WEBVTT - How Sheila Marcelo is Making Women's Issues Everyone's Issues 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:10.800 Welcome to Made by Women, a new podcast by the 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:15.760 Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio. At a 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.319 moment when businesses face some of the biggest challenges in 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:