Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / SUMMER ‘23 - Becoming the world’s youngest wealthiest BIPOC woman and going on to build $100M startup Wondermind with Selena Gomez, with Daniella Pierson (Part 1)

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SUMMER ‘23 - Becoming the world’s youngest wealthiest BIPOC woman and going on to build $100M startup Wondermind with Selena Gomez, with Daniella Pierson (Part 1) · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  Hey, it's Dune here. I'm recording this quick message to let you know that over the next few weeks, we'll be playing some of our favorite episodes from the past year while I spend some time with my best friends and family back in my other home, London.
• 0:15
  If you miss these episodes the first time around, they are so good and packed with so much value. I know you're going to love them just as much as I did recording them. See you soon. Bye. This is Daniela Pearson for Female Startup Club.
• 0:39
  Hello and welcome back to the show. It's Dune here, your host and hype girl. Today we're learning from Daniela Pearson, the 27-year-old Latina co-founder of WonderMind. Daniela started her first company, the Newsette, as a sophomore in college. And despite not having any VC funding, seven years later, the Newsette closed 2021 with $40 million in revenue and eight figures of profit, which is a huge fan of the show.
• 1:07
  with a valuation of over $200 million. But that's not all. She's also the founder of the newly launched mental fitness startup, Wondermind, that she launched with her co-founders, Selena Gomez and Mandy Teefy, after a powerful conversation around their mental health struggles.
• 1:26
  She is currently the world's youngest, wealthiest, self-made BIPOC woman. And this episode is seriously, seriously inspiring. Daniela is very open about having ADHD, OCD, and depression, and is passionate about showing the world that you can achieve success at any age, even without millions of VC dollars, while struggling with learning disabilities and mental health disorders.
• 1:56
  You're going to love this really down-to-earth chat about building a startup and the high highs that come with the lowest of the lows. If you love this episode, please do share it with someone that would benefit from hearing Daniela's truly inspiring story. Let's get into it. This is Daniela for Female Startup Club.
• 2:17
  Daniela, hi. Welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast. Thank you so much for having me. It's such a pleasure. I've listened to so many episodes, and I'm so inspired by all the women you interview. So I'm so flattered that you want to interview me.
• 2:32
  Oh my gosh, that makes me feel so good. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be learning from you today and talking all things mental health, talking all things Wondermind. How's your day going so far? Have you had any wins or any oh shit moments that you want to unload? Yeah, yeah. Is this the therapy session I get for free? Yeah.
• 2:56
  So I'm in New York. I know that you're in Australia. We just talked about that, but it's a quarter past 7 p.m. I just ran here from my office and I am...
• 3:11
  honestly very, very tired, very drained. I stack my days like Monday through Friday and honestly the weekends as well, but not with meetings, just like doing stuff. But I like to stack my day and just like from 10 a.m. to like 7 or 8, no breaks or anything, just like meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting. And then maybe sometimes work time. So I feel like I just ran a sprint and
• 3:39
  And yeah, today had like a lot of emotions, just like overwhelming emotions. And, you know, with any entrepreneur, there are ups and downs daily and you get punched in the face at least 100 times. But I'm lucky enough to have three different businesses.
• 4:00
  So the Newsette, the company that I started when I was 19 as a sophomore in college, which is a daily email newsletter to empower a woman. Newland, which is also under the Newsette umbrella, which is a creative agency and PR and marketing and social media agency. We do huge things on TikTok. We have huge brands.
• 4:19
  like Amazon and Mattel that work with us. And then lastly, WonderMind that you mentioned, where most of my time is going, which is a mental health ecosystem. I started with Mandy Teefy and Selena Gomez. So with those three combined, it's like so many more chances of being punched in the face every day and highs and lows. Something's going right with this company, but something's going wrong with this company. So I actually posted today that I was feeling pretty low
• 4:49
  And I like to be pretty vulnerable about that because oftentimes people can be so consumed or enamored by the headlines when in reality, you know, this is how I usually look after a long day. And it's not the pretty headshot that you'll see in Forbes.
• 5:12
  Yeah, and I love that. I really respect that you're able to show up in the world and speak that truth and be relatable because we're all going through challenges. Whether you're in the nine-to-five, whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're a student, we're all dealing with our personal stress and anxiety and depression. And social media is such an important thing.
