Posts tagged: The Mentor Files

Since cofounding BaubleBar in 2010, Daniella Yacobovsky has grown the business into an in-the-know shop for women who want to update their wardrobe guilt free, and browse from a curated selection of fashion jewelry.Listen in to today's episode to learn about how Yacobovsky built her team, optimized her business degree, and turned BaubleBar into a growing success.You can Subscribe and Listen to The Mentor Files on Apple Podcasts.(And please be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!)'A lot of times the challenges that could test a friendship really are...

Entrepreneur and photographer Gray Malin—who started by selling his art throughout LA flea markets, and now has worldwide distribution, along with collaborations with brands like AWAY suitcases—is a lesson in building your own luck. The founder of the Gray Malin lifestyle brand is best known for his inventive aerial beach, ski, and park scenes of some of the world’s most popular destinations, and since 2009 Malin's been changing the way we see and enjoy fine art throughout our lives.Listen in to hear Malin describe why authenticity drives all of his...

Since starting Zumba in 2001, Alberto Perlman has been pushing himself and his company further and reaching for a better customer experience. Known as 'exercise in disguise', Zumba blends contagious world rhythms with easy-to-follow choreography, for an effective, total-body workout that feels more like a party than exercise. Growing from a small three person operation, Alberto has seen Zumba change into a fitness phenomenon spanning over 180 countries and serving over 15 million people. But through all of this, what has made Zumba successful are not those things that have...

When Gretchen Hansen spotted two pink chairs in the back of a vintage shop, she immediately had that “I found it” feeling. But when she couldn't find a way to make them work in her space, she enlisted the help of her friend, an interior decorator, by sending her a few quick pictures. Her friend had the perfect solution to make them fit in the space. Gretchen immediately thought: what if I was able to bring this amazing remote decorating experience to everybody? Gretchen Hansen is the CEO and founder...

After being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Hillary Peterson found herself extremely curious about everything she had been putting in and on her body. When she started digging, she started to see all kinds of toxins in all of her skin care products, and was taken aback. Still working, and as a new mom, she started her journey towards a healthy solution to skin care.Our guest today on The Mentor Files is Hillary Peterson, founder of True Botanicals, a line of skincare products that are toxin-free. Channeling her fear and frustration...

Dan Wenhold is a Principal at Fifth Wall, where he co-heads the Retail & Consumer Investment team, leading investments in omnichannel retail brands and technologies. Prior to joining Fifth Wall, Dan was the first employee and Director of Retail at The Black Tux and a growth equity investor at Battery Ventures. Dan started his career as a financial analyst at Robert W. Baird. Dan's past experiences with startups has given him a unique outlook in the ventures space, particularly in working within retail. If you're at all interested in going...

Today on The Mentor Files we have Phil Schwarz, a Principal at Corazon Capital, a Chicago-based fund that focuses on investing in early stage technology companies. From 2014-2016, Phil served as Chief Marketing Officer of Tinder, overseeing the company’s brand, growth and retention marketing efforts worldwide. Phil’s prior roles include Vice President of Growth Initiatives at Match Group, a division of IAC, as well as Executive Director at Kaplan and Kaplan Ventures (then part of the Washington Post Company), where Phil co-founded the Kaplan/Techstars EdTech Accelerator, invested in early stage...

Growing up, Jesse Draper attended a lot of conferences in the venture capital space with her dad, and these early experiences helped shape the way that she viewed her future and what she wanted to do in her own career. But once she began looking deeper into becoming an entrepreneur herself, the lack of visible female role models really began to dawn on her. She started to push for higher representation of women in all aspects of her work, and this has been a driving force throughout her work and...

As the youngest of three siblings, Dana Gordon was always looking to tag along on her family member's adventures. But the one person she always wanted to shadow was her dad, a diamond cutter by trade. Her experiences with her dad inspired her to start her own jewelry line at the age of 16, running everything herself with no outside help. Little did she know that years later, her work would be featured worldwide. Our guest today is Dana Gordon, founder of Dana Rebecca Designs, a jewelry brand that designs...

Our guest today is Mia Duchnowski, cofounder of Oars & Alps. When every option for men's skin care was too expensive, full of chemicals, tailored to women or just plain inconvenient, she and her cofounder took matters into their own hands, creating no-nonsense products without any pointless toxins, senseless rigmarole or needless middle men.Before starting her new business, Mia Duchnowski had her dream job working as an anchor on Bloomberg Television. While there, she learned about skin care through her makeup artist, who often sent her home with tons of...