“How I Built This with Guy Raz” is an NPR podcast that takes a look at the entrepreneurial journey of founders and CEO’s who have changed the world. Episodes are about an hour each and start at the very beginning – often in the interviewee’s childhood. They go through the ups and downs, the challenges and victories, the relationships and personal things on the side, and everything else that helps form the entrepreneurial journey.
I’ve been listening to the “How I Built This with Guy Raz” podcast religiously, ever since my sophomore year. I’m sure my professor who gave the assignment of listening to one episode thought a few of us may start following along, but I don’t think he could have imagined how impactful this podcast would be for me. As an entrepreneur and, of course, woman, I have nothing short of sheer admiration for the powerful stories of the women who grew their companies to become household names. While, naturally, not every company featured on HIBT has a woman at the helm, they are not in short supply!
Today, I’m sharing (in no particular order) nine of my favorites with you! Any of these stories would be a great first episode to give a listen, and there are so many more to explore! Even if you aren’t interested in entrepreneurship, there is so much to learn from these women.
- Jo Loves: Jo Malone CBE
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Oh. My. Goodness.
Jo Malone’s life story had me feeling all the emotions – literally. She has been through it all and built herself an empire – twice. I thought I knew what the Jo Malone brand was, but I had no idea. This story is powerful and insightful, and Jo even addresses how she is pivoting to deal with COVID-19 and how it has been impacting her business (episode released May 2020).
- Briogeo: Nancy Twine
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If you’ve never heard of Nancy Twine, here’s a bit of background: not only did she work on Wall Street prior to founding her own clean hair product line, she’s the youngest African-American to launch a product line at Sephora.
- S’well: Sarah Kauss
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Sarah Kauss’s story had some twists and turns I simply did not see coming. Personally, I don’t know how I would have dealt with some of them either. Sarah Kauss is a woman on a mission. Now that she’s created the water bottle of her dreams, she’s focused on eliminating plastic waste worldwide.
- Minted: Mariam Naficy
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Mariam Naficy went from being a co-founder of the first major online cosmetics retailer to the founder of one of the biggest crowdsourcing platforms on the Internet. Seriously. Oh, and now she’s also an angel investor.
- Tate’s Bake Shop: Kathleen King
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Kathleen King started her entrepreneurial journey at age 11 selling cookies at her family farmstand on Long Island. Since then, she’s built two cookie brands and gained a lot of life experience. Honestly, I’ve listened to this episode three times all the way through. There is so much to learn from Kathleen’s story!
- Canva: Melanie Perkins
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I’ve used Canva to create graphics for my blog for years, but learning that Canva has its roots in yearbook design made me appreciate it even more. I mean, I’m pretty sure that if you ask anyone who has been a yearbook editor, they’ll tell you they wish there was a way to make it simpler. All of that aside, Melanie Perkins is one of the youngest female CEOs of a tech startup valued at over a billion dollars. Yes, billion. And as of October 2020? Canva is valued at $6 billion.
- M.M.LaFleur: Sarah LaFleur
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Simple, well-tailored clothing for working women? What a radical concept.
A concept that Sarah LaFleur took and ran with.
“When women succeed in the workplace, the world becomes a better place.” is a core belief I can get behind!
- Chilewich: Sandy Chilewich
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Sandy Chilewich’s story of stumbling across something amazing, getting what you can out of it, and then trying to figure out the next steps was both entertaining and insightful. And it all started with bleaching cotton shoes in 1978!
- Chesapeake Bay Candle: Mei Xu
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When I think back to listening to this episode of HIBT, the first word that comes to mind is resilience. Mei Xu went from making candles in Campbell’s soup cans to having her product on the shelves of Target. She is a woman who just keeps making things happen.
These women are incredible, and they’re just the tip of the iceberg! There are so many more incredible stories on HIBT and elsewhere in the world, just waiting to be told. If you found these intriguing, I highly recommend checking out the HIBT catalog for more!
Let us know what you’re listening to these days by tagging @HCatLUM on social media, and if you ever want to swap podcast recommendations, feel free to send me a DM on Instagram!