Soon Hagerty: Building Brands, Businesses, and Boundless Futures

Today, we delve into the remarkable journey of Soon Haggerty, a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, whose life story embodies resilience and transformation.

From fleeing Saigon as a child to establishing successful ventures, including Lux Communications and the Good Bowl, Soon exemplifies the power of perseverance in the face of adversity. In our conversation, we explore Soon’s insights on leadership, the critical role of women in business, and the importance of giving back through initiatives like the Boundless Futures Foundation.

This foundation aims to provide financial support and mentorship to women entrepreneurs, fostering a community where female leaders can thrive and drive societal change. Join us as we unpack the wisdom and experiences that have shaped Soon’s impactful career and her vision for empowering future generations of women entrepreneurs.

Our Guest this Week:

In this week’s episode of #WisdomofWomen we have a 🌟 Purpose-Driven Brand Architect 🌟 in our midst.

Soon Hagerty is a serial entrepreneur, brand strategist, and philanthropist whose story begins with one of the most powerful acts of courage imaginable — at four years old, her family fled Saigon by boat at the end of the Vietnam War, surviving a 12-day journey and six months in a refugee camp before resettling in California. That experience of resilience and reinvention has guided everything she’s built since.

Soon has founded multiple ventures, including Luxe Communications, Centigrade — a global marketing, communications, and events agency — and The Good Bowl, a mission-driven Vietnamese restaurant that donates to charity. Over a 20-year career, she helped transform Hagerty from a specialty insurance company into a publicly traded global lifestyle brand valued at over $3 billion.

She also co-founded Boundless Futures Foundation, which provides funding, resources, and community to women building businesses for growth and good.

Takeaways:

  • Soon’s journey from fleeing Vietnam to building successful brands illustrates resilience and the transformative power of entrepreneurship.
  • Boundless Futures Foundation aims to empower women entrepreneurs through mentorship and funding, promoting sustainable business practices that benefit communities.
  • Confidence in leadership stems from action and problem-solving rather than mere contemplation, highlighting the need for proactive engagement in business.

Chapters:

  • 00:07 – Emerging Leadership Models
  • 04:23 – Moments of Resilience and Reinvention
  • 09:42 – The Journey to Building a Purpose-Driven Business
  • 18:01 – Boundless Futures Foundation: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs
  • 27:33 – Building Confidence Through Action
  • 30:08 – Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: A New Marketplace

GUEST OFFERS & CONTACT INFORMATION:

www.boundlessfutures.org

www.Hagerty.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/soon-hagerty-5637448/

https://www.instagram.com/soonhagerty/

Follow the #WisdomOfWomen show for more inspiring stories and insights from trailblazing women founders, investors, and experts in growth and prosperity.

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womengetfunded/id1728992296

RSS Feed: https://feeds.captivate.fm/womengetfunded/

Coco Sellman, the host of #WisdomOfWomen, believes business is a force for good, especially with visionary women at the helm. With over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience, she has launched five companies and guided over 500 startups. As Founder & CEO of A Force for Good, Coco supports purpose-driven women founders in unlocking exponential growth and prosperity. Her recent venture, Allumé Home Care, reached eight-figure revenues and seven-figure profits in just four years before a successful exit in 2024. A venture investor and board director, Coco’s book, *A Force for Good*, reveals a roadmap for women to lead high-impact, high-growth companies.

Learn more about A Force for Good:

Website: https://aforceforgood.biz/

The Book: https://aforceforgood.biz/book/

Free Assessment: https://aforceforgood.biz/quiz/

Free Tools: https://aforceforgood.biz/weekly-tool/

Events: https://courses.aforceforgood.biz/events

Marketplace: https://courses.aforceforgood.biz/marketplace

Transcript
Speaker A:

Welcome to the Wisdom of Women show.

Speaker A:

We are dedicated to amplifying the voice of women in business.

Speaker A:

A new model of leadership is emerging and we are here to amplify the voices of women leading the way.

Speaker A:

I am your host, Coco Salman, five time founder, impact investor and creator of the Force for Good system.

Speaker A:

Thank you for joining us today as we illuminate the path to unlocking opportunity and prosperity for women led enterprises by amplifying the voice and wisdom of women.

Speaker A:

Today we have a purpose driven brand architect in our midst.

Speaker A:

Soon Haggerty is a serial entrepreneur, brand strategist and philanthropist whose story begins with one of the most powerful acts of courage imaginable.

Speaker A:

At four years of age, her family fled Saigon by boat and at the end of the Vietnam war, surviving a 12 day journey and six months in a refugee camp before resettling in California.

Speaker A:

That experience of resilience and reinvention has guided everything soon has built since.

