Rachel Drori
Founder and CEO, Daily Harvest
Drori founded Daily Harvest after she started investigating why there were no food solutions that existed that were both clean and convenient – and realized the problem was larger than she had imagined. In 2015, Daily Harvest was born, with the mission to take care of food so food can take care of you. In 2021, she plans to continue to reimagine food to be customer-, human- and planet-driven, taking the crisis we are in as an opportunity to address some of the issues plaguing the industry.

What are you doing to make 2021 your year?
It feels strange to be hopeful about 2021 when it’s still a difficult time for everyone, but we are inherently resilient, and we will get through this.

My goal this year (and every year) is to reimagine food to be customer-, human- and planet-driven. It’s an enormous ambition because our food system is fundamentally broken, but I believe the crisis state we’re in actually presents an opportunity to address some of the issues plaguing the industry. We have a system that leaves millions of people hungry, while at the same time farmers wonder if their crops will be purchased. The disruptions we’ve seen across the food system and supply chains highlight and punctuate the problems that already existed. As we recover from the pandemic, there will be more urgency to build something completely different. I see people harnessing this energy for change and have hope for the future. We need to work together to fix these systemic issues, ensuring there’s a sufficient supply of nourishing and accessible food for all.

Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Vice President of New Business Development, Bentley Laboratories
Bentley Laboratories is a cutting-edge formulation and manufacturing partner to premium skincare, haircare and body care beauty brands globally. For 20 years, Fitzpatrick has been studying current trends and identifying future beauty trends to create award-winning products for her clients. She is passionately focused on moving beauty brands forward by partnering with brands and offering world-class services, including innovative formulas using the most efficacious raw materials and the most current sustainable packaging.

What advice would you give your younger self?
Never say never. As a young person, the world appears to have many obstacles, bumps in the road and even roadblocks. Conquer them, take them on, but do not avoid them. Stand on your tippy-toes and look over them; you will see a better place worth working toward. Time builds character as you work to overcome those roadblocks. That character becomes confidence that then molds you into a force to be reckoned with. In fact, as your career matures, you will look back at those seemingly unsurmountable challenges that now are so small. You are in a place then where you are saying, “Bring it on!”

Lisa Beattie Frelinghuysen
Principal, BanyanGlobal
Through her work with BanyanGlobal, Frelinghuysen helps family businesses thrive by collaborating with them to develop structures that will serve current and future business needs. An experienced legal professional with a strong background in business, strategic planning for growth, board development and succession planning, Frelinghuysen also serves on private company and nonprofit boards and is a frequent speaker on gender equality, reproductive justice, the U.S. Supreme Court and women in business.

What is the best lesson you have received from a woman in your life?
I had the good fortune to clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, and I remember she used to say, “Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” I sit on the boards of organizations committed to advancing gender equality and reproductive justice, and in that capacity, I give talks at universities, organizations and businesses, encouraging others to care about gender and justice. Likewise, in my work at BanyanGlobal, advising the owners of significant, privately held companies, I try to bring a gender lens to the owner room and illustrate that gender inequality in family businesses, which may emerge as a fine crack in the current system, can become a divisive and destabilizing force in future generations. Encouraging owners to be thoughtful about providing equal ownership, voice and vote, across gender lines, sets up business enterprises for long-term success and stability, in addition to being the right thing to do. While the issue may feel repetitive and success incremental, I remember another maxim of Justice Ginsburg’s: “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
 

Lucy Guo
Venture Capitalist, Backend Capital
After co-founding Scale AI, Guo – who has been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 list – is now investing through her venture fund, Backend Capital. In 2021, she will continue to focus on investing and has restarted the firm’s Hacker Residency Program, through which she will work with 18 to 20 founders four times a year to help build companies with them.

What advice would you give your younger self?
I think my younger self did a pretty good job! I was always an entrepreneur and chose unconventional paths. People probably knew I’d drop out of college back in high school. But I would tell her to stop being so insecure and that being a nerd will result in her being the cool kid one day. And maybe to learn how to sleep more.
 