• 5:34
  it can be such a negative experience. I mean, it can also be so positive, but social media is tough. And so to be able to come on a channel and see someone like you opening up and talking and sharing is so refreshing and so needed.
• 5:52
  Grateful for that. Well, thank you. I definitely got inspiration from my co-founders, Mandy and Selena. Selena, actually, before we ever even knew each other, when I was in college, she was like the first incredibly famous person, if not the most famous person in the world, to ever be honest and open about her mental health. And I'm
• 6:13
  That was way before I was ever honest and open about my mental health. And that really inspired me. And so it sucks that it took me to get to a point where I achieved everything I had not even imagined for myself. But, you know, 26, 27 to finally be open about my OCD, ADHD, depression, et cetera.
• 6:37
  because I felt like if I would have been open earlier, then maybe I would have, you know, been seen as even less of a attractive investment for VCs or, you know, other business deals. I'm not only, you know, Latina woman and woman of color get like 0.4% of funding. I think that was last year's statistic, which is ridiculous and woman get like 4%. And so I didn't want to add, you know,
• 7:05
  in quotation marks, crazy to that list. So I really kept it hidden, but it's a shame. And I'm not proud of the fact that I waited until I felt like I was kind of at a point where it wouldn't affect me because truly people should see mental illness just like as if somebody has
• 7:28
  you know, lupus or, you know, a heart problem or something like that. You know, you would never not invest in somebody because they have some sort of, you know, high blood pressure. So why does mental health, you know, play a part into it?
• 7:42
  Yeah. And, you know, it's just so powerful what you're doing with WonderMind and what you're able to kind of bring to so many people around the world now for you, you know, for or for anyone actually who, you know, is listening and might not 100% know about WonderMind yet or what it's all about. How do you like to describe what this business is?
• 8:06
  Yeah, it's pretty multi-dimensional. But essentially, Mandy Teefy, Selena Gomez, and myself came together and we said, we have varying skills among us. How can we use all of those superpowers to essentially change the world?
• 8:23
  make a big impact in the mental health space. And so essentially, we have an ecosystem with three prongs, media, production, and physical product, which is launching next year. But essentially, the mission and the thesis is
• 8:40
  to democratize mental health and introduce this concept called mental fitness, which is a way lower barrier to entry than mental health. Whereas, you know, even someone like me a few years ago wouldn't want to touch something that said mental health with a 10 foot pole.
• 8:57
  But mental fitness, oh, that's like, you know, just like you work out your body, you work out your mind. And so it feels like you don't have to have a diagnosed mental health disorder to be a part of it. You don't have to actually, you know, everything that we offer from content to products coming in.
• 9:13
  is all merchandise by feeling. So even on our website, you can hit this button called filter by feels and filter the content by like, I feel sad, I feel lonely, et cetera. And so this is absolutely a place for anybody with feelings to not only learn more about
• 9:32
  you know, mental health and how to keep up their mental fitness daily from the best experts in the world that are usually, you know, unreachable for normal people who can't spend, you know, thousands of dollars an hour a session. But it's also, you know, a really entertaining and just sexier, you know, like Psychology Today or WebMD, where you actually feel like you can have, you
• 9:59
  playing next to your friends or in your office and you won't like look like you're looking at a medicine journal. So really trying to make mental health accessible. So to democratize and destigmatize mental health.
• 10:14
  I love that. And gosh, I love your website. You nailed it. Thank you. Yeah, it was definitely a team effort. Love that. Always a team effort. I just want to like rewind quickly back to this, like, you know, coming up with the idea and the inception of WonderMind and like you kind of partnering with Selena and Mandy. How does that happen? How did you partner with Mandy and Selena on this? Like, what's the light bulb moment? What's the conversation look like when you're sitting around being like, oh, yeah.
• 10:43
  Here's the idea. Like, let's dig into that for a second. That's so cool.
• 10:48
  Yeah, so everyone loves to ask this question because they're like, how did you get to Mandy Teefe and Selena Gomez? It's actually, you know, I like to believe the word or the phrase, the harder you work, the luckier you get. And I truly believe that. And so truly just from sending an email newsletter every single day, writing it myself from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then doing all the other jobs and hiring people, et cetera,
• 11:17
  I think it was like five years into it. It's almost the eighth year anniversary of the Newsette. I was able to develop an incredible subscribership and following. And we had the opportunity to interview Mandy Teefy and Selena Gomez. And for those of you who don't know...
