Podcasts about entrepreneurs en vogue

A scientist and winner of the Miss New York pageant launches a ground-breaking digital publication that harnesses the style and glamour of today’s business-minded woman. Sounds like the premise for a good movie, doesn’t it? The star of that story in real life is Iman Oubou, who noticed gender disparities in business as well as a media bias in the way the modern woman is represented. She launched SWAAY to position these founders as the new icons, providing content and community for them to empower each other. She joins Socialfly co-founder Courtney Spritzer in the MouthMedia Network studio for a conversation about building her business and career, and describes her journey to success. Plus, a surprise and a brainstorm! In this episode: How Iman has worked as a champion of female entrepreneurs and her journey hosting the popular podcast Entrepreneurs En Vogue. How Iman learned a lot as a pageant person, including public speaking, and communication—and how she still uses those skills everyday. The importance of taking care of yourself so you don’t burn out too early. The additional challenges of fundraising as a woman. And—her quest to add Morocco as a contestant in the Miss Universe pageant.

Iman Oubou, a published scientist, philanthropist, beauty queen and entrepreneur, is the Founder and CEO of SWAAY Media and the Entrepreneurs En Vogue podcast. On the heels of being crowned Miss New York US in 2015, Iman sought for a meaningful way to utilize her platform. She launched the podcast to provide a space to share stories of successful female entrepreneurs. Based on the response to the Entrepreneurs En Vogue podcast, Iman launched her new business venture SWAAY Media. In this episode, Iman shares the multiple reasons why she went after her entrepreneurial goals and why she aspires to change the way media communicates to young women. Iman talks about the lessons she learned raising money from investors, working for both nonprofit and for profit organizations and from an early business venture she was unprepared for. Her advice to pivot when necessary while never losing sight of the original vision is a great reminder to all. In addition to her varied experiences, Iman talks about how starting her career in a male dominated world, moving from Morocco to the US and transitioning her career has given her a unique perspective and helps inform her storytelling medium. Please follow Iman @imanoubou on Instagram and Twitter and @iman.jovel on Facebook. You can follow SWAAY Media @SwaayMedia on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter Be sure to check out SWAAY Media content at www.swaay.com. Also you can listen to the Entrepreneurs En Vogue podcast at apple.co/2aHa8xb and follow @eenvogue_podcast on Instagram. Don't forget to follow us at @libertyforher on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Please let us know your thoughts about this episode by using the hashtag #libertysessions and please rate and review us—it helps to know if this podcast is inspiring and equipping you to launch and grow your ventures.

Julixa Newman started her career as a hotel housecleaner, and ended up the founder of her own company. While pregnant with "multiples," Julixa saw that nothing on the market was designed for parents with twins or triplets (or more!). Inspired to make these parents' lives easier, Julixa started her own line of humorous t-shirts with only 150 dollars, eventually inventing the TwinTrexx baby carrier and launching her company, Stuff 4 Multiples. Now, it​'​s the web’s one-stop shop for anything that families with multiples need, producing and selling over 1,800 products. Absolutely inspiring, Julixa is a testament that your destiny isn’t written in stone, and no matter what you can always get back up!

