Game Changers
“Game changers” is applied so often the term feels passé – until you hear from those who are actually changing the game. The women in this panel are entrepreneurs who have pushed the boundaries of what their respective industries can do. They are creators, disruptors, risk-takers and resourceful women who have a kind of ESP for success, seeing the future of what can and will work for their business.
Moderator: Anne Marie Yanez SVP, Business Lead/Strategy Zenith
Anne Marie Yanez is an accomplished media executive with significant strategic integrated media planning experience, having led Fortune 100 businesses with $450M+ in billings. She has demonstrated success in new business acquisition, team leadership as well as building and maintaining excellent and highly collaborative client relationships. She has been SVP of business and strategy lead at Zenith Media for over five years. Anne Marie is an animal lover with four Labrador retrievers, three cats and even a crow that turns up daily. She and her husband serve as a foster family for the Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue.
Panelists:
Jing Gao
ounder & CEO Fly By Jing
Jing Gao, the founder and CEO of Fly By Jing, is a chef, entrepreneur and a renowned expert on Chinese cuisine on a mission to bring uncensored Chinese flavors to the table. She was born in Chengdu but grew up everywhere and uses her experience as a chef to share meaningful flavors that open people up to new ideas and conversations. Gao founded an award-winning modern Chinese fast casual restaurant in Shanghai, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Fortune and more.
Alyson Myers
Ph.D VP, Business Development and Research Calcean
Alyson Myers, Ph.D., serves as the VP of business development and research at Calcean Minerals and Materials. She holds a Ph.D. from Florida Atlantic University and has a decade of research experience. Over the past six years, Dr. Myers has specialized in the renewable mineral aragonite, leveraging its unique properties to pioneer environmentally-friendly solutions in industries like cosmetics, food, glass and bioplastics. Her work is driving sustainable innovation and addressing pressing environmental and health challenges.
Candace Nelson
Founder and Principal CN2 Ventures
Candace Nelson is a serial entrepreneur, guest Shark, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and an expert in turning one’s passion into a profitable business. Nelson revolutionized the baking industry when she left a career in finance to start Sprinkles, the world’s first cupcake bakery with a Cupcake ATM. Nelson followed with the launch of Pizzana, a growing chain of Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded pizzerias. Her book, “Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe for Turning Your Passion Into Profit” was No. 4 on the Wall Street Journal’s bestseller list and her debut book, “The Sprinkles Baking Book: 100 Secret Recipes from Candace’s Kitchen” is a New York Times bestseller. She continues to expand her portfolio of investments and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.
Alli Webb
Founder DryBar
Alli Webb is the founder of Drybar, New York Times bestselling author, Canopy president and co-founder of Squeeze, Brightside and Becket + Quill. In 2010, Drybar exploded into a nationally recognized brand growing to over 150 locations and a highly successful product line. Staying true to her signature approach to beauty and self-care, Squeeze follows suit as an innovative massage concept. Most recently, Webb joined the Canopy team as president. She also serves as an advisor and investor in The Feel-Good Company’s newest brand, Brightside, a take on infrared yoga and sauna. Webb recently released her second book, “The Messy Truth,” and resides in Los Angeles with her two sons.
Shared Insights from the Event
ON BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR IN TODAY’S LANDSCAPE
Candace Nelson: It’s never been easier really to start a business because we have all these tools at our disposal. But that also means it’s never been more competitive. You really have to have this true point of differentiation, and you have to know who you are and who you are for.
Jing Gao: I think it’s just staying true to yourself. But, also finding help seeking mentors - that’s been the number-one thing that’s helped me in my journey is seeking out people who have done it before, and made every mistake in the book. It’s really just taking the time doing the research and finding people who are really willing to help and share their experience and journey.
Alli Webb: My best advice to entrepreneurs who are looking to start something should of course come from a place of passion and personal necessity. To start a company and want to start something, it’s like, what’s that thing that you love and are obsessed with? Is there no one doing it really well, or where’s that place that you go that you think, “I like it here, but this could be so much better than it is.”
Alyson Myers, Ph.D: I think being an entrepreneur is also about advocating for yourself as well. If you don’t speak up for yourself, who else is going to? You have to be able to advocate for yourself, and what’s better than advocating for yourself if you have some data to back it up?
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A PERSONAL BRAND
Webb: I’ve spent the last five to seven years building my own personal brand, in tandem with Drybar. Drybar will always be the platform in which this all lives on, but I knew instinctively that if I go, what’s going to be next for me after Drybar? I’m not gonna go lay on a beach somewhere and call it a day - I have so many other ideas and projects and things to do. So, I knew I needed my name to still hold some weight beyond just Drybar.
Gao: I just finished my book tour and it’s called the “Book of Chili Crisp,” and Chili Crisp is a condiment that we make and have popularized in the U.S. since we launched five years ago. But it’s more than just a condiment, and it’s more than just a book about a condiment. It is a very personal story of my journey of getting to where I am now - my business is called Fly by Jing. It is very personal for me. Everything in my life, starting from where I was born to what led me to this business and to what I’m doing now.
Nelson: I think keeping up a personal brand is very time-intensive, and we’ve talked a lot about personal brand as it relates to a founder supporting their business. But a personal brand isn’t just for entrepreneurs. Personal brands can be for employees as well, right? Your personal brand is essentially your reputation.
ON APPROACHING LEADERSHIP AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
Myers: I think creating an environment that is approachable - I’m a scientist in the research realm. Creating an environment where you’re approachable - you want to create a safe environment with your colleagues, with your employees, that they can come to you. When you foster an environment that is approachable and they can come to you and also not be afraid to make mistakes. You don’t want to micromanage your, your employees. I’m a big believer in not micromanaging. You should share your goal: Everybody should have the same goal and everybody should be working towards that goal. When you create that approachable environment, people will be able to come to you.