Jen A. Miller Consulting

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How this Entrepreneur Built a Cookie DŌ Empire

An interview with Kristen Tomlan | Founder of DŌ Cookie Dough Confections

Kristen Tomlan is the founder of DŌ Cookie Dough Confections. Her NYC shop sells gourmet, edible, bakeable cookie dough.

YES, you totally heard that right.

Edible

Cookie

Dough!!!

And, just like you would find at an ice cream shop, you can get dō served in a cup, cone, milkshake, or ice cream sandwich. It’s basically every foodie’s dream. One look at the line pouring out of her shop (sometimes it’s up to 4 hours long!) and there’s no questioning that this lady is on to something.

I sat down with Kristen to get the story behind the building of her brand and learn how she rose to the top of New York’s food obsessed scene.

You can totally watch our interview above or read below. Because just like at Kristen’s shop, you’ve got plenty of good choices.

Cue the DŌlicous Interview

Kristen Tomlan: When I opened this business, I had no idea, I thought I was going to be making cookie dough and that’s far from the case now. I had always loved cookie dough. It was something I kept eating, making, sneaking for years. There was a moment when I thought, ok, why has this not been done? I was with a bunch of girlfriends at a cookie shop in Philadelphia. We wandered over to the freezer section where they were selling the cookie dough for you to go home and bake. I grabbed the tub and I turned to my friends and I said, “I can’t finish this cookie dough, does anybody want to share it with me?”. I mean I could eat it all but I thought better to share! They all decided that they were in. So, we went to the car and we were just passing around this tub of cookie dough. We thought this is going to get us sick. I didn’t want to worry about that. I wanted to create a product and a brand that was centered around safe to eat cookie dough. I wanted to have the option to bake it and put whatever you want on it.

Jen Hacker: Did the idea sit in the back of your head for awhile or did you immediately act on it?

Kristen Tomlan: For a while it did just sit there and I kind of vetted with a lot of friends and coworkers. I was working in brand interior design consulting, so everybody I talked to I was telling ‘oh, I want to make a different cookie dough place”. And, everybody kept saying “oh, that’s a great idea”. It finally got to a point where I was running into people who were asking what was going on with the cookie business. And, I’m thinking, oh my God, I put in 60 hours a week at work, traveling, you know, just living my normal life. Then I thought, I hate those people who talk but never do something. So, I thought, well, if this is a really good idea, I’d have to start a business. The first thing was sitting down with my fiancé at the time Saturday nights, weekends and coming up with a business plan and working out all those things that we didn’t even know I was supposed to do.

Jen Hacker: So, what did your business plan look like?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah, so first, I didn’t know anything about starting a business but what I did know was about branding, designs and baking. So, that’s where I started. Luckily, I had Chris as a partner. He’s a project manager who knew about timelines and budgets and inspection schedules. He also through through the financials of all the varieties that I was making. So, I started in the kitchen and designing the logo and thinking about the visual system. Then it just kind of grew from there. The one thing we didn’t have was operations experience running a store. So, we talked to some partners about it, and then actually decided to pause and launch online before we opened the store.

Image credit: dō

Jen Hacker: OK. So, talk about that a little because the way you actually started was that you spent a couple of years doing e-commerce…

Kristen Tomlan: Yes, I did. So, the concept in the business plan was for the store. Then we realized we didn’t have all the experience and the investment was kind of threw the roof. I didn’t want to be one of these businesses in New York that opens up with a great idea and then execution is flawed and it fails. So, I thought let’s really just test the market see what the response is, see what flavors are popular, just like continue to learn until I launched online. At the time, I though I didn’t quit my job. I thought, I can do this on the weekends. I can do this online. So, that’s kind of what we did, we moved kind of away from that business plan for store and turned it into an e-commerce site.

