Advertise on podcast: Behind Her Empire

Steph Hon is the founder and CEO of Cadence, the design company behind the magnetic Capsules that keep your whole routine in one place. What I love about Steph's story is that she really had no idea what she was doing when she started. She was a dancer turned video editor, with no background in engineering, manufacturing, or entrepreneurship. She didn't have investors lined up or a network of people in the industry. She just had a problem she wanted to solve and was willing to figure things out along the way. She went through hundreds of prototypes, had people tell her over and over again that her idea wasn't possible, and somehow managed to raise money from 180 investors, many of whom she found through cold outreach and putting herself out there. She eventually launched Cadence in February 2020, sold out in just 16 days, and then had to navigate a global pandemic almost immediately. What I especially loved about this conversation is how incredibly practical Steph gets. She doesn't just share the big lessons, she walks us through how she actually did it. From what to do when you first have a business idea, to finding engineers, manufacturers, and mentors with little money or experience, and raising her first investment check without knowing any investors. She also shares why putting yourself out there and asking for help can open unexpected doors, why building a great product should come before marketing, and how small changes made a huge difference for her business during the pandemic. If you've been dreaming about starting your own business but aren't sure where to begin, or you're already building one, there's so much in this conversation I think you’ll find helpful. In this episode, we’ll talk to Steph about: * Why you don’t need a traditional background to start a company. [02:39] * Feeling lost in college and learning to trust her intuition. [03:25] * How dance, psychology, and video editing led her to entrepreneurship. [05:12] * What her parents taught her about meaningful work over money. [06:11] * Learning the value of curiosity, listening, and asking better questions. [08:58] * Why finding what genuinely interests you can change the way you work. [10:22] * How mentors became pivotal in her journey to building Cadence. [12:20] * Finding mentors by putting yourself out there and asking for help. [12:39] * Why sharing your ideas can create unexpected connections and opportunities. [15:32] * How a personal frustration with traveling sparked Cadence. [19:56] * Realizing that carrying everyday routines was becoming a shared burden. [21:50] * What to do after you have an idea: start with the problem. [24:48] * Finding the engineers, designers, and mentors needed to build from scratch. [26:56] * Why an operations mentor can unlock critical early relationships. [28:09] * Learning not to let “impossible” stop you from pursuing an idea. [32:35] * Going through hundreds of prototypes to refine Cadence. [36:37] * How designers and engineers turn a vision into a manufacturable product. [38:31] * Raising money without traditional friends-and-family capital. [41:52] * Launching Cadence, selling out in 16 days, and navigating COVID. [50:05] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Steph: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephhon/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keepyourcadence/ * Website: https://usecadence.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mally Roncal is a celebrity makeup artist who has worked with Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Celine Dion, and so many more, and the founder of Mally Beauty. A big theme in Mally’s life is learning not to make herself smaller. We get into the moments that made her question whether she should tone herself down, how she learned to see what made her different as a strength, and what working with some of the biggest women in entertainment taught her about confidence, intuition, and listening to her gut. Then there’s the business story. Mally launched Mally Beauty on QVC in 2005. We talk about what it actually looked like building a company for nearly two decades, becoming a mom while growing the business, raising three daughters, and the harder chapters that taught her about trust and what happens when you hand parts of your company over to other people. Mally has experienced loss, rejection, setbacks, and plenty of moments that could have made her bitter or afraid, but instead she’s built a practice around gratitude, perspective, and choosing her energy over and over again. We get into how to trust your instincts, how to build without losing the people and parts of life that matter most, how to recover when things don’t go according to plan, and why authenticity can become one of your biggest advantages in both business and life. In this episode, we’ll talk to Mally about: * How losing her mother shaped her gratitude and courage. [02:30] * Growing up with two inspiring Filipino doctor parents. [05:44] * Turning childhood bullying into a belief in her uniqueness. [08:37] * Learning to celebrate your differences instead of fitting in. [09:57] * Discovering makeup artistry after studying fashion design. [15:59] * Choosing authenticity after being told to change her appearance. [17:56] * How staying true to herself led to an InStyle opportunity. [21:05] * Building a celebrity makeup career and trusting her instincts. [22:12] * The Beyoncé makeup moment that changed her career. [24:01] * Finding creative freedom through collaborative client relationships. [26:53] * Balancing a demanding celebrity career with building a family. [28:36] * Creating Mally Beauty from personalized makeup formulas. [29:58] * Why she chose QVC to teach women makeup techniques. [31:41] * Building a business and raising twins while redefining success. [34:13] * Challenging the myth that women can’t have it all. [38:52] * Finding the courage to expand beyond Mally Beauty. [42:58] * Why entrepreneurs must understand every part of their business. [45:34] * Prioritizing