Leah Garcia on Connecting the Gaps on Your Resumé

9 to 5ish with theSkimm

theSkimm

Business, Entrepreneurship, Careers

4.7 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Leah Garcia’s career path has never been a straight line. It’s ben more like a rodeo loop. She grew up as the daughter of ranchers, went to college on a rodeo scholarship and became a pro mountain biker. All that happened, then she had a career as a TV sports reporter, and now, the founder of Nulastin, a cult beauty brand she launched with zero investors, no pitch deck, and plenty of grit. Today, Leah shares how she connected the dots between all of these seemingly separate careers – and how she had fun while doing it. In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Leah also shares: Why she loved the extreme nature of rodeoing and mountain biking How she built Nulastin with zero investors and zero clue of how to pitch The backstory of starting Nulastin in her 50s Where boundaries end and burnout begins – and how she decides that How she became comfortable with her lack of knowledge in business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The best pitch I ever did was with the North Bay Angels in Sonoma, and I flew out there,
0:07.1	and I showed up at a hotel, and I forgot my underwear because I was so nervous.
0:12.9	So I went commando, and then I pitched.
0:17.1	I'm Carly Zakin, and I'm Danielle Weissberg.
0:20.3	Welcome to 9-to- 5-ish with the skin.
0:23.0	We've run into so many questions over the years and had so many moments where we needed advice
0:29.2	and we got it from women who'd been there. And that's what we're bringing you at this show.
0:34.9	Each week we're helping you get what you want out of your career
0:37.7	by talking to the smartest leaders we know. Because we know your work life is a lot more than
0:43.7	nine to five. All right, let's get into it. Hi, everyone. Today, our guest is Leah Garcia. She is the
0:53.1	founder and CEO of New Lastin,
0:55.8	and her path to entrepreneurship was anything but traditional. She grew up on a ranch in Northern
1:01.3	California and landed a rodeo scholarship to go to college. Leah moved to Spain in her 20s to
1:07.9	learn Spanish and accidentally launched her career in pro mountain biking.
1:12.7	After a pro biking career, Leah spent two decades commentating on sports like mountain biking
1:18.3	and bull riding and later hosted shows on the home shopping network.
1:22.3	In the 2010s, she crossed past with a microbiologist and learned about elastin.
1:31.0	A protein, many of us, didn't know we were missing from our hair and skin care.
1:36.5	In 2016, she launched new Lastin with no investors, no team, and no roadmap.
1:40.7	Just a passion for science-backed products built around Alastin.
1:47.0	Today, her company sells cold favorite products like their brow-altering serum to their vibrant scalp serum. Leah still runs her company and she's here to talk grit, reinvention,
1:53.4	and what it really takes to build something from the ground up. Leah, welcome to 9 to 5-ish.
	...

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