Jen Hacker: So, in doing that what were some of the things that you had to do in order to get the brand online?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah, so basically, we had to figure out packaging and shipping. We had to figure out our pricing structure. I mean, every little thing that has to go with the brand. Honestly, it was more like logistics at that point. When I opened this business, I had no idea, I thought I was going to be making cookie dough but that’s, far from the case now.

Jen Hacker: You really signed up for the branding and baking part of it?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah, that’s what I love, that’s kind of what I knew and that’s what the business is about. My focus was on making sure that the product was really delicious. I thought ok, the product will speak for itself and I can concentrate on other parts of the business.

Jen Hacker: Talk a little bit about Instagram because it is one of the reasons the brand has grown exponentially these past few years. How did you start to grow on it?

Kristen Tomlan: So, ok, cookie dough is delicious but it also goes really well with sprinkles and all the different flavor combinations. I wanted to make something that people will look at and want to share with their friends. And, that’s exactly what I did – you know, using the packaging and how we topped it with fun mixings. That was my goal from the beginning. I thought if I made it to Instagram then maybe people would do exactly that. And that’s what happened. So yeah it kind of happened organically. The store was also built around these Instagram moments because that was a lot of what the brand is built on. I wanted the experience to continue throughout the store so we have the polkadot wall, the neon signs and you know, parts here and there where people are constantly snapping photos. It just kind of helped, you know, drive the buzz.

Jen Hacker:What’s the process that you adopted from your previous work to actually sit down and figure out what the dō brand should be?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah, so I had this idea for the name. I wanted it to be simple but I didn’t want it to be D-O-U-G-H. I wanted it to kind of be how the prefix in the dictionary looks – dō. And then with that, I thought ok I want some sort of like circular shape. I was playing with the fact that cookies are obviously circular and the containers that I was putting the dough in would be circular. The scoops are circular. So I started with a circular motif which then turned into polkadot. Then the line over the o turned into a sprinkled pattern. I was just thinking about what are ways to make it playful and colorful and really just fun. At the end of the day, I wanted people to just have this smile on their face. That’s what I wanted the brand to reflect, that’s all.

Jen Hacker: So, from someone who has done it and has built this what’s some of the best advice that you can offer to another concerned entrepreneur who want to start a brand?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah. so, I would say a couple things; one, just do it, do something, make some sort of move in some direction towards what you want it. And also, just follow your path; for me I always thought this was gonna be great, this was gonna be great, I had always wanted to do this and this is how I feel it was going to be. Honestly a lot of people doubted when I said I wanted to open up retail shop but I just really felt like my gut was telling me that this was the next step. So I would say to all entrepreneurs everywhere, follow your gut and just ldo what you love and other people will love it too.

Jen Hacker: Well, let’s have a toast to you, cheers.

Ready to learn how to build your own brand? This post is for you.

November 9, 2017
How This Mother / Daughter Duo Became Dorm Designers

An interview with Amanda & Karen | Founders of Dormify

Amanda and Karen are not your typical mother-daughter duo.

They actually founded a company together!

Dormify is a one-stop shop to deck out your dorm room with the CUTEST decor!

I seriously wish they were around when I was in college …

You can watch our interview above or read it below because you SERIOUSLY don’t want to miss this! #SQUADGOALS

Meet your dorm decorators …

So, we literally turned to each other like this and said “we need to create our own brand”.

Amanda: When I was shopping for my freshman year dorm room with my mom, like every 17 or 18-year-old is doing, we were going from one store to the next trying to put together a look that was really representative of my style. We couldn’t find twin extra-long bedding that was cool or stylish. I was really into fashion and just needed to create something that was representative of me. So, after putting together a look, we realized that wasn’t easy and there wasn’t one place to do it. My friends were going through that as well, and so we literally turned to each other like this and said “we need to create our own brand.”

Jen: When you left that store, what happened next? Where did you take the idea?

