Smart Women Smart Solutions

With Joy Chudacoff, Leading Expert on Business Success and Lifestyle Design For Women

Coco Meers & Marcy Vermillion – Introducing Women to the Power of CBD

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Coco Meers and Marcy Vermillion on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

Marcy Vermillion had an unfortunate kayaking accident that, at age 32, left her unable to even walk her dog. This led her on a journey to the healing effects of CBD. Once she shared it with her good friend Coco Meers, Equilbria was born.

Coco and Marcy both sold their tech ventures realizing they were on to something for women. Now they are ready to introduce their premium, farm-fresh, full-spectrum CBD products to women across the globe. They have a unique approach; they offer something called Dosage Specialist Support to potential clients who aren’t sure where to begin or which products will best suit them.

In today’s episode, they share their biggest hurdle when building their business, the “three chains” in building a business, and their best steps to grow the brand. They also share advice that they often hear in the startup world that they disagree with, how to be comfortable knowing what you don’t know, and what should you plan for when things don’t go well.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

We’re so passionate about what cannabis and CBD can do for women and for women’s health, but it is not a one-size-fits-all.” – Coco Meers

Show Notes:

  • A step-by-step (think paint-by-number) explanation on WHY CBD is so healing for women
  • A HUGE challenge that COST them their Recurring Revenue (and how they overcame it!)
  • The “Three Chains” in Building a Successful Business
  • How Coco and Marcy went from Tech to CBD
  • ADVICE they hear in the start-up arena that is highly MISLEADING for Founders
  • How to determine what dose of CBD is right for you
  • WHY Daily Drops has become such a GENIUS product for Equilbria
  • Where they Find their Joy

CBD and women are such a perfect pair.” – Marcy Vermillion

Connect with Coco Meers and Marcy Vermillion:

Facebook | Instagram | Equilibria

At Equilibria we are owners of our own farm, so we can trace our batch and lot number all the way down to the genetics and the farmer who picked it.” – Coco Meers

Charlene Simon – The Art of Juggling Soaps, Cosmetics & Cupcakes

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Charlene Simon on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

She left school at 15 and had her three children by the time she was 20.

Today Charlene Simon is the real definition of a “serial” entrepreneur. She’s the CEO & Founder of three successful brands: Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium, Fat Bottom Girl’s Cupcakes and Villainess Beauty.

It all started in San Diego in 2000 when Charlene walked into a soap shop that had real, live, breathing goats out back. She was mesmerized. She spent hours in the local library teaching herself the chemistry of soap making.

In 2009 (not a great year for the economy), she remembered her boss saying once, “You have to strike on real estate in a recession.” So she took $700 (all the money she had) and she went for it. She opened her first Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium.

It’s been a wild ride and one that continues to spiral upward for this straight-talking entrepreneur who makes all her decisions on “feelings.”

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

“The fear is fuel.” – Charlene Simon

Show Notes:

  • Why starting a business in a RECESSION was her BIG Break (it was the perfect time)
  • Why FEELINGS matter most to her when making decisions (she needs to feel the JOY)
  • Why CUPCAKE WARS kept calling her to be a contestant on the show – it had to do with a T-Shirt
  • Her Most DIFFICULT Business Moment – (two blocks down the street)
  • GENIUS Advice on how to handle COMPETITION
  • Her “BUFFET” Analogy (what are you hungry for?)
  • TIPS on Dealing with CRITICISM
  • And much, much more!

“Competition is nothing; I don’t even look at other people.” – Charlene Simon

Connect with Charlene Simon:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium

“If it doesn’t bring me joy, I know not to touch it.” – Charlene Simon

Wendi Weiner – The journey From a Lucrative Career as a Lawyer to Becoming The Writing Guru

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Wendi Weiner on She's Got Moxie

Wendi Weiner was well established as an attorney earning a significant income but her true passion was writing. Her parents even nick-named her, “The Writing Guru.” She started a side hustle of writing even though she was putting in 50-60 hours a week as a lawyer. It turned out to be a very good decision.

Fast forward to today: Wendi has been featured in over 75 media outlets — from CNBC to CNN and The Huffington Post — as a leading authority in personal branding, social storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process. Her business, The Writing Guru, provides corporate branding services to Fortune 25 companies and she regularly gives talks on topics ranging from personal branding to resume writing, reputation management, and social networking. She believes that if we want to have our own business doing something we love, we have to change our mindset about time. We don’t work nine to five. We work whenever.

