0:00 Fallen Unicorns: Startup Billionaires Nearly $100 Billion Poorer Than A Year Ago
4:46 This CEO Made AMD Billions – Now She Wants To Dominate The Market With AI
11:18 Vanta: The $1.6 Billion Unicorn Automating Complicated Security Compliance For Businesses
20:07 This 27-Year-Old Executive Flunked Her College Entrepreneur Course. Then She Built A $200 Million News Brand
30:05 From C-Student To CEO: Creating An "Uninterrupted" Path For Entrepreneurs
1:03:37 This Jewelry Entrepreneur Is Hiding Safety Tech In Necklaces
1:08:33 Inspired By Her Own Dyslexia And ADHD, This Entrepreneur Helps Schools Deliver Special Education
1:13:27 Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila Isn't Just A Celebrity Product, It's A Multimillion-Dollar Endeavor
1:18:15 How Amouranth, The Most Popular Female Gamer In The World, Monetizes Her Brand Across Platforms
1:37:52 How Influencer Alix Earle Cornered A Social Media Market And Made $5 Million In One Year
1:56:45 Kim Catrall Explains Viral Comments About Happiness That 'Broke The Internet'
4:46 This CEO Made AMD Billions – Now She Wants To Dominate The Market With AI
11:18 Vanta: The $1.6 Billion Unicorn Automating Complicated Security Compliance For Businesses
20:07 This 27-Year-Old Executive Flunked Her College Entrepreneur Course. Then She Built A $200 Million News Brand
30:05 From C-Student To CEO: Creating An "Uninterrupted" Path For Entrepreneurs
1:03:37 This Jewelry Entrepreneur Is Hiding Safety Tech In Necklaces
1:08:33 Inspired By Her Own Dyslexia And ADHD, This Entrepreneur Helps Schools Deliver Special Education
1:13:27 Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila Isn't Just A Celebrity Product, It's A Multimillion-Dollar Endeavor
1:18:15 How Amouranth, The Most Popular Female Gamer In The World, Monetizes Her Brand Across Platforms
1:37:52 How Influencer Alix Earle Cornered A Social Media Market And Made $5 Million In One Year
1:56:45 Kim Catrall Explains Viral Comments About Happiness That 'Broke The Internet'
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00:00 In March 2022, 44 founders of unicorns, private companies valued at over $1 billion, were worth a total of $190 billion, according to Forbes estimates.
00:00:11 A year later, Forbes has revalued the world's billionaire-backed unicorns.
00:00:15 The results are stark. Half of the wealth of the billionaires behind unicorns has been wiped out, leaving this elite group $96 billion poorer than they were a year ago.
00:00:26 Forbes wealth reporter Matt Durow has more.
00:00:29 So in the past, we valued the stakes of billionaire founders and co-founders of unicorns based on evaluations at which their unicorns last raised funding.
00:00:42 Really, regardless of when that had happened, and in some cases, you know, that could have been a year or two years or even three years ago,
00:00:50 we typically apply a 10% private company discount due to lack of liquidity as well as, you know, you know, they're just being less detail on the company's financials than there is with public companies.
00:01:03 And in the good times where valuations were really going in one direction, which was up,
00:01:08 it seemed like the worst possible outcome of that would have been that we were overly conservative, which is not the worst place to be.
00:01:15 But with public, you know, tech stocks and stocks in general having tanked from their peak and some of these companies having indicators of markdowns in their valuations,
00:01:26 whether it be the rare down round or the eternal markdowns, you know, that approach didn't seem to make very much sense given this unique point in time.
00:01:36 So this time around, we worked with three data providers who mark these unicorns valuations to market, sort of like you would see for a public company on Yahoo Finance.
00:01:47 And they do that using a number of things, but primarily the performance of comparable public companies, secondary market activity.
00:01:55 So trading of these unicorns shares in the private markets and then where available reporting by mutual funds who hold shares in these unicorns.
00:02:06 And we took the input of that and ran our updated valuations by venture capitalists, investors and others knowledgeable of the space as well as the specific companies.
00:02:18 You know, I think we feel like we ended up in a pretty good spot that is reflective of the market and certainly a lot more precise than going off of the company's prior funding rounds.
00:02:28 The four unicorns that lost the most value over the last year were unique among the 30 or so unicorns that we looked at.
00:02:35 The one that lost the most, Klarna, was the only one of the group that actually raised a new round of funding at a lower valuation.
00:02:42 Around the middle of last year, they raised a new funding round in the $6 billion range, which is way down from a $45 billion valuation less than a year earlier.
00:02:52 And then the other three were ones, three of four in our group of 30 that marked down their internal valuations.
00:03:01 So that was Stripe, Instacart and Checkout.com and each of them marked their internal valuations to a level that was roughly $26 billion to $30 billion lower than external investors valued them at in their last funding rounds.
00:03:17 So other than FTX co-founders, Sam Bingman Freed and Gary Wang, who saw their combined fortune of around $30 billion go to zero when FTX blew up, the two biggest losers were Guillaume Passat of Checkout.com, who saw his fortune fall by $16 billion or nearly 69 percent, followed by Victor Jakobsen of Klarna, who saw his fortune fall by nearly 80 percent.
00:03:46 So over the last year, venture funding and new funding rounds for these unicorns has really dried up.
00:03:52 I think in general, there's a view that funding activities got to pick up at some point and likely later in the year as some of these companies start to run out of cash from their last funding rounds and need to go back out to market.
00:04:06 But in the meantime, a big way to cut costs is through layoffs.
00:04:10 And we've been seeing that across the industry. And then there's a general sense of optimism as well, in the sense that if there's just a change in the outlook, viewing these valuations of the last year or two as historical outliers, that things can resume with valuations that are more in line with historical standards and that the companies can also sort of refocus on operational efficiency, which is likely.
00:04:39 You know, a lot of places probably sort of went by the wayside when money was flowing and, you know, things were good.
00:04:46 One of the things that's really helped me a lot is I love solving problems. And I believe, you know, in engineering, you can always solve a problem. And I think that's actually true in business as well.
00:05:00 My name is Lisa Su and I'm CEO of AMD.
00:05:07 Lisa Su is the CEO of AMD. She's an MIT PhD. She's a Taiwanese immigrant. And she really saved this historic Silicon Valley company, bringing it back from the dead and making it one of the most important chip companies in the industry.
00:05:20 I was born in Taiwan and I came to the U.S. when I was two with my parents. And, you know, growing up, my father used to quiz me with math tables at the dining room table. So that's how I first got into math. And when I was young, I liked to actually take things apart.
00:05:36 My brother had a toy remote controlled car and it stopped working. And I was wondering, why did it stop working? And so I opened it up, tried to see what was going on. And there was like a wire that was loose. And we were able to get it back working again by putting it back together.
00:05:50 I went to the Bronx High School of Science in New York and I was surrounded by people who loved math and science and technology. I will say there was a part of me that wanted to be a concert pianist, but I don't think I was good enough to do that. So I ended up being an engineer.
00:06:05 I was really inspired by when I was a freshman at MIT is I went into a semiconductor line for the first time and I saw how you made chips. And that was just so cool to me. That's really how I ended up being in semiconductors, having a summer job when I was a first year college student.
00:06:27 I was at IBM in the mid 90s. We were working at the forefront of semiconductor devices. Semiconductors were so interesting to me. I mean, I love the idea that you could really make something that works. All of these transistors, these tiny little things that you could really put together in a chip. And so we worked on some of the newest innovations, things like copper interconnects and new ways to make devices faster and less power and denser.
00:06:54 In those days, people always said, you know, is Moore's law ending? Are we not going to be able to make devices smaller? And so much of the challenge was how could we keep increasing performance and increasing capability while also making these devices smaller so we could put more transistors on a single chip. So that was the key thing. And we had a great team that was working on that.
00:07:17 I joined AMD in 2012. I always knew about AMD as a important company in the industry, and it was an opportunity to work on a bigger platform. So I was very interested in joining AMD. There are a lot of things happening at that point in time. There was this whole revolution of, you know, where were PCs going? What was happening in mobile phones? What was going to be the next big tech going on? So I wanted to be at a company that really would work at the bleeding edge of technology.
00:07:45 When Sue came into the role, she had this really gargantuan task ahead of her. The company's stock had plummeted, a quarter of the workforce had been laid off, and she's really been able to pull off one of the greatest turnarounds in Silicon Valley history.
00:08:00 Sue really boiled down her turnaround strategy to three things. Building great products, focusing on customer relations, and the third thing is simplifying the company. So focusing on strengths like PC chips and data centers.
00:08:13 In the early days when I joined AMD, it was actually about getting customers and large partners to trust us and trust that we could develop the best technology in the world and that they could trust their roadmaps and their business with our technology.
00:08:29 You know, what I would say is, look, it's going to take us five years, but we will be best in class in the industry, and we're going to do it in these three steps with our new Zen architecture and our new microprocessors. And so it really is about a track record and doing what you say you're going to do and ensuring that we meet our commitments.
00:08:56 The people who know her also point to this unique mix of technical ability and people skills, and that's kind of what's driven her success. Being able to bring people together, problem solve, and focus on more than just the business.
00:09:13 What I've really enjoyed about being an engineer is really building products. That's what I love in life. It's really, you know, how do you build great products? How do you see where your products go and, you know, really make the world a better place?
00:09:24 And the role of a CEO, you know, that's one piece of it. That's not all pieces of it. We have many stakeholders. We have our employees. We have our board, our shareholders, our partners. And so it's really balancing not just the technology, but also balancing and ensuring that, you know, we are really meeting all of our stakeholders' expectations.
00:09:47 The thing about semiconductors and developing chips is you really do have to make bets three to five years in advance. And you have to think about, okay, where is the industry going and how are we going to bring, you know, sort of new ideas to an industry that really has lots and lots of great companies and lots of smart people.
00:10:04 So, you know, at AMD we spend a lot of time thinking about where is technology going in the future, what's going to be really important, what are the limiting factors, and how do we do something that nobody else can do?
00:10:15 I've been in the semiconductor industry for the last, you know, 30 years. And, you know, sort of in the beginning, people didn't really understand what semiconductors were for. They were kind of like underneath the surface. You know, you knew something about chips and something about computers, but not exactly, you know, why they were important.
00:10:33 I think what's been amazing over the last few decades, and especially even over the last three or four years, people now understand that semiconductors are essential. Like, you need chips in everything that you do, in every part of your life, in every part of the business, in every part of how we deliver, you know, great healthcare and, you know, great technology and great capabilities.
00:10:52 And I think that's what makes it cool is that, you know, semiconductors are now something that everyone thinks about as being super important for our daily lives.
00:11:01 We love seeing our products and technologies really make a difference in everyone's lives. I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about legacy. I think we have a lot to do right now to continue pushing the envelope on technology. Touching billions of people with AMD technology would be a wonderful thing.
00:11:22 Vanta is a company that basically automates other companies' security and compliance processes. So the security part is, like, making sure a company is managing and storing customer data in a way that's, like, safe.
00:11:39 So a lot of the software we use, right, has all this customer data. It knows so much about us. And we sort of found that when, you know, there's a data breach or there's a security hack, right, and that data is everywhere, it has, like, real consequences for people.
00:11:52 I think about, like, Equifax or Target or these big breaches. And so there's just so much scrutiny on whether companies are kind of doing the right thing and securing the customer data they have. And there's kind of rightly a lot of scrutiny on that.
00:12:06 A notable thing about Vanta's investment strategy was Christina, the founder and CEO, like, worked in venture as her first, like, institutional job out of college, basically.
00:12:18 And from that, there are two, I guess, lessons that she likes to talk about. One is that companies are the best at, like, raising money when they don't need it. And the other is that it's, like, easy to confuse fundraising success with, like, company product success.
00:12:36 I think she's been really conscious about trying, like, not to fall into those traps. Christina actually waited until Vanta reached 10 million in annual recurring revenue, which is, like, the way Vanta measures revenue because it's a subscription-based company, to raise its first, like, big institutional funding round at Series A.
00:12:57 Most companies usually try to raise a Series A when it's, like, 1 million at that metric. So Vanta waited until much later. So that was in May of 2021. They raised 50 million in a Series A led by Sequoia.
00:13:10 And then a year later, they announced a Series B in June of 2022. It was an $110 million round led by Kraft Ventures. And that round valued the company at $1.6 billion.
00:13:25 So when Vanta launched in 2018, we launched this category of automated compliance. So helping companies get compliant and secure quickly. Since then, we've grown with our customers and now offer a broader trust management platform, but still staying core to helping technology companies secure the customer data they have.
00:13:47 And then go demonstrate and prove that they're, you know, have reasonable security to their customers so they can go grow their business.
00:13:53 When I was a product manager at Dropbox trying to take a new product to market, and we were really excited about giving the product to, you know, big companies, enterprise customers. And then, you know, the legal team kind of correctly told us we couldn't do that.
00:14:08 We couldn't show that the product was secure and compliant. You know, we thought we had reasonable practices, but we couldn't demonstrate them in the way these enterprises expected.
00:14:16 And I didn't know anything about the space, but as more and more I learned, the process itself or the goal made sense, right? It's like, of course, we should show we're trustworthy to big customers and do the right thing.
00:14:29 And what that scrutiny ends up meaning is these companies have to, one, have reasonable practices, and two, then go through these pretty onerous processes to prove they have good security practices, right? And they're actually securing the data.