Amanda: So, we moved in my freshman year and it was an amazing space that we created. People would call my room the hotel suite on the floor because it wasn’t super expensive or elevated, it was just put together really well. We knew that we could instruct other people and help them do the same thing. So, just to get a proof of concept, we started a blog and we got friends of mine and extended friends of friends to start talking about dorm decor and college life because this was really like the beginning of blogs and Instagram and Pinterest weren’t around yet. So, we wanted to become a leader in the world of decorating inspiration.

Karen: But there was a spot that happened right before that, because I left Amanda in her beautiful new dorm room and I had to go back to my advertising agency and start figuring out, “what is this thing?” So that’s when the brand building started. That’s when we first named “Dormify” and I was on the phone with Amanda back and forth all the time, talking via email and trying to figure out what this brand was going to be …

Amanda: … and I’m like a freshman: “Like mom, I’m trying to figure out how to be in college!” So, that’s how we got started in building the brand.

image credit: dormify

Jen: What happened after you picked up the name? That that was the first step. How did you start to figure out the rest of the branding?

Amanda: So, we of course came up with the visual identity, with her background in the agency and I was majoring in graphic design and marketing – I really was interested in design. This wasn’t new to us, we knew what we were doing in a way, but we also thought it was really important to establish that authentic relationship with the customer. So, our brand voice and how we are speaking to customers was one of the more important brand identity pieces. Since I was the target audience, I really knew some of those insights into what our customers really wanted. So, between me and my peers and just living in that actual audience, you know, we are our brand and we delivered that.

Jen: Okay, so you just had the idea, came up with the name, and got a sense of what the brand identity was going to be. You had it in the back of your head you wanted to create original products … ?

Amanda: Yes, that was like a must.

Jen: That was there from the beginning?

Karen: Yes. That’s where we stand apart. We can’t just re-sell … we don’t want to be a portal that’s just reselling other people’s products. We wanted to create something that wasn’t available.

Jen: And then the blog part was just a way to just get going … ?

Amanda: We wanted to have the product but also the content to help everyone that was dealing with what I went through, which was not knowing what to expect when you went to college, not knowing the things that you needed, tips for decor that didn’t ruin the walls … all these things that people just know nothing about. Sat they are the first one in their family to go to school, we wanted to be that cool older sister that helped them along the way.

Jen: I’m curious to know what you think is your secret sauce to success? Why did you guys succeed with this idea versus thousands of other people who tried to start a blog or try to start a business and it just doesn’t take off?

Karen: I think one of the things about entrepreneurship and people starting businesses, is that you have to have a real drive, you’ve really got to put a lot into it. It’s not just like,” I have an idea and I’m going to bring it to life and make it happen.” It takes an extreme amount of effort to make it happen. I think for us, one of the things that I look back on and feel so proud of is that we took an idea to fruition, and I think that’s the hardest thing. So, I don’t think we ever set out to do something like people sometimes think, ‘I want to start a blog and I want to do this’. We just had an idea and we just did it. We didn’t say, “I’m going to write a business plan about it first and then do it” we just did it. So, it’s just like the action and being nimble and making it happen.

Jen: It sounds like you guys have stayed connected to your customer, you’ve just been growing and seeing so much success! So congratulations on everything and one thing I like to do is just always end on a toast. How about we just say, “a toast to Dormify and you two!”

Ready to learn how to build your own brand? This post is for you.

November 3, 2017
How This Female Entrepreneur Built the Perfect Bag for Working Women

An interview with Melissa Mash | Co-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover

Ever rummaged through your purse for a full five minutes before finding your keys … or wallet … or headphones?

Girl, we’ve all been there.

Most of the bags I own never have enough compartments and are impossible to keep organized.

Luckily, one woman is changing the game in a MAJOR way.

Melissa Mash is the c0-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover, a company that builds functional handbags, backpacks, and accessories for fashion-forward women.

Watch our interview above or read it below … I hope you enjoy!