Sarah Hardy
Co-Founder and COO, Bobbie

Laura Modi
Co-Founder and CEO, Bobbie
Hardy and Modi founded Bobbie in 2018 to bring peace of mind to parenting by shifting the scrutiny of how we feed to what we feed. The co-founders, who met while working at Airbnb, are passionate believers in transparency, quality and ingredient choices – and they’re excited to bring this to other parents. The company – which raised $2.4 million from Silicon Valley investors while Modi was pregnant with her second baby and an additional $4 million in seed funding in 2019 while she was pregnant with her third – hit a significant milestone this year with its January 2021 launch.

What are the unique challenges of being a female leader in your field?
LM: Our business is a rarity in the infant formula industry. We are the only mom-founded and -led formula company in a sea of conglomerates run by men. It’s a capital-intensive business where we needed to fundraise, and that meant going to traditional venture capital funds to convince a bunch of guys that infant formula is worth investing in, is ripe for disruption and evolution, and that we as founders (I was also heavily pregnant at the time) are up for the challenge and have the grit and tenacity to see it through. After giving around 60 pitches, we were able to find the right investors that not only saw the opportunity in the business, but believed in us as founders. They have believed and supported us every step of the way. Now, the fact that we are the only mom-founded and -led infant formula is our not-so-secret weapon. Our personal point of view shapes every aspect of Bobbie.

What is the biggest impact the events of 2020 had on your business?
SH: In the beginning of 2020, we were looking for a new office space to grow a team with the mindset that we were too small to be remote or even work from home because there would be lost connection. Fast-forward a month later, and we were in quarantine in California and found ourselves pivoting quickly to a remote-only workforce, hiring moms from across the U.S. and building culture and connection on Zoom. This was a tough time for moms everywhere juggling what felt like everything at once – work, babies, no childcare, online classes, the daily grind. We doubled down on being a company that truly supports, empathizes and nurtures working parents in 2020 and all the wild demands being thrown at them on a regular basis.
 

Dr. Alicia Jackson
Founder and CEO, Evernow
An ex-DARPA scientist and MIT Ph.D., Dr. Jackson has a long track record of using technological advances to solve pressing challenges facing people across the globe. She founded Evernow in response to alarming statistics around the impact of menopause on women’s health and the lack of access to expert care. Evernow uses technology and telehealth to deliver personalized, science-based medical treatments and high-touch care for every step of a woman’s menopause journey, and Dr. Jackson’s vision is to build medicine for women on their terms – when, where and how they need it.

What is the biggest impact the events of 2020 had on your business?
When we started Evernow, we had made the assumption that women would be increasingly open to getting care delivered via telehealth. The events of 2020 accelerated that shift, and as it did so it underscored the value of removing the constraints to care and opening up access. That acceleration had a big impact on our business, and consumer interest has skyrocketed and proven that telemedicine has a convenience premium that’s especially important to busy women. We’re building medicine for women on their terms: for their goals and needs, when they need it, where they are and how they want it delivered.

Dr. Mary Beth Wilkas Janke
Author, Speaker and Self-Esteem Mentor
Dr. Janke – a former U.S. Secret Service Agent who is now a forensic and clinical psychologist – has traveled an extraordinary path as one of a small minority of women (9%) in the Secret Service in the early 1990s and was the only female to ever officially protect a foreign president outside of the United States. She has gathered valuable insights into the level-headedness, self-confidence and mental and physical toughness required to succeed in life. She has written a memoir about her journey titled, “The Protector: A Woman’s Journey from the Secret Service to Protecting VIPs in the World’s Most Dangerous Places.”

What advice would you give your younger self?
You do belong in the room. You are strong. Do not give up on yourself or your goals, even when people are doing their best to knock you off your path. Finally, if there’s no path in front of you, grab some cement and start paving.
 

Margot Kane
Chief Investment Officer, Spring Point Partners
Kane serves as the chief investment officer at Spring Point Partners, a social impact venture that invites deep collaboration on exciting approaches to change. In 2021, she will continue working to shape investment behavior and capital markets to be more just, restorative and rewarding for people and the planet.

