Dear FoundHer...

RSVP and Join us for the Dear FoundHer... Virtual Open House and Networking event on August 20th! Bootstrapping a beauty brand to eight figures before bringing on outside investors sounds impossible until you hear the two financial tools that made it work.Elina Wang, co-founder and CEO of ESW Beauty, joins Lindsay Pinchuk on Dear FoundHer to break down exactly how she built a skincare brand now sold in more than 19,000 retail locations across North America, including Target, Walgreens, Whole Foods, and CVS. Factoring and PO financing kept her cash moving while retailers paid on their own terms, and those two tools became the real financial turning points behind the brand.Elina shares the bad hires that slowed her down, the late shipments from overseas suppliers that forced her to rethink timelines, and the moment she overbought inventory out of fear and what that did to her cash flow.Elina shares her decision-making behind scaling a business while bootstrapping the business, including why she waited years before spending on D2C marketing and what made Whole Foods her first true anchor retailer. Managing rapid growth meant learning these lessons in real time, not reading about them first.Press play to hear Elina's three actionable tips for any founder trying to grow without a safety net.Episode Breakdown:00:00 Elina Wang's K-Beauty Family Business Roots03:47 Launching ESW Beauty From Scratch05:13 Landing Kohl's and Her First Retail Win06:58 Building Community Before Chasing Sales09:53 Finding the White Space in Skincare14:19 Target, Whole Foods, and Anchor Retailers16:14 Bootstrapping With Factoring and PO Financing19:36 Bad Hires, Late Shipments, and Cash Flow20:39 Turning Personal Brand Into Business Growth29:34 Three Tips for Founders Starting OutConnect with Elina Wang:Follow Elina on InstagramFollow ESW Beauty on InstagramSubscribe to The FoundHer Files Follow Dear FoundHer on Instagram Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Join us on August 20th for the Dear FoundHer... Forum Virtual Open House and Networking Event, it's free. RSVP HERE. Lindsay Pinchuk shares the real story of negotiating her way out of her own company, the moment it finally broke her, and how the exit led her to found Dear FoundHer...Part 2 of The Exit picks up where Part 1 left off: a female founder fighting to hold onto the values and the partnership that built her company, inside a corporate acquisition that stopped honoring its promises and contracted obligations.Lindsay shares the breaking point that made her decide to leave, the values conflict with new leadership during a pivotal cultural moment, and the exact negotiation that got her out of her contract on her own terms. She opens up about blacking out on her last day, flying to Colorado the next morning, and how the idea for Dear FoundHer... was born on that trip. The episode closes with the hard lessons from a business exit that didn't go as planned, and why Lindsay chose to tell this story publicly for the first time, as the entry point into her new Premium series, The Aftermath. This episode is for any woman entrepreneur navigating a business partnership gone wrong, negotiating an exit, or rebuilding an identity after leaving a company she built.Check out The Aftermath, Part 1: What Nobody Tells You Happens After the Deal ClosesSubscribe to The Foundher Files, our Substack, for more tips straight to your inbox every week.Follow Dear FoundHer... on Instagram.

Join us on August 20th for the Dear FoundHer... Forum Virtual Open House and Networking Event, it's free. RSVP HERE. Lindsay Pinchuk pulls back the curtain on her business acquisition, the promises made and broken, and what really happens in the first year after a female founder sells her company.In this Behind the Curtain episode, Dear FoundHer... founder Lindsay Pinchuk shares the story she's never told publicly: what actually happened when she sold Bump Club and Beyond, the parenting community she scaled from a side hustle to three million monthly users.Lindsay walks through the acquisition process from the first LinkedIn message to the signed deal, why she said no to one buyer and yes to another, and the early warning signs that appeared within weeks of closing. She breaks down how her company's most valuable partnership, a seven-figure relationship with Target, was taken out of her team's hands, and what that meant for her earn-out. This is a real, unfiltered look at business acquisition from the founder's side of the table, told for any woman entrepreneur who is scaling a company, considering an exit, or has ever watched a deal not go the way it was promised.Check out The Aftermath, Part 1: What Nobody Tells You Happens After the Deal ClosesSubscribe to The Foundher Files, our Substack, for more tips straight to your inbox every week.Follow Dear FoundHer... on Instagram.