00:14:41 And historically, that was like spreadsheets and manual audits and like everything was one off, which will took a ton of time and effort. And also, it's like pretty inefficient because we're like talking about software and we're taking it into, you know, pieces of paper, almost literally.
00:14:58 But companies would still go through it because it was so important to them to show that they were good stewards of customer data and their customers wanted that, you know, almost before they'd make the purchase, right?
00:15:09 So it's like such an important thing to prove and felt, you know, kind of like a large problem and an important one to solve because as someone who builds software, I actually do believe, I still believe in the transformative power of software, but, you know, we can't do that if we don't trust it.
00:15:26 So I think in the beginning, you know, because we created the category, because we created the product, we didn't have software competition. We truly were the only thing. And so the trick and the kind of sales or go to market processes was convincing someone they could rely on software for something they had a bunch of manual processes before.
00:15:48 As like in 2020 and 2021 went on and just more startups got funded, there were more entrance into the space. People copied what we did, took it to market. And I think that, you know, breeds some amount of resilience. It deeply shows that in software, you're sort of only as good as your last release in a lot of ways.
00:16:10 And you may have created the category and brought this new product to market and done this innovation. But if that happened two years ago, right, it's much more about, well, what's, you know, what are you doing this quarter, next quarter? How are you continuing to show that you're useful to customers and not sort of resting on the laurels of a prior success?
00:16:28 I think waiting to waiting until we were 10 million in ARR to raise our Series A instilled a lot of discipline in the company. It forced us to think about are we doing the right thing? Do we have a good business? Not does some VC think we have a good business, right? It's kind of made it more insular in a helpful way there.
00:16:47 I also think it forced some discipline around practices like we charge customers annually up front and these like cash flow things that actually helped us not need funding for longer. And in those ways, it, you know, those sort of smaller decisions helped us build a stronger, more resilient business.
00:17:04 And I think finally, the answer was like we didn't need the cash. And again, some of it was things like charging annually up front. But we certainly had problems to solve, but they weren't problems where it felt like it was more money would solve them and felt like more money actually might make it more complicated or raise the stakes or do other things.
00:17:21 And so, you know, why don't we solve those problems first? And then when we get to the problems where it seems like money can solve them, you know, go pursue investment.
00:17:31 Two things came across really clearly when I was talking to Christina and like her former and current business partners and investors.
00:17:39 One is that she's like super scrappy and really prioritizes like product over ego. Like when I was asking her, oh, like was Fanta the category creator, she was like visibly uncomfortable. Like, I don't want to like claim credit for this kind of thing.
00:17:56 And that's definitely something that carries into like how she runs a business. The other thing is that she's like clearly someone who like will learn anything for the sake of learning it.
00:18:06 So prior to Vanta, I worked at an early stage investment firm, like VC firm in New York, Union Square Ventures.
00:18:16 Working at the early stage VC firm and interacting with like seed stage founders, I very much wanted to be one of them and start a company. I didn't quite know in what yet.
00:18:25 I got into Beanie Babies when I was like in fourth grade because my mom's family lived in Chicago and they found out about them a little earlier than everyone else and collected Beanie Babies, still have hundreds of them in my mom's basement, much to her chagrin.
00:18:42 And then got to like buying and selling them on eBay, like early eBay and putting them together in different like groupings and trying to sell them that way and riding my bike to Kroger, local grocery store to get money orders.
00:19:00 I was like before there were many credit cards in the internet and I definitely didn't have a credit card at this stage. So I'd like go to Kroger and like slide quarters across the counter and get a money order basically to go pay for them.
00:19:12 I think one thing from when I was a kid to now is kind of a deep curiosity and I really do like to learn things for the sake of learning things, sometimes to a fault.
00:19:24 As a college student in Nantuck changed my major like 12 times, I couldn't really settle on something.
00:19:30 So there's definitely too much but I think in this role it's been really helpful because for the first couple years of a quickly growing company, you're sort of doing all of the different roles in a company until you can sort of do them well enough to convince someone who is much more experienced and much better than you to come in and do it better than you were.
00:19:49 And going into each of those new roles and being like well you know I didn't know what customer success is when I'm going to go talk to the people and do the things and learn about it.
00:19:58 And figuring out how to have joy in that versus just feeling like it's another hill to climb. I think that curiosity piece has been helpful.
00:20:14 I basically started the News App because I went to BU, I was not admitted into the business school like I wanted to. I was admitted into the general studies program and I'm actually doing the business school commencement speech in a few days.
00:20:28 So that's going to be cool because I barely graduated. I actually almost got kicked out.
00:20:35 My name is Daniela Pearson. I am the founder and CEO of the News App Media Group which encompasses News App Media and Newlander Agency and I'm also the co-founder of Wonder Mind.
00:20:50 When I was growing up I definitely had a huge fascination with media in terms of reading magazines. So I remember going into the grocery store Publix because I'm from Florida and my mom just saying only one because I would just come to the register with ten magazines.
00:21:09 So I always wanted to work for a magazine. In terms of being an entrepreneur I was kind of an out of the box kid. I didn't really like school. I didn't really buy into it.
00:21:22 Even in middle school I would say why do I need to know about the Earth's crust? I'm not going to be an expert in that I swear.
00:21:31 I felt really stupid as a kid because I'm an identical twin and my sister Alex is a genius. But I ended up being so excited for college. I'm going to learn about what I'm going to do.
00:21:45 So I get there the first day and guess what we're learning about? The Earth's fucking crust.
00:21:53 As a sophomore I realized I have four years where I'm lucky enough that I don't have to have a job right now. So this is the perfect time for me to basically create a job because if no one's going to hire me because I have bad grades I need to hire myself.
00:22:10 So I made a list and I had one column what am I good at and the other column is what do I love. I am ashamed, not that ashamed now to say, but before I was ashamed to say that I was not good at anything.
00:22:26 Literally that column was blank and I'm not just saying that to be humble I really was not good at anything. I had zero passions, skills, I just was kind of there.
00:22:37 And that was an eye opener. So then I said okay well if I'm not good at anything what do I like? And the first thing was magazines.
00:22:47 So I thought no one's going to hire me to be an intern at these magazines. I don't have amazing grades and usually have to know somebody who knows somebody, whatever.
00:22:55 And so why don't I just make my own magazine? But instead of it being printed what if it was like a daily magazine, almost like a daily gift in your inbox? And that's when I came up with the Newsette.
00:23:11 The second I started the Newsette I felt like even though it was this shitty little newsletter that people read, every single day after that I never missed a day for the five years I wrote it myself every weekday.
00:23:23 I would wake up at 5am, I would get my fruity pebbles, my orange juice and I would just write it. And I would literally finish writing and say oh my gosh it's 10am.
00:23:35 And then hours went by but it didn't even feel like it because it was such a rush. And so every time I saw my little newsletter list grow it literally felt like I was winning a lottery.
00:23:45 Essentially the first month when I graduated I made $25,000 off of ads and I was like oh shit I can do this. So I moved to New York. It was just me and then I had an intern and then I had two interns.
00:24:02 And it just kind of kept growing from there. But I think the year that we did a million dollars in sales without any VC funding I was really proud because at that time the media was only covering people with how much have you raised.
00:24:16 It was all about raising money and I was probably 22 or 23 at the time. And I felt so embarrassed that I wasn't able to raise any money.
00:24:25 And I thought honestly it's kind of more impressive and I'm actually more impressed with entrepreneurs now when I invest in their companies.
00:24:33 It's more impressive to convince hundreds of customers to believe in you to make a million dollars than convince three guys in a boardroom to give you a million dollars.
00:24:46 So that's when I kind of felt like maybe I don't need VC money. Maybe I can actually grow this big. The next year we did 7 million and then we did 40 million.
00:24:54 And by the end of the year we are going to have over a million subscribers. And that's a big deal to us because we could have had over a million subscribers a year or two ago.
00:25:06 We clean our list to make sure that only the best 500,000, 600,000 people are reading. And so for us to get to a million those are a million people who are reading almost every day.
00:25:18 They're engaging and so they're real people and views. So I have always been in the quality over quantity approach for everything.
00:25:30 I think we have people that are going to be so excited to read our newsletter every single day and almost wait for it and refresh their inbox until it comes.
00:25:38 And I think our editors, because they really are the people that are writing the content, are the people who are reading it.
00:25:46 And it's so authentic and there's no red tape. There's no board that we have to abide by. Oh don't write about this, don't write about that.
00:25:54 The clock stops here and I don't think I've gotten involved in anything editorial in years because I trust the people on my team.
00:26:02 It's just whatever our readers want to read about, let's write about that.
00:26:06 Pearson is also a co-founder of WonderMind, a platform for exploring and maintaining one's mental health.
00:26:12 Its underlying philosophy is that mental wellness requires daily effort, the same way that achieving physical fitness requires regular exercise.
00:26:21 The company, first announced in November of 2021, raised $5 million in August of 2022 from Serena Williams' venture capital firm Serena Ventures, valuing the pre-revenue startup at $100 million.
00:26:35 I have OCD, which is obsessive compulsive disorder, ADHD and depression. And those were things that, you know, even just a few years ago, I would have rather, you know, just had the, there's a saying in Spanish, have the earth just like rip open and eat me up, rather than say I have OCD or ADHD or anything having to do with mental health.
00:27:03 When I spoke on the Forbes 30 under 30 panel and I left the auditorium after I was done and I was standing there and we all of a sudden were bombarded by this huge line of other entrepreneurs, other Forbes 30 under 30 recipients, like people that I look up to.
00:27:20 And I had a line of people wanting to talk to me and shake my hand and take a picture with me.
00:27:27 Some people were like, I can't believe how open you are with your mental health, like good for you, but like I would never be. But then some people were like, wow, like you talking about that, like I like have OCD, like whispering it to me and stuff.
00:27:40 And even just that is, I know so hard in a world where you're supposed to be emotionless and fierce and tough and make all the right decisions and be perfect.
00:27:52 A CEO wouldn't say, wouldn't be embarrassed about telling people that they had a heart problem or diabetes. So why should somebody be embarrassed about saying that they have a mental health disorder?
00:28:02 And so I thought, you know, how can I basically change the narrative around mental health and make it so that it is treated like normal health and it's actually cool to talk about it.
00:28:17 So that's when, you know, Wonder Mind kind of came to be and Selena Gomez and Mandy Teefey are my co-founders.
00:28:24 And it was just really important for us to set up an ecosystem that made it okay and fun and cool and trendy and exciting to learn about mental health and learn about how the most powerful people in the world,
00:28:41 who are like this on the cover of Forbes, you know, how they deal with their anxiety or their mental health, because truly that's how I felt comfortable enough to say something.
00:28:52 The people I'm hoping to reach are not the people who are actively trying to find a therapist. Of course, we want to reach them and we have, and it's great.
00:29:04 We're looking for the people who maybe have thought about it, but thought, oh, you know, like I might see a therapist and their friends like, why, you have a problem?
00:29:13 I've accomplished things that I didn't even know I could dream about. I didn't even think that it was a possibility ever.
00:29:22 People who are not, you know, Ivy League students, people who are from minorities, people who come from different backgrounds.
00:29:30 They don't have, you know, all of this pedigree. They don't have connections, you know, all that stuff.
00:29:34 Those people should feel like they have a chance. They shouldn't count themselves out because I counted myself out.
00:29:41 And the only reason why I'm sitting in this chair is because I was in survival mode and I had no other choice and I am stubborn as hell.
00:29:52 And it shouldn't be like that for other people. And so the next five years I want to continue investing in entrepreneurs, especially entrepreneurs that like me are not the conventional, you know, let me invest in you type.
00:30:06 I was never supposed to go from C student to CEO, but I'm here.
00:30:12 Here at the Black Ambition third annual demo day, CEO Felicia Hatcher of Black Ambition. Thank you so much for the time.
00:30:19 I know you're running on fumes, right? It's been a couple of crazy few days, but hey, you are though.
00:30:25 It's just over and I'm seeing those entrepreneurs out there. I saw the faces on there, the looks on their faces when they were getting them checked, especially the million dollar learner.
00:30:33 I mean, it must feel good over the, you're running on fumes to see that you're changing lives.
00:30:39 I mean, it feels amazing, right? Just to not only know that we're changing lives, but the lives that those entrepreneurs are going to change as a result of the investment, the mentorship, the support, the community that we've built.
00:30:51 Like to me, that is what matters the most.
00:30:54 So we had that strange elevator moment, right? We're on an elevator together. It's not her. It's not her. Okay.
00:31:00 But after that was over, I was thinking through the night as you were talking on, you know, for everyone on the mic and I'm thinking, I said, what do you see? What do you look for in an entrepreneur? What is that?
00:31:10 Yeah, we look for quite a few things. You know, I think we're one product market fit, right? Like, is it the right moment? Are they building? Are they the right team as well?
00:31:22 Then really looking at the founder itself, like, do they have the risk tolerance? Do they have the tenacity? Do they have a level of resource magnetism?
00:31:30 Like, no matter what, they can go out and get it and find the resources that they need and attract it to their business. Those are a lot of the things that we look for.
00:31:37 And then with Black In Mission, we kind of have this unspoken rule that we're investing in for-profit companies, absolutely.
00:31:44 But we're also looking for people and entrepreneurs that we know are going to have a connection, like a deep connection back to their community.
00:31:50 And so, like, it's that other thing that we're looking for in the conversations that we have, in the interview process, as they're in their mentorship pods, we're also evaluating them as well.
