This week, hear from Aishwarya Iyer, the founder CEO of Brightland, an artisan oil and vinegar brand started in 2018.
Iyer began her entrepreneurial journey after doing some research on possible causes for her upset stomach—which led her to learn more about cooking oils after cutting dairy and gluten from her diet. She discovered that 70% of olive oils Americans consume are either rotten, rancid or has been adulterated — diluted by other inferior quality oils — and no one was talking about it.
Iyer's career started in New York City, after she secretly transferred to NYU. After graduation, she found herself at L'Oreal, and then began working at a startup.
"That's where I think I really sunk my teeth into what it means to move quickly," she said. After, she pivoted to work in fintech.
For Iyer, it was "a matter of like, why me, why should I do this? I didn't go to Harvard in terms of like business school, I wasn't a famous chef or restauranteur. I'm very much like an average normal person who spotted something."
In the early days of creating her business, she was bogged down by her own criticism, she said, and grappling with imposter syndrome.
After rewriting her personal narrative, Iyer realized she was uniquely well equipped for entrepreneurship. She has a background in marketing, communications, brand building and investing. Her background in investing was especially important, she said, as it allowed her to bootstrap her company for over a year before turning to investors. She also said that her background give her insight into the kind of investors she was looking for — ones that are hands-off.
Iyer also shared her thoughts on what it means to be a female founder. She shared her distaste for the idea that female founders should also have to function as influencers, with their image as the face of their brand. She said she found that wouldn't work for her, and that it's an expectation only placed on women.
In the rest of the episode, Aishwarya shared how she creates harmony for herself, working with California farms directly and the importance of the abundance mindset.
Aishwarya Iyer is the founder and CEO of Brightland.
"I also wanted to shape our destiny a bit. And I wanted to understand our product-market fit understand our customer. And I also wanted to understand like why I would need investors besides the capital — are there arenas that folks could help us out [to] be more strategic about it. And so, yeah, we were bootstrapped for over a year, and it was hard, and you know, but it taught me a lot of lessons. And it was definitely the right move." —Aishwarya Iyer
dot.LA Engagement Intern Colleen Tufts contributed to this post.
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Behind Her Empire: Rebecca Minkoff Isn't Seeking Balance, She's Looking For Fearless Authenticity
On this episode of Behind Her Empire, hear from Rebecca Minkoff, co-founder of her namesake lifestyle brand. Her company sells handbags, clothing, jewelry and footwear, and has expanded to include the podcast she hosts, titled "Superwomen," and a network called The Female Founders Collective that celebrates the work of women founders.
Minkoff moved to New York City when she was 18 to follow her dream of becoming a fashion designer. She talks extensively about working hard trying to find a foothold in the city, building her business from the ground up, hustling to make connections and get her designs into production.
She found overnight success with her redesigned "I Love NY" charity tee commemorating 9/11, which served as a springboard for her career. She took a big gamble on handbags, using the last of her money to mock up a few samples. She connected with a buyer in L.A. who she met by word of mouth, and her brand took off.
Her brother joined to help her manage the business side of her brand, coming on board as the CEO. She shares how they bootstrapped the early days of their business so they wouldn't have to compromise their vision and design for stakeholders.
Minkoff talks a lot about the risks she took to reach success, including her bid to use influencers to model her goods before it was common and prioritizing ecommerce. Adaptability and resourcefulness are skills of which she is fond, especially in 2020.
Minkoff also talks about her take on motherhood, the pros and cons of venture funding, trusting her instincts and how networking made her career.
Rebecca Minkoff is the the co-founder of Rebecca Minkoff, the host of "Superwomen" and creator of The Female Founders Collective. Her debut book titled "Fearless" comes out June 15th.
"I really had to say, Okay, what is the worst that could happen? losing everything? Okay, well, wait, I'm not losing everything. They can't take my kids, and they can't take my husband. And they can't take from me what I did to build this. And if I had to build something else, even if it was beach chairs, I could build it again." —Rebecca Minkoff
dot.LA Engagement Intern Colleen Tufts contributed to this post.
Want to hear more of the Behind Her Empire podcast? Subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radioor wherever you get your podcasts.
This week, I sat down with Lia Valencia Key, the founder of the jewelry brand Valencia Key.
Lia was born and raised in an impoverished part of Philadelphia, and grew up in a homeless shelter with her mom and siblings.
Lia's mother made it clear that her family could not give up hope, telling her children, "your predicament doesn't determine your destiny." Lia describes how her mother planted a number of seeds within her despite the hardships they both endured, pushing her to be a leader and giving her the power of choice in her own life.
Inspired by her mother's words, Lia went on to get a master's in education. She realized she had a passion for beauty, and went on to cosmetology school.
For Lia, it is important to always be aware of where she is headed, to reach for completion and to be open to asking for help. These values eventually landed her a QVC, where she was able to launch and sell her own jewelry line.
In our interview, Lia is candid about how hard she had to work to reach her goals. She describes five years of rejection from QVC, only to eventually meet someone with the network that connected her.
"No does not mean always no," Lia says. "It means not now. It means gear up. It means train more. It means sharpen up. It means — maybe even — shift a little of perspective." It was this mindset that steered her towards her vision.
We also discussed dealing with and overcoming fear at length. Lia says that some fears never get vanquished, you simply know how to address them when they come up. She talks about how writing is a major hurtle for her to this day, but it's something she knows she can handle. She also highlights the importance of being authentic and showing up as yourself, because it leaves room for people to appreciate and love you for who you are.
On the rest of this episode, Lia and I discussed her career at QVC, her mentality and values, why she chose jewelry and why she keeps choosing joy.
Lia Valencia Key is the founder of Valencia Key Jewelry.
"If you choose life, that means you choose to keep going, and you choose to find that sparkle even in the valleys. And when you find that spark, when you get back up, and you find it again and you go by that. That, to me, is true wealth." — Lia Valencia Key
Want to hear more of the Behind Her Empire podcast? Subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio or wherever you get your podcasts.
dot.LA Engagement Intern Colleen Tufts contributed to this post.