Art of the App

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Donna Griffit on Standing Out Using Storytelling Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

Stories have been told for thousands of years. When there’s an emotional link and we can picture them in our minds we remember them better. That’s why research has found that stories are 22 times more memorable than facts or figures.

In episode 17 of Art of the App, Donna Griffit shares the importance of storytelling in anything from pitch decks to job interviews. We also discuss how you can pull things from your life to create a compelling story for your business.

Donna Griffit, Corporate Storyteller, has worked globally for over 17 years with Fortune 500 companies, Start-Ups and investors in a wide variety of industries. She has consulted and trained clients in over 30 countries, helping them create, edit and deliver verbal and written presentations, pitches and messages. Donna has the ability to magically spin raw data into compelling stories that captivate audiences and drive to results. Through her guidance clients have raised over a billion dollars.

Some of the things Donna Griffit and I discuss:

How Donna draws out the story of the businesses she works with.
If we are running on empty, we won't do a good job which is why taking time to regenerate is so important.
The arc of a great pitch deck.
How when you find ‘X Factor’ you will always have work. Great tips for anyone out there going through job interviews.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about Art of the App and Michelle Cherian at https://artoftheapp.buzzsprout.com/

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Free Gift: A Guide for Creating a Product People Adore

RESOURCES

Flow

Ikigai

Naama Barnea-Goraly on Girl Empowerment with Girltelligence Jun 29, 2021

Show notes

Social media is not set up to drive thoughtful and meaningful discussions and there is a gap for girls and young women to have a space to call their own.

In episode 16 of Art of the App Podcast, Naama Barnea-Gorly shares the importance of building a community of girls and young women to talk peer to peer or seek advice for generations ahead of themselves.

Naama Barnea-Goraly M.D. received her medical degree from the Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, Israel, and her clinical training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as well as a postdoctoral neuroimaging research fellowship at Stanford University. She then went on to work as an instructor and brain researcher at Stanford. Her research on brain structure in disorders affecting social cognition was published extensively in leading psychiatric and neuroscience journals,and presented in international conferences.

In the course of her work she became interested in gender equality and the importance of supportive authentic communities, especially for girls and women. This led her out of the lab and into the real world to found “Girltelligence”, an empowerment app for teen girls and young women to find a supportive community, and resources to support their mental health and to help them reach their full potential.

Some of the things Naama and I discuss:

The new things that our younger generations have to overcome with the rapid change and growth in technology.
Teaching young men to be allies from a young age.
How Girltelligence keeps its users safe and provides inclusivity for all.
Applying for grants and the hurdles a startup must overcome.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE CHERIAN:

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CONNECT WITH NAAMA BARNEA GORLY:

Email: naama@girltelligence.com

Website

Claire Shorall on Being Radically Accessible with Her Coaching System, Topknot Jun 22, 2021

Show notes

Coaching can have such a positive impact on your life; but most of the time, personal, business, and professional coaching can come at a high financial cost. With peer coaching, there is more accessibility to quality coaching.

In episode 15 of Art of the App, Claire Shorall shares the importance of having unbiased peer support and coaching in your life.

Claire Shorall is the co-founder and CEO of Topknot, a coaching system for women to live their most fulfilled lives. Prior to starting Topknot, Claire was an award-winning educator and VC investor. She is best known for her work spearheading computer science education in Oakland, CA’s public schools. Claire graduated from Rice University where she competed for the Owls in Cross Country and Track.

Some of the things Claire Shorall and I discuss:

The concept of learning how to learn which is basically gaining the skills to be able to look at something and make sense of it for yourself.
How Topknot is making coaching accessible to everyone!
Ways that we can set goals that can’t be measured by creating a set plan but are more developmental goals, like confidence, self criticism, etc.
The goal is to redefine how people approach relationships with themself and others in their circles.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

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Free Gift: The Guide to Create a Product with Superfans

CONNECT WITH CLAIRE SHORALL:

Topknot

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Bravery by Alexi Pappas

Kt McBratney on Owning Your Story and Celebrating Your Journey with Own Trail Jun 15, 2021

Show notes

As women, non-binary individuals or anyone else with an oppressed identity, there is power in taking up space and owning your own story without the motive of getting a job, getting more followers, or whatever else the reason may be.

In episode 14 of Art of the App Podcast, Kt McBratney shares the importance of embracing your life journey and sharing it with others. We also discuss how you can use Own Trail to seek inspiration, advice and support from other empowering and amazing women.

Kt McBratney is obsessed with disrupting the status bro. She’s the co-founder and chief brand officer at OwnTrail, the peer support system for women built on the authentic sharing of our unique paths through life. She’s spent her career building non-bullshit brands as a seasoned tech and marketing leader, strategist and connector. Kt is also a visual artist, toddler mom and borderline book hoarder.