Speaker A:

Soon has founded multiple ventures including Lux Communications, Centigrade, a global marketing communications and events agency and the Good Bowl, a mission driven Vietnamese restaurant and that donates to charity.

Speaker A:

Over a 20 year career, she helped transform Hagerty from a specialty insurance company into a publicly traded global lifestyle brand valued at over $3 billion.

Speaker A:

She also co founded Boundless Futures foundation which provides funding, resources and a community to women building businesses for growth and good.

Speaker A:

We are so excited to have you today and so that we can unpack soon all of the goodness that you bring to us.

Speaker A:

Welcome Soon.

Speaker B:

Thank you.

Speaker B:

I'm so excited to spend time with you.

Speaker B:

I love your energy.

Speaker B:

Thanks for the info.

Speaker A:

Yay.

Speaker A:

And I just want to share with our listeners soon.

Speaker A:

And I had the best time getting to know each other in Napa Valley this spring.

Speaker A:

We were there on how women lead board retreat and we got to be together in the beautiful Napa Valley, around in the vineyards and talk about helping women.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker B:

And it was instant connection.

Speaker B:

So I was so glad to follow up and we had a lovely lunch together in New York and I think that's the power when you meet somebody and you really get to know each other a little bit better, more intimate environment.

Speaker B:

So that was really fun.

Speaker A:

I'm grateful you're here.

Speaker A:

So tell us soon, what is a book written by a woman that has significantly influenced your life?

Speaker B:

You know, a lot of women have influenced my life.

Speaker B:

But I think in terms of a book that I couldn't put down, there are moments of inspiration, there were moments of awe, but a lot of tears too because it's such a powerful story.

Speaker B:

It's pretty recent, actually.

Speaker B:

It's Michelle Obama's book Becoming, and she's created a podcast because it was such a popular book.

Speaker B:

And I was looking for something to read.

Speaker B:

And it's rare you see a book on kindle that gets five stars and 230,000 people.

Speaker B:

And I thought, oh, my gosh.

Speaker B:

Even though I love Michelle, I just had to read a book.

Speaker B:

And it's.

Speaker B:

She has incredible advice.

Speaker B:

Not.

Speaker B:

I mean, not everybody can equate to being the first lady, but her stories about finding out who you are, having your voice when your spouse is the President of the United States really resonated with me.

Speaker A:

That book, when I am right there with you.

Speaker A:

When I read that book, I kept.

Speaker A:

I had to slow down reading because I did not want it to be over.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker B:

I felt the same way.

Speaker B:

I just was like, you just couldn't stop listening to her voice.

Speaker B:

And her heart was really special.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Vulnerability and truth.

Speaker A:

Awesome.

Speaker A:

So I'd love for us to talk a little bit about you and your life, and if you would share with us three moments from your life that have shaped the human being you are today.

Speaker B:

I would say just off the top of my head, the first time I've experienced failure, it was quite young, right?

Speaker B:

I was in eighth grade, going into ninth grade.

Speaker B:

And when you're in elementary school, you make every sports team, right?

Speaker B:

So you play for volleyball, and you always make the team.

Speaker B:

And in eighth grade, I tried out, thought, okay, I'm pretty athletic, believe it or not.

Speaker B:

And I'm going to try out for the tennis team.

Speaker B:

And I tried out for the tennis team.

Speaker B:

That was on a Friday.

Speaker B:

On Monday morning, I go to the gym, and you look at the gym door.

Speaker B:

Back then, there was no email.

Speaker B:

And it goes by alphabetical order if you know your name.

Speaker B:

And my last name at the time was Nguyen, starting with an N, very common Vietnamese name.

Speaker B:

And I looked at Ls, I looked at M's, and it went straight to O's and no ends.

Speaker B:

So I was like, oh, I didn't make the ten steam.

Speaker B:

I was distraught.

Speaker B:

And I had a moment of sadness, but then a moment of, what am I going to do with this?

Speaker B:

And so I vowed to make the freshman tennis team in high school.

Speaker B:

So I spent the entire summer, probably 60 days, going every single day to the local elementary school and hitting against a backstop by myself.

Speaker B:

I'm talking hours a day.

Speaker B:

And my freshman year, I made the jv.

Speaker B:

And then my sophomore and senior year, I was varsity.

Speaker B:

And then I became president of my tennis Team captain, my tennis team.

Speaker B:

And I know this sounds like a little childhood story, but when I reflect on the things that made me think about who I am, it really taught me life is not about what happens.

Speaker B:

It's like, what do you do with it?

Speaker B:

So that's really been a great blueprint for my life.

Speaker B:

Anytime I face adversity, I have a choice.

Speaker B:

Do I dig deep or do I just let it go?

Speaker B:

Do I just say, okay, I failed?

Speaker B:

So I know that was one pivotal moment.

