Latest / Beyond Limits With Olivia Marie / How Monday Girl Is Changing Career Culture for Women ft. Rachel Wong

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How Monday Girl Is Changing Career Culture for Women ft. Rachel Wong · Beyond Limits With Olivia Marie

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Beyond Limits, the podcast designed to unlock your highest potential with powerful strategies, energetic frequencies, and mindset shifts to create a limitless life.
0:12
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0:19
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0:25
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0:31
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0:34
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0:38
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0:43
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0:47
SPEAKER_00: Hi guys, and welcome back to the Beyond Limits podcast.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: I have a super exciting guest with me here today, Rachel Wong from Monday Girl.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: She's here to share her story, the movement she's created, and the inspiration she's created for over 4,000 members.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: So welcome to the show, Rachel.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for having me.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to be on this.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: So share with us about you, how Monday Girl got started.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: When you started at Uber, run us through like the journey of you and how you started this amazing community.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: Well, um, thank you so much.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: I feel like how far do we want to go back?
1:20
SPEAKER_01: Because I can go let's go back to the slides at Uber.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: Did we know?
1:25
SPEAKER_01: So we did that actually for close to eight years, so like almost a decade.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: Um and it's really interesting because I feel like those two things timed up, but I I think it went further back.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: The reason why I started Monday Girl, I can kind of speak to that.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: But um essentially before starting Monday Girl, I was in tech starting at Uber, and like at this time, Uber was very, very small and also kind of crazy to people.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: Like this is 2016, so the idea of getting in someone's car that you didn't know, they were like, that's crazy.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: Like people were still picketing, they're like no Uber in Canada.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: So I kind of joined at a very interesting time.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: And the project that I joined on, because like the role.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, can we start from the top?
2:05
SPEAKER_01: This goes a little bit further back.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
2:09
SPEAKER_01: Um just to kind of give you some context with when I started Monday Girl, um, this is when I first joined Uber.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: And at the time it was very small.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, Uber was still a very crazy concept of a lot of people.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: They didn't understand getting into a stranger's car.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, people were kind of still protesting it because they really don't understand the technology around it.
2:28
SPEAKER_01: And um, when I applied for the role, it was actually just a three-month contract, special project.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: So it was very mysterious.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: And me kind of just being like, this is so interesting.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: These are kind of like one once-in-a-lifetime companies, especially the time tech was booming.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, I had a media degree.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: And at that point, everybody in the world was telling me that media in Canada was not gonna be it.
2:50
SPEAKER_01: So they're like, you should look for something else.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: So tech seemed great.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: So I just like blindly applied, blindly applied for this role, ended up getting it.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: And it turns out it was actually me launching a special project called Uber Eats.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I was like, great.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: It's funny because I actually wasn't a foodie, so I just like wasn't like I wasn't as excited as I feel like majority people would be.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: Like I was talking to chefs and restaurants, so I got to learn a lot about that.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, I was also learning a lot about the tech industry, and the tech industry was just like so brand new for me.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that all these things existed.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: Like I didn't know what VC was, I didn't know what private equity was, I didn't understand why Uber was able to make it as a business without turning a single dollar as a profit.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: So I was kind of learning these things as I went along, and a lot of the networking opportunities presented to me uh were just very not designed for myself and mine.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: So just noticing like the Panagonia vest, like the tech brosuit, I was like, oh, like, why do they like Panagonia?
3:50
SPEAKER_01: So like you know, there's it's so new to me.
3:52
SPEAKER_01: And then also just understanding that like mentorship and getting access, especially being so early in this company, I wanted to find a way up.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: People were so smart, I wanted to climb the ladder, but I just didn't know how to.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: So I thought this was just a tech problem.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: I was like, okay, this is a Panagonia vest problem.
4:09
SPEAKER_01: So I told my now co-founder, I was like, this is crazy.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: You're creative.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: She was a YouTuber at the time.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, you probably don't have this issue because people were probably actually so cool and interesting.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: And she was like, Well, Rachel, like I had the network too, like to get clients, um, to think about partners.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: Like, I also have to go to networking events, and they're quite male-dominated.
4:28
SPEAKER_01: So I think we kind of just ruminated this idea of access and mentorship, and that's kind of what started Monday Girl.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: Incredible.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: So you started Monday Girl while you were still at Uber, right?
4:39
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: How is that like having a startup?
4:42
SPEAKER_00: And what do you find about being at Uber really helped you start Monday Girl?
4:46
SPEAKER_00: And like how what was that like starting that?
4:49
SPEAKER_01: So I think I side hustled for quite a long time.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: I did it before it was so calm.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: And like now, I feel like people don't even bat an eye when you're like, I do four different things, like that's so calm.
5:00
SPEAKER_01: And now I think when I was doing it, people thought it was really strange.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it really came from just being a passion project.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: Like, I never, like me and Eastina started it for ourselves.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: It was very selfish.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: I was like, if no one else is gonna do this, at least I get to go to these things.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: I get to go to these events, I get to meet these really incredible people.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, for me, it was creating more access for myself and other people, but um, never as a business, actually.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: So when I was doing on the side of Uber, it just always was kind of like this fun thing that, you know, if I wasn't gonna grab drinks with my girlfriends, like I was gonna do something with Monday Girl.
5:31
SPEAKER_01: Like that was interesting to me.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: So for those listening who may not be completely familiar with Monday Girl, what exactly is it?
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Like we know it's networking, but it's more than networking.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: I know you also say that, and like it's not just networking.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: So paint a picture for those unfamiliar.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Like, what is actually Monday Girl?
5:46
SPEAKER_00: What are like the mission, the values, and like the purpose in terms of what you see and what it represents?
5:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: So we've evolved, um, but today we are one of the largest networking platforms for professional women to get access to mentorship, career opportunities, events, and essentially just widen um access for them to get to get um to the top.