mental, physical, and spiritual well-being over business. [46:22] * Choosing joy, empathy, and gratitude through life’s challenges. [50:31] * Manifesting a bigger vision and trusting the journey. [52:43] * Why you should acknowledge hard moments, then “fix your crown” and move forward. [57:52] * Remembering that life, family, and relationships matter more than business. [01:00:06] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Mally: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mallyroncal/ * QVC: https://www.qvc.com/catalog/psearch.html?keyword=Mally Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I’m sharing the conversation my co-founder Kaya and I had on Be Well by Kelly, our dear friend Kelly LeVeque’s show. Since Kelly is a nutritionist, bestselling author, and founder herself, it was fun to have her turn the questions on us. I wanted to share this conversation here because we really get into what it actually looks like to build a business from the beginning.  We get into questions like: How do you take an idea and make it real when you have no experience creating the product? How do you know if anyone even wants it? When do you hire? Where do you spend your money when you're self-funded? And what do you do when the thing that helped you grow in the beginning stops working? Kaya and I share how we tested our first product, which was inspired by seed cycling, a simple food-based approach that had made such a big difference in my own PMS. I was literally grinding seeds in my apartment and sending them to women before we ever found a manufacturer. We also get into how we built the company through content before we had much of a business, why we've chosen to stay self-funded, some of the very unglamorous moments that told us it was finally time to ask for help, and the science and personal story behind why Beeya exists in the first place. So if you're thinking about starting something, or you're already in the messy middle of building it, I think you'll get a lot out of this conversation. In this episode, we’ll talk to about: * How Yasmin’s experience with painful periods and birth control inspired Beeya. [02:10] * How seed cycling helped improve Yasmin’s period symptoms. [04:14] * Why women deserve more education and options for supporting their menstrual health. [05:19] * How Yasmin and Kaya turned a homemade seed-cycling routine into Beeya. [06:36] * What healthy periods look like—and which symptoms may signal an underlying issue. [09:21] * How seed cycling uses different seeds during each half of the menstrual cycle. [13:19] * The benefits of flax, pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds. [13:58] * What Beeya’s Citrus Labs trial found about seed cycling and common PMS symptoms. [16:29] * What to know about seeds, anti-nutrients, and individual gut-health needs. [19:27] * How Beeya makes seed cycling easier with freshly ground seeds and simple daily routines. [22:43] * The challenges of building and growing a self-funded wellness brand. [28:13] * Learning to delegate, build a team, and ask for support as the business grows. [31:33] * How Yasmin and Kaya balance entrepreneurship, motherhood, and personal wellbeing. [38:41] * How motherhood shaped Beeya’s mission to empower women and girls. [41:03] * Building trust through founder-led content, education, and authentic connection. [48:11] * Why balanced meals, nourishment, and nervous system support are foundational to wellness. [49:26] * Moving away from restrictive wellness trends and embracing a more realistic approach. [49:59] * Why wellness should support your life—not become another source of stress. [51:41] * Beeya’s vision for supporting women through every stage of hormonal health. [52:47] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin:  * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Stay updated & subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Kaya:  * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayapurohit/ Follow Beeya: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beeyawellness/ * Website: https://beeyawellness.com/ Follow Kelly: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bewellbykelly/ * The Be Well Podcast: https://bewellbykelly.com/pages/be-well-by-kelly-podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lauren Kleinman is the founder of Dreamday and co-founder of Quality Media and The Quality Edit. She coined the term "performance PR," built two agencies without raising a dollar, and today leads more than a hundred people. Before any of this, Lauren spent almost a decade as an employee. First employee at StartEngine. Sixteenth at Scopely, which sold for billions. Then first employee at Ritual. She knew she wanted to build something of her own, she just didn't know what yet. When she finally left, she named her company Dreamday, because she'd pictured the day she actually wanted. A hike, a swim, a couple of client calls, and time with her kids. Seven years later, she'll tell you it has never happened. What happened instead was having two young kids during COVID, no maternity leave, and burning herself out so badly she had panic attacks for the first time in her life. In this episode, Lauren gives you the actual playbook, from how to know when you're ready to leave your job, to how to line up your first client before you even quit. She breaks down how to get press when you can't afford PR, and what makes an editor open your email out of the four hundred sitting in her inbox that day. And she's just as honest about the rest of it, from what burnout really looked like for her, to what she'd tell you to watch out for, to how she finally stopped believing she had to carry all of it alone. If you want to build something of your own one day, and you also want to still like your life while you build it, this one is for you.  