What if you could find an employer that not only allowed – but embraced – flexible work options? Enter The Second Shift, a business launched in 2014 to serve as a digital matchmaker for businesses seeking on-demand talent with professional women looking for flexible employment opportunities, including consulting and freelancing, in the fields of marketing and finance. Founded by Jenny Galluzzo and Gina Hadley, The Second Shift has caught the attention of female creatives and the media alike. (Editor’s Note: “Helping Moms Lean In, But Not Too Far” on the duo in The New York Times is a must-read.) Membership for the service is free, with The Second Shift taking a small percentage from both employer and employee once an individual is contracted.

Even prior to founding The Second Shift, Jenny and Gina had vibrant careers. Jenny worked as a television producer, booker and on-air reporter for Good Morning America, News 12 The Bronx and Plum TV. She even started her own vintage caftan clothing line, Mayer Studio. Gina hailed from the world of advertising, and before having children worked as a creative coordinator at Ogilvy & Mather on the IBM account. After becoming a mom, however, Gina embraced the life of an entrepreneur – working at Ads.com, launching and selling Urban Monkeys and launching another company, Gina Hadley Consulting.

In episode 15 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, Editor Polina Selyutin speaks with Jenny and Gina about testing a concept prior to launch, bucking the 9-to-5 status quo, secrets to startup success and more.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S SHOW:

• On Building A Business: Since founding The Second Shift, Jenny and Gina have staffed more than 100 projects and currently work with more than 70 companies. This year, they’re on track to double, if not triple, those numbers.
• Secrets To Startup Success: Jenny and Gina started small – testing The Second Shift concept for a year before launching saying, “Every time we did something, we did it very thoughtfully and pragmatically … We wanted to prove this concept without spending an enormous amount of money on development.”
• The Way We See It: While many companies still have a ‘bed check’ mentality, The Second Shift feels confident that women placed on projects will find a way to deliver excellent results based on their preferred schedules. Change is difficult, the ladies say and, “For a lot of people, they have a lot invested in the status quo … We are trying to disrupt the way businesses look at this kind of talent. We are asking companies to change the way they look at hiring practices. We really are creating the supply and demand.”
• Why It Works: While larger companies are often fully invested in the status quo, the needs of smaller companies are changing quickly. Because of this, many of these companies are open to flexible, project-based roles.
• Dipping A Toe In: When you want to test a new job opportunity or industry, Jenny suggests, “Try it out for a little bit and build up your tolerance.”
• Advice For Fellow Working Women: Jenny and Gina encourage women to stay involved in their careers, regardless of the job size or role, because it’s vital to stay engaged with the job market.
• Parting Lessons: 1/ Just keep swimming! “The moment will pass and you don’t want to have made any decisions that are going to negatively impact that.” 2/ Pay it forward. “If you’re listening to this, and you have the opportunity to hire someone through our network, you can help create that opportunity for them and get the best.” 
• Favorite Business Book: The Lean Startup
• Learn More: Connect with The Second Shift on Twitter and Facebook or email them at info@thesecondshift.com

Caroline took a leap from a career in investment banking to one launching a high-end luxury retail line that sold in more than 400 stores worldwide from Neiman Marcus to Bloomingdales. But that was only the first chapter in this now-established entrepreneur’s startup career.

When this first company failed two years later, Carolyn wasn’t deterred. Instead, she launched a multi-million dollar interactive marketing agency, Cake Communications. And, she also used the failure as an opportunity to give a very real and very vulnerable TEDx talk.

Today Carolyn is running global women’s collaborative accelerator, Circular Board, a virtual, 12-week program. “[As] an entrepreneur myself, I’ve helped raise billions of dollars in capital through my work as an investment banker for JPMorgan and as founder of Cake Communications,” she says. In her role, Carolyn teaches others how to do the same, and she serves as an advocate for women in business, connecting female entrepreneurs to the capital, resources, mentors and partners to fuel their growth.

Additionally, Carolyn serves on the board of the Texas A&M Mays College of Business, as a member of the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network and as a United Nations Global Accelerator delegate. She is the recipient of the American Express Micro to Millions Award, a Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur and an Entrepreneur magazine 2016 “Woman to Watch.” She’s also been featured in The Huffington Post, Fortune, Time and on MSNBC, among others.

In episode 14 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, Editor Polina Selyutin speaks with Carolyn about the lessons learned from launching two businesses; her goals for growing Circular Board; and the vital importance of connection, collaboration and curiosity.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S SHOW:

