AI isn’t coming. It’s already here and small business owners are using it right now to move faster, stay lean, and compete smarter. In “AI in the Real World,” Ladies Who Launch brought together founders Katie Blouin and Samantha Gold, alongside AI product leader Anika Gupta, to show exactly how that’s happening. From AI-powered PR systems and wholesale outreach to workflow automation and customer insights, this session breaks down how real businesses are using tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Zapier to get more done without building massive teams. Across the conversation, speakers also name-dropped 20+ AI tools they actively use (and recommend!), giving founders a practical starting point to build their own stack.

The big takeaway? AI is a force multiplier, not a magic button. The founders who win are the ones experimenting, building systems, and treating AI like a true teammate. Think less “one-off prompts,” more repeatable workflows that actually run your business. If you’ve been wondering where AI fits into your day-to-day, this is your starting point and your permission slip to dive in.

Companion PDF - Founder Favorites: Recommended AI Tools for Small Businesses

Consumer trust is low, attention is fragmented, and “perfect” content is everywhere. In this moment, stories grounded in lived experience are simply more believable than polished messaging, and they help people decide not just what to buy, but who to trust.

In this webinar, Elena Miller joins Ladies Who Launch to unpack why authenticity sells, how founders can share their stories without oversharing, and how to turn personal context into a strategic asset for their brand. The conversation explores the difference between storytelling and content, how to attract the right community while repelling the wrong one, and how to use AI as a mirror, editor, and translator without losing your personal voice.

Watch this conversation to learn how to tell stories that feel honest, confident, and human, and that actually change how customers engage with your business.

ABOUT ELENA

Elena Miller is an author, Fortune 500 speaker, and entrepreneur. Her story-driven approach to personal and professional growth has made her a sought-after voice for women entrepreneurs. Through her journals, affirmation cards, and corporate workshops, she’s taught thousands how to strengthen their relationship with themselves while building brands that resonate on a deeper level.

Learn more:

• Elena’s website https://www.elena-miller.com/en

• Elena on Instagram: instagram.com/elena.noemi.miller

• Elena on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/elena-miller

In this webinar, author Dina Denham Smith spoke about how the emotional demands in workplaces are higher than ever before. She taught us how to better recognize and navigate emotional events in our businesses, and offered strategies and tools to help us handle triggers as they arise.

Download Dina’s BRAVE framework.

ABOUT DINA

Dina Denham Smith is an accomplished leader and executive coach with a proven track record of helping people and teams amplify their impact thrive. Drawing on firsthand executive experience and deep expertise in organizational psychology, she coaches senior leaders at premier companies such as Adobe, Netflix, Goldman Sachs, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), Sephora, Dropbox, Stripe, and many high-growth startups.

A widely published thought leader, Dina has written over 60 articles on leadership and career success for publications such as Harvard Business Review and Fast Company. Her work is frequently featured in global media including The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Newsweek, and the BBC. She is the lead author of the bestselling new book, Emotionally Charged: How to Lead in the New World of Work (Oxford Press, 2025).

Ladies Who Launch's Webinar Series Presents:

The Perfect Launch: Sell More With Amazon

Air Date: October 3, 2023

Join Ladies Who Launch and Amazon’s Small Business Partnership team to learn the five programs that Amazon sellers utilized in the first 90 days of launch to attain healthy levels of sales growth over time. Amazon data scientists have found that sellers who have successfully achieved the Perfect Launch are 5.2x more likely to generate $100K in first-year revenue than other sellers. Learn from Abby Malchow, Amazon’s Manager of Small Business Partnerships, who will share information on the resources and programs Amazon has to help enable your small business success!

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding the critical role of protecting your intellectual property

• Leveraging our network of fulfillment to provide a seamless customer experience

• Enhancing your product listings through A+ content

• Engaging in automated pricing to automatically compete against the competition

• Launching advertisement campaigns to extend your reach

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Ladies Who Launch's Webinar Series Presents:

How to Start Selling in Amazon’s Store

Air Date: June 20, 2023

Discover if your small business is ready to sell in Amazon’s store and how to get started. Learn the fundamentals of selling with Amazon including what to sell and when, how to list and deliver your products, and how to grow and scale your brand online. We also share information on the resources and programs Amazon has to help enable small business success.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn if you’re ready to start selling in Amazon’s store, what to sell & when

• Learn how to start selling in Amazon’s store, to include listing and delivering your products

• Learn how to grow and scale your brand online, to include resources and programs Amazon has to help enable success for small businesses and entrepreneurs

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Ladies Who Launch's Webinar Series Presents:

Scaling Your Small Business

Wholesale & Omni Channel Strategies Featuring Walmart

Do you worry about how your business will find new customers and grow? Unsure of how to set up your small business for wholesale success? Look no further! 