Speaker B:

The other piece I would say is I was working for a PR agency for seven years and my boss was thinking about a succession plan and we were in talks for me to potentially take over his business.

Speaker B:

And we had meeting in Santa Monica at a neutral place with a management consultant.

Speaker B:

And I was prepping for this negotiation, potentially take over the PR agency that I worked for.

Speaker B:

And I pretty much had 70% of the revenue of the business.

Speaker B:

And something happened.

Speaker B:

He must have got cold feet because that day he pulled the deal.

Speaker B:

And I was being recruited by global PR firms.

Speaker B:

I was thinking for a year I was going to run this company at 30.

Speaker B:

And I did something I've never done coco in my entire life.

Speaker B:

I pushed away from the conference room table and I said, I quit.

Speaker B:

And I'm 30 years old, living in LA, just bought a two bedroom condo by myself, had no job, and I cried for the next two days.

Speaker B:

And a mentor of mine, who ironically is now my husband, Mikhail, I think you met briefly.

Speaker B:

Yes, he called me just as a mentor and he said, quit your crying, you're going to start your own business.

Speaker B:

And I started my own business.

Speaker B:

And that was my second lesson that reaffirmed my first lesson, actually, which is, it doesn't matter what happens.

Speaker B:

How are you going to get out from it?

Speaker B:

So that was really powerful.

Speaker B:

That taught me I can make something out of nothing, right?

Speaker B:

And I think the third piece was really this idea of once you have some level of success and you're running your own company and people start to ask you, how did you do this?

Speaker B:

What are your tips?

Speaker B:

And I started to dig deep and said, what do I believe in?

Speaker B:

And I started talking about my immigrant story.

Speaker B:

I just said, well, you know what people would say, what are your life lessons?

Speaker B:

And I'd talk about grit, I would talk about resilience, I would talk about how hard work isn't enough.

Speaker B:

And so I think this, when you achieve some level of success, people start to ask you for advice and that's when you start to say, who am I?

Speaker B:

So I would Say, doing an interview or a mentorship lunch made me really question what makes me tick and what I care about.

Speaker A:

I love that.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Sometimes when we're growing and getting to the next rung or the next achievement, we're just building.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

We're in our own zone, building a company, building a team, whatever it is, building a brand.

Speaker A:

And you don't really realize that you're learning.

Speaker A:

You're gaining really big wisdom along the way.

Speaker B:

And I think when people ask you is when you don't really know, you're like, why am I like this?

Speaker B:

Or what do I do?

Speaker B:

Inquisitive.

Speaker A:

I love that.

Speaker A:

And I love that you have sort of seen all of these experiences as these moments of resilience and just keep going.

Speaker A:

I do want to be on the tennis team.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

That's important to me.

Speaker A:

So I'm gonna go and I'm gonna hit the ball as many times as it takes for me to be a decent tennis player and then finally be pretty darn good.

Speaker A:

And I love this story of sometimes the doors shut on us for reasons that don't make sense to us, reasons that will make us cry.

Speaker A:

But how awesome that your mentor at the time, your friend and now husband, Mikhail, said, stop your crying and go start your own love that.

Speaker B:

He literally said, stop.

Speaker B:

Stop your crying.

Speaker B:

You're going to start your own business.

Speaker B:

Here's a friend of mine who's an attorney.

Speaker B:

And in 48 hours, Lex Communications was born.

Speaker B:

So it's like fate, kind of, and it's only fate.

Speaker B:

It's good fate if you do something with it, right?

Speaker A:

Yeah, it's good fate if you do something with it.

Speaker A:

Wow.

Speaker A:

Drop the mic.

Speaker A:

So many good nibbles and morsels in there.

Speaker A:

So I want to get into Boundless Future foundation, but I'd really like for you to maybe link the connection from the work you've done in your businesses, the work that then you, I know, have also done with Haggerty, and you've done some of that work with your husband, McKeel.

Speaker A:

And that was quite a journey.

Speaker A:

And then kind of bring us to today and where today you're now doing this really important transformational work helping women make the world better and launch businesses of purpose and goodness in the world.

Speaker B:

Yeah, I studied psychology at Fresno State, so that's where I graduated in California.

Speaker B:

And part of me wondered, okay, what made me think, like, why psychology?

Speaker B:

I can't recall at the time, but I think I was always interested, not necessarily just in people, but why things work or why things don't work.

Speaker B:

And then I started to really have this appreciation for brands.

Speaker B:

I would look at one company and say, okay, why is Nike successful but not this company?

Speaker B:

Or why is Apple?

Speaker B:

And I started to ask myself, like, why was I so interested in that?

Speaker B:

And I think it goes back to that third thing that I talked to you about.

Speaker B:

My parents came United States, as you mentioned, with 300 bucks in our pocket.

