Takin’ Care of Lady Business®

Zornitza is the Founder and CEO of BSPK, the top-rated SaaS clienteling platform for digital curation and personal shopping. Zornitza is also a serial entrepreneur and an accomplished builder, and leader of teams. She was among the first employees of Wired (acquired by Conde Nast), eGroups (acquired by Yahoo) as well as Six Apart, imeem, Prosper and other Silicon Valley technology innovators funded by Sequoia Capital, Benchmark and Accel, among others. Zornitza is a graduate of Stanford University (BA in International Relations) and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (MBA, Finance). Her passion is the quest for innovation and discovery at the cutting edge of consumer technologies, content creation, and leveraged means of communicating and transacting in the mobile age.

In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business®, Jennifer Justice sat down with Zornitza Stefanova, CEO and founder of BSPK, a SaaS platform that offers personalized customer service to various industries. During the episode, Stefanova explained how BSPK allows sales advisers to connect and speak with customers one-on-one using their software, making the customer experience feel memorable and personal. This, in turn, strengthens customer loyalty and helps businesses grow.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

• Prioritizing the customer’s needs through personalization drives a customer-centric approach, enabling businesses to better meet their preferences and increase satisfaction.
• Personalization fosters more effective communication between sales advisers and customers, leading to increased sales and customer satisfaction through tailored dialogue.
• Providing personalized experiences enhances brand perception, leaving a lasting impression that generates positive reviews and recommendations, ultimately strengthening the brand.

Quotes:

“The customer experiences being recognized, obtaining great service, having a person to really curate and engage with their needs, and so it really helps brands achieve much stronger loyalty” – Zornitza Stefanova

“When you personalize the experience for the client, they feel recognized and cherished and taken care of they come back and that it really is where the business has an opportunity to evolve.” – Zornitza Stefanova

“We make it possible for the sales advisers of these brands and companies to connect and speak with the customer 1 on 1 using our software, making the experience feel memorable.” – Zornitza Stefanova

Founder of Brandstyle, America’s fast-growing PR agency with one primary focus: to make the stories around Companies, Businesses, Founders and Entrepreneurs relevant and interesting. We’re the PR behind the BRAND.

In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business®, Jennifer Justice speaks to Zoe Weisberg Coady, founder of Brand Style Communications, about the evolving role of PR in the digital age. Zoe discusses how her company utilizes earned media, thought leadership, and strategic partnerships to help digitally native consumer brands in the health and wellness and lifestyle spaces gain exposure and awareness. The two also delve into the optimal timing for seeking PR services and the importance of making a company interesting and relevant to the media. Additionally, they discuss the trend of female founders becoming the face of their companies and why the founder’s story is still important in marketing a product.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

• How public relations is about creating meaningful connections and partnerships that can help your business grow, not just getting press coverage.
• Why thought leadership and speaking opportunities are powerful tools that can position you as an industry expert and help you reach a wider audience.
• Reasons authenticity and storytelling are essential in public relations, not just promoting your business.

Quotes:

“Public relations is all about helping people and brands tell their best stories.” – Zoe Weisberg Coady

“PR can be the difference between a great idea and a great idea that breaks through.” – Zoe Weisberg Coady

“Networking is not about just handing out business cards or trying to get something from someone. It’s about building real, authentic relationships, and finding ways to support each other.” – Zoe Weisberg Coady

As TOKiMONSTA, Jennifer Lee has made a name for herself as a Grammy-nominated music producer, pioneering the L.A. Beat Scene and ranking as one of the top 100 DJs worldwide. Her entire discography has drawn critical praise, collaborating with a long list of artists including Anderson Paak, Earthgang, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and remixing artists like Sia and Beck. In 2015, Lee was diagnosed with Moyamoya, a rare brain disease that left her unable to communicate or comprehend music, but she persevered through two surgeries and cognitive therapy to make a triumphant comeback at Coachella in 2016. Her first album post-surgery, Lune Rouge, was nominated for ‘Electronic Album of the Year’ at the 2019 Grammy Awards. In 2020, she released her fourth full-length album, Oasis Nocturno, showcasing her progression as an artist with a mix of house, funk-soul, and hip-hop. Throughout the pandemic, she continued to innovate by hosting the popular music program Lost Resort on Twitch, collaborating on an NFT collection, and curating a livestream event for Women’s History Month.

