There’s no denying that podcasts are the hottest medium of the moment. In 2021, people have already spent 15 billion hours (yes, billion with a B) listening to podcasts (insert exploding head emoji here). And, thankfully for all the entrepreneurs out there, there’s no shortage of business podcasts to download for mentorship, guidance, and expertise straight from founders who’ve learned tough lessons the hard way.

For a fresh crop of listens to add to our weekly lineup, we tapped 39 successful founders to find out which business podcasts they subscribe to for advice and inspiration. From a must-listen-to series about the struggles that successful entrepreneurs have overcome to a series of interviews centered around women in tech, these are the podcasts they listen to on repeat. Trust us, you’ll want to have your headphones at the ready.

The Podcast: How I Built This

Why You Recommend It: It has helped me to understand the struggles of entrepreneurs which was very comforting during my journey building bümo, but it also has allowed me to dream big of what could be. The conversations are not sugar-coated and show you all the highs and lows from start to finish.

The Best Business Tip: You don't have to have a blueprint to follow when you start a business you just have to do the next best thing, and step by step you will find your own way. 

The Podcast: The podcast that transformed my leadership style is any podcast with Adam Grant. Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist who has a thoughtful approach to leadership and teamwork. I first heard him speak on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert (another favorite pod) and have continued to follow his work and podcast, WorkLife with Adam Grant, directly.

Why You Recommend It: From Adam’s ability to reframe concepts like imposter syndrome to his scientific approach on feedback, or the thoughtful conversations he has with leaders and innovators like Jane Goodall and Ester Perel, I really enjoy his approach to teamwork and leadership.

The Best Business Tip: His conversation with Brené Brown is one I keep coming back to. Having been trained in work cultures and high-growth startups that didn’t allow space for vulnerability at work—it’s now something I practice with our entire team. I’ve found that the capacity to be vulnerable (while still having a productive, problem-solving attitude) has allowed us to embody our brand mission around care and taking your time, even in a fast-growing startup environment. 

The Podcast: The Entreprenista Podcast

Why You Recommend It: I am so inspired by hearing all the founding stories and behind-the-scenes notes of how female founders got their start, as featured on The Entreprenista Podcast. To me, it is all about inspiring other women and creating a supportive community—if I can do it, they can do it, too!

The Best Business Tip: My biggest takeaway from the guests on the podcast is that you should always trust your intuition. As women in business, the podcast reinforces that you are your best asset.

The Podcast: The podcast that transformed my business and mindset as a founder is How I Built This with Guy Raz. This podcast propelled my mindset as an entrepreneur allowing me to navigate building a startup from a different lens without scarcity, self-doubt, and learning to accept failures as wins. I operate from a mindset of abundance and count my failures as opportunities to pivot, iterate and learn. Failures have come within various forms especially monetary losses, but once I've experienced a hardship, I assess the situation and always use the experience as a learning moment to grow and push myself forward. I've become a better founder, leader, and visionary for Àuda.B because of the amazing founders having the opportunity to share their journeys on How I Built This. 

Why You Recommend It: From my personal experience, being authentic and vulnerable are two major keys to being a successful entrepreneur. The founders on the podcast share their highs and lows which provide listeners with realistic expectations of what being an entrepreneur comes with. Social media paints a false narrative of entrepreneurship and or building start-up and this podcast really reshapes the true narrative. Founders dish the real from beginning, middle, and now! 

The Best Business Tip: Believe in yourself even when no one else does! Understanding your vision and passion will see you through, too often founders hold the vision of the future but the world doesn't latch on until there's a wave of others.

The Podcast: Female Startup Club

Why You Recommend It: One of the best things you can do is learn from other founders, and the interviews on Female Startup Club are perfect for that. Host Doone Roisin has chatted with female founders from skincare brands like Black Girl Sunscreen (and Kinfield!) to food and apparel companies to physical retail, like Chillhouse. It feels like listening to your friends talk about how they built their brands—casual yet informative.