6:08
SPEAKER_01: Because one thing that I've noticed was that when we talk about networking, especially with women, um, there's a very different reception than when I talk to a group of men.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, the groups of men will be really excited about networking.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, like, do you like it?
6:21
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, I'm great at it.
6:23
SPEAKER_01: Like it becomes like almost a sport that like they think they can master.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: Like they get really competitive.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: They're like, I'm super advanced, like I'm expert at networking.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: And when you talk to a group of women, they kind of you can even see in their body language, they kind of like go in a little bit and they're like, oh, it's so icky.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: Like, I I I wouldn't do that.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: Like I wouldn't network, it just feels really transactional.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it was just like something that I've noticed time over time over again, but it really showed me that I think uh the concept around networking and getting more access and and finding more pathways for women to get um the advice that they really needed and the connections they needed, that was something that was socialized as a very negative thing for women and also socialized as something that would be seen as social climbing.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, versus for men, golfing, grabbing beers, um, getting to know your boss over like, you know, breakfast.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Like that was something that was very celebrated, in fact.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: So when someone joins Monday Girl, kind of like what happens?
7:18
SPEAKER_00: Is she like now going to events?
7:20
SPEAKER_00: Is she connected with people?
7:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, kind of run us through what someone who Monday Girl is, like what does that look like for her?
7:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:28
SPEAKER_01: So essentially when you become a member, um, we do vet for members to have at least four to five years of working experience and active LinkedIn presence, and essentially just the ability or the interest in being able to contribute to this community.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: So once we vet for that, we set members four times a year.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: And then once they get access to that, they then get access to the app that we've created.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's where you can actually book group office hours with some really incredible mentors.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: We've sourced them from amazing companies like Deloitte, Google, Sephora, um, you name it, like we've been able to be um really tapped in with different industries, even sports, for example, the MBA.
8:03
SPEAKER_01: So that's been really fun.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: So they can basically bypass that annoyance of trying to reach out to someone LinkedIn, no response.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: In fact, you can just book time with them here.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the other thing is a group chat.
8:13
SPEAKER_01: So we just kind of call it the group girls' group chat for your career.
8:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's where they can kind of ask questions, maybe things that they wouldn't have necessarily been able to ask their friends or their family, um, whether that's about, you know, Matt Leave, whether that's about how do I resign from this job without getting people mad at me.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, just like the kind of soft things that you wouldn't necessarily might not have the space to ask that.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, and the other pieces too are the educational formats.
8:38
SPEAKER_01: So we have webinars that happen almost on a weekly basis.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: And then in-person programming is a huge core of what we do.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, now that COVID's over, we're really, really back and we're kind of bringing back that in-person um, you know, that in-person staple that Monday Girl really has has honed.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: So we probably do around, oh my God, it's probably around like four to five events a week now, which is kind of crazy, but across all of our different chapters.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: So we're live in Toronto, it's our home base, Vancouver, Montreal, but now the US.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: So we're in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: So would you say like the in-person is like your favorite part about Monday Girl is like not only the connection people have, but being able to meet in person?
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Because to me, even recording a podcast in person, it's a totally different thing than us just hopping on Zoom.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's also so much more supportive for people who are in business to have in-person things that they're attending and actually like meeting face to face.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Like, how has that been for you?
9:31
SPEAKER_00: Would you say like that's your favorite part?
9:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I feel like to your point, exactly.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: Like being able to meet someone in person, see their energy, connect with them.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: That's been something that's again been like the core of what we do with Monday Girls, being able to get people out and meeting new people outside of their existing circles.
9:49
SPEAKER_01: But I also would say it's complemented by the fact that it's like you go to this event, but you know you can still connect with them afterwards, right?
9:56
SPEAKER_01: Because so often our events kind of like one-off.
9:58
SPEAKER_01: People will pay thousands of dollars and fly into conferences all around the world.
10:02
SPEAKER_01: But once you kind of make those connections, they kind of do fleet.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, so the idea here is you commit to a one-year-munday girl membership, you go to these events, but you build them over time and they kind of expand upon each other.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: So has there been like a moment for you so far that was like this was like your favorite moment or your favorite, like maybe it was your first event or this?
10:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, what is something that like really stands out to you from like the start of Monday Girl Till Now?
10:26
SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, that's so interesting to think about.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: I feel like when I think about favorite moments, I think about like there's different stages.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: Like, I almost feel like Monday Girl's like my baby at this point, right?
10:39
SPEAKER_01: Like it's like eight years old.
10:41
SPEAKER_01: I guess it's kind of like almost gonna be free teen.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: And I've seen it in different phases.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: I've seen it in like the side hustle phase and like little things there.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: Like, I remember even getting like our first partner.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm like blown away.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: Like the first email, someone being like, Hey, Monday Girl's really awesome.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, we want to sponsor your next event, we want to sponsor your next newsletter.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, people do this?
11:01
SPEAKER_01: Like, I was so surprised.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: Like, it's so cool.
11:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think like even now, like it's so funny.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: It's like just the little moments of people coming up to me and telling me how much it's really impacted.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: And I think sometimes when you're so in the business, it's so hard for you to conceptualize.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: And like that's what you're building for.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's why you do it.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: And that's why, you know, like I'm driven to do it every single day.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: But getting those stories, people telling me like how much it means to them and what's done for them, like negotiating a pay raise, getting out of toxic jobs.
11:29
SPEAKER_01: I've heard that a lot.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, just being able to have the confidence to pivot, like that's so exciting for me.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: It's huge.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: And your co-founder, you guys are friends first, right?
11:40
SPEAKER_00: No, we were not friends first.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: I maybe it's just like the energy you give off that like you are friends first.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, how do you, as a two co-founders, how do you navigate like that relationship and what like challenges has there been versus like maybe being a single co-founder, like who makes all the decisions, right?
