ep. 17 - STAY AUTHENTIC IN MALE-DOMINATED ROOMS WITH KRISTEN TARASZEWSKI, CEO OF ELEVENPOINT2
Kristen Taraszewski is a biomedical engineer and the CEO of ElevenPoint2, a training software company that elevates and gamifies the way companies upskill their technical salespeople. We first met Kristen as a finalist of the Bad Bitch Pitch. In this episode, Kristen shares her journey working with NASA, and advice on successfully navigating male-dominated fields that helped her maximize her personal joy and entrepreneurial impact. She also shares how she’s applying rocket science to technical sales training and building a multi-million-dollar global company in the process.
Lisa and Kristen discuss:
The major differences between the NASA, startup, and venture capital landscapes in terms of prejudice she faced as a woman
The struggles involved with “breaking the mold” as a woman in business and what it has meant for her to powerfully show up as her authentic self in male-dominated rooms
How to filter advice to get constructive feedback for building and scaling a businessHow she uses the principles of NASA’s training to develop exceptional salespeople
Her evolving vision in growing and exiting her startup and where she sees her role on the team in the coming years
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Lisa Carmen Wang 0:06
A bad bitch takes charge of her body, her boundaries and her bank account. Welcome back everyone to the BAD BITCH EMPIRE Podcast. Today I have a very special guest with us, Kristen Taraszewski. She is a former NASA Flight Control Engineer and astronaut trainer turned founder and CEO of ElevenPoint2, a startup that's designed to train the sales ecosystem using rocket science. We'll dive a lot more into that today and share more about Kristen's experiences and journey through so many male-dominated industries and how she has become the bad bit she is today. I actually originally met Kristin because she applied to the Bad Bitch Pitch, which is our showcase of high-growth female founders. And after being one of our five finalists, Kristin won the bad bitch pitch. So we are so excited to have her in our empire in the bad witch Empire as an opportunity for you to learn more about them. So in this podcast today, we're going to be talking and diving a bit more into Kristen's journey, as well as ElevenPoint2 and how she's applying rocket science to the startup world today. Kristen, welcome to the bad bitch Empire podcast.
Kristen Taraszewski 1:29
Thank you so much, Lisa. It's great to be here.
Lisa Carmen Wang 1:31
So to start off, I'd love for you to just share your background because it is so original and so different. Just take us back to how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Kristen Taraszewski 1:47
You know, I have to say, Lisa, normally when people ask me that question, I start with kind of my college or I'm an engineer. But yeah, I'm gonna take it a little bit further back, saying this, how we're talking about bad bitches. So there's a few people in my life that absolutely influenced me in a profound way. One of them was my grandmother, who left school when she was in the eighth grade and lived till she was 104. She basically did everything she was walking miles in her in her hundreds and really kind of taught me this, you can really do anything. So I just wanted to add that little plug for my grandma Martha made low. So I did go to college. I'm an engineer, biomedical engineer, and worked in Mission Control Center during shuttle missions and Space Station, and then had the awesome opportunity to go to Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, where we started the US operation space for the space station program. So it was there, I was exposed to really sort of big thinkers, very humble, high tech community, and absolutely male dominated. But it was an outstanding opportunity that has shaped the way I am. Amazing. Well,
Lisa Carmen Wang 2:53
first, props to your grandma, we love hearing about bad bitches. And I think we, especially today just thinking about how far we've come. And yet, you know, still how far we have to go. Just remembering the women who have paved the way and who were bad, which is back then creating the opportunities that we have now. So you mentioned being in this male dominated industry. And I can only imagine what NASA is like, but can you give us some specific examples of maybe, you know, stories that or experiences that you had that really shaped you?