Melissa Mash: After seeing this was a problem that every single woman had (and actually a lot of men too!), I thought, “OK. Absolutely, I’m gonna start this.”

Melissa Mash: I worked at Coach corporate for a long time in New York. In 2009, I had the opportunity to turnaround Coach’s 1st store ,which was in London at Heathrow Terminal 5. It was through that experience of managing a store, a team and actually speaking with customers every single day that I got to hear their biggest handbag frustrations. I saw that there was a real need in the market for a brand that nailed the fashion piece, that of course nailed the work/organization piece and that was a very compelling value.

Jen Hacker: So, when this light bulb went off for you, where did you take from there? Did you think, “yes, I need to start a business!” or did you think “ these other brands need to fix their bags”?

Melissa Mash: No, I was like “they’re not gonna do it.” There really need to be a new brand that is made for this generation that really speaks to their values. This was in 2009, so Bonobos and Baublebar had started to emerge for direct-to-consumer verticals, but no one had done it yet for handbags. I honestly wasn’t totally sold that I was going to do this immediately, but I had always wanted to start my own business. It was always part of the plan but I tabled that idea, I decided to apply to business school and went in with a completely different business idea. It was during that time that I saw my peers doing what I call the ‘two-bag schlep.’

They’d go to recruiting events and they’d have 15 clothes in one bag and their professional stuff in the other and they’d try to pull out a resume, chargers, gum wrappers, flyers … these were people who were perfectly put together from head to toe: the hair, the makeup, the clothes, the shoes – but their bags were a complete disaster. A lot of the time also, they would either carry something that looked like a gym bag or something that was too flashy to be professional. They knew it but they didn’t know what else buy to replace it. So, after seeing that this was literally a problem that every single woman had and actually a lot of men too wanted different options, I was like “OK. Absolutely. I’m gonna start this.” So, the first thing that was really important was doing adequate market research – we were not going to pretend we know everything and just create this thing, put it out there, and hope people buy it. We wanted to make sure there was product-market fit, so we surveyed a focus group of 1,000 people. We got samples made so that people could have something to base their opinions off of. But, it was really backwards engineering based off of that feedback: “OK, the drop length of the handle needs to be this length … the key strap needs to be this length.” Taking all that feedback into consideration, we did pricing studies, we did the basic branding elements, and built it all into our brand.

image credit: being melody

Jen Hacker: Talk about that a bit more because I’m always interested to understand how the brand part comes about. Obviously you had the product. But how did you come up with like the actual Dagne Dover brand and the identity and what it was going to mean?

Melissa Mash: So, it was really important for our brand to be something more than just arm candy or a pretty face and we felt the name really needed to reflect that. Dagne is a Nordic word for “new day.” This bag is really there to prep you for whatever the day hits you with. It should be as intuitive as an iPhone, it should have everything so you have easy access to your things. Dover is Jessie’s last name, so it really is like the creative face is part of the brand name, and Dagne is, “there for you.”

Jen Hacker: What was that space then from all the research to actually getting to launch? What were the steps?

Melissa Mash: We were running dual paths in terms of doing the branding, market research and connecting with factories, suppliers, and sourcing everything. It was a lot of hustling all these tiny little pieces to get the samples made, get a website up, and all of that. We launched the brand in 2013 with a pre-sale and said this is what the bag looks like, this is what the price is at, these are the colors … would you buy it? And people did, it was awesome! A lot of our first customers came from that group who were in the focus groups and they were like “yes, I really wanna try this product” but I think that something that really resonated with our customer base is feeling like they’re a part of the story. So much of what we attribute our early success to was our early social media following – organic social media. This was a time where you could post and people would actually see your posts. You didn’t have to pay for everything. We couldn’t pay. Every single dollar was going towards making the product, improving how this business needed to exist. But really, that’s what a lot of people were super drawn to is we were three women and we had handbag problems and we decided to do something about it and this is made for a generation of us.

image credit: ecocult

Jen Hacker: We often see or hear these stories where it sounds like everything just went perfect. Was there any moment where you thought, what are we doing? Is this going to work?