11:56
SPEAKER_00: That there's two of you.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: How do you have that balance and like work so well together?
12:00
SPEAKER_01: So it's it's very weird, but we were not friends when we first met.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: And we came up with the idea of Monday Girl and starting it together on the first time that we met.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, it's like divine timing for sure.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: It really was, but it's like kind of crazy if you think about it about um back to it now.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: But when we first met, um, well, I reached out to her.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: So we we did go to school together, like there was a common connection, but we never were in the same circles.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I just was following what she's doing on social.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: Like, I just saw this is Facebook again, 2016.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh my gosh, she's like a YouTuber that's so cool.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: She's putting herself out there.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: And I just like really admired her guts.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, that just takes some nerve to be out there.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: Cause in 2016, to be a YouTuber, that was still pretty rare.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, and she was doing a lot of content, like she was doing like a video a week, traveling, and I was like, that's so cool.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: And I just wanted to meet her.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: So I asked her for coffee.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, hey, I love what you're doing.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: What just want to meet you for coffee?
12:54
SPEAKER_01: And then we started to rant, you know, during that coffee chat about networking.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: And that same day it was a Sunday.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh my God, it's so funny.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: I feel like when I go on Instagram, like all I see are these memes about like, or these like things about like fuck Mondays.
13:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm allowed to swear.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: Um, like fuck Mondays.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: I hate Mondays.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: Like, how like, you know, I just want to, I want Sunday to meet in my entire life.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, that's so interesting because not everyone loves their job.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's completely fair, but for a lot of people, your career does define a lot of who you are.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, it really defines like, you know, what value bring to the world.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: And I think if you dread your entire Monday for your entire life, I don't know how that looks like for you, right?
13:38
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I think there's something to be said about celebrating that or leaning into it or thinking about it, right?
13:43
SPEAKER_01: So we're like Monday girl, we're like, that'd be really cool.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: What if we made that an event series?
13:47
SPEAKER_01: What if we turned that into a brand?
13:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think we kind of were taking reference to the DDC brands that were kind of popping up, like the Glossiers, the aways of the world.
13:55
SPEAKER_01: They were doing really interesting things and creating fan bases and communities at a at a really interesting time.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: And I was kind of inspired by that.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: I was like, we should, we should think about that.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: So we decided to start the business that same day.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: I was like, East, you're gonna do creative because you're a creative person.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll put together the group, I'll do logistics.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's funny because we didn't start off as friends, but we are best, best friends now.
14:19
SPEAKER_01: I think our dynamic is probably a little bit more like sisters, like we bicker for sure.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, but like I like she's like my best friend.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: Like I trust her for so many things because I talk to her more than I do like my real life partner, who I've been with for eight years, but it's funny.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: Like, I joke, I'm like, Ace is my partner first because I met her before you.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: And like when you're sitting down having coffee with her, did you think that Monday Girl would be as big as like it is now?
14:46
SPEAKER_00: Did you have this like this big of a vision, or has it completely blown past like what you thought it was gonna be when you were sitting down together just thinking, oh, right, it's gonna call Monday Girl.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have these events.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: I think, okay, we were we were young, so we're like a little Dululu, right?
15:02
SPEAKER_01: So anything like we were like anything we do is gonna be incredible, right?
15:07
SPEAKER_01: Like we didn't think about the hard work they would take.
15:09
SPEAKER_01: We didn't even think about the fact that we never did an actual event or planned it in our life.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: We're just like, and they're big, it's a lot of work.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: It's it's so much work.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm like, oh my God, what were we thinking?
15:19
SPEAKER_01: But it, you know, to be Delulu is kind of great for us.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: And then I don't think we thought of it as like a business.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know what it was.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: It was just like we were so passionate about the problem.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: I think it's funny because now that I look back, everyone's like, you know, what do you look for in a co-founder, blah, blah, blah.
15:33
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I'm sorry, I did it by mistake.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: But I do think there's something to be said about the fact that we connected so well.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: We chatted for like hours, right?
15:41
SPEAKER_01: Like they literally had to kick us out of the coffee shop because we had so many values that were so aligned.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: We both were like, ew, by the same things.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: We're like corporate networking events, ew.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: We're like, and then the flip side of it is like at the time, 2016, MLM, like boss babe, pink woman in heels events for a very different crowd.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: We're like, is that the alternative?
16:02
SPEAKER_01: We're like, ew, no, like, none of I wouldn't do that.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: Like, my friends wouldn't like think that's interesting or aesthetic.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think there was like some values there that really mattered to us, and I think that's why we'd be really aligned so.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: So you would say if someone was looking for a co-founder or they're thinking about starting something with a friend or their partner, make sure like the the values are aligned fundamentally.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: And sounds like you guys communicate a lot.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure communication is also huge.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, we we talk so much, like 24-7 sparrage.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: And now it's it's like, you know, it's become like that we are best friends right now.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: Like some of it will just be memes, or us both making friend fun of our boyfriends because they're really close now.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's it's been like very interesting, but I will say it's like we've been through a lot together.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: We understand each other a lot, and I think we're so we're so like together on the the mission, the value.
16:51
SPEAKER_01: Like, if I have a gut reaction to something, she'll have the same gut reaction.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: So that's been really important.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure given that it's been like eight years, there's been some challenges along the way, some hurdles.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: What are some of the big things that you've kind of like navigated, like some like messy seasons or like messy points where whatever you had to either go all in or you had to make big decisions, or you had to like trust your gut and like kind of run us through some of those moments that people don't normally see from the outside, but you feel like, oh, this was like a season for us.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that you said season because I think there was multiple seasons, in fact, like multiple seasons within days.
