not even close to being good.
[00:29:59.520 --> 00:30:01.640] No, like they're so far behind.
[00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:09.080] What were some of the blocks and the barriers you saw for women that you had to learn to navigate?
[00:30:09.080 --> 00:30:11.880] And how would you encourage women who are in that space right now?
[00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:19.800] Because it can get so easy to get discouraged, it's so easy to become bitter, it's so easy to become completely disempowered.
[00:30:19.800 --> 00:30:24.760] And by the way, all of that would be extremely valid based on the statistics you just shared.
[00:30:24.760 --> 00:30:38.200] What did you learn that if you were like, here are three lessons, masterclasses, moments of navigation that I learned that helped me play the game and figure it out, as opposed to give up on the game and quit because it was too hard?
[00:30:38.200 --> 00:30:46.200] What would you say were the biggest three things that you were like, these three things taught me how to play the game, and I had to learn to navigate these in order to win in this world?
[00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:49.400] I would say the first thing is to build your network.
[00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:50.760] Like, that is the number one thing.
[00:30:50.760 --> 00:31:01.480] I think what has made the boys club so successful is they do business on the golf courses and through relationships and through this college and they went to this school and there is a network.
[00:31:01.480 --> 00:31:03.880] There is a boys club network.
[00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:06.120] We haven't had an opportunity to build a network.
[00:31:06.120 --> 00:31:10.600] We've only been in the workforce, you know, since the 1940s, 50s, since post-World War.
[00:31:10.600 --> 00:31:14.120] Like the business world has not been designed for women in mind.
[00:31:14.120 --> 00:31:18.840] And so it is important to start building that network immediately.
[00:31:18.840 --> 00:31:22.280] And so get out of the screen, get into the room.
[00:31:22.280 --> 00:31:29.080] So that's like the number one first piece of advice that I have for every woman building everywhere: build your network.
[00:31:29.080 --> 00:31:32.040] And the boys' club isn't bad, right?
[00:31:32.040 --> 00:31:36.200] And so find the right supporters, find the right allies.
[00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:41.720] And so I had the most incredible, I had two male co-founders, my brother and my other brother.
[00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:47.680] And so we built alongside, and I had the most amazing mentors, male mentors that had been there, done that.
[00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:53.680] And so I do think that you have to find the right men around you for support as well.
[00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:56.080] So seek allies and ask for help.
[00:31:56.080 --> 00:31:56.720] Great point.
[00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:58.880] Because the world isn't one or the other.
[00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:00.160] People do want to help.
[00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:05.680] And I think as women, this goes back to like the number two is that we carry all of the burden.
[00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:07.840] We carry all of this extra mental pressure.
[00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:10.640] We carry all of this self-talk, the doubt.
[00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:15.440] And again, all valid, but we never were the last to ask for help.
[00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:17.120] We're always pouring into everyone.
[00:32:17.120 --> 00:32:18.640] I see this from my own mother.
[00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:19.920] I see this me as a mother.
[00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:24.000] I have to remind myself that I need to be poured into as well.
[00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:26.400] We're just, that's how our DNA is.
[00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:33.600] This is how we've been physically designed and built from our primitive years and days, you know, from the stone ages.
[00:32:33.600 --> 00:32:34.560] That's what our jobs were.
[00:32:34.560 --> 00:32:35.280] We're nurturers.
[00:32:35.280 --> 00:32:38.800] We're, we're part of, but we were part of the village, right?
[00:32:38.800 --> 00:32:41.520] We didn't have to do it alone in this world.
[00:32:41.760 --> 00:32:43.760] Why do we feel like we have to do it alone?
[00:32:43.760 --> 00:32:46.720] And so get comfortable with asking for help.
[00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:49.680] So getting those allies, super, super important.
[00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:55.440] Third piece of advice that I have for female founders is to do it anyway.
[00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:57.680] Like go for it anyway.
[00:32:57.680 --> 00:32:59.920] And so there's going to be a lot of noise.
[00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:02.640] There's going to be a lot of people that are going to doubt you.
[00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:09.040] Every time you're going to step into a room, there's going to be somebody, and I've experienced this in every room that I've been in.
[00:33:09.040 --> 00:33:17.360] I can name countless stories of the misogyny, of the sexism, of the racism, and even the ageism, right?
[00:33:17.360 --> 00:33:19.280] Like even being young, you're doubted.