Kristen Taraszewski 3:27
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, NASA was, of course, very tech focused. And despite the fact I would say it was as a very high percentage male, there was absolutely opportunity for women to ascend and have leadership positions. But I will say, I grew up in Michigan, in the Midwest, and it was the first asset was the first time that I was exposed to somebody in the workplace, calling me little darlin, which kind of put me on my heels, I wasn't really quite sure how to deal with that. So it was very interesting to kind of interact with some of that culture, while we were doing things like sending people into space, and, you know, doing the kind of revolutionary sort of research and development. So that's just kind of a little bit about the experience in terms of my time at Johnson Space Center.
Lisa Carmen Wang 4:16
How did you respond to those comments?
Kristen Taraszewski 4:19
I took a moment and put my stern face isn't necessarily the right thing. But it was a very natural reaction in me to just kind of come right back at it like in a very sort of strong and quote mail like way and just respond. Not necessarily act like it didn't happen, but just come on with a lot more force or I guess, strength instead of kind of the sort of nice approach, which is my sort of default mode.
Lisa Carmen Wang 4:48
And I mean, when you think back to those times, when like it first happened to Is there anything you would do differently now or any sort of advice you might give to your younger self
Kristen Taraszewski 4:59
from that experience? It was the first sort of step. And I can just say, I will answer your question about the advice, but I'll just kind of expand a little bit more on that. So although NASA was male dominated, I didn't feel any prejudice whatsoever in terms of the fact that I was a woman, it never came up, you know that I'm a female, I was sent over into somewhat of an unknown territory. When we went over to Gerome Cosmonaut Training Center. None, no Americans live there at that point. So I felt very equally treated, I felt like it was extremely fair. fast forward through NASA, I've had opportunities to be in the nonprofit world. And then I kind of got into the startup world. And I will say that in the startup world, specifically in kind of venture and seeking funding, it took that male dominance to a whole new level for me, there was certainly a behavior that I saw that made it or seems very clear that this is highly dominated by males. And I kind of struggled with that for a while, you know, maybe I need to change, maybe I need to talk different, maybe I need to do what I did at NASA, where I stood up and got stronger. And that sort of thinking of needing to change eroded at the joy of what I was doing. And it eroded at the fulfillment that we know we're doing something that solving a huge need that we've seen in the world. So there was a real sort of moment where I realized, I am going to do this my way, I am going to do this. Kristin tarisha skis way, not in some sort of mold. And from that point, the joy is back, the business is flying ahead. And it was sort of a major realization. So what would I tell my younger self, I would tell my younger self that don't doubt your heart, your thoughts, your abilities. If you feel like you're getting pushed into a mold, chances are that's probably not the right spot for you. So yeah, that's it,
Lisa Carmen Wang 6:53
a lot to dig in there. So I'm gonna go back a bit. One is like highlighting this point that you were at NASA, and then you entered startup world venture capital world, and how much worse it was, which is ironic, because, you know, there's been so much touting of entrepreneurship being an equal playing field, anyone can do it, anyone can raise money. And we've obviously seen that to not be true. When you have over 90% of investors that are men, when you have a boys club, when you have less than 2% of funding going to women, or less than 0.2% to women of color, despite the data that shows that women led companies outperform all male teams. With all of that said, you mentioned behavior, right? Certain behavior that you notice, could you dive a bit deeper into that?
Kristen Taraszewski 7:45
You know, and at first, I thought I was just being sensitive, honestly, there's a very interesting dynamic that takes place in an investor pitch, as I'm sure you know, you know, you have a short amount of time, and you're supposed to talk a certain way and act very confident and like everything is extremely rosy. And in fact, that's just not the world. You know, I mean, it's very difficult to start a new business, it's probably the most difficult thing that I have ever done. And I am super fortunate to have an amazing group of advisers and very strong people, our team is outstanding. So we have a really solid foundation. But going out into this asking for cash world is something that was quite shocking. For me, it was a definite way of behaving, it was a definite kind of network. I just don't think that's necessary. I think what we need to do is come to the table as women as we speak, as whatever we are, and present our story very boldly, and point out the fact that we are doing this because we see this need in the world and we are able to solve that need.