Always looking to combine her creativity with innovation, TOKiMONSTA continues to push boundaries across music, fashion, tech and beyond.

Toki has now entered the world of tech having cofounded a music tech start up by the name of “Sona.” The aim of Sona is to democratize music streaming for artists in a world where the pay per stream is not adequate for a musician’s cost of living. The protocol and platform will reconstruct the scaffolding of music streaming so that audiences still have access to all the music they desire, while allowing artist’s payout to equate to what they truly deserve. In 2022, Sona raised approximately 7 million in funding and is in development. The company is aiming for a mid-2023 launch.

In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business®, recorded in Ibiza, Spain at the International Music Summit, host Jennifer Justice sits down with special guest TOKiMONSTA, a DJ and music producer who shares her experiences as a woman of color and encourages listeners to lead with their best foot forward, choosing to represent who they really are instead of taking shortcuts. The episode also explores her tech start-up, Sona, which rewards both artists and curators, offers a fairer payment system and uses blockchain technology. 

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

• Sona’s plan to revolutionize the music industry with a streaming platform that allows users to stream music for free and invest in artists by buying the streaming rights to their songs.
• How Sona uses blockchain technology in the music industry to bring transparency and efficiency to the ecosystem for musicians.
• Challenges for female producers in the music industry, gender bias, fundraising, and democratization in the music industry.

Quotes:

“With the internet, it kind of opens the floodgates for people to kind of just steal music, and that’s really difficult for people who make music… I think technology and music are so intertwined now that it’s kind of hard to say that they’re two separate entities. Like, they’re very linked.” – TOKiMONSTA

“I never wanted to be a DJ. You know, I wanted to make music. And now it’s like I kind of love both and I feel that both are very different and dynamic skills that I’ve had to learn to kind of work on.” – TOKiMONSTA

“As far as making music and producing, that’s something that came out of just having such a deeply rooted love for music. And then one day, I decided, I think I can do that, you know.” – TOKiMONSTA

“I feel like the more diversity we have, especially in music, the more interesting it gets because you have all these different perspectives and different ways of thinking.” – TOKiMONSTA

https://tokimonsta.com

https://sona.stream

https://www.internationalmusicsummit.com/

Vital Voice Training is a voice, public speaking, and communication coaching company on a mission to change the conversation about what leaders are “supposed” to sound like, help organizations revolutionize their communication culture, and help individuals communicate with savvy, charisma, confidence, and a deep connection to their core values. They work with top-tier executives and their teams, world-changing entrepreneurs, best-selling authors, legacy organizations, and high-growth startups, and their clients regularly bring their ground-breaking ideas and perspectives to stages all over the world. Co-founders Julie Fogh and Casey Erin Clark’s extensive backgrounds in speech coaching and professional acting give them a unique perspective on what makes people want to listen. For the client, the result is your voice: amplified (not just louder). 

Listen to this Takin’ Care of Lady Business®, Jennifer Justice speaks with Casey Erin Clark and Julie Fogh, cofounders of Vital Voice Training, share their insights on how to harness the power of your voice. Vital Voice Training specializes in voice, public speaking, and communication consultancy for both private individuals and companies. Their approach to vocal training is unique, as both Casey and Julie come from a professional acting background.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

• Overcoming Communication and Confidence Hurdles
• Empowering Quiet Women Through Coaching
• Playfulness and Advocacy to Prevent Burnout for Women
• Authenticity and Communication in the Workplace
• Applying theater techniques in everyday life

Quotes:

“Your voice, everything that makes you, you, makes your voice, your voice.” – Casey Erin Clark