• Who Run The World? Girls!: “All of us reap the rewards when women succeed. It’s job creation. It’s economic growth. It’s social impact. There are so many different benefits that we achieve when women succeed. It isn’t just about gender equality, but about quality of life for each and every person.”
• Breaking Barriers: Carolyn discusses the difficulty many female entrepreneurs face when they look to relocate for an accelerator program, and shares how Circular Board is the ultimate answer to that conundrum.
• Get There Quicker: For entrepreneurs, Carolyn advises not to compromise on the big vision and to seek funding earlier to achieve that vision. “What happens is [women] compromise that vision because they don’t have the resources on hand today, and they start to bootstrap in a way that changes that path.”
• Ladies Leading: “Women are incredible leaders. We are really empathetic. We understand our customers in a real unique way, which I think is a huge advantage,” Carolyn says.
• Give And Get: During Carolyn’s business experience, she noticed women didn’t ask for enough help often enough. She addresses that at Circular Board via a “Give and Get” exercise that encourages women to practice asking for help.
• On Diversity: “When you bring that to the table it creates this infusion of energy, and people start bouncing ideas off one another and bring a different lens to a problem,” Carolyn says.
• The Hardest Part Of Starting A Business: Carolyn believes the middle stage is the hardest part – when your company is growing and one needs the capital to hire, but doesn’t have the funds yet to do so.
• Let It Go: How transparency, honesty and letting go of fear can liberate an entrepreneur to grow even faster.
• Word Of Mouth Cultivation: Carolyn shares how she used referrals to grow her businesses and reduce marketing costs.
• That X Factor: “Ask others what you’re good at,” Carolyn says. Hearing what others list as your strengths is a great way to find out what you might be taking for granted that actually can help set you – and your business – apart.
• Favorite Resource: Harvard Business Review
• Learn More: Connect with Carolyn on Twitter, Instagram and the Circular Board website

Bea Arthur knows a thing or two about making a pivot.

And no, just to be clear we’re not talking about the same Bea Arthur who starred among the OG Girl Squad – the Golden Girls. This Bea Arthur, like the other, was a bad ass. But, unlike the Bea of nostalgia’s past, this Bea Arthur has an entrepreneurial bug that bit her hard and never left – seeing her through two startups since graduating college in 2008.

Now, as for that pivoting, as a licensed therapist and startup founder, Bea has learned the importance of making nimble, not-so-easy decisions and has mastered the art of picking herself back up again. Her company, In Your Corner (formerly Pretty Padded Room), is a leader in using telemedicine to offer counseling and coaching services online through video and text. Her idea was so standout that it landed her an appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank. Even without getting an investment from the sharks, Bea used their feedback to tweak her idea, and as Fast Company put it, she “turned her mistakes into assets.”

Now, Bea is about to make a pivot again, and has decided to close the virtual doors of In Your Corner to make room for her next business venture in the online therapy space. But this time she’s turning her attention to America’s warriors – service men and women – and is launching an online resource for them later this year called Inside the Wire.

“[When you’re in the military] you can’t stop to think about your circumstances,” Bea says. “You can’t wallow and eat a burrito and watch Netflix. You have to keep your mind sharp. I got really into the idea of emotional endurance.”

In addition to being a serial entrepreneur, Bea is a TEDx speaker who shared her ideas on the “Culture of Comparison” (which, we highly recommend you YouTube.) She also was the first African-American woman to be accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator program in Mountain View, Calif. She’s also the co-host and co-producer of You’re Not Crazy, a comedic show about mental health on YouTube. She is a first-generation American who was born and raised in Houston, Texas, by her parents who immigrated from Ghana in West Africa.

In episode 13 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, Podcast Editor Polina Selyutin speaks with Bea about her college education at Columbia in New York City, her first startup fizzling out, her work helping domestic violence survivors and how the three have swirled together to give Bea business ideas that are helping to solve problems and assist others.

TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S SHOW:

• Ambitious In The Big Apple: Why Bea made the leap from working in real estate to her current field of therapy. “You eventually find your path,” she says.
• One Thing Leads To Another: How Bea’s first company, Me Too, led her to start her second company, Pretty Padded Room.
• Making Ends Meet: Bea says many therapists start out “making peanuts” as many get their start doing charity work, social work and grant work.
• Brain Lifting: “Mental health should be as much of a priority as physical health,” Bea says.
• On Idea Sharing: Don’t keep it to yourself, Bea advises. Tell as many people as possible as it will get you, “a lot further, a lot faster.”
• Do The Hustle: Bea discusses her cultural influences, including her parents whose hard work led to success and inspired her to work hard and hustle.
• Mamma Knows Best: “My mom is a blue collar hero,” Bea says. “It wasn’t until my first company failed and I was heartbroken and lying on the floor, and my mom was like, “Did I ever tell you about the first two years of my company?”
• Lessons Learned: The importance of knowing what you don’t know when it comes to a startup. “Once you get to a certain growth stage, literally your job as CEO is to put out fires,” she says.
• Eyes Wide Open: Bea discusses the importance of “being awake while you are learning” and discusses how paying attention to patterns, noticing what is working and what isn’t working are some of the therapy tools Bea has applied to her business.
• Fertility Freeze: Bea discusses her decision to freeze her eggs until she’s ready to start her family in two or three years. She recommends EggBanxx and is a brand ambassador for the company.
• Parting Advice: “I’m not that special,” Bea says. “The difference between successful people and people who don’t make it is persistence.”
• Some of Bea’s Favorite Resources:
• Women 2.0,
• Seth Godin’s blog,
• James Altucher,
• Marie Forleo,
• Gotham Gal
• Learn More: Connect with Bea on Twitter and Her Website