In this episode, we’ll talk to Lauren about: * Why overworking became tied to worthiness and success. [02:20] * Learning to shift from constant doing toward simply being. [03:16] * Unlearning the hustle mentality after years of proving her worth through work. [04:38] * Why perfect balance is unrealistic—and one ball will always drop. [09:20] * Why profitability and sustainable margins matter from day one. [14:11]  * Knowing when the entrepreneurial itch is strong enough to make the leap. [16:08] * Spotting gaps in PR and coining the idea of performance PR. [18:00] * How whitelisting gives brands the credibility of creators and publishers. [19:35] * Turning real brand pain points into The Quality Edit and Quality Media. [20:00] * Using a network and early clients to validate the leap into entrepreneurship. [21:00] * Recognizing when business momentum starts looking dangerously like burnout. [23:20] * The burnout breaking point and learning to build boundaries around work. [24:59] * Why public speaking is a muscle for founders. [30:16] * How smaller brands can build PR relationships and use AI to pitch smarter. [35:02] * What makes a pitch cut through: cultural relevance, strong numbers, and making the editor's job easier. [36:58] * Why affiliate links matter—and when publications actually use them. [42:58] * Learning to delegate, release perfectionism, and decide which fires can burn. [47:18] * The reminder that even successful leaders are still figuring it out. [50:28] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Lauren: * Website: https://www.dreamday.la/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreamday.la/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauren.kleinman/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amber Venz Box is the co-founder and president of LTK, the multi-billion-dollar business that turned influence into a global economy. She built the creator economy before anyone had a name for it, and today LTK drives $6 billion in annual retail sales and reaches more than 44 million monthly users. But here's what you might not know. When Amber started in 2010, the word "blogger" wasn't even in the dictionary yet, and the people who did use it meant it as an insult. Vogue didn't have a website, most retailers didn't either, and Amber knew of just two other bloggers in her entire city. So when she built a way for creators to get paid on what they recommended, there was almost no one to sell it to. A small handful of retailers were online at all, and she needed one of them to say yes. There was no plan B. In this episode, Amber takes us back to the early days, when she was living at her dad's house, working out of her childhood bedroom, in debt on a website nobody understood. She talks about the cold call that landed her first retail partner when almost no one was selling online yet, and how she convinced bloggers one call at a time that the thing they did for fun could actually pay them. She's honest about the months she couldn't pay herself, when she secretly lived in the office and cleared out every morning before the team arrived. She gets candid about building a business with her husband, becoming a mother of four, and the advice about delegating that finally unlocked everything for her. She opens up about the funding round that collapsed the day it was supposed to close, why staying privately controlled became one of LTK's biggest advantages, and why real business success looks nothing like the headlines, and so much more.  In this episode, we’ll talk to Amber about: * How the entrepreneurial instinct to make things started in childhood. [02:18] * Turning a teenage jewelry obsession into a legitimate business. [04:06] * Why working every side of an industry can make you a better entrepreneur. [06:45] * Finding her path through fashion, retail, styling, and PR. [09:21] * What Amber looks for in people who are truly all-in. [14:36] * How a casual suggestion to start a blog changed everything. [16:26] * Getting in early on blogging, YouTube, and the emerging digital landscape. [18:57] * Realizing her blog could become a business and finding a way to monetize it. [20:19] * How Amber landed LTK’s first major retail partners. [21:21] * Building a new category before the creator economy even existed. [23:09] * How her husband helped turn an idea into a real business. [25:31] * Personal sacrifices and relationship challenges of building a company together. [29:25] * Creating boundaries between work and marriage. [32:22] * Why becoming a mother became one of the biggest blessings in her career. [34:00] * The delegation lesson that gave her wings as an entrepreneur. [35:07] * Learning to let go of perfection and embrace “good enough.” [37:04] * How LTK grew from two retailers into a creator economy powerhouse. [40:40] * The challenges of fundraising after years of building independently. [45:55] * The funding deal that nearly fell apart at the finish line. [49:10] * How staying privately controlled became a long-term advantage. [50:19] * Why business success matters more than the headline. [51:35] * Building a business with integrity, long-term thinking, and a strong reputation. [53:28] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Amber: * Website: https://www.shopltk.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shop.ltk/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ambervenzbox/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mayssa Chehata is the founder of BEHAVE Candy, a low-sugar, clean-label candy brand that just landed in nearly 2,000 Target stores nationwide and sold out within the first week. But here's what you might not know. Two years ago, Mayssa was calling her lawyer to ask what bankruptcy would look like. She had left a dream career at the NFL, Uber, Daily Harvest, and SoulCycle to build a candy her diabetic father could finally eat. But after manufacturing failures, two reformulations, and a product she privately didn't believe in, she made the hardest call of her life: she paused the entire company for over a year. She moved to Mexico City because she couldn't afford her apartment in New York, personally guaranteed a bank loan, and hit what she calls her rock bottom. Then, with sixty days of cash left, she