The Best Business Tip: Investor funding is not always the answer. I loved the episode with Farmgirl Flowers founder Christina Stembel talking about her journey with bootstrapping her company Farmgirl Flowers to $60M+ revenue. There are many ways to fund and grow a business, and it’s exciting to hear success stories from founders who chose funding paths that aren’t often reflected in the media.

The Podcast: Women in Tech Podcast

Why You Recommend It: I love the variety of topics and people host Espree Devora features on the podcast. As a woman in tech, it’s an amazing resource to gain insights from other women across the industry.

The Best Business Tip: My overall takeaway from the podcast is that each one feels actionable. When I’m lacking a little “get up and go” energy, it never fails to motivate me to keep pushing, deploying, and executing! It’s not about anyone else’s journey, it’s about the one you carve for yourself.

The Podcast: How I Built This

Why You Recommend It: HIBT is probably one of my main go-to’s for hearing from entrepreneurs and learning about their rise, big wins, and fails along the way. I always find it to be compelling to understand the motivations behind any business and hear about the challenges that come with growth and scaling. Whether it's the husband and wife duo behind Lonely Planet talking about their earliest guides, James Dyson spouting wisdom around innovation, or Lisa Price building Carol's Daughter from her home in Brooklyn, the stories of entrepreneurship and taking risks are inspiring.

The Best Business Tip: Surround yourself with talented individuals who are better at what they do than you are. I think this is a recurring theme across many of the HIBT episodes both in the individuals you partner with as an entrepreneur but also in the teams you build. 

The Podcast: The Second Life podcast hosted by Hillary Kerr helped me as I was pivoting careers, and I love listening to the inspiring stories of other women who have pivoted too. 

Why You Recommend It: Hillary is an excellent interviewer, and really does her homework on every subject. She asks such insightful questions, and draws parallels between stories to create learning lessons for the listener. It's such a great place to get inspiration for anyone who is pivoting careers or afraid to make the jump! 

The Best Business Tip: Delegation does not equal weakness—a great tip from Eva Chen's episode. Being able to successfully delegate and know what you aren't good at to free up time for what you are good at is an essential skill for entrepreneurs and business owners.

The Podcast: How I Built This

Why You Recommend It: This might not be a well-kept secret—but while I was still working for Gap Inc in my full-time role I would binge How I Built This episodes all day long. HIBT is an honest look into founders’ stories—the risks they took, the uncertainty that they faced, the mindset around the founder role and leadership, etc. It is amazing to hear all of these different voices and stories and picture myself in the same position in the future. 

The Best Business Tip: I loved—and still think about daily—the Stonyfield Yoghurt story—Gary Hirshberg went everywhere to find funding for his business and was maniacal about cash flow—he had his cash flow mapped down to the hour! He was also tasked with trying to convince people that organic was important in the early ‘80s, and to me, this journey is so similar to trying to convince and educate people to switch to sustainable and circular products. Other incredible episodes include Dyson, WeWork, and Cisco Systems & Urban Decay.

The Podcast: Business of Fashion

Why You Recommend It: I get a lot of their approaches to retail as a whole, from fashion’s approach to plus-size to combating anti-Asian racism in fashion, they touch on relevant topics that our business is experiencing.

The Best Business Tip: Stella McCartney has some sage advice: value collaboration and mutual learning over competition; “be a fighter” when it comes to securing better incentives for sustainable practices, and always look for new information on how to be better. “You never stop learning when you work sustainably,” she said. And I agree, it’s all about learning, and that’s what our tiny and mighty team is all about. We want to be the best and we know we can’t be perfect but we are marching toward that.

The Podcast: I love Guy Raz’s How I Built This 

Why You Recommend It: The entrepreneurship journey is so hard and I really enjoy hearing other founder stories. Hearing successful entrepreneurs share their stories of the ups and downs and how they came out on top is so encouraging and inspiring! 