On February 22nd, LWL and Walmart are teamed up to bring you an expert panel that could help accelerate your growth strategy and have your business flying in 2022. They discussed what it is really like to prepare for, access, build, and scale wholesale partnerships and explore omni channel merchandising.

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]]>Scaling Your Small BusinessLadies Who LaunchWed, 14 Jul 2021 04:58:03 +0000https://www.ladieswholaunch.org/webinars/public-relations5b6ba73389c172b48defb895:5f29bd3d9d9c8c1f18a97ff1:60ee6a7f2ee8b51fd9381ce8PR 101 Webinar

A PR 101 Crashcourse for women, femme, and non-binary entrepreneurs! Join us for a one-hour webinar with PR expert Nancy Cestelan from Rebellious PR for a PR crash course. We know you want to get your business or product in publications like Fortune, SELF or O, but how? When you speak with publications, how should you pitch yourself and your business? What tools and organization do you need to make this process simple and streamlined? This webinar guides you through everything you need to know about PR, and how it can help your business. Specifically, we cover: - What exactly is PR - How to develop your story - Valuable resources and tools available to use to get your media relations up and running - How to build a media kit.

Watch the full webinar below:

Nancy Castelan, Rebellious PR

“Her PR career began at H+M communications, a Hispanic PR agency, where she learned the ins and outs of the industry. She worked with Comcast, Universal Pictures, MGM Studios, and Paramount Studios, she helped with their Hispanic press placements, influencer engagement, and event administration. She wanted to learn more about lifestyle PR which led her to a female-led startup agency, Number Twelve Marketing where she led PR efforts for their clients Keen.com, Astrology.com, and Horoscope.com.”

Read More about Nancy here

Though we have known that women face additional challenges when pitching to investors, it became clear through new data from DocSend which shows that female founders face a clear bias in access to VC Funding. According to their pre-seed research, All Male teams raised 42% more than All Female teams in their pre-seed round.  Further, All Female teams raised 30% less money after contacting 23% more investors than their male teams. 

Watch the full webinar below:

To raise money, women entrepreneurs must do more outreach, have more meetings to raise less money than their male counterparts. However, with data comes power. Through this webinar, we dive in with Andrea Silvers, Director of Communications at DocSend to discuss what makes a company and founding team successful when raising money and how to use this data to get to a “Yes” (or to a “No” much more quickly to save yourself energy). 

Further, we are joined by April and Nikki Dominguez, two minority women founders behind the Handsome App who have been (though hard work, grit and cold calls) successful at raising money. They share their journey and what tips and advice they have for female founders.  

Sarah Friar, co-founder of Ladies Who Launch and CEO of Nextdoor, moderates the discussion and adds her own perspective raising money and what she learned through the process. 

LADIES WHO LAUNCH: DOCSEND DISCOUNT

If you love this webinar, go check out DocSend and their hookup for the LWL Community. Securely share your pitch deck and fundraise with DocSend. Up to 90% off your annual DocSend plan if you're a startup. Sign up for your free trial below!

PANELISTS

Andrea Silvers, Director of Content and Communications, DocSend

Andrea Silvers is the Director of Content and Communications at DocSend, a service for securely sending and tracking documents that has over 14,000 customers including Gusto, One Medical and Airtable.

She’s worked in tech in the UK, Canada and New Zealand and has held roles at Electronic Arts, Xero and Veem.

