060: Entrepreneurship & the power of optimism with author & Headbands of Hope founder Jess Ekstrom
Powerhouse Women
Lindsey Marie
4.9 • 912 Ratings
🗓️ 7 November 2019
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You don't have to choose between making a living and making a difference, and my guest today is living proof.
Jess Ekstrom is the founder and CEO of Headbands of Hope, a company she started as a junior in college in 2012. For every headband sold, a headband is given to a child with cancer. The company has been featured on the TODAY Show, Vanity Fair, Seventeen, Good Morning America and more--But more importantly, they've donated over 350,000 headbands sick children.
Jess is also a professional speaker and the founder of Mic Drop Workshop, an online course with the mission of empowering more women to share their message as a speaker (which we talk more about)
This was SUCH a fun conversation all about the inevitable ups and downs of entrepreneurship, the power of optimism to make the world around you a better place, and her new book Chasing The Bright Side which is available NOW!
In this episode we talk about:
- What inspired Jess to start her company Headbands of Hope while she was in college
- A big hiccup she had in the early stages of her business and how she overcame it
- Why maintaining a spirit of optimism is an asset in business (and in life)
Connect with Jess:
www.instagram.com/jess_ekstrom
Get your copy of Chasing The Bright Side HERE!
Let's connect!
instagram.com/powerhouse_women
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You don't have to choose between making a living and making a difference. |
| 0:05.3 | And our guest today is living proof of this fact. |
| 0:10.2 | Jess Ekstrom is the founder and CEO of Headbands of Hope, a company she started in 2012 as a junior in college. |
| 0:19.5 | How cool is that? |
| 0:20.7 | For every headband sold, a headband is given to a child |
| 0:24.4 | with cancer. And the company has been featured in places like the Today Show, Vanity Fair, |
| 0:31.2 | 17 Magazine, Good Morning America, and so many more. But what I think is really cool is that they've donated over 350,000 headbands to sick children. |
| 0:44.1 | Jess is also a professional speaker, the founder of Mic Drop Workshop, an online course with |
| 0:50.9 | the mission of empowering more women to share their message as a speaker, |
| 0:55.2 | which is something we will talk more about in this interview. |
| 0:58.4 | This was seriously such a fun conversation, and we talked all about the inevitable |
| 1:03.8 | ups and downs of entrepreneurship, the power of optimism to make the world around you a better place. |
| 1:12.1 | And her new book on that exact topic called Chasing the Bright Side, which is available now. |
| 1:19.1 | This is like the week it launched. |
| 1:20.6 | It's so exciting. |
| 1:22.1 | And to celebrate her book launch, I'm going to be giving away three copies of her new book. |
| 1:28.9 | So make sure you listen all the way to the end for how you can win a copy of your very own. So if you're ready, let's do |
| 1:35.3 | this. Welcome to Powerhouse Women, the podcast for women who know they are ready for more. |
| 1:43.5 | I'm Lindsay Schwartz, your host and the founder of Powerhouse Women, |
| 1:47.4 | and together we'll unlock the confidence and clarity you are looking for |
| 1:52.0 | to help you get out of your own way and into action around your next big idea. Welcome back to the Powerhouse Women podcast. I have quite the Powerhouse |
| 2:11.9 | joining me today. And she is the first ever interview that is coming live from her airstream, her home. |
... |
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