Speaker B:

Seven kids, so nine people.

Speaker B:

And they could have done remedial jobs, but they decided, okay, I know we only know we're going to get out of this.

Speaker B:

And to have a decent life is probably to put everything in our own hands.

Speaker B:

And so they started their own business.

Speaker B:

It's a really incredible American dream story.

Speaker B:

So I think something really was drilled in my head about what makes one family successful one another, not what makes one business successful one another not right.

Speaker B:

So I was always really interested in brands, so I think in companies.

Speaker B:

So I think that's where my love for brand strategy really came from.

Speaker B:

Working in the PR world.

Speaker B:

And then I ended up selling my second agency and going to work for Hagerty full time.

Speaker B:

Thank you.

Speaker B:

That was really exciting to be able to finally dig deep into one company.

Speaker B:

I was used to representing 30, 40 brands of my entire life and building and doing PR for them.

Speaker B:

But then I got to really spend some time with the small family business that Hagerty McKill's parents started in the basement of their home selling insurance to boats and then moved it over to cars and building.

Speaker B:

This really incredible brand was really predicated on this idea that you treat your employees well.

Speaker B:

You'll have a great chance for a good business if you tap into what people care about.

Speaker B:

People take good care of their toys is what Louise Haggerty used to say, which is why they built a great business.

Speaker B:

And I think McKeel as a remarkable leader who really put culture and people at the forefront way before it was cool, right?

Speaker B:

And it's a family business.

Speaker B:

So I learned a lot about creating these businesses that have a lot more than just profit.

Speaker B:

And so that was really important to me.

Speaker B:

And so when I moved from Hagerty to Traverse City and I recognized that it's a pretty white community in northern Michigan and there was no ethnic.

Speaker B:

There's not a lot of culture here that's different.

Speaker B:

And so I decided to start a restaurant built on this idea of purpose, right?

Speaker B:

And I started the Good bowl and I where we donate a dollar per bowl to charity as a way to thank the US for taking us in as immigrants.

Speaker B:

So it's Like a lot of interconnected pieces of my love and passion for brand really.

Speaker B:

I spent the last 10 years building the brand with so many great people at Hagerty.

Speaker B:

It taught me a lot.

Speaker B:

And then that really parlayed into building my own business that was really built on growth and good.

Speaker B:

So it's weird because even though it's insurance and automotive and then a restaurant, it's also interconnected.

Speaker B:

It's like, how do you build something that creates an impact both for your customer and for your employees?

Speaker B:

And I think that's what great brands do.

Speaker A:

Totally agree.

Speaker A:

And I would love for you to share a little more about Hagerty and the customer experience that you deliver.

Speaker A:

It's when I think that your company is a insurance company, I'm almost surprised because the customer experience is so tremendous.

Speaker A:

It's.

Speaker A:

Of course everybody wants to buy insurance from you because they you deliver this remarkable customer journey.

Speaker A:

You want to talk about that?

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

And I think that's a really good tee up because I think the reality is we hope people want to buy insurance from us, but we know nobody wants to talk about insurance.

Speaker B:

Insurance is not a super sexy.

Speaker B:

It's not like I sit there and everybody goes, ah, guess who I'm insured with.

Speaker B:

But it's something that is really necessary for an experience.

Speaker B:

But for us, we kind of said, listen, if Coco owns a classic car, she wants to talk about insurance for five minutes, but she'll talk to us for 30 minutes about her 62 Porsche Roadster and how she got it from her dad or her mom or this is the car she always wanted when she was in high school.

Speaker B:

People are passionate about their hobby.

Speaker B:

And, and so we said, okay, do we want to build an insurance company or do we want to build a passion brand?

Speaker B:

So at the very beginning, we were pretty clear, yes, we'll help you with your insurance, but we really want to help you enjoy your car.

Speaker B:

And so that's what we tapped into again.

Speaker B:

People take good care of their cars.

Speaker B:

They're passionate about it and their toys.

Speaker B:

And so we've really trained our teams.

Speaker B:

Even on the call center, if you called in and said, I want to insure my car, I will talk to you for 20 minutes about your car.

Speaker B:

How often do you use it?

Speaker B:

Tell me what car shows we'll find car shows for you to go to.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

We built a business called Garage and Social where you can store your car and go to car events.

Speaker B:

We built a business where you can put your car up for rental, where people can share your car.

Speaker B:

You can trade your car.

Speaker B:

We've built a company called Broad Arrow where you actually can buy and sell classic cars online or live auctions.

Speaker B:

Anything from a $40,000 car to a $40,000,000 classic car.

Speaker B:

So we just created this ecosystem for people to enjoy their cars.

Speaker B:

Our mission is how can we help enthusiasts enjoy their cars?