The Best Business Tip: I really loved the episode that featured Peloton founder John Foley. Peloton is now close to a $30 billion-dollar company, but in the early days, he had a really difficult time getting investors to buy into his vision. He pitched around 3,000 investors and faced so much rejection and persisted. And now his company is one of the most successful and most valuable companies in the world. The lesson: Stay the course, be unwavering in your vision, and have enough to keep going, even when people think you’re crazy. The difference between a lot of successful entrepreneurs and the ones that don’t have great outcomes is the lack of grit to keep going.

The Podcast: Unfinished Biz 

Why You Recommend It: Unfinished Biz is a podcast hosted by two partners at VMG, a VC firm. They interview successful entrepreneurs on how each business started and chronicle the various bumps they experienced along the way. I especially love this podcast because it is focused on a business (rather than consumer) audience, so the guests are incredibly candid and you really feel like you are getting an inside look at their business. My co-founders and I always listen and share learnings from the episodes! 

The Best Business Tip: The episode with the founders of RXBar is one of my favorite episodes because it shows the importance of starting with a clear idea of who your customer is and what a dedicated marketing strategy looks like to target that customer. We all think of RXBar as a mainstream brand today, but when they first started the founders were focused on the niche paleo and CrossFit customer. They were targeted on how they reached those early customers and only scaled from there, after they had that loyal base. Highly recommend!

The Podcast: Female Startup Club

Why You Recommend It: It gives great perspective into the early stages of starting a business. In most podcasts, you hear from founders who already did it. These are founders who are currently doing it. Doone is a phenomenal host as well and really is on a mission to bring exposure to young female entrepreneurs.

The Best Business Tip: In a recent interview with the skincare brand Topicals, I loved learning about their approach to launching by focusing on education and not on product. It made me rethink how we launch new SKUs and shifted my focus from a traditional marketing strategy to focusing on educating our community first. Topicals also made great use of Twitter, which I am incorporating into our brand marketing now!

The Podcast: I listen to NPR’s Up First every morning!

Why You Recommend It: It’s important as a business leader to be aware of what is going on in the world so I love this quick but content-rich AM briefing. Our society is a system and everything is linked together. As the leader of a company in a healthcare category, it’s important to me to stay up to date on healthcare access especially. I listen to job numbers to get a feel for consumer sentiment. It’s important to stay aware of M&A and business activity and cultural happenings. Habit uses pop culture to communicate ideas around health. I’m always listening!

The Podcast: How I Built This

Why You Recommend It: You can read all the how-to books or blogs you want, but there’s no better way to learn than to hear the real, unvarnished stories about building companies from founders who did it. A company’s path is never linear and you learn more through failures than successes. The host, Guy Raz, does an excellent job extracting the stories of the more challenging moments from founders—some for the first time ever on public record.

The Best Business Tip: In Brooklinen’s episode, the founders talked about the specific issues they had with customs and immigration on their first order. Well, I was about to make the same mistake they did when I listened, but managed to fix it in time after hearing what the founders did wrong. Make sure to file an import bond application!

The Podcast: Unstrictly Business by Do Well Dept.

Why You Recommend It: I love how the podcast redefines "success" as a business owner and how to get there. It goes beyond sales and marketing strategies and upholds personal wellness as a key element of success. There is a focus on the care of the individual, which, I think, is hugely overlooked in the business world - in both leadership and company culture.

The Best Business Tip: In building a business, it's easy to feel like we need to be in control of every minute and every moment. That if each minute isn't dedicated to being productive or furthering a goal, it's a minute lost. But in reality, slowing down and taking care of ourselves IS a way to stay in control and, ultimately, be the one to choose what our lives look like. Being a slave to productivity isn't freedom. Freedom is the ability to take a day off, sleep in late if we need it, or give our entire team a Friday off after a busy season.

