Smart Women Smart Solutions

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

Sarah Robinson + Noria Morales – Creating an Imaginative Play space for the Modern Family as Co-Founders of The Wonder

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Sarah Robinson + Noria Morales on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

My guests today, Sarah Robinson and Noria Morales, are co-founders of The Wonder, an absurdly playful members space for families.

The idea for The Wonder came about after Sarah had her first child and struggled to find a fun, whimsical play space that was creative. Not only is The Wonder a play space, but it also has a library, stroller detailing, cafe, a grown-ups only workspace and more.

I think you’ll love today’s show as Sarah and Noria talk about how they started this business venture, what’s it is like working together as co-founders, how they raised money and much more.

 

 

 

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

It’s so much more about the execution then it is about the idea.” – Sarah Robinson

Show Notes:

  • WHY Sarah and Noria decided to start The Wonder
  • REAL talk about the challenge of building a business while raising children (Sarah was working in the delivery room while birthing her second child!)
  • The Action Step they took BEFORE The Wonder opened to generate interest- GENIUS!
  • The importance of screen-free time for kid
  • HOW they make their partnership work
  • The PAINFUL story when one started to doubt the business idea would make it
  • Why it’s important to know what time of day you are most creative and focused
  • Their favorite quote that keeps them going
  • WHY talking to people about a VISION is more powerful than anything else you can do
  • The ticket to turning your ideas into reality – it’s all about the Execution

You’ve got 18 summers with these kiddos. You want to make the most of that time.” – Noria Morales

Connect with Sarah and Noria:

Facebook | Instagram | The Wonder

Any good idea, I guarantee you, there’s thousands of people in the world who have had the same idea. And it’s – who’s actually getting out of bed and making it happen?” – Sarah Robinson and Noria Morales

Nora Plesent – Creating a Market for Women in the Legal Field Seeking Creative and Flexible Career Options

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Nora Plesent on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

When my guest today, Nora Plesent, was getting ready to take her maternity leave with her first child, a co-worker in the law firm commented, “Wouldn’t it be great if there was just a temporary lawyer we could hire?” Nora saw a problem and went out to create a SOLUTION.

Nora, along with her co-founders went on to create Lexolution – a company that provides contract legal services to Law Firms. What started out in a basement in Scarsdale, New York, has turned into offices across the country including Lexolution New York, Washington D.C., Richmond, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Today, Nora gives a very authentic interview about the process of growing her business while maintaining quality service, the hardest years when she first moved to LA and what she did to get through it, and the KEY ingredient to guaranteed growth if you want to expand into new cities.

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

We’ve done things slowly, in a sense, but we have grown. And we have done it in a way where we have really never had to worry about the management of the office itself.” – Nora Plesent

Show Notes:

  • How Nora turned a question from a co-worker into the focus of a company
  • The #1 ingredient you MUST Have when planning to expand to new cities
  • Why it has been difficult to manage QUALITY over QUANTITY
  • How Nora dealt with opening a brand-new market when she first moved to LA
  • Nora’s Best ADVICE for women on the entrepreneurial journey
  • How meditation has changed Nora’s life and her approach to business
  • Nora’s Brand-New Venture for women

We were all about quality, quality, quality. We had the boutique quality people out there and as other companies came into the market it was all about quantity.” – Nora Plesent

Connect with Nora Plesent:

Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Lexolution

When I started meditating, I almost couldn’t even sit for five minutes because my life had been about moving, shaking, creating, doing.” – Nora Plesent

Lori Caden – Belly Bandit Co-Founder and Entrepreneurial Powerhouse Creating Solutions for Women

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Lori Caden on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

After a difficult moment in the cat litter aisle at Target that sent her running from the store, my guest Lori Caden, came to the conclusion that there had to be an easier way to look and feel better after childbirth.

Along with the collaboration of her two sisters, Lori co-founded their company, Belly Bandit, in 2008 and revolutionized the maternity world by introducing the first doctor-recommended, postpartum compression wrap. The Belly Bandit has had a major thumbs by Hollywood moms including Halle Berry, Jessica Alba and Kourtney Kardashian.

She’s full of energy and enthusiasm and additional new clothing lines, such as “Mother Tucker” are available online and also at Neiman Marcus.

 

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

All of our products are solution-based products.” – Lori Caden

Show Notes:

  • Lori’s embarrassing moment in Target that started the idea for Belly Bandit
  • How she got some early traction from major celebrity moms
  • The “old-school” marketing technique that put them on the map and helped them get noticed
  • The VERTICAL MARKET that Lori never expected to go into
  • How her new line, “Mother Tucker” shapewear came about
  • What it is like to be in business with her SISTERS
  • The 3 questions she asks herself before she says “yes!” to a new idea
  • And much, much more

Don’t be scared to ask for help to get to the next level.” – Lori Caden

Connect with Lori Caden:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Belly Bandit

As soon as people started asking for it, we would cut and sew these samples and hand them out.” – Lori Caden

Ellie Kanner and Lisa Solomon – Creating Their Own Game Plan

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Rainy afternoons can be challenging for moms with small children. Ellie Kanner was dealing with a rainy afternoon trying to keep her boys occupied when she got a BIG Idea. That’s when she immediately called her friend Lisa Solomon.

Ellie Kanner and Lisa Solomon met through their pre-school-aged boys, and later they came up with the idea to create The Game Plan Game, a game that helps children ponder the bigger questions in life.

Ellie is a renowned leader in the entertainment industry working as a talent agent, casting director, producer and director. She was responsible for casting the television pilots for “Friends,” “Sex and the City,” “Drew Carey,” along with a long list of other films that are household names. Recently, Ellie directed all 10 episodes of the short film series “Dropping the Soap” (for which Jane Lynch won an EMMY).

Meanwhile, Lisa is currently the Regional Manager for Los Angeles at Common Sense Media, the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. Prior to working with Common Sense, Lisa was a television producer with both CNN and CNBC Asia, based in Hong Kong. She started her career working for Nightline at ABC News.

They join me on today’s show to give some amazing tips about working together as co-founders, how they pulled off this project on top of their busy lives, and more.

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

We’ve had our moments when one of us may be down and another one may be up, and that’s the joy of our partnership.” – Lisa Solomon

Show Notes:

  • ONE essential you need on board to prevent you from giving up when you feel like throwing in the towel
  • Tips on how to make time to work on your passion project when you have super busy careers and a family
  • The SECRET to having a successful business partner
  • How to use “time cracks” to maximize your productivity
  • The ironic business advice that helped immensely
  • Important information to know before taking on a business partner
  • and MORE!

We knew what we wanted to do, but we didn’t know how to do it. And then at some point, you have to sort of take of breath and say ‘ok, what is the goal? What is the mission? What is the game plan?’, and that really helped us when we figured that out.” – Ellie Kanner

Connect with Ellie & Lisa:

Ellie Kanner | Lisa Solomon | The Game Plan Game

You may have 10 minutes in the car or 30 minutes between dinner and whatever you’re doing, and just really take advantage of those and think about what you can do in those time cracks to be more productive.” – Lisa Solomon

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