Lisa Carmen Wang 8:49
Yeah, 100% agree with that. And just on this point of fitting into a mold and the extra mental burden that is required of women to question every single step, we make every single word that comes out of our mouths, thinking am I being too this? Am I being not enough that should I have said that word? Should I have worn that shirt? Should I have won the lipstick should I'm not? And it's like I find myself in those spirals to in it, it creates this spiral of insecurity, right?
Kristen Taraszewski 9:23
A spiral of insecurity and it robs you of the joy. And honestly, Lisa, I have never had that in my life. I mean, I've had the pleasure and the blessing of doing a lot of different transitions, you know, into NASA into nonprofit into starting several businesses, and I've never had this spiral of insecurity. I mean, sure, I've been insecure for sure. No one is, you know, strong all the time. But the repeated acts like not slap in the face, but just this sort of very, you know, Nope, okay, thank you that that sort of behavior has definitely could set someone up for the spiral. And you know, another word of advice I'd give my younger self is, it's so important who you surround yourself with, it is absolutely critical to have solid advisors who speak the truth to you and give you corrective feedback, but also can appreciate sort of the unique way that you do you.
Lisa Carmen Wang 10:17
As part of that, too, is the feedback, right? It's like, everyone will have feedback for you. And so how do you decipher is this feedback that I should actually listen to, you know, if someone says, maybe you should tone it down and be a bit nicer? Or maybe you should not be as aggressive in your projections, whatever it is, how do you decipher what is feedback you actually want to take now versus ones where you're like, maybe you're just being biased? And you have a perspective that doesn't fit? What I need?
Kristen Taraszewski 10:48
Yeah, that's a difficult question. I mean, one of the great joys that I've had in the startup world is getting a lot of that feedback, because there's a lot of really brilliant people on both sides of the fence in terms of the entrepreneurial community, and the venture world and the funding world, in terms of what you listen to, and what the filter is, I think, if you have those people that prop you up and support you and strengthen you, you're able to have a filter that would say, oh, yeah, good idea, or Oh, no, you know, that's not necessarily something that would apply to what we're trying to do.
Lisa Carmen Wang 11:22
Can you think of some time, some sort of feedback that you've gotten or, quote, unquote, advice that you that didn't serve you,
Kristen Taraszewski 11:32
there's probably a list of advice that we've gotten. I mean, what ice have had quite a bit of is, I mean, I think people come to the table. And this could have been part of our beginning, you know, in the early process of not doing enough research to make sure we were speaking to people who are really focusing on what our industry is. So I feel like once we got to the people who are focusing on future of work, women, founder, tech companies, the feedback diminished. So I'll just use that as a disclaimer that there was there's an element on our side that we could have done better in terms of, you know, those early sort of conversations. But in those early conversations, we got a lot of, hey, why don't you use Bitcoin? Or why don't you do this, or you should sell to these people. Just kind of, you know, kind of free advice that we received, which was hard for us, because we've done so much research, and we'd had 10 years in the industry. And, you know, there's a lot that went into the formulation of what our product is.
Lisa Carmen Wang 12:30
Yeah, I mean, I get that all the time. And I think especially, why don't you Why don't you add blockchain to it? Especially these days? Why don't you just add some crypto do it? It's very easy to say, Yeah. So tell me then about your company. Now, what is it share to our audience in the US in the in a concise way? Like, what is it that you guys do? What problem are you solving for?
Kristen Taraszewski 12:54
So we're essentially solving the problem of upskilling technical sales people. So we had a consulting business for 10 years, and we built training programs for organizations based on how NASA trains, it worked really well, but it took too long. So we have built software that enables companies to build these technical training programs very quickly, and activate all of the internal knowledge within the company to share knowledge and teach each other and basically elevate the entire organization in terms of skill and knowledge.
Lisa Carmen Wang 13:26
Got it? And so how do you apply rocket science?