00:31:59 And then it's that it factor, right? Like, are they building the right product at the right time? And are they the right person to be building the company as well?
00:32:08 Pitch compensations are very unique, right? Because it says that Ashley Samuels and Bill and Tulsa down in Oklahoma, I love what she says. She says that all it takes is sweat equity, right? You're not doing it, it's sweat equity, right?
00:32:18 When you're on stage, I think a little swag, a little entertainment factor in it as well. And then passion, right?
00:32:25 Like, you know, when you meet an entrepreneur and the passion is just exuding out of them, they're going to figure it out. They're going to knock it out of the park.
00:32:34 And then they're going to weather the ebb and flow of entrepreneurship, because it's not easy as well. And like, you feel that when you're having conversations with them.
00:32:42 And then the other part of that is vision, right? Like, the organization was founded by a visionary. And so seeing entrepreneurs showcase, like, the bigger vision that they have, that they're building something much bigger than themselves.
00:32:54 Like, those are qualities and characteristics that make them, like, the ideal candidate for a Black Ambition entrepreneur.
00:33:01 So Pharrell was just sitting here, he said that by 2030, right? I asked him, what is he want to see the number as it stands now, the Black Ambition 92 million that they have distributed, raised, Black founders.
00:33:12 Let me make sure I get the number right. 92 million, what is that number?
00:33:15 Yeah, so 92 million is the number that those entrepreneurs have raised in venture capital.
00:33:20 Venture capital.
00:33:22 Yeah, and so the entrepreneurs that we invest in, as well as the, we work with about 250 entrepreneurs in a year through our cohort style mentorship program.
00:33:29 That's considered the Black Ambition Network. And so over the course of the three years, we've worked with 750 entrepreneurs and they've raised over $92 million.
00:33:38 And then they do about $27 million annually in revenue.
00:33:41 Combined. Combined. Now, how much, as far as the 92, how much has Black Ambition given out total?
00:33:47 Yeah, so as of today, close to $10 million.
00:33:50 Close to $10 million. Okay. And so Pharrell says by 2030, he wants to see that number.
00:33:54 Me too.
00:33:56 How do you get there?
00:33:58 Yeah, I mean, we get there with strategic partners that align with our vision, that understand the ROI of investing in Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs at the highest level.
00:34:09 They not only become massive contributors back into their communities, they're good customers as well.
00:34:14 They're opening up innovative processes in which corporations can acquire those companies.
00:34:21 And there's so many different, they become vendors for these. There's so many different ripple effects that happen when you invest in these companies at the highest level.
00:34:28 But then we also need those companies to be funders and supporters of our work so that we can mentor those entrepreneurs so that when they get the opportunities, they get the funding, they know what to do on how to grow and scale those companies.
00:34:40 So it's that, right? It's strategic partners. And then it's also really good retail partners.
00:34:46 So not just the e-commerce companies that we're working with, but we invest in a lot of CPG companies as well and making sure that they can get their products on the shelves or the virtual shelves as well.
00:34:54 Yeah. Again, the initiative Black Ambition is empowering Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs, Black and Brown people.
00:35:00 And the focus here is tech, design, healthcare, consumer products. Why those areas?
00:35:05 Yeah, we looked at high growth areas in which...
00:35:08 That's what you consider high growth areas?
00:35:11 Yeah, Black and Brown communities, absolutely. And so they're growing by leaps and bounds in the technology industry. We see a high majority of those companies in consumer packaged goods.
00:35:20 That's a low barrier to entry for them, but there's a high upswing in potential for them as well.
00:35:24 And then we're also looking at areas in which culture is an asset. They don't have to explain away their culture in order to be able to do business there.
00:35:33 And so those are a lot of the reasons why we picked those sectors. And then we're also looking at which sectors are ripe for innovation and then also need a higher level of respect in innovation from us.
00:35:44 And so healthcare is one of those sectors. We know the large number of disparities in the health space as it relates to Black and Brown communities.
00:35:52 Well, we want to invest and fund those innovators that are building the technology and the healthcare solutions to make sure that that is a place that is much more helpful to us and can alleviate some of those disparity numbers that we see.
00:36:04 Yeah. Again, Felicia Hatcher, CEO of Black Ambition. Take me back to that young Felicia Hatcher, right? Because I'm looking...
00:36:10 The young...
00:36:11 I got C's in school too, right? So much that my dad left me back in the seventh grade because he didn't think I learned enough, right? He didn't even want to get any C's.
00:36:20 Why were you getting C's in high school? Me, I was lazy. I didn't do homework. I was only looking at girls and I was not paying attention. Why did you get C's though?
00:36:26 Same story. My mom hates when I tell that story. I'm like, if I can major or minor in anything in high school, I major or minor in the two B's, boys and basketball.
00:36:33 So that's where I spent most of my time, unfortunately. But I also, you know, not dating myself. I love MacGyver as a kid. So I was like one of those kids that would tinker.
00:36:46 I taught myself how to code at 16. I could rewire cable into my room. But like as far as what showed up in the classroom...
00:36:53 Were you doing all that because you weren't punished because you got C's or what?
00:36:56 No, because I was just a naturally curious kid, right? And I think, you know, one of my favorite quotes is an Albert Einstein quote.
00:37:02 And it says, "If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life feeling that it's stupid." And that was me as a kid, right?
00:37:10 Like I was being judged by what was happening in the classroom, but not all the other stuff that I was doing. I was a big sister. I was on five different sports teams.
00:37:19 I had over, you know, 1500 hours in community service, but that didn't equate to my GPA. And so there's more than one pathway to success.
00:37:30 And I think that is the thing that's most important, right? I think Black Ambition exhibits that. You know, we hear the titles of non-traditional and underrepresented and underestimated.
00:37:41 Well, there's more than one pathway to success for them as well. And that's why we do the work that we do. But like that was my story as a kid.
00:37:48 I got a guidance counselor who told me I'd never make it to college. But she went on to say I should just get a job or go to vocational school.
00:37:58 And she said, "Community College." And community college doesn't accept everybody, right? And so it's unfortunate that at 15, 16 and 17 years old, you can have people that put such a limited belief on your life.
00:38:10 And they're projecting that. And so with Black Ambition, when we talk about things being uninterrupted and being limitless, and you look at like our logo and our branding and being the sky and constellations,
00:38:22 we're making sure nothing stands in the way, especially doubters. We do not have capacity for any of those people to disrupt what we're doing with Black Ambition.
00:38:30 2002, you're at Lynn University, right? You swore off entrepreneurship. You said, "Look, I don't want to do it anymore." But you did get back in. You started a business while you were in Lynn.
00:38:41 What business was that? Why did it fail? And what did you learn?
00:38:46 I started an educational consulting company. It sounded much more sophisticated than it really was. I had won $130,000 in scholarships as a C student.
00:38:54 And what immediately happens after that is your mom starts telling all her church friends that you can teach their kids how to do it too.
00:39:01 And so I actually turned that into a business. And so companies or organizations like DeVry University, the Urban League, the YMCA, start hiring me at 19 years old to build out their college prep programs
00:39:13 and then build out opportunities for non-traditional C and D students to be able to get into college and then also find scholarships.
00:39:21 And so that was my first business, which was a really successful business. Where it failed is I got a contract for $25,000. I thought I was rolling in the dough.
00:39:34 You couldn't tell me nothing. The work started consuming me from this contract that I had. I asked my parents if I could leave school in order to pursue this as a business.
00:39:43 I hired one of my friends and within three months, they sold the company for me. And so I was devastated, absolutely devastated.
00:39:51 And I swore off I would never be an entrepreneur ever again because I had really kind of bet so many things.
00:39:58 Like not compromise, but sacrifice so many things in order to actualize this dream only for it to be taken away from me by somebody that was really close.
00:40:06 And so that was my only image of entrepreneurship other than my dad being an entrepreneur in the construction space and coming home dirty and tired every day.
00:40:15 And so those are my first two early experiences with entrepreneurship. I'm like, I don't want to do this. I want to be as far away from this as possible.
00:40:23 But that was what happened to me with my first business.
00:40:26 What you got back in, right, was a famous story that came out. She thought she would never be an entrepreneur again. And then a recession hit.
00:40:31 Then a recession hit.
00:40:33 And then you find you and your husband, you're going full steam ahead with entrepreneurship. And it doesn't sound like you regret that decision.
00:40:40 I don't regret that decision. I think if I were to do it over again, I'd make some different choices. But I don't.
00:40:46 And it was just it was at a time where there was an economic downturn of 2008.
00:40:52 Remember that? We all collectively experienced it.
00:40:56 But it was such a defining moment for me because I could like if I could have gotten a job back in my field, I would have never pursued another business.
00:41:05 And marketing. And marketing. Yes. And experiential marketing. And so that's what led down that path of just not having a check, not having an opportunity, moving back home to my parents' house, not just by myself, but also bring my husband with me.
00:41:19 And so like those moments when your back is up against the wall and you have no other options, like so many of our entrepreneurs have those stories.
00:41:26 Like you're just forced to figure it out because you do not have a plan B, C or D. And like that was the moment that brought me back into entrepreneurship.
00:41:35 Now we're going to stay on hip hop 50, right? 50th anniversary of hip hop. What song, what artist or what album got you over that hump as far as motivation?
00:41:45 What was that music playing? Like, you know, like we all, when we go through heartbreaks all days there, right?
00:41:50 But what music, what hip hop artists, what album got you through it?
00:41:53 Oh, I don't know about hip hop, but rap for sure. I'm a South Florida girl. So it was, it was a combination of Rick Ross and Trick Daddy. I don't know.
00:42:02 Not Trina?
00:42:05 No. Okay. Yeah. So those, those two, because it was just like, you know, when you're going through your go through, it's such an out of body experience that oftentimes like the lyrics of just like, although the life experiences weren't similar, but that grit, that tenacity, that get up and get it, get it.
00:42:23 Like that was really helpful in me in those moments. And so it was definitely between, between those two.
00:42:30 Yeah. I mean, I remember when "Black Emotion" came out, it was just, was like,
00:42:35 And Jay-Z, I would say Jay-Z as well.
00:42:37 Yeah. I mean, that was a great time. But back in 2021, you decide that you're going to leave, you know, Black Tech and, you know, go over and you're going to help Pharrell build Black Ambition.
00:42:46 Who pitched who? Y'all, this is demo day, right? You're telling everybody else to pitch. Who pitched who on this CEO position?
00:42:54 I was in a conversation with his chief of staff at the time and was telling me about like Black Ambition. And I think it was a little bit of a pitching both, right? Because I had understood what the organization was and saw the announcements.
00:43:09 And I thought that there were just some, some, some holes that I, we could fix at the organization that I co-founded at the time. And by the next day, I got a phone call. It was just like, you, do you want to run this thing?
00:43:22 Because I didn't think the conversation was going in that direction, but I definitely thought that there was some ways that we could be helpful. It's like, that's where the conversation initially started with, with his chief of staff at the time.
00:43:32 And when you talked to him, what was the thing that got you to say yes? Other than the money.
00:43:38 It was, so being an ecosystem builder for the past 10 years, like literally building Miami startup ecosystem, making sure that the Black community was not only an active participant, but like a financial beneficiary of the like innovation economy had been my work for the past 10 years.
00:43:56 And the one thing that we hadn't been able to do was actually physically like write direct checks to organization, to companies and to entrepreneurs. Like we were able to get the VCs to come together, look at them, invest in them.
00:44:09 But like personally being able to say like this company needs investment and I can bet on this. Like I hadn't been able to do that in the work that I've done. It built the community to support every, every, every avenue of that happening.
00:44:24 So that was the thing that really stuck out to me with, with the role. I would say the other, the other part of that is building family legacy is something that's really important to me.
00:44:33 And I just realized like that was a component that Black Ambition represented. Right. And so Pharrell being the visionary and like the architect and coming up with the idea and the importance and the partners for Black Ambition.
00:44:48 And I think that that means he often talks about like it being like a ripple effect, right. Or like the echo, he starts it and then it continues like this cycle. And so being able to build upon that with his family legacy, I think as a part of that was something that was really important for me.
00:45:03 Yeah. When you, did he say a phrase, anything at all, he gets you to just like click at all. You know, it's, Pharrell's a good innovator, right?
00:45:10 Yeah, no, no, he is. Hey sis, right. It's usually that.
00:45:14 That's it. Hey sis was the thing?
00:45:17 It sparked a conversation, right. You know, I often tell the story of like us just having a conversation about Lovecraft Country, right. And like that quote of who are you uninterrupted. And like that was a big connection point for us.
00:45:33 And so it was a conversation with not just him, but then also Virgil who actually created the logo for Black Ambition. Many people don't know that. And so like that conversation with the three of us around what does it actually mean to build Black Ambition, to fund them, to support them was one of the very first conversations that we had together.
00:45:53 And then really kind of building the thing from there, building the team, building the infrastructure and support so that we're now here celebrating a hundred companies at the three year mark.
00:46:03 Yeah. For those people who may not ever or have not heard Virgil, how would you describe him in one word?
00:46:10 I mean, I don't know. Like I feel like if you flip through the dictionary, you look up visionary and innovator, he's going to be right there at the top. I've only had the experience to meet him once, but our conversation was purely around Black Ambition and what is required.
00:46:28 And also the role that the mentorship played in him getting to where he is. And like those are so many of the pillars of our organization and kind of building upon like the initial conversations that him and Pharrell had in the very beginning that led to so many different fingerprints on the organization.