Melissa Mash: To be totally fair, that was the cliff notes version, so that’s why it may sound like that. It wasn’t like that at the time. There was no moment where we were like “we’re going to fail, this is it, this was a mistake”. I think there are a lot of like foundational things that are really important early on that founders need to do their due diligence for before they take anything at face value. You should never think just because everyone does something that’s the right way of doing it.

Jen Hacker: That leads into my last question which is that for someone who’s got an idea and wants to start their business, what would you advise them right now to think about?

Melissa Mash: Following through with that concept, there is no formula for success in a digital media brand today. What worked for us 2-3 years ago is not necessarily what’s going to work for a brand today and certainly not two years from now. Sometimes, we go to talks or sit on panels and people ask us, “who did you use for PR? Who did you use for this?” This is part of the ecosystem in your head that you should have in mind, like “oh, this could be helpful for that my work” but you figure out which of those points are actually helpful for your business and then focus on them, versus just assuming that there is a formula for working with this PR agency, you work with this distribution center or you get funded by this type of investor, that’s absolutely not true.

Jen Hacker: Well, I think what you’re doing is working, I have seen the process, I’ve seen you guys everywhere … so congratulations on all the success! I appreciate you sharing your story with us and for everyone who’s aspiring to take the same path or their own version of that path. So, thank you and a toast to you and Dagne Dover!

Ready to learn how to build your own brand? This post is for you.

October 27, 2017
This Media Maven Wants You to Snack Better

An interview with Joy Bauer | Founder of Nourish Snacks

You may know Joy Bauer from The Today Show, her column in Woman’s Day, or her list of best-selling books. Joy is a boss babe in literally whatever she does.

But, she’s also an entrepreneur and founder of Nourish Snacks, a company that makes healthy nibbles with purposeful ingredients.

And, they’re delicious.

I sat down with Joy to find out what motivated her to start her own company and the recent rebranding of Nourish.

Get ready to chow down on this interview!

“Find something that you love and that you have a passion for and figure out a way to turn that into a career because then when you are working hard, it is that much more rewarding.”

Joy Bauer: I’ve been in the health field for well over two decades and people have always been asking me to help them navigate the snack aisles at the grocery store. As you know, it’s so crowded and so confusing. While I love to teach people how to look through the ingredients and the labels and really know what you’re buying, most people don’t have the time. It’s not a priority for them. This is my career, it’s my passion, but not so much for other people. I knew that I wanted to start an authentic brand people could trust, that was the best of both worlds: made with high-quality, nutrient-rich, wholesome ingredients but also tastes super delicious, so there’s no compromising. It’s one -stop shopping.

Jen Hacker: So you had this insight and you’ve been working in the industry … where did you go from there to get to “I have a product; I really wanna have a snack that’s on shelves?

Joy Bauer: So, everything starts in my kitchen, my messy kitchen. And I’m always …

Jen Hacker: I love that honesty too!

Joy Bauer: No, no, full disclosure: my kitchen is a little bit messy. I love to cook but I don’t really have a passion for cleaning … but I try! I try hard. I’m always creating and concocting and then I use my husband, my three kids, their friends, and nieces and nephews as my guinea pig taste-test crews.

Jen Hacker: Perfect!

Joy Bauer: And then when it gets a five star rating within my small crowd, I go out and I test it further with people from all walks of life. The cool luxury is that I have this ongoing conversation with so many people via NBC and Woman’s Day magazine and through social media platforms. So I have all of these taste-tester ambassadors of different ages and different backgrounds. I get their honest opinions on all sorts of things. So, when I first started and I knew that I wanted to come out with a snack line, you know, I took the best of the best. I made sure that the feedback was phenomenal before I started rolling it out.

