Entrepreneurs are often on the go — and as we head into the new year, our travel plans get even more hectic. So we thought we’d put together this year’s top five episodes of the World-Changing Women Podcast because, well, penciling in time for reflection and inspiration can be challenging even if you’re not raising capital or running a business. The stories of the following five world-changing women are incredible, harrowing at times, and, in all ways, encouraging — perfect for listening while you work, travel, or unwind. Cheers to fresh inspiration for the New Year! (And, if you’re looking to really up the inspiration game, grab your ticket to the 2020 World-Changing Women’s Summit, January 29-31 in Sonoma, CA.)
5. Lynn Jurich of SunRun
Lynn Jurich is on a mission — to create a planet that’s powered by the sun. As CEO of SunRun, she’s helped over 200,000 people harness solar energy to power their homes. And she’s grown this solar-as-a-service model into a $3 billion enterprise, and the largest residential solar installer in the US. As a business leader, Jurich’s discovered her personal strengths, how to stay true to the mission, and learned not to take things too seriously. She was recently named one of Fortune’s’ 40 under 40 most influential people in business. But, Jurich wasn’t always an entrepreneur. In fact, she left a lucrative career as a venture capitalist to pursue a venture that no investor thought would work. As for timing, this was in the middle of the 2008 recession. It all began in business school, when her classmate and SunRun co-founder Ed Fenster approached Lynn with an idea…
LISTEN to the episode: Ep. 17: Lynn Jurich CEO of SunRun
4. Missy Park of Title Nine
In 1972, a landmark civil rights law entitled Title Nine was passed, which requires gender equality in all aspects of publicly funded education. Missy Park was one of the first cohorts of students to benefit from Title Nine during her college career, which allowed her to play numerous collegiate sports. In 1989, after her career as a student-athlete and working in the outdoor apparel industry for a handful of years, Park realized there was a massive hole in the market for women’s sports apparel. So, starting with a self-made mail order catalog and inventory piling up in her garage, she launched a new women’s sports apparel company and called it Title Nine. Title Nine is now a multi-million dollar company with stores across the US and a thriving e-commerce company. On this episode, we sat down with Park to talk gutting it through your first few years, staying independent and not taking external capital, and the best advice she has for other business leaders — oh, and there’s some good stuff about parental leave in here, as well.
SEE Missy Park speak at the 2020 World-Changing Women’s Summit!
3. Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital
Arlan Hamilton arrived in Silicon Valley when she was 34 with a dream to become a venture capitalist. She was broke, had no network, and no financial background. But she was driven to make a change after learning that less than 10 percent of all venture capital deals go to women, people of color, and LBGTQ founders. Despite facing many naysayers, Hamilton secured her first investments and launched Backstage Capital. Since its inception, her firm has invested more than $4 million in 100 companies led by underrepresented founders. And in 2018, Backstage announced a new $36 million fund called the “It’s About Damn Time Fund”, which invests exclusively in black female founders. Stay tuned to hear how Hamilton built Backstage Capital by keeping hold of a vision for a more equitable future and by staying true to herself.
LISTEN to the episode: Ep. 21: Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital
2. Hayley Rushing of The Purpose Institute
As co-founder and Chief Purposologist (yes, you read that right) of The Purpose Institute, Haley Rushing helps organizations and individuals find their true purpose in this world. It’s work that she came to after working in the advertising space for much of her career and realizing that the companies that she loved working with were the ones that had an authentic purpose. So, she left the ad world behind and jumped into a new career in the purpose space. On this episode, Rushing will walk us through the basics of finding your purpose, as well as discuss the importance of taking care of yourself while you do purpose-driven work.
LISTEN to the episode: Ep. 32: Haley Rushing of The Purpose Institute
1. Jane Wurwand of Dermalogica
Jane Wurwand is the co-founder of Dermalogica, the world’s number one professional skin care brand. Jane is an entrepreneur at her core. After immigrating to the US, she pioneered a training program for skin therapists. She went on to create a line of skincare products to serve her students. And as she grew the company, Jane used business as a force for good. Dermalogica’s success has helped to train and empower thousands of women entrepreneurs. Jane sat down with me to share the story of how she got started, how she scaled, and the difficult decision to sell the company that she spent decades building. Wherever you’re at in your business journey, you’re going to want to hear this episode.
LISTEN to the episode: Ep. 18: Jane Wurwand, co-founder of Dermalogica
HEAR Jane Wurwand speak at the 2020 World-Changing Women’s Summit!