00:46:46 Now that we're here, right, take me inside of the organization. Nonprofits are a very tricky thing for me. I like for-profits. I know that the nonprofits, you know, the operational costs, there are a lot of people who look at that expense and say, this is where all the money gets locked up.
00:46:59 You know, operational costs, you got to pay staff and none of the money really gets to the people it's intended to, right? How is Black Ambition going to navigate that?
00:47:08 Yeah, I mean, we're literally sitting in the distribution of the funding, right? And so it's very clear where our funding goes because we directly, financially support entrepreneurs with the work that we do.
00:47:23 And so, you know, we have our programmatic work that we do, like the mentorship, the HBCU tour, the HBCU pre-accelerator to help those entrepreneurs become better applicants of our prize than any other accelerators and programs like that.
00:47:37 We have our So Ambitious Dinners that we do across the nation. And then we have like our big moment where we support the entrepreneurs. And so we invest about $3 million into about 35 to 36 companies every single year. And now we're at 101 entrepreneurs that we've invested in.
00:47:55 Yeah. How do you get that number up? Do you got to go back to your partners and say, hey, we need more funding coming in? Do you go to other entertainers who got a lot of money to say, bring some money in? How do you get that number so you can be giving out more every year?
00:48:06 Yeah, it's all of the above of what you just said, right? And so finding partners and funders that align with the vision, continuing to have conversations with our current partners as well.
00:48:19 And also our current partners are multi-year partners, which is absolutely amazing. And looking for more institutions, family offices, organizations and foundations that can also make those multi-year commitments to our organization is extremely important.
00:48:36 And so when we're talking about supporting Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs at the highest level, it's not a one-off thing, right? Because then it's not helpful to the entrepreneurs at the end of the day. It doesn't allow you to build the momentum that turns into the tangible results. And so, you know, the more conversations we get, conversations all the time with partners that are interested in supporting our entrepreneurs at the highest level. And then we've just showed that the model and our thesis around supporting Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs work.
00:49:03 And so again, that $92 million is how much the companies have raised. And you guys have given out that number in 20 plus, 10 million, excuse me, 10 million. And they're bringing collectively 23 million when it comes down to REV.
00:49:17 27. You got to include all the zeros.
00:49:22 Any number at all. 27 million. That's what it is, right? Looking at that again, Brookings Institute came out with a very in-depth research papers called "What's Driving Black Business Growth Insights" came out in May '23. And in that finding, they found some very interesting stats in 2020. Black business employers, they employ about 1.3 million people, created 48,000, more than 48,000 new jobs and added an additional 1.7 billion to the payroll of the US economy.
00:49:51 And then it says Black business ownership, it continues to grow. But if it continues to grow at its current rate, right, which is about 4%, it will take 256 years to reach parity to the share of Black America, right? But if you want to reach parity in 15, you need a 74% growth. And if you want to do it in 25, 44%, and so on and so on, how can we speed this up?
00:50:13 Yeah. One of my favorite quotes from my mentor Myron is "Wealth has a need for speed." And so things need to happen faster for entrepreneurs in order to even begin to close the wealth gap. What I've realized in this work is that there's so many institutions, people, corporations that have gotten really comfortable wasting the time of Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs.
00:50:36 And so that part has to stop, right? Getting them the funding faster is also something I think from a nonprofit organizational standpoint, I'd love to see that shift happen just in that industry alone, because we are forcing them to continue to qualify over and over again, to be able to receive funding.
00:50:55 The other part of that is the respectable amount of funding, right? And so I think in the past three years, we've seen a lot of initiatives stand up to support Black entrepreneurs specifically. But like their processes and their cycles are so long, that it takes forever for those entrepreneurs to actually get the funding that they need in order to grow their companies. And so like, there's some changes that need to happen in how we support entrepreneurs.
00:51:18 - Structural change. - Structural change is absolutely as a whole, so that we can get them the money faster, that they can build faster, they can hire faster, they can continue to raise additional sources of capital much faster as well. And then I think the other part of that is we see a lot of funding and support in the very beginning stages of entrepreneurship for Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs.
00:51:40 And so when they start to grow and scale their company, the funding available to them at those next levels is almost non-existent. And so we're doing all, everyone's doing a really good job of getting them to start. But when they start to scale, which is required for them to become massive contributors to their communities, to be able to become massive employers, then that capital that they need, that growth capital is even more extremely hard for them to be able to get.
00:52:04 - You know, I'll tell you, I love the spirit though. When I was at the private dinner that you guys had, Cedric and Antoine was buzzing the deals off. I'm sitting listening to these entrepreneurs talk. One sister at my table talking about free cost. And I'm like, "Oh, they're getting busy." I love that. When you hear that talk, when you hear, is it, "Hey, we're getting there."
00:52:24 - I think we are farther along than most people will give us credit for. I think as a race, just in respect in the venture startup space as a whole. The other part of that is, you know, a lot of these entrepreneurs are building very sophisticated systems and solutions that don't get the respect that they need. Right?
00:52:47 And so as a result, you get a lot of like, "Well, they need financial." I'm like, "They passed that. They are past that. What they need are the right experts at the right moment at the right time so that they can grow and scale their companies." And so like, we actually learn a lot from the companies that are in our network and our corporate partners equally learn a lot from our entrepreneurs.
00:53:08 One of the things that we launched last year was like a learning lab series where we bring our entrepreneurs into some of our corporate partners for two days. It's literally a two-way street, even though they're working with some of the C-suites at some of the top brands across the globe. Those companies leave saying to us, like, "We learn more than the entrepreneurs probably learn from us."
00:53:31 And so it's an absolute two-way street. And it's because a lot of them are, you know, top graduates of their classes at the universities that they've gone to. Many of them have worked years in corporate America, have run and exited successful businesses as well. And so there's these multitudes of stories to tell about who these actual entrepreneurs are.
00:53:53 And it's not always just like literally like starting from the bottom. Now they're here. Many of them have a high level of subject matter expertise, years in the game, and then have seen problems that they can solve through the businesses that they've launched. And so giving a higher level of respect of who they are is also really important.
00:54:10 Yeah. I mean, as you said, problem solvers, right? People who can solve the problem, they are the best entrepreneurs. Within Black Ambition's portfolio and what you guys have seen from companies you've helped, I often get that when I call my investor friends and VC friends and I ask them about some of the companies that I'm being pitched on, they always say, "Jabari, are they companies or are they tools?" Right? What are you guys sitting on? Are companies a tool?
00:54:34 I would say a combination of both. And that's all because we invest in so many different stages of entrepreneurs. All of our entrepreneurs are early stage, but then we also invest in HBCU entrepreneurs. So current college students or post five years. And so we have a mix of entrepreneurs that we're invested in. I would say most of them were companies, maybe not all of them were startups is the real thing.
00:54:59 But a lot of them have built companies that can play really well in the startup space or in the venture space, but they're small businesses at their core. So they're not going to rapidly accelerate in two years with a repeatable fundable model. But they are building companies that may be around for the next 10 or 20 years and they're family businesses or like their lifestyle businesses. And that's also just like the dynamics of in black and brown communities. You need a mix of both. Right?
00:55:26 And I think more than anything, what we saw during the last economic downturn over the past few years during the pandemic is that people went back to small businesses as the core that kept our communities afloat. And so you always need to be nurturing both of those at the same time. The companies that are going to accelerate in high growth, but then the companies that you can rely on that are going to be in your communities, that are going to be in the mom and pop shops, that are going to solve local solutions to local problems. You need to be able to invest in both and we're able to do so.
00:55:55 What do you say to the entrepreneur that just can't get the fund? That's been trying and trying and trying to always go back to a sister named Adrian Smith, company Blitz Champs, card game, has an NFL license. For some reason, some VCs or people, they're not interested because the sister's having a hard time maybe attracting funding that she wants so she can scale. What do you say to people like that?
00:56:16 Oh, look at alternative sources of funding. Like I said, not every company is well suited for venture capital and you got to be very careful to make sure that you want to go down that road. You can actually play on that road. You can actually offer some sort of return and you can scale and grow at a rapid pace where it makes sense. Not every company is like that and it's perfectly fine.
00:56:38 I think for government is what one of the largest employees of the world or the largest employees of the United States, but then they also are some of the largest contractors. I've seen some really amazing companies get the funding that they need from local government, from federal government as well and it's what they get to fuel their companies.
00:57:00 Some of our companies have received SBIR grants that allow them to get the capital that they need coming from the government. I would say continue to apply for pitch competitions. They serve a really, really important role of getting entrepreneurs unrestricted capital, oftentimes serving as like that friends and family round for them. Also looking at crowdfunding and equity crowdfunding. We crowdfund every Sunday in the black church. It's not new to us.
00:57:28 You mean with the Pleat Festival?
00:57:30 The utility of a Kickstarter Indiegogo is the exact same thing. Peers are coming together with a small amount of money to help you get to your goal to be able to fund the thing that you've done. That's not foreign in the black community. It's existed in the Caribbean for generations called Partner and then on the continent of Africa, literally generations is called Susu.
00:57:55 This coming together to fund things is not new to us, but it's definitely an underutilized tool that you can play really, really well in in the absence of venture capital and oftentimes to be able to fund your thing much faster. You look at Angela Benton who's been able to raise, I think she's raised over a million dollars on equity crowdfunding. Max Tuckman who we had come in and do a learning lab for entrepreneurs, the first Latina to raise over a million dollars in equity crowdfunding.
00:58:24 So there's definitely a possibility for these entrepreneurs to literally use their social capital, their peer networks to raise the money that they need to do in order to grow and scale their companies or at least give them a little bit of runway while they're playing the venture game.
00:58:39 So you mentioned that you're a black ambitious passion, CEO of Black Ambition. Two more things to get out of here because you're a CEO, right? You're busy, right? Even though it's nighttime. You're probably going to be going to bed after this. Looking deep into it now, at that dinner, you said something that was very intriguing. You said that Black Ambitionist Initiative is a return on investment for our ancestors' sacrifice. Can you elaborate on that?
00:59:04 And by the way, Pharrell said he loved that you Jay-Zed him. You always do that, huh? We have a thing back and forth. If you Jay-Zed him, what does he do to you? Does he Dino-Sigel you? Maybe. A lot.
00:59:22 Yeah, you know, we often talk so much about return on investment in the business space. Absolutely. It's super important. But I think from a cultural standpoint, a return on your ancestors' sacrifice is also something that's really important. There are people that have come before you that you only get to do what you're doing today because of their sacrifice.
00:59:43 Yeah. Right? And no matter who you are, from a cultural standpoint, what your background is, all of us owe the people before us that level of attention, care, dedication, grit, and tenacity to what we're doing. And so, you know, entrepreneurship will punch you in the gut more times than you can ever be able to count. I can attest to that myself.
01:00:06 But those moments where I wake up and I'm like, "I don't really want to do this anymore. I don't want to build this company anymore." Like any of those things, natural feelings that you have as an entrepreneur, remembering who came before you and what they sacrificed in order to do so is really important. I'm the granddaughter of a Jamaican sugar cane and yarm farmer. That's my history. And I know what my grandfather did so that I can actually be able to do the work that I'm doing.
01:00:33 And so, when I had to make ultimate sacrifices, it was really hard walking miles in order to be able to sell his yam and his sugar cane to put a roof over my mother's head that I can actually do what I'm doing. And so, knowing that is a thing that is my deep why. I mean, that's what I mean by making sure that we are providing a return on the sacrifice of those that have come before us that paved the way.
01:00:56 Absolutely. I always like to get CEOs and ask them because they are some of the more intelligent people, right? And you're definitely intelligent. You were studying MacGyver. By the way, did you like the car? That was like really good technology. You had a car talking to you.
01:01:10 I got in a lot of trouble. I used to do all the weird stuff that MacGyver used to do.
01:01:14 That was your favorite show, MacGyver?
01:01:16 Absolutely.
01:01:18 It still is today?
01:01:19 That was my favorite show. I haven't watched it in years, but like hands down, I feel like I can solve any problem with an iPhone, like a rubber band and a paper clip because of MacGyver.
01:01:30 Jim Collins wrote a great book, "Good to Great." It's my favorite business book because it really teaches you how companies make that transition and leaders, how they lead. What's the difference between a good CEO and a great one?
01:01:44 A good CEO listens. A good CEO, good leader listens probably more than they talk. And I think that's the difference. I'm a big person on communication as far as words and how they have meaning and how it affects change.
01:02:04 And communication is at the top of the four highest levels of value. Imagination is number one, communication is number two. And so CEOs are visionaries.
01:02:14 Why that order?
01:02:16 The people that come up with the ideas rule the world. If you think about Apple, who is the most impactful person to Apple? I'm asking you to answer.
01:02:27 Steve Jobs, I guess.
01:02:30 Steve Jobs, he wasn't that. He actually built the technology.
01:02:32 True.
01:02:34 Right? Or Tim Cook, he took the company from a $1 trillion company to a $3 trillion company. Steve Jobs didn't do that in his lifetime.
01:02:41 Well, at that point, then I would say the customer is the biggest thing to Apple because they can't do all of that without the money.
01:02:47 He came up with the ideas. And that's why he's remembered and revered as being the number one top contributor to the organization. And so you can have vision, but if you can't communicate that vision in order to make your team do what they need to do, then you don't really have a company.
01:03:02 And if you can't communicate the value to your customers, you don't have business. And if you can't communicate the big vision to the people, when you're an entrepreneur and you don't have money, you need to pull this person from one of the top technology companies to come be your engineer. That is vision at the end of the day.