17:28
SPEAKER_01: Like I think anyone that runs a business kind of gets it.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Like you'll be on like the top of a freaking mountain being like, we're crushing it.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: And then like five minutes later, you get an email and you're like, oh, this is so annoying.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I will say for us, um, there were there were like a few pivotal moments, one being COVID, um, again, being an events business.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: We were like actually in the middle of planning like one of our biggest events yet.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: We like ordered all the signage.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, we like ordered all these cards.
17:56
SPEAKER_01: We're like, we're gonna like, you know, make sure it's really, really great and big.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: And then we got no, we're like, by the way, like the offices might be closing because it's this thing called COVID.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: It might be a week, it might be two weeks.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: And obviously, as we all know now, like it was not that.
18:09
SPEAKER_01: And I think two months in, me and E Sienna were just like on the phone being like, Do you still want to do this?
18:14
SPEAKER_01: Like, is there anything left to do?
18:17
SPEAKER_01: And I think that was more me.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: And I think I was just also like very overwhelmed with the fact that like at work, like at Uber at this time, like the world was changing.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: We were like super hands on deck, like we were doing like customer support at this point, like you know, everybody was super hands on deck.
18:31
SPEAKER_01: So I think I was just like very, very um focused on my nine to five at that point.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Well, Monday girl's still like, you know, I don't know.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: ECN on the other hand was like revved up.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: She was like, What do you mean?
18:43
SPEAKER_01: Like, there was so much more to do because our mission is basically connecting people in a time where they need connection more than ever.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: This is a time.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, so she decided to actually no code, and this is before no coding and vibe coding was a thing.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, like she she decided to do it.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: She she spent a week, she put together this thing, and then she showed it to me.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: And she's like, This is Monday Girl membership, this is what it's gonna do.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: You can book time with people, this is what like the resource library is gonna look like.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be beautiful, it's gonna be so different, and I think we should do it.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, no, no, no.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: I was like, I don't know.
19:17
SPEAKER_01: And she was like, why?
19:18
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I just don't know, it's so different.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: And her being the risk taker, she's like, I think we have to commit.
19:25
SPEAKER_01: She's like, I don't think we should just basically just toss away what we built because again, like the mission, we're aligned.
19:31
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, you know what?
19:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna like say yes and we'll we'll run it, we'll do it.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: And then I think the very first day that we launched it, we actually got a hundred signups, and that was like a very like see a tool just a moment for her.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of actually what jump started this new phase of the business, which is what it is today.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of like the major one.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: That one was really crazy.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can imagine, especially you're about to start this events thing, and then events basically it shut down for so long, and then you're pivoting to being online and then now getting to evolve kind of back into the original almost intention of Monday Girl, but also having the virtual components of someone's in Toronto and someone's in New York, you're also connecting people across the globe and like as entrepreneurs, we re-travel.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: So, like, all right, and I'm sure this happens, like Mind Girls in Toronto meet up with Monday Girls in New York and Monday girls in you know, other places, and you get to really experience more in that way.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like if it was almost original, you may not have added this part of the platform as fast as you did.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: You may have maybe added it later, but it sounds like it was like the brilliant opportunity to like foster that baby in this way.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: No, you nailed it because we got so many DMs even before, and we were called Monday Girl TO, like we're very Toronto focused.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: And girls were saying, like, why don't you bring this to Vancouver, bring this to LA, bring this to New York?
20:50
SPEAKER_01: And we're like, we can't, we're just in Toronto.
20:52
SPEAKER_01: So I think again, like we were so limited, but we didn't know any better, right?
20:56
SPEAKER_01: So to your point, it just again, it was like a crazy time for everybody, but it was like an unlock for us.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: It also was an unlock for a lot of customers because prior to that, people didn't really get the idea of connecting with people outside of your own circle.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: And I mean it like seriously, like I was telling people about Monday Girl.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: This is again like before COVID happened, and they were like, Why would I try to meet with someone that's like not in my industry?
21:18
SPEAKER_01: Like, why would I try to meet with someone that I don't know?
21:21
SPEAKER_01: I want to give me people out of the industry, give me someone different, different perspectives, yeah.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: And I think, yeah, like the the girls who got it got it, right?
21:28
SPEAKER_01: And it's like I was able to reach them, no problem.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: But then there was like this this big friction and tension with the other people, and like I'd say like the overall consumer if you're looking at from that standpoint.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, but COVID hit and like the same people that were like, I don't get it, were like, Can I sign up?
21:42
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know, it kind of changed things for people.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: When you say, like, if you get it, they get it.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: Would you say there are like qualities of a Monday girl?
21:51
SPEAKER_00: Like you notice they tend to be this type of person or this type of mindset or this type of like run us through what you see as like a commonality by the community members.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so the the the phrases I'll use or like the ways I describe them, I've been told in the past, like it's too soft, it's too wishy-washy.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: Like when you're trying to define, and again, this is like the business uber side of me.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: Like when I bounce this off of like people who are also in tech, they're like, What's the ICP, the ideal customer profile, and like what do they look like?
22:20
SPEAKER_01: And they're and like for me, I'm like, no, it's it's not that.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it is a soft thing.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Because I kind of fight them on.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, it is like they're they're really this sounds crazy, but it's like they're so warm and they're so nice.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: Like you walk into a Monday girl event and they're the same in every single market.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: Like they're this in New York, they're this in Toronto, they're this in San Francisco, and they're so warm and welcoming.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, they're the kind of girl that will see somebody like sitting alone or like in the corner, kind of texting, being nervous, and be like, hey, are you here alone?
22:48
SPEAKER_01: Like me too.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: Like she's that girl.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, and she she's really interested in her career.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean she might love what she's doing.
22:57
SPEAKER_01: She might be really passionate.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, but she's always looking for more.