Kristen Taraszewski 13:30
So one of the things that I learned at NASA, so as a NASA flight control engineer, you can't learn every single piece of information, you need to be successful, but there's a foundational element of what you need to learn. And then you need access to everything else. We've applied that general philosophy to technical training, and actually, it goes outside the salespeople, it's really the whole support structure of a salesperson. So you teach the base knowledge, you make the other things available to them, but you also train on multiple topics at once. So in Mission Control Center, you couldn't just know you know, propulsion, or electrical systems, you had to kind of know it all. It's the same for technical salespeople, they need to know sales process, they need to know their product, and they need to know how to use it. So our software, which is actually a game makes them learn and test all of those topics all at one time.
Lisa Carmen Wang 14:22
Why is it that you focused on sales teams in particular,
Kristen Taraszewski 14:26
I never really meant to get into this. What happened was is I had an opportunity about 10 years ago to build a training program. And I thought, hey, let's try to do it the way we did it at NASA in a generalized way. And it exploded. And then I went to company kind of after company and did the same thing and just saw that there's such an opportunity to help salespeople, you know, they're the bread and butter of the organization. They have to perform in a different way and they think in a different way. So, you know, the fact that they needed the really technical knowledge and sort of the operational and behavioral things just kind of drew us into that category, which honestly, is now expanding into med device and kind of all sorts of industries.
Lisa Carmen Wang 15:08
So what does make for an exceptional salesperson?
Kristen Taraszewski 15:12
What makes for I just had this conversation yesterday, actually. So salespeople have to know a lot of things they need to know about their customer, they need to know how to assess their needs, they need to know the sales process, and they need to know the tech. So there's a lot of different ways they need to think I think an exceptional salesperson has the ability to apply all of those things at the same time, but focus first on the customer and what their needs are in second on what they're trying to sell.
Lisa Carmen Wang 15:41
Okay, and are you working with big companies, small companies, everything in between?
Kristen Taraszewski 15:46
Yes. Our our first stop off are these large global industrial automation companies like Honeywell Rockwell, this is where our consulting business was. So that's kind of where we started. But what we found is, you know, smaller companies, like startups going from Series B to Series C, they need to scale their sales team. So there's a significant need there as well. So we're, we're not so much with the small companies more kind of the mid to global, larger companies,
Lisa Carmen Wang 16:18
when you think about scaling your company now what what is the future look like?
Kristen Taraszewski 16:25
So it's interesting, because, you know, we started out when we started, you know, projecting yours out. And what we found is really essential. And this is largely in part to my amazing support network and advisors that we've got is you have to be ready to pivot, you have to listen to the customer, and the customer has to drive every single solitary thing you do. So as of today, what we're hearing from our customer base is that we are growing this year to, you know, X number of companies, 20 companies by the end of the year, and then next year, we'll kind of 10x that.
Lisa Carmen Wang 16:59
What was your vision when you started your company, and then how has the vision evolved,
Kristen Taraszewski 17:04
just kind of going back to the start, you know, never my life has been, I've been very fortunate and blessed in my life to kind of just, I've never said, I'm gonna go to NASA, I just kind of I loved science, I really liked math, I loved physics, but I thought, you know, Physics major doesn't really do much for you, Oh, can't be an engineer, and then had the NASA opportunity, and then kind of the nonprofit thing. So you know, I've been extremely fortunate to have that happen in my life. So I didn't mean to start the company, we just had a process that was really working. So we started the software company. And now my personal goal is to put the team in a place where we can really improve and help the companies that we're working with, scale their success, scale their sales, and also at the same time scale our company.
Lisa Carmen Wang 17:50
Got it? And what is it that makes you a great founder, and CEO?