and her co-founder made one final plan. They called it burn the ships. Mayssa handed off everything and made TikTok videos all day, every day. Two weeks in, one video went viral and doubled the business overnight. In this week's episode, Mayssa shares why Uber was her real business school, the gut feeling she ignored for two years about her own product, and what it takes to shut down and rebuild a company from scratch. She opens up about how a manifestation book gave her the courage to leave corporate and the inner child work that finally unblocked her. She shares the daily practices that pulled her out of burnout, from meditation and journaling to nervous system regulation, why her coach told her the business wouldn't work until she fixed everything underneath it, and how she went from brute-forcing twelve-hour days to learning that a regulated, healthy founder builds a better business. Whether your business is thriving or barely surviving, this episode will change how you think about success, failure, and everything in between. In this episode, we’ll talk to Mayssa about: * Why working at Uber felt like an entrepreneurial crash course. [02:49] * Building an ownership mindset by creating opportunities from scratch. [06:59] * The first signs she was meant to become an entrepreneur. [10:41] * Chasing wealth vs. discovering a mission worth building. [14:29] * Why she waited two years before launching the company. [20:16] * Navigating manufacturing challenges and finding the right production partner. [23:17] * How her father's diabetes inspired the idea for Behave. [25:23] * How manifestation gave her the confidence to leave corporate. [27:32] * Raising her first funding round and taking the leap into entrepreneurship. [33:11] * Launching Behave during the uncertainty of the pandemic. [37:21] * The product mistakes that nearly destroyed the business. [40:09] * Why she decided to pause production and completely reformulate. [46:41] * Surviving financial uncertainty, debt, and the threat of bankruptcy. [48:38] * Why getting funding still wasn't enough to save the business. [55:36] * Why a celebrity partnership wasn't the breakthrough they expected. [56:57] * Rebuilding herself through inner child work, spirituality, and manifestation. [58:11] * Betting everything on TikTok and finding a viral growth strategy. [01:01:40] * How one viral video transformed the business and led to Target. [01:05:08] * Growing beyond DTC by building a retail-first business. [01:06:40] * Redefining productivity, healing burnout, and leading from a healthier place. [01:09:45] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Mayssa: * Website: https://www.eatbehave.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatbehave/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Helen Lo is the founder of Lo & Sons, the cult-favorite travel bag brand that basically invented the stylish carry-on for working women. Helen started the company at 65 years old, after she had already retired. She was born into a privileged family in China that lost it all when her father died. She grew up in poverty, went to boarding school at seven, and promised herself she would never be poor again. She earned a PhD while raising babies, spent decades moving city to city for her husband's career, reinventing herself every single time. And when she finally said "I'm done," she couldn't find a travel bag that actually worked for women. So she recruited her two sons and flew to a factory in China with zero fashion or manufacturing experience. Nine prototypes later, she had the bag that built the business. Today, Lo & Sons is in its sixteenth year, still family run, built without a dollar of outside funding. In this episode, Helen breaks down exactly how she went from idea to real business, how she validated the concept before spending a dime, how one phone call to a friend of a friend unlocked their first factory, and how they caught the early Facebook wave and one blog feature that changed the trajectory of the brand. She also gets really honest about what it costs to build a business with your own children, why she stepped down as CEO of her own company, the trade show flop that taught them everything, and the mistakes that slowed them down, like hiring too fast and pivoting too slow. Helen is proof that you don't need investors, industry experience, or perfect timing, just a real problem, the willingness to learn, and the courage to start. If you've been telling yourself it's too late or that this chapter of your life is already written, this is the conversation you need to hear. In this episode, we’ll talk to Helen about: * Why getting out of your comfort zone starts with an inner calling. [02:37] * Growing up in poverty after losing everything and developing determination. [04:56] * Generosity as her guiding principles in life and business. [05:55] * Why an abundance mindset creates unexpected opportunities. [07:59] * Putting her career on hold while supporting her husband's path and raising a family. [09:21] * How a frustrating travel problem inspired the idea for a better bag. [12:41] * How a lifelong curiosity fueled her entrepreneurial mindset. [17:48] * Validating the business idea by talking to the right target customer. [20:01] * Building the company alongside her sons. [21:00] * Finding the first factory and learning product development from scratch. [24:48] * The design feedback that transformed the original bag into the OG. [26:37] * Refining every detail through customer feedback and multiple prototypes. [30:37] * Why trade shows failed and social media became the brand's breakthrough. [33:04] * Navigating today's changing marketing landscape. [37:06] * The challenges of building a business alongside family. [39:27] * Why stepping down as CEO was the right decision. [41:30] * Why pivoting quickly and hiring intentionally are essential for long-term growth. [44:37] * Why she wanted to be a mom again instead of her sons' boss. [46:15] * Why persistence matters, but knowing when to pivot matters more. [48:43] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 This episode is also brought to you by Lo & Sons: * Get 20% off one purchase at Lo & Sons with promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE20. Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Helen: * Website: https://www.loandsons.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loandsons/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I'm joined by my co-founder of Beeya Wellness, Kaya Purohit, and we're sitting down with two women who completely changed how I thought about my own fertility journey: Ronit Menashe and Vida Delrahim, the founders of WeNatal. These two are best friends who go all the way back to their Nike days, and years later, they each had a miscarriage one week apart. When the doctors said "it's just your age, there's nothing you can do," they refused to accept it. They dug into the research and found something that stunned them: half of all miscarriages are linked to sperm quality. And no one had asked their husbands a single question. In this episode, we break down everything they wish every woman knew. We get into trimester zero and why it might be the most important trimester of all, the simple things you and your partner can start doing today to support your hormones and fertility, and why the "clock is ticking" narrative is not your full story. Ronit got pregnant at 41 and gave birth three days after her 42nd birthday. And that's the whole message of this episode: you have more control over your fertility than you think. If you've ever been told you're too old, too late, or too far behind, this episode is your proof that you're not.  This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Ronit and Vida:  * Website: https://wenatal.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/we_natal/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitmenashe/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vidadelrahim/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jenny Lei is the founder of Freja, the cult-favorite vegan handbag brand that you've probably seen on Hailey Bieber, Sarah Jessica Parker, and all over your feed. But here's what you might not know. Jenny started Freja with no fashion background, no design experience, and no investors. She funded it herself with money she made from a dropshipping business she built after Googling "how to make money fast online" because she had to pay for her life living in NYC. She launched a work bag brand out of her New Jersey apartment in February 2020, weeks before the entire world stopped going to the office. She signed up two thousand people to an email list, sent her launch email, and didn't get a single sale. And she was doing all of it on a visa, with a clock ticking on whether she'd even get to stay in the country. Today, Freja is a multi-million dollar brand and one of the most talked-about names in the space. In this episode, Jenny gets really honest about the slow years nobody talks about, why she believes growing too fast can actually be a curse, and the moment she broke down crying in an airport because she'd been holding the entire business together by herself, with no systems underneath her. We talk about the difference between selling products and creating a brand, how intuition is built through failure, and learning to separate who you are from the company you create. She also opens up about burnout, the systems and team she built behind Freja, and what it was like to step into the spotlight after years of hiding. If you're in one of those quiet, slow seasons right now — doing everything right, waiting for it to pay off — this is the conversation you need to hear. In this episode, we’ll talk to Jenny about: * Why growth should be measured by learning, not just revenue. [02:37] * The downside of growing too fast without understanding why it worked. [03:58] * Growing up with curiosity and the freedom to explore new interests. [04:05] * Navigating identity after moving between China and the United States. [06:00] * How a vegan Instagram account became an early entrepreneurial venture. [06:58] * Separating personal identity from the business you build. [09:08] * Why the business should work for you—not the other way around. [10:00] * From Cornell graduate to Googling how to make money online. [13:55] * Learning the fundamentals of online selling through dropshipping. [15:22] * The difference between selling products and building a brand. [17:05] * Creating Freja after failing to find the perfect work bag. [19:25] * Using naive optimism to design a product without a fashion background. [20:25] * Launching just before the pandemic and facing an immediate setback. [24:25] * Why volume, consistency, and paid ads fueled early growth. [26:02] * The gradual rise of Freja and the success of the Chrystie collection. [27:58] * Reaching a turning point and finally viewing the company as a real business. [29:07] * Burnout, team growth, and learning how to build systems at scale. [31:17] * The marketing channels that mattered most from startup to scale. [35:23] * Stepping into the founder spotlight and sharing the story behind the brand. [37:48] * How journaling became the most impactful business tool. [42:33] * Using ChatGPT and the Socratic method for better decision-making. [44:12] * Moving to London, evolving as a designer, and reimagining the future of Freja. [45:51] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Jenny: * Website: https://frejanyc.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frejanyc/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennyyleiii/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mariam Naficy is the founder and chairman of Minted — the online marketplace where independent artists around the world sell everything from cards to wall art to home decor. She's also the founder and CEO of Arcade, an AI platform reimagining how physical products get designed and made. But before any of that, Mariam was the child of immigrants who fled Iran after the revolution and rebuilt their lives from scratch. Watching her family lose everything left her, by age ten, with one conviction: she would have to take care of herself. That drive carried her through Goldman Sachs and Stanford — where she became one of the only MBAs in her class to skip the corporate path and bet on herself, back when entrepreneurship wasn't really a thing. In 1998, she co-founded Eve.com, one of the first online beauty retailers — back when investors told her women would never buy makeup online. It sold for over $100 million, just two weeks before the dot-com crash. Years later, she launched Minted. And it nearly broke her. Zero sales for months. Critics who dismissed the idea. A newborn at home. And the fear that her first big win had just been luck. The turnaround came when she stopped guessing, and started asking artists and customers what they actually wanted — and built one of the earliest creator-economy success stories. In this episode, Mariam shares how fleeing Iran shaped her relationship with risk and money, what her mother meant when she said "beat all the boys," and why she bet on herself with no family history in business. We get into building Eve in the earliest days of e-commerce, selling a company before 30, and the darkest stretch of Minted — when she was ready to give her investors their money back. She tells us how she got through those dark times, the mindset that kept her going, and the advice she'd give other founders. She also opens up about motherhood, self-doubt, the pivot that saved the company, and what she's building now with Arcade. In this episode, we’ll talk to Mariam about: * How fleeing Iran shaped her relationship with risk and financial independence. [03:24] * Why financial security became a driving force. [04:20] * Choosing entrepreneurship over the traditional corporate ladder. [05:20] * Being one of the only Stanford MBA graduates to start a company in 1998. [06:21] * Writing and publishing a book to stand out and fund her education. [10:58] * Convincing a future co-founder to leave New York and build a company together. [14:19] * Launching one of the first online beauty retailers before e-commerce was mainstream. [15:49] * Raising $26 million as first-time founders. [17:59] * Selling the company just before the dot-com crash changed everything. [21:54] * Navigating the emotional comedown after early success. [23:42] * The lessons she learned between her first startup and launching Minted. [26:44] * Facing the darkest moments of entrepreneurship when Minted struggled to gain traction. [30:19] * Navigating motherhood while scaling a fast-growing company. [40:14] * Stepping away from the CEO role to prioritize family during a pivotal season. [44:37] * Building Arcade and using AI to reimagine product creation and manufacturing. [45:33] * The biggest mistakes founders make when starting a business. [48:21] * What she looks for when hiring future leaders and long-term team members. [49:19] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Mariam: * Website: https://www.minted.com/ * Website: https://www.arcade.ai/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mnaficy/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minted/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arcade.ai/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I'm joined by my co-founder of Beeya Wellness, Kaya Purohit, and together we're sitting down with Dr. Tanda Cook and Dr. Katie Collier. If you've been around the show, you already know them. This is their fourth time on the podcast, and there's a reason we keep bringing them back. They're naturopathic doctors who work with women every single day on the stuff most doctors miss. The fatigue that won't quit. The brain fog. The weird rashes. The gut that's been off for years. And the lab work that keeps coming back "normal" while you feel anything but. They have this gift for taking what feels confusing in your body and making it actually make sense. In this episode, we're talking about autoimmune. Because 80% of autoimmune cases belong to women, and what Tanda and Katie share is genuinely hopeful. They break down what's really happening when your body feels off, the early signals that are easy to miss, why so many women spend years bouncing between doctors before anyone connects the dots, and the simple, doable things that actually move the needle. So if you've ever felt like something is off and you just want someone to explain it in a way that feels human, this conversation is for you.  This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Dr. Tanda: * Website: https://drtandacook.com/  * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtandacook/ Follow Dr. Katie: * Website: https://drkatiecollier.com/  * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drkatiecollier/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ingrid Carney is the founder of Ingrid & Isabel, the largest maternity brand in the United States.  Before any of that, she co-founded a Silicon Valley startup that ended with the dot com bust. Then she got pregnant, couldn't button her pants on the way to a VC pitch, used a tube top to hold them in place, and that quick fix became the Bellaband, the product that built Ingrid & Isabel. She launched with $28,000 of her own money. Half of it went to a patent. The rest went to walking into the top maternity stores in the country, demoing the product on her own body, and sending handwritten letters to the number one store in every major market. With no fashion background, no industry connections, and no marketing budget, she taught herself manufacturing, beat back a major company that tried to steal her patent, and bootstrapped Ingrid & Isabel to serve more than 17 million moms with 16 patents to her name. In this episode, Ingrid shares what 24 years in business has actually taught her, and why feeling "behind" can be an advantage in a world obsessed with overnight success. We get into the patent battle that almost ended everything, how she got into retail and grew the business from there, and why she believes the best ideas come from sharing your idea, not protecting it, and so much more.  