23:00
SPEAKER_01: She wants to, she wants to challenge herself.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: And I think the very last thing is that um she's just like uh cool.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: Like she, and I say cool in a really different way.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: Like I think cool, like she's really interested in what's happening.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't necessarily mean she troll follows every single trend, but she's interested.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: She knows what's what's happening, she knows what's really interesting in the world, what's trending.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, she's not necessarily a follower, but she's, you know, she she's noticing.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: And I think to me, it's like she's the coolest kind of girl, and like I'm I'm just so like proud that I get to be a part of it.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: So I love that you said like you see someone alone and like you go over and say, like, hey, I am too.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: Because I feel like, you know, creating a space where women are also supporting other women versus either comparing or feeling like we're against each other.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: I'd really like to dive into that because I feel like also there can be experiences where like it's women versus women, or they see each other's competition versus like it sounds like Monday Girl is like, no, we want to learn from each other, like a rising tide helps all boats type of energy.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: How have you kind of like foster that in the community?
24:02
SPEAKER_00: Would you say it's like something you've done, or is it also like the people you're allowing in?
24:05
SPEAKER_00: And do you kind of like, I'm not sure if you go through an interview process and kind of see those qualities, but to me, that is something that is so huge because it's not only all right, we want a space for females versus like the male-dominated stuff, but it's also women supporting women and not women feeling like we're in competition or we're against each other, or like one person wins that comes from your plate, or like we can't help each other out or give each other advice because it's like all for us and then we won't grow, or any kind of like more catty stuff.
24:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I I always think about this actually.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, is it something that we're doing?
24:38
SPEAKER_01: Because if so, great.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: And I try to pinpoint it because I'm like, what is the science behind this?
24:44
SPEAKER_01: Because it truly is like I'm always surprised because like again, some of these markets, like we're really not physically in all the time, but going and seeing them, I'm like, this is the same kind of girl.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: And like we have our members fly in, they get along with them.
24:57
SPEAKER_01: Like it really does show that there's that common thread.
25:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I will say that it's probably just two things.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: The first thing I'll say it's it's above us, it's it's generational.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: I think we're at a time right now where it's a lot of women our age that enter the workforce, they might have a little bit of trauma from their millennial bosses, both men and women.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think there was very different standards when it came to the working kind of policies or like how he showed up.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: And I think um a lot of those things kind of trickled down to being managed for the first time by somebody, whether it's a man or woman.
25:33
SPEAKER_01: And I think we're kind of just like rejecting that now.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: We're like, no, there is abundance.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: Like there's so much in the world.
25:39
SPEAKER_01: Like, just because someone else got it doesn't mean that you should be like trying to figure out how to take it away from them.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: I think the second piece too is just, I think we're really, we're really unapologetic about who we are and who we're not for.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: Um we talk about networking and we we kind of like take a big dump on it.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: We're kind of like networking can suck.
25:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: Like it can totally suck.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: And we get a very adverse reaction sometimes from some people who are like, I don't have a problem with networking.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: I'm very, very good at it.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, great, awesome, because we're not for everyone, too, right?
26:11
SPEAKER_01: The the women who come to us are those who might have felt intimidated, who might have, you know, wanted to get better at it, or they see it as something that they can, you know, really understand a bit more.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: And I think there's something to be said about kind of not being for everybody.
26:25
SPEAKER_01: Because I would say Monday girl at the end of the day, like to curate the right audience for yourself and like really understanding your right customer, you also have to understand like who you're not for.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: And I think um power to those who Monday Girl's not for.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
26:37
SPEAKER_01: And I love that for them.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: But I also think that there's something to be said about offering a safe space for people that might not have necessarily whether that's your background, feeling like excluded certain work situations, feeling excluded just generally in your industry, there's still so many male-dominated industries.
26:53
SPEAKER_01: Like it's so funny.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: People are like in 2025, I'm like, yes, look around, look at construction, look at tech, like go to a tech conference in 2025.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: Like a lot of them are still like just four white guys on a panel, right?
27:03
SPEAKER_01: Like it's still so crazy.
27:05
SPEAKER_01: There's still so much work to be done.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: And I think for for a lot of us who are kind of like in those early stages and navigating that, um, it's it's helpful to have those who who kind of get it.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: Oh, 1000%.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: I love you you call it kind of like a safe space because I think also in entrepreneurship, not as many women as they need it actually have that safe space where they can feel seen and heard and it's not like intimidated or they don't feel like they have to put up a front.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: It's like they can actually relax and like decompress and know that maybe if they're sharing something in the group chat or something like that, they're met with like love, compassion, respect.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: And even if there might be differing opinions, it sounds like there would still be respect or like just genuine advice given and not any kind of like projections or anything like that.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: No, you nailed it.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: It's also just validation.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: Cause sometimes, as you know, we don't always want the answer, right?
27:55
SPEAKER_01: Like, we don't always just want to hear, like, here's what you do, X, Y, Z.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: It's like also tell me if I'm being crazy.
28:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, I think that's like the most common thing.
28:02
SPEAKER_01: It's like, am I being crazy here?
28:04
SPEAKER_01: It's like my boss said this.
28:05
SPEAKER_01: Like, is this weird?
28:06
SPEAKER_01: Is this like strange?
28:07
SPEAKER_01: Like, would they have done this to me if I wasn't a woman?
28:10
SPEAKER_01: Would they have done this to me if I wasn't more junior?
28:13
SPEAKER_01: Like, there are certain things to be said about these nuances.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's why it's so important um to have these safe spaces where we can, as woman to woman, communicate that.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: Because um, and again, it's so funny.
28:25
SPEAKER_01: We we get challenged on this sometimes.
28:26
SPEAKER_01: We get challenged on whether or not like a woman-only space is still still important.
28:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, like that's a whole different topic.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: But I would say like women have different earning peak times, right, than men do.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, women have cutoffs.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: If women are family planning, they also do take the burden of getting pay cuts and pay gaps.
28:48
SPEAKER_01: And I think just economically, like it goes to show like this is a North American problem, but it's also a global problem.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: And I think the more that we can do to have better and more safe conversations about this, the more informed that we are.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: So would you say the people inside generally like have bosses or are like are also entrepreneurs where like they're the boss?
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Is it like a mix of the two?
29:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's a little bit of and going back to this, it's a little bit of meanie Sienna.
29:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's like the DNA.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: Like, she always is an entrepreneur, like she doesn't know what it's like to have a boss.
29:19
SPEAKER_01: Like, she's same here.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh she's like like I explain corporate, she's like, really?
29:24
SPEAKER_01: She's like, I could never, I already, yeah, yeah, exactly.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: That's so her.
29:28
SPEAKER_01: She's like, I could never, and meanwhile, I'll bring her to offices every single day now.
29:31
SPEAKER_01: She's like, Oh, this is crazy.
29:33
SPEAKER_01: This is what you used to do.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, yeah.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, she has a creative, she has an entrepreneur, and like she used to be a freelancer.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: So we have um women that identifies that.
29:43
SPEAKER_01: And then we also have those who are corporate.
29:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's really interesting because it's never really been a barrier.
29:48
SPEAKER_01: It's almost 50-50 now.
29:50
SPEAKER_01: Like it's never been very like, oh, if you're a female founder, don't do Monday Girl, you have to be corporate, or vice versa.
29:56
SPEAKER_01: It's very like if you are looking to level up, if you're looking and you know, you have like a few years under your belt, you're not necessarily navigating that first internship, that first job.
30:08
SPEAKER_01: You kind of know what it's like, but now you feel a little bit alone.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: You feel like you don't really really have your circle.
30:14
SPEAKER_01: Maybe your boss or maybe your clients don't really get it.
30:16
SPEAKER_01: Who else do you go to?
30:17
SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of that space.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: So when it came to like growing Monday Girl, I believe you haven't gone like the VC route.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Is that intentional?
30:25
SPEAKER_00: And with even your background, why have you gone this route as opposed to going like the VC route?
30:30
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I talk about this a lot actually, because I think it's so fascinating.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: It is.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm asking about because I love hearing from different perspectives.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: We actually had a guest on yesterday who did the same, like similar route, chose not to.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: And like I want to hear your perspective now, also in contrast.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: So, like, yeah, like again, go going back to my background.
30:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, I was introduced to it, and then I felt like I was almost like inundated with it, right?
30:54
SPEAKER_01: It was like, we see this, we see that.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: And there was like a phase where truly, and everyone called it, it was free money.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: Like there was so much money going around.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, everybody was obsessed with being the next unicorn.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: You had an idea.
31:06
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter if you had a product, you just, you know, it's it's it's you know, I really cool idea in a napkin.
31:11
SPEAKER_01: That was awesome.
31:12
SPEAKER_01: That might have gotten funding.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: And I think um I'm so glad.
31:17
SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad that at that time, meanes were still building.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: Like we were still just testing it out again, very untraditionally.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: Like we never really followed like the business plan step.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: Like, we never like really followed those startup kind of like life life cycle phases.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: It was like, you know, like put out the concept, do research.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: Like, we kind of did that by accident, anyways.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think it was really great that we never were like distracted by fundraising because we were always just building to ensure that the problem was gonna be fixed.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: So by the time that I think me and East Anne actually validated the business, we're like, wait, should should we fundraise?
31:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, should we think about it?
31:56
SPEAKER_01: And we kind of asked around, and I think the really interesting dynamic is that we are bootstrapped, we're really, really proud of that.
32:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's something that we are passionate about continuing to be because I think there's certain elements now that we've kind of seen even like similar businesses go through that VC cycle and getting burned by it and understanding why and understanding the mechanics behind it, what makes a business VC backable, what makes it not, why that's not a bad thing to not be VC backable.
32:26
SPEAKER_01: Like I think a lot of times the biggest flax for a lot of founders is like, how much money did you raise?
32:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: Like I think, and like this, even as like three, four years ago, how much money did you raise?
32:36
SPEAKER_01: Who's on your cap table?
32:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, how many employees do you have?
32:40
SPEAKER_01: And now we know as like founders, like that's that's all nonsense.
32:43
SPEAKER_01: Like all of that is silly.
32:45
SPEAKER_01: Like to, you know, like it's not a it's not a braggy thing about how many people work on your team, right?
32:50
SPEAKER_01: Like now everyone's really focused on profits.
32:52
SPEAKER_01: Is this a real business?
32:53
SPEAKER_01: Is this something that's actually doing something for other people?
32:55
SPEAKER_01: Do your customers love it?
32:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think it's really great that we've actually never been distracted by those shiny things and just been really, really laser focused on getting those things right.
33:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I will say the last thing I'll say about the VC piece is women are still so um, I guess like still so underrepresented in the world of fundraising and in that landscape.
33:17
SPEAKER_01: I think it's less than 1% of VC fundraising goes to women.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: It's it's a crazy set, like 1%.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: Um and that's North America, where a lot of the VC funds come from.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: So um I would say that, you know, the story of Monday Girl is not necessarily discouraging women to go get fundraising, because I think you should learn about it.
33:35
SPEAKER_01: I think it's also like if you don't know, you might as well fundraise.
33:38
SPEAKER_01: You might as well just like learn a little bit about it.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: Don't spend all of your time on it, like make sure you're growing your business.
33:43
SPEAKER_01: But it's a really healthy exercise to understand your business better, but also understand the dynamics between selling and fundraising and what that means for your business as a future, whether or not you want to keep it, if you want it as a lifestyle business, if you want to sell it.
