The RealReal Truth About Power, Wealth & $1B Exits with Julie Wainwright
Episode 948: Show Notes
If you don’t believe in yourself, who else will? Today, we are joined by Julie Wainwright, founder and former CEO of The RealReal; a company that she scaled to over a billion dollars in revenue before taking it public. Now she is at it again as the co-founder and CEO of AHARA – a precision nutrition company redefining wellness through science. Julie has been featured on Forbes’ 50 Under 50 alongside names like Kamala Harris and Shonda Rhimes. Julie is a bold and strategic leader who is here to share the lessons no one teaches about running a business.
Tune in to hear all about navigating power dynamics, building personal wealth, making strategic exits, and leading companies as a woman in tech. This episode is for everyone! Whether you’re a solopreneur, a startup founder, or are growing a team of your own, this conversation is full of real-world advice from someone who’s lived it and started all over again. Let’s dive in!
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Fearlessness in Career Pivots
After her massive failure at Pets.com, Julie figured out that no one was going to hire her, she wasn’t going to get a good job, she would run out of money at some point, but she knew that she loved working. And while that horrific failure that she experienced was so painful, it didn’t kill her. In fact, it actually freed her! She had no fear of failure after that. The decision to pivot from The RealReal to creating AHARA was a very personal one for Julie. After watching her parents struggle with their health at the end of their lives, she became passionate about health, nutrition, and wellness and created AHARA as a passion project. She recognized how powerful tailoring your nutrition to your specific needs is and leveraged technology to make it happen through AHARA. There is so much power in taking hold of something you’re passionate about and finding new ways to approach it to create a business out of it.
Embracing Being 51% Right and Finding Confidence
Early on, Julie knew that in order to be successful, she needed to own something that someone else couldn’t own – something that no one could take away from her. The tech industry is so male-dominated and political nowadays, but when Julie joined, it wasn’t like that because it was so fresh. When politics came into play, she put a smile on her face, kept her head down, and waited until she could be in control of her environment. Julie wants women in business to stop putting so much energy into the fact that they are women and instead, focus on doing their jobs well and being more positive and productive. Julie feels like she spent decades holding herself back and letting limitations define her. She wants you to make sure that you don’t shrink into yourself if you feel like you aren’t enough, and challenge that limiting belief. You have to believe that you will figure things out, and at the end of the day, you only have to be 51% right to create a successful business! If you don’t believe in yourself, who else is going to?
Building Personal Wealth as a Woman
Julie is a massive advocate for women building their own personal wealth because she wants women to be able to make the right decisions for the right reason. It’s so important to ensure that the decisions you make aren’t based on your need for someone else’s wealth. You will never have the same options and strength as you would if you create your own money. It’s all about knowing you can make your own money and having the freedom of choice it brings! Julie also wants you to start being a little bit more selfish when it comes to planning and securing your financial future. It’s all about finding the balance between being selfish enough for your personal finances but not so selfish that the business crashes. You also need to be very decisive when it comes to pivoting in your business. If something isn’t working, making fast decisions is key!
Life is short. You only have one life. And there is no downside to going for it and living as much as you can! Julie wants to remind you that failure can’t hurt you! What can hurt is when you’re old and bitter because you didn’t shoot your shot! Julie outlines the ins and outs of her success in her new book Time to Get Real.
Quote This
“Creating your own business is an act of faith.”
— Julie Wainwright
Highlights
Fearlessness in Career Pivots. [0:03:41]
Embracing Being 51% Right and Finding Confidence. [0:12:49]
Building Personal Wealth as a Woman. [0:25:31]
OUR GUEST:
Julie Wainwright
Julie Wainwright is the CEO and co-founder of AHARA, a science-backed personalized nutrition company. She previously founded The RealReal, transforming luxury consignment and becoming one of the first women to lead a company to an IPO. Widely recognized for her innovation and leadership, Wainwright has been named one of Entrepreneur’s 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs, Fast Company’s Most Creative People, and featured on Forbes’ 50 Over 50 and Inc. Magazine’s 100 Female Founders lists.
OUR HOST:
Abagail Pumphrey
Boss Project on Instagram | Facebook
Abagail hosts the twice-weekly podcast, The Strategy Hour, which is recognized by INC and Forbes as one of the best podcasts for entrepreneurs.
Key Topics:
Personal Wealth, Fearlessness, Confidence in Business, Career Pivots