Get action oriented advice sent straight to your inbox every week. Subscribe to our Substack, The FoundHer Files for advice you can put into play to grow your business starting today.If you've ever paid for advice from someone with a massive following and quietly wondered whether they've actually built a real business, this episode is for you. Host, Lindsay Pinchuk breaks down why building an audience and building a business are two completely different skill sets, calls out how AI-generated advice is quietly flooding the coaching and course industry, and walks through The Build Check, her exact three-step process for vetting any coach, course, or program before you hand over your money. Along the way, she gets honest about her own business exit, the parts of it that went sideways, and why that experience, not a follower count, is what actually qualifies her to teach this.What You'll Learn:  Why a viral follower-growth number rarely means what it looks like it means, and the ratio math to run before it makes you feel behind•  The real reason so few female founders talk publicly about what happens after they sell a business•  How corporate acquisitions can turn on the founders who built the company, and the pattern to watch for•  Why building a following and building a business are not the same skill set, even when the content looks identical•  How AI-generated advice is quietly showing up in courses, coaching programs, and masterminds without being disclosed•  The Build Check: a 3-step, 15-minute process for vetting any business coach or program before you pay, including the exact search terms and the exact question to ask•  The one question that reveals within seconds whether a coach has actually built and sold a business, or just built an audience talking about itJoin us on August 20th for the Dear FoundHer... Forum Virtual Open House and Networking Event, it's free. RSVP HERE. Subscribe to The Foundher Files, our Substack, for more tips straight to your inbox every week. Follow Dear FoundHer... on Instagram.

Join Lindsay for a Dear FoundHer... Forum Virtual Open House and Networking Event on Thursday, August 20th. Click here to save your seat, it's free. She spent over a decade scaling two of Europe's most successful tech companies, reaching the C-suite along the way. Then she moved back to her hometown and nobody knew her name. That tension is the heart of this episode of Dear FoundHer, and it sets up one of the clearest examples of starting a business after corporate you will hear this year.Host Lindsay Pinchuk talks with Christine de Wendel, co-founder and U.S. CEO of sunday, the digital checkout platform used in over 3,500 restaurants across the U.S., U.K., and France. Christine spent over a decade scaling two of Europe's biggest e-commerce companies before leaving corporate at 40 to build a company of her own. Her story shows what transitioning from employee to founder really looks like once the safety net disappears.Christine describes the three humbling months she spent building connections in Atlanta before the idea for sunday took shape, and how a phone call from an old friend turned into a co-founding partnership. She also opens up about startup funding and whether having a male co-founder changed how easily she raised capital.Lindsay and Christine talk candidly about networking for women, credibility, and why making a career pivot later in life can be an advantage instead of a setback. If you have ever wondered whether starting a business after corporate means starting from zero, Christine’s story offers a clear answer: the experience, relationships, and skills you have already built still count. Press play to hear how she used them to help raise $145 million for sunday.Episode Breakdown:00:00 From Tech Executive to Unknown in Atlanta02:56 Christine's Path From Bain to Paris Tech05:47 Why She Waited Until 40 to Start08:25 Uprooting the Family and Moving to Atlanta11:43 The Phone Call That Became sunday14:47 How the sunday App Works16:33 A Review Turns Into Real Restaurant Change19:08 How sunday Makes Money20:57 The 2021 Raise and What Came After22:45 Doubling Transaction Volume24:25 Why Restaurants Are Slow to Adopt26:15 Building Brand Ambassadors and Referral Networks29:47 Funding, Her Co-Founder, and Gender in Fundraising32:55 Motherhood, Pacing, and Doing It All36:46 Three Tips for Women Starting OutConnect with Christine de Wendel:Follow sunday App on InstagramConnect with Christine on LinkedInSubscribe to The FoundHer Files Follow Dear FoundHer on Instagram Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

For simple, actionable tips to grow your business, subscribe to The FoundHer Files Steph Weibring's Etsy shop made $8,000 in a year. Then she made $8,000 in a single November. The move behind the jump is one of the fastest lessons in growing an audience you will hear this year, and she pulled off the shift without a big following of her own.On this episode of Dear FoundHer, the show for women business owners over 40, host Lindsay Pinchuk sits down with Steph Weibring, founder and CEO of Joy Creative Shop. Steph turned a 20-cent Etsy listing into a multimillion-dollar stationery brand while raising three kids. She explains how partnership marketing sparked the jump and what it took to scale the business past seven figures.Steph also shares the chaotic weekend behind her signature bag of tags, and why the design makes her products harder to knock off. Copycat versions of her products show up on Etsy and TikTok. Her response will change how you think about competitors.You will also hear why a handwritten note is the fastest way to stand out when anyone is able to send an AI written thank you, and how Steph turned an old habit into a new subscription business.For founders over 40 who dread showing up on camera, Steph gets honest about her personal brand and the social media strategy she resisted for years. She now runs her company as a “lowercase ceo”, a title she made up to strip the intimidation out of leadership.Steph also offers three steps for any woman starting a business this year.Growing an audience starts with borrowing one. Press play and hear the story behind the November her whole business changed.Episode Breakdown:00:00 Meet Steph Weibring, Founder of Joy Creative Shop02:55 From College Uncertainty to a 20 Cent Etsy Listing05:45 From $8,000 a Year to $8,000 in One November08:14 Self-Belief and the Turning Point Toward Scaling a Business09:44 What Joy Creative Shop Sells Today12:45 Making Handwritten Notes Feel Modern Again15:38 Listening to Customers to Solve Real Problems19:18 Handling Copycats Without Losing Focus23:32 Building a Brand Rooted in Gratitude25:15 Growing an Audience Through Influencer and Partnership Marketing29:04 Personal Brand and Standing Out as a Real Person31:33 Teaching Kids Entrepreneurship Through Side Businesses33:26 Inside the Joy Creative Shop Team34:41 Launching "A Different Kind of CEO"36:55 Three Actionable Steps for New Women Business OwnersConnect with Steph Weibring:Follow Joy Creative Shop on InstagramFollow Steph on InstagramJoin the Dear FoundHer... Forum https://www.dearfoundher.com/dear-foundher-forumFollow Dear FoundHer on Instagram Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