Have you ever had an idea that was so obscure - and brilliant - that the people with whom you’d dare to share it would either pretend they didn’t hear you or bluntly-yet-lovingly tell you it was ridiculous? For example, there’s this scene in the first episode of “Documentary Now!” in which Bill Hader’s character explains that she wears sweatpants on her head and wraps the pant legs around her neck for practicality - like a “built-in scarf.”  If you're wondering which product I'm drawing a comparison to, I'll tell you: it's Foxers. Sure, they seem like common sense now, but even the creator's husband wasn't immediately on board with the idea when he first heard it. The creator, April Spring, had a moment in 2006, when she was at a restaurant with her husband. Before we get to the aftermath, here's some information on Spring: Spring, who comes from a finance background, has an entrepreneurial spirit. The "always working" mentality doesn't seem to bother her. She worked with NASDAQ for over a decade, doing financial PR at her own investment relations firm, until her husband was offered a job overseas, in Malaysia. It was in Malaysia, where she had the pivotal dinner that changed everything.   “My thought was that men have always had the protection of the wider, comfortable cotton-gathered boxer band that gives coverage, and it's made of outerwear fabric.”  She suggested making a female version of boxers, and being a true entrepreneur, Spring went from idea to prototype in 24 hours. Photo Credit: Foxers.com Foxers took off on its own, thanks to the quality of the product and the power of publicity. Wherever Spring went, she found an opportunity to advance. When her friend, a designer for department stores, came to visit her in Malaysia, she took him to tour the clothing factories. At the same time, she made connections for herself and ended up using them for Foxers. When she was visiting her friends in Chicago, she found a representative at who ended up placing Foxers in 74 stores within 90 days. While at the U.S. Patent and Trademark  office, a patent attorney was passing by and casually mentioned that her designs could be patented. She got her design patented in a year. If you're familiar with the process of getting a design patented, that length of time is rare. Not only that, but Spring’s product is so different that she received two U.S. patents for her designs. When it comes to the product, itself, Foxers have become a staple in people’s wardrobes, beyond underwear. Yes, they’re comfortable. More importantly, they’re functional. And most importantly, especially in today’s disappointingly intolerant society, they're for everyone. When Bustle puts them on the same list as Thinx, you know you’ve got a winner. Foxers started with 3 panties and now the brand has over 900 SKUS and 21 styles, with new looks coming out every month. Such new looks have inspirations that come to Spring in dreams, or when she's driving on the highway. All looks are of the same luxurious quality. As for the success that doesn't just fall into place, Spring's business acumen more than makes up for that. "As an entrepreneur, you're always thinking about 'what's ahead of this, so that I can be there and be ready?'" But she sees herself as more than just an entrepreneur; she also sees herself as a designer, which comes with extra responsibilities. For example, Spring believes that "[research and development] has to be the designer's thing for her whole life." Because of this, she knows that her time is both valuable and limited. On top of that, the decisions that she makes within the company affect the amount of time she has to handle her direct responsibilities - as is true with anyone. In Spring's case, for example, while she does pay for advertising her and there, she relies more on publicity [that counts]. "It's funny - when you have paid advertising, you usually don't get much from it. It's the free publicity." However, publicity does come with its unforeseen consequences. "As soon as you get all this publicity, you just start getting tons of people wanting to take your time, and you lose track - really - of what you're supposed to be doing." That being said, Spring knows how to spend her time - and finances - strategically.  When she had first launched, she had tackled the smaller markets in the southern and midwestern regions, but the west coast and the northeastern region were entirely different markets. In order to get her product into those mainstream channels, she knew she had to take some publicity risks and hire PR; "I knew that celebrities sold apparel." Gifting, her not-so-secret weapon, was the catalyst that really got her noticed. She “did gift bags for the artists who didn't win at [that] year's Grammys.”  At the Jingle Ball (remember, this is back when it was a thing), she was such a hit that PR firms starting contacting her instead of the other way around. She was on the The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch eight times, with one of those times being on the same day she was on the Valentine's Day episode of the TODAY show. Spring was constantly thinking about how to grow her business in the best way in that moment in time, and she acted accordingly. She still does - now she's on the social media train, which is working out really, really well for her. But you'll need to listen to know how well. What impressed me the most about Spring, aside from her plan to have people learn to sew in Foxers’ factory in Atlanta, was her influence over me. Without once mentioning that she wanted to be featured on Entrepreneurs En Vogue - the website or the podcast, she had me practically begging to feature her. Not only that, but Spring could have name-dropped Beyoncé or any of her other celebrity customers in her email to me.* She didn’t. The only name she dropped was mine. It. Worked. Like. A. Charm. Kids, they don’t make them like these anymore.  LISTEN to learn about: what Iman thinks of Foxers how Spring sold a product when all she had was a drawing of it things Spring tried that didn't work services she will absolutely not skimp on which social media platform singlehandedly provided $50k in orders on a single pair of underwear *Name-dropping doesn't actually work. To be considered for a potential feature, email shannon@entrepreneursenvogue.com with the subject line "potential feature"

It's always refreshing to meet and interview someone that is as passionate about championing women as we are at Entrepreneurs En Vogue. Well this week, we are welcoming a true woman of substance (no pun intended) whose mission to draw attention the well-deserved female independent artists and help them turn their passion for music into a sustainable business. And now it's our turn to put the spotlight on Bree and her popular online radio station and podcast, Women of Substance. More on Bree Noble: Bree Noble is an entrepreneur, musician and speaker. She founded Women of Substance Radio, an online radio station that promotes quality female artists in all genres, in 2007.  She launched the Women of Substance Music Podcast in November 2014, a 5 day per week show which promotes Independent female artists. Her podcast has hit #1 in New & Noteworthy for the Music, Arts and Society & Culture categories and #4 Audio Podcast on all of iTunes. She draws on her extensive experience running her own music business, both as a solo musician and as an Industry professional, to train and mentor other female musicians. Learn more about the station, the show and the artists atwww.wosradio.com. Connect with Bree on Twitter @BreeNoble or on Facebook or on Instagram @breenoblemusic