Latest / Serious Lady Business / Fundraising While Female: What They Don’t Ask the Men
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- LESLIE YOUNGBLOOD (00:00) Hey there, I'm Leslie Youngblood and this is Serious Lady Business, the podcast where we get real about what it takes to build a business as a woman today. From late night Google searches and client curveballs to the wins that make it all worth it, I'm talking about the stuff no one puts in the highlight reel. Each week, I'm bringing you honest conversations, lessons learned and stories from women who are out here doing the work. Messy, meaningful and unapologetically bold. Whether you're just dreaming about starting a business or deep in the grind, this podcast is your space to feel seen, supported, and fired up. Because let's be honest, this journey is hard, hilarious, and absolutely worth it. So let's dive in. Leslie Youngblood (00:41) Welcome back to Serious Lady Business. I'm Leslie Youngblood, your host, feminist, and founder of Youngblood MMC, a marketing, media, and content agency. And today we are joined by Natalise Scalia Robinson. She has been recognized as Entrepreneur Magazine's top 10 inspiring entrepreneurs to watch. She is the co-founder and CEO of Parallel Health, a personalized precision health company named a world-changing idea by Fast Company, and a top 0.2 % startup, as a TechCrunch Disrupt Finalist. We'll be talking fundraising while female, what they don't ask the men, something Natalise has much experience with through Parallel Health and being in the heart of Silicon Valley. Welcome Natalise. Natalise Kalea Robinson (01:21) Thank you so much for having me, Leslie. This is, I'm looking forward to this. Leslie Youngblood (01:24) Yes, you know, we have not had anybody who has been one in the heart of like Silicon Valley as a founder and entrepreneur and two, like, you know, talking about investing ⁓ or fundraising while female, Natalise I would love to kind of like start at the beginning with you. When you first started fundraising, what expectations did you have going in and then how did reality compare? Natalise Kalea Robinson (01:39) Mm. Yeah, well, I think one of the scariest things about being a CEO is that your job is, or one of your main jobs is to raise funding for the company, especially if you're a tech company. you know, fundraising is scary in that I don't like asking people for money, right? Like, I don't think anyone likes it. ⁓ But what I realized actually is that it's not really Leslie Youngblood (02:02) Mm-hmm. Hmm... Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (02:16) I mean, yes, it's asking people for money, but it's really actually sharing about the vision and sharing why it's important. Why is this important today? How is this going to change the world? as a potential investor, and by the way, it's a two-way street, right? It's like, we compatible? It's almost like dating, right? Like, are we compatible? Leslie Youngblood (02:23) Mmhmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (02:42) Do you believe in the vision that I'm sharing? Do you want to come on this journey with us? And if not, that's okay. That's totally fine. And it's better not to... It's like dating, exactly. It's better to say no at the beginning than to go down the line and realize that it's just not a fit. Leslie Youngblood (02:55) Yes. Yeah. Yeah, but I love what you said too, though. It's not necessarily about selling or asking for money. It's about selling that vision, kind of like selling yourself on a date, right? Like putting your best foot forward. But I think a lot of people, men and women, when we have to be salesy, right? Or like you're trying to sell or trying to like get money. And it's not about that at the core. It's about you believing so much in this product or service like tool that you're building that anybody would be a fool. Natalise Kalea Robinson (03:08) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (03:29) to not wanna be a part of that. And so it's like reminding yourself that that's what it's about. It's not about getting the money or getting the ring. It's about, you know, really believing in something and having a vision for something that is going to change the world. Anybody right now, this is the time. They're getting an opportunity of a lifetime that you're standing before them and giving that to them. So I think that's like a really nice like reframe for anybody listening right now is to keep that in mind too as they go. Natalise Kalea Robinson (03:32) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (03:58) Can you share an early moment in your fundraising journey that made you realize women founders face a very different line of questioning and experience than male founders? You don't have to name names, but you can if you want. Natalise Kalea Robinson (04:08) Yeah, mean, yeah, well, you know, it's a really interesting question, right? Because I don't know what it's like to be a man who fundraisers, but I have a lot of friends in the industry. And of course, my husband is also an entrepreneur as well. So I overhear conversations. And sometimes, you know, what I started realizing was that Leslie Youngblood (04:25) Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (04:35) the conversations can be very different. So the question that when I first started, when we first started the company, you know, obviously we hadn't built anything. It was really just an idea. Um, a lot of the questions that were thrown at me were, you know, I would pitch the vision, but it was like, how, how are you de-risking? How are you making sure that we won't like, Leslie Youngblood (04:39) and Mmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (05:01) you won't lose. ⁓ How do you, it was more granular points. It was like detailed points. Whereas it seemed, and of course this is what I overhear in my own experience, but what I was, you know, when I listened into other conversations where there was a, a confident male, you know, entrepreneur that it was like, Leslie Youngblood (05:03) Mmm. Mmm. Entry. Natalise Kalea Robinson (05:26) excitement around the vision. How big could this be? How? So it's not really about the doubt, like protecting my downside. It's like, what is the upside? And I started thinking about, okay, am I, and maybe, you know, look, there's a, there's a gender thing, but there's also potentially a, I don't discount the fact that I'm also just a different person, right? ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (05:37) Right. Sure, sure. Natalise Kalea Robinson (05:52) And so what is it that, and I had to ask myself, you know, am I not pitching this in a way that shares the up, the upside, the big vision? And so I started thinking about how I could improve that. And I would say that still, you know, there's still these questions around, well, how are you going to execute on that? It's like, okay, that's cute. Leslie Youngblood (06:03) here and here. Mm-hmm. Mmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (06:16) It was like, was sometime and not everyone. And because like, like, I want to, I want to, you know, acknowledge that actually most of our investors are men. That's not actually something that, you know, that it just is what it is. And I love our investors, right. But I will say that in the process of pitching, of course you get a lot of no's and there were definitely times when, when. Leslie Youngblood (06:18) ⁓ sure, not everybody, but some. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (06:45) you know, it was sort of that that reaction of that's cute but like how are gonna do that? you know? you know it's like that demeanor you know? well Leslie Youngblood (06:52) How did that make you feel? Yeah, how did that make you feel in the moment when you were like or were you like, I'm going to show you, sir. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (06:59) Flustered. Well, at first I was flustered at the very beginning of the journey when I had not pitched a lot. It did fluster me because I was like, oh, that's, that's weird. Like, you know, I, I think I've, I don't know. It was just, it was just a weird sort of reaction for someone to, or so it's a weird thing to respond to, I guess I should say. Leslie Youngblood (07:07) Mmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (07:27) but yeah, over time you get, well, I got more pointed maybe in the response. It was like, you don't, of course you don't want to get angry. that's not, or defensive either, but just sort of, okay, I, here's, here's what we would do. And you just kind of calmly just lay out, you know, the plan. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (07:32) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, sure. Yeah. You're like ready for it, you know, right? Well, I'm sure the more you do it, the more experience you have and the more you will anticipate certain types of questions so you can prepare for it and just be like home run. Like when they no matter what sorts of questions that they're thrown at you. But yeah, the flustering at first. mean, how could you not? Because I'm sure that's not something you really prepare for at first, because you have Natalise Kalea Robinson (07:51) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (08:10) a spouse and people around you that have been through it and probably like they're going to ask you this, they're going to ask you this. But then there's a little curve ball that gets thrown in there too. So I think that's just really interesting. Do you why do you think that it feels like more women get these de-risk questions and like what's underneath that dynamic? And I know we've talked previously, like it makes sense. I feel like to want to check all the. Natalise Kalea Robinson (08:19) now. Leslie Youngblood (08:32) boxes, no matter who you're talking to about investing, that's all money. at, you know, like you're taking your money or ⁓ somebody else's money, a company's money to invest it in a company and a person and the leaders that you want to be confident in that you're going to see that return. And that is going to be a good steward of your money. So I totally, I know if we totally get check, you know, being, having that due diligence, but with that. Natalise Kalea Robinson (08:39) Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (08:56) The de-risk first questions or those de-risk, like what do you think is underneath that dynamic? Natalise Kalea Robinson (09:01) You know, I thought about this a lot and I haven't come out of it saying like, it's because, I'm a woman and there are men. Like, I don't know if it's that black and white. I think what it is, is that the reality is that Leslie Youngblood (09:14) Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (09:18) They're in the world of, of startups and in the world of tech, there are just more men in general. And there are right now, right now, you know, and, and you think if you look at stats, Leslie Youngblood (09:27) Mm-hmm. Right now. ⁓ Natalise Kalea Robinson (09:37) female only founding teams received just 2.3 % of global venture capital. This is in 2024. When including mixed gender teams, companies with at least one female founder represent 34.7 % of companies but receive only 21.5 % of funding. So that's what the mixed male and female. But then when you talk about women of Leslie Youngblood (09:43) Hmm. Wow. Natalise Kalea Robinson (10:01) they received 0.39 % of all venture capital funding. And then even if you talk about all women teams, this was in 2022, received only 1.9%. So it went from 1.9 % in 2022 to 2.3 % in 2024 for women in general. But when you talk about women of color, it's reduced even further down. So, okay. Leslie Youngblood (10:07) Mmm. Yeah. And then when you said that by having just like one other like male on the team or a mixed like gender, it goes up to 30%. That's just crazy. That's wild. Wild. Okay. Yes. Continue. Natalise Kalea Robinson (10:33) Yes. It's wild, right? So, okay, so here, those are the stats, right? And I've thought about why is that? Is it really just a gender thing? Because you don't, as a, I mean, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, but you, you don't want to always be like, well, it's just, you know, because of the fact that we're women and that's why, you know, and I don't want to play the pity card, right? So like, why is it? And what I've come to is really just that. Leslie Youngblood (10:56) Right, right, sure. Natalise Kalea Robinson (11:02) It's about trust, right? If you are an investor, you've seen it, you've seen the playbook, you've