In this episode, we’ll talk to Ingrid about: * Why feeling “behind” in business can become a competitive advantage. [02:23] * Becoming comfortable in unfamiliar situations from an early age. [04:36] * Lessons from working in Silicon Valley startups and ad agencies. [07:17] * Discovering the balance between big corporate thinking and startup speed. [08:27] * Building her first startup and navigating its shutdown. [09:47] * The pregnancy moment that sparked the idea for the Bellaband. [12:42] * Validating the product idea through her local moms group. [15:48] * Testing early prototypes and refining the product through real feedback. [17:23] * Navigating postpartum depression while sitting on a promising idea. [18:58] * Why investing into a patent changed the company’s future. [20:28] * Fighting a major retailer that copied the Bellaband before the patent was approved. [22:35] * Why sharing ideas openly can lead to unexpected opportunities and advice. [29:16] * Trusting intuition while balancing endless feedback from others. [30:58] * The realities of building a company while raising young children. [32:22] * Landing early retail accounts by personally demonstrating the product in stores. [34:55] * How Target became a major growth unlock for the brand. [38:23] * Using lines of credit and inventory planning to support rapid expansion. [39:35] * Balancing premium retail, mass retail, and accessibility for customers. [40:45] * Products she believed would succeed that failed — and surprise hits she resisted. [46:01] * Hiring lessons, team dynamics, and knowing when someone isn’t the right fit. [48:42] * Expanding into Walmart while continuing to focus on long-term growth opportunities. [51:02] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Ingrid: * Website: https://www.ingridandisabel.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ingridandisabel/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, we’re re-airing one of our top episodes with Monique Rodriguez, the founder and CEO of Mielle Organics, an all natural hair care and beauty brand.  Monique created Mielle Organics’ first product in her kitchen. Now, the brand has products in over 85 countries – and still pursues the same vision it did from when it operated out of Monique’s kitchen, with the same values. Monique worked as a registered nurse for almost a decade. She pursued nursing initially to please her mother and secure a financially stable career. As a wife and mother of two girls, it was a big risk to leave her stable career path to pursue her passion. Yet she always had a love of beauty and haircare, and once she saw the engagement of her online community with the products she was creating in the kitchen, she decided to bet on herself and launch her own product, and that’s when Mielle Organics was born. In 2021, Monique became the first Black woman to raise a non-controlling nine-figure investment, over $100M, in a deal with Berkshire Partners. In 2023, Monique made history again when Mielle Organics was acquired by Procter & Gamble in an unprecedented acquisition, the largest exit ever for a Black Female beauty founder, in which she will continue to serve as CEO of the company. As part of her deal with P&G, she also established Mielle Cares, the non-profit arm of her company, with a $10M donation that was matched by P&G.  In this week’s episode we discuss the many business ventures Monique tried that didn’t work out, why she decided to pursue her nursing career and the biggest skills she learned there that have propelled her when starting her own business. We also chat about her process of building a passionate community through social media, how that helped her create product market fit for her product, and the steps she took to find a chemist to work on her first batch that ended up selling out. Monique also ends on sharing insights on manifesting success, the exact steps she took to bring her ideas to life, her advice on navigating challenging situations both personally and professionally, and so much more.  In this episode, we'll talk to Monique about: * Confronting fears and building self-belief. [04:06] * Strong women in Monique's upbringing. [07:27] * Leaving her comfort zone. [20:09] * High-risk pregnancy experience in 2013. [22:49] * Funding Mielle's early stages. [31:35] * Starting Mielle at home and the initial orders. [35:24] * Driving Mielle Organics' launch success.[36:41] * Leaving nursing job to focus on Mielle. [37:54] * Manifestation steps and vision importance. [40:41] * Bringing in private equity, alignment with Berkshire. [55:31] * Timeline of P&G acquisition. [58:05] * Journaling and gratitude cultivation. [01:00:26] * Business sale impact on Monique's life. [01:02:33] This episode is brought to you by beeya:  * Learn more about beeya's seed cycling bundle at https://beeyawellness.com/free to find out how to tackle hormonal imbalances.  * Get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Monique: * Website: https://mielleorganics.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mielleorganics/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exquisitemo/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sahara Lotti is the founder and CEO of Lashify, the beauty brand that created the world's first at-home lash extension system and completely redefined what DIY beauty could look like. But her path here had nothing to do with beauty. It had everything to do with refusing to quit. Sahara was an Iranian immigrant who grew up in Silicon Valley and never quite felt like she fit in. Before Lashify, she spent years as an actress and screenwriter in Hollywood, hustling on the side and building businesses out of sheer resourcefulness. Beauty wasn't superficial for her. It was tied to confidence, to belonging, to feeling like she had a place in the room. So when she discovered lash extensions and felt truly beautiful for the first time, she was hooked. Then her lash technician got pregnant, the