Behind Her Empire Podcast: Hedley & Bennett CEO Ellen Bennett Says 'Start Before You're Ready'

Yasmin Nouri

Yasmin is the host of the "Behind Her Empire" podcast, focused on highlighting self-made women leaders and entrepreneurs and how they tackle their career, money, family and life.

Each episode covers their unique hero's journey and what it really takes to build an empire with key lessons learned along the way. The goal of the series is to empower you to see what's possible & inspire you to create financial freedom in your own life.

Behind Her Empire Podcast: Hedley & Bennett CEO Ellen Bennett Says 'Start Before You're Ready'
Carla Choy

On this episode of Behind Her Empire podcast, hear from Ellen Bennett, founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett, maker of durable, functional and slick-looking aprons and kitchen gear.

After attending culinary school in Mexico City, Ellen cooked in some of LA's most prestigious kitchens and found that the aprons she wore fell apart. Thus, Hedley & Bennett was born. Her aprons are now found in more than 6,000 restaurants and hotels, as well as hundreds of thousands of home kitchens around the world.


Key Takeaways:

  • Ellen thrives on the challenge and adventure of "the abyss" -- of not knowing what's coming next.
  • After high school, Ellen moved to Mexico City and took on a bunch of odd jobs, including stints as an English tutor, model and lottery television announcer, before attending culinary school.
  • Back in L.A., she cooked in some of the city's most prestigious kitchens, and while she immersed herself in the world, she and a colleague couldn't shake off the idea of reinventing the essential pro-kitchen tool: an apron. She wanted it to be "proper" and beautiful, so that the wearer felt awesome and legit — a product which, at the time, did not exist.
  • It was the need for operational infrastructure that pushed Ellen to find a strategic partner.

By the time I was old enough to recognize happiness, I think that I could very clearly see people's genuine joy in situations that had nothing to do with resources, and they had nothing to do with money and it just had to do with life.

Today with Instagram and everything, you have to constantly be reminding yourself that everyone is on their own path. And just because something looks shiny on the outside doesn't mean that it's shiny on the inside.

Most of the time, you have the tools right in front of you. It's just like, how are you arranging your life and your time and your day to take advantage of them? And it takes hitting the ground floor of life sometimes to really embrace them totally.

—Ellen Bennett

Ellen Bennett was raised in Los Angeles. She was trained in culinary school and some of L.A.'s top kitchens before founding Hedley & Bennett

Want to hear more of the Behind Her Empire podcast? Subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio or wherever you get your podcasts.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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