The Podcast: Sales Funnel Mastery 

Why You Recommend It: Host Jeremy Reeves offers very practical advice! When I was first starting my business, I just needed a few pieces of key advice to get me going on my journey. Through this podcast, I learned about lead generation and how to best communicate with customers along their sales journey to really build that brand loyalty and affinity. I found it very helpful and there are tips and tricks I learned from the podcast that I still implement in my business to this day. 

The Best Business Tip: The main thing I’ve learned is the importance of constantly staying in touch with your customers and meeting their needs wherever they are at.

The Podcast: Whiskey & Work with Kelsey Murphy 

Why You Recommend It: This is a must-listen-to podcast if you're an aspiring entrepreneur or on the cusp of a big career, especially if you're nervous to make the leap! I started listening to this pod two years before I made my own career change from 13 years in PR to start an e-commerce shop in the home space (which I knew nothing about) and the episodes not only motivated me to make the change but provided education on what steps to take to successfully do so. Kelsey is a business and life coach who offers solo pods—where she discusses everything from imposter syndrome to strategic marketing—and interviews with inspiring and relatable everyday entrepreneurs (as well as some notables!) about their career journeys. It's a feel-good podcast that will leave you inspired and confident to follow your gut and your dreams while making sure you strategically plan for all that being an entrepreneur truly entails. 

The Best Business Tip: One of the themes of Kelsey's podcast is trusting and listening to your intuition. I am a very intuitive person, but when fear enters it's easy to ignore. Kelsey's own personally successful career change, as well as that of all her many guests, all had a common theme about knowing when something is NOT right and actively making the change to unlock your real potential and find a career that brings you true fulfillment. Her episode with Marie Forleo is one of my favorites! I personally made the career change, and I now fully understand exactly what she talks about. I am finally not only doing something I am good at but something that truly brings me joy.

The Podcast: Second Life and How I Built This, especially episodes with Drybar Founder Alli Webb and Carol's Daughter Founder Lisa Price. 

Why You Recommend It: Before launching London Grant Co., I was consumed with doubt surrounding my ability to pivot into the unknown and vast territory of CEO. Sometimes, all you need is a vulnerable story from another founder who took the same leap. Every story won’t resonate, but I guarantee there will be one that speaks to your soul and serves as the universe sending you a gentle whisper that says do it. Second Life is especially focused on inspiring stories of women who've made a successful career pivot. As a mother transitioning from corporate drop-out to beauty founder, I found my tribe. 

The Best Business Tip: Do it… and do it scared. I’ve learned that you’ll never be truly ready, and you’ll never have all the answers. But, the opportunity of a lifetime to invest in yourself awaits. As a mother, and someone who finds comfort in the safest road most traveled, I needed to hear women take small, meaningful steps forward that lead to huge rewards—both personally and in business. I have flashes of Lisa Price and Ali Webb in my head all the time because their stories made me feel that this journey wasn’t actually insurmountable. More than anything, I felt seen, and sometimes that’s all the motivation it takes to move the needle. 

The Podcast: When we first started out, I burned through How I Built This. I loved to hear how some of the best brands in the business started, how they grew, how they failed, and how they got back up again. I was fascinated by the range of stories and would covet the tidbits of information I gained from each listen. There were a few episodes that really stuck with me and when we were experiencing a business “low,” I would think back to the stories I heard and remember it’s all par for the course. It helped me keep my head down, my eyes open, and plow through it.

Why You Recommend It: I think everyone knows that How I Built This is a must-listen. Every entrepreneur needs to know that the journey is not easy. I feel the new How I Built Resilience series is now also a must-listen, especially with where the entrepreneurial landscape is right now. It’s amazing to hear from other leaders how there will be light eventually, you must stay passionate and always focused."