Speaker B:

And if one way to do that is protect their car through insurance, of course, that is the bread and butter of our business.

Speaker B:

But that's not what people want to talk about.

Speaker B:

They really want to talk about how can they meet others through their cars?

Speaker B:

How can they enjoy their moments through their cars?

Speaker A:

Oh, my goodness.

Speaker A:

I just feel like this is a whole case study to really be treasured, honestly.

Speaker A:

Because when I work with founders, I often talk about what is that area of chosen greatness, that place where what you do for your customer, that transformational piece that you do, also drives your financial impact.

Speaker A:

And sometimes it's not bullseye on the product.

Speaker A:

Sometimes it's something else that's important to the customer.

Speaker A:

And in this case, that love of the car, the love of their cherished vintage classic.

Speaker B:

Yeah, I think you're 100% right.

Speaker B:

How I explain it to people and they say, okay, so you work for Hagerty.

Speaker B:

Tell me a little bit about that.

Speaker B:

And if I had to sum it up in one line, I would say something like this.

Speaker B:

I would say, this is how we make money, but that's not why we're successful.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

I think how you make money and why people love you can be two different things.

Speaker B:

Right?

Speaker B:

And I think how we make money is we insure the most collector cars in the country.

Speaker B:

But why we're successful is the way we talk to car collectors about things that they love, and then we build products for them to enjoy it.

Speaker A:

So innovative, really visionary and innovative.

Speaker A:

And I love that it's a family business.

Speaker A:

Okay, so I want to shift gears now to Boundless Futures Foundation.

Speaker A:

So on your website, BoundlessFuturesFoundation.org it says, we believe that women will be the change makers of the future.

Speaker A:

Eliminating boundaries where they are self imposed or created by society.

Speaker A:

We enable women to thrive.

Speaker A:

Tell us more about Boundless Futures Foundation.

Speaker A:

What is it?

Speaker A:

What does it do?

Speaker A:

Who does it serve?

Speaker B:

Just going back to the story of when my parents first came to the United States, and my mom and dad both built the business.

Speaker B:

And I watched my mom toil over years and years of taking care of seven kids, but helping build the family business.

Speaker B:

The same thing with my husband's parents.

Speaker B:

And it was really inspiring.

Speaker B:

And I saw that my mom did not sit idle.

Speaker B:

She helped build the business.

Speaker B:

She helped build our family.

Speaker B:

She helped build our success.

Speaker B:

She gave up everything to leave Vietnam and left her 11 siblings behind and her parents.

Speaker B:

And I thought, okay, wow, these women are really the change makers.

Speaker B:

Without them, we wouldn't have half the stuff that we have, literally.

Speaker B:

And so it just really struck home for me.

Speaker B:

And so I think that if I can help women start their own business, not only will they be more financially independent, but they will also contribute to the society that they live in.

Speaker B:

They'll create those innovative products for the future that we're all going to be talking about in 10 years.

Speaker B:

The story you told me, Coco, about your business, right, you were solving a family problem.

Speaker B:

You built your business around that problem, right?

Speaker B:

And you were a change maker in your field.

Speaker B:

And so that's really important to me because I think if you have some money, whether it's you have, you can donate $500 a year or $500,000 a year, you have to decide, do you want to teach people how to fish or do you want to give people fish?

Speaker B:

And I chose I want to teach people how to fish.

Speaker B:

I still donate to the Humane Society or a homeless shelter, but I feel like that's giving people fish.

Speaker B:

I want to teach people how to fish.

Speaker B:

I want to make sure that these women, if I could help them build their business, that they can be sustainable, that they can employ 20 people, they can give to nonprofits.

Speaker B:

So it becomes a cyclical thing.

Speaker B:

It has this boundless impact.

Speaker A:

Oh, you and I are so on the same mission.

Speaker B:

When I first met you, you said, can I force for both growth and debt?

Speaker B:

I'm like, wait a minute, that sounds familiar.

Speaker A:

And I do believe, as I know you do, that when women are successful, everyone around them is successful.

Speaker A:

It's not just that.

Speaker A:

It's not just the woman, but it's the family, the community that prospers.

Speaker A:

So it says in Boundless Futures, your mission is to provide financial and leadership resources for female founders who leverage their business for both growth and good.

Speaker A:

So tell us how you do this.

Speaker B:

So we really started thinking about this nonprofit and started thinking about what are the pillars in which we want to base this support on.

Speaker B:

I think, first and foremost, 43% of businesses in the US are owned by women, small businesses.

Speaker B:

Yet women only get 3 less than 3% of venture capital.

Speaker B:

So the first problem is funding.

Speaker B:

So we give $50,000 grants.

Speaker B:

So this is money they do not have to pay back.