• 11:34
  They're actually mother-daughter, but Mandy Teefee is respected in her own right because she's an incredible producer and she's one of the minds behind 13 Reasons Why, which democratized and brought the word suicide and depression into millions of homes and really, you know,
• 11:52
  brought forward the conversation about mental health, especially for teenagers. It fueled that by so much. I don't think there's ever been a culture moment like that that has fueled the growth and the conversation that much. And so I had the honor of interviewing them. So instead of one of my editors doing it, I asked if I could do it.
• 12:15
  And I think everyone was confused because at that point, two years ago, I wasn't really creating the newsletter content every single day. But I had secretly been battling with mental health since I was six years old. And the topic of the interview was mental health. And so I really wanted to be able to talk to these incredible women about it and see
• 12:36
  from my own eyes and ears, you know, how vulnerable and brave they could be. And so we essentially, you know, were all together and they were so raw and real and open and honest with me that I basically by the end of the interview decided to tell them they were like the fourth and fifth people I had ever told in my entire life that I had OCD. And I basically figured it out when I was like six years old and that I'm like,
• 13:03
  I had depression and ADHD and I also, you know, attempted suicide as a teen. And they were so, you know, just welcoming and incredibly supportive that I felt like, you know, everybody should feel this way. Everybody should feel like they don't have to...
• 13:24
  be so scared to talk about their mental health where they don't end up getting help or they don't end up talking to people and it ends up consuming them. And so we, on that call, were like, we need to do something that is bigger than all of us and that could hopefully save lives and change lives. And that's really where the conversation started.
• 13:49
  Wow, that is so wild and so powerful to have that moment where you feel so supported that you can share that then this ignites a new spark in you to do something on this huge global level. Wow, I'm just like, I didn't know that's how it happened. That's so cool.
• 14:15
  Yeah, yeah. It was super organic. And I think the best things happen like that. So it was a lot of, you know, luck and being able to grow a media company, to be able to have people like Manny Tifi and Selena Gomez to be interviewed. And then, you know, for me to do the interview and feel so comfortable to share that. And we all kind of
• 14:40
  had this feeling at the same time that like, why wouldn't we be doing something like this? This should be our legacy. Oh, that's so cool. So it's pretty wild to me. I was reading about the news that it's valued at like $200 million or $200 and something million. Wonder Mind is valued at $100 million. Firstly, love that for you. Crazy amazing. But secondly, and I know we've just touched on this a few minutes ago.
• 15:09
  I can imagine that it is just so much pressure and it takes a lot of mental strength. And like you were saying, you're stacked every day. You're busy. You've got a lot to deal with. You're being punched in the face a million times. What are some of your like frameworks and coping mechanisms that you personally use when it comes to dealing with things like stress and anxiety and depression? Yeah.
• 15:34
  Yeah. So basically the Newsette, which as I mentioned, is the Newsette newsletter, and then also our agency called Newland. That was basically a secret for the last three years because our first client was Amazon. And then they continued to every, they have so many divisions, hundreds of divisions. And so every division heard about the great work we were doing and they wanted to work with us. And so we essentially were just working with
• 16:01
  all Amazon groups. And then finally now we're working with other incredible companies like Mattel and et cetera. But both of those are so mission driven. So the news that started basically with the, I guess, mission and thesis of trying to motivate and inspire women every single day.
• 16:19
  by having a newsletter that talked about not only fashion, but tech, beauty, business, politics, and beyond, and then interviewed an inspiring woman every day. So it could be somebody like Diane von Furstenberg, who's my fairy godmother, that's what she calls herself, or Selena Gomez, or it could be a teacher in the Midwest who's doing incredible things for her school.
• 16:42
  just anybody that could really spark inspiration because sometimes you need that, especially in a toxic inbox, which most people have, whether you're a student or just in the workforce or just in general. And so that business was very different than building Wonder Mind because I started in college. I had zero capital money.
• 17:06
  Eventually, I convinced my parents to give me a $15,000 loan, which they made me sign a contract if I didn't pay it back within three years that they would own 50% of my company. So it was definitely a shark loan. But they basically wanted me to work for it and not feel like that $15,000, even though it is in the grand scheme of things when people raise money so little.
