Positively Gotham Gal

Gina Duncan started her career in film programming, with a lifelong focus on diverse programming that led her to become the president of BAM, the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This episode will highlight Gina's career working within and running cultural institutions such as Sundance and BAM, focusing on rethinking the role of cultural institutions to be more diverse in their programming.

Lauren Yoshiko is a freelance writer and editor, who writes the Broccoli Report, a bi-weekly newsletter for creative cannabis entrepreneurs. Lauren has been blogging through the unprecedented wave of growth and change in the Cannabis industry, as recreational use is slowly getting legalized throughout the country. This podcast episode will highlight her experience navigating and documenting the strange world of weed.

Ep 180: Space Is The New Frontier - Rema Matevosyan, Near Space Labs Rema Matevosyan is a scientist turned entrepreneur, who co-founded Near Space Labs, a start-up that provides timely, wide-scaler, commercially available imagery with the largest zero-emission balloon fleet in the stratosphere. For Rema and her cofounders, space is the exciting new frontier. This podcast episode will highlight her unique entrepreneurial journey, and her experience building and scaling her company as a foreign female founder.

Natasha Halesworth is the founder of the Consistency Project, a new women-led sustainable fashion and lifestyle studio, focusing on secondhand and reworked vintage. Through The Consistency Project, Natasha is reimagining the relationship between fashion and sustainability. She is also changing the retail experience, imagining shopping appointments with elevated service for her clients. This podcast episode will highlight her unique entrepreneurial journey toward the world of sustainable fashion.

Robin Steinberg is an American lawyer and social justice advocate, with over 30 years of experience as a public defender. Robin also is the founder and CEO of the bailout project, the first-of-its-kind nonprofit revolving bail fund. Robin is a friend of the podcast, having been one of the early guests on the Pod three years ago. For this second episode with Robin, we will focus on how the Bailout project has evolved over the past three years, after a change in presidency, a pandemic, and a moment of national reckoning for systemic racism. This podcast episode will represent the perspective of a woman who has dedicated her career to fighting for criminal justice and against systemic racism.

Amy Chin is the founder of Calm Better Day, a cannabis and CBD consultancy company that educates and guides her clients toward their custom CBD regimens. Amy's career has spanned across different industries, from the retail world with experience in buying and merchandising, to hospitality. As always, the dots connect, and in 2019, Amy decided to turn towards entrepreneurship and founded Calm Better Days. Through her coaching work at CBD but also, the events she throws, Amy is seeking to educate the consumer. This podcast episode will highlight her unique entrepreneurial journey, and lessons learned while navigating the emerging world of the cannabis industry.

Joy Howard is the founder of Early Majority, a new women-led, membership-based outdoor brand, and community. Joy's career has spanned across different industries, from being a full-time musician in the indie-rock band Seely to marketing, working for iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Converse, Patagonia, and Sonos. As always, the dots always connect, and during the pandemic, Joy turned towards entrepreneurship and launched Early Majority, an environmentally conscious membership-based outdoor brand with a crypto and NFT angle. This podcast episode will highlight her unique entrepreneurial journey from music towards marketing and community, and her experience as a female founder.

Kelly Perez and Courtney Mathis are the brains behind Cannabis Doing Good, a cannabis consultancy that inspires a standard for social responsibility in the cannabis sector. As the Cannabis industry is going through an unprecedented wave of growth, new challenges--ranging from sustainability to social responsibility, are emerging. Through CDG, and their nonprofit, the Cannabis Impact Fund, Courtney and Kelly are creating opportunities for cannabis businesses to engage with nonprofits and their community. This podcast episode will highlight the co-founder's entrepreneurial journey, and lessons learned while navigating the emerging world of the cannabis industry.

Samara Daly is a nonprofit expect who launched Let's Talk about Menopause. After making a career working in city government, nonprofits, and community development, she created Let's Talk about Menopause in 2021, hoping to break the taboo of that highly stigmatized period of a woman's life. This episode will highlight Samara's entrepreneurial journey and the challenges of launching a feminist non-profit during a pandemic.

