Sapphire Stories Podcast

Ju Rhyu is co-founder/CEO of Hero Cosmetics. Hero Cosmetics was launched in 2017 with one product, Mighty Patch, as a test on Amazon. Now, Hero Cosmetics sells a box of Mighty Patch  every 15 seconds in channels like Amazon, Target, DTC, Neiman Marcus, Goop, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and more.

She has been named to the Inc. Magazine 2019 Female Founders 100 list and was named a Yotpo 2019 Amazing Woman in Ecommerce. She is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia Business School and splits her time between Paris and NYC.

Bassima Mroue is the CEO and co-founder of SkinTē, the first-ever collagen sparkling tea positioned at the intersection of beauty, beverage and wellness. 

The brand is experiencing rapid growth, was Finalist for Best Ingestible 2 years in a row by IBE, and has been recognized by media including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Inc, Allure, Goop, US Weekly, Entrepreneur, PopSugar and WWD. 

Prior to SkinTē, Bassima worked at heavyweights like Nike and Spanx. As a board member of the Sara Blakely Foundation, she is also an active supporter of female empowerment as shown in her 2012 TEDx Portland talk.

Jaime Schmidt is the quintessential maker-made-good.

As the founder and former CEO of Schmidt's, Jaime led the brand to sales in over 30 countries and onto the shelves of Target, Costco, CVS, Walmart, and Whole Foods. The brand was acquired by Unilever in 2017, and Jaime continues to support their global expansion.

Today, as an investor with her fund Color, and through her media company Supermaker, Schmidt is elevating emerging and underrepresented entrepreneurs.

On this episode, we feature Jaime and hear her humble beginnings. Please support her by reading her amazing book Supermaker!

Kara Lynn Joyce is a three-time USA Olympic swimmer living in Long Beach, CA. Kara competed in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics for team USA winning a total of four medals. As a swimmer for the University of Georgia, Joyce won 18 NCAA titles and set the American Record in the 50 yard and 50 meter freestyle.

In 2010 she moved to Denver to train with Olympic star, Missy Franklin, in an attempt to make her third Olympic team. Her journey has been captured in the beautiful film, "Touch the Wall” which has been screened globally in theaters and is available via blue-ray, dvd and amazon prime.

In 2017 Kara founded the Lead Sports Co. for teenage girl athletes. Lead focuses on connecting female athletes with accomplished women in sports through yearly summits and regional seminars.

Over the last 4 years the Lead Company has grown from not only a yearly event, but an online community and Academy. The Lead Academy is the home base for teenage girl athletes, parents and coaches with comprehensive online courses in Leadership, Confidence, Sports Psychology, and more.

Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, advisor, and investor. As co-founder and founding CEO of Netflix, he laid much of the groundwork for a service that’s grown to 150 million subscribers, and fundamentally altered how the world experiences media.

He also served on the Netflix board of directors until retiring from the company in 2003. Marc’s career as an entrepreneur spans four decades. He’s founded or co-founded six other successful startups, mentored hundreds of early stage entrepreneurs, and as an investor has helped seed dozens of successful tech ventures (and just as many unsuccessful ones). 

Most recently, he co-founded analytics software company Looker Data Sciences, where he now serves as director. Outside of the tech and startup world, Marc sits on the boards of Chubbies Shorts, Augment Technologies, the environmental advocacy group 1% For The Planet, and the International Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), which he’s been involved with for most of his life. A resident of Santa Cruz, California, Marc travels and speaks all over the world, and still probably manages to go surfing more than you do.

As an agent at The Montag Group, Kevin represents sports broadcasting clients from national networks to local markets. His clients include play-by-play announcers, analysts, radio hosts, writers and reporters.

Kevin is a graduate of Syracuse University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, his Master’s Degree in New Media Management from Newhouse and his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University’s College of Law. He currently serves on several Syracuse boards including the Syracuse University Law Alumni Association, The Newhouse 44 and the Generation Orange Leadership Council.

In March of 2017, Kevin was named to Front Office Sports’ “Rising 25” list of up-and-coming sports business professionals. In September of 2019, Kevin was the recipient of the Generation Orange Award by his alma mater, an award recognizing a young alumnus making major contributions in their field of work.

In addition to working as an agent, Kevin is the Founder and General Manager of Boeheim’s Army— a team of former Syracuse Men’s Basketball players who compete in the annual $2million winner-take-all “The Basketball Tournament."