replacement wasn't as good, and she went looking for a DIY solution and found absolutely nothing. For most people, that's the end of the story. For Sahara, it was the beginning. She melted wire in her kitchen. Filed patents before she told a single factory what she was building. Flew to Korea to convince a manufacturer to build something that had never existed. And launched Lashify on sheer obsession. Today Lashify holds more than 750 global patents, has become a celebrity favorite, and recently secured a landmark $30.5 million legal victory against counterfeit manufacturers. Sahara tells it like it is and in this episode she gets into all of it. The building, the lawsuits, the loneliness, the moments she almost lost everything, and why she believes the only way to truly lead a company is to know every corner of it yourself. This is the real story. And she holds nothing back. In this episode, we’ll talk to Sahara about: Standing up for what’s right and refusing to back down. [02:20] Feeling different after moving from Iran to Northern California. [04:05] How beauty insecurities shaped her confidence at a young age. [04:20] Becoming obsessed with her appearance and wanting lash extensions. [05:25] Building early side hustles by teaching herself everything. [06:03] Using her principles to protect people from fake luxury goods. [06:57] Why making money was never the main motivation behind her success. [08:08] Learning that money creates freedom, experiences, and the ability to help others. [09:27] The moment her lash technician couldn’t fit her in and everything changed. [13:10] Teaching herself to build a completely new lash system from scratch. [13:04] Seeing a major gap in the beauty market and realizing there was a business opportunity. [16:22] Why screenwriting helped her think about product development and storytelling. [17:20] Building an entire brand system instead of creating just one product. [19:03] Self-funding the business and learning early lessons about working with friends. [23:50] Patenting the idea before going to manufacturers and protecting it from copycats. [24:48] Becoming profitable quickly by doing her own marketing, customer service, and education. [29:49] Using Instagram Lives to teach customers how to use a completely new product. [31:03] How building a business forced her to overcome insecurities and show up publicly. [32:45] Why customer stories gave her the motivation to keep fighting through setbacks. [33:56] Learning hard lessons about friendship, loyalty, and trust as the business grew. [43:37] Why the best founders understand every part of their business from the ground up. [50:18] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Sahara: * Website: https://www.lashify.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lashify/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saharalotti/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, we’re re-airing one of our top episodes with Joanna Griffiths, the Founder and President of Knix, the innovative direct-to-consumer intimates and apparel brand. The idea for Knix started after she had a conversation with her mom about what women’s bodies undergo as they age especially when it came to post-pregnancy leaks. After doing research on her end and speaking to more women, she realized there was a massive gap in the market. So in 2013, she launched a Kickstarter campaign that placed Knix on the map not only for its intimates but for talking openly about the reality of women’s bodies.  A decade later, the womenswear brand has expanded into a variety of categories, including bras, activewear, shapewear, swim, loungewear, and more. Joanna has built Knix into one of the fastest-growing intimate apparel brands globally. In 2022, Joanna decided to sell 80% of her business for $320 million, making it one of the largest exits by a female founder in Canada and one of the most significant sales of a brand by a female founder in US history.  In this week’s episode, Joanna talks to us about her incredible journey building Knix, what she learned in her career in media & entertainment, and how it actually helped her disrupt the intimates industry despite having no background. She shares how she pivoted early on from wholesale even though they were doing incredibly well, how they ended up launching as a direct-to-consumer company, and why it was one of the boldest decisions she made. Joanna also opens up about how she dealt with depression even when she had major success with the brand, and the steps she took to manage this difficult time. We talk about how she dealt with difficult investors who didn’t believe she could run a high-growth company being a mom of three, what she did to prove those naysayers wrong, and so much more.   In this episode, we’ll talk to Joanna about: * Being vulnerable and open on social media. [03:21] * The reality in entrepreneurship. [05:22] * Joanna’s coping mechanisms as a founder. [08:57] * Creating momentum in the early stages. [13:25] * Working in a record label, getting an MBA, and shifting passions. [16:49] * The genesis of the Knix idea and testing their first product. [18:38] * The manufacturing processes. [23:14] * Launching Knix on Kickstarter. [25:42] * Joanna’s depression despite the business doing well. [32:38] * Joanna’s fundraising journey. [39:31] * Building confidence and managing negativity. [45:29] * Joanna’s behind-the-scenes in managing her business and motherhood. [46:47] * Selling the company and buying a house for their nanny. [48:37] This episode is brought to you by Beeya: * If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances and to learn more about Beeya’s seed cycling bundle. * Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10 Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/ * Website: https://www.behindherempire.com/ Follow Joanna: * Website: https://knix.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knix/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joannaknix/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.