Speaker B:

They just have to show us their business plan and some trajectory of success.

Speaker B:

So it's a business under five years old.

Speaker B:

So that's one.

Speaker B:

And that is the funding part.

Speaker B:

But the part that we've been getting feedback after three years of what they find valuable is the mentorship.

Speaker B:

And so the second part of Boundless Futures is our advisory circle.

Speaker B:

So once you are granted a grant from us, you get a one year access to our experts.

Speaker B:

So we have five women who've all started their own businesses in different expertise.

Speaker B:

So we have somebody in finance, somebody in scaling, somebody in manufacturing.

Speaker B:

I'm brand and marketing.

Speaker B:

And you really get a chance to have experts on speed dial.

Speaker B:

So we'll walk you through, look at your numbers, we'll look at your branding, we'll look at your growth capabilities and you'll get access to us for that year after you get that grant.

Speaker B:

So that's really important to us.

Speaker B:

But I think the big thing on that mission that you talked about is something that I think differentiates us from other nonprofits, which is you have to do something for society.

Speaker B:

And so a good example is my restaurant, the Good Bowl.

Speaker B:

I mentioned we donate a dollar per bowl to charity, even though my product may not be societal impact.

Speaker B:

Yes, food is important, but I donate a dollar per bowl.

Speaker B:

So either your product has to help society in some way, like it's an environmental product, or you give a portion of your sales away.

Speaker B:

And so again, it's that boundless impact.

Speaker B:

You are a female entrepreneur, you are employing people.

Speaker B:

But what your business itself is also helping people.

Speaker A:

Exactly.

Speaker A:

Any business with the right leadership and purpose or mission can be.

Speaker A:

Yeah, purpose led.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

I could create value for society, not just for the shareholders.

Speaker A:

I think when we shift a business to have that purpose and meaning, it actually helps it grow.

Speaker B:

And I think it builds really good energy.

Speaker B:

And I think most people buy from a product or a brand because of the product itself, but they tell people about them because of that great purpose and impact.

Speaker B:

Honestly, you can't have a shitty product and a great mission.

Speaker B:

You have to have a really great mission and a really great product.

Speaker B:

But your great mission really spreads the word about your great product 100%.

Speaker A:

I couldn't agree more.

Speaker A:

That is what builds the trust and creates the long term loyalty and the customers who love you and the team members who stay forever.

Speaker A:

I love going through your website.

Speaker A:

There's a quote you're quoted on your website.

Speaker A:

It says, life will never present you with the perfect time to take the leap.

Speaker A:

Your ability to solve one problem at a time is the foundation for Success unpack this for us.

Speaker B:

I'm sure you get this question too.

Speaker B:

Being a female founder, I always get the question of how do you know when you're ready?

Speaker B:

Or how do you know to take the next sleep?

Speaker B:

And my view of this is I don't think anybody wakes up one morning says, hi, I'm ready.

Speaker B:

If you go back to my story about starting my first agency, I was almost forced myself into it.

Speaker B:

My view of this is a business is just an entity that solves a really good problem for somebody and a good business leader, somebody who is at the helm of that solution every single day.

Speaker B:

Because once you solve one problem, you unpack other problems.

Speaker B:

And I think it's really important.

Speaker B:

Like when people think about starting, like when I'm interviewing people for our grants, I'll always say, okay, what problem are you trying to solve with your business?

Speaker B:

And if they're not crystal clear, they have to go back to the drawing board because they need to be really clear.

Speaker B:

And with that, you have to be that ultimate problem solver.

Speaker B:

You think about whether you like big corporate companies like Amazon or whatever.

Speaker B:

Amazon was absolutely brilliant at solving a problem, right?

Speaker B:

Which is like, I need this product.

Speaker B:

I need it fast and seamless.

Speaker A:

I think their core purpose is something like to provide access to every, to any good or service that a person would ever want on earth.

Speaker A:

Right?

Speaker A:

Something like that.

Speaker B:

It's like, yeah, they want, whether you like it or not, like they do a brilliant job because they're solving this problem.

Speaker B:

I mean, and I'm thinking like sometimes I'll say, okay, I forgot this mascara.

Speaker B:

And if I literally.

Speaker B:

They make it too easy to buy, by the way, it's, it's terrible and you push it and then in one day it'll be there.

Speaker B:

Like that's incredible.

Speaker B:

Right?

Speaker B:

And that's an important quote for me.

Speaker B:

That's what I talk to a lot of people about is when people say, how do you know you're ready?

Speaker B:

How do you think about being an entrepreneur?

Speaker B:

I say, listen, you don't have to have a five year business plan, but you better know what your next three steps are because once you get there, you might have different three steps.

Speaker B:

Right?

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker B:

Should you draft a business plan?

Speaker B:

For sure, but it's going to change.