33:57
SPEAKER_01: I just think all those things were really helpful.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: Cause even though I knew about it from like being in tech, I don't think me and Eastana necessarily like really, really got it.
34:06
SPEAKER_01: And learning the math and science behind it, like that was extremely helpful.
34:10
SPEAKER_01: Cause even now we're like, we're not doing it.
34:12
SPEAKER_01: We're like, okay, but we're gonna do some of the things required to understand, like, you know, like maybe we will exit one day.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: And it and it helps you think further along that.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: So a hundred percent.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: Because if you're building something to sell it, you're kind of doing it differently than if you're building it to not.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: And I don't think it's being discussed enough with women specifically.
34:31
SPEAKER_01: I just don't think there's enough knowledge or information just generally about this world.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: It's supposed to be like that.
34:36
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's meant to be very mysterious because the world of VC used to be kind of like, I know a guy, like we'll take them for this really nice Hamptons road trip.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: Like it used to be very secretive.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: And I think Silicon Valley, I think, you know, just pop culture, you know, celebrity angel investors, more of that conversation now is really great because it's kind of like, you know, lifting kind of like what's behind it.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: But I still think there's so much more work to be done with like educating women on like the importance if you are, you know, running a business or even if you're working um for a startup, if you're working for like any company for for that fact, like understanding what that really means for you and your job, especially in 2025 when the job climate is is absolutely crazy.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: So 100%.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: What would you say about even like the almost like the stigma if you're building to sell versus not?
35:25
SPEAKER_00: Because I feel like there are so many companies, whether they're female or not, who end up going the selling route and then people are like outraged versus like it's okay to want to build your business to sell it, to exit.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: Like I think also women maybe even feel guilty or that they're bad, or that makes them maybe mean that they don't love what they built.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: It's like you can love the product, the business you built, and still want to exit it.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: So could you like touch on that, whether it's like from a personal perspective, but also what you've seen from those inside Monday Girl?
35:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's really interesting because just hearing that, like that absolute, I've seen that, like I've seen that played out.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: I think it kind of goes back to like just gendered norms.
36:08
SPEAKER_01: Like women are supposed to be passionate and we love what we do when we're so attached to it, but men are allowed to be ruthless and cold and see it as like, you know, just I'm just doing business.
36:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
36:18
SPEAKER_01: And I think that dynamic plays out a lot in business.
36:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, and and just to kind of like get really just like holistic on this, I think it goes back to the fact that like women were only recently a part of the workforce, right?
36:30
SPEAKER_01: Like the workforce is not designed for women.
36:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, being someone in corporate, I know that because I walk into an office and I know I need like a blanket.
36:37
SPEAKER_01: I need office blankets, it's freezing.
36:39
SPEAKER_01: And like I used to bring in a sweater and a cardigan, and I'm like, okay, this won't do it.
36:43
SPEAKER_01: Like, we literally brought in blankets because again, it's like specifically blasting AC because they knew that men would be in suits, right?
36:50
SPEAKER_01: Like the workforce is not designed for women.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: And it's, you know, we only recently entered it, and I think there's so many dynamics being played out.
36:58
SPEAKER_01: So I think, even, for example, men being allowed to do multiple deals, run multiple businesses.
37:04
SPEAKER_01: I've seen women getting asked, Oh, you have more than one business?
37:08
SPEAKER_01: Like, are you not passionate about the the first one?
37:12
SPEAKER_01: Or yeah, and it's just so funny because men just never get asked that.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure you have even more crazy stories about things that women are asked that like men aren't asked, or even maybe projections about what women can or can't do, or like even around like hormones and cycles that we like completely run differently than men.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: And I'd be curious to know like your perspective on even not like women trying to be men, but actually women leveraging their natural strengths as like women versus women feeling like they need to be like a man in business to be successful, versus like no, like honoring like your softness and your emotion and your passion in different kinds of ways, and like that is your feminine magic that's going to make you even more successful versus feeling like you need to be like a man in a man-dominated space.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: Like I know for my clients who work in like a very male-dominated industry, I've taught them to like really lean into their feminine, and that's made them more successful versus trying to like be the man.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love this topic.
38:09
SPEAKER_01: I think about it so often because I noticed that the first time I walked to like an actual tech office.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: I walked in wearing a dress again, like prior to that, like I was, I thought I was pursuing a media career, so I could dress up.
38:24
SPEAKER_01: It was really, really cute.
38:25
SPEAKER_01: I walked into like the much music office and I would have like, you know, a really cute dress on and heels, and that was kind of normal.
38:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I'd walk into like an office with just like tech guys, and the women were all wearing sneakers, they're all wearing jeans, and they look cute, but like I looked crazy, like I looked nutso.
38:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, and there really clearly was like this tech uniform, and I noticed that a lot of it was just like, you know, really downplaying and like this is a little bit of a hot take, but it's like to me, my view is like it's kind of downplaying like your feminine features.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: The fact that women feel like they have to put in this tech uniform.
38:57
SPEAKER_01: To be fair, it's super comfortable.
38:59
SPEAKER_01: Like, give me like sneakers and like sweatpants, like it's great, that's awesome.
39:02
SPEAKER_01: But I think it's really interesting that this dynamic of feeling like you have to blend in, feeling there is a uniform and feeling like you can't necessarily bring in your own individuality or your feminine.
39:16
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, like to me, it's like it's it's not normal for me to walk into somewhere and not be super dressed.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: I like being dressed up, like it makes me feel confident.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think like I used to get questioned, it's like, where are you going today?
39:27
SPEAKER_01: Like, are you going on like a date?
39:29
SPEAKER_01: Like, is there an event today?
39:30
SPEAKER_01: And it's like so funny.