• 17:32
  Like they really wanted me to appreciate every cent. And I actually am really happy that I didn't have that much money starting out because it really made me think about exactly what I want to do and not give me, you know, all of this money to play with. So I bootstrapped the business entirely. And I tried to raise money when I was 22 or 23 after college. And I got laughed out of every room. Yeah.
• 17:57
  And so I own my entire company except for the small piece that I gave to my mother, who's an immigrant from Colombia and literally just never stopped believing in me, even when everyone else did. And maybe she should have stopped believing in me as well. And so that's the reason why, you know, I was recently named the...
• 18:21
  youngest, wealthiest, diverse woman in the world with my net worth of $220 million because I own so much of my original company because I never got VC investing. At the time when all of these people were telling me no and I was crying and crying
• 18:38
  you know, thought that it was the end of the world, I would have never thought that it would actually be such a good thing. It definitely took a lot longer, but we were able to grow by 16,000% in the last three years, even during the pandemic by just hustling. And, you know, instead of convincing folks
• 18:57
  five or ten people on a cap table to invest in your company, you have to convince hundreds, if not thousands of people to buy ads in your newsletter or, you know, work with your agency. And so it is so hard. So I had that experience. And then
• 19:13
  With Wondermind, because of the backgrounds that each of us had as co-founders, we decided that we wanted to actually raise and we put our own money in as well. And we were lucky enough to be able to come out with just an idea and make sure.
• 19:28
  you know, the three of us with a $100 million valuation. And Serena Ventures led that. I'm an LP in Serena Ventures. And Serena Williams is an incredible person who really believes in our mission. And so we not only got, you know, investment from them, but also an incredible advocate and just, you know, so much knowledge in the space. And then we have other incredible people on our cap table. And so that is a very different kind of business where you have co-founders, but also investors who are, you know,
• 19:57
  So it's been interesting to learn that, you know, how to walk in that kind of business. And it's been pretty easy to learn because I've always treated my own business as if I had investors. You know, I just do everything I can to put the money, you know, back into the business and make it grow. And it's all about the business. And I think about myself last. And so it wasn't that hard of an adjustment.
• 20:21
  Uh, so yeah, because of the fact that I'm the CEO of, uh, all of those companies are co-CEO of Wondermind. I have a lot of stress on my plate every single day and I don't get the luxury of, you know, like batching my calls where it's like, okay, I'll do something.
• 20:37
  Newland stuff these hours, and then I'll do Wonder Mind stuff these hours. I just allow my team to book calls whenever because I just want to make sure that we can run as fast as possible. And I don't want to have to wait a week to have a call that I'm excited about because it's convenient for me. So again, like I was saying in the beginning, I run these sprints. 80% of my
• 21:02
  is spent on Wondermind. And then I would say 20% is on, you know, the news that mostly new land, but I work, you know, like 120 hour weeks. I don't take a day off and I actually loved working during the weekends because I can be at my own pace and I can do things that are
• 21:18
  you know, maybe more creative, whereas the weekdays are more meeting heavy and, you know, more strategic, et cetera. And so to answer your question, because I know I just gave a TED talk, to answer your question, the way that I...
• 21:35
  you know, mentally reset or practice mental fitness myself is truly by seeing my therapist. So I have two. I have a therapist for my like regular life, just, you know, as somebody would be lucky enough to have one if they, you know, just had a therapist to talk to about relationships and, you know, problems and, you know,
• 21:57
  how to navigate life, et cetera. And then I have a therapist that is specifically for my OCD. And then I have a psychiatrist who I see every couple of months who manages my medicine. And I am extremely lucky that I am in the position to be able to have all of this support and help. When I was in college, my parents never, ever...
• 22:21
  I love my parents and my mother is an immigrant from Columbia, like I said, so she has that culture. And my dad is like this manly man from Niagara Falls, New York, where it's like, you're always tough and you don't show weakness.
• 22:37
  I was always kind of like a boy to him. I was a tomboy and my identical twin sister was more like the princess. And so he's always, you know, been a little tougher with me. And so both of my parents like were mortified when I even asked when I was maybe like 13 or 14, like, I think I, what I have is OCD. It's not like some weird quirk or whatever. Can I see a therapist? Like that was not a thing in my town or, you know,
• 23:06
  in society at that point, I guess, you know, over 10 years ago. And so I was absolutely not allowed to see a therapist or a psychiatrist or anything in medicine. Oh my God, without the question, because of the ignorance that they had against, you know, the topic. And so I don't blame them again. It's like, you know, there's so much stigma around it that it's almost, you know, like you can't blame people for buying into that.