Kristen Taraszewski 17:59
Well, I'll tell you know, what's important to me. And that is my team and who I'm working with, over everything else. So I think putting the team in a place where they can actually use their skills and their their knowledge and their talents and in a way that's fulfilling to them, and really beneficial to the company. And as I said, getting a group of because nobody knows everything, and there's many gaps in my knowledge. So I've run my life in kind of a NASA board type way, where I have always surrounded myself with really smart people in different areas and gone to them and relied on them to help me solve things that I don't necessarily know or think through things kind of deal. So really relying on the strengths of other people that are around me, I would say has has helped me reach success at different points in my life. Yeah,
Lisa Carmen Wang 18:47
I think that it's interesting that you said you didn't really know that you wanted to go NASA you didn't really know that you were starting a company. I think that that's something that I think similar for me, which is I've had people say to me, Oh, you're so lucky that you know, what your purpose is that you feel a passion to work with female founders, that you're closing the funding gap. And I would say that's not luck. You know, it's not like the purpose just fell from the sky. And I suddenly had all this passion. It was like no, I, I had my own experiences, I was drawn to certain problems. There were certain things that made me really upset and really angry. And I wondered, how do I solve this. And as I did things, I doubled down on taking action following where my joy was taking me and then eventually getting to a point where you do have to choose and commit to a certain type of venture or a certain path. But it's it is that thing where you can't connect the dots going forward, you can only do so looking back.
Kristen Taraszewski 19:48
Well, and I think it's being willing to pivot and learn and be open to new ideas and new directions and not necessarily thinking that I know the one way that that's going to be and I think in this day Part of world it, again is essential that the knowledge is coming from your customer. And that the customer is driving your product changes and that the customer is telling you what they need and when they need it kind of thing. So it'll be interesting to see, you know, 10 years down the road, where life takes us.
Lisa Carmen Wang 20:18
Yeah. And that also is interesting balance of being both. I think as a founder, both assertive and confident, but also humble to your customer, right? Because it does take a certain kind of gumption to say, you know, I have this vision of the world, and I'm just going to go and do it. And I'm going to go and do it better than the competition, but then being humble enough to say, okay, maybe it was wrong. And maybe we have to pivot. And let's try it again.
Kristen Taraszewski 20:47
I've struggled my whole life. I mean, when you talk about bad bitch, I mean, I am a very assertive person, I might not know assertive, I don't know what word you want to use. But it's been a very interesting sort of juggling act for me in consulting in life in any new sort of business kind, you know, with customers easy with the team easy, but you know, how much how strong do you come on? How quick do you come on? It's, it's, you know, definitely an interesting sort of dance and dialogue that may be more challenging for women, I think, than men. So that's just kind of another side note that comes to my mind when we're talking about this.
Lisa Carmen Wang 21:25
So how have you balanced that? So what would you say if you didn't filter yourself at all? And you're like, I'm just, I'm just purely me, and then people are just gonna deal with it, however, like, how would you really describe yourself? And like, how do you think you'd be different?
Kristen Taraszewski 21:41
You know, and that answer has changed over the years. You know, I would certainly say, you know, in my 20s, it was railroad train kind of thing. Now, I think I've got railroad train for the most part, or locomotive. But again, having had that benefit of these advisors who kind of helped temper that I'm very open to advice and input. But most of it is kind of just railroad train, go along, keep going. I mean, I my favorite, happy sweet spot is being in a situation with no resources, unreasonable timeline, you know, a project way too big to actually handle and then doing it and doing it better than anybody thought it could be done. So that's just something that I've always just been drawn to. So
Lisa Carmen Wang 22:29
yeah, I've had a kind of a different path. Because I have always been very goal-driven very execution focus, whether I was a when I was a gymnast, at nine years old, I was like, I'm going to the Olympics. And it was like, every single thing for the next decade was derailed go to the Olympics. I was an alternate for 2008 Awesome. Yeah, that's, yeah. Yeah, that was national champion for four of those years. And, and so I took that sort of focus and commitment long, like long term vision and commitment into my entrepreneurial journey knowing like, there is no overnight success, right. It's just you just keep going for it. And, but I think my mistake was being too accommodating to other people's feedback, wanting everyone to feel good, wanting it just, just being too nice. Really, it was like, I don't want to I don't want anybody to feel any sort of upset. Like, let's just be extra generous and like extra nights, which is part of what I call it good girl brainwashing, like, be nice, be pleasing, be pleasant be all those things. And getting to this point where once I, as I was laying the foundation for bad bitch empire, I was like, I like this is what it's like to be a bad bitch. No bullshit, let's just say it like it is. And it doesn't mean you're a cold hearted bitch, like being a bad, which means you just you take up space, you know, your worth you, you are direct, because you are then classified as like, Oh, why is she being so direct?
Kristen Taraszewski 23:59
I totally agree. And it kind of depends, I think on what those women are doing and where they're at in life. But absolutely, I mean, the thing of just being direct and speaking your opinion, but also being willing to receive, I mean, I think it doesn't matter how direct and how strong you are, if you're open to the thoughts and emotions of other human beings, doesn't mean you have to agree with them. But I totally agree with you.
Lisa Carmen Wang 24:23
Yeah. And so you can be strong and have empathy and have humility, but know what you want. And say like, I'm willing to be proven wrong, right? But this is my hypothesis is the research I've done. Here's what I'm coming to the table with, like, you tell me like, What fits what feels good, what doesn't feel good, and we'll figure it out.
Kristen Taraszewski 24:42
But I think being willing to iterate but being 100% sure that you're going to be successful. This is the thing, right? I mean, I'm 100% sure we're going to be successful. Now. We'll need to iterate. But there's never doubt in my mind that we are going to cross that finish line. And you know, how you express that is definitely an interesting thought.
Lisa Carmen Wang 25:04
Yeah. So when you think about crossing that finish line, what does that mean to you?
Kristen Taraszewski 25:09
That is a great question. It has changed over time. I mean, with the business in particular, you know, initially, it's like, put it together the five-year plan and what you know, when's your exit and all this kind of stuff, it's become very clear to me now with the growth that we've experienced recently that we'll be at a certain point by the end of next year, I am clear and understand that for my strengths, and my abilities, this is my perfect sweet spot in this beginning place, but there's a certain revenue level where we will need to bring a different CEO in to run the company. So crossing the finish line is getting to that very gracefully and helping enable the organization to transition to that new CEO, which is more like a global, you know, $25 million, business CEO type person, but do everything possible to set the organization up for massive success? And then we'll just see, you know, what goes on after that?
Lisa Carmen Wang 26:00
Where do you see yourself personally, let's say 10 years from now?
Kristen Taraszewski 26:07
Well, 10 years from now, I would see myself doing extensive world travel. And likely after my exit from this company, I am investing money in other female founders without a doubt. Not necessarily just female founders, but underrepresented founders. So there'll be a huge element of my time and energy devoted to helping other people learn from the things that I've learned from. But there'll be a whole lot of world travel going on, and some philanthropic kind of work. And hopefully, you know, health and that kind of thing.
Lisa Carmen Wang 26:42
Yeah, yeah. So you're hoping that you'll eggs? When do you think you'll exit from the company?
Kristen Taraszewski 26:48
It's gonna be mid-2024.
Lisa Carmen Wang 26:51
Okay, so you think at that point you'd be bringing on the new CEO?
Kristen Taraszewski 26:55
Yeah. And we'll start that transition towards the end of 2023. In terms of looking and you know, it takes a long time to find a really solid person. So we'll start looking, you know, ended 2023, mid-2024 kind of thing.
Unknown Speaker 27:10
And what would your role be, then after that?
Kristen Taraszewski 27:13
Well, I think we'll need to see where the organization is, at this point, my thought is being on the board and being an advisor, one of the biggest nightmares organizations face is when the founders don't realize it's time to move on, and let the organization grow the way they need to grow with new, you know, new thought and new talent kind of thing. So that's going to need to be an iterative process, and I will rely on the amazing people I have around me to help us navigate that shift.
Lisa Carmen Wang 27:38
At what point did you realize in the company's lifetime that you wouldn't be the CEO after a certain point and what your threshold was?