[00:33:19.280 --> 00:33:26.640] I can think of my first CEO conference when I got investors, was, you know, venture-backed, you know, and it's not anyone's fault.
[00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:29.120] It's just I was the first portfolio company that was founded.
[00:33:29.120 --> 00:33:30.840] Like that was a female-founded portfolio company.
[00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:38.840] And I arrived to this conference, and every CEO walking in through the door stopped me and was like, Hey, where's the event?
[00:33:38.840 --> 00:33:40.440] Hey, where do I get my name badge?
[00:33:40.440 --> 00:33:41.160] Hey, where do I get?
[00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:50.680] They just assumed that I was like the event manager until you know one of the LPs was like, I'm welcoming our newest portfolio CEO, Sonira, and their faces, right?
[00:33:50.680 --> 00:33:54.600] And so just ignore it as best as you can.
[00:33:54.600 --> 00:34:00.040] And you just have to keep showing up in those rooms and be authentically you, right?
[00:34:00.040 --> 00:34:09.400] I think that's if I like, that's the third piece of advice: it took me so long to get comfortable with fully showing up as myself.
[00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:10.680] And I mean, it's not my fault.
[00:34:10.680 --> 00:34:12.040] I had to put on a lot of armor.
[00:34:12.040 --> 00:34:14.920] I was one of the only women in the boys' club.
[00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:17.880] And there's so many stories of how I would show up.
[00:34:17.880 --> 00:34:19.800] I called myself a man in a skirt.
[00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:24.600] So, like, how I would dress, I could not eat another steak at a steakhouse.
[00:34:24.600 --> 00:34:27.720] Like, it was like I was doing all the things to fit in.
[00:34:27.720 --> 00:34:28.520] And that's natural.
[00:34:28.520 --> 00:34:29.640] That's human tendency.
[00:34:29.640 --> 00:34:31.080] You want to be part of the club.
[00:34:31.080 --> 00:34:33.240] So I'm not going to disrupt the norm.
[00:34:33.560 --> 00:34:45.320] But, you know, I think that where the change really happened for me was standing up to my board and to the team and being comfortable and leading the way that as Sonera that came later for me.
[00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:46.680] And it came through confidence, right?
[00:34:46.680 --> 00:34:51.160] It came through like doing it and finding the courage to be confident in my own ability.
[00:34:51.160 --> 00:34:52.840] But I wish I found that sooner.
[00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:59.000] So my third piece of advice is to just do it anyway, show up in the rooms and show up as you.
[00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:00.920] You don't have to be a man in a skirt.
[00:35:00.920 --> 00:35:02.760] Like be exactly how you are.
[00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:05.880] And I think that the world is, I think it's changing, Jay.
[00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:08.120] So I think it is, it's getting better.
[00:35:08.120 --> 00:35:09.560] The statistics aren't there.
[00:35:09.560 --> 00:35:11.320] And I've got thoughts on why the stats aren't there.
[00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:14.520] And it's like it's because we're not holding institutions accountable.
[00:35:14.520 --> 00:35:16.320] There is an accountability component.
[00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:19.360] Shit does not change unless you hold somebody accountable to it.
[00:35:19.680 --> 00:35:23.040] So venture capitalists, you know, where is the funding going?
[00:35:23.040 --> 00:35:29.040] Why aren't we mandating that at least percentages of these funds go towards women-owned businesses?
[00:35:29.040 --> 00:35:32.720] Lending, banking, that's exactly why we're building worth again.
[00:35:32.720 --> 00:35:35.360] I did not want to go be a serial entrepreneur.
[00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:44.000] I am exhausted of building businesses, but there isn't an equitable landscape, and we have to hold institutions accountable as well.
[00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:53.680] And so I'm trying to do that by standardizing the business credit score and holding institutions accountable for equitable lending and for an equitable financial ecosystem.
[00:35:53.680 --> 00:35:59.440] But I think that those things have to change as well as our consumer behavior, as well as so many things.
[00:35:59.600 --> 00:36:01.600] There's so many things that have to change.
[00:36:01.600 --> 00:36:04.960] And I do believe that the dialogue is happening, which is important.
[00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:06.320] That's where it starts.
[00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:09.040] But action comes from doing.
[00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:11.520] And so that's going to be the next big step.
[00:36:11.520 --> 00:36:16.880] And I'm really curious to see how we're going to do that in, you know, in my generation.
[00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:18.320] I want my daughter's generations.