• 23:32
  And that's why it's so important to change the narrative. And so when I went to college and my OCD became debilitating and I was in a point where I was going to be kicked out of college for basically having my business and not doing as well as I wanted to in college and literally one semester before I was going to graduate college and I had zero revenue for Newsette, I had just focused all of my energy on just building the community and then creating.
• 24:01
  building the business part after I graduated. And so I had a little bit of affiliate money, which means if we, if I, because it was me, myself, and I for the first three years, if I had something in the newsletter that someone would purchase, then I would get like 2% commission or whatever. And so I had a little tiny bit of savings there, and I used that to go behind my parents' back
• 24:28
  go see a therapist and a psychiatrist that gave me medicine. So I know how expensive these things are. And I was so shocked and how few people take insurance and like, you know, because I was doing it behind my parents' back. So like I couldn't use insurance and I realized even if I could, they didn't accept the insurance I had. So it was so expensive. And so, you know, as a student with like,
• 24:57
  not any resources and having little money, you know, that I'm making on the side, you know, going all into this, I know personally how much of a financial, you know, I guess investment it is to have that kind of help. And so that's also why Wondermind is so important to myself and Selina and Mandy is because I'm,
• 25:19
  We are truly trying to democratize the information and the voices of the best therapists, psychiatrists, etc. in the world to have all of the content that they contribute and the tips and everything that they give us to always be free. So all of our media will always be free. Our newsletter, which is three times a week, obviously everything on our social channel, but then also our website, it's always going to be free because we believe it.
• 25:48
  Everybody should be able to know more about mental health and mental fitness, not just the select few who can afford to get that kind of care. 100%. Gosh, isn't it crazy?
• 26:02
  You know, the world has obviously changed so much in the last 10 years and this conversation is really starting. And with businesses like Wondermind bringing this to the forefront and people also, I think, becoming so much more open about struggles during the pandemic and how we've kind of the narrative is slowly starting to shift and there is more.
• 26:22
  you know, also research going into the space, also new options, new things like treatment through psychedelics and psilocybin and LSD and all these kind of things that are coming to the surface and aren't so taboo anymore, which I think is just amazing.
• 26:39
  Actually, something that I just started doing for my own kind of like, you know, small, small framework is in the morning I have cold showers and it's something that, you know, it helps with my anxiety. It helps with my mood. It gets my blood going. And I just step out of that shower feeling like magic. And it's hard, obviously, but it's like one of those small tips that I give myself in the morning to just make myself feel good. And it's so easy. Everyone can do it.
• 27:08
  And I just love it. I just wanted to say that. That's crazy. I mean, I feel like a cold shower is almost like a punishment. So that good for you for making that like something that's rejuvenating and refreshing. Oh, my God. You should try it. It's so good. I like hot showers. Like that's I really look forward to showers. I love hot showers. Don't get me wrong.
• 27:33
  Yeah. I have a beautiful bathtub and, you know, I always try to get into baths, but I just get so hot and like, I like being kind of cold and then hot. And so that's why showers are like, you know, better for me. Um, just like once it gets too hot. Yeah. I'm just like, I need like a glass of ice or something to just pour on my face. Um,
• 27:55
  That's a really good tip. There are so many things. I mean, look, therapy isn't the only thing that I do. I also, you know, I've learned – I won't be a hypocrite. I'm still getting better at this, but I've learned to say no to some opportunities, even though they're very exciting, just because I will –
• 28:16
  literally run myself into the ground. Last week I had meetings in three different states within 48 hours. And so even though things sound exciting or it's a big opportunity, I've had to say no to things recently just to prioritize myself. And also sometimes even though I worked
• 28:40
  every weekend and I have to because I made the decision to have three companies. If I'm not feeling the best or whatever, I'll take a break. I'll watch Project Runway, which is my favorite show. I've probably watched every season like 17 times. I'll take a nap. Those are things that I didn't allow myself to do because I thought it was so selfish of me to
• 29:04
  have this incredible opportunity to touch so many lives and like, I'm going to go take a nap, but that's unhealthy. And that's like just reframing the mindset. And so I think any way that you can almost be a little selfish, you know, in, you know,
• 29:22
  If you said that you were going out with your friends one night, but you truly feel like you just need to breathe and you just need the night by yourself, like, you know, your friends, if they're your friends, they'll understand. And hopefully they will also agree that.