The Best Business Tip: It’s incredible how sometimes you hear things at the perfect time and place. I recently listened to the episode with Kenneth Cole. Kenneth Cole was actually my first job out of college and I absolutely loved my time there! I was so proud to work for a brand that revolutionized the idea of mixing business with a profound political/social justice message. I loved how Kenneth created Kenneth Cole productions, his clever spirit, and how the relationship between the brand and the powerful messages it stood for was so natural and organic.

When we were building STATE, I reflected a lot about how easy it was to mirror that energy. Recently, we were contemplating a shift in our messaging to satisfy some outside advisors and when I listened to this episode, it reminded me of where we came from and why our mission is intrinsic to our success and the continuation of the business. I love the thought of that one day when we’re the entrepreneurs on the other end of the microphone on How I Built This, there will be someone out there who will be listening, and it’ll be a message at their perfect time and place.

The Podcast: Second Life with Hillary Kerr

Why You Recommend It: I love how honest the conversations are with these women leaders about their career journeys and all of the various twists and turns. The host, Hillary, makes sure to highlight the non-glossy parts of entrepreneurship and really convey the full story, with all of the good and the bad, which I think is really important for aspiring entrepreneurs and fellow founders to hear. 

The Best Business Tip: Towards the end of each episode, the host asks the guest about their failures and mistakes. Each one is unique to their story but also you learn the most from that one question. One common thing is that EVERYONE has had failures and challenges, even the most successful people, and to always remember that you learn the most when you fall.

The Podcast: How I Built This

Why You Recommend It: In How I Built This, Guy Raz interviews successful entrepreneurs about how they got to where they are. It's so inspiring to hear the ups and downs of building huge household name businesses. One thing I especially love about it is that the interviews are very honest about the struggles and hurdles entrepreneurs have to face with their companies and that the podcast doesn't paint a rosy picture. I always find myself rooting for the companies by the end of the episodes and having a newfound respect for the people behind the businesses. 

The Best Business Tip: Your company only really fails when you quit. There are so many highs and lows in growing a business (and sometimes the lows are devastatingly low) but if you believe in your company you should always stick with it. There are so many huge brands that I've heard discussed on the podcast that have had incredible lows but have persisted and seen huge success on the other side of those roadblocks.

The Podcast: Second Life

Why You Recommend It: It's truly inspiring and uplifting to hear honest stories about women growing, learning, and going for what they want in their careers. Hillary Kerr's background in journalism shines through on every episode which makes the podcast more personable.

The Best Business Tip: I think just understanding that career pivots are not easy or straightforward for anyone, but they're always worth it is something I've picked up from this podcast in general. That theme seems to ring true in every episode. Before I became full-time at Spotlight Oral Care, I was running my own dental practice. The decision to become full-time at Spotlight Oral Care and stepping away from the practice was a mix of emotions I had to work through. Listening to these career pivots in such a positive and real way gives me insight and reassurance… there's endless opportunity out there!  

The Podcast: I’m pretty sure How I Built This with Guy Raz is already on most people’s lists, but one of the podcasts I enjoy most is How’s Work with Esther Perel because she explores the emotional side of work and relationships. 

Why You Recommend It: I was already a fan of her hit series, Where Should We Begin? Ester does a beautiful job exploring interpersonal dynamics in the workplace, and the emotions we bring to those relationships are similar to those we have in our personal lives. I think her work is all the more essential as we come to terms with a hybrid remote/office environment. I think the early stages of building a company are all about building key relationships—with co-founders, vendors, early partners—and that it’s important to find ways to communicate, listen, and understand other perspectives. The way that Ester guides these therapy sessions helps me remember that being vulnerable, actively listening to others’ needs, and preserving through difficult conversations is essential to being a good founder. 

The Best Business Tip: One of my most memorable episodes is The Break-Up, in which two former fighter pilots co-founded a successful business. The conversation unravels the challenges of blending the personal and professional, and their differing attitudes towards success and failure, risk tolerance, and how critical it is to have those conversations early and often and to not sweep things under the run and leave things unspoken. Good communication and expectation management are essential, as is recognizing the burden or role others have taken on that you might not realize because you’re in your own “hero narrative.”