In today’s episode, Wendi shares how to balance your full-time job with your side hustle, the secret to getting media coverage, and how to become a household name.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

The personal fulfillment drives my passion, which is something that people see when they talk to me.” – Wendi Weiner

Show Notes:

  • How it felt to get her “Carrie Bradshaw moment”
  • WHY it’s good to listen to your Mom
  • How attending a conference led to her “LIGHT-BULB” moment
  • What it really takes to go from SIDE HUSTLE to a successful six-figure business
  • How to align your full-time job with your side hustle
  • The secret for getting media coverage (Wendi has been featured over 75 MEDIA Outlets!)
  • The most important action step for new entrepreneurs
  • How to become a household name in your industry
  • Her “Non-Negotiable” Daily Ritual
  • The most difficult part of entrepreneurship
  • How she adjusted having her hubby “come home” to work during the Pandemic (I could relate so much to her story here!)
  • Her best ADVICE on how to move through the really difficult days
  • Where she Finds her JOY

Your business and style are going to evolve over time. Don’t be afraid of it.” – Wendi Weiner

Connect with Wendi Weiner:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | The Writing Guru

The amount of work I generate in a day probably can’t be done by a lot of people.” – Wendi Weiner

Linda Rose – Get Acquired for Millions!

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Linda Rose on She's Got Moxie

She’s the go-to-gal when it comes to helping companies get acquired and now she’s back with a NEW book to help you simply and easily understand how to get your business ready to be acquired!

Serial entrepreneur Linda Rose joined me on the podcast to talk about her NEW book, Get Acquired for Millions: A Roadmap for Technology Service Providers to Maximize Company Value.

Linda is a big proponent of listening to your clients before anyone else and running a company to sell rather than running a company to grow. She urges other entrepreneurs to think bigger and find mentors that can help them broaden their mindset.

On today’s show, Linda shares how CEOs can get away for up to a month without hearing from their team, two things she wishes she knew before she became an entrepreneur, and the value of organization intellectual property. She explains the Banana Concept, which book has impacted her life, and where she finds her joy.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

My joy is the bottom line.” – Linda Rose

Show Notes:

  • Why your clients are more important than anyone else – LISTEN!
  • Her solo journey on the Pacific Crest Trail and how this experience changed her entrepreneurial journey (she hiked for 500 miles ALONE!)
  • The different types of revenue and the ones you should be keeping your eye on
  • The difference between running a company to GROW and running a company to SELL
  • Details on completing four Big Acquisitions During COVID
  • The PERFECT Time to Sell your Business
  • A Step-by-Step plan for you to leave your business for a MONTH without any communication with your Team (not even a single TEXT)
  • What “single points of FAILURE” are and how to remove this obstacle in your business
  • The Banana CONCEPT – Brilliant!
  • The Metric that is more VALUABLE than SALES
  • The two things Linda Rose wishes she knew before she became an entrepreneur
  • How Linda Sets Goals – Pure GOLD!
  • The value of organization intellectual property
  • Two books that have impacted Linda’s life
  • Where Linda finds her joy
  • And much, much more

You have to stop thinking like an owner and start thinking like a buyer.” – Linda Rose

Connect with Linda Rose:

LinkedIn | Twitter | RoseBiz

It can fetch value if you identify it, package it, and give it a name.” – Linda Rose

Alli Webb & Meredith Quill – Hearts Be Still. Meet Becket & Quill Jewelry

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

She mastered the market when it comes to blowouts & massage! Now she’s back with a new jewelry line and partner in crime!

Serial entrepreneur, Alli Webb (co-founder of Drybar, co-founder of Squeeze) and Meredith Quill joined me on the show to talk about their new venture, Becket + Quill jewelry.

Alli has always looked for “affordable luxury” in business ventures and Becket + Quill fit the bill. Becket + Quill focuses on jewelry that’s “high end, not high spend.”