seen success, and you've probably seen men succeed. And that's for all different, it's not because they're men, but maybe they were supported, know, maybe they were funded more, maybe they, you know, whatever, for whatever reason, right? But. Leslie Youngblood (11:03) Hmm. Hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm sure point of reference. Sure, well they are. Natalise Kalea Robinson (11:27) you probably haven't seen as much or as many times a woman leading a company and having that same amount of success that many times. And so because of that, you're asking harder questions because you're trying to prove to yourself that either this person is the exception, Leslie Youngblood (11:30) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's true. Mm-hmm. Mmm. Mmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (11:50) you know, or not. Leslie Youngblood (11:51) Mm-hmm, sure, right. Natalise Kalea Robinson (11:52) And, and so it's, but then it becomes this sort of vicious cycle of like, okay, well, if I'm going to be harder on women and then I'm not going to fund as many women. And so we don't get the same sort of case studies or role models that we do in men where there's a positive cycle. And so I, that's, that's where I've come out, you know, to it. And I don't really know, you know, what is the answer, you know, from here, but just to just fucking do it. Leslie Youngblood (12:07) Mm-hmm. Yeah. We will. Right. Right. I love it. Yeah. And be the badass that you are and go in there with all the dots, t's and i's and all the things like, so they will again would be crazy not to invest with you. And I think that's true. Right. Cause it's like, it's not, you can't think, they're never going to say no, because I'm a woman or because of this or like, let the numbers get in your head like that. Right. Cause that's the easy, right. It's like an easy. Natalise Kalea Robinson (12:44) ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (12:44) scarcity mindset, which I was just having a conversation about, right? Like it's, not going to happen for me or why would it happen? But it's like, you have to go in knowing and having the utmost confidence in who you are and your product. And again, demonstrating that to them, because again, like you said, they may not have as many frames of reference for giving money to female investors and seeing them succeed, but I'm going to be wanting, you know, in that line that's going to, and I know it can be difficult to when there are females, I don't want say like, Natalise Kalea Robinson (13:03) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (13:13) that give it a bad name, but there's one in particular that we talked previously that you were compared to. You were compared to Elizabeth Holmes, right? And so it's like, okay, then you have these female founders that are not doing the rest of us any favors, right? So how did that land for you, Natalise? And then what does that say about the references that people default to for women in tech and health tech specifically? Natalise Kalea Robinson (13:21) Yeah. That so ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, let me, let me provide some context to your listeners around that. ⁓ so I was pitching and this was an investor and we got to the sort of the end of the conversation and he's like, you know, he's like, I like this. He's like, I think this is interesting. He's like, but he's like, you're giving me like Elizabeth Holmes vibes. And I was like, in that day, okay, I was wearing, I mean, I'm wearing black today. I was wearing black and, Leslie Youngblood (13:41) Sure. Natalise Kalea Robinson (14:05) And I, you know, I did have, mean, here, like I have, I have red lipstick. Okay. Right. I had red lipstick and, ⁓ and I was like, wow, like that, you know, look, here's, here's the difference. Men don't have to think about what color lipstick they're going to wear that day or what color turtleneck they're going to wear that day or not. You know what I mean? So, and then, and that conversation actually Leslie Youngblood (14:08) Red lips, red lipstick and blonde hair? okay. Mmph. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (14:31) made me think, ⁓ shoot, like I can't, for with certain people, I can't wear a certain thing or have my make up, even though I love that color, like for myself, right? Like I can't wear that sometimes. ⁓ You know, or there's the flip side where I could have just said, well, fuck it. Like I should be able to do whatever I want, like whenever I want, like, and it's on you if you're gonna ⁓ make, you know, ridiculous comparisons. Leslie Youngblood (14:35) Yeah. You know? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (14:58) ⁓ and so I, I ride the line on that, you know, sometimes I'm on one side or the other, but, but anyway, so that's the context. And so back to your question, like, how did that land? mean, I was just, I didn't know what to say. I was like, well, I mean, what do you say to that? Like, so you think that I'm a crook? Like, like, because I have. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (15:16) Right. Right, like how am I supposed to take that? Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (15:21) And, but I think it goes back to what I was saying before, which is that there are not a lot, there are not as many for sure, female entrepreneurs, you know, in the, in our, in our culture and our zeitgeist, in the zeitgeist, that we can, that people can look to as case studies and say, okay, I've seen that. Leslie Youngblood (15:30) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (15:44) I've seen that pattern, that works. You fit into that pattern, Leslie Youngblood (15:44) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (15:47) therefore I'm going to invest in you. Whereas you see so many people can pattern, know, pattern recognize, I guess better with men, you know. Leslie Youngblood (15:49) Mm-hmm. Right, right. Yeah, that's so true. How do you mentally prepare to go into those meetings, Natalise, knowing that there is that bias, like, right, like there's the facts, like the situation is what it is. But like you want to stay confident and focused and you know what you have is important. So how do you mentally prepare for pitches? Natalise Kalea Robinson (16:19) I mean, I think I've also come to recognize again, like dating, right? That entrepreneurs have more power than they think. Um, and if you come to it with that, um, sort of mindset, then that empowers you to make the right decision because it is again, I hate like comparing this to dating, but it's so true. It's like when you're. Leslie Youngblood (16:28) Mmm. Mmm! Mm-hmm. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (16:46) when you're meeting with someone, you're like, we're going to have to like hang out sometimes. I mean, not, you know, like for real, but like, I mean, although I've become friends with some of our investors and, they're just great folks, but, but it's like, startups are hard, right? And when you're in the trenches and you know, things aren't looking great because there will inevitably be those times as well. Are you going to Leslie Youngblood (16:57) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (17:10) be there and be a great partner in that moment. And so that's what I'm looking for now. And so in terms of preparation, it's really just about being honest, like really honest about what we're trying to build, how we're doing it, you know, what are the challenges that we face? What are the things that we know we're really good at? Leslie Youngblood (17:14) Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm. V Natalise Kalea Robinson (17:36) and really being clear about purpose because I think that if you can align on purpose with the investor, then I think that solves a lot of issues in the future. Leslie Youngblood (17:46) Yeah, for sure. Yeah, think that has to be. So when you're going in, like saying like entrepreneurs have more power than you realize, what are you looking for from investors that can help you, anybody listening now, flip that narrative, right? So we think, am I going to be what they're looking for? But really it's about what you're looking for and having the experience of meeting with so many and going through what are some of the things that you would recommend or strategies. Natalise Kalea Robinson (18:08) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (18:14) going into these as the entrepreneur with more power than we realize to recognize true growth and opportunity there. Natalise Kalea Robinson (18:21) Yeah, I depending on what stage you're at, you know, I think at an early stage, a lot of it is like a vibe check, honestly. And it's like, because you have, yeah, because you're gonna be in the trenches startup. mean, again, like, especially early stage, it's really, really hard. And so, you know, if we're gonna have to if I like, can I call you at 2am? And will you be? Will you be down to to Leslie Youngblood (18:28) Mmm, mm-hmm. Yeah, like dating. ⁓ Yeah. Mm-hmm. Answer? Yeah, Natalise Kalea Robinson (18:48) like hear me cry, right? Like if I really need that, luckily Leslie Youngblood (18:49) right. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (18:52) I haven't done that ⁓ yet. But yeah, I mean, that is important. But also, you know, what are their other portfolio companies? I've heard horror stories about investors who have invested in competitors. And then that becomes really Leslie Youngblood (18:54) Hahaha! Mmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (19:10) hard and like difficult to navigate through. So that's just like drama that you want to try to avoid. You know, so other other purple and then and then I guess just in general, how do they like to work with companies? Are they do they like to just, you know, invest and then just kind of be hands off and that's maybe something that you want like at the stage that you're in or you know, for us, you know, we have a really big vision around Leslie Youngblood (19:12) I I don't know. Mm-hmm. Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (19:39) precision and predictive health. And so that means that we have to be really good at a lot of things. We not only have to be good at the science and the clinical, also AI, engineering, data science. And so that means we need a lot of different skill sets at the table to make this work. And so part of what we're evaluating is, okay, the money is great, what are the resources and skill sets that Leslie Youngblood (19:45) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. Natalise Kalea Robinson (20:05) either you have personally or you have access to. ⁓ And also, you know, the other part is in the future as we grow, are there partners either in the portfolio or again, just like because of access that you can provide to help the company scale. Leslie Youngblood (20:08) No, no, no. Yeah, that's so smart, right? Like there's so much more than just that one day and getting that yes on that day. Hopefully there's, oh, that's just very, very much the beginning of the process and the relationship. Are there any, Natalise any rules of the game that you've learned through experience that nobody tells you like never sneeze during a final pitch or make sure. Natalise Kalea Robinson (20:44) Yeah Leslie Youngblood (20:46) Like the best decks or the pitches are only like 15 minutes and they only want A, B and C. Like, is there anything in specific that like blew your mind when you knew or that you wish every you'd known when you were first going into it? Natalise Kalea Robinson (20:59) Yeah, I mean... I think it's hard to say there's like one, you know, one way to do it because all we're all different. We're all different people with like, you know, it's like, yes, like I'm, it's like, I'm a founder, but like, I also have a life. Like if you're an investor, you also have a life, like you might have kids and like competing, you know, or distractions or not even distractions, but think other things you care about. Leslie Youngblood (21:08) Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (21:25) Right? so, so, you know, when you're, I think, I think the rule of thumb, guess, for me is really just to be honest. and just to be who I am because you just kind of get it out of the way. It's like, okay, here's who I am and here's what I'm not. And if you're not looking at, or if you're looking for this and I'm not that, that's okay. That's cool. Like we can, you know, Leslie Youngblood (21:25) Sure, I hope so. ⁓ Mmm. Mmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (21:52) Like