39:31
SPEAKER_01: And I don't think anyone meant anything of it.
39:33
SPEAKER_01: But again, it was just like really against the norm and the stigma.
39:36
SPEAKER_01: And I think I I I truly do believe that I'm I'm so glad I kind of stuck with like who that is.
39:43
SPEAKER_01: Cause even though it's something as silly as like dressing up, um, or I don't think it's silly, but like, you know, something as small as dressing up.
39:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's like, you know, kind of taking that stance that you're just gonna stay true to who you are and like how you show up.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's super important because you just don't know who else will be inspired by that.
40:02
SPEAKER_01: You just don't know who else.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: It could also be men.
40:05
SPEAKER_01: Like I would say, like, there's also like a lot of people on my team that were guys that were like, hey, like thank you for sharing that.
40:10
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being so open and so emotional about that.
40:13
SPEAKER_01: Like, I appreciate that.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm actually going through something myself.
40:15
SPEAKER_01: And like you allowed me to feel like I could express my feelings, right?
40:19
SPEAKER_01: So I think you just be really surprised who on different teams or who could be inspired by that.
40:24
SPEAKER_01: And I think the last thing I'll say about this too is we have so much power as women.
40:28
SPEAKER_01: We're such good listeners, we're such good communicators, we we empathize in such different ways.
40:34
SPEAKER_01: We're able to see big picture.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's something else that men don't think that we do, but we're great at seeing the big picture, we're awesome at strategy because of that.
40:41
SPEAKER_01: So um, I think there's so much we can bring to the table by just being who we are.
40:45
SPEAKER_00: 1000%.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: I love that I agree with everything that like you're saying.
40:49
SPEAKER_00: If you were given like 10x the resources for Monday Girl Tomorrow, what would you do?
40:56
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I think we'd go like buck wild.
40:59
SPEAKER_01: Like I think we just go everywhere.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: I think um the one thing that business has taught me is that attention is everything, especially in this time and world.
41:09
SPEAKER_01: So I think just more distribution, as the tech people like to call it, which is literally just eyeballs.
41:14
SPEAKER_01: It's yeah, fancier word for that.
41:16
SPEAKER_01: I think if we're just getting more distribution, if we're just, you know, getting seen in more people and more people can understand the message, whether or not they become members, even if they just subscribe to the newsletter, whether just they also are interested in mentoring or getting more access or giving even their friends the ability to think about like networking in a different way, to me, that's super important.
41:35
SPEAKER_01: That's really pivotal.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: So it sounds like there's probably some more expansion for Mindigirl in terms of locations across the world.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
41:43
SPEAKER_00: Anything you feel called to share in terms of like what locations might be next?
41:47
SPEAKER_01: So it's interesting.
41:48
SPEAKER_01: We already have some members in these places, and they already know they're like they've been told that we don't have like physical meetups or anything of that sort, but like some of them have been members with us for for years now.
42:00
SPEAKER_01: So um, London, UK is one where we have a lot of members, and that's been really cool to see.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: Um, Austin's a great one, LA.
42:09
SPEAKER_01: But I think one thing to call out being like a Canadian entrepreneur and one that's really, really proud of it, it's it's funny because a lot of people just assume, because we're Canadian, that like New York scares the bejesus out of us.
42:21
SPEAKER_01: They just assume.
42:22
SPEAKER_01: They're like, Oh, was it so hard launching in New York?
42:25
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, it was easier because you guys have more people.
42:28
SPEAKER_01: Like, what do you think is more populated?
42:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's so populated.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, just like by business standards, just logically, thinking like, man, but like, you know, like logically, it's like it's just easier.
42:37
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, really?
42:38
SPEAKER_01: Like, you didn't feel intimidated by it.
42:39
SPEAKER_01: There's so much more competition.
42:40
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm like, well, you know, clearly the market has proven that wrong because when we do launch there, the reception was incredible because they just said that there was nothing else really that felt like it was for them.
42:50
SPEAKER_01: And I think that goes to show like ECN has done an incredible job with the world building, the brand building.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that still kind of stays testament.
42:58
SPEAKER_01: But no, we're not scared of the US, we're not scared of launching in new markets because I think if anything, it might be harder to launch in your hometown, it might be harder to launch in markets like Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver because again, it's it's hard to conceptualize new concepts, but I think it's awesome to see more, more Toronto Canadian brands kind of popping up and just really taking on the world.
43:19
SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: And I love that perspective too.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: If there was one thing you could whisper to that version of you building slides at Uber, what would that be?
43:32
SPEAKER_01: Um you can be a bit more detail oriented with these slides.
43:40
SPEAKER_01: Like think about the format a little bit more.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: I know you're tired, but um also just like it's everything compounds.
43:49
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
43:50
SPEAKER_01: I love the everything compounds.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
43:53
SPEAKER_01: It's so funny because I always thought like I just thought like I was so behind.
43:57
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like we always feel like that.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: And this world in day and age, it's almost impossible to not feel like you're behind, but um, it's crazy because so many things I learned from my time at Uber, from my time interning up much music, all these different things, they've laddered up.
44:11
SPEAKER_01: And like I am such a better version of myself because I did the work and I was really, really good at the the work that I was doing at the time.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: And there's so many things where I'm like, thank God, like if I just went and just like dove full into Monday Girl without doing all that work at Uber, like I just don't think we'd really have the business today because I just wouldn't necessarily have the expertise.
44:33
SPEAKER_01: So I'm grateful for all the deck building that I had.
44:36
SPEAKER_01: So I love it.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for coming on the show, for sharing your story about Monday Girl.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: Of course, we're gonna leave all the details for Monday Girl down below so people can check it out.
44:47
SPEAKER_00: If it's not in their location, I'm sure their location will be coming soon as you get to spread more across North America.
44:53
SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for coming on the show.