“It just became very obvious to us, the impossible double binds that women, and frankly anyone whose voice is under heard, land in in order to be taken seriously.” – Julie Fogh

“If it’s hard for you to advocate for yourself, then think about the thing that you love the most.” – Jennifer Justice

“Watching women get this impression-based feedback over and over and over again that their voices and their presence. Their communication presence was not worthy of being taken seriously really pissed us off.” – Casey Erin Clark

“We want to find out what can help individuals be able to walk into a room with the energy of their choosing, how to find the power that you already have, that you don’t need anybody else’s permission for.” – Julie Fogh

“I have a real heart for recovering perfectionists who are finding their inner rebel and their inner, sometimes we call it the flaming inner middle finger to the status quo in the systems, but who have spent their whole life to be good little girls and do it correctly, and they’re ready to break out of that box and show who they really are and show up in a huge way.” – Casey Erin Clark

Vital Voice Training 

Website: http://vitalvoicetraining.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vital_voice, @vital_voice 

Instagram: http://instagram.com/vitalvoicetraining, @vitalvoicetraining 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vital-voice-training

Casey Erin Clark 

Twitter: @caseyerinclark http://twitter.com/caseyerinclark 

Instagram: @caseyerinclark http://instagram.com/caseyerinclark 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/caseyerinclark 

Julie Fogh 

Twitter: @julievoicecoach  http://twitter.com/julievoicecoach

Instagram: @thefogh http://instagram.com/thefogh

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-fogh/

Erin Spahn Erenberg is a mom of three, attorney, serial business builder, fund advisor, and the founder and CEO of Totum, an advocacy platform for modern mothers at the intersection of ambition and motherhood. She is also a co-founder and the executive director of the nonprofit the Chamber of Mothers. Erin maintains a part-time legal practice at Belzer, PC, where she assists women with business and intellectual property matters. Before launching Totum, Erin practiced as an IP attorney for Moore & VanAllen and SESAC, served as the executive director of ACM Lifting Lives, ran business development and legal affairs for social impact-driven tech firms Indiegogo and Omaze, and worked as an agent for William Morris Endeavor (WME). 

Erin has been hired as a speaker and subject matter expert on topics like work-life balance, mindset, overcoming burnout, and achieving equity at home and at work, by companies like ErgoBaby, Ritual Vitamin, Hatch, Norwegian Cruise Line and Montage Hotels. Her work has been featured in Goop, LA Times, and Parents, and she has spoken as an expert on over 15 podcasts including Working Wife, Happy Life, Mom Talks, and the After 30 Podcast. After spending a decade in Los Angeles, Erin now lives in South Carolina with her three kids George, Arabella, and Beau, husband Victor, and Boykin Spaniel named Billie. 

In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business®, host Jennifer Justice interviews Erin Erenberg, founder and CEO of Totem Women and Executive Director for the Chamber of Mothers. Erin shares her motivation behind creating Totem Women and Chamber of Mothers and their mission to provide services to women in the workplace and beyond. They discuss the struggle for paid leave in the United States, advocating for women’s reproductive freedom, and the unequal distribution of labor within households. Erin also shares her worst advice and the harm it caused her. The speakers encourage men to take responsibility and join their advocacy work to improve the situation for mothers across the country.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

– Why paid parental leave is crucial for bonding and caring for newborns, promoting their health and development, reducing financial hardship, and maintaining employment

– The challenging process passing paid leave as a law

– The result of gendered division of labor in caregiving

– Why developing an advocacy blueprint and building a leadership team are crucial steps in creating effective advocacy campaigns for paid leave policies.

Quotes:

“I felt like I just couldn’t unsee the world through the lens of a woman who had become a mother, particularly from the standpoint that there was 0 cultural acknowledgment of this massive transition that a woman goes through when she becomes a mother.” – Erin Erenberg

“I think this all boils down to, including with Roe, etcetera, is that for some reason in this country, women are second class citizens.” – Jennifer Justice

“What I think about is, what’s my complicity in [crappysystems]? What are the ways in which I show up throughout the day that I’m complicit? What are some of the institutionalized toxic lies that I’ve taken in? And how can I be better about that?”