The Podcast: The Happiness Lab by Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos

Why You Recommend It: So much of entrepreneurship is a mental game, and you need resilience to survive. Dr. Santos provides a lot of research and insights on how to protect your mental energy.

The Best Business Tip: Running a business takes a lot from you; if you don't protect your own resources, no one else will. 

Side Note: There is also an episode of Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History called The Lady Vanishes that made a huge impact on me. The episode explores the world of art and politics to examines the strange phenomenon of the “token,” the outsider whose success serves not to alleviate discrimination but perpetuate it.

The Podcast: Group Chat

Why You Recommend It: Group Chat is a must-listen for entrepreneurs because the hosts are business owners, investors, and most importantly: real people just trying to figure it out. They fold humor into the realities of growing a challenger brand, discuss hot news to keep you in front of world happenings and give real takes on culturally relevant topics.

The Best Business Tip: These guys constantly host and interview entrepreneurs that provide so many pieces of valuable advice, asking provoking questions that help tease out the formula for which each person uncovered success for their given project. The most valuable takeaway for me is "how you pivot is how you prosper." Because the majority of success stories do not happen overnight, but instead are earned over a stretch of many years that require a maniacal focus and a high comfort level with failing and learning.

The Podcast: The Life Coach School

Why You Recommend It: Very early on when starting our business, I had to learn how to not take things so personally. For example, instead of letting a bad app review ruin my day, I needed to view that circumstance through a neutral lens so that I could learn from it. I learned some very helpful cognitive tools from Brooke Castillo of The Life Coach School podcast that helped me develop more self-awareness and expand my potential. She also teaches important concepts related to money, like it’s okay to want money. Money is good. And money will come as we create real value. It also sparked the idea to create my own podcast about something I do have a lot of experience with—motherhood! I have seven children ages 13 to 26 and on The MomForce Podcast, I share what I’ve learned thus far and call on incredible guest experts for help on the stuff I’m still trying to figure out!

The Best Business Tip: I especially loved Episode 161 of Life Coach School, which is all about money beliefs. For so many entrepreneurs, money is a real scarcity. But there is real power in abundant thoughts like “Money is easy,” “Money is fun,” and “I love creating value.” Challenging my beliefs has allowed me to be open to more possibilities and opportunities to create value for everyone!

The Podcast: Startup Therapy

Why You Recommend It: From problem-solving operational challenges to creating core values and an advisory board, I love Wil Schroter and Ryan Rutan's no-nonsense approach to tackling the real, everyday struggles of entrepreneurs in the startup phase. There are not many places that you can gain so many practical solutions in such a short amount of time, and they do it with candor and humor that's engaging and entertaining.

The Best Business Tip: One episode from Wil and Ryan talked about why smart founders stay in customer support. They emphasized customer support as a critical function of leadership, right up to the founder and CEO. Having regular exposure to customers helps keep us accountable and in touch with customer needs to make better strategic decisions.

The Podcast: How I Built This with Guy Raz

Why You Recommend It: This podcast is one of the most popular podcasts about business and growth for good reason. Each episode shares stories from real founders, including their highs and their lows. The show never shies away from diving into the tough parts of being a founder. It shares first-hand experiences about success and how every single success story also has its fair share of scary moments throughout its growth. It's honest and real and I love it.

The Best Business Tip: Recently, How I Built This added a new digital franchise to their weekly series that dives into how brands have built resilience into their operations and with their teams throughout this past year. I launched House of Wise in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, so resilience is in our DNA, and I think each of these new episodes offers great takeaways for every entrepreneur and employee alike, as all of us navigate this new world and new consumer mindset.

The Podcast: The John Maxwell Leadership Podcast 

Why You Recommend It: Leadership skills at their finest!

The Best Business Tip:

What does it take to be a team? 