What are the unique challenges of being a female leader in your field?
The language of finance is loaded with obscure jargon that is often aggressive and hyper-masculine. The heavy use of jargon also implies the practice of investing is more complicated than it really is, which can be intimidating and leads to one-sided conversations – and worse outcomes as a result. This dissuades many people from feeling empowered to engage in investing, even though it’s a fundamental part of financial well-being for everyone. In my work, where I collaborate with thoughtful leaders across multiple disciplines, I aim to decode the jargon and explain concepts using accessible language – and to encourage self-proclaimed “nonfinancial” people to engage in investment conversations with confidence. As we all (should) know by now, we need more diverse representation and perspectives in all areas of business to be successful, and the investment space is a laggard in that regard. In my experience, investment strategies that are informed by multiple perspectives, including nonfinancial ones, are always more successful.
 

Julia Karol
President and COO, Watermill Group
As president and COO of the Watermill Group, a strategy-driven private investment firm, Karol oversees overall firm operations and helps Watermill portfolio companies develop and implement their strategies. In addition, in 2020 she launched Watermill’s WMX initiative, which funds gender-diverse teams. Outside of Watermill, Karol is the creator of Stork’d, a podcast exploring and celebrating the many paths to building a family. She serves as a Partner with Social Venture Partners Boston and as a member for the Budget and Administration Committee for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

What values do you try to emulate in your daily life, be it at home or at work?
Mutual respect is the No. 1 value I try to emulate. It is one of our corporate values at the Watermill Group and one that I deeply admire and try to apply in all aspects of my life. My personal interpretation of mutual respect is to expect that anyone you encounter is approaching a situation with good intentions and doing their best under the circumstances. If you approach a situation with this mindset, and show respect, chances are high that you’ll receive it back tenfold. When I meet new people and we share this mindset, I find I have richer and more interesting connections – and those are the experiences I often learn from.
 

Candice Storey Lee
Vice Chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs/Athletics Director, Vanderbilt University
Lee’s appointment to director of athletics for Vanderbilt University in 2020 made her the school’s first female athletic director and placed her in the upper echelon of college athletics as one of only five women currently leading a Power Five program. In 2021, she will continue to focus on bringing the university’s athletic program to new heights, both on and off the field.

What is the biggest lesson you learned in 2020?
This past year presented a number of challenges – including those stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, racial climate and political unrest that our country has encountered. Through this, I learned how it is more important than ever to be consistent in leading and caring for others, in steadfastly demonstrating my core values, living out my faith and communicating as much as possible – especially when I had more questions than answers. My goal was to be consistent and true to myself, despite dealing with the unprecedented nature of 2020. And it seemed to work well enough – most days!

Sue Leone
Executive Vice President of WFI Operations, Bonney Forge
Bonney Forge is a leading international manufacturer of industrial forged steel valves, cast steel valves, forged steel fittings, unions and branch connections. The company is also a family business run by her father, John Leone.

What is the best lesson you have received from a woman in your life?
My mom was by far the most influential woman in my life. She was an extraordinary woman. “Just call me Willie” was her standard answer when being introduced for the first time to anyone and everyone. She was always just herself, no pretenses. She was unaffected, straightforward and respectful. She was approachable, which created an atmosphere of sincerity and directness. Learning these principles and attributes has been invaluable to me in my personal and professional life. A fundamental building block to success in life, both personal and professional, is largely dependent upon successful long-lasting relationships. These relationships start with communication and by creating mutual respect. My mother set an example that I strive to emulate and achieve in my life.

Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan
President and CEO, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
As president and CEO of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, Dr. Minter-Jordan leads a dynamic team of professional and clinical experts committed to building a future where every person can reach their full potential through excellent health. Through her leadership, CareQuest Institute collaborates with a wide range of partners to achieve its mission – to improve the oral health of all – through work in grantmaking, research, health improvement programs, policy and advocacy, and education, as well as leadership in dental benefits, care delivery and innovation advancements.