Pelin Thorogood is the tech executive turned impact entrepreneur behind Radicle, a health tech company revolutionizing clinical trials for natural medicine. After a successful career in tech, she co-founded Wholistic Research and Education Foundation: a public non-profit dedicated to cannabis & CBD research, education, and advocacy, before co-founding Radicle Science. This podcast episode will highlight Pelin's unique entrepreneurial journey, and lessons learned while navigating the world of tech and natural medicine.

Amanda Feilding is a scientist, veteran drug policy reformer, lobbyist, and the founder of the Beckley Foundation, which initiates research into the effects of psychoactive substances on the brain and uses the results to advocate for drug policy reform. We talked about her journey advocating for drug policy reform, and she shared her musing about the ever-evolving landscape of psychoactive substances.

Fanny Gerson is a chef, consultant, speaker, and cookbook author known for a unique approach to food that deeply respects her Mexican-Jewish heritage while also innovating by offering her very own personal and modern twist. She is also the owner of Fan Fan Doughnut, a Mexican-inspired American doughnut shop, and La Newyorkins, a Mexican ice cream shop. We talked about her entrepreneurial journey, and the challenges she faced in the food industry at large as a Latina woman.

Cristina Mittermeier is a photographer, marine biologist, activist, and author who pioneered the concept and field of conservation photography. She is the founder of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) which provides a platform for photographers working on environmental issues. More recently, she co-founded SeaLegacy, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the ocean, and Only one, a platform to share these stories. We talked about her entrepreneurial journey harnessing the power of storytelling for activism, showcasing and promoting ocean conservation and protection.

Shelley Kleyn Armistead is the CEO and a partner at Gjelina, a food group in LA famous for revitalizing the Venice food scene. Starting at Soho House in the very beginning, Shelley joined Gjelina early on and helped expand the brand and the vision, now helming their expansion eastwards. She is known for her unique approach to food, hospitality, and sustainability. We talked about her entrepreneurial journey, challenges, and lessons learned along the way.

Pamela Danzinger is the speaker, author, and market researcher expert behind Unity Marketing. She specializes in studying the world's most influential consumers, the HENRYs (which stands for High Earning Not Rich Yet). We talked about women and consumerism, and the rise of the HENRY phenomenon.

Rachel Uffnel is the woman and brain behind New York's Rachel Uffner Gallery. Since opening shop in 2008 in the Lower East Side, she has grown and expanded her gallery, discovering some major female-identifying artists in the process! We talked about the challenges of running a mid-size artist-focused art gallery, and the evolution of the art market in the pandemic and post-pandemic era.

Catherine Balsam Schwaber is the CEO of Kindra, a new direct-to-consumer company that focuses on accompanying women through menopause and breaking the taboo. Her career has spanned across the corporate media sector before diving into entrepreneurship with Kindra. We talked about the challenges of launching a feminist direct-to-consumer brand in the pandemic age, creating a new CPG category, and lessons learned along the way.

Majora Carter is a real estate developer, urban revitalization expert, award-winning broadcaster, and author. Her career has spanned across the public and the private sector creating and successfully implementing numerous economic developments, technology & green infrastructure projects. We talked about her new book, her career, and lessons learned along the way.

Anne-Marie Slaughter is an American international lawyer, foreign policy analyst, writer, political scientist, public commentator, and the head of the think tank New America. Her career has spanned across the different areas of policy work, from three decades in academia to public service to running a major think tank. We talked about her newest book, her career, and lessons learned along the way.

Eleanor Kuntz and Kerin Law are the co-founders of LeafWorks, a botanical identification company that does DNA sequencing for cannabis. As the Cannabis industry is going through an unprecedented wave of growth, and recreational use of the plant is slowly getting legalized throughout the country, new challenges emerge, ranging from safety and fraud prevention to modern breeding techniques. LeafWorks is positioning itself as a DNA testing company FROM the cannabis community hoping to build a better botanical word. We talked about their unique entrepreneurial journey, and lessons learned navigating the world of the cannabis industry.

Alison Roman is a chef, cookbook author, and youtube personality. Her career has spanned across various areas of the food industry at large, from the kitchens of high-end restaurants to food magazines. Known for her accessible writing style and her warm approach to cooking, Alison has empowered many of her readers to become home chefs. We talked about her journey finding her voice through the food world, and lessons learned along the way.