T- For tolerance of each other’s weaknesses because we all have them.

E- Encouragement of each other’s successes because we all have them.

A- Acknowledgement that each of us has something to offer.

M- Mindfulness that we need each other.

The Podcast: The podcast that continues to transform my relationship with business and money is On Purpose with Jay Shetty.

Why You Recommend It: After reading Jay's best-selling book “Think Like a Monk,” I began listening to his podcast, On Purpose and I'm so glad I did. In the podcast, Jay speaks to finding purpose, living our lives with intention, using our time and energy wisely, the importance of gratitude and giving back, and much more. On Purpose is inspiring and authentic and it's refreshing to hear a top male podcaster speak to these things. If put into practice, the principles Jay and his guests talk about will translate into becoming a more successful entrepreneur with greater impact. For these reasons, this podcast is a must-listen for female founders and aspiring entrepreneurs alike!

The Best Business Tip: My "aha" moment was hearing Jay say, “Nobody is going to create our lives for us.” This seems almost too simple to be game-changing but it has stuck with me since hearing it. Hearing this, I realized not only the importance of intention but also action. Before making a goal in business, we need to consider the investment and the life it requires before making it our goal. Then, we can get clear with our intentions, spring into action, and create the life we want!

A specific episode recommendation is "Arianna Huffington on How Setting Small Micro Habits Can Help Combat Burnout and Exhaustion.” Arianna speaks to her past struggle with finding a work-life balance and the dangers of encouraging constant productivity. She mentions how quality sleep, breathing exercises, and taking breaks to get outside, are key not only to our mental health but also to productivity. I really appreciated hearing this from such an accomplished entrepreneur.

The Podcast: Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield 

Why You Recommend It: Amy’s podcast is the absolute best at delivering actionable marketing tools that drive profitability while going above and beyond to serve your customer.  She shares expert interviews, execution plans, and behind-the-scenes secrets that leave you with concrete action items you can implement right away and she does it all with the most encouraging and empowering voice. 

The Best Business Tip: Build your product or service for your ideal client by connecting with them and including them in the process. I highly recommend episode #324 “Email List Growth Strategies That Will Transform Your Business.” 

The Podcast: More Than One Thing  

Why You Recommend It: Athena Calderone’s guests come from all different industries and share how they’ve arrived at their current career landing spot. Many of her guests wear multiple entrepreneurial hats which speaks to multi-hyphenates and out-of-the-box thinkers/creators. 

It’s also a must-listen for anyone who is looking for advice or support whilst changing careers or embarking on a new creative endeavor. I found her podcast very helpful when I was navigating a career change from the beauty industry. At the time I was worried that my other passions and creative interests wouldn’t be accepted and I would be pigeonholed into one thing people knew me for. Listening to Athena’s personal career path encouraged me to take a leap and launch my own business. Her voice is also incredibly soothing and very easy to listen to!

The Best Business Tip: The biggest lesson I learned through Athena and her guests is summed up in the title of her podcast—More Than One Thing. As humans we are multi-faceted, we often have many interests, and our careers aren’t always linear. Listening to More Than One Thing helped me understand that a non-traditional career path is okay and I’m not the only one!

The Podcast: Reaching New Heights

Why You Recommend It: Megan Gallagher brings on phenomenal entrepreneurs whose stories are both fascinating and illuminative. She has a unique ability to get to the heart of the matter and help guests share the juiciest details of their journeys. 

The Best Business Tip: Megan did a podcast episode with Meaghan Murphy, about growing into a positive person. They stressed that your personal narrative is your own choice. In other words, you are in control of what you tell yourself. This has helped me hugely as an entrepreneur. It's easy to get caught up in what I could have or should have done, but I've made a conscious effort since listening to that podcast to CHOOSE to send myself positive feedback as often as I can. I'm in charge of my narrative.