Jen Hacker: You recently also took the brand through a complete re-branding and repackaging. Why did you think you needed to do that and what was that process like?

Joy Bauer: This was an interesting learning curve for me and the whole team. I really liked our old packaging but it was blending in. If you walked down the aisles at the grocery store, a lot of the packaging looks exactly the same. We had a different story to tell. I want to bring the fun back into wellness, I wanted our packaging to scream vibrancy and playfulness. I wanted it to be a bit disruptive on those shelves. So we went back, we worked with a brilliant branding company called Brian Collins and they helped us to sort of redefine ourselves. We still have the same message but we buttoned it up and they helped us to take the old packaging experience and turned it into this colorful, vibrant one. We’re having a lot of fun right now working on the packaging for the savory line that we’re going to roll out as well.

image credit: adweek

Jen Hacker: What role did you play while going through this process working with external an team? What did you as the founder bring into that conversation to make sure they got it right?

Joy Bauer: A lot of instinct, gut reaction and response. I’ve been working with consumers within this very pocket for so many years. So, as we were going through the experience, I made sure we did a lot of testing. I brought it into NBC and the Editorial Department over at Hearst and I shot pictures and names of things like that too and the flavors we were going for on various social media just to make sure that we were going in the right direction. We’ve had an overwhelming response on the re-design and the new flavors. I’m so proud of being able to make this snack and be such a big part – a founder – of the brand. But really, the brand is the brand. I don’t want the brand to be Joy Bauer. I want the brand to be about the delicious snacks. I think the advice that I would give to anybody who’s starting out is to find something that you love and you have a passion for and figure out a way to turn that into a career, because then when you are working hard, it is that much more rewarding and fun and profitable. If you can figure out how to actually make money and have a career doing something that you enjoy getting out of bed in the morning for … wow, that’s the golden ticket.

Jen Hacker: That’s the truth. Well, I think we make a toast to that, to getting out of bed every morning every day and loving what you do and maybe having a healthy snack on the way too.

Joy Bauer: That’s a great toast.

Want more examples of how to nail your branding like Joy? Read this next.

October 20, 2017
How to Invest Like a Woman

An interview with Sallie Krawcheck | CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest

Investing that’s just for women?

Yep, you heard that right.

Sallie Krawcheck is the co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, a digital investing platform that was designed by and for women. Ellevest’s mission is to close the gender investing gap by helping women take control of their finances.

Sounds incredible, right? It is.

When Sallie realized the investing industry was (to put it mildly) “by men, for men,” she made it her mission to unleash women’s financial power to help them achieve their goals.

Watch our interview above or read it below and see for yourself how Ellevest is changing the game for boss babes like you and me.

image credit: Ellevest

Become your most financially savvy self …

Sallie Krawcheck: You know, I worked in big investment firms for many years and when I was no longer in a big investing firm and I would walk around, meet with people and say “ I’m just too close to myself, what do you think I should do, what should I do? Give me some advice, what should I do?” And people would say “Sallie, you should start investing firm for women,” and I’d think “that is so stupid.”

Sallie Krawcheck: The “aha” came when I was in my bathroom, putting on mascara. The big insight I had was that the retirement savings crisis is actually a woman’s crisis. We don’t think of it that way but we women live longer than men do – five, six, eight years – and we retire with two-thirds less money. Once you begin to think of it that way, you say “OK, the solution is to actually get more money to women.” A lot of people are working on the gender pay gap and the gender work achievement gap but there is a gender investing gap! So that thing I said ‘no’ to for forever now I say ‘yes’ to, because clearly if women aren’t investing as much as men are, let’s figure out what women would need in order to invest.

Jen Hacker: So, you had that “mascara thought” and where did you take it from there?