Arianna Simpson is a partner at Andreessen Horowitz where she helms the largest crypto fund in the world at just 30yo. Her career has spanned across the various areas of tech, from early-stage startups to Facebook, before discovering her passion for investing. She developed a strong interest in crypto early on and founded Autonomous Partner, an investment fund focused on crypto and digital, assets in 2017. We talked about changes and opportunities in the crypto landscapes, and her experience as a woman in the crypto world.

Varsha Rao is the CEO of NURX, the leading female-focused telehealth platform disrupting the healthcare industry in the US. We talked about the unique entrepreneurial experience that led her to healthcare, lessons learned amongst the way, and taking over a telehealth company amidst a pandemic.

Charmine Davis is the director of behavioral health services at the Jenesse Center, an institution that supports victims of domestic violence, and the founder of the social impact app Just Us App. Charmine's career as a therapist with over 25 years of experience servicing families of Southern California motivated her to start Just Us, a smartphone app that aims to prevent police brutality, by equipping young drivers with a voice-activated system to assist them when interacting with the police. We talked about her journey with Just Us, and her experience doing social work amidst a pandemic.

Myra Laldin is the founder of VR Perspectives, and a pioneer in harnessing the potential of VR storytelling in diversity and inclusion training. We got together to discuss how she combines her background in business and behavioral science to improve strategic business performance through XR. To learn more about VR Perspectives, you can visit the website at http://vrperspectives.com/ Our next guest on PGG will be Charmine Davis, the director of behavioral health services at the Jenesse Center for victims of domestic abuse, and the founder of Just US app, a social impact app that aims to prevent police brutality.

Francesca Donner is the New York Times gender director, and the editor of In Her Words, a 3x weekly column that examines women's issues globally. We got together to discuss women's position in the workforce and the labor market amidst covid. To hear more from Francesca, read the NYT column In Her Words at https://www.nytimes.com/series/in-her-words Our next guest on PGG will be Mira Laldin, the founder of VR Perspectives, and a pioneer in the use of VR storytelling in diversity and inclusion training.

Carli Lalli Music is a chef, cookbook author, and youtube personality. We got together to discuss her constantly evolving career in the food industry, from foodservice to teaching, food writing, youtube influencing, and finally cookbook author.

Andrea Schneider is an academic, driven negotiator, and the head of the Institute For Women's Leadership at Marquette University. She has dedicated her life to making the ADR fields more attractive, approachable, and inclusive. We got together to discuss Andrea's work with IWL in advancing women's leadership on a local and global level.

Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau are the founders and CEOs behind the new independent publishing house Spiegel & Grau. We got together over zoom to discuss their entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of creating an independent publishing house in the pandemic age, and the release of their first title, Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship.

Malene Barnett is an artist, activist, and the founder of Black Artists + Designers Guild, a global platform and curated collective of independent black artists, makes and designers. We got together over zoom to talk about her entrepreneurial journey, inclusion in the design field.

Joan Fallon is a doctor, an academic, and the entrepreneur behind Curemark, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies to treat serious neurological diseases for which there are no or limited treatment options. We got together over zoom to discuss her unusual take on medicine and her path to entrepreneurship.

Alexandra Fennell & Mia Abbruzzese are the founders and co-CEOs of the new direct-to-consumer company Attn: Grace, which focuses on intimate products for aging women. We got together over zoom to discuss their entrepreneurial journey, and the challenges of creating a personal care brand and disrupting the incontinence segment.

Jing Gao is the founder of Fly By Jing, a line of Chinese spice and condiments inspired by her hometown of Chengdu. We got together over zoom to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, and the challenges of creating a high-quality, modern, female-led Chinese food brand.

Lisa Switkin is a multidisciplinary architect working in urban planning and landscape architecture, and the Senior Principal at Filed Operations. We got together over zoom to discuss her journey towards a practice focused on creating forward-thinking public spaces, and the renewed importance of landscape architecture during covid.

Whitney Donhauser is the president of the Museum of the City of New York. We got together over zoom to discuss how she is changing and rethinking the role of cultural institutions to be more inclusive and accessible, and the challenges that cultural institutions have faced during the pandemic.