Speaker B:

But know what your next three or four steps are?

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And I think so much too.

Speaker A:

I talk a lot with entrepreneurs about sometimes there's this overwhelm and thinking you need to know everything and you really don't.

Speaker A:

First of all, it doesn't help you to know Everything.

Speaker A:

Because everything's going to change anyway.

Speaker A:

Like, you know, have a framework where you're going, what's your goal?

Speaker A:

And then like, all right, solve the problem that's in front of you and trust that the problem that's in six months, you'll solve that one then.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Be a master problem solver.

Speaker A:

Exactly.

Speaker A:

Do you have a good process for problem solving?

Speaker A:

I love that.

Speaker A:

And tell us.

Speaker A:

Okay, I know confidence, right?

Speaker A:

Talk to us about confidence.

Speaker A:

I know that's something we've talked about.

Speaker A:

And you know, chicken, egg, right?

Speaker A:

How do you become confident when you don't have the experience, et cetera.

Speaker B:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker B:

This is interesting.

Speaker B:

This has been a topic that people have talked about a lot recently.

Speaker B:

Maybe it's because I'm in.

Speaker B:

As you and I both talked about the last couple of years, we really started to envelope all these women's groups.

Speaker B:

I think that the term confidence comes up a lot, and I find it really fascinating because I don't know if it's chicken or egg, but I can tell you, I don't think you can think your way into confidence.

Speaker B:

You have to work your way into confidence.

Speaker B:

You have to action your way into confidence.

Speaker B:

Confidence to me, is built through competence, right?

Speaker B:

You learn to do something, you become more confident.

Speaker B:

Like what I talked about my tennis.

Speaker B:

Every time I went and hit over the course of that summer, I got more confident.

Speaker B:

And so then I was able to make that tennis team.

Speaker B:

And so I think that's one.

Speaker B:

The other thing in terms of confidence is this ability to take risks.

Speaker B:

Right?

Speaker B:

And I've talked about this with a friend of mine before, which is there's not much in life you can't unravel, right?

Speaker B:

You build a business, let's say it doesn't go well, you unravel that business and you try something else.

Speaker B:

If you talk to Jeff Bezos or anybody else, the amount of times that they have, Elon Musk, the amount of times they've failed in previous iterations or even products like Amazon, like the Fire.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

The phone.

Speaker B:

It's like people fail, but they learn.

Speaker B:

And so I think confidence comes through taking risks, learning from them.

Speaker B:

So it's really about having action, not just thought.

Speaker A:

Being in action is so critical because the elusive confidence, right, will never.

Speaker A:

It's never something you can intellectualize.

Speaker A:

You're never going to be confident until you do it.

Speaker B:

Yeah, that's right.

Speaker B:

That's right.

Speaker A:

So what is your vision for boundless futures?

Speaker A:

Where do you see all of this going?

Speaker A:

What's your brighter, better future that you're building.

Speaker B:

Generally when you talk to a nonprofit and you say what's your mission?

Speaker B:

They always say, and I've been on boards of nonprofits like one day for me not to exist, you know, and I think that's admirable and I get that.

Speaker B:

I think my longer term vision for the boundless futures is to always exist because I think there will always be be a need to help women be successful.

Speaker B:

I think that's perpetuity.

Speaker B:

I think my larger mission is to create this network of successful women mentoring successful women.

Speaker B:

So I want this advisory circle to be not unlike how women lead, right?

Speaker B:

This like hundreds of women mentoring hundreds of women.

Speaker B:

So I want this network effect from my foundation right now.

Speaker B:

It's this mighty team of three and some other help.

Speaker B:

But I want to create this world where the only statistic that I really want changed is that venture capital statistic, that statistic of a little bit more equality and a little bit more ability for women to take risks.

Speaker B:

And I worry about that right now.

Speaker B:

So I want the foundation to have this gravitas where we have hundreds of women supporting each other to build more equitable marketplace for business owners.

Speaker A:

And just tell us briefly, tell us about the Empower her marketplace.

Speaker A:

Oh yes, you said marketplace, so I.

Speaker B:

Had to ask about it.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

So we have a site on our website or an area on our website rather of all the products and services that all of our grantees have produced.

Speaker B:

And so for Mother's Day or for Christmas, we really promote this marketplace where you can click on these links and you're able to buy directly from all of our grantees.

Speaker B:

So that's really powerful for me to be able to give all of our grantees this marketplace where they can talk about their products.

Speaker A:

Oh, it's so cool.

Speaker A:

I was going through it today as I was preparing for our call and I was just blown away.

Speaker A:

What great products.

Speaker A:

All different kinds of very different, Right?

Speaker A:

Yeah, all kinds of goodness.

Speaker A:

And so I'll put the link for sure.