Rob Angel is the creator of the popular game Pictionary.

On our episode, he shares exciting news about his upcoming book: Game Changer (https://robangel.com)

Game Changer is the story of how a twenty-three-year-old waiter from Seattle had the outrageous dream of beating industry giants Milton Bradley and Mattel at their own game.

 With no experience, Rob Angel used his guts, drive, and intuition to create one of the most beloved board games of all time: Pictionary. Rob did it his way. 

He produced the first 1,000 games by hand in his tiny one- bedroom apartment, disrupted the market by selling to nontraditional retail outlets, and did countless demonstrations at the bottom of the escalator at Nordstrom, a store with no game department. Anything to succeed.

Wewearcute has over 6,400,00 followers on TikTok. They consistently achieve millions of views on their account.

Hear their story:

Learn how they started

What it takes to succeed on the platform

Where they got their inspiration and more

Follow us on Instagram to stay up to date with new podcast episodes: @stackingrowth

My name is Liz Hernandez, I’m a Mexican American Emmy-nominated television personality and journalist.

As a former radio host and entertainment reporter for Access Hollywood, E! News and MTV, my career has been built on words, but no chapter more meaningful than the one I am currently living with WORDAFUL, a video and live event series that focuses on the importance of how we communicate with others and ourselves.

Through WORDAFUL I’ve created a new form of storytelling that I hope will encourage and connect us to the power of words. We can create new realities for ourselves by changing our internal and external dialogue, ones that support more meaningful relationships and lives.

Our thoughts and words from yesterday are what make up our lives today.

To stay connected with your host, follow @thomas.ma7 on Instagram

Laura Hutfless is a Co-Founder of FlyteVu, a Nashville-based full-service entertainment marketing agency founded in 2015 that connects brands to consumers through compelling storytelling, unparalleled experiences, and the power of pop culture.

In only four years under Laura’s leadership, FlyteVu has experienced 2230% revenue growth and was named to Adweek’s 2019 Top 100 Fastest Growing Agencies List with an impressive roster of clients including Bumble, Enterprise, Jack Daniel’s, Anheuser Busch, Victoria’s Secret PINK, Converse, Norwegian Cruise Line, Drybar, Spotify, and many others.

FlyteVu is known for creating first-of-its kind campaigns that give back to the community and/or change culture. Hutfless led Bumble’s very first Super Bowl commercial and campaign titled “The Ball is in Her Court” featuring Serena Williams with music by Rita Ora. The campaign was the first majority female-led creative team in Super Bowl history.

Other notable campaigns include Enterprise’s “Share the Code. Hit the Road” with OneRepublic, Bumble’s “Play x Play” with Tiffany Haddish, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple launch hosted by Kesha, Bumble’s ‘Empowered by Bumble Bizz’ with Kacey Musgraves, Bebe Rexha, and Hayley Kiyoko, and a multi-year partnership between Norwegian Cruise Line and Kelly Clarkson.

FlyteVu’s campaigns have collectively earned multiple awards including three Gold and two Bronze Clio Awards, an Emmy Award, a GRAMMY Award, and Davey Awards.

In 2018 and 2019, Laura was named to Billboard’s Branding Power Player List, and to Billboard’s Country Power Player List in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She was also named to Billboard’s "40 under 40" power player list in 2012 and 2013 and the "30 under 30" list in 2010.  Additionally, Laura has been a featured speaker at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women’s Summit and NextGen Summit, Advertising Week, Billboard Touring Conference, Biz Bash, Who Knew: Women Who Rock, and has been covered in Ad Age, Adweek, Billboard, Forbes, and more.  Laura serves on Boards of the Country Music Association and The Onsite Foundation.

After experiencing the unexpected loss of a loved one due to substance abuse as a result of trauma, Laura’s philanthropic efforts have focused on mental health, substance abuse disorder, addiction, and trauma. Laura is currently leading efforts with The Onsite Foundation, as a Board Member, to develop a first-of-its-kind trauma-informed therapeutic program called “Triumph Over Tragedy” that will provide tools, support, and a safe community for survivors of mass shootings to find hope and healing.  The first program is set to launch in March and will provide services, funded by full scholarships, to survivors across the nation regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status.

To stay connected with your host, follow @thomas.ma7 on Instagram