Kristen Taraszewski 27:48
Day one. That was day one, that was where the act different county came in. I mean, here's the thing, I in my entire life have been involved in a lot of kind of startup things starting us operations based in Star City, once it was established, I left starting my nonprofit than I left starting these different companies, it's my personality profile, it's kind of how I'm wired. So I have never once had the thought of I'm going to walk this company, you know, into the sunset, for the duration, it's get through this startup, put things together with duct tape and wire do what you got to do. You know, I equate starting a business like running a marathon after fasting for a month. So it's, it's, you know, get through that part, and then get it to the point where the revenues at such a point that we need to hand it over.
Lisa Carmen Wang 28:36
Yeah. And you see, how big do you see the team growing into?
Kristen Taraszewski 28:39
Well, the team is just under 20. Now, you know, at that transition point, or in eternity,
Unknown Speaker 28:46
at that transition point, and then, you know, 10 years from now, yet
Kristen Taraszewski 28:50
10 years from now, you know, five years from now we'll be at about 300. So, you know, kind of thing we'll have to see, the plan is to go global. So one of the things that I've done in my consulting business is, you know, do the US operations, we need an APEC and then a European kind of version of what we do. So if we are in three different continents will have to have some kind of sub, you know, staff in each one of those continents. So you know, it's probably 1000 I would say,
Lisa Carmen Wang 29:21
okay, great. And then when you are actively fundraising. So when you think about the types of investors that you're bringing into your round, like how do you think about what makes sense for you and and how you grow with those investors?
Kristen Taraszewski 29:34
Yeah, the type of the well, the relationships we're in and the relationships we're looking for are people who are in our space, highly networked and able to kind of help us see in a strategic way growing a global software organization. So you know, the expertise, the connections, and the people who are going to walk alongside of us to help us get to the growth point that we will get to any last pieces
Lisa Carmen Wang 29:59
of advice. that you would give to a woman starting in her career or as you think about what you wish you knew earlier on.
Kristen Taraszewski 30:08
Yeah, I mean, one-liner would be, don't ever apologize for who and, and what you are, and listen to the voice inside of you and that strength. Listen to the people around you who've told you what you can do and told you, you can do anything. But never, ever, ever feel like you need to fit into some kind of mold. So my first week at NASA, my boss said to me, he called me into his office and he goes, You can't say the word cool. It just doesn't sound smart. You got to sound smarter. And I would just say to any woman, if somebody ever says something like that to you it is tell them not really. And do it your way. Do your life and your journey, the way you know, it's right to do listen to advice, but don't ever be pushed a certain way. Because somebody's telling you, you need to be different.
Lisa Carmen Wang 30:56
Yeah. And that that requires that you have those boundaries up and you know who you are, which I think for for both you and I that's an iterative process to like figuring out who in the world you are, what is your authentic self? What is the most powerful version of you? And I think that that does take time as you take action and experience different things. But I think a key point in that is like you actually have to take action, you have to take the risk. You have to, you know, put yourself out there to see what is the kind of experiences or feedback that actually work for you.
Kristen Taraszewski 31:33
Absolutely, yeah. Being in places where you can take risk and surrounding yourself with people who support you and taking that risk and who also give you honest and accurate feedback.
Lisa Carmen Wang 31:45
Definitely. So it's been great chatting with you and super excited about everything that you're building, honored that you applied and to the bad pitch pitch and that you were able to share your company with our collective of investors. Last question for you. What does it mean to you to be a bad bitch?
Kristen Taraszewski 32:04
I would just say Lisa what it means for me to be a bad bitches do in life in my way.
Lisa Carmen Wang 32:09
Well, thank you again, Kristen. And for all of those that are tuning in if you are interested in investing with the bad bitch empire, join us at bad bitch empire.com and we will have more exciting events and announcements for those who are part of the Empire. Thanks so much. Thank you if you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot tag me at Lisa Carmen Wang and make sure you check out the bad bitch empire.com for events, courses, crypto and other cool shit. Thanks for tuning into the bad bitch empire.