Resources:

Chamber of Mothers

Instagram: @chamberofmothers

http://www.chamberofmothers.com/

Totum Women

Instagram: @totumwomen

https://www.totumwomen.com/

Patrice is an award-winning former TODAY show producer who now runs a company helping brands and entrepreneurs tap into the power of their own stories in order to create the impact and income they want in life. Video and specifically storytelling on video is not a skill set every founder has, but it’s a lethal skill to have and can be the reason smaller brands and first-time entrepreneurs can compete with more established businesses. Her NY-based video storytelling company has worked with brands such as Netflix and Lululemon to influential course creators, startups and solopreneurs. She lives in Brooklyn with her three little boys and her British husband and she is the unofficial, but really official queen in the house! 

Listen to this Takin’ Care of Lady Business®, Jennifer Justice speaks with Patrice Poltzer, founder and CEO of Patrice Poltzer Creative, who talks about storytelling on video for branding. She opens up about her struggles in her twenties, feeling lost and like a failure, and how she eventually landed a job at NBC. It was there that she found her niche — creating cool video content for brands despite being underqualified.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

• Trusting the process and why it’s okay to not have everything figured out right away. 
• Helping founders tell their stories and market their businesses effectively
• Embracing your unique experiences and use them to your advantage.
• Finding mentors and a strong support system can help guide you and lift you up during challenging times.

Quotes:

“I always knew that I was meant for something different…I had to find my way, and it took a while, but I eventually found it.” – Patrice Poltzer

“Thankfully, now, it’s a different era now. Like, now everyone you come out of the womb, like, even my daughter can do things.” – Jennifer Justice

“I really believe that your network, and your support and your environment are such a critical part of your journey.” – Patrice Poltzer

“I am a testament to the fact that you can sort of stumble around for a while and still come out the other side.” – Patrice Poltzer

“Figure out what your own path is, and don’t let other people tell you what your path should be.” – Patrice Poltzer

“”You have to fail to succeed, and failure can be one of the best things that ever happens to you. It’s how you learn and grow.” – Patrice Poltzer

http://www.patricepoltzercreative.com/

https://www.instagram.com/patricepoltzer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricepoltzer

Patricia Lizarraga is the managing partner of Hypatia Capital, an asset manager focused on investing in women in leadership since 2007. Hypatia Capital Management is the issuer of the Hypatia Women CEO ETF (WCEO), an ETF investing in American public companies with female CEOs, small to mega cap. The WCEO has been nominated for Best Thematic ETF of the Year for the ETF.com Awards, 2023. Hypatia Capital also publishes both the Hypatia Women CEO Index, and the Hypatia Women Hedge Fund Index, both measure and promoting female performance in each asset class. Ms. Lizarraga has over 25 years of merchant banking experience, as well as is a founder of several successful companies. Ms. Lizarraga founded the Grupo del Ande in 1997 and is a founding and former Investment Committee member of Sigma SAFI, a leading asset manager in Peru. Prior to founding Hypatia Capital, she was a Managing Director at Credit Agricole Securities’ New York mergers & acquisitions group. She started her merchant banking career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

Ms. Lizarraga serves as an independent board member of Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE:BAP), the largest financial services conglomerate in Peru, where she is Chair of the Audit Committee, and former Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Banco de Credito del Peru, the largest bank in Peru. Ms. Lizarraga also serves as an Independent Trustee of the John Hancock Complex of Funds. She has served as the President of the Privatization Committee of the Toll Roads of Peru. Ms. Lizarraga is a Trustee for the Museum of Art of Lima.