[00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:23.680] I want my kids to, I have two daughters for them to grow up in a world that they can be and do.
[00:36:23.680 --> 00:36:27.200] And right now they have no concept just like I did, right?
[00:36:27.200 --> 00:36:28.960] And so I'm raising them in the same way.
[00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:36.000] And they're so strong and so independent and so cool and so different and all the things.
[00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:48.240] And I hope that that continues, like they can always continue to be themselves and have that positive dialogue, not just from me as a parent, but from their own self, because the world hopefully looks different for them.
[00:36:48.240 --> 00:36:49.760] Yeah, no, great, great advice.
[00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.880] And you reminded me of a story I heard when I was in England.
[00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:59.760] I heard the speaker talking about, and I may get the date wrong, but I think she built a big tech company in the 80s in England.
[00:37:00.040 --> 00:37:10.920] She talked about how when she started out, she used to call other CEOs and she'd pretend to be her own assistant.
[00:37:11.240 --> 00:37:14.440] And she'd say, I'm setting up a meeting for Steve Shirley.
[00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:16.520] Her name was Stephanie Shirley.
[00:37:16.520 --> 00:37:18.920] And she'd be like, hey, I'm calling on behalf of Steve Shirley.
[00:37:18.920 --> 00:37:20.920] Steve Shirley would love to come and meet you.
[00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:24.120] The person would book in the appointment and then she'd turn up as a woman.
[00:37:24.120 --> 00:37:25.400] And they'd be like, wait, how's your name, Steve?
[00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:28.600] She's like, oh, they go, I go by Steve because I'm Stephanie.
[00:37:28.600 --> 00:37:32.520] And her name became Steve Shirley because that's what she was known as.
[00:37:32.520 --> 00:37:33.960] And that's what it took.
[00:37:33.960 --> 00:37:43.160] And now I'm hoping times are changing and things are shifting, of course, drastically since then, but still that feeling of women feeling like, I have to go to a steakhouse.
[00:37:43.160 --> 00:37:44.680] Maybe I have to hang out here.
[00:37:44.680 --> 00:37:46.280] We're hoping culture's changing.
[00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:51.880] But if we're completely honest, if you didn't do those things, would you be successful today?
[00:37:51.880 --> 00:37:52.440] I don't know.
[00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:55.320] And yeah, no, it's, and it's such a valid point.
[00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:58.200] This is a conversation we're having with friends last night at dinner.
[00:37:58.200 --> 00:38:01.560] You know, a friend asked, what would I look back and do different?
[00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:04.440] And so many things is what I want to say, right?
[00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:05.880] Hindsight's 2020.
[00:38:05.880 --> 00:38:08.040] But the truth is nothing, right?
[00:38:08.040 --> 00:38:14.120] Because it took me to the next step and it took me to the next room and it took me to the next table and the next conversation.
[00:38:14.120 --> 00:38:21.800] And it made whatever decisions I made allowed me to, for me to get that, land that customer, to me to land that partnership and that investor.
[00:38:21.800 --> 00:38:25.560] And I do think that it is important not to lose yourself though.
[00:38:25.560 --> 00:38:33.320] And so although I was showing up at the steakhouse and at the things, like I would invite my counterparts to come like to see it from a different lens.
[00:38:33.320 --> 00:38:44.120] And I'm always like every one of like my investors, mentors, like they're all probably rolling their eyes laughing at like this is the typical scenario conversation is like how they can be better for us too.
[00:38:44.120 --> 00:38:45.520] I'm like, okay, next time instead.
[00:38:45.520 --> 00:38:50.240] And so the next year at that conference, my wonderful investor, and they're so incredible.
[00:38:50.240 --> 00:38:52.720] So it was not their intention to make me feel left out.
[00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:55.120] And it was a golf tournament on the second day.
[00:38:55.120 --> 00:38:57.440] Of course, it's a golf tournament on the second day.
[00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:01.520] And so they set me up at a spa appointment, which was so sweet of them.
[00:39:01.520 --> 00:39:03.200] But I'm not here to go to the spa.
[00:39:03.200 --> 00:39:05.920] I'm here to network with other CEOs and get business done.
[00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:06.400] Right.
[00:39:06.400 --> 00:39:09.200] And so I ended up just writing the golf carts, right?
[00:39:09.200 --> 00:39:12.400] And I ended up writing the golf carts and we had such a great time.