Speaker A:

I'll put the link right down into the show notes and so everybody can check it out.

Speaker A:

And yes, I agree.

Speaker A:

Perfect for anytime you need a gift for someone, Mother's Day or birthday or the holidays.

Speaker A:

Be sure to check out the Empower Marketplace.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker A:

Are you ready for fast buyer round?

Speaker B:

Oh, yes.

Speaker B:

Okay, let's see if I'm ready.

Speaker A:

Okay, you're ready.

Speaker A:

All right, so first question.

Speaker A:

So five questions in five words or less.

Speaker A:

So best trait for a founder to have resilience.

Speaker A:

Most underrated Leadership, skill,.

Speaker B:

Empathy.

Speaker A:

Most powerful branding ingredient.

Speaker B:

Decisiveness.

Speaker A:

What is your dream road trip and what are you driving?

Speaker B:

Believe it or not, I am like, as much as I love cars, I haven't done a lot of road trips.

Speaker B:

And I would say Yosemite.

Speaker B:

62 Porsche Roadster.

Speaker A:

Oh, 62 Porsche Roadster.

Speaker B:

Amazing drive from Michigan to Yosemite.

Speaker A:

Oh, that sounds heavenly.

Speaker A:

And if you could whisper one sentence into the ear of every woman founder scaling a company right now, what would you say?

Speaker B:

Do it anyway.

Speaker A:

Ah, yes.

Speaker A:

Love that.

Speaker A:

So how can our listeners and viewers learn more about you, about your foundation, about your grants?

Speaker B:

I do a lot of different thought leadership posts on LinkedIn, so you can follow me on Soon Haggerty at LinkedIn.

Speaker B:

But more importantly, the BoundlessFuturesFoundation.org, it shows, talks about our mission, our vision, and a lot about our cool grantees that we've worked with.

Speaker A:

Yeah, and you can apply, right?

Speaker A:

There's places there you can apply for grants.

Speaker A:

Oh, and I also noticed that you have something you're doing with Ladies who launch.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker B:

Ladies who launch.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker B:

Well, thank you for that.

Speaker B:

So every year, we pick a strategic nonprofit, and that's part of what we call our Her Village, because it takes a village to support these women.

Speaker B:

And so we partner with an amazing nonprofit that was started by Sarah Fryer, who is a CFO of OpenAI ChatGPT on her team, Kelly and Katie.

Speaker B:

And so they're our partner this year.

Speaker B:

So we are tackling all the systemic issues of funding and mentorship.

Speaker B:

And then we're doing a really cool conference in September together where we'll get together.

Speaker B:

I think 100, 150 women will pay for them to come to the conference to learn all these different cool skills and capabilities to be a female founder.

Speaker A:

Oh, my goodness.

Speaker A:

That's so generous.

Speaker A:

That's incredible.

Speaker B:

Soon.

Speaker A:

So I just.

Speaker A:

I want to acknowledge you for the incredible career and building as an entrepreneur work that you've done.

Speaker A:

And I have a sense that you have this really lovely partnership with your husband.

Speaker A:

And.

Speaker A:

And here you are creating all these different ways to help women entrepreneurs.

Speaker A:

Tell us your secret.

Speaker A:

Tell us what motivates you, what brings you light.

Speaker A:

What is it that's guiding you at this stage, your journey?

Speaker B:

Yeah, it's.

Speaker A:

It's funny.

Speaker B:

No one's ever asked me that.

Speaker B:

I think that's such a great question.

Speaker B:

When I think back about where I started and where I am.

Speaker B:

I think it's a sense of gratitude that if you have something you can give, you must.

Speaker B:

And I think that's really important because there's a lot of people out there who are still struggling and you've been there before and you have to really pave the way for others.

Speaker B:

So I would say gratitude.

Speaker B:

Like I understand the gifts I've been given even though they started off with a lot of struggle.

Speaker B:

I love that.

Speaker A:

Thank you for your wisdom.

Speaker A:

Thank you for joining us today on the Wisdom of Women Show.

Speaker A:

Thank you for illuminating your personal path and helping us see how we can collectively grow and learn from you.

Speaker A:

We value your experience and your wisdom.

Speaker B:

Thank you so much for the time and all of your wisdom.

Speaker B:

This has been so fun and inspiring for me as well to hear the way that you really uncover all these really cool things that all these women have done.

Speaker B:

Thank you Coco.

Speaker A:

Thank you soon and to all of our world changing listeners.

Speaker A:

Be sure to follow like and share the Wisdom of Women show on whatever your favorite listening or viewing platform is.

Speaker A:

And just remember, the world is made better.

Speaker A:

Woman led business.

Speaker A:

Let's go make the world a better place.

Speaker A:

Cheers.