These Founders Are Living Their Mission to Empower Women
HEATHER SERDEN: We met probably between the fifth and seventh grade. So Above the Glass was something I was working on, and I needed someone to help execute the editorial site. My background is in finance, and Danielle is a small-business owner with an editorial background.
DANIELLE YADEGAR: I was a fashion editor at Cosmopolitan. And then I started my own (jewelry) business.
HS: I wasn’t sitting there thinking I want to start a business. I actually met Katherine Power in 2011 when [Who What Wear was] thinking about taking on institutional investment. The COO at the time learned that I could do financial modeling, so she hired me to build a story with numbers to present to potential investors. There was a huge learning curve. I learned so much about digital businesses. And then I did the same thing with a few other businesses on a consulting basis and for my master’s thesis. I realized that there was a lot of uncertainty or fear around the business and financial aspects of starting up. I had the knowledge and the background to help these female founders. Then I had this experience. I was in the workplace and didn’t really believe sexism was real. I thought the playing field was level. But when you get older, employers start looking at you differently. They think, “Oh this person is on the mommy track.” And I was like, wait a minute, I need to go do my own thing. I know how to do it. There are a bunch of women who don’t know how to do it, so that’s going to be my business.
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