[00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:16.240] And like by the end of it, you know, next year they're like, what should we do different?
[00:39:16.240 --> 00:39:16.960] And I'm like, nothing.
[00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:18.720] Just invite me to the golf course.
[00:39:18.720 --> 00:39:19.040] Right.
[00:39:19.040 --> 00:39:20.640] And maybe I'm not going to golf.
[00:39:20.640 --> 00:39:22.560] And maybe I may leave early from a dinner.
[00:39:22.560 --> 00:39:26.800] Maybe I won't stay overnight at a conference because I've got my kids to go like to get home to.
[00:39:27.120 --> 00:39:30.240] But I want to be invited to the, like, I want to just be part of the thing.
[00:39:30.240 --> 00:39:33.520] I don't want to have this like curated extra experience.
[00:39:33.520 --> 00:39:38.480] And so I'd always invite them, like, they would invite me back into that conversation of what they could do better.
[00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:41.360] But I don't think if I voiced it, they wouldn't have known.
[00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:44.960] If I just went to the spa, didn't say anything, right?
[00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:50.320] And so I do think that that's where I was, you know, the early parts of having your voice heard is important.
[00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:54.480] You can't make change if you're not going to express those ideas.
[00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:56.880] So you have to get comfortable and it's hard.
[00:39:56.880 --> 00:39:58.320] I know it's so much easier said.
[00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:00.640] It takes courage to do that.
[00:40:00.640 --> 00:40:10.240] But I think if you do it in a way that's kind and if you do it in a way that's loving and if you do it in a way that's empathetic and it's not belittling and it's not, oh, you made me feel.
[00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:11.600] It's not you language.
[00:40:11.600 --> 00:40:13.920] It's, I'm really excited for this.
[00:40:13.920 --> 00:40:17.120] And I see a lot of good in people.
[00:40:17.120 --> 00:40:29.240] And even though I faced a lot of the things that I faced, I knew that very, very few times where I felt that I was malicious or intentional, but most of the time it wasn't.
[00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:30.360] They just don't know.
[00:40:29.200 --> 00:40:31.720] They just don't know.
[00:40:32.040 --> 00:40:40.040] And so I think if you invite people into a proactive conversation, a co-created conversation, that change can happen that way.
[00:40:40.040 --> 00:40:44.760] And that's how I was able to navigate the boys' club once, doing it again.
[00:40:44.760 --> 00:40:49.240] I mean, finding it still hasn't like the fintech space is different.
[00:40:49.240 --> 00:40:54.680] But I do think that we can co-create a more beautiful experience for all.
[00:40:54.680 --> 00:41:01.160] Yeah, no, thank you for being so honest as well, because I think it's like you said, it's been 10 years and it still hasn't changed drastically.
[00:41:01.160 --> 00:41:08.280] It's changed a little bit, but your ability to deal with it positively and proactively has helped you move along.
[00:41:08.280 --> 00:41:11.720] And one of the things you did, and you said to me, like, you built your business with family.
[00:41:11.720 --> 00:41:12.360] Yeah.
[00:41:12.360 --> 00:41:15.720] And that's rare, I feel, as well in this day and age.
[00:41:15.720 --> 00:41:20.040] I feel like there were companies like a century ago, which were family-built, family-owned.
[00:41:20.040 --> 00:41:22.120] They passed it down through generations.
[00:41:22.120 --> 00:41:24.120] Family-built businesses are more rare now.
[00:41:24.120 --> 00:41:30.840] And I've even had a lot of friends and family members that I know that have built things with their friends, investments, companies.
[00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:33.320] And at some point, there's a breakoff.
[00:41:33.320 --> 00:41:35.560] There's a breakdown in communication.
[00:41:35.560 --> 00:41:38.840] There's potentially distance that's created.
[00:41:38.840 --> 00:41:46.200] And I think people can sometimes be quite naive and trusting when they go into family-based or friend-based businesses.
[00:41:46.200 --> 00:41:50.600] And at some point, the friendship kind of changes because of money.
[00:41:50.600 --> 00:41:52.600] The family falls out over money.
[00:41:52.600 --> 00:41:58.440] Generally, money seems to be this force that has the power to break some of the deepest bonds.
[00:41:58.440 --> 00:42:13.960] As someone who's built a successful relationship with their family and built a business at the same time, what three warnings or cautions or clarifications would you put into place for anyone listening right now thinking, I'm starting this with my friend.
[00:42:13.960 --> 00:42:14.600] I'm super excited.
[00:42:14.600 --> 00:42:15.280] We love each other.
[00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:16.160] We don't need anything.
[00:42:16.160 --> 00:42:17.360] Contracts, forget it.
[00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:20.320] Or someone with their family is just like, of course, I trust my family.
[00:42:20.640 --> 00:42:25.360] What would you be three things you'd lay out for them to say, here's how to get it right, and here's what we did?
[00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:26.880] It's definitely very rare.
[00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:35.280] So I, and I've seen it with my own friends firsthand of what you're saying is so true because you go into it with that level of trust, that excitement.
[00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:42.880] With my brother, when he came into the business a year after, almost a year after, he was supporting me on a back end.
[00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:46.400] And then when things really started taking, like, taking off, I needed help.
[00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:47.040] I needed to grow.
[00:42:47.040 --> 00:42:48.800] And he was an expert in different things.
[00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:53.280] And I think advice number one is don't just partner up for the sake of partnering up.
[00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:55.440] We definitely had so much trust.
[00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:57.200] I mean, we have the same DNA, right?
[00:42:57.200 --> 00:42:58.880] Like there's like same value system.
[00:42:59.200 --> 00:43:05.680] Like there's nobody in my life that has gone through almost every life experience with me than my brother.
[00:43:05.680 --> 00:43:09.760] Like that's such a cool bond as siblings that you get to have, right?
[00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:13.680] They really understand all of the craziness, the family stuff.
[00:43:14.080 --> 00:43:20.080] They're really your, you know, the other half of you in a different way in your, the primary part of your growing up.
[00:43:20.080 --> 00:43:21.600] So we had so much trust.
[00:43:21.600 --> 00:43:24.320] Everything that made me great made him great.
[00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:28.720] Everything that, you know, would be things that maybe messed us up, messed him up, right?
[00:43:28.720 --> 00:43:33.600] So we had this true bond, but he was different in his skill set.
[00:43:33.600 --> 00:43:42.480] I had really strong strength in people and brand and marketing and just the ability to inspire and get talent and drive.
[00:43:42.640 --> 00:43:45.040] He was so great at sales and operations.
[00:43:45.040 --> 00:43:47.440] And that was the skill set that I needed.
[00:43:47.440 --> 00:43:52.000] And so I think advice number one is stay in your lanes.
[00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:57.200] So I think where what happens is like when you're, you know, in each other's lanes, that's where it becomes tough.
[00:43:57.200 --> 00:44:00.520] So having clear roles and responsibilities.
[00:43:59.840 --> 00:44:02.440] And then that's where the trust component comes in.
[00:44:02.520 --> 00:44:08.520] Because if you really trust each other, then you have to let them run it the way that they would run it.
[00:44:08.520 --> 00:44:13.080] And they have to trust you in running that lane the way that I would, like that you're going to run it.
[00:44:13.080 --> 00:44:16.040] And so I think that that's number one: to divide and conquer.
[00:44:16.040 --> 00:44:18.280] Number two, you brought up money.
[00:44:18.280 --> 00:44:21.080] Money is, it's tough, right?
[00:44:21.080 --> 00:44:27.000] And so in it, that is truly what has, I've seen broken families and relationships.
[00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:37.000] And one thing that, you know, when Sal came on board, I could have maybe offered a different equity stake, or when we were like trying to figure out how we're going to do this.
[00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:38.840] And it was 50-50.
[00:44:38.840 --> 00:44:40.040] It wasn't even a question.
[00:44:40.040 --> 00:44:50.840] And even though I was started, like, started the company first, whatever it was, but I knew that I never wanted money to be our relationship is the most important thing.
[00:44:51.160 --> 00:44:53.960] And so I never wanted to build, like, what if the business is going to fail?
[00:44:53.960 --> 00:44:54.680] We're going to have success.
[00:44:54.680 --> 00:44:55.240] We're going to fail.
[00:44:55.240 --> 00:44:58.840] We're going to, I didn't know what was going to be the outcome, but family is forever.
[00:44:58.840 --> 00:45:00.440] Like, I didn't want to ruin that.
[00:45:00.440 --> 00:45:03.800] And so to avoid not letting money come in the way.
[00:45:03.800 --> 00:45:09.960] And I know this isn't practical for many people, but that was the reason why it was 50-50.
[00:45:09.960 --> 00:45:12.600] I got 2% more because I'm two years older.