What values do you try to emulate in your daily life, be it at home or at work?
Knowing yourself, understanding what drives and motivates you and sharing those values with others is one of the most important things that leaders can do to inspire and motivate. My personal values are transparency, respect, accountability and communication. I try to live these values through every interaction I have, both personally and professionally. I feel strongly that my purpose must be connected and rooted in community. That is a powerful lesson my mother taught me both in word and practice. A nurse for over 30 years, my mom dedicated her professional life to advocating for her patients and improving the quality of their care. The golden rule in our house was to work hard and apply yourself. My values help me do both with purpose.

When I launched CareQuest Institute, my values were one of the first things I shared with my new, expanded team. When I am living them fully, my values help me to identify moments when I need to take charge and moments when true leadership on my part is to support others in taking the lead.

Transparency, respect, accountability and communication are so important to me because I believe strongly in using my platform to amplify the voices of those with lived experience. When voices are missing from the conversation, we all need the confidence in ourselves and our values to make space for others when they are best positioned to drive meaningful change.
 

Arielle Patrick
Chief Communications Officer, Ariel Investments
Patrick joined Ariel Investments, the oldest minority-owned investment firm in the U.S., in December 2020. This year, in her role as chief communications officer, the industry leader will work to oversee and integrate all aspects of Ariel’s communications.

What is the best lesson you have received from a woman in your life?
The most important lesson I learned growing up, watching my mother’s every move, was that grit conquers all. Grit is not to be confused with motivation or perseverance. One can be motivated to succeed, but that might fluctuate day by day. Perseverance is also dependent on various circumstances. One can persevere through difficult challenges, but grit is a prolonged commitment to excellence in every part of one’s life and career.

My mother taught me that grit is resilience and determination, combined with deep passion and long-term vision. This trait, which she embodied every day without fail, is what allowed her to go from being a middle schooler who arrived in the United States without speaking a word of English to a fearless healthcare industry leader, wife and mother who raised her children with unlimited privilege.

I am so grateful that she passed it on to me. It cascades through everything I do. I’ve learned from her that focus and discipline are nothing without undying patience and infinite mental toughness. The best part about grit is that it’s not innate. It’s a skill to be practiced, built and honed over time. Anyone can have it!
 

Lorine Pendleton
Investment Partner, Portfolia Rising America Fund; New York Chair, TIGER 21
Pendleton, a seasoned investor, business development executive, attorney and public speaker with extensive experience in the legal, technology, media and entertainment industries, has received accolades from Worth, Marie Claire and Business Insider, to name a few. This year, she looks to build on the momentum seen in 2020 by her Portfolia Rising America Fund, which aims to invest in diverse-led companies, and focus on her new position as entrepreneur-in-residence at Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship.

What is the biggest impact the events of 2020 had on your business?
2020 was challenging and impactful, to say the least. I launched my Portfolia Rising America Fund to invest in diverse-led companies in late 2019, and then COVID-19 hit, bringing things to a complete halt. I thought I launched the fund at the worst possible time. 2020 became a trifecta of events with the pandemic, economic strife impacting many and the social justice/Black Lives Matter movement. The fund and thesis of investing in diverse-led companies took on even more importance as a spotlight was shed on the disparities existing in this country, including the wide wealth disparity. Because entrepreneurship is one of the best ways to close this disparity, attention shifted to the lack of funding for Black and diverse founders. We leveraged this watershed moment to engage our network and reached out to potential investors interested in deploying their capital in an impactful way to support diverse fund managers and entrepreneurs. We were the right fund at the right time. I am proud to say the fund gained great investors, including family offices and institutional investors, who invested in our vision. Having this high caliber of investors has a long-term impact for our fund, similarly situated future funds and the companies we invest in.

Amber Schaub
Founder and CEO, RuffleButts
Schaub is the CEO of RuffleButts, an ecommerce company she founded in 2007 at 27 years old with the goal of creating a cute and modern version of the ruffled diaper cover. RuffleButts and RuggedButts are now in more than 40 countries, in thousands of boutiques and carried by national retailers. 2020 was an incredible journey for Schaub as she navigated COVID-19 and the associated challenges related to employees, supply chain, school-aged children and completed a successful recapitalization with a private equity firm. 2021 will surely bring new opportunities and challenges for her to conquer as the business continues to evolve.