April Dominguez, Founder and CEO, Handsome

April Dominguez is the CEO and Cofounder of Handsome, and has led the company to raising over $600K to launch the industry changing app. A graduate of The University of Texas, El Paso where she received a full ride scholarship for being a highly motivated minority individual with high potential. She spent six years as Vice President overseeing technology, operations & investments at an investment startup that raised and invested over $130M during her time there. April has been awarded Employee of the Year and was a winner of the IAmSoGal Pitch Competition, Austin. She’s committed her life to community enhancement, is an avid philanthropist, and has led multiple fundraises and teams across the finish line of the NYC Marathon and Dam that Cancer. Her mission is to motivate people to reach their truest potential, to act as a voice for and create highly impactful cultural and economic change for under-represented communities.

Nikki Dominguez, Founder and President, Handsome

Nikki Dominguez is the Cofounder and President of Handsome, and has led the app to becoming the go to resource for 10s of 1000s of beauty professionals. Nikki brings over a decade of experience in the beauty and salon industry. She’s built two beauty academies and one school licensed by the state of Colorado, management training strategies & corporate office structure while growing a team of 70 to a team of over 150 stylists. She spent six years building beauty and educator systems in New York City. Prior to joining the salon industry, Nikki studied Psychology at the University of Northern Colorado. She’s a mentor, educator, yogi and meditator. Nikki is passionate about creating change in an industry where their profession has often been labeled as a “last resort”. Nikki's life's work has been to challenge the norms in an archaic industry, so that beauty professionals feel empowered, inspired, and have the tools to chase the careers of their wildest dreams.

Presenter’s Note:

I first discovered Canva back in 2017 when I was creating a brand for my artist’s collective and helping my mom launch her party planning business. I am a huge Canva fan because it is an easy-to-use, graphic design tool that empowers early-stage and small businesses. Please do reach out with any additional questions, needs, or schedule a consultation with me!

Looking forward to seeing all the incredible graphics that you create!

— Tish Lara, Creative Director

Webinar Recording

Slides & Resources

Have a webinar request or a specific question? Need help with templates? Feel free to email laticia@ladieswholaunch.org!

One of the most undeniable traits of an entrepreneur is the ability to be flexible. To move in the right direction when the time strikes and to turn, or pivot in another, when required. This is 'formally' known as the 'Entrepreneurial Pivot'. Many businesses are practicing the “entrepreneurial pivot” as we have had to shift business focus and our teams overnight to adapt. 

During this webinar, we chatted with two incredible founders about how they have had to pivot their organizations in order to stay in business.  Micki Krimmel, Founder of SuperFit Hero and Lake Sharp, Founder of EVERYBODY Los Angeles offered their expertise and “real talk” as we covered how they made their decisions quickly and stayed true to their brand. We also talked through their highs and lows and some of the heart breaking decisions that they had to make, how they are managing through adversity and leaning on their community for support.

LWL BONUS

• SUPERFIT HERO: Check out Superfit Hero and get a special LWL discount code:  https://superfithero.com/discount/LWL (good for 30 days)

• EVERYBODY: Take any class for $5 and if you purchase a monthly membership, get $15 off with code “LadiesWhoLaunch”

WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEBINAR

Thank you for joining us for a fun and inspiring conversation with women who not only run their businesses but also are mothers. Led by Daniela Kratz, founder of Farmhouse Labs (mother of two), and Ashley Berman, founder of Ashley Morgan Designs and Chance Claxton, Founder of  U-KONSERVE we loved sharing a virtual cheers with you all.

Catch the Recap Here and Join Us Next Time!

Key Takeaways:

• Take it day by day. The feeling of having no control over what happens next for your business combined with what you can plan for with your children makes this tougher.

• “Messy”: It is a messy time (“emotionally for families and literally… my house is messy!" - Ashley

• “It is a practice for me to control - less”. Not enough space before SIP for kids to be creative and be bored. And now the silver lining is that they have this time and space to figure it out and be creative.

• Action for every woman entrepreneur to take this week:

  • Daniela: Incorporate your children into your meal preparation. I experience a lot of connection in the kitchen. Although it is always work later, there is so much value in making and sharing food together. Pick one night to do it.

  • Ashley: Curiosity has been my survival. Get curious about one thing this week (about you, your business or something your kids love) and dive into it where you may have glanced over previously and see where it takes you.

  • Chance: I encourage everybody to take this time to make their purchases a more thoughtful effort. Seek out mission based organizations and businesses (and look into B-Corp) companies to make a more educated, greener and thoughtful decision this week.