• 29:41
  nourishing yourself is better than just making plans because then you're not going to be strong enough maybe to make the next weekend's plans. And it's just this cycle that can completely lead to burnout, et cetera. And so I would encourage people to be selfish sometimes about their own mental health. Absolutely. Nourish your soul, focus on what's good for you and makes you feel good.
• 30:11
  I would love to shift gears a little bit here and talk about the business side of Wondermind. I love a good framework. I love a good blueprint. And I feel like for you, you've obviously scaled the newsette to this huge company. I'd love to know what the kind of strategies that you're taking from the newsette and taking that into Wondermind to grow it. And you know, I read that in the first couple of months, you did seven figures of revenue,
• 30:41
  breakdown? Yeah, for sure. So right now, I told you that Wonder Mind is made up of an ecosystem of media production and product. And so the two that have launched so far are media and production. So media being the newsletter and then now the website and obviously our social media channels and then production being the podcast network that we are building. And so the first podcast to come out.
• 31:09
  is my podcast called The Business of Feelings, where I interview the most successful people in the world from the founder of Bonobos to Ruby Carr to Serena Williams about their mental health and what went on in their mind when they were building their own empires, because business can mean a lot of different things. It doesn't just mean putting on a suit every day.
• 31:32
  And so that's really exciting because, again, it normalizes, destigmatizes. Because in the business world, I mean, the stigma is so high for mental health, especially people with learning disabilities like ADHD, et cetera. And so just being able to kind of be like, well, these are the most successful people in the world and they have their shit too. And they're being open and honest about it. So maybe, you know, you should reevaluate how you look at people who have these, you know,
• 32:01
  feelings and maybe you should, you know, be open up to yourself if you have these feelings. So a lot of the framework for the media side, except for the podcast part, I had already done with the news ad. So especially the newsletter. And so I knew exactly, you know, how it would be.
• 32:19
  I wanted the team to build it. I have an incredible editorial team led by this woman named Casey, who is our head of content. And she just had a vision for the content that I shared. And we obviously had growth strategies that I had used for the news that. And we just kind of went rocking and rolling and we hit 100,000 subscribers in like the first month. And we were able to
• 32:45
  We've closed a lot of brand deals. We have so many brands that come to us, but we're very, very picky on the brands that we partner with because we only really want to partner with a handful of brands a month and make them really impactful activations. So we did something with Aerie, for instance, where...
• 33:06
  We actually created custom content that was all about loving your body and loving yourself and self-esteem that was only available in Aerie stores nationwide and on our website. So it's really cool when you're able to partner with people and fuel that business and monetize it the way that you have to, but also by creating.
• 33:32
  creating value for our consumers and our content readers and hopefully, you know, helping people in the process. Those are the kind of partnerships that really shine. And so those, you know, building an audience and then also monetizing and already having relationships with some great brands that were our first sponsors really did come into handy and was incredibly handy when we launched in April.
• 34:02
  And when you talk about like, you know, building community and actually like getting started, what does that look like for you? Like what's that actual kind of strategy or practical tips to building a community from scratch?
• 34:15
  Yeah, so I think it's so different. So I started two communities, Newsette and now Wondermind, and they have nothing to do with me, you know, especially not Wondermind, but the Newsette, you know, I was never like, you know, the face of the Newsette. I literally pretended I was an intern at this cool company called the Newsette for like two years in college so people would actually sign up.
• 34:42
  And I would never want to tell people I was the founder because they'd be like, ew, I'm not going to subscribe to that. And so it wasn't like a blog or something like that. So in terms of building a community based on being a blogger or an influencer or a spokesperson or an advocate, I really don't have a lot of experience in that. I'm so lucky that people follow me and are really –
• 35:10
  Hopefully, I mean, I think they like, you know, me being very vulnerable. And I think it's just honestly my responsibility that I can't have, you know, these huge headlines and Forbes and, you know, all these incredible publications without having right beside it, like a picture of me ugly crying and being like, I, you know, felt depressed today or whatever, being honest. Because...