Ms. Lizarraga received her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Yale University and her Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

Listen to this Takin’ Care of Lady Business®, Jennifer Justice speaks with Patricia Lizarraga, the managing director of Hypatia Capital. Hypatia Capital Management is the issuer of the Hypatia Women CEO ETF (WCEO). For those who don’t know, an ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a fund that’s made up of individual stocks that you can buy and sell every day. The benefit of this type of fund is that it’s liquid, meaning you can invest and take out your money whenever you want. This publicly traded fund has a hundred and thirty stocks in it, all of which have female CEOs. It’s the first of its kind in the investing world and is a big win for women who want to support and invest in companies run by women.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

– Learn how investing in the Hypatia Women’s CEO ETF can help create a more diverse and equitable future for female entrepreneurs.

– Discover the benefits of ETFs and the different ways you can invest in and support women-led businesses 

– Understand the potential for a future where women-led businesses receive equal opportunities to those of their male counterparts.

Quotes:

“As you invest in us, you’re investing in every single female CEO in the United States that’s publicly traded. It’s that powerful.” – Patricia Lizarraga.

“This and why I started the Justice Department and this podcast is, unapologetically, to make women rich. And you can only do that by giving each other business and really helping invest in each other, buying each other’s products, hiring each other, and this is such a great way, especially when it’s still basically in the patriarchal system.” – Jennifer Justice

“As a woman in a male-dominated industry, I wanted to make an investment product that was purposeful and made a difference every day.” – Patricia Lizarraga.

Website:

https://hypatiacapital.com/

Kelly Coller is the Chief Marketing Officer at Haus Labs by Lady Gaga and has been a critical partner in rebuilding the brand (under Founder Lady Gaga’s vision) and leading its retail expansion. Coller rebuilt three departments within Haus and is part of the powerhouse team responsible for the highly successful, best-selling, reimagined Haus Labs – from brand DNA and strategy to positioning, product marketing, storytelling, viral campaigns including TikTok, and more. Prior, Coller drove unprecedented global growth and expansion for celebrity/beauty startups including previous leadership roles at LVMH/Kendo (Kat Von D Beauty) – L‘Oreal and Sephora (Sephora Originals). Coller is recognized as the secret weapon behind Top 10 global makeup / founder brands and offers a unique lens – leading and developing breakthrough brands, firsts, and fan frenzy.

Listen to this Takin’ Care of Lady Business®, Jennifer Justice speaks with Kelly Coller, the CMO of Haus Labs by Lady Gaga. She explains how Haus Labs is disrupting the cosmetics industry with their commitment to sustainability and ethical production. Don’t miss this episode on how to stay true to brand ethos, open up to opportunities, and lead with kindness.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

– Ways Haus Labs is disrupting clean beauty

– The success of Haus Lab’s TikTok marketing campaign

– How House Labs is being sold at Sephora & their global expansion strategy

– How Haus Labs is building a conscious and successful brand

– Why women should be negotiating with kindness, not niceness

Quotes:

“I love celebrating women… I was trying to explain to my kids why women get a month and they’re like, “well, what do men get?” And I’m like, “everything”.” – Jennifer Justice

“We’re doing what we can to make a difference, not just to the environment, to your skin, and of course, being vegan and cruelty free too.” – Kelly Coller

“I’ve always said to disruption for the sake of disruption doesn’t help anybody. That’s a stunt, but it really has to be mindful about your brand DNA and what is your business driver that you’re trying to do?” – Kelly Coller

“Negotiations, I actually like them, to be perfectly honest, because I’ve done them so many times that I know how to get to and win.” – Jennifer Justice

Website:

http://www.hauslabs.com/

Betsy Morgan is the Co-Founder of Magnet Companies, a private equity-backed company focused on media and commerce, and an Associate Professor at Columbia Business School and Columbia College. Prior to Magnet, Ms. Morgan served as an Executive in Residence of LionTree, an advisory and merchant bank firm specializing in technology and media. Ms. Morgan was the CEO of TheBlaze, an early multi-platform and direct-to-consumer news and entertainment company. Prior to TheBlaze, Ms. Morgan was the first CEO of The Huffington Post. Ms. Morgan currently serves on the board of directors of the following privately-held companies: Cox Media Group, Trusted Media Brands and TheSkimm. She is also on the board of the publicly-traded company, Tripadvisor where she serves as Chair of the Compensation Committee. Ms. Morgan has an M.B.A from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Colby College, where she served as a member of the Board of Trustees for eight years. She is also a contributor to Riptide, an oral history of journalism and digital innovation created by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