[00:45:12.600 --> 00:45:14.440] So older sister and all like that.
[00:45:15.720 --> 00:45:16.440] That was the deal.
[00:45:16.440 --> 00:45:19.240] And actually, this company now we're building again together.
[00:45:19.240 --> 00:45:21.800] And this time he has 2% more to make life fair.
[00:45:22.520 --> 00:45:22.920] Yeah.
[00:45:22.920 --> 00:45:29.480] So, but we came from a place, and what that allowed, it wasn't about me feeling great or him feeling great.
[00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:32.120] We both came from a sense of partnership.
[00:45:32.120 --> 00:45:51.920] And so, every decision that you make, and whether that's with your friend or with your spouse or whoever you're doing, a business partner that you're doing business with, if you guys are coming at it from this same equitable lens, then you know that like there's that extra level of trust because there isn't any other gain or benefit for Sal or for myself.
[00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:55.120] We're always coming at it for the same outcome.
[00:45:55.120 --> 00:46:00.080] And I know that's not perfect for all kinds of businesses, but it's all about value, right?
[00:46:00.080 --> 00:46:03.600] Where there's not that disconnect is when someone doesn't feel their value.
[00:46:03.600 --> 00:46:08.960] And so, really sitting down and understanding the value component of it, it's super critical.
[00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:14.160] And then, just advice that it is important to talk about what happens if it doesn't go well, right?
[00:46:14.160 --> 00:46:22.960] So, to have that conversation, have that conversation and to have things in place to say, if it doesn't go well, here's how we're going to solve through it.
[00:46:22.960 --> 00:46:25.520] But I think it's not just having the end in mind.
[00:46:25.520 --> 00:46:27.920] We actually never signed a like a contract.
[00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:30.400] So, that's actually, I'm giving the advice.
[00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:32.160] I never took the advice.
[00:46:32.160 --> 00:46:40.320] And I will say, what did get us through it is any business partnership, business is personal, like period.
[00:46:40.320 --> 00:46:41.600] It's a relationship.
[00:46:41.600 --> 00:46:44.640] I mean, you are the guru of relationship advice.
[00:46:44.640 --> 00:46:46.960] Like, it is, you have to nurture this relationship.
[00:46:46.960 --> 00:46:48.800] You have to spend time in this relationship.
[00:46:48.800 --> 00:46:53.760] It's a relation, you have to ensure that the other person is feeling seen, heard, valued.
[00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:58.080] And you've got to ensure that there's strong communication in the relationship.
[00:46:58.080 --> 00:47:00.960] So, Sal and I, we're siblings.
[00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:04.400] We fight more than any, like it is nonstop.
[00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:08.160] Like, I disagree with him a hundred times a day, a hundred times a day.
[00:47:08.160 --> 00:47:13.680] But we also make up very quickly because the way that I talk to my brother, there's probably nobody in the world I could ever talk to.
[00:47:13.680 --> 00:47:16.240] That is like, it's just how siblings work.
[00:47:16.240 --> 00:47:21.520] But we have a great level of communication, and we got an incredible coach to support us.
[00:47:21.520 --> 00:47:25.200] We had almost like a therapist, a business therapist, because that's what this is.
[00:47:25.200 --> 00:47:26.480] It's a relationship.
[00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:28.160] And so, I think it's never too early.
[00:47:28.160 --> 00:47:34.760] So, if you do have a partnership, to have a third party that you can communicate, just like couples therapy, right?
[00:47:34.760 --> 00:47:41.800] That you can go to and you're like, we're both committed to making this work, but it's so annoying when she does this, or it's so annoying when he does that.
[00:47:41.800 --> 00:47:50.840] And so it's not coming from a lens of me against him and that there's like a third party there that's been super helpful and just building upon that communication.
[00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:52.840] So trust is super important.
[00:47:52.840 --> 00:47:57.800] And that communication, it's where it goes wrong is when you start brushing it under the rug, right?
[00:47:57.800 --> 00:48:00.120] When you're like, that's where resentment forms.
[00:48:00.120 --> 00:48:04.200] Where relationships fail, business relationships, personal relationships, it's resentment.
[00:48:04.200 --> 00:48:05.560] We don't talk about it.
[00:48:05.560 --> 00:48:07.320] We're not addressing it.
[00:48:08.200 --> 00:48:10.280] We're not finding a solution for it.