What values do you try to emulate in your daily life, be it at home or at work?
I asked my 9-year-old son how I should answer this question, and he said, “This one is easy for you, Mom. It’s God first, then family, then work. That’s your motto.” He’s right. This priority order of values is my guide, and I attempt to instill the same foundation for my kids. Although, as with many other things in life, it is much easier said than to actually live out.

RuffleButts is our baby in so many ways, and actually our first born, as I started the company almost two years prior to the birth of our daughter. This first born requires a lot of attention! My husband (who built the business with me) and our two kids are amazingly understanding of this responsibility, but they also know they can raise the priority “flag” when needed. When our kids were younger, I made a deal with them. I care immensely about RuffleButts, but family still comes before work in my priority list. So, when there was something important to them, like a field trip or school event, I would drop everything to be there. They were respectful of this and never took advantage, but when they raised the “flag,” I was there.

So, my son was right – God first, family, then work – but all three have filled my life with blessings beyond my wildest imagination. I certainly get off track as much as any other mom trying to balance it all, but when I re-center to this priority order, everything seems to realign.

Nicole Schmidt
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Oberon
Schmidt is the co-founder and a managing partner of Oberon. Since founding the middle-market investment bank in 2001, she has grown the company to more than 70 financial services professionals and closed nearly 400 investment banking transactions. In 2021, Schmidt plans to scale Oberon to 150 professionals, continue to deliver top-tier services to clients, build upon the firm’s reputation as a hands-on, execution-oriented team known for its integrity and, most important, continue to focus on clients’ needs and objectives first.

What advice would you give your younger self?
Emily Dickinson wrote that luck is not chance, it’s toil! How prescient she was in the 1850s. As an entrepreneur, I have come to truly appreciate these words. I constantly tell “would be” entrepreneurs that “success” is largely predicated on perseverance. Why? Because “overnight successes” are built over the course of decades. Perseverance allows entrepreneurs to navigate industries’ peaks and valleys and to be opportunistic when possible. We started our business during a recession in 2001 brought on by the abrupt end of the dot-com era (in which every company that merely added “.com” to its name saw its valuation grow geometrically and then disappear) and learned how to stay the course when new prospects were scarce and being an unknown was a handicap. In retrospect, powering up the office lights every day, manning the phones and seizing opportunities when they presented themselves enabled us to scale the business over the past 20 years to more than 70 people and close hundreds of transactions – perseverance was really the key.
 

Melissa Smith
CEO, WEX
Smith is chair and CEO of WEX, a leading provider of financial technology services. Under Smith’s leadership, WEX has experienced double-digit growth – to become a $1.7 billion company – and expanded globally beyond its core fleet offering to include healthcare, corporate payments and travel. Smith is committed to the local business and nonprofit communities in Maine, where she currently serves on the not-for-profit board of directors for MaineHealth. She is co-founder of the Executive Women’s Forum and sheJAMs and has been involved with the Maine Cancer Foundation’s Tri for a Cure since its inception. In 2020, she was also named to the board of directors for Equifax.

What is the best lesson you have received from a woman in your life?
My mother was adamant that her three daughters be uber independent. She encouraged us to push through the discomfort of trying something new, and her motto was, “Why not?” It didn’t need to be pretty, but you always needed to try. This meant that we learned how to bike and ski through the force of gravity. We were unceremoniously pointed down hills, and that’s how we learned. My mother took to heart the concept that she was raising young adults that needed to be prepared for the real world, which wasn’t always easy.

In part because of her, but also because I grew up in a small community, I learned the importance of showing up. You can’t look over your shoulder for someone else to step up; everyone has to contribute for smaller communities to function. I also didn’t have to narrowly define myself and pick one dimension. I was a cheerleader. I played soccer. I was captain of the math team. I wasn’t put into a box and categorized; my image didn’t define who I was.

My mother would also say that life was unfair, and there were going to be lots of times when you were working against a deck of cards that were stacked against you. She was clear that education was a key element of independence and that each of us needed to build enough financial independence to have freedom of choice. The best lesson, though, was that I had my mother in the background telling me I could be whoever I wanted to be as long as I was willing to work for it.