Check out:

• Farmhouse Lab: Daniela ships nationwide for a flat rate of $7 and Free Shipping on orders $75+. Also, sign up for her newsletters and follow her on Instagram @farmhouse_lab for special promos, events and tips (https://www.farmhouselab.com/contact) (and if you make a salad dressing with your fam, let us know so we can share on social and with Daniela! (and also share the mess you made so we can all have a cheers to you!)

• Ashley Morgan Design: Check out what Ashley is up to and let us know how you are getting curious!

• U-KONSERVE: Take Chance up on her call to action and learn about B-corp companies and how let us know what greener choices you made this week by tagging LWLGLobal and U-KONSERVE

MIXOLOGISTS (a.k.a - PANELISTS)

DANIELA KATZ - FOUNDER OF FARMHOUSE LABS

Farmhouse Lab is a brand for joyful, sustainable plant-based eating that encourages to make food more often at home again and to share it in community. A SF Bay Area-based mom of two, Daniela, the mastermind behind Farmhouse Lab’s high-quality specialty dressings, which she launched in 2016, shifted from a sustainability leadership role with a large global corporation to focus on what inspired her most — directly helping individuals make healthier, more locally-driven and sustainable food choices.

Daniela’s inspiration for creating high-quality, sustainably sourced, delicious dressings originated from her realization that the majority of dressings on the shelves contain emulsifiers, preservatives, artificial flavors and/or refined sugars. And what was easy for her to whip up in the kitchen wasn’t so simple for many on-the-go parents and professionals. With the start of her own family, combined with her love of entertaining and passion for sustainability, it was a natural for Daniela to create a business designed to promote a healthy lifestyle.

“We live by the motto “Consciously Sourced & Crafted”. We think it is essential that you know where each ingredient is sourced and how our dressings are crafted. We carefully select our partners throughout the entire process: from the olive farmers to the supply source of the bottles we use and the labels that we apply.”

ASHLEY BERMAN - FOUNDER OF ASHLEY MORGAN DESIGNS

Ashley Morgan Designs is a San Francisco-based jewelry design company. Ashley Berman, the creative brilliance behind the growing studio, uses her ability to evoke emotion from jewelry to craft pieces of art that are both reflective of individual style as well as the embodiment of personal histories.

Ashley’s custom designs are intended for individuals who wish to express their own unique spirit and beauty. As opposed to fleeting trends, Ashley draws her inspiration from her clients’ stories, traditions, and cultures, as well as the natural world, to create her personalized designs.

As a trained goldsmith in San Francisco, Ashley challenges the status quo. She leverages traditional techniques to ensure that all of her unique jewelry designs reflect the beauty and confidence of the people they adorn.

Ashley Morgan Designs is located in the Union Square district, in the heart of San Francisco. 

CHANCE CLAXTON - FOUNDER OF UKONSERVE

Long before zero-waste living was making headlines, U-Konserve was creating products to help people live a zero-waste lifestyle. The company was founded by two friends who believed that small changes can have a huge impact on the global movement to protect our planet. After the birth of her daughter, Chance Claxton became increasingly concerned about the environment and wanted to make it easy for parents to reduce the plastic baggies, juice boxes and packaged foods piling up in landfills. In 2008 the founders created the first zero-waste lunch kit for elementary schools, and the new venture was born.

The innovative lunch kits spurred an entirely new lifestyle for thousands of families looking to tread lightly on the planet. The reusable concept caught on, and more products were developed. What started as a resource for school children quickly became a full line of zero-waste food-storage essentials for the whole family at home and on the go.

After more than a decade of growth and transition, the same goals that helped launch their message of reuse still guide the company today. As a Certified B Corporation, the company is using business for good by creating a positive impact for employees, communities and the environment. The initial mission to protect the planet has grown into a lifestyle of reusing more, wasting less, and raising awareness about the exciting and growing movement to reduce single-use plastic.

During this webinar we covered how essential services and retail businesses like EO Products and OzHarvest have pivoted or seen their business model shift and how they have adapted quickly to focus on consumer needs. 

EO Products has made a variety of products, however, due to Covid-19, hand sanitizer specifically has been a sought after product. Founder Susan Griffin-Black shares her insights building and managing the company through the last 25 years and how she quickly has pivoted her companies focus, team and manufacturing process to manage demand. 