For simple actionable tips to grow your business, subscribe to The FoundHer Files Liz Lange proves that the best marketing rarely needs a big budget, just the right people.On Dear FoundHer, host Lindsay Pinchuk talks with Liz Lange, founder of Liz Lange Maternity, about what it takes to build a business when the money and the confidence are not there yet. Partnership marketing sits at the center of it all, but not in the polished, strategic sense people mean today. For Liz, it looked like trust. It looked like showing up for people and letting the relationship do the work.Liz talks openly about starting as a bootstrap founder with almost nothing to lose and everything to prove. She is candid about the fear behind every major decision, and how often the loudest advice turned out to be wrong. Her instincts, not her budget, were what carried the business forward.The real thread running through this episode is trust. Trust in yourself, trust in slow relationships over quick wins, and trust that partnership marketing can outperform any ad spend when it comes from something real. For Liz, this wasn't a tactic. Networking with women came naturally to her.This is one of those real founder stories that reminds you that good PR for small businesses often starts with a single relationship, not a plan. It’s proof that female founders do not need permission to trust what they already know.Episode Breakdown:00:00 Welcome to Dear FoundHer and the Growing Founder Community02:47 Meet Liz Lange, Maternity Fashion Pioneer03:47 Starting Liz Lange Maternity With a Fax Machine and No Budget09:13 Dressing Celebrities and Building Word of Mouth Marketing15:36 Learning the Fashion Business From the Ground Up19:07 Opening the First Liz Lange Maternity Store in New York23:27 Landing the Nike Partnership Marketing Deal27:05 How the Target Deal Changed the Business Forever33:29 Ignoring the Naysayers and Trusting Her Instincts39:03 Bootstrapping the Business Without Raising Outside Money41:37 Balancing Motherhood With a Fast Growing Business44:06 Life After Liz Lange Maternity and Home Shopping Network45:15 Buying the Figue Brand and Building a New Chapter46:17 Finding Community and Connection on Social Media49:13 Three Actionable Steps for Women Starting a BusinessConnect with Liz Lange:Follow Liz on InstagramJoin the Dear FoundHer... Forum https://www.dearfoundher.com/dear-foundher-forumFollow Dear FoundHer on Instagram Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

For simple actionable tips to grow your business, subscribe to The FoundHer Files Lindsay Pinchuk shares the most important asset you are not leveraging in your business. She shares how leveraging your existing network can be a game-changer for business growth, emphasizing relationships over followers and paid ads. She discusses practical strategies for reconnecting with your network, categorizing contacts, and using relationships to build and scale a business.Important Takeaways:The importance of existing relationships in business growthCategorizing your network: openers, collaborators, amplifiers, anchors, studentsStrategies for reconnecting and activating your networkCase studies of successful women entrepreneurs leveraging relationshipsThe misconception of starting from scratch and the value of past relationshipsLindsay talks about "that email" you can read all about that and grab her templates on her substack here. Join us for this month's Forum Workshop on July 9th: The 2-Part Email System Behind Consistent Scalable Revenue REGISTER HEREJoin us inside the Dear FoundHer... Forum, our online networking group supporting you as you build and grow your business so you don't have to do it alone. Follow Dear FoundHer on Instagram 

For simple actionable tips to grow your business, subscribe to The FoundHer Files Lindsay Pinchuk shares the importance of proactive network outreach for business growth, emphasizing a specific email strategy to reconnect with contacts and generate new opportunities. Learn how to craft personal reintroduction emails that activate your network and boost your pipeline.This episode includes: The importance of proactive outreach to your existing networkHow to craft a personal reintroduction emailThe five-part structure of an effective outreach emailThe role of relationship-building in business growthStrategies for activating your network to generate opportunitiesTakeawaysSending personalized reintroduction emails can quickly generate new business opportunities.Your network is active and waiting to be engaged, not passive.A well-structured, personal email can re-engage contacts and open doors.Building and maintaining relationships over time is crucial for business success.The key to effective outreach is clarity, specificity, and genuine connection.Chapters00:00 The Importance of Communication in Business02:31 Reactivating Your Network05:09 Building Relationships for Success08:17 Crafting the Perfect Reintroduction Email10:52 Taking Action: Your Email AssignmentJoin us for this month's Forum Workshop on July 9th: The 2-Part Email System Behind Consistent Scalable Revenue REGISTER HERESubscribe to The FoundHer Files Follow Dear FoundHer on Instagram