[00:48:10.280 --> 00:48:14.040] And then the next time it happens, you're like, oh, remember that last time that that happened?
[00:48:14.040 --> 00:48:14.520] Remember that?
[00:48:14.600 --> 00:48:18.040] So like all of this triangulation, that negative conversation.
[00:48:18.040 --> 00:48:20.040] I'm a huge believer.
[00:48:20.040 --> 00:48:23.080] I'm like always hard on my sleeve, always.
[00:48:23.080 --> 00:48:24.520] And so that's what's worked.
[00:48:24.520 --> 00:48:26.840] Just be honest and have those conversations.
[00:48:26.840 --> 00:48:29.720] And if you need help, then get that third person involved.
[00:48:29.720 --> 00:48:31.960] But that's been what's worked really well for us.
[00:48:31.960 --> 00:48:36.520] I think there's something to be said for relationships where you already have a deep understanding of each other.
[00:48:36.520 --> 00:48:46.600] When Radhi and I started Juni together, which is our tea company, it was so much about leaning into each other's strengths and trusting each other with what we knew.
[00:48:46.600 --> 00:48:49.640] So I know that Radhi deeply understands flavor profile.
[00:48:49.640 --> 00:48:51.400] She really understands ingredients.
[00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:53.240] She knows what's good for people's health.
[00:48:53.240 --> 00:48:54.680] She's, that's her world.
[00:48:54.680 --> 00:48:57.480] Like that's, that's what she's dedicated her life to.
[00:48:57.480 --> 00:48:58.360] She's a nutritionist.
[00:48:58.360 --> 00:48:59.560] She's a dietitian.
[00:48:59.560 --> 00:49:01.560] She has a background in that.
[00:49:01.560 --> 00:49:03.960] And so I can trust her with that.
[00:49:03.960 --> 00:49:05.800] And then I love storytelling.
[00:49:05.800 --> 00:49:06.600] I love symbolism.
[00:49:06.600 --> 00:49:07.480] I love aesthetics.
[00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:08.840] Like that's, that's my world.
[00:49:08.840 --> 00:49:13.000] And I love the idea of how something can become a part of someone's routine.
[00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:17.600] And, you know, we have a junior for the morning and a junior for the evening and a junior for midday pick-me-up.
[00:49:14.680 --> 00:49:21.680] And I understand how people need to use products in order to feel better.
[00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:27.520] And when there's that trust and that understanding, now it's like, okay, we don't need to tread on each other's toes.
[00:49:27.520 --> 00:49:33.200] But we'd been together for probably like nine, ten years when we started something together.
[00:49:33.200 --> 00:49:34.960] So there's such a deep understanding.
[00:49:34.960 --> 00:49:39.120] Whereas if we started it in year one, chances are it would have been a lot more difficult.
[00:49:39.120 --> 00:49:52.880] And so I think if you are building something with someone you know, if you know them well enough, it's more likely to be effective as opposed to like, oh, we just hit it off and we kind of got some chemistry and then, you know, you don't really know them well enough.
[00:49:59.920 --> 00:50:03.520] This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
[00:50:03.520 --> 00:50:08.400] Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash?
[00:50:08.400 --> 00:50:14.160] Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies.
[00:50:14.160 --> 00:50:16.480] Try it at progressive.com.
[00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:19.440] Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates.
[00:50:19.440 --> 00:50:21.280] Potential savings will vary.
[00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:23.360] Not available in all states.
[00:50:23.360 --> 00:50:27.760] You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday.
[00:50:27.760 --> 00:50:30.640] How can you find amazing candidates fast?
[00:50:30.640 --> 00:50:31.360] Easy.
[00:50:31.360 --> 00:50:32.880] Just use Indeed.
[00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:36.640] Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites.
[00:50:36.640 --> 00:50:44.480] With Indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster.
[00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:52.560] According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed have 45% more applications than non-sponsored jobs.
[00:50:52.560 --> 00:50:53.840] Don't wait any longer.
[00:50:53.840 --> 00:50:56.880] Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed.
[00:50:56.880 --> 00:51:07.880] And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com/slash P-O-D K-A-T-Z 13.
[00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:17.240] Just go to Indeed.com/slash PODKATZ13 right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.
[00:51:17.240 --> 00:51:18.680] Terms and conditions apply.
[00:51:18.680 --> 00:51:19.480] Hiring?
[00:51:19.480 --> 00:51:21.400] Indeed is all you need.