Transforming Communities with Female Founder Collective’s Director of Community + Brand Partnerships Elisabeth Leonard

“When women join together to enact change, ANYTHING can happen.”

Today I’m sitting down with the woman behind the Female Founder Collective. Meet Elisabeth Leonard. A dynamic woman that has partnered with fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff to lead a network of businesses led by women, that support women. Tune in for advice on how to start and transform your own community, learn what women inspire her along the way and much more!

Elisabeth Leonard Brava Podcast

SHOW NOTES:

Elisabeth is calling in from…Santiago, Chile! She works remotely by using email, Slack, Facetime, GoogleDrive and more to keep in touch with her team at Rebecca Minkoff (1:25.)

She worked with Rebecca for almost 6 years and started with the company as a temporary receptionist. It turned into her career! After her first 3 months in her temp position she was hired as Rebecca’s Executive Assistant. From there, she continued to work with the PR and Events team. Together they always had a shared passion of supporting female founders and women. For instance, be sure to check out their Superwomen Podcast as just one of the many examples of how the are creating change (3:30.)

Elisabeth focuses on community management and the growth of the Female Founder Collective and works alongside Rebecca as a mentor and friend (5:25.)

Every female entrepreneur is fighting for the same thing. Recognition. Rather than fighting against each other we need to cheer each other on and support each other!
— Elisabeth Leonard

One of the greatest practices that the members focus on is collaboration. They do this by sharing resources, ideas, and experiences (9:15.)

Interested in joining the Female Founder Collective? You can apply here. Once you are part of the community, you can receive the FCC seal. Elisabeth adds that there are a lot of ways to support female founded organizations through sharing love on social media, mentoring, shopping and purchasing in their shops, and more (13:30.)

On being a receptionist, Elisabeth shares that you learn so many different things because you are the first and last face people see each day. She built relationships with so many people in the office from different departments. It gave her an advantage to understanding where she wanted to see her own career go. It was one of the most incredible experiences she was given (17:00.)

Elisabeth’s mom and Rebecca Minkoff are her role models as they always encourage her to always strive for happiness and never to stop asking questions (20:34.)

In the near future, the Female Founder Collective is hoping to continue pushing the FFC seal to change shopping behaviors. They also hope to continue growing the collective and encourage everyone to buy and support women-owned businesses (21:58.)

Ready to join the Female Founder Collective? Check it out here.

Excited to learn more and follow Elisabeth? Follow her story now.


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What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story!