Some of the things Kt and I discuss:

How establishing your values and deal-breakers before entering into a business partnership can set you up on a pathway to success.
The value in having a place to have a “personal life resume” of your authentic life experiences backed by a community of positive and supportive women on their own journey.
Celebrating and sharing your story while also keeping a sense of agency over your information.
How Own Trail has been able to attract and retain so many members from the very beginning.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE CHERIAN:

Free Gift: Checklist for Creating and App with Superfans

CONNECT WITH KT MCBRATNEY:

Own Trail

Twitter

Instagram- Own Trail

Instagram- @k_to_the_t

Ashley Connell on Closing the Gender Gap and Helping Women Return to Work with Prowess Project. Jun 08, 2021

Show notes

Although the workforce has changed over the years, the workplace has not. When women leave the workforce for childcare they have many hurdles to overcome when they decide they're ready to return.

In episode 13 of Art of the App Podcast, Ashley Connell shares the negative effects women face after taking a step away from the workplace and the importance of advocating for them upon their return. We also discuss how the Prowess Project can give peace of mind knowing there are options for you to get back into the workforce.

Ashley Connell, CEO and Founder of Prowess Project, is one part fearless entrepreneur, one part fearless women’s advocate landing her thought leadership pieces in Forbes, Built in Austin and at SXSW. For the first 15 years of her career, she was an award-winning tech marketer in both Austin and London. Ashley’s unstoppable drive to have both a career and time for family motivated her to start Prowess. Now she’s committed to changing the lives of overloaded employers, women seeking rewarding work, and doing all she can to close the gender gap. In her pretty much non-existent spare time she enjoys yoga, walks with her bulldog, cheering on her beloved Longhorns, and spaghetti and meatballs.

Some of the things Ashley and I discuss:

The ways in which having children affects not only the compensation gap mothers face once they returns to work but how it affects the workforce in general.
The shame around paternal leave resulting in fathers either taking a small fraction of what is offered or not taking it at all.
Culture add vs. culture fit.
What goes into Prowess Project’s certification process and how they work to build you up in the areas you lack in.
Reversing the stigma around working moms having less work ethic than others. Studies show where they actually excel over their coworkers in time management and efficiency.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE CHERIAN:

Free Gift: The Guide to Creating a Product People Love

CONNECT WITH ASHLEY CONNELL:

Website

Lynette Perkins on the Digital Age of Fitness with Atom Jun 01, 2021

Show notes

An athlete isn’t defined by the person who shows up to the gym 5 or 6 days a week. There is an athlete in all of us and when we’re able to have a personalized experience we’re able to optimize our potential.

In episode 12 of Art of the App Podcast, Lynette Perkins shares the importance of transitioning fitness into a hybrid model of in person and virtual. We also discuss how her new startup, Atom is changing the game for athletes to use their data alongside their coaches to have a better overall athlete experience.

Lynette has a business and computer science background with a passion for building businesses and products. She is the founder/ CEO of Bohemian Innovation, an award-winning software consulting firm that integrates business and product strategy with technological know-how to help guide businesses from application ideation through to release.

Lynette specializes in customer-facing software experiences, IoT-connected devices, B2C businesses, and has been passionate about the health and fitness field for over 15 years. She’s helped businesses and startups achieve their goals while transforming industries and setting new user experience standards along the way. She works collaboratively with clients to help them attain their business objectives more effectively, and develop long-term relationships built on trust and results. Lynette has a passion for finding new ways of bringing innovative and emerging technology into new spaces. In addition to all of this, she is also a founder of IFR Ventures, a capital investment lab that provides resources and strategic guidance to help health and wellness software and CPG products get to market quickly.

Lynette also stays engaged with her community by serving as a board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas, as well as advising and mentoring several other nonprofits and small businesses. Ultimately, she believes that the entrepreneurial spirit can help drive the greater good.

Some of the things Lynette and I discuss:

Shifting a business during Covid to accommodate the new needs of the industry in an emerging world.
Using exercise as a holistic approach to mental health, better sleep, and overall wellbeing.
As a multi-passionate entrepreneur, knowing which idea is the one to move the needle forward with.
Leveraging the virtual world to build better and more educated athletes.
Collecting data so that coaches can become a better resource to their athletes.
Setting guidelines and structure in your business so that as a leader, you can focus on the high-level things that matter.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE CHERIAN:

Free Gift: Guide to Creating a Product People Adore

CONNECT WITH LYNETTE PERKINS:

Website- Atom

Website- Bohemian Innovation

Ravid Israel on Helping Women Advocate for Themselves with Embie Fertility Treatment Tracker May 25, 2021

Show notes

There are hundreds of apps on the market for women trying to conceive naturally but very few, if any, for women going through fertility treatments. Considering the number of women with unexplained infertility, this is an area that desperately needs support.