On today’s show, Alli talks about how she met Meredith and why she decided to get into the jewelry business. Meredith tell us about the moment she fell in love with jewelry for the first time and what it’s like to have a business partner.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

The beauty of this business is that you can be wearing things that look very expensive, but really aren’t.” – Alli Webb

Show Notes:

  • Alli shares Why Jewelry and Why Now?
  • The #1 ingredient you MUST have to gain a sustainable, LOYAL following
  • What Alli looks for when evaluating a business opportunity
  • Details on their partnership and why opposites attract
  • The moment Meredith discovered that Jewelry was her true passion
  • Alli shares how a direct-to-consumer brand is so different from brick & mortar and the lessons she’s learning
  • How they both handle the “crawl into the fetal position, I’m never coming out” moments as a woman entrepreneur
  • Where they both Find Their Joy
  • Alli’s truth-telling on what it really takes to become a successful brand
  • And much, much more

Listening and being open to other ideas is important.” – Meredith Quill

Connect with Alli Webb & Meredith Quill:

Instagram | Becket + Quill

We have very different skillsets and we’re both very aware of that.” – Alli Webb

Jesse Draper Unplugged – Getting Real About What it Takes to Succeed With The CEO & Founder of Halogen Ventures

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Jesse Draper is back for an encore! She was on the podcast back in 2018 and this time I had the pleasure of sharing her wisdom with the members of my private, online membership community, ALIGN online. It was SO good. I’m calling it, “Jesse Draper Unplugged.” She’s just raised $21M to invest in the next generation of female-founded businesses and on this episode, she takes a deep dive with us!

Jesse started her career in the entertainment industry and along the way discovered she had a “superpower” or maybe it was “x-ray vision” when it comes to knowing what it takes to be a winning idea in business. She started focusing on building an early stage venture capital fund focused on female-founded consumer technologies, which led to the creation of Halogen Ventures.

Jesse talks how she found her footing in the venture capital world, her best tips on pitching ideas to investors, the importance of insane optimism, and why you should always ask for feedback.

If you’re looking for investors or bootstrapping, this episode is for you.

You can be what you can see.” – Jesse Draper

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

For women, we are taught to give away money before we are taught to take risk with our money and that’s a problem.” – Jesse Draper

Show Notes:

  • How Jesse went from the entertainment industry to the venture capital world
  • Everyone suffers from Imposter Syndrome and why you need to just keep going
  • Her Insider “SECRETS” on pitching investors – PURE GOLD!
  • Why Jesse decided to focus on female-founders and her perspective on female-founder disruptors
  • 3 Must-Haves she looks for before giving the Green Light
  • The BIGGEST challenge for female founders (and her expert advice on how to overcome it)
  • Why asking for FEEDBACK is key
  • The Type of LEADER you have to become to succeed – BRILLIANT
  • The Essential ingredient to every business (you may be surprised!)

Bootstrap as long as you can.” – Jesse Draper

Connect with Jesse Draper:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Halogen Ventures

You can’t do anything alone.” – Jesse Draper

Melissa Vitelli – From Fashion Photographer to Co-founder & CEO of Jar Goods

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Melissa Vitelli on She's Got Moxie with Joy ChudacoffMy guest, Melissa Vitelli, had a successful career in fashion photography but she found her herself being drawn to the food industry through her hobby of vegetable gardening. She joined together with her sister-in-law Lauren and Jar Goods was born. They initially found success at Farmer’s Markets and this led them directly into the arms of Whole Foods.

On today’s show, Melissa talks about how she and her sister-in-law decided to take her father-in-law’s famous tomato sauce recipe and turn it into a thriving business. She shares how she brought her small side business into grocery stores across the country, some of her most pivotal moments as an entrepreneur, how she’s dealt with the challenges of entrepreneurship and more.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

People who need quick foods, should not be relegated to low quality.” – Melissa Vitelli

Show Notes:

  • What it was like to move from Fashion photography to the FOOD industry
  • How their decision to go with mom-and-pop stores first before hitting the Big Guns of Whole Foods and AMAZON paid off
  • Why beginning in FARMERS MARKETS was their Golden Ticket
  • WHEN she realized she was on to something with her business
  • The moment she decided to add more flavors to the mix – she shares it’s the key to creating a BRAND Block
  • She’s learned it’s all about being CONSUMER CENTRIC
  • Her experience at the CHOBANI Food Incubator
  • Why Jar Goods decided to try a subscription model
  • Her perspective on why you shouldn’t listen to other people’s ADVICE
  • Where she Finds her Joy
  • And much, much morel