Joined by Ronni Kahn, Founder and CEO of OzHarvest, an organization that delivers foods and services to the homeless and underprivileged, Ronni shared how OzHarvest have shifted their focus to food rescue efforts and donations to keep their vans on the road.  

TOP TAKEAWAYS

Sarah Friar, CEO of Nextdoor and Co-Founder of Ladies Who Launch key takeaways:

1. This is like a triathlon and we're headed into the run part so pace yourself

2. Great time to get partnerships done where historically ego had always gotten in the way

3. Learning to not overly fixate on missed opportunities

4. Over communicate, and then communicate again

5. Look for the pivot that becomes the feature not the bug

6. Specific acts of kindness (watch the end here where Ronni shares her story at the grocery store and tell me you didn’t shed a tear…)

PANELISTS

Susan Griffin-Black

Co-CEO + Founder of EO Products

Susan Griffin-Black is the Founder and Co-CEO of EO Products, makers of EO and Everyone. As one of the early pioneers in the clean beauty and personal care movement and a leader in the naturals space, Susan has been a champion for conscious, purpose-led businesses around the world.

In the 25 years since she founded EO Products, Susan has continued to embody the very values of the industry she helped create. Susan’s passion for elevated personal care was awakened while on a business trip in London by the lavender essential oils she discovered in a Covent Garden apothecary shop. In 1995, Susan and her then-husband, Brad, started blending pure essential oils for friends and family in their San Francisco garage. Rapidly developing a cult following, Bloomingdale's reached out and asked Susan and Brad to create aromatherapy blends for their holiday gift guide. As they continued to experiment in a three-gallon stockpot in their garage, they were able to formulate the very first foaming shower gel free of sodium lauryl sulfate, a widely used,potentially-harmful lathering agent.

The early trials in their garage were the beginnings of EO, and the innovation that continually followed fueled the business’ growth. As the business grew, Susan and Brad were continually guided by a strict formulation credo around the principle that there was a place for natural, safe, and efficacious personal care products beautifully scented with pure essential oils. In 2011, Susan and Brad set out to widen the lanes of accessibility to high-quality, natural and safe personal care and launched Everyone for Everybody. At a more affordable price-point and in larger formats with formulations designed to delight all ages.

Today the two brands, EO and Everyone for Everybody, provide EWG certified, natural, healthful and accessible products for everyone. Susan Griffin-Black was born to be her own boss and has followed her driving sense of beauty and style throughout her entire career. Her passion for design led to her co-owning two successful clothing stores at 21-years-old before ultimately designing several lines of clothing for Esprit.

Outside of EO Products, Susan serves as a mentor and advocate for many nonprofits and small businesses and is passionate about supporting female entrepreneurs.

Susan has studied Zen Buddhism for more than 30 years and believes that the eightfold path has guided her decision making, both in business and in life. Susan’s aesthetic and quiet strength pervades every aspect of EO Products; she is the heart and soul of both brands and their respective place in the world.

Ronni Kahn

CEO + Founder OzHarvest

Driven by a determination to find purpose in her life, the simple act of rescuing good food and delivering it to people in need quickly caught on, and in 2004 OzHarvest was born.

Ronni Kahn is renowned for her boundless energy, infectious enthusiasm and not taking no for an answer! Her ability to inspire and motivate everyone she meets has seen OzHarvest grow from humble beginnings to become Australia’s leading food rescue organisation. She is relentless in the fight against food waste and in 2019 she was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia.

Starting a charity was not something she set out to do. As the owner of a successful event business, she saw the huge volume of food going to waste every day, in fact, she was part of the problem. Knowing that millions of people were going hungry, she knew this was something that had to be fixed. Instead of waiting for someone to come up with a solution, she did it herself. As a passionate and authentic leader, Ronni has built a dedicated team of nearly 200 staff and 2000 volunteers who reflect and share her devotion for the cause. In her own words ‘passion is contagious’.

She is constantly looking for new ways to innovate her for impact organisation, from introducing educational programs, opening Australia’s first free supermarket and piloting digital technology to connect local food donors directly with charities feeding people in need. In Australia, her quest to tackle the country’s waste problem makes her a lead spokesperson when it comes to fighting food waste and protecting the planet. Appearing regularly in national media, on expert panels and in an advisory capacity to the government, she is regularly biting on Ministerial heels to goad them into action! Ronni’s personal story never fails to inspire, move and motivate people to make a difference in their own lives.

Most notably her recent appointment as Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and previously Boss Magazine Top 21 True Leaders, Gourmet Traveller’s Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality, Griffith University’s Doctor of the University (honoris causa) and Australian Local Hero of the Year. The enduring image of Ronni Kahn is captured in the independent documentary Food Fighter, which followed her crusade for two years as she partnered with the United Nations, introduced the food rescue model to new markets and held the government to account in Australia. It reveals her spirituality, unwavering passion and commitment to the cause and above all her motivation for effecting change – her grandchildren.

The desire for purpose and meaning is Ronni’s biggest motivation. Every day is filled with gratitude and her biggest learning is that the joy of giving is so much better than getting.

During this webinar we covered how health and fitness studios and platforms are managing through covid-19 and finding creative solutions to support their businesses.

Moderated by LWL Executive Director Julie Kikla and co-founder of The Kula Project, she joined panelists Shari Castelli from ClassPass and Kari Saitowitz, founder of Fhitting Room to dive into how these business leaders are supporting their customers, tips they are learning about livestreaming fitness classes, and how they are not just surviving, but pivoting to thrive.

Watch the full webinar here

PANELISTS

Kari Saitowitz

Founder of Fhitting Room

Kari is the Founder + CEO of Fhitting Room overseeing three Fhitting Room studios in NYC, Fhitting Room On Demand and Fhitting Room LIVE virtual classes.

Prior to creating Fhitting Room, Kari, was a marketing executive at Pepsi. She focused on building equity for powerhouse brands and launching new product innovations. In 2007, she left the world of boardrooms and bubbles and entered the world of diapers and sleepless nights. Exhausted and time-starved, Kari began Functional High-Intensity Interval Training as a means to work off her pregnancy weight in her scarce free time. As someone who hasn’t always loved exercise, Kari was blown away by the physical and emotional results of HIIT and the efficiency of her new, only 2x weekly, workout routine.

Around this time, specialized boutique fitness studios started popping up, and people were getting instantly hooked on the fun, social dynamic classes provided. Kari loved the idea of working out with friends but couldn’t find a studio that offered functional HIIT workouts with enough personal attention from certified trainers. Her friends were taking classes 2-3x weekly and seeing personal trainers 1-2x per week, a time consuming and expensive practice.

Kari took her love of planning unique consumer experiences and finding creative solutions to develop a new way for anyone to access the benefits of a personal training session in a motivational group setting. This “Gym Idea” became the subject line of an email Kari sent to a close friend in 2012 and led to the opening of the first Fhitting Room location in a small studio on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in March 2013. The lease for Fhitting Room’s flagship Flatiron location was signed six months later, followed by the Upper West side flagship in 2017.  Kari grew Fhitting Room sales from $600K in 2013 to $5MM in 5 years and expanded the Brand through high profile press & media, pop-ups, and partnerships with brands such as Nike, Lululemon, Outdoor Voices, Carbon 38, Glam Squad and NFL players

Kari has an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she graduated with honors, and she graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania.  

MORE ON FHITTING ROOM

• Fhitting Room LIVE

• Fhitting Room On Demand

• Cheddar TV Interview 

Shari Castelli

Director, Partner Expansion + Funding ClassPass

Shari Castelli has a deep understanding of the fitness market, having spent the past six years supporting boutique studios and gyms as the Director of National Brands at ClassPass. In this role, Shari consulted with studios of all sizes to implement yield management systems that maximize revenue and unlock growth at each studio.

Due to the massive impact Shari made on studios, she was promoted to Director of Partner Expansion, where she has spearheaded the ClassPass Empowerment + Expansion Program. This initiative offers in depth regional analysis and expansion support for eligible studios.

The program has already helped 50+ fitness partners to develop, optimize and execute on plans to open new studio locations around the world. In her six years at the company, Shari has represented ClassPass on various stages across the country, from conferences to panels, conventions, podcasts and more. She also has firsthand studio experience from her time as a boutique fitness instructor, where she taught HIIT classes at As One Fitness in New York City and earned her Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification.