there were, there've been times when, you know, I got on a call with someone and we discovered in the first, you know, five minutes that it just wasn't, wasn't like a fit. And we're like, okay, cool. Well, this is not a fit, but like, thank you. it was like, great. I'd rather have that than like a, like a lingering, you know, like, like months and months of conversation and like diligence that go nowhere. Leslie Youngblood (22:05) Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. ⁓ Mm hmm. Yeah, that can be hard, though. I imagine that even when maybe and we've talked about this in previous episodes and conversations, and I think it makes sense whether you're a founder or you're even getting offered a job somewhere that feels off. But it's so hard to like turn away that relationship or that opportunity because it's like, what the money. But everything in your being is like, no, don't do it. Have you ever? experienced that or have you heard anybody you know gone through that, Natalise Natalise Kalea Robinson (22:46) I mean, so many of us go through it, you know? ⁓ I think with this company, I haven't had that feeling. I mean, I think if I did, I think I wouldn't be here right now because I think startups, you know, as you know, just require, you know, like I was telling my co-founder the other day, we have, you know, check-ins all the time, but because startups are so hard, you are, Leslie Youngblood (22:49) Mmm. Hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (23:10) really having to make a choice every day. And I don't mean that in a bad way. It's actually in a good way. It's that every day you wake up and you got to choose like, this is what you want and you're going to like, go for it. ⁓ because it requires that consistent rigorous, almost like religion of like, am executing on this vision. Yeah, exactly. You know, and you've got to choose it. You got to like, love it. Right. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (23:15) you Mmm. ⁓ Yeah, maniacal devotion. you Natalise Kalea Robinson (23:37) But I do think, you my husband and I were just actually talking about this, we, as humans, we sometimes get into, you know, it be a relationship or like a professional, you know, whether it's personal or professional, it doesn't matter. We do this across the board where we get into these situations and we were like, okay, it's good. It's okay. We convince ourselves that we can make it work. Leslie Youngblood (23:53) Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (24:02) and or that it will get better. Or if I do this, then, you know, you can, we can see how this, there's a world in which this can take shape and be better, but then that world is not necessarily like reality, right? And, and it's really hard to, to fight against momentum, you know, ⁓ but it requires an active choice and it requires courage to reverse that. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (24:11) Mm-hmm. ⁓ Uh-huh. Ummm... Yes. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, for sure. Now in talking about like community and support, you've talked previously about the importance of peer support and I'd love for you to share how building a community with other female founders has helped you navigate growing parallel health and fundraising too. Natalise Kalea Robinson (24:44) ⁓ Yeah. Well, it's interesting, you know, like, I want to talk about first mentors. ⁓ I think it's hard to find mentors, but I think that when you, if you find someone that you think could be a mentor, I think that's a gift. ⁓ And I think it's important to cultivate Leslie Youngblood (24:53) Mmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓ Natalise Kalea Robinson (25:09) like those types of relationships. And I've certainly had, you know, I'm thinking of two people in particular that, that have really just helped me think about things differently and helped me. I think what's hard, and this is, I know this is a me thing or a female thing. Maybe it's both, but I think I struggled a lot, after business school with confidence, with being able to live in, Leslie Youngblood (25:12) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mmm. Mmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (25:34) and embody my power. Because for me, I've always had to be deferential. It's also part of my culture as well. To be polite, to be respectful. And I think those are all great things. But I think in an entrepreneurial context, you have to fight some of those ⁓ things and embody your power. Leslie Youngblood (25:50) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (25:58) And it's okay to do that. And it's okay to, you know, be big. Yeah. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (25:59) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You have to. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Definitely. I think that is so interesting. Yes, continue. Natalise Kalea Robinson (26:08) No, no, no, please. Leslie Youngblood (26:09) No, well, I think there's so much there to unpack when it comes to being a female and being in a culture where I feel like now there is more. ⁓ guidance to girls being more confident in themselves, right? And standing up for themselves and being more proactive in voicing things that don't feel right or from a young age. And I'm a millennial. I did not grow up like that. I grew up very much like you be polite and you say yes and you you be the good, get the A's and do the this and that. And then it's like, but then when you are have ⁓ are fortunate enough to go through something that like kind of teaches you. You are powerful. You are not embodying that power. And it almost, think, kind of scares you. Me personally, this is, don't want to generalize here, but like, you realize, my God, I am fucking powerful. And it like the amount of the power that you have in you to share or like harness is kind of scary because you're like, nobody told me what to do with this or how to like deal with this. And especially when you're an entrepreneur, business owner, professional leader, you have to Natalise Kalea Robinson (27:10) Mm. Mm. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (27:14) figure that out and we don't have the tools and so a mentor in a community of other women who have can be there to guide you I think is so just imperative now more than ever. Natalise Kalea Robinson (27:25) Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think because I think we share, you know, as women, we share a common experience, at least some thread. You know, I started a, it's called a Pando pool. So there's a company called Pando and we share, they create different pools. I'm in a, for example, I'm in a health tech pool with Leslie Youngblood (27:27) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (27:50) both men and women and the common thread there is that we all work in health tech and we ⁓ meet monthly and we talk about the issues and we make intros for each other if that's helpful. And with Pando, I won't go too deep into it, but there's actually a financial incentive whereby when someone makes over a certain threshold, you kind of put it into the pot. Leslie Youngblood (27:56) Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (28:16) and it's a small percentage, but you put into the pot and then at the end, you know, at the end of every year, like everyone, gets distributed. So it's, it's, ⁓ it's, an interesting business model. ⁓ but I then started, said, this is really cool. I want to start a female founders pool. So I started a female founders pool within Pando. So they supported that effort and we have a small group of female entrepreneurs where we meet every month and we talk about our. Leslie Youngblood (28:23) Wow! Yeah. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (28:44) you know, issues. Because again, startups are hard. It's lonely. It's really lonely to or it can be. And, you know, we also have, it's, you know, because some some of us also have kids, right, like, ⁓ and you have to be able to balance all of these things and, and have, you know, but but they can all be assets, you just have to integrate them, you know, in a in a way that works for you. Leslie Youngblood (28:48) Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, I told you. Yeah, I think that is a wonderful and I think women do that more or we're more inclined to see those things as assets because we have to like. And I think and I'd say this from the perspective of the traditional working world, the nine to five structure of business was built by men to leave their homes and to be amongst other men in a workplace and then come home as women have become more. business minded and entrepreneurial minded. We don't, we can't really do that. like our kids are, not that I'm saying men can disconnect from their kids, but like I think that women do such a great way of incorporating all those facets of ourselves into building relationships with other founders. like we recognize in these other female founders, like you have kids, I have kids, that's great. Like it should be like, I always think of the viral, newscaster from COVID when the kid breaks into the room and he's like on the giving his report and then the mom came and like, you know, and, but, like, everybody loved that moment so much because it was this professional newscaster man and you actually saw the life going on that he had. And so I think that's so important. And I think women are so much more, I don't know, like, I just think we're more inclined to want to know about those things or to like want others to share that with us and to know about all those things because we know those are assets and. Natalise Kalea Robinson (30:19) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (30:31) all those ways, because it's the way you connect with other humans. And in business, it's all about your network and the people you know and how you can help each other. And a connection you make today could help you fund a project down the line or really help you cross the finish line. And so I love that to be that you as a female, like took that upon yourself to really facilitate that and saw like something like there to really do more good with it. And community is so important. in any regards, but like you said, it can be very lonely, especially if you have a family and a life, like whether kids or not, but it's just, know, so to have a community that gets that and you can recognize yourself in and feel supported, I think is just so huge. And so I love that. So you guys meet once a month in San Francisco, you said, Natalise? Natalise Kalea Robinson (30:57) Yeah. Yeah. We actually do it through Zoom because, you know, yeah, so, you know, folks live, actually some folks live internationally too. So, yeah, so we meet over Zoom and, you know, like you said, there are just sort of unique experiences that we share and that we understand. It's like, you know, just to know that someone else is feeling that way or going through that same experience feels like validating or somehow comforting. You're like, yeah, I'm not. It's not just me, you know. Leslie Youngblood (31:44) Yeah, sure. Yeah. I'm not crazy. mean, I'm crazy, everybody else is this kind of crazy or this is a good kind of crazy. I need to harness this crazy. And that's where it's what it's all about. When it comes to, you know, being in that investor founder dynamic, what changes would you like to see in that space? Like in the next five years, Natalise. Natalise Kalea Robinson (31:47) Yeah. I mean, I hope that there are so many female founders who succeed that it's just not a question. That it's just not, you know, that it's like, okay, like I see that pattern. I've seen so many women or female entrepreneurs that have billion dollar companies. So it's not even like a thought that, or a thought of doubt. You know what I mean? ⁓ And it's really been just about. Leslie Youngblood (32:17) Mm-hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (32:30) the like what it should be, which is like the vision and the company and the, you know, the, the unit economics of the, it's like, we can now get into the nitty gritty and like get rid of like, you know, the kind of that initial, like, kind of, ⁓ you know, potentially negative impression. ⁓ I think the other part of it is, you know, there have been, especially in the last, I'd say maybe five, 10 years, there's been a push for. Leslie Youngblood (32:34) Yes. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (32:54) not only investing in more women, sometimes that is sincere, sometimes that is talk, but at least it's happening. ⁓ I hope that there are more females being invested in and I do, and I think that there's also been a push for more female investor investors. ⁓ You know, I think, I think that there's also a tremendous amount of pressure. Leslie Youngblood (33:00) I don't Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (33:20) for female investors because they have to prove themselves too. And they have to prove that they're just as good of investors as their male counterparts. And because of that pressure, my sense is, and this is just my guess, is that they're gonna be a little bit harder on the bets that they're making and they have to do the same pattern recognition as everyone else. they are, you know, they've probably seen more men Leslie Youngblood (33:21) Mmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sure. Natalise Kalea Robinson (33:47) succeed as well. And so sometimes I think, or I mean, at least at this initial sort of phase of, you know, or I hope it's a transition. my hope is that we can overcome sort of our first Leslie Youngblood (33:47) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. you Natalise Kalea Robinson (34:04) How do I say, like just whatever you are, whatever is your default pattern recognition, know, whatever's going on in your brain first, like maybe think about why, like why are we thinking about it that way? Is that real? ⁓ You know, I don't know. I think that there needs to be some like second level thinking. Leslie Youngblood (34:11) I will. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, sure. I agree. You know, it's interesting that you said that about female founders. It reminds me of when we had Sally Mueller, co-founder of Womaness on here, and she was talking about when they were looking for ⁓ investors, you would think, women investors would be all about this because Womaness is a CPG line for women going through menopause products that they're at target. And she was a target exec. But she was saying at the beginning, mostly men were Natalise Kalea Robinson (34:46) Mm. Mm. Leslie Youngblood (34:51) giving them money. And she was like, and it's not that you would, it's not that the women didn't want to invest, but they came to it from a different place and like a different experience of like, they didn't have as many yeses, right? Like in their portfolio or their pattern was like different, like exactly you said, where they're coming at it, like they want to make sure that they're proving themselves. They want to make sure this is a sure thing or like, you know, alleviate the risk, like all the things from there and to, and so just because you think I have a. Natalise Kalea Robinson (35:15) ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (35:18) product for females and women investors are going to love me. Don't discount the men. Like, right? Like it takes all of us together, like to disrupt our patterns and to keep moving forward. And so I just think that was something that was like, yeah, totally. I never would have thought about that. And so I think anybody listening right now too, if you're a female investor, don't ever discount the men investors. Like you want somebody that believes in what you're building and that you feel connected to and that, know, like Natalise said that Natalise Kalea Robinson (35:25) Yeah, totally, 100%. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (35:46) it'll be a relationship ⁓ that works for both of you. so, Natalise, I would love to know, what would be like, if anybody listening right now, they're a new start, new, new starter, they're a new startup, new female founder, they're getting ready to like figure out, you know, they know they're going to need to go to investors. What would be the advice that you would give to them? Natalise Kalea Robinson (36:07) I would say be clear for your, for yourself, really, ⁓ be clear about what you're trying to build this year and then be clear about what you're trying to build in the next five years. The other piece of this is if you are a, if you're co-founding the company with someone be very clear about, you know, I don't know the percentage off the top of my head, but a huge. percentage of companies fail because of co-founder relationships and that they go south and so that's the reason why they have to essentially fold the company and so I would be very clear about the relationship that you have with your co-founder and make sure that there's a solid foundation. You don't have to be best friends, but you do have to be aligned on purpose and I think as a Leslie Youngblood (36:39) you Mmm. Mmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (37:01) as an early entrepreneur and early investors are going to be asking and thinking about those questions as well because at the beginning, you don't have a business. All you have is this idea and hard work and your co-founders. So ⁓ I think that's going to be really important. Leslie Youngblood (37:16) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. When I heard that before, is that like, would you suggest getting a lawyer to drop a contract if you have a co-founder? Like, tell us a little bit more about how to navigate that if somebody's listening that has a co-founder right now or is considering bringing on a co-founder, Natalise. Natalise Kalea Robinson (37:36) Yeah, mean, I think, well, first and foremost, I think you're going to have the conversation with, you should have a very clear conversation with your co-founder around, know, are you dedicating, you know, your entire, you know, nine to five, it's going to be more than nine to five, I'm going tell you that. So like, are you, are you dedicating, you know, like your, your life for the next few years, at least to this company, or is this a part-time thing for you? Leslie Youngblood (37:45) Good. Your life, your life! ⁓ Hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (38:05) ⁓ and there's not, it's not like, you know, it, it, it, that's not a bad thing, but it's just, maybe that's not the right co-founder, but you have to just be really honest, right. About your expectations. And then also like the splits. So it's like, is this a 50 50 partnership or is this, you know, 70 30, like, what is that? And yes, like when you start the company, you're going to have to drop, ⁓ contracts around, you know, your equity shares. Leslie Youngblood (38:14) me. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (38:28) ⁓ at the beginning and just in the formation process. So that is just going to happen. So, but you should have that conversation like way before, like you shouldn't wait until the contract ⁓ to discuss that. Leslie Youngblood (38:29) Mmm. ⁓ Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right? Like on the table, like what do we put in here? We never had that discussion. 3070? No, that makes perfect sense. I love that. Tell me a little bit, Natalise, you're out in Silicon Valley, like the epicenter of the startup world, right? What is that like to to be amongst that? And then what are you seeing? How are you seeing like the landscape even outside of Silicon Valley change when it comes to tech potentially? Natalise Kalea Robinson (38:44) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, during COVID, a lot of people moved out of Silicon Valley to Austin, Miami, New York, LA. But I think in the last few years, and because of AI, it's sort of come back to Silicon Valley. And I split my time, actually. So I'm in the SFB area, but we also have a manufacturing lab. Leslie Youngblood (39:14) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Natalise Kalea Robinson (39:28) we manufacture all of our phage serums and all of our precision skin care, our skincare line is produced in Los Angeles. So I'm, I think I actually have a pretty unique, or not unique, I would say, but just a, just a perspective on, on, you know, living in, in, in and out of Silicon Valley. And, you know, I have to give it to the Bay Area, like, Leslie Youngblood (39:47) Okay. Natalise Kalea Robinson (39:54) There's just, there's nowhere in the world where there is as much You know, I don't think I'm offending anyone because I think it's just true. There's just so much intellectual horsepower concentrated in one area. Right? I mean, you have a place like LA, which no one is denying. I don't think no one, anyone can, can argue that there is so much talent in LA for the arts. Right? Like there's the majority of actors and because they just Leslie Youngblood (40:07) Mmm. Yeah, that's Yes. ⁓ Natalise Kalea Robinson (40:26) They just flock to LA because that's where you go. Right. And I think with tech, the same thing has happened in the Bay area. So, you know, there is sort of that, that, that horsepower there that, that only exists there. ⁓ and it's sort of the leader of the pack. And I think it is easier to raise funding in the Bay area because a lot of the investors are there. Leslie Youngblood (40:41) Hmm. Thank Natalise Kalea Robinson (40:51) and they understand big ideas. They understand future vision. They've seen, they've recognized the pattern of someone having a crazy idea and executing on it and then it actually working. So, I think that there's a mindset that is really empowering to entrepreneurs. Leslie Youngblood (40:52) Yeah. ⁓ Yes. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Natalise Kalea Robinson (41:15) you know, especially if you're creating something totally novel and cutting edge. Leslie Youngblood (41:21) Yeah, I love that. Now tell us next we give novel and cutting edge. Tell us what's next for parallel health. Natalise Kalea Robinson (41:27) Well, so we are so hard at work and in the weeds in a great way. ⁓ But as you know, we offer microbial testing and we do that for face in terms of skin. We focus on hormonal acne and rosacea and pigmentation, but we also test for body odor. Leslie Youngblood (41:35) Mm-hmm. Natalise Kalea Robinson (41:51) as well as body blemish and scalp testing. So what we've been doing is really getting deep into the data around what that looks like and what we're seeing now is that we can actually not only give you precise solutions, but actually predict what your health issues or outcomes might be in the future based on the development of your Leslie Youngblood (42:13) Wow. Natalise Kalea Robinson (42:15) different microbiomes across your body. And so what then we can do is we can say, okay, this is what your microbiome looks like today. And hey, like that's, we can kind of predict X, Y, Z in the future. And so let's take prevention today. So that's what we're working on now. We've been approached by potential partners in other countries as well. So just kind of, looking into the future, we're looking at, you know, territory expansion, as well as just looking at sort of other areas, because we work in dermatology, but there's so much, so much application for phage, or, know, in neurology, infectious disease, oncology, even. So we're talking to clinical partners as well. Leslie Youngblood (42:50) Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's fantastic. can't wait to see what you guys do next. It's so incredible. You're so incredible. Thank you so much for joining us today. Before we wrap up, Natalise, would love for you to share. Of course, you can share where everybody can find you and connect with you in parallel health. Natalise Kalea Robinson (43:09) ⁓ thank you so much for having me. So you can visit us at parallelhealth.io and you can, our hero offering is the MD03 protocol for anyone who is interested in really discovering their microbiome, whether that's on their face or their scalp or anywhere else. Leslie Youngblood (43:34) love that. Perfect. Thank you so much for joining us today, Natalise. was fantastic conversation. can't wait to hear all the listeners who go out there and get some funding with all the advice that you were able to share today. And again, we look forward to watching you and Parallel Health continue to soar. Thank you so much. Natalise Kalea Robinson (43:50) thank you. Leslie Youngblood (43:50) Thanks for tuning in to Serious Lady Business. If you loved this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe so you never miss a moment of the real, raw, and really wonderful sides of female entrepreneurship. And hey, please leave a review if you're feeling generous. It helps more amazing women find us and join the conversation. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at at Serious Lady Business and get all of the updates at SeriousLadyBusiness.com. Until next time, keep showing up, keep building, and keep being your seriously amazing self.