Our Story, Failing Forward Moments & Where to Next (Season 1 Ep. 1)
Wow, our first episode, this is so surreal! Mari and Jess wanted to kick off The She Fails Forward first season with an intro episode about them. They both thought it was really important to take a moment to pause and to share their stories with you about their backgrounds, their passions, their careers, which ultimately have all led up to this moment.
This episode is a tad longer than typical, but it’s for good reason. Staying true to the HB&C brand and who they are, Mari and Jess get personal, they share their many failing forward moments and ultimately share why they created this podcast and what they are hoping to achieve by putting this out into the world. Before they get started, a quick thank you for being here.
The first time we do anything new is always an exciting and daunting adventure. That’s true for our team, too. Jess and Mari are excited and honored to go on this journey with you so let’s kick off our first season of The She Fails Forward Podcast with episode one!
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
What can you expect from this episode:
Jess and Mari interview each other on our very first episode of The She Fails Forward Podcast. Jess starts off by asking Mari to tell her story of how she got to this point in her life. Mari shares her journey from Venezuela, her love for traveling and how she is embarking on this next adventure living abroad with her husband after she recently left her full time job. [2:23]
Mari talks about her transition to the United States and how that has impacted her becoming an entrepreneur. Mari shares her experience as a Latina growing up in a new place and coming to her own when she started working in higher education. [12:37]
Mari walks us through her first entrepreneurial experience when she fell in love with scrapbooking and how that experience planted a small business mindset of her own. [16:35]
Mari asks Jess to tell her story on how she made it to where she is now. Jess dives into her early years when she left her hometown to be the first in her family to go to college. She also highlights how she fell into entrepreneurship after experiencing job cuts at her past job in public relations. [29:25]
Jess goes deep into when her and her husband first created their marketing agency and how much it grew within 5 years. She shared the experience of going into debt and the learning lessons along the way when navigating out of the agency world and into being a global director of marketing for a non-profit. [34:56]
Shortly after the birth of Jess’ first daughter she shares how pivotal that moment was that led her to create Her Brand & Co (formerly Sohuis), a marketing and branding educational platform for female entrepreneurs. She talks about carrying what she has learned from her previous experience as a business owner and implementing this platform at her own pace with lots of beta testing. [46:54]
Jess and Mari talk about how they became co-founders and what got them to make the decision to commit to this journey together in creating what is now Her Brand & Co. They also share why they decided to launch The She Fails Forward Podcast and the goals of impact they have for sharing such inspiring stories from founders of all walks of life. [49:30]
Recommended resources in this episode:
Where can you find Jess & Mari:
Jess: @jessica_korthuis
Mari: @mari.milenkovic
Her Brand & Co: @herbrandandco