Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi on Building a Business to Last

CHANI is the second largest astrology app on the market, even though its founders have prioritized growing slowly and sustainably. Today we speak to its founders, Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi about their company's mold-breaking benefits package, what they think about work culture today, and how other companies might follow their lead.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2014, Sophia Amoruso was the founder and CEO of Nasty Gal and her book #Girlboss was a New York Times bestseller – plus responsible for coining the hashtag-turned-cultural-phenomenon. Since then her company has folded and the "girlboss" has been declared all but dead... yet Sophia is haunted by its ghost. Today, she addresses the legacy of the phenomenon, what makes her cringe when she reads her book today, and how she’s remaking her life with new ambitions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chelsea Fagan first started The Financial Diet as a personal blog about her own financial mistakes. Now it’s a cross-platform media company run by a small team of women who work four days a week and share profits. This week, we talk to Chelsea all about the finances of her business. Plus, why she spent 50k of her own cash publishing a romance novel – and how she made it all back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Aurora James was launching her luxury shoe line, Brother Vellies, she didn’t know that she’d eventually launch a non-profit and an equity fund dedicated to supporting black-owned businesses. But after the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 that’s what she did. Today, we talk to Aurora about how that’s going, and how she keeps her own company aligned with her values. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Imara Jones didn't necessarily set out to be the founder of a news organization: her company, TransLash Media, grew out of a documentary series she made in 2018 about being trans in the age of Trump. The organization has been reporting on the trans community ever since — reporting that is now more urgent than ever. So today, we speak to Imara about the election and how she’s leading in this moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo love a steamy, swoony romance novel. They also love a good business opportunity (Claire & Erica were behind the beloved yet shuttered retail company Of a Kind). And as they got deeper into the romance genre, they saw one: people don’t just read romance novels – they build universes around them with fan fiction and lively TikTok discussion. So Claire & Erica launched 831 Stories, an entertainment media company built around romance novels. Today, we chat about what that really means, and how they’ve learned to work together over their 14-year business partnership (spoiler: it involves learning to fight).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2018, Puja Patel was named editor-in-chief of Pitchfork, the legendary music criticism publication. She had a vision for the site: make it more accessible, maybe a little less pretentious. Then, in January this year, Condé Nast announced that GQ would absorb Pitchfork. Immediate uproar ensued — both from fans and musicians. Puja left the company. Today, she talks about what happened, how she negotiated her own power within a legacy institution, and what’s next for music criticism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, the start of a new special series about work. Hosted by friend of The Cut Samhita Mukhopadhyay, former executive editor of Teen Vogue and author of The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning. We’ll talk to women at the top of their fields, each with different perspectives on ambition and success. Women business leaders who pay their employees almost as much as they make. Women who have been held accountable — unfairly, or fairly — for their management decisions. And women who are very careful about the opportunities they say yes to. That’s where we start, with celebrity esthetician and skincare expert, whose products have a cult-like following: Renée Rouleau.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Actor, producer, and entrepreneur Taraji P. Henson talks to Lindsay about her illustrious career, including her roles in Hustle & Flow, EMPIRE and, most recently, The Color Purple. Plus, Henson talks about her fight for equal pay in the industry, her work in mental health advocacy through her Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, and why she's recently partnered with Kate Spade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Female athletes, both college and professional, continue to make gains in pay and TV-airtime equity, shatter records and break into once male-dominated sports.  Today's conversation delves into those topics and more with three accomplished athletes. It comes to you from a rooftop panel at this year's South by Southwest conference.  Guests: Dina Asher-Smith, World Champion and the fastest British woman in history. Haley Rosen, former professional soccer player and founder and CEO of Just Women’s Sports and Chloe Kim, American snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices