Aniea Essien, a recent Stanford grad, is the Founder and CEO of Iko, a crowdsourced platform that’s fighting to slow language death with the help of machine learning. A first-generation Nigerian American, she’s intimately aware of the pain and problems brought by language death, which claims a new language every fourteen days, disproportionately affecting people of color. She hopes to create products that are exciting, accessible, and rooted in elevating marginalized communities.

Check out Iko here. Support Iko’s crowdfunding campaign here.

@iko.community

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Welcome Céline to Series E! Céline is co-founder of the non-profit Plastic Tides, and founder of the social enterprise start-up ANATO — Forest to face skincare. A water-woman and plant enthusiast, Céline is a regenerative lifestyle evangelist and outdoor educator. Céline leads workshops and expeditions around the world helping people reduce their waste and live a minimalist lifestyle in tune with nature. 

Shop at Anato here.

@anatolife

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Alex Bradberry is the Founder of award-winning The Sparkle Bar Makeup and Beauty Studio, located in Scottsdale Arizona, which opened it’s doors in 2015. The Sparkle Bar is Arizona’s first full-service makeup only studio and was built with a mission to provide confidence to all customers and celebrate diversity and inclusivity in all ways. 

Check out The Sparkle Bar here. 

@thesparklebar

Follow Series E @seriesepodcast and make sure to share with your friends! Follow @shoshanaswell.

Let's raise our Series E together.

Welcome back to Series E! This week’s guest is Chi Nguyen, the founder of Purpose Tea. When Chi founded Purpose Tea, she had one mission: to provide consumers with beverage choices that power healthier lives while also empowering the most impoverished in the business of tea: female tea workers. We chat about the development of purple tea, how the company got into retailers, the role of a social mission for a product. One thing we are questioning this week in relation to series e- does balance exist or should we we live in harmony with our life and work?

Check out Purpose Tea here. 

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Let's raise our Series E together.

On this first guest episode the co-founder of Deviate, Kelsey Tucker, join us as we share more about what it is like to create a fashion house in Detroit, the secrets of the fashion industry, the importance of storytelling and so much more. Deviate is a Detroit based fashion house on a mission to elevate Detroit’s reputation as a fashion city. Producing luxury streetwear collections at the intersection of fashion, art, and revolution.

From working for Vera Wang to co-founding Deviate, Kelsey’s talents and story are beyond unique as she shares many insights into what it is like building a business from the very beginning. Since the pandemic, Deviate has been an instant responder to provide materials, educational programming, and jobs for the Detroit community. A company to admire for its focus on social impact and storytelling. 

Shop Deviate here. Support Deviate’s crowdfunding campaign here. 

Follow Series E @seriesepodcast and make sure to share with your friends! Follow @shoshanaswell.

Let’s raise our Series E together.

Welcome to Series E! A new podcast where founders raise their Series E round of Experience. Join us as we share tips and stories from founders of how they built their businesses while also focusing on balance.

In this episode, we go over the origin story of Series E and introduce our host, Shoshana Swell. Shoshana is solo on this episode as she shares special memories of Series E and the importance of raising your Series E. Stay tuned for our guest episodes featuring founders in various industries including fashion, food, beauty, and more!

Follow Series E @seriesepodcast and @shoshanaswell. Make sure to share it with your friends!

Let’s raise our Series E together.