Robin Hauser is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. We got together over zoom to discuss her career, and upcoming $avvy, a documentary that explores financial literacy within women.

Sara Irvani is the CEO of the family-owned and operated shoe company Okabashi. We got together over zoom to highlight the changes that Sara is bringing to the family business and the challenges of expanding a sustainable made-in-America company during a pandemic.

Francis Bronet is an architect, interdisciplinary artist, and, most importantly, driven educator who currently serves as the president of Pratt Institute. We got together over zoom to discuss the future of liberal arts education and innovation in learning models.

Shanna Tellerman is the founder and CEO of Modsy, a design service that provides high-quality solutions to the pain points of home design. We got together over zoom, to discuss Shanna's entrepreneurial journey and the future of work in a post covid world.

Hadiya Masieh is the founder and director of the Groundswell Project, a non-profit that fights against extremism and promotes community building. We got together over zoom to discuss her experience of 22 years in the field, and the unique methodologies she is pioneering with Groundswell.

Liz Diller is a multidisciplinary architect and the co-founder of Diller Scofidio + Renfro. We got together over zoom to discuss her unique journey towards a practice focused on building forward-thinking public spaces and cultural institutions.

Nicole Hockley is the co-founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise, and mother of Dylan, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy on 12/14/12. We got together over zoom to talk about her personal journey from tragedy to activism, and the impact the organization is making using research-based methodology, education, and technology.

Michelle Zatlyn is the co-founder and COO of CloudFlare, a cybersecurity company working to make our internet faster, safer, and more reliable We got together over zoom to discuss her journey as a founder, and the future of cybersecurity in a post covid world.

Yelena Kovacevic, a scientist, researcher, and, most importantly, a driven educator, is the chair of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. We got together over zoom to discuss the future of education post covid, and the ways in which Jelena is changing Tandon to make STEM fields more attractive, approachable, and inclusive.

Women hot on the campaign trail in Local NY politics... Maya Wiley is a civil rights activist and scholar who has dedicated her career to fighting against structural racism. We got together over zoom, to talk about her candidacy for the upcoming mayoral elections.

For the next 2 weeks, we are spotlighting women hot on the campaign trail in Local NY politics. Diana Florence has dedicated her entire career to public service, beginning as a prosecutor in the Manhattan's DA 25 years ago. We got together over zoom, to talk about her candidacy for the upcoming DA elections, and her plans to reform the office to better serve the people of New York.

Sharleen Ernster is the founder and CEO of We Are HAH, a company pioneering sustainable fashion in intimate apparel and redefining sexy for a new generation of women.I sat down with Sharleen in the pre-covid days and we talked about her many years of experience as a fashion executive, and the reasons that led her to launch her own company. A couple weeks after, our reality as we know it completely changed. So, we decided to revisit our conversation, and talk about how the pandemic has impacted her life & business.

Debbie Berebichez is a physicist and data scientist who dedicates her life to fostering women’s careers in STEM. Debbie and I got together over zoom to talk about her journey, and her experience as a woman in one of the most male dominated fields of academia.

Alicia Glen is the Founder & Managing Principal at MSquared, a nationwide real estate development and investment platform building the next generation of mixed-use, mixed-income projects in rapidly evolving cities. Alicia is a nationally recognized expert in urban development, infrastructure finance, job creation and housing policy. She’s worked both in the public and private sectors creating and implementing innovative solutions to enable cities to evolve and grow equitably. Alicia and I got together over zoom to talk about the role of cities, and about how to rebuild cities in a post covid world.

Stephanie Caudle is the owner and founder of Black Girl Group, an online freelance marketplace that connects African American women freelance creatives to companies seeking to market and advertise to African American consumers. Stephanie and I got together over zoom to talk all about how her company came to be, and about the future of freelance in a post-covid world.

Amanda Schutzbank and Deborah Benton are the team behind Willow Growth Partners -- Willow provides early growth capital to entrepreneurs building transformative consumer brands and the disruptive technologies that power them. I sat down with Amanda and Deborah pre-COVID and we talked all about the future of consumer brands, investments from the entrepreneurial perspective, and the thesis that brought them together.