Since joining ClassPass as a member, and later, an employee, Shari has run 7 marathons and taken over 1,800 boutique fitness classes at over 200 studios worldwide. She holds a B.A. from New York University and currently resides in San Diego, California.

MORE ON CLASSPASS:

• ClassPass

• ClassPass needs your help with “Save the Health and Wellness Industry from COVID-19!”. Sign the petition here.

• Interested in adding your digital offerings to ClassPass as a partner? Join our platform here.

• ClassPass' Partner Resource Hub here

WEBINAR DETAILS

For this coffee date, we sat down with Tishaura Jones, the Treasurer of the City of St. Louis, Missouri and Michele Romanow, CEO and Founder of Clearbanc with Sarah Friar, CEO of Nextdoor and Founder of Ladies Who Launch to discuss what financial actions to take with your business right now. 

During these challenging times, it is vital to take some time and understand the financial position of your business, and plan for multiple possible scenarios expected. With our panelists, we will walk through what they are recommending to business owners, why and how to protect cash flow and for how long, funding options currently available, and what they expect to see for the next 30, 60 and 90 days from a finance perspective. 

WATCH THE FULL WEBINAR HERE

PANELISTS

Tishaura Jones: Treasurer of the City of St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones has transformed the Treasurer’s Office to increase transparency, integrity, and service. Since she was elected in 2012, her office’s new investment strategies have yielded over $25 million for the city. Jones also launched the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) to help St. Louisans make better financial choices; OFE’s College Kids Program has helped over 16,000 city students save over $1.1 million for higher education and a better future. And her ParkLouie program has made it easier to enjoy the City of St. Louis by giving residents and visitors more payment options for public parking, including cards, cash, and apps.

Jones previously served in the Missouri House of Representatives as Assistant Minority Floor Leader, becoming the first African-American and the first woman to hold this position in Missouri history. Jones is now the first woman and the first African-American woman to serve as Treasurer in St. Louis history.

 Jones previously worked as Vice President of Municipal Finance for Blaylock Robert Van, LLC, an investment banking firm, and as adjunct faculty at the Anheuser-Busch School of Business at Harris-Stowe State University. She has a Master’s in Health Administration from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health and a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Hampton University. She graduated from the Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She is also the proud mother of Aden.

During the pandemic you can watch her Facebook Live sessions on resources for business owners and community members every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30 at Facebook.com/STLTreasurer. You can learn about her work at STLTreasurer.org, STLOFE.org, STLCollegeKids.org, and ParkLouie.com.

Michele Romanow: “Dragon”, CBC Dragons’ Den | Co-Founder & President, Clearbanc

Michele Romanow is the co-founder and President of Clearbanc. Clearbanc has invested over $1B in over 2,200 ecommerce companies.  Michele started five companies before her 33rd birthday and exited two before her 30th. She previously co-founded SnapSaves which was acquired by American tech giant, Groupon in 2014 and was also the Co-Founder of Buytopia.ca, which acquired ten competitors including Shop.ca and WagJag. In 2015, Michele became the youngest judge on CBC’s Dragons’ Den (Canada’s Shark Tank), and has been a ‘Dragon’ for the last five seasons. 

A prolific investor and serial entrepreneur, Michele was recently named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women.  She was the winner of Angel Investor of the Year award.

Michele has created digital solutions for many of the world’s leading brands, including P&G, Netflix, Starbucks, and Cirque du Soleil. She began her career as the Director of Strategy for Sears, where she led apparel growth  — a $2.5 billion category at the time.

During her Civil Engineering undergrad at Queen’s University, Michele founded The Tea Room, the first zero-consumer-waste coffee shop. At Queen’s, she was given the Queen’s Tricolour — the highest honor awarded by the university — and, after completing her Queen’s MBA, she founded Evandale Caviar, a vertically integrated commercial fishery.

Michele is a director for Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN), Freshii (TSX: FRII), League of Innovators, Queen’s School of Business and Shad International -  a transformational program that develops the entrepreneurial potential of exceptional Canadian youth. She is a previous director for Whistler Blackcomb (TSX: WB) She also co-founded the Canadian Entrepreneurship Initiative with Richard Branson.

https://www.teamclearbanc.com/

WEBINAR DETAILS

During this webinar we "lunched" with Helen Russell, CEO and co-founder of Equator Coffee and Teas, Carolyn Byczek, the Director of Merchant Operations at DoorDash and Sarah Friar, CEO of Nextdoor and co-founder of Ladies Who Launch.

