“Balance is important, that includes self-care.”

Ariane Goldman

Founder & CEO
HATCH

Ariane is an inspiration to all women, both personally and professionally. Not only has she created two companies focused on huge milestones in many women’s lives, but she also made them sexy, sustainable, and successful.

Some of the best companies are built from basic needs the market is missing. 

Ariane is the founder and CEO at HATCH and Twobirds New York. She started her career at American Express, where for eight years she worked in the global firm’s marketing department. In 2007 Ariane left American Express to launch Twobirds New York. A collection of bridesmaid dresses designed to be wrapped in over 15 ways to flatter women of all shapes and sizes (thus, “killing two birds with one stone”). She solved the very real need of providing versatile investment pieces for the millions of bridesmaids who want to look and feel beautiful while celebrating the milestone of a loved one.

In 2010, Ariane was newly pregnant with her first daughter when she grew frustrated by the lack of stylish wardrobe options for expecting women. She saw yet another void in the market for chic, timeless pieces that women could invest in during pregnancy and continue to wear afterward. What began as a line of classics has now evolved into a full lifestyle assortment, featuring ready-to-wear, intimates, accessories and beauty.

Today, Ariane continues to nurture the growth of both Twobirds New York and HATCH. She is focused on developing the HATCH retail presence throughout the United States, where at its New York and Brentwood stores, she is creating a physical community space that provides education, information, and connection for expecting mothers and all women.

“We’re all about the mamas of the world.” – Celebrities who love HATCH

Do you follow a certain morning routine or daily schedule to maximize productivity and well-being?

AG: In the morning, I try and wake up before my kids and answer all the emails from the day before that I didn’t get to. Then I try to take my kids to school so I can feel like the balance is there. I’m also trying to become more selfish and allow myself twice a week to work out. Which, by nature, takes me away from my family and my job. But balance is important, that includes self-care.

Tell us about your first entrepreneurial venture: How did you come up with the idea, and how did you start your business?

AG: I was working in the marketing department at American Express when I got engaged. As I started shopping for my bridesmaids’ dresses, I realized there was no one actually providing something where my girlfriends could feel beautiful and look great without spending a lot of money and ultimately resenting me! I found fabric and got dresses made for my four maids who had four totally different body types.

The reaction was amazing, so a light bulb went off and I quit my job at American Express to start Twobirds New York from my apartment in the West Village. Twobirds New Work is based on the needs of millions of women to invest in an important milestone for a loved one, while also buying a dress that can be worn after the wedding—thus, ‘killing two birds with one stone.”

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“Persistence, passion and perception – not perfection!”

Lilly Wunsch

COO
OHi Food Co

Lilly is the example of making your passion your success. Driven by fateful moments and grounded in experiences, she has scaled company ladders with grace, growing companies to national recognition while keeping her feet planted in the real world of successful business.

Perfection is an unobtainable goal and shouldn’t be used to measure success. 

Lilly began her career as an accountant at PwC, and may never have joined the natural foods industry had she not tried her first bite of ghee. This fateful moment led her to co-found 4th & Heart, scaling the company as it’s COO from the first jar sold to being a top ghee brand in 8,000 stores nationwide. She then joined OHi Superfood Bars as COO in 2018 and has helped them grow from 250 to 1,500 stores. Lilly also serves on the board of Cartograph, the natural foods industry’s leading Amazon sales consulting agency.

What’s key to running a successful business?

LW: Persistence, passion and perception – not perfection!

Persistence is about the hustle, the drive, not giving up. This is one of the main traits I see in people running successful businesses – the creativity to keep going and create win-win solutions even in the face of challenges. You hear “no” so often, and unexpected problems are always popping up. You can’t let it phase you. Find a way, find a workaround, find another option. It’s like Tim Gunn from Project Runway says – “make it work!”

Passion is about the WHY of what you’re doing. A business can’t just be a whim or something you do to get rich. It takes dedication and commitment, and you can’t have that if you don’t have purpose. Successful businesses inspire others to join them – as customers, employees, or partners. When you have passion, it spills over and becomes infectious.

Perception is about developing a sense for what works – whether it’s your product, your people or your relationships. Building a business involves many twists and turns. Instead of blindly pushing forward, perception is about reading the road ahead and making route changes or detours where necessary. You listen to your customers, you find advisors, you read the data. At OHi, we debated launching a Peanut Butter bar as we weren’t sure if it was true to our brand, but we got so many requests from our fans for a “better” peanut butter bar option we did it – and now it’s one of our best sellers!

So often we hear inspiring stories from successful entrepreneurs and then look at our own businesses and feel inadequate. All we see are the “behind closed doors” issues we spend 90% of our time on and gloss over everything going right. It’s important not to focus on perfection and just get out there and learn as you go!

Do you follow a certain morning routine or daily schedule to maximize productivity and well-being?