In order to do it, it doesn’t matter what industry, you have to be very risk tolerant.” – Melissa Vitelli

Connect with Melissa Vitelli:

Facebook | Instagram | Jar Goods

The creative juices are not going to flow if you force them.” – Melissa Vitelli

Jennifer Saxton – Founder & CEO, Tot Squad, From Cleaning Dirty Car Seats to Partnering With Walmart and Amazon

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Jennifer Saxton on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

From cleaning dirty car seats to partnering with Walmart and Amazon, she’s out to revolutionize the Baby Registry Business. It all started with cleaning dirty (Eew..) car seats.

My guest Today, Jennifer Saxton, is zeroed in on the millennial mindset. “They don’t want more ‘stuff,’ they want more help, more experiences.”

With that knowledge, she created Tot Squad, a business that connects parents with the experts they need from pregnancy until early childhood.

It all started with Jennifer driving around in a van cleaning dirty car seats and today, she’s expanded the business locking arms with giants such as Walmart and Amazon.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

Finding the right people on your team is always the hardest part.” – Jennifer Saxton

Show Notes:

  • How Jennifer honed in on what millennials VALUE Most and created a business around it
  • How she CONVINCED retailers not to take a cut of her profits (Brilliant)
  • How Tot Squad changed, emerged and EXPANDED as Jennifer became a mother
  • Jennifer’s mentality on getting into stores and why that was a WIN-WIN for everyone
  • What it was like for a slice of Tot Squad to get ACQUIRED during the Pandemic
  • The incident that left her on the side of the road IN TEARS
  • How her LEADERSHIP style has evolved
  • Her advice on WHY you should keep your DAY JOB (PURE Gold)
  • The advice she wished she would have had on her FIRST DAY as an entrepreneur

When you’re an entrepreneur you can’t work this hard if you don’t like the people that you work with and you don’t like what you’re doing.” – Jennifer Saxton

Connect with Jennifer Saxton:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tot Squad

With my team, I really focus on honing in on what your strengths are.” – Jennifer Saxton

Emily Groden – How Watching a Netflix Food Show Led This Attorney Away From The Courtroom & Into The Kitchen

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Emily Groden on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

My guest today, Emily Groden, Founder & CEO of Evergreen, typically worked late at her law office in Chicago most nights, however, one evening she found herself at home watching a food show on Netflix.

What happened next changed the entire course of her career…and it involved sending a “cold” email to someone.

Fast forward to today, Evergreen, launched in early March 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, and is now in more than 49 Whole Foods locations in the Midwest, as well as many other Midwest stores.

On today’s show, Emily tells us all about her emotional journey of being in a start-up, why she started to distrust processed food, and how the show Chef’s Table changed her life. She talks about the importance of endurance, how her professional swimming background helped her in her life, and much more.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

I feel really lucky to have worked in a start-up environment prior to starting Evergreen myself.” – Emily Groden

Show Notes:

  • The story of how a late night “COLD” email changed her career trajectory
  • Why you should pay attention to CLUES (she had them along the way but ignored them)
  • The QUESTION you need to ask yourself before every business move
  • The story of the LAUNCH moment (a paper bag, paper plates, utensils and her toaster)
  • The QUICK decision she made when ALL Manufacturers said “NO”
  • Simple, NO-COST Tips on gaining Brand Awareness in a Start-up
  • How she gets through the really tough days – she shares the “Emotional Journey U”
  • Her Best ADVICE on just getting started (it involves a homemade jam story)

Building a start-up business is not a sprint, is a marathon.” – Emily Groden

Connect with Emily Groden:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Evergreen

Define your principles on day one and then stick to them.” – Emily Groden

Strategy & Consulting

Imagine… finally discovering someone who truly cares about your success and believes in you. Someone who has the knowledge and a step-by-step approach to help you get clear, confident and focused on your vision and dream as a woman entrepreneur. Learn More

Recent Blog Posts

We’d Love to Connect!

We're here to help you get results and increase profits without burning out! Call us at 310-454-2005 or email us to learn more about how Joy's services can help you in your business.