The Badass CEO

An entrepreneur’s breakthrough idea usually comes from seeing the “missing piece” in people’s day to day and finding a solution for it. Rebecca Allen's “missing piece” resulted in ethical sourcing, focusing on the need for more inclusion and diversity in basics such as nude clothing, shoes, and accessories. Working in the financial industry, she realized how little diversity there was in high-quality nude heels (an essential for her corporate job). She felt there needed to be more inclusion and empowerment for women of all skin colors. She set out to do this by ethical sourcing, swatching, and talking to friends & family all leading her to start her own leather high heel company that is now partnering with Nordstrom! Episode Contents Inspiration From Shoes Under the Desk Generosity of People in Your Network Approaches to Cultivating Customers Raising Money And First Successes Some Stats on Women Entrepreneurs Big Challenges and Best Lessons Ethical Sourcing and Affiliate Networ

Michele Bailey, Founder of Blazing Agency Michele Bailey is the founder of the Blazing Group, a brand and culture agency founded in Michele's goal to enhance employee wellness during the pursuit of business goals. She is a ForbesBooks author, popular speaker, and mentor. This week, she joined us on IG Live to talk about company culture, gratitude, and how she has achieved her professional. “When we put gratitude at the core of our personal and professional goals, it fosters new relationships, growth, and it comes back to you in spades.” - Michele. Her work stems from the desire to make a better, more employee-centered work environment where the business goals are married to improving company culture. She emphasizes the distinction between work-life BALANCE and BLEND - there is no perfect balance between chasing, so we have to work towards INTEGRATION. Michele Bailey ’s Top Tips For Better Leadership and Employee Management: Allow people to become aligned in their work and personal

Self-described serial entrepreneur, Sarah Gavigan chose to pivot in her career and follow her passion? Sarah explains how she moved from the entertainment industry to be a three-time entrepreneur and bring ramen to Nashville. Her shop Otaku Ramen is a cult favorite with multiple pop-up shops spread out throughout the Nashville area. She talks about what it takes to be a serial entrepreneur, succeed in the male-dominated food industry, and what it is like exposing the South to new cuisine and paving the way for a more diverse food culture. Episode Contents Plans Don’t Always Go To Plan Timing Matters What Worked So Well On Being A Serial Entrepreneur Learning On Someone’s Else’s Dollar After the Book, What’s Next for a Serial Entrepreneur? Ways of Financing And Choosing Investors Choices Parents Make With The Best Intentions Links Mimi: Today we are talking to a three-time entrepreneur who transitioned from a fast-paced life in the entertainment industry, then moved home to Nashville to

Pamela Ayusa Real Estate CEO Pamela on the 7 Pillars of a Successful Business. I had the privilege of speaking with a fellow Columbia University graduate and real estate CEO, Pamela Ayuso, about the 7 Pillars she used to grow her company. She is a real estate entrepreneur and property developer as CEO of Celaque in Honduras. From her experience of starting and building her company, Pamela decided to share her insights and strategies for building a sustainable and successful company. So she recently released a new book, Heptagram: The 7-Pillar Business Design System for the 21st Century . She breaks down the Optimal Company Design System into 7 pillars: Structure Processes Information Systems Metrics Trust Self-learning Plasticity You need to structure your company the right way for the type of business you have. It is imperative to design and implement standard operating processes in your company and information systems for everyone to be on the same page and for your workforce to be o

The consumer packaged goods industry is one of the hardest industries to breakthrough. By beating the odds, entrepreneur, Michelle Retik found her niche and has built up B.A.D. Food Co. to be the star of grain and GMO-free foods. She has been able to get into 800 retail all while being an active mother of four children during a pandemic! How did she do it? She tells us everything on this episode of Badass CEO. Tune in to hear how she raised funds for her business, and grew B.A.D. Foods during a pandemic and how she beat the food giants and got her product into hundreds of retail stores. Episode Contents Teenage Dreams Don’t Often Go As Planned Pivotting Amid a Pandemic Personal Conviction Keeps You Moving Forward Consumer Packaged Goods Is A Hard Industry to Break Into There Is Always The Financing Question Finding Solutions To Challenges Links Teenage Dreams Don’t Often Go As Planned Words from experience by Michelle Retik Mimi: Hi, welcome back to The Badass CEO, this is Mimi. Toda