LW: I used to read about people’s structured routines and get serious FOMO (fear of missing out), but recently I’ve been shunning routine. Taking advantage of the flexibility I have in my schedule helps me maximize both my effectiveness and well-being. By flowing with my moods I become more productive AND a happier person. If I’m struggling, I’ll hit a yoga class at 2 pm to clear my thoughts. If I have a sudden flash of inspiration at midnight, I’ll work for hours. And most importantly, I try not to beat myself up about all the routine things I know I “should” do but often don’t.

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“Knowing my limitations and putting faith in others has been one of the hardest lessons.”

Layne Logigian

CEO
MIGNONNE  GAVIGAN

Layne is an executive unicorn, walking on both the financial and creative sides of business. With an impressive eye for venture potential, she helped build and launch Mignonne Gavigan, while cultivating a team built on support and success.

Building the right team is key, but you need to know your people! Situational leadership is a must!

After graduating from Duke University, Layne began her career in investment banking. Always interested in design, and an Art minor at Duke, Layne met Mignonne through mutual friends and was immediately drawn to Mignonne’s designs. Seeing the potential for Mignonne’s unique designs and her commitment to building her brand, Layne decided to leave the finance world to help launch and build Mignonne Gavigan.

What tips do you have for other women who would like to start their own businesses?

LL: Once we started hiring employees, it was a massive shift of focus for us and a huge learning experience for me as an entrepreneur. So much more of my time and energy is now dedicated to managing people and making sure that not only are they contributing to the business’s success, but that the business is contributing to their success and their professional development as well. As the business has grown, I have been forced to take some chances in terms of delegating and relinquishing control. Knowing my own limitations and putting faith in others to execute has been one of the hardest lessons, but more than ever after the birth of my first child a few weeks ago, I’ve realized the value of having strong women on my team who have been able to support me and anticipate when and how I would need them to take control.

Do you follow a certain morning routine or daily schedule to maximize productivity and well-being?

LL: I live and die by a daily routine. When we first started the business, Mignonne and I were working from home and each others’ apartments, it was really difficult to have any sense of balance between home and work – which, in turn, snowballed into difficulty managing stress and “turning off” to recharge (and sleep!). When we got our first offices and started hiring, adherence to a schedule really helped me compartmentalize what was going on at work and helped me to maximize my time at home.

This 100% makes me more effective at my job and more recharged each day and each week. But everyone is different! To me, a routine is crucial and helps me to manage and anticipate the challenges ahead, short term and long term. But I have seen for others, often those who work in more creative roles and whose brains work in a different way, that a strict routine can also be limiting and restrictive. Everyone is different in this way.

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“I’m never afraid to admit when I don’t understand something or need help.”

Taylor Cook

Founder & CEO
CAYAS

Taylor has worked in the fast-paced environments of fashion houses, top model representation, and media. Now she’s paving the way as an entrepreneur for the modern traveler with on-the-go self-care beauty products.

Looking to start up?  Taylor is walking the entrepreneurial ropes!

Howard alum and former celebrity assistant, Taylor Cook, is the founder and CEO of CAYAS. After a 10-year career in model management, celebrity assisting, and digital media, Taylor is now a full-time entrepreneur. Her brand makes on-the-go self-care simple and stress-free with travel-friendly hair and body products as well as skincare towelettes that eliminate the hassle of traveling with beauty products.

What tips do you have for other women who would like to start their own businesses?

TC: CAYAS is my first entrepreneurial venture. I started the company out of genuine love for travel and adventure, but also out of frustration with the process of traveling with skincare. Korean face masks are a big trend right now, but I didn’t see any other brand focusing on the benefit of this style of packaging for travel, or transitioning other products and serums into this towelette/sachet form. The only version I’d seen is the bulky towelette packs that dry out immediately once opened. So, I decided to try and solve this issue myself.

This being my first startup, I was very naive about a lot of the process. I’ve made tons of mistakes, but I’m also never afraid to admit when I don’t understand something or need help. A lot of people who’ve failed and even those who’ve succeeded in starting a business try to deter you from jumping into entrepreneurship. The hours are long, you’re going to put a lot of your own money into it at the beginning, and there’s no guarantee you’ll succeed. But if you’re right for the job, those are the adrenaline pumping qualities that keep you going.

I’m actually still in the process of fundraising my initial pre-seed round before our official launch this fall. I realized early on that in order to scale CAYAS in the way I envision it was a necessary step for me to take. Admittedly, it’s been an interesting and humbling experience when you don’t have the wealth around you to easily tap into from friends and family, but once again this journey wouldn’t be half as fun without its challenges!

Discover CAYAS:

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From day one, Stage 1 has been proud of the fact that our company is not only run and more than 50% owned by competent, strong and ground-breaking females (all moms), but that many of our partners also have amazing women behind them too. And we want to shout about it!

For the next two months, we’re going to introduce you to the women behind these successful companies like OSEA International, HATCH, Mignonne Gavigan, Petite N’ Pretty, Wundabar, Eslena, Glotrition, Tosi, Y7 Studio and more!

Gain insights into what makes them so successful and what expert advice they have to share. You won’t want to miss this!

Check out all our partners here