• 35:34
  I would never want anyone to think, wow, she has it all and her life is perfect. I want to be raw and real. I feel like it's a responsibility for anybody with any sort of platform or success to be real about you not skipping on rainbows every single day. And I think Selena and what she just put out with her documentary really showcases that.
• 35:59
  So in terms of an influencer side, I really don't know about that. That would definitely be a question for Mandy or Selena. But in terms of building a community that's based on a brand, that's where I have expertise. So I, especially with the Newsette, you know, it wasn't a person. It was the Newsette brand and the Newsette voice. And so I basically, I knew I wanted it to be cheeky and I wanted it to be friendly and, you know, something that people...
• 36:25
  would feel comfortable reading and not feel like we're talking down to them or anything like that. So building a persona around a brand. And then in terms of cultivating a community around that, it's truly finding something that people are very passionate about, whether it's female empowerment and female rights and being a modern-day woman who is not just...
• 36:49
  you know, reading fashion magazines, you might read a fashion magazine, but you might pick up the New York Times right after, you know, just that community of working on the go women or people who are busy. It's really easy when you have all of these, you know, readers who are coming to you for one thing, they all share so many values. And so, so many, you know, I guess,
• 37:14
  attributes that when you get them together in real life, which we've done a couple of times, it's crazy because they all feel like they really know each other. And the same thing with Wonder Mind, with Wonder Mind building a community around being open and honest and transparent and wanting to better yourself every single day through mental fitness. You know, if you have something that is something that many people can get behind, you know,
• 37:40
  And you feel like you can comment on a post on Instagram and not be embarrassed about the comment and actually have people like him, respond to you, etc. That's when you have built a community, truly. And so it's really special, the communities we've built for Newsette and for Wondermind, because it's this camaraderie and this sense that you are in this club that is not exclusive. Everyone belongs.
• 38:10
  you are not alone, you know, and that you have an incredible network around you that has your same belief system. Gosh, I love that. It's basically being surrounded by like a big cozy hug of people. Yeah, no, for sure. That's the idea for sure.
• 38:32
  What's your advice for anyone listening who is out there building a business and, you know, maybe struggling with some kind of anxiety or depression or even just stress?
• 38:47
  My advice would be to one, not be ashamed. I mean, anybody who is starting a business, if you're not stressed, I don't know who you are. You must be Wonder Woman. It is a very stressful thing to do. And so first of all, you are not alone and you probably can find many people that are in your same spot, whether they're your same age or, you know,
• 39:14
  in the same location that you live in or if you're in college, you know, a group. So finding other people who are also struggling is really helpful. And to just get that verification, even just from me that, yes, like if you're stressed, if you are feeling very low and maybe highs and lows, et cetera,
• 39:36
  with building a business that is very normal. If it's all high, you know, truly, everything that goes up must come down. So it should be hard in the beginning. You should have to, you know, be patient. And I know patience is a virtue that I definitely did not learn and I do not practice, but you have to be patient. You have to, you know, believe in yourself. So that's another thing, you know, every single person,
• 40:04
  is going to tell you that your idea is stupid or that you should get a real job or whatever. I mean, and it might not be every single person, but a lot of people and even people that you think might know everything. But I was told by every professor, the biggest investors in the world, that I would never amount to anything. And you are in charge of your own destiny. These people are not fortune tellers. If they knew everything, then, you know, they would –
• 40:31
  probably be living on a mountain somewhere in a castle because they won the lottery. So it's just like, you know, take everything with a grain of salt, be open to feedback. And even when you get negative feedback, don't take it personally, just use it as fuel for growth.
• 40:49
  that's the advice that I would give. And truly give yourself a break. Like, you know, just because you launched something and it's not the biggest thing ever a year later. I mean, it took me five years to become, you know, a multimillionaire, et cetera. Whereas, you know, some businesses, they, you know, make millionaires in two months because they're VC backed or whatever. But, you know, sometimes, you know,
• 41:18
  The best things take the longest time to nurture and grow. And it makes you a better business leader because you really had to work hard for every single win. I love that. Thank you so much. And I resonate with that so much. We're always in a race, but it's often just with ourselves. And good things take time and that's okay. And good things take iteration and pivots. And eventually you get closer to your goal and your North Star. Yeah.
• 41:51
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 42:15
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 42:38
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that. Thank you.
• 42:53
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 43:18
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 43:40
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.