In episode 11 of Art of the App, Ravid Israel shares the importance of changing how we approach infertility diagnosis. We also discuss how to make educated decisions in your own journey with a supportive community at your side.

Ravid Israel is the founder of Embie, the first app exclusively designed for women going through fertility treatments. What started as fertility preservation and quickly turned into fertility treatments of her own, Ravid realized there was no app for women going through these treatments. Ravid started tracking all things related to her fertility and treatments in excel, her phone’s calendar and traditional TTC apps. She quickly noticed some patterns as she started comparing her cycles and began advocating for changes t o her Protocol. The result was better quality eggs and higher fertilization rates. She knew right then and there that other women needed this information too and Embie was conceived.

Ravid’s fertility journey began in 2012 with a Cervical Cancer diagnosis, followed by severe endometriosis, multiple fibroids, and an MTHFR mutation. This prompted a move abroad for more affordable reproductive care which was followed by 6 full IVF cycles, 4 transfers and a lot of experimentation. After 5 IVF cycle attempts with a partner, Ravid succeeded on her Single Mother By Choice/first donor cycle, which resulted in the birth of her son in Nov 2020!

Some of the things Ravid and I discuss:

Ravid’s personal journey and struggles have led her to empower and educate other women in the same position.
So many women have unexplained infertility. Embie gives women the opportunity to take back control in an area of their life where they feel they may have lost it.
How difficult it is for women to be properly diagnosed with what’s actually causing their infertility and the protocols and the questions that need to be asked in order to change this.
Endometriosis is linked to several other autoimmune disorders, yet is not treated like one even though 1 in 8 women suffer from this.
Building a community to change the game for women suffering with infertility to cope and take educated action.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE CHERIAN:

Free Gift: Checklist for Creating and App with Superfans

CONNECT WITH RAVID ISRAEL

Download Embie

Instagram- @embieapp

Instagram- @embie2baby

Haley Lieberman on Creating a Circular Economy Marketplace with Shop Tomorrows May 18, 2021

Show notes

With exorbitant amounts of clothing waste in the United States, it’s important we do our part to ensure we don’t contribute to that waste. Buying second-hand is an easy way to do just that.

In episode 10 of Art of the App Podcast, Haley Lieberman shares the importance of conscious consumerism in a fast-fashion world and what her circular marketplace Shop Tomorrows is doing to lead the way. She also gives us some tips on how to create a more sustainable closet as a consumer.

Haley Lieberman is the founder and CEO of Shop Tomorrows, the marketplace for modern parents to trade up goods between neighborhoods, networks and beyond. She has worked as a costume designer and stylist for stage, screen and print for the likes of New York Fashion Week, The Metropolitan Opera, and commercials for Pepsi-Cola and Johnson + Johnson. After a decade of work on large-scale operas, films and commercials she became disturbed by the amount of textiles wasted by the industry, and estimated that per year she was contributing to nearly $1 million dollars of clothing that had nearly no life beyond its immediate use. Motivated to make a difference, she went on to research and teach fashion history and sustainability in universities throughout the Northeast.

Some of the things Haley and I discuss:

What happens with the fabrics and clothing items used for commercials or films
How Haley’s family background instilled a love for high-quality clothing and ensuring they last
Ways that Shop Tomorrows is contributing to sustainable fashion as a social re-commerce platform
What circular economy really means and how it works
The unrealistic expectations placed on female founders

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

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Shop Tomorrow’s

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Free Gift: Checklist for Creating and App with Superfans

RESOURCES/BOOKS

Backable

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Jane Buescher on the Importance of Peer Support with the App, Toucan May 11, 2021

Show notes

We can all understand feeling overwhelmed with the stresses of life and looking for support to help with that, but then feeling like we don’t know where to start. That’s exactly what led Jane Buescher to create Toucan, an app that helps people openly speak their minds, and listeners to lend an ear while feeling that they are not alone in their experiences.

In episode 09 of Art of the App Podcast, Jane Buescher shares the importance of peer support setting, not as a substitute for therapy but as a way to speak or listen to your peers in an impactful way.

Jane Buescher, the Co-Founder and CEO of Toucan, has experience spanning finance, operations, management, and strategy, across financial services, recruiting, and tech. Toucan is a mobile, audio platform that bridges the gap between existing social and professional support systems by pairing two users (Speaker and Listener), peer-to-peer, one-on-one and anonymously, for Huddles via its proprietary app.

Some of the things Jane and I discuss:

How to create a safe environment for app users especially when personal matters are being discussed.
The thought process behind monetizing the app and how Toucan approaches that.
Anthem’s Digital incubator and what that looks like
Strategies that the Toucan team is utilizing to market their new app to ensure it reaches their ideal audiences.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive inspiration from founders and investors shaping the future.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE CHERIAN:

Free Gift: Checklist for Creating and App with Superfans