Listen to this Takin’ Care of Lady Business® Jennifer Justice speaks with Betsy Morgan to discuss Magnet Companies, an operator and investor company backed by private equity. Their three portfolio companies, Dear Media, Love Seen, and Togethxr, specialize in audio podcasting, beauty products, and women in sport content respectively.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

– Women-focused podcasting network & the rise of women’s storytelling

– The benefit of working with people diametrically opposed to your interests.

– Addressing the disparity in women’s sports and asset value. 

– The power of women in male-focused industries. 

Quotes:

“Don’t let anyone in the marketplace, male or female, say, ‘stay in your lane’.” – Betsy Morgan

“Being a good listener means you can open up people [with different opinions] to new ideas.” – Betsy Morgan

“I love exposing [things that have been traditionally male] more and more to women.” – Jennifer Justice

Contact Betsy: Betsy@magnetcompanies.com

Magnet Companies: https://www.magnetcompanies.com

Dear Media: https://dearmedia.com

LoveSeen: https://loveseen.com

TOGETHXR: https://www.togethxr.com

Jenny Just is a visionary powerhouse, and one of the few self-made female billionaires in the United States. From the days of cutting her teeth on the trading floor in Chicago to now running a fintech empire, she has started and/or turned around more than fifteen companies. She has also made hundreds of private investments, including in such companies as Webull, Stash, QuantumScape, and Thrasio. 

Jenny co-founded PEAK6 in 1997 with $1.5M in seed capital as a proprietary options trading firm and since then has grown it into a multibillion-dollar financial services and technology giant housing the next generation of products & service brands including PEAK6 Capital Management, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, Apex Fintech Solutions, Apex Crypto, PEAK6 InsurTech, Evil Geniuses, and Zogo. 

With a true knack for unearthing talent and opportunities, Jenny looks for underfunded and underappreciated sectors to transform into high-growth businesses. Her passion specifically lies in finding opportunities for women to succeed at every table — from the classroom, to the conference room, to the poker room, to the boardroom.

This passion led her to launch Poker Power in 2020, a woman-led company that teaches poker to all who identify as female, and by extension, teaches women strategic thinking, capital allocation, and decision-making skills. Additionally, Jenny has created programs to help women advance their careers in trading, fintech, and technology. She founded the Women’s Trading Experience and Women’s Technology Experience programs in order tocreate a path for more women in fintech.

Finally, Jenny created Fintech In Action (FIA), a coalition of action-oriented corporations to accelerate progress, innovation, and opportunity in fintech and finance for Black students and professionals. FIA seeks to tangibly increase the pipeline of Black professionals for careers in fintech and finance and affect long-term change through equitable hiring, promotion, and talent retention.

In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business, Jenny Just discusses how poker skills can be applied to various business situations, including building strategies, fearlessness, negotiation skills, and adaptability

– Jenny Just’s journey from trading floor to fintech powerhouse.

– How PEAK6 launched Poker Power to teach women poker and help them excel in business.

– The power of poker skills in business to build strategies and fearlessness in finance.

– Learning negotiation skills and adaptability through poker can be applied to negotiating salaries and navigating unexpected situations.

– The importance of making money and acting on your opinions.

 Quotes:

“I think women you know, oftentimes you’re the only one going into it. So, you don’t have that opportunity for a partner but it’s really critical to find those people that you could, you know, share that that journey with.” – Jenny Just

“It also teaches you about adaptability and losing quickly and then getting back up.” – Jenny Just

“You get 0% of what you don’t ask for.” – Jennifer Justice

“You have to have an opinion. And what I realized from playing poker, actually, it’s not good enough just to have an opinion. You have to act on your opinion.” – Jenny Just

Website

https://www.jennyjust.com