Sallie Krawcheck: I was going to do a really stupid thing. I don’t come from the tech world. I come from the financial services world. I’ve worked at smaller companies but I’ve never started a company from scratch. The whole idea was just too overwhelming. So, I went to the CEO of a large financial institution and said “you need to do this.” I’d done all my homework. Women control 5 trillion dollars of investable assets, 90% of ys our money on our own at some point in our lives, etc. But we don’t invest as much as men do. There is a huge opportunity here. We were at breakfast and he said “that is so interesting, Sallie … but don’t their husbands manage their money for them?” I replied, “I just said 90% of us manage our money on our own.” I said no to a partnership with them. I met my co-founder in the nick of time to say, “that’s a bad idea, let’s actually build this thing from scratch.”

Jen Hacker: Content is a big part of the Ellevest brand. Can you talk about what role that plays and why felt that was important?

Sallie Krawcheck: Look I think it’s both. To back up a little, almost every investing firm or large bank has had a woman’s initiative. To my mind they’ve all tried to solve the wrong problem, which is “let’s market to women.” Content is a huge part of that. So maybe they wrote great articles, but they never actually went to the other part which is the product. What if the product doesn’t work for women? The product, historically, has been “hey, would you like a mutual fund or an ETF?” That’s not how our brains work. It’s been, “pick a winner, make more money.”

Jen Hacker: Which is a lot.

Sallie Krawcheck: It’s a lot. They didn’t go to the “let’s get both sides right” and that’s where we went. We started with the product.

Jen Hacker: What you’re really talking about is understanding who this woman is, and you’ve built a brand that she can identify with. I always say your brand can set you apart because it either allows people to connect with you or it turns them off. What was that process for you of actually understanding who she was and how to build a company that she would identify with?

Sallie Krawcheck: First of all, we are “her” to a good degree. I’m not “her” because of the career I’ve had on Wall Street, but we have a whole bunch of women who are “her.” But rather than saying, “we understand her,” we spent thousands of hours researching before we launched – in her wallet, going through her bank statements, going through 401K statements, putting cards in front of her, sorting out what mattered, with her on usertesting.com going through what we were prototyping, surveying her. So we spent a lot of time with her.

Jen Hacker: At what point did you realize, “I think this is it. I think we’ve got something in our hands?”

Sallie Krawcheck: There was a lot before that. I would sit with the team and we would draw out what we’re going to build, we would build a prototype, we’d go over the research. I just thought, “we might not be able to get this thing built and have it work.” I remember sitting with a pit in my stomach going, “I don’t know about this.” It was a year ago that we finally plugged it in and it worked! It worked! I remember sitting in my living room looking through financial plans. I’m sitting there going through them like “this does look right. You know, we may get there.”

Jen Hacker: And were there any other levers that you pulled that really helped things take off?

Sallie Krawcheck: So, I think you have to have a very good product. You have to really understand what your target is looking for and talk with them, not at them.

Jen Hacker: Was there any great business advice that you were able to gather from others along the way that you would like to pass along?

Sallie Krawcheck: I have been in business for a while so the one thing that really sticks with me is when we were raising our first round. I’m fortunate to have worked with a number of terrific businesspeople over the course of my career. I thought to myself, “I don’t know, I’m going to have to ask them to do me this favor. It makes me feel tense and nervous and what if this isn’t what we thought it would be, what if we lose their money, and so on.” My co-founder said “just wait a minute – do you believe in this business? Do you believe or you know where you’re putting your money in? Do you believe it can have an impact and be a great and successful…” I said “yes, more than anything.” Then he said, “we’re doing them a favor.” I never quite got to that ‘we’re doing you a favor’ but I really have gotten to that “we’re offering you an opportunity,” an opportunity that we’re not offering everybody to be part of this. I still have to practice it a little bit but that mind shift led to such confidence.

Jen Hacker: Well, thank you so much. I’m very excited that you made this available for women like me and for other women I know. Let’s toast to investing like a woman.

Sallie Krawcheck: Thank you.

Jen Hacker: Yes, cheers.

Sallie Krawcheck: Cheers.

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October 12, 2017