01:03:18 And so having the ideas and then being able to communicate the ideas are the two highest levels of value, especially as it relates to someone that's leading a company.
01:03:26 Absolutely. So that makes a great CEO.
01:03:29 That makes a great CEO. That's the top, but there's a lot of components for sure.
01:03:33 Absolutely. Uninterrupted CEO.
01:03:35 An uninterrupted CEO. I like you.
01:03:37 Felicia Astrid, thank you so much for the time.
01:03:39 Thank you so much as well.
01:03:41 Raja, I am so excited to be here with you today. Thank you for joining me.
01:03:51 Thank you so much for having me. I'm just so excited to be here as well.
01:03:56 So I want to start. Tell me about what InvisiWare does.
01:03:59 Of course. So InvisiWare creates jewelry and accessories with safety technology hidden inside. Like this necklace I'm wearing.
01:04:07 Oh my God, that looks so nice.
01:04:09 There's a button. Thank you so much. Nobody ever suspects it's a safety device. But if you click this backside two times, it will immediately alert five emergency contacts to let them know you're in an emergency and need help. And it can also optionally contact 911.
01:04:24 Wow. What was the inspiration for you for starting this company?
01:04:27 Oh my gosh, it was so crazy. Never in a million years did I ever think I would start a company. I actually was only 21 years old at the time. I was in college when I had a scary situation. I was at an event with some friends. I didn't want to inconvenience anyone.
01:04:45 So I said my goodbyes and I started walking back to my car. As I was about halfway between where the car is and the event is, an SUV full of guys drove by. They rolled down the window and started yelling super inappropriate comments. The car stops and one of the four guys starts to get out.
01:05:01 Oh my God.
01:05:04 I got out as quickly as I could, got to my car safely and thankfully I wasn't hurt that night. But for the next hour and a half I was shaking uncontrollably because all I could think about is I could have been that news story. I started looking for safety devices to buy to protect myself and the women I care about. But everything was a big ugly panic button. So it blew my mind. I was like, how is nobody creating them in jewelry?
01:05:29 How did you feel making that jump? To take it from an idea in your head to actually going and being an entrepreneur and creating the product?
01:05:38 So I never really imagined it would become what it is today. It actually originally started as a class project. So I was doing my senior year capstone at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and I told my best friend, his name is Ray, I said, why don't we create safety devices for a project and then at the end of this we can have them for ourselves and our loved ones.
01:05:59 Studies show one out of every five women is sexually assaulted at some point in her lifetime. This is highly unacceptable and needs to change. So we both graduated and we decided to decline to prestigious job opportunities. I actually turned down an opportunity with Google. I always joke, I'm like, don't tell your parents you're declining a job with Google. They're going to think you lost your mind.
01:06:24 So talk to me about the scale of your business. How has your sales growth been? How many customers do you have?
01:06:34 It's been incredible. We actually have sold over 100,000 devices and we've surpassed over $15 million in revenue, which has been such a huge milestone for us.
01:06:48 As a woman going into a male dominated VC field and trying to pitch this female centric product, how was that for you and was it hard to convince people to take a chance on you?
01:07:00 It definitely was not easy. We sadly got so many disgusting comments while we were raising money. I had one investor look me dead in the eyes and say that he doesn't think women care about their safety. After I specifically told him the horrific statistics, we actually had a really horrible story happen where we were doing a friendly Shark Tank pitch competition.
01:07:22 There were four judges in the entire panel. Four were men, one was a woman. The woman started by saying that she loves the product, wishes she had one when she was in college. The next guy looked at me and said that his wife never ever complained about her safety and that because of that he doesn't think there's a need for this product.
01:07:43 The next judge decided to take the cake so I started the company with a male co-founder who's my best friend and he looks at me and asks if I had ever been intimate with my co-founder.
01:07:55 That's completely inappropriate.
01:07:57 Can you believe that? I was appalled.
01:08:00 One last question for you. When you were younger, what would you tell yourself the day before you launched your company that you wish you knew now?
01:08:09 I think the biggest advice would be to believe in yourself. So many people will tell you all of the reasons that you could fail. I can't tell you the number of people who thought Ray and I were out of our minds to decline all of these prestigious job opportunities. People would say things like nine out of ten businesses fail. And all I could think about is, well who says we're not going to be the one out of ten? If you don't build your dreams, someone else is going to hire you to build theirs.
01:08:35 Diana, thank you so much for being here.
01:08:42 Thank you for having me.
01:08:44 Of course. So to start, please tell me about what your company Parallel Learning does.
01:08:49 So we provide both software and services to school districts around the country. We work specifically with their special education department. So in K-12 districts, you have general education and then you have special education, which is about roughly 15% of students who usually have a learning or thinking difference, mental health challenge.
01:09:08 And we basically staff school psychologists, speech therapists, special ed teachers, a whole host of different professionals who work directly with students to make sure that even the most complex students are set up for success in the district.
01:09:21 I want to hear about the why. Tell me about your founding story, how this came about.
01:09:27 Well I'll start with I have dyslexia and ADHD, so I fall very squarely into the population of students that we now work with here at Parallel.
01:09:33 And was lucky enough to have access to a lot of resources growing up. My mom in particular was very on top of things.
01:09:42 She said that I really reaped the benefits of early detection and early intervention for my challenges and was diagnosed when I was seven years old, which is a very unique story.
01:09:50 Most kids are years behind in core academic subjects or struggling with very severe mental health challenges before anyone really intervenes on their behalf.
01:09:57 And so with that, I was extremely motivated by my own experience to kind of recreate my reality at scale for more students.
01:10:05 And that was also paired with the start of the pandemic when so many students, schools were struggling, but general education online.
01:10:11 Nevertheless, special ed students were just simply not getting served at all and was extremely concerned to see dire circumstances.
01:10:20 And that was kind of the ultimate culmination for jumping into Parallel.
01:10:24 I've been really excited to partner with some amazing clinicians in the space, operators, engineers to really bring Parallel to life.
01:10:33 Tell us about how many students and educators you serve and how that's grown over time.
01:10:36 It's grown a lot, very quickly. So we started actually working with school districts just over a year ago.
01:10:43 So prior to that, we were actually serving families who were actually not getting served within the school district.
01:10:48 So we're looking for additional services. And that business was fantastic and growing also very rapidly.
01:10:55 The districts came to us and said, you know, we actually desperately need your services as well.
01:11:01 And so that gave rise in spring of 2022 of when we started deciding to work with school districts directly.
01:11:06 That's actually now 100% of our business. It's been an absolute joy to work with districts across the country.
01:11:13 We're in 15 states at this point, serving thousands of students per month, doing both psychological assessments, speech assessments, mental health assessments, and then also doing the kind of ongoing services.
01:11:26 So we're doing speech therapy, special ed teaching, and so on. So really becoming this kind of full stop partner, I should say, for school districts.
01:11:33 Tell me about your fundraising journey. What's that been like for you and how much have you raised so far?
01:11:43 It's been a really exciting journey. It's amazing to see how many institutional investors ultimately support our mission and really want to see Parallel grow.
01:11:55 I'm a solo founder, so fundraising has been something that has fully fallen on my plate.
01:12:00 And with that, we've gotten a lot of traction. So we've now raised about $30 million in total from some of the top investors out there.
01:12:08 Tiger Global, Obvious Ventures, Rethink, Impact Fund just led a small round.
01:12:15 We've been really lucky to work with investors of all different backgrounds, both from the more impact-centric investors who have more education, more healthcare-specific experience, to the big growth funds and really see it from all sides.
01:12:27 So it's an amazing opportunity to have everyone around the table and everyone's been highly supportive of making Parallel what it is today.
01:12:36 One last question for you. What would you like your legacy to be?
01:12:42 I think as a founder in this space, you have to say it's got a mission element, right?
01:12:48 Obviously, everyone that works for Parallel, it's great that we're a venture-backed company and we're growing quickly.
01:12:54 The business success is part of it, but I think more than anything, that actually means that we've done really a lot of good in the world and that we've really helped change the trajectory for students just like myself.
01:13:09 I feel like, frankly, if I did not have access to resources that I did early on, I would not be sitting here today.
01:13:14 I would not have the confidence for that. I would not have that basic skill set.
01:13:18 With that in mind, I think that's probably the biggest motivation is how do I really hit the point where I feel like we've helped as many students as we possibly can.
01:13:27 Kendall, it is so wonderful to be here with you today. Thank you for joining me.
01:13:38 Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here.
01:13:39 Of course. You are a household name. Everyone, I think, knows you've had a successful modeling career. What made you want to take the leap into entrepreneurship?
01:13:47 I think I always felt a really strong passion for it. Obviously, I come from a family of a bunch of entrepreneurs, so I think it felt really natural for me.
01:13:56 I felt like I was in a place in my modeling career as it was coming up on maybe nine, almost ten years where I was just really ready for something new.
01:14:06 Obviously, I was a fan as a consumer of tequila. My mom and my dad drank it all the time growing up.
01:14:11 As I got older and I would start drinking it, I was tasting different tequilas, loving different tequilas, just loving the space.
01:14:18 Again, as a consumer, not knowing too much about the ins and outs of it. I found myself really passionate about it.
01:14:24 I found partners and founders that also really wanted to be a part of the space.
01:14:28 We then grew, obviously. We didn't know much about making tequila, so we had to find the experts and we were a team from there.
01:14:35 My hand is pretty much in every aspect of the business.
01:14:37 A lot of first-time founders, the thing I hear the most often is, "I feel this imposter syndrome as a young founder."
01:14:45 For you, I feel like it's times a hundred because you're in the public eye. Did you ever feel like, "Can I be this founder? Am I going to be judged? Can I step into this?"
01:14:54 I think there's a lot of pressure being one in the spotlight, but then also obviously running a business of your own.
01:15:01 I'm a big affirmations person, so I'm always trying to talk up to myself and talk kindly to myself.
01:15:06 Those affirmations genuinely helped me get through those moments of imposter syndrome.
01:15:11 How do you stand out and what is the Kendall brand that you're trying to go for?
01:15:16 I feel like since I was a kid, I was always a little different. I was always sportier.
01:15:21 I just think that my path led me here and I think that it feels really fitting for me and I really enjoy it.
01:15:27 [music]
01:15:31 Your family is really synonymous with business. How do you navigate that dynamic?
01:15:37 It's so funny you ask because obviously my mom is my mom, but she's also my manager.
01:15:41 We have moments when we're talking on the phone and we're talking about business and we're maybe having a heated conversation about something.
01:15:47 Then all of a sudden she's like, "Okay, I love you. How are you feeling today?"
01:15:50 I'm like, "Oh my God, yeah, you're my mom too."
01:15:54 We're talking about something else like a bad day or whatever, very mom stuff, mom-daughter related things.
01:15:59 We have our moments, but at the end of the day, I think we're really good at compartmentalizing.
01:16:03 I think all of us are. We're all pretty pro, not to toot our horns, but we're pretty pro.
01:16:09 I think we get the separation between work, fam time, and business time and all those things.
01:16:14 That makes sense. Famous families, they come and go, but none has really had the viral staying power that your family has.
01:16:22 Why do you think that is?
01:16:24 I don't know. I guess there's something. It's hard for me to answer that question, but we're wild and we're funny and we're crazy.
01:16:32 At the same time, I think the main energy behind it all is love.
01:16:35 We just have so much love for each other. We stand by each other. I think that maybe that's it.
01:16:40 I can't really fully answer the question.
01:16:43 No, that's a good thought.
01:16:45 I guess that's what I try and equate it to.
01:16:48 818 is definitely your big business, but the other business I think is you as Kendall.
01:16:53 How do you decide which brands and posts to be sponsored or who do you decide who to work with?
01:16:58 I find myself to be a very intentional person.
01:17:01 Anytime I'm working with a brand or creating a brand or just doing something that is genuinely me,
01:17:07 obviously everything has to feel super authentic to me, but again, super intentional.
01:17:13 I don't want to do anything that doesn't align with my vibes or my morals or my feelings
01:17:19 and things that really make me feel good and make me feel like getting excited to wake up in the morning.
01:17:24 I had to work to get to that place. It wasn't always that easy.
01:17:27 I can't just say yes and no to everything. I can't say no to a lot of things, especially 10 years ago when I was starting.
01:17:33 It was a lot of yeses and a lot of not only feeling grateful to be in that position,
01:17:38 but also just feeling like I wanted to build up my portfolio and my career and all the things.
01:17:43 But now I think I have the blessing of being able to say, "Okay, does that align with me?"
01:17:47 And I wake up a really happy person because of that.
01:17:50 If you could go back in time and tell your younger self something before Keeping Up With Kardashians premiered,
01:18:00 what would you say to the Kendall band? What advice would you have?
01:18:04 I think advice would be stop and smell the roses when you can, as cheesy as that sounds.
01:18:11 But I would also tell her that enjoy the ride. It's going to be a beautiful one.
01:18:17 Kate, thanks for joining us today. Thrilled to have you.
01:18:27 Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
01:18:30 So my first question is, let's talk about the Kate Siracusa, aka Amaranth brand.
01:18:35 What is your brand? And in a sea of digital creators and influencers, how do you stand out?
01:18:41 Well, I think one of the things that has made me stand out is being online all the time, especially for girls.
01:18:47 Usually girls creators, they don't just live chronically online where they're just live constantly.