The Podcast: Beauty Is Your Business

Why You Recommend It: I love it because it’s business owners asking other founders questions—they’re able to ask questions that only a founder would think about. They have multiple hosts from different cultural backgrounds on the show so you’re getting multiple perspectives from guests and hosts. It’s the first podcast I heard that talked about trends in beauty tech, bringing to the light Korean skincare and African descent skincare way before it had hit on a national scale.

The Best Business Tip: My favorite episode was with Charlotte Cho from Soko Glam. She talked about working towards creating an accessible and inviting set of beauty regimens for the North American market and how it needed to go beyond the Korean beauty culture. She had to teach this new market how to use these products for the skin. The focus was on how to translate to customers how these products and ingredients will benefit them and how to use these rituals in their everyday life. And this is why at Pholk we do so much skincare education; it’s not only about cultural values and cultural ties. Making it simple and easy to understand how to use these products.

The Podcast: Unlocking Us with Brené Brown has been a constant source of inspiration to me in both my personal and professional life. I also look to The Business of Fashion Podcast for fashion news and Second Life with Hilary Kerr, whenever I am lacking creative energy or in need of a confidence boost.

Why You Recommend It: Courage and vulnerability are two things that Brené constantly preaches, and her outlook attributes to my mindset while effectively leading my team through the good and unpredictable times. Her recent episode with Aiko Bethea really touches on this and is worth more than one listen.

The Podcast: How I Built This

Why You Recommend It: This podcast is full of tangible, relatable stories about what it takes to build a business. Guy Raz is great at facilitating honest and insightful conversations with his guests about the entire process of starting a business: the creation, where things went wrong and how they were fixed, growth and expansion, etc.

The Best Business Tip: The episode with Whitney Wolfe, the creator and founder of Bumble, was especially insightful. She was able to take all of her experiences, frustrations, highs and lows, and focus them towards building and creating something that would have a positive impact on the world around her. Bumble was also designed specifically to empower women, which is also a core principle at Casa Blanca.

The Podcast: What Works

Why You Recommend It: Tara McMullin does an incredible job of leading conversations with guests across a breadth of topics related to building a thriving business. She is very thought-provoking. Not formulaic, yet shares principles and examples to consider that are actionable. I love that in every case there is consideration of the business with personal life balance and development. 

The Best Business Tip: I took away a lot from the episode “Writing the Second Draft of the book "To Sell With Love" with author Finka Jerkovic.” I was intrigued by this podcast because it was within a series titled: Working the Plan. And also by the title of the book "To Sell with Love." My takeaways were:

What is the process really of writing a book when you've never written one before? This was relevant because I draw parallels on how I narrate my brand's journey and story unfolding like a book. In fact, the packaging of my product simulates a book. 

What does “selling with love” look like. I have always thought that I was not good at selling. The traditional wisdom on selling or pushing products, I have never related to. Yet I created a brand to sell products. The actual book and the rationale on how to sell from a place of love, completely resonated with me and validated my conviction on how I want to see the brand thrive.

While the brand may be about you, it's not personal. I did not expect to hear that while a brand or product emanates from your perspective, experiences, and events in your own life, you need to treat the brand like a product and detach from the personal relationship one might associate because it comes from you. If people agree or disagree with your opinions, it does not define who you are because it is not all of who you are. I'd felt I had to prove my worth and that of the brand. This topic provokes a different perspective. 

The Podcast: The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale 

Why You Recommend It: It is so inspirational. I first listened to this before I left for college, and have listened to it over and over again throughout the years. This was recorded sometime in the ’50s, so there is some (unintended) sexism, but the message “you are now, and you do become, what you think about" is still very true. It means everything you become is guided by your own mind. The podcast focuses on success as the progression of a worthy ideal. Follow your dream, pursue your goals, do not conform, but have courage, keep a positive attitude every day, and wake up and decide to be happy.

The Best Business Tip: If you think in positive terms, you will get positive results. Build what you imagine and you can help others in the process.

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