We talked about what impact they are seeing on their businesses due to COVID-19, how they have migrated to delivery/take out, what success they are having with online sales and other options like gofundme and how they are communicating appropriate health and safety measures during this time to merchants and customers and what to expect when their doors open again.

WATCH THIS WEBINAR

PANELISTS

HELEN RUSSELL

Helen Russell is the co-founder and CEO of Equator Coffees & Teas in San Rafael,CA.

Under her leadership for more than twenty years, Equator has grown from a small roaster and wholesale supplier into a national brand known for its values-driven approach, award-winning coffee, and impactful action around issues of environmental sustainability and economic empowerment.

Helen led Equator to become the first coffee roaster in California to earn Certified B Corporation status and a reputation as an early champion Fair Trade practices and direct relationships. For 12 years in a row, Equator has remained on The San Francisco Business Times’ list of the Top 100 Women-Owned Businesses, and in 2016, became the first LGBT Certified business to win SBA Small Business of the Year for the State of California.

After two decades in the wholesale business, Helen guided Equator towards deepening its relationships with the local community by opening seven retail locations in the Bay Area.

CAROLYN BYCZEK

Carolyn Byczek is the Director of Merchant Operations at DoorDash, where she leads a team focused on improving merchant-driven efficiency and accuracy to accelerate last-mile operations.

During her tenure at DoorDash, she has held a variety of positions across Logistics and Quality and is currently coordinating DoorDash's response efforts to COVID-19. Prior to joining DoorDash, Carolyn was co-founder and COO of Gallivnt, a hospitality technology startup.

In addition to this experience, Carolyn worked in Private Wealth Management at Northern Trust and Bessemer Trust, and began her career in Corporate Finance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Carolyn has a BS in Finance with a minor in Accounting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Outside of work, Carolyn enjoys hiking with her dog, traveling and finding the best tacos in Austin.

Our community is our strength. What we do, we do for everyone that believes a better way gives way to a better day. Thank you for supporting our people and our mission. One of these days we'll catch up over coffee.

Order online: https://www.equatorcoffees.com/ 

Mobile App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/equator-coffees/id1471436728

Tip your Barista: www.gofundme.com/f/grrv6n-equator-barista-virtual-tip-jar

During this uncertain time, now, more than ever, local businesses need all of our support. 

With the help of restaurants across the U.S. and Canada, DoorDash announced #OpenForDelivery, an initiative aimed to let consumers know that restaurants are open, that delivery is safe, and that restaurants need patronage more than ever to weather COVID-19.

#OpenForDelivery,  www.openfordelivery.com, is a call to action to support restaurants that are the fabric of our communities.

WEBINAR DETAILS

During this lunch date, we had the immense pleasure of chatting with Joanna Griffiths, founder of Knix and Samantha Renée, Merchant Success Manager at Shopify.

We covered how retail businesses like Knix are managing during this time and how online commerce platforms like Shopify are supporting merchants to set up and grow their online businesses. We talked honestly about what impact they are seeing, how merchants have migrated to online, what creative solutions or success they are finding and what they expect to see in the next 30, 60 and 90 days. 

WATCH THIS WEBINAR

PANELISTS

Samantha Renée: Merchant Success Manager at Shopify

Samantha Renée is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, business strategist, course instructor and mother. She is a Business Tutorials Producer at Shopify and leads search strategy & optimization at Bricks to Clicks Collective. As a Shopify veteran, she’s helped thousands of entrepreneurs and some of the biggest brands in commerce grow & scale their businesses.

Joanna Griffiths: Founder of Knix

Joanna Griffiths is the Founder and CEO of Knix and Knixteen the direct-to-consumer intimate apparel brands that are reinventing intimates for real life.  Through a focus on product innovation and the brand’s mission to empower women to be unapologetically free, a Knix item is now sold every 7 seconds, and the company has shipped over half a million orders in the last twelve months alone.

Knix

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PPE fundraiser: www.knix.ca/donate