01:18:53 Being live in general, like live streaming space, is kind of difficult, I guess, for women to break through
01:18:59 because it's mostly a guy audience and girls are harder to relate to.
01:19:01 So I think that's unique that I've managed to get past the kind of like the feeling of being an outcast as a woman streamer.
01:19:09 And I just keep streaming anyways. I'm live all the time.
01:19:12 When you say you're live all the time, like break it down to like hours for me.
01:19:16 It varies on the day, but typically between now, Kick and Twitch, I am live probably at least 10 hours a day.
01:19:26 And like you've also made headlines, you got paid to stream, you streamed, you're sleeping, you got paid to sleep.
01:19:32 Yeah, I mean, that's actually something Guy Creator started. I just kind of stole their concept and ran with it.
01:19:38 Yeah, I used to do it pretty frequently. Now, these days, it's kind of hard to do all that.
01:19:44 I have like 15 animals now. So yeah.
01:19:47 What in terms of when you wake up in the morning, and you're like, I'm going to stream for 10 hours a day.
01:19:54 Do you have a plan? Or are you just gonna say like, I'm gonna live my life and just pretend the cameras just it's on all the time?
01:19:59 Or do you have a couple like milestones today, and then just let the rest be just more natural?
01:20:05 I preferred when I have a planned schedule of content. Those are my favorite days, because then I don't feel like, Oh, no, I don't want to do.
01:20:12 So sometimes I have collabs, or sometimes I have like an activity already planned out for the day.
01:20:18 But a lot of the time, it is just kind of winging it, you know, just improvising.
01:20:23 Whatever I decide to do at the time, it's kind of like, guess I'll do this today. With those days, I don't, it stresses me out.
01:20:30 Give me an example of like, what will you do when you're winging it?
01:20:33 Well, I will hop around between different video games. You know, as soon as my ADHD takes a hold of me, and I get bored, I go to the next thing.
01:20:41 And I'll just like figure out what I want to do. Sometimes it depends on the weather.
01:20:46 I'll just in real life streaming, but if it's raining outside, it's kind of difficult, or if it's too hot, it's hard.
01:20:51 So a lot of the times, I'll just talk to my community, or I'll do therapy sessions on Discord when I have nothing else to do.
01:20:57 And they come in, they tell me about their problems, and I give them my take on what they should do.
01:21:03 In terms of, you say you play video games all the time. What is your favorite all time game? Or what are you playing now?
01:21:09 Oh, that's tough. Right now, I was most recently playing Diablo 4. But all time, I think my favorite is a little bit nostalgic for me, Pokemon Yellow. It's a really, really good one.
01:21:20 Is there a certain stream or video piece of content that sparked your career? Is there one, like, remember one video that suddenly took hold and got traction and like led to your brand?
01:21:33 Yeah, it wasn't so much a video for me since it's live stream. It was more of a meta at the time of streaming. During COVID, girls started doing hot tub streams on Twitch. I don't know if you ever read about that.
01:21:43 But that was really popular for like a year, that whole year, until they kind of switched the rules on us and decided to put hot tub in its own category.
01:21:54 Before we were like in the main category of just chatting. So we got like a lot of eyeballs. There's a lot of people angry about it. Big debate online whether this should be allowed or not.
01:22:03 Were you gaming in the hot tub? Or you just like streaming?
01:22:05 Yeah, I would I would game in the hot tub. I would work out in the hot tub. I would talk to people in the hot tub. I would have like podcasts in the hot tub. I would sometimes I would eat in the hot tub. I would dress up and do cosplays in the hot tub.
01:22:20 I thought about sleeping in the hot tub, but my manager told me that was against the rules. I might drown and die, you know, casual. Yeah, lots of things.
01:22:27 But that kicked that started kicking off your main following.
01:22:31 Yeah, that really kind of skyrocketed the career.
01:22:35 And was it at the time before that, was it a always a career? Or was it something you did as like, as a side hobby? Or is it always like, I'm going to become this, this Twitch streaming creator and, you know, focus on that?
01:22:49 I was already doing it full time. So it was still enough money to warrant that. But by skyrocket, I mean, like, it took my Twitch from probably like 30k a month to 100k a month, and then took my OnlyFans, because people were talking about girls in bikinis, you know, one thing leads to another, took my OnlyFans to over a million dollars a month.
01:23:07 Wow.
01:23:08 So yeah, that's what I mean by skyrocketed.
01:23:10 Yes. Let's talk about like, how do you how does the Amarith brand, the business of Amarith make money?
01:23:17 It's a mixture of everything. I have obviously Twitch, Kick, OnlyFans. I also have other sites similar to OnlyFans like Fansly. There's Patreon. There's Slushy now there's I dabbled in centerfold for a bit like Playboys take on OnlyFans. And then there's also sponsorships too.
01:23:36 So I get sponsored parties by these various brands. Sometimes it's like an alcohol or it's a adult platform or whatever it happens to be. So it's kind of just here and there money from all the different streaming websites and then all the different platforms people pay to access.
01:23:54 So you're already living online 10 hours a day. Plus now you're doing Kick and Twitch. And then you have this whole OnlyFans empire. And then other things too. How do you manage all that content and keep I mean, it's all about community. How do you keep all those communities going?
01:24:13 It's a lot of work. And usually most of my days I spend live streaming because that's like the community aspect. But then in order to keep content flowing, there's usually two full days I set aside like every couple of weeks to shoot all my content for OnlyFans or whatever other adult platform. And then Twitter pictures, Instagram pictures and reels, like pretty much anything that's not streamed content, I will just shoot it all ahead of time that includes YouTube videos also in those two days.
01:24:42 And then throughout the next two weeks, my team will edit it and like get it prepared to be posted or wherever it needs to go. And then I just streamed it every day, every day remaining from that, up until the next two photo shoot days.
01:24:56 How do you manage your multiple businesses and your almost multiple personalities with the Twitch emirate versus the OnlyFans emirate?
01:25:05 I usually just decide that my stream persona is more just actually genuine. It's not really like as much persona except for the name. It's kind of just my stream of thoughts, you know, just as I would do it if I was having a conversation with you. I don't think I'm any different, really.
01:25:22 But then my OnlyFans, I kind of grew up a more conservative person in like a Baptist household, kind of sheltered from the world. So for that one, I really have to kind of put on an act in order to get my mind into the zone and to sell it.
01:25:38 So basically, we'll be going over different themes that we're doing. And we're just looking at porno, for instance, and we have to like analyze something. And then I have to kind of like research about this particular topic, because we'll get requests. And I'm like, what is that? You know, so for that, I'm actually a lot more, I guess, sheltered than people would think if they saw my OnlyFans stuff.
01:25:59 I've had interview creators say they're studying YouTube, but you're studying porno. Are there analytics? Are you just looking for kind of themes?
01:26:06 Just popular themes. What has the most views on a video is basically the only analytic you look at.
01:26:11 Gotcha. Was that a hard, you said, going from your very conservative background, was that a hard, first of all, was that a hard job, you know, streaming yourself on Twitch for all these times and then jumping into OnlyFans?
01:26:26 The streaming itself wasn't really that crazy to me, because I was also a theater kid. So it was actually kind of, I guess, less scary that for me than it would be for most people, because I'm used to being in front of people. It's actually more chill, because there's no one in front of you physically. It's just on the computer.
01:26:43 But the OnlyFans was definitely a jump. It wasn't that I was uncomfortable with it, though, because I've done modeling too, growing up, and I've always had like an open mind, despite my family being more conservative. So for that one, it was just kind of like, I need to learn what to do. I don't know how to act.
01:26:57 So, in terms of obviously, there's lots of streamers, lots of people on Twitch. You have, what you said, 60, how many followers you have on Twitch?
01:27:05 6.4 or 5 million.
01:27:07 6.4 or 5 million. How did you help get that popularity?
01:27:12 I enjoyed being online so much, I think, because there's a lot of girls who just, they'll stream a little bit here and there, kind of like as a side hustle, and then they'll just disappear for months at a time.
01:27:21 Because it does become a lot for females, because you get so much hate just for existing, basically. So the chats are mostly like young, like teenage boys a lot of the time come in and hate.
01:27:32 So that one is harder for females to keep doing. It's very mensely taxing. But for me, I guess, I've never really been bothered by it, because I've had like a thick skin since I was young.
01:27:41 I actually grew up, I grew up a tomboy, because I had brothers, and I'm a daddy's girl. So mom kind of just zoned out. So I was very much influenced by males, and I can kind of like handle being bullied, since I was bullied a lot in school for being a nerd before that was mainstream.
01:27:57 Before that was cool.
01:27:59 Before it was cool, yeah.
01:28:01 Yeah, exactly.
01:28:02 In terms of, and you mentioned that, like, you, so much of your life is streamed. It's obviously been a huge brand and a huge business. But there's obviously, like you mentioned, people saying nasty things on online. What is some of the drawbacks or the kind of the trade offs of being so public?
01:28:21 I would say privacy, definitely. Someone's always trying to find out where you live and swat you or if you go out, people will often just ask like, Oh, are you this person? Or are you Amaranth or whatever. So that that kind of is, it has its pros and cons. When you're trying to get into a club in Miami, it's a pro.
01:28:38 If you're trying to just shop for groceries, kind of a con, because then you're afraid who's going to try to follow you home, things like that.
01:28:45 How do you deal with that?
01:28:48 I wear a disguise when I go out. I call my my cleavage kind of like my Clark Kent, you know, if I cover it up, no one knows that I'm Superman.
01:28:56 You said swatting, like people calling the police on you?
01:28:59 Yeah, they do that.
01:29:01 That happens a lot?
01:29:04 Yeah, I mean, I swatted recently, so not as much this year. But once they start doing it, it'll come in waves. It'll be like two times like a week if people are doing it. And like a big spurt. So usually I get swatted at least 10 times a year.
01:29:18 And they break in, like the police will break into your house?
01:29:22 Not anymore. The first time they didn't even break in, but they had like a whole SWAT team arrive with their guns out and everything. They like pointed at me. They put me like in, in handcuffs where they went to the house to search.
01:29:33 But after they learned that nothing is going on, I tell them my situation. And then I just kind of get put on file that I'm a special case. And so now when they come SWAT me, it's just like, you're doing okay? All right. Can I see your ID? All right. Thank you.
01:29:47 So yeah, now it's not like a big deal. But at first it was really scary.
01:29:51 Like you have all this stuff going on. What is the end game? Like in five years from now, what do you want your brand and your business to be?
01:30:00 I'm not sure what my brand to be in five years, but I guess my personal end game is just to have enough money that I can have like invested so that my passive income can kind of at least somewhat match my current like active income. So I don't have to keep being on the grind.
01:30:17 I'm getting older and you know, that's very difficult for women, especially unless my AI takes me over. I don't know. We'll see. But I would like to have just enough land to have my own personal ranch and have all my animals out there, have my horses out there.
01:30:31 And then maybe have like a sanctuary too nearby is what I'd like to do long term. It's kind of like a retirement plan. Just open up my own animal sanctuary to take care of animals that, you know, get sick or if I can pull them from kill shelters, get them adopted.
01:30:46 That's kind of like my long, long term.
01:30:47 How do you invest?
01:30:49 I have a lot of different, I got private equity. I also have gas stations that I've invested into to kind of reduce my taxes and get kickback from that. I also have like index funds. So it's just a little bit of everything, I would say.
01:31:05 What is your team like? Because you're putting out all this content, then you have your, you're up, you have your OnlyFans, you have your other businesses, like that takes a lot of people to work with. What is like this, the Amarath Enterprise look like?
01:31:16 It depends on the season. Some are busier than others, but I always have at least like five people on staff at a time. And I think the highest has been is like 20. Some people help with photo shoots, some help edit the content, some help post it, some help clean my house and take care of the animals when I'm on trips.
01:31:34 Okay.
01:31:35 So yeah, it's kind of whatever I need done, someone errands for me.
01:31:38 What is the secret to building a massive following in your experience?
01:31:42 I don't think there is a secret. I think it's, it's unfortunately just hard work and putting yourself on every platform. Yeah, I wish there was a secret. That'd be nice.
01:31:53 I forget, you've worked with a lot of brands and promotions. What should a company or a brand think about and consider before they're going to work with a specific creator in terms of fit, in terms of match, in terms of authenticity?
01:32:08 I think the biggest thing is does their audience fit for whatever product they're trying to sell? Like for me, who has a mostly male audience, it would probably be hard to sell them on lingerie or something. You know, even though that I can do try on videos, maybe the girls would watch on like a YouTube sponsorship, but on Twitch, probably not so much, you know?
01:32:29 In terms of, you know, how do you balance, you have this massive following and fan base, and then you have this really big business. How do you balance the two of serving your fans, but then also your, this, the business of Amarith?
01:32:42 Well, I think the entire business kind of serves the fans because whether I'm interacting with them on Twitch or, you know, posting videos for them on OnlyFans, like it's a service in one way or another.
01:32:53 Do you find, is there, how much do you know about your audience? Like are a lot of your Twitch fans also OnlyFans fans? Or is it these two different segments that you basically, you know, you're creating content for two totally different populations?
01:33:05 It overlaps a lot, for sure. I think the only differences is whatever the platform allows me to do. But I think my audience is pretty overlapping everywhere. Like I see the same, the same people on all the platforms.
01:33:20 What is happening right now in the world of gaming that's exciting? There's, there's obviously all the streaming, competitive streaming platforms, and then you have this professional gaming and people are building arenas to have this alive kind of version. What are you seeing in the gaming world? Like what's your big prediction coming up soon?
01:33:36 I feel like for the American gaming world, I think eSports is dying, but clearly it's very popular in like Spanish speaking countries. Spain takes it seriously. Korea takes it hugely seriously. But American, I don't know, I feel like the hype is dying down for eSports. Like most people now want to be like YouTubers or Tik Tokers, not so much professional eSports players. And then Overwatch is basically shutting down their league. So yeah, I don't think it's looking good for America in eSports.
01:34:04 And what about, you mentioned AI before and it's, you know, AI is such potential everywhere, but especially in the, in the gaming world. What's your kind of take? What's your bold prediction on AI?
01:34:15 Oh, I hope AI gets even better than it is, but I think it's going to take over a lot of probably creative processes and game making, especially I just played an AI game the other day and I was able to speak to the character in the game and they would think about it with like chat, GPT and speak back to me. So the result of the game and our interaction would vary depending on what I said. And that was really cool.
01:34:39 What about AI in the adult porn world?
01:34:42 I'm so excited for that one. A lot of things that like you think look good in your head don't. So I can't wait for the digital version of myself to be able to catch up to that. So it's not only less work, but I think it'll be a better product as well.
01:34:56 You know, you are the most popular woman streamer on Twitch. That comes with a lot of pressure and a lot of biases and hatred, frankly. What advice would you give other women that want to get involved either in the streaming space, in the gaming space, or just in general? But what would you tell yourself before you dive into this, you know, very public world?
01:35:20 I think my major concern is safety and privacy. So don't make the mistake. I didn't use your name. I was naive. Don't use your real first name or last name. I would say. Don't reveal like the city you live in unless you have to. Don't have a PO box. What you get in there is never worth it because stalkers will come to your zip code at your PO box and look for you. Don't try to take the hate to personally because people on the internet, they project, but they're still watching you.
01:35:47 They're watching your stream or your videos or whatever. They're still contributing to your success and bringing in people that won't be hating. And it's such a small minority. It's just really loud of haters. Another thing would be like if you're trying to become a new creator, I would actually say the stretch for the OnlyFans bag is probably not healthy for your long-term career at this point because it's so oversaturated. And nowadays, if you're not already established with your verification and all that, the platforms are heavily shadow banning.
01:36:17 Adult creators. So if you plan to be in it for a long time and when I get big, I would say just go like the TikTok route, kind of like Bella Porch, Charlie D'Amelio, who are banking off the fact that they're attractive women, but they're not doing like sexual content. So that's probably the way to go for the future.
01:36:36 There's highs and lows of what you do. And you mentioned the stalking, you mentioned the trolls online and the swatting and things. And you also mentioned you act as a therapist sometimes to your fans as well. How do you yourself kind of a handle the stress, be try to take care of yourself and wellness and everything?
01:36:55 For me, I have to remind myself what I'm doing it all for and my end goal is to get my nice little slice of heaven out with my animals in the country where no one can bother me. So I just keep looking forward to that. And then also I do horseback ride as kind of like my own personal meditation. And that for me clears my mind. It's what I found is really enjoyable. But yeah, other than that, I just tell myself, you know, haters are just jealous. Wish they could do it too, have the success. And I just keep going.
01:37:23 What will you want your legacy to be?
01:37:25 I don't know what I want my legacy to be as far as my brand and stream goes. Because what I want to do ultimately has nothing to do with that. So I'm not really sure. I guess just showing what I guess my legacy could just be showing what's possible if you just dedicate yourself to like a few or several years of hard to grind with the with kind of like your delayed gratification goal in mind.
01:37:52 But yeah, not taking breaks, just keeping up the consistency, I think does pay off in the end. And I hope people are able to see that.
01:37:58 [music]
01:38:06 Alex, thanks for joining us. We're thrilled to have you here.
01:38:09 Thank you for having me.
01:38:11 My first question is, what is the Alex Earl brand? In this whole ocean of creators, how do you stand out?
01:38:18 I think the Alex Earl brand is about being unapologetically yourself, not being afraid to mess up, not being afraid to be a mess. Because I think a lot of creators get lost in trying to look so perfect or have a perfect life. And I think that's what social media tries to capture sometimes. And I think when you stray away from that and kind of show the imperfections that go on in day to day life and it's normal, that's kind of what the Alex Earl brand is about.
01:38:47 What kind of imperfections, what kind of disasters have you shared that have resonated with your followers?
01:38:53 A big thing which I think sparked my following was struggling with acne. I started to post that last summer, right before I went into my senior year of college. And I think a lot of people resonated with that.
01:39:07 That was kind of the first time I tried out this kind of imperfect posting. And that's when I started to get a really good audience and was able to engage with people. And people resonated with that much more than they did when everything is fully polished and glammed and ready to go.
01:39:25 You mentioned so much of social media is a facade or filtered or just the highlight reel, not the real behind the scenes. What kind of sparked you to show that imperfection to focus on your acne at that point? Was it a fluke or was it something you tried to do consciously to be like, "This is real me"?
01:39:44 Well, I had been posting on TikTok for a few years and I had a smaller following. It was kind of steady though. Nothing was really growing too much. And I would regularly post because I loved TikTok. And I didn't want to get in front of the camera anymore because of my skin. I was so self-conscious about it.
01:40:03 And I wasn't posting and it wasn't making me happy. And I was like, "You know what? This is just so fake." I would layer on layers of makeup and I would go in front of the camera and turn all the filters on. And I'm like, "Nothing's here. My skin is clear." But that's just not real.
01:40:19 I one day took the filters off. I just showed it. I was so nervous when I first posted it. I texted my friends a million times. I was like, "Should I take it down? Should I take it down?" And it ended up going over really well. And the video got a bunch of views. So I kind of kept playing into that a little bit and then kept going with it from there.
01:40:38 You said you were on TikTok for a few years. How did you get into it? Were there any specific creators or influencers that you admired and kind of got you into the game?
01:40:48 I downloaded TikTok probably around the quarantine time when everyone did. Everyone was bored in the house. And they had all the big influencers. Everyone's going out to LA. And I was like, "Oh, this seems so cool." So I downloaded TikTok and I was trying out a bunch of different things on there, but it wasn't really working for me.
01:41:07 I loved posting and I loved the app. So it took a few years before I kind of found my niche on there, which actually came from me doing live streams of doing my makeup to go out in Miami. And I would talk a little bit more and they could see my personality. I'd be with my roommates. And then I was like, "Why are my live streams getting more views than the videos I'm posting?" So I just decided to make these getting ready videos or getting ready lives into videos I was posting.
01:41:36 Was there a moment where you realized, "Wait a minute, this is not just something I like, a hobby, but this could be a thing. This could be a business."
01:41:43 I think it was my junior year. A few brands started to reach out to me and I was super excited about it. And I tried working with people. At first, it wasn't even paid deals. I just was excited to be doing that and excited that a brand would gift me something. And I really just found a love for it. And I liked sharing with my audience different products and brands that I liked and liked getting their feedback too.
01:42:11 So Alex, this started catching on when you were a junior in college. How did you balance being a student and being an entrepreneur and creator?
01:42:18 It was tough, but honestly, so rewarding. And my senior year is honestly when things started to get kind of crazy with balancing school, work, traveling for work, and maintaining a social life at the same time.
01:42:33 I found though that I was able to apply what I was learning either in the classroom, in my everyday work, or vice versa. And it became super helpful for me and my classmates and sharing with them what I knew kind of from like firsthand experience.
01:42:51 And I was talking to my professors and they were saying that's kind of what grad school is like a little bit because most people go out and work for a year or two and then they come back and they kind of have that firsthand experience to kind of give advice or see what they learned.
01:43:04 You just pay a little bit more attention when you're understanding how this really applies to you. So it was really great actually.
01:43:12 And you studied business, right?
01:43:14 Yes, marketing.
01:43:17 And you were teaching class, not the professors, right? It was weird being like, I'm sure they were teaching social media and digital, everything in class. And then there you are in class and someone who's kind of cracked that code. What was that like?
01:43:30 My first digital marketing class I took, they would teach us about the analytics behind the posts and everything. And that's when I, that was my junior year. And I was so intrigued by it. And I was like, wow, like these hashtags are helping and everything. So I was super intrigued by it.
01:43:46 And then things kind of took off for me, but they don't have so much like a social media influencer marketing class, I guess. And I was talking to one of my professors right before I graduated and she was like, I would love to have you come back and speak at class and share like a little bit of your knowledge because it's such a new industry. So it's not really like a full on class yet. But it is cool that I'll be able to kind of go back and share what I know.
01:44:14 So cool. And speaking of analytics, how do you choose what to post, how you're posting and like when to post? It's such a blank space. How do you decide like, I'm going to do this video, this content, this is going to be live, this is going to be a real, this hashtag, what goes, like take me through that process?
01:44:32 A lot of what I post is in real time. And sometimes I'll have like my day planned out on I'll know certain things that I can do or post during the day, like if I'm going to do a get ready with me and an outfit video, but sometimes I honestly just pick up the phone and I start recording. And those are the things that do the best because it's so like authentic and in real time.
01:44:54 But I do look into like the times I post, I try to do it when like I know people are awake and on their phones and at least in my time zone. So yeah, that's kind of how I go about that.
01:45:07 Do you kind of look for maybe hot trends or topics or even songs or you just kind of do what you feel is organic with you?
01:45:16 Going through my for you page, you definitely see when there's a trend or a trending audio and I'll kind of sit there and think of how I can twist it and make it into something that works with my brand and works with me. And I always think those are super fun to do.
01:45:29 Well, you're a business major. How do you make money these days?
01:45:33 My way to make money is through brand deals and partnering with brands, whether it's like a collaboration or a post. And that's been a lot of fun for me because it's super cool to see like what goes on behind the scenes and all the marketing and stuff.
01:45:46 Can you give me a few examples of partners you've had?
01:45:48 I work with L'Oreal. I just did a deal with Peloton. I got to work with like Wawa, which is so fun because that's like my favorite place to go out and eat.
01:46:00 You're a Jersey girl in central Jersey, which does exist, by the way. And that is very on brand. That's very authentic.
01:46:06 Yeah, Wawa. And then they brought it down to Miami when I went to college. So that was super cool when they reached out to me to work with them because I am a diehard.
01:46:13 What's your go-to order?
01:46:15 I was always like a meatball sub type of girl. I'll get this like weird breakfast quesadilla no matter the time of day. So good.
01:46:21 I like that. You don't really have meatball subs and L'Oreal mentioned in the same sentence, but you can do both.
01:46:25 Yeah.
01:46:27 And speaking of that, when you think about your brand and your authenticity, how do you decide if I want to work with this company, this brand versus someone else?
01:46:36 Or like that's probably not the best fit. How does that work?
01:46:39 So what I've found through doing all of this is that it only is going to go over well if I genuinely like the product and the brand or it's something that I think my audience will like.
01:46:51 Otherwise, the audience can see right through it. They know it's a money grab. It's just it's not good for you or the trust you have with your followers.
01:47:00 So I always like to, if I haven't tried the product or whatever it is yet, try it out for a few months, see if I like it and then, you know, go and promote it because I have a big platform.
01:47:12 So I don't want to put anything out there that is bad or that I don't think that they'll actually like and want to spend their money on.
01:47:20 So that's kind of the process that goes on there. And it's been a lot of, it's been a big learning process over the years with that.
01:47:27 But I just have kind of like found my little niche with that and it works a lot better.
01:47:31 You don't have to name names or name brands, but you have any funny ones that people approached you for a thing and you're like, are you kidding me? Like any funny offers on the table?
01:47:41 Yes. I actually remember this was back in December, January, and this was like the biggest offer I'd ever seen.
01:47:48 And it was for this device that I just knew was not going to work or I don't know, maybe, but like I was just like, this seems like a little ridiculous.
01:47:59 And I was like looking at it, I'm like, oh my gosh, but I'm like, I cannot take this offer because I'm like, that is just not, that will not go over.
01:48:08 What did the device claim to do?
01:48:10 It was like a helmet and it was going to get rid of like your headaches or your migraines or whatever.
01:48:16 But I just, I don't know. I started posting in that how like, well, that would have gone over with my audience. They would have thought it was funny.
01:48:24 And speaking about it, you have a really, like of all the top creators, you have one of the highest engagement rates and that's the fans that interact with you, whether they're sharing, liking, commenting.
01:48:36 You know, our friends at Influential say that if an engagement rate's over 1%, that's like you're an all-star.
01:48:42 Yours are in double digits. How do you explain that or what do you think causes your fan base to really react and interact with your posts and the view?
01:48:54 I think if you want to get the engagement, you have to also give that engagement with your audience.
01:49:00 I love replying to their questions. I love laughing at the jokes they make. I love answering questions they have in my DMs.
01:49:07 And I just think you kind of have to have that like personal connection with them a little bit.
01:49:12 Otherwise, you just feel like another person behind the screen and I don't know, you don't have that relationship.
01:49:17 So I think it's all about how much effort you kind of put in with connecting with them as well.
01:49:21 How much time does that take? Like how many times, that sounds very literally hands on.
01:49:26 How many hours or how much time do you spend a day interacting with your community?
01:49:32 A lot. Like pretty much, I don't know how many days or how many hours a day I'm on social media.
01:49:38 But when I'm on my social media, I am interacting across like various platforms.
01:49:44 But I don't know, a lot. Too many probably.
01:49:48 Yeah. And obviously, you said this kind of this huge following happened, not by accident, but you took it like,
01:49:55 you start being vulnerable to get on Surprise and you have such big engagement.
01:49:59 Are there any trade-offs, whether it's being on all the time or being now suddenly recognizable
01:50:04 or having people commenting that maybe not might be saying like negative things? What are the trade-offs?
01:50:09 It was definitely weird at first to see people talk about me as if I like couldn't see what they were saying myself.
01:50:17 But I know that that comes kind of with the job and I love it so much.
01:50:22 So I really wouldn't trade it for the world. But I think sometimes it's hard to see stuff that's not true about you.
01:50:28 That's where I get like, like the mean stuff. I'm like, okay, like whatever.
01:50:31 But when they're spreading lies or saying something that's not true, that's where I want to like butt in.
01:50:36 But I just kind of like, I've learned to like chill out, take a step back.
01:50:40 Let the haters, that's what they want to hear.
01:50:44 You work with some really big brands. You have huge engagement rates.
01:50:48 You study business. Do you have any entrepreneurial or kind of founder aspirations?
01:50:54 It's great, you have brand deals. Is there any thoughts of having an Alex Earl brand in some way?
01:51:01 Yeah, that's definitely the goal is to eventually be promoting something that I've produced myself.
01:51:07 And I'm still kind of figuring that out.
01:51:11 There's a lot of different options for different ventures and a lot of different paths I could go down.
01:51:15 But I've been trying to take my time with it all and taking a step back.
01:51:19 Because when I do something, I want it to be something I'm really passionate about.
01:51:24 And I want it to be 110%. So I don't just want to like take any possibility and do it like half-ass.
01:51:31 Any kind of different, any industries or areas that kind of might be on your list?
01:51:39 I think something with, you know, makeup is probably most on-brand for me.
01:51:44 But I've been looking into a bunch of different industries and drinks and I don't know, seeing what is going to go over best.
01:51:55 And you just graduated from college in May. Congratulations, you're 22.
01:51:59 I saw you did some research and you already have an Alex Earl scholarship.
01:52:02 Yes.
01:52:04 Tell me about that. How about that? Very few people have scholarships, let alone people who have been in a college less than a year.
01:52:08 How does that work out?
01:52:09 I mean, if you were to have told me that by the time I was graduating, there would be scholarship in my name, like I just would not have believed it.
01:52:18 And I really love the school so much and I got so much out of it.
01:52:23 So I figured like, why not give back in some way? And I want to stay connected.
01:52:28 I want to be a part of the alumni program. I want to really engage with the students and help them kind of follow their dreams.
01:52:37 So I'm really excited about it and looking forward to meeting the students and kind of being a mentor for them.
01:52:44 What do students have to prove to get the scholarship? Is it focused on a certain area?
01:52:49 So it's in the business school and it's focused on juniors and seniors.
01:52:57 Just because I think at that point, sometimes you go in freshman year, you don't really know what you want to do.
01:53:03 But students kind of like has that vision for themselves and maybe they just need a little financial assistance and a mentor.
01:53:10 What do you want your legacy to be? The Alex Earl legacy?
01:53:14 I think the Alex Earl legacy at the University of Miami is about doing the unimaginable.
01:53:22 And I want it to be a testament to students that they can really live out their dreams and the school can provide them with whatever it is they want to do.
01:53:34 And they are smart and they are powerful.
01:53:39 What is your advice to someone out there who wants to build a massive fan base of following?
01:53:45 What's the secret for building a huge follower base?
01:53:49 I think find a niche and stick to it and believe in yourself.
01:53:52 It's not going to happen right away.
01:53:54 But find something that you love to post and create because you're going to be doing it a lot.
01:53:59 So make sure you like it and stick to it.
01:54:02 Cool. You have a lot of brand deals.
01:54:05 What advice do you have for brands or companies to think about before they're going to partner with a specific influencer?
01:54:12 What should these companies think about before they're doing deals?
01:54:16 I think it's super important for brands to look at the creators' organic and natural posts and see if their product fits into that.
01:54:24 Because if it doesn't align, like we said before, it's not going to go over well.
01:54:29 It's not going to be a good investment for them to sponsor someone for something that they're not going to get any return on.
01:54:35 So I think just making sure that they're not pushing it too much and that it feels natural to what they already create and giving them a creative brief that allows them to maintain their normal posting style.
01:54:50 So no headache elements.
01:54:52 Good to know.
01:54:54 How do you balance serving your fans and followers but then also serving your business and your brand that you're promoting?
01:55:01 I think that goes hand in hand.
01:55:04 They love when I'm recommending them products and different brands for them to try.
01:55:10 And obviously the brands love that as well.
01:55:12 So I think it kind of plays into each other a little bit.
01:55:15 And I just try to promote things that I really, really love so that I know they'll really like it as well, hopefully, and the brands will be happy.
01:55:24 Who is your dream collaborator?
01:55:26 If you could do a project with somebody out there in the world, who would it be?
01:55:30 I think Blake Lively is pretty cool.
01:55:33 I've always loved her.
01:55:34 And I think she's super authentic and real.
01:55:36 How does the Alexwell brand make money?
01:55:39 How do you monetize this huge community and following that you have?
01:55:43 So a lot of it is brand deals and brand partnerships, whether that's a collaboration with them or different posts.
01:55:50 And something I'm super excited about, which is going to be my new work project for this year, is I'm coming out with a podcast.
01:55:59 So I think that'll be super cool and I'll get to kind of show a different side of me to my audience.
01:56:04 What's it going to be about? Are you an interviewer? Are you going to have guests? What's the plan?
01:56:09 No, it's kind of going to be about my life and kind of feeling like a little debrief of what's going on week to week, kind of like longer form get ready with me videos.
01:56:18 So I'm really excited and I think that's going to be my next big project for this year.
01:56:22 That's so cool. Do you have a partnership with that? Is that on one of the big podcast platforms?
01:56:28 So Alex Cooper started a network called Unwell and it's going to be on there.
01:56:34 And I was one of the first creators to get signed with it. So I'm really excited and she's super talented.
01:56:39 So I'm kind of excited to have her as a mentor with the whole podcast world because obviously she's been killing it. So I'm excited.
01:56:46 She's another Forbes top creator under 30. That's awesome. Well, Alex, thank you so much.
01:56:51 Thank you.
01:56:55 Kim Cattrall, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me.
01:56:58 You have a long history of advocating for yourself. Can you talk about how you came to do that within an industry where it can be really hard to advocate for yourself?
01:57:08 I always felt that if it needed to start with me and if I believed in myself, then others might too.
01:57:15 I never thought, oh, I'm not good enough. I thought, let's see if I'm good enough.
01:57:21 I always used it as a sort of a challenge to myself. And I always listened to that little voice inside of me that would say, yeah, you can do this. You got this. Or shit.
01:57:30 So you've got to just really listen to yourself and get the temperature of what you're trying to achieve is even possible.
01:57:41 I had a very dear friend for years and he was pursuing a career that just kept saying no, no, no, no, no.
01:57:49 So instead of going through the front door, he went through the back door and he decided to work behind the camera and became a really, really well-known director.
01:58:01 So his dream changed. He modified it, but he found a way to get there and probably find ultimately a job that was equally as fulfilling.
01:58:12 I love stories like that because it shows a non-linear career path can be just as fulfilling.
01:58:18 As you look at how you advocate for yourself now versus earlier in your career, what has changed? How did you advocate for yourself then and how do you do it now?
01:58:25 Well, I think I'm much more selective about what I do because I'm in a fortunate position where I can pay my rent if I decide not to do something.
01:58:35 But I think that the difficult thing is to really register how things affect you and take that into consideration.
01:58:48 Also taking care of yourself, making sure that you're ready. That's why small steps are so important.
01:58:57 All those small steps are really a leap, not just to achieving what you want, but also getting to know how you work under pressure, how you work when there is no pressure.
01:59:09 I mean, it's really a way of getting to know more and more of who you are.
01:59:14 And when you understand more of who you are, you are much more equipped to understand how you can get what you want.
01:59:23 I think being powerful is knowing what you want and experimenting with that to see if that works for you.
01:59:30 Because the climate might not be right for you or this might not be the right job for you, but ultimately if you start asking those questions and listen, the answers are there.
01:59:42 It might not be the answer you want or you like, but it might be a happier life.
01:59:49 One of the things at this age for me that I'm so certain of is that I don't want to be in a situation for even an hour where I'm not enjoying myself.
01:59:57 You first said that I think in 2019 and I think you broke the internet. The comments went viral.
02:00:03 First part of my question is were you surprised at the reaction? Because I think those comments resonated with a lot of women.
02:00:10 I was because for me, I remember saying it and thinking, "Yeah, that's me. That's where I am now."
02:00:18 I remember where I was when I was 16 or 26 or 36, 46 or even 56.
02:00:22 But at 67, that's still where I am. I want to make people happy. I want to make people laugh.
02:00:28 But I also want to continue to do things that fulfill me, that I feel really strong about.
02:00:35 And saying no is important, but saying yes to the right things is important too.
02:00:41 So that was my first question. My second question related to this is you said that wasn't necessarily how you felt at 16 or earlier in your career.
02:00:48 Was there a specific moment, a lightning bolt realization that let that become your motto?
02:00:55 I think it came just late in life, that motto.
02:01:01 I think when I was younger, I was just following what other people were telling me I should do, I should be, I should say.
02:01:08 And they would constantly say, "Oh, just be yourself." But I kept thinking, "I don't know who I am yet."
02:01:13 It takes a lifetime to really understand more about yourself.
02:01:20 Other people can see it because they're outside of you.
02:01:24 But yes, you know yourself, but to really, really know and listen and really put what makes you happy, make that a priority.
02:01:35 Most women don't do that. They can't afford to do it.
02:01:38 They either can't afford or they get so much advice. I've learned that a lot of men will say, "Oh, put yourself first or be selfish about your time."
02:01:45 But then what they want you to be selfish about is the thing that helps them.
02:01:49 Exactly. Listen to this. This, the thing that says, "I don't like this. I don't like this guy. This job's not for me."
02:01:59 That whole feeling that we were talking about with Katie is that coming into a room and thinking, "Is this the right boss for me?"
02:02:06 Not, "Am I the client that needs to...?" "Yeah, I'm good at my job. You should hire me because I'm good at my job."
02:02:13 "Yeah, but if you don't, I know I can get another job."
02:02:17 That confidence of listening to what's right for you. And what happens is when you start to do that, it's addictive.
02:02:27 You start to get more and more sharpened to what turns you off in any given situation.
02:02:31 I was always better at that in my work than I was personally. I think personally it's tougher because you yearn to be loved back.
02:02:40 But in a job, you can be loved too. And you need to listen to what that says.
02:02:50 You need to listen to it and really give it space because that's who you are. That's protecting you. That's got your back.
02:03:00 That voice has been there since you were born and will be there until you die.
02:03:05 And you have to do the work. When I was younger, I was doing these jobs that all these agents and producers said I should do.
02:03:12 I would never have done them except for that kind of pressure of, "This is what happens now in your career."
02:03:19 That isn't to say you shouldn't say yes to jobs that are challenging and scary.
02:03:23 That's a good reason. I haven't done it before. But that voice is where you want to be. You want to be in tune with it.
02:03:32 You mentioned your age. We're not going to mention specific projects due to the strikes.
02:03:38 But one of your characters, I'll keep it broad, landed on a 50/50 list.
02:03:44 Your character was not terribly happy to be on this list. There was some grumbling.
02:03:49 We have the Forbes and Know Your Value 50/50. We see it as a positive thing because it's a list of women who are stepping into their power.
02:03:56 I want to ask, do you kin? How do you feel about your age? Is it an advantage or disadvantage?
02:04:02 I'm still waiting to be called to the 50/50. Better hurry up.
02:04:08 We have the next one coming up.
02:04:11 Consider this a pre-interview.
02:04:14 I ask women on the list, "Is your age an advantage or disadvantage?" Some people say advantage. Some people identify the disadvantage as...
02:04:23 For me, personally and professionally, it's an advantage. I've had a really long, wonderful career. I'm very grateful.
02:04:33 But when I'm not in the public eye, I love that life too. They feed into each other because I think, again, talking about that inner voice, we're together for Kim's happiness.
02:04:47 We're working together. I'm listening. They're listening.
02:04:52 If you can get that co-pilot to take you to the destination that you want to go, it's not seamless. Nothing's seamless. It's the world. We're humans. It's crazy.
02:05:03 But it'll be a less bumpy ride because along the way, it'll be fun. It'll be an adventure. But you've got to take care of yourself.
02:05:13 You seem to be having fun. What's next for you? What's next on the fun list?
02:05:18 I can't talk.
02:05:21 Speaking of the strikes, I do want to ask, what will it take for there to be resolution and what do you want to see?
02:05:26 I think there's got to be give and take. This has been coming for a very long time. The world has changed since the last contract. We need to take that into account and we need to address it.
02:05:40 There's a whole audience out there waiting to be entertained. Actors and writers, that's what we do. That's what we love to do. So let's sit down and hash it out.
02:05:50 There's more than enough rewards for everyone.
02:05:52 Well, I look forward to sitting down with you when you're able to talk a little more about those specifics. But in the meantime, thank you so much for taking the time today.
02:05:59 Thank you. Thank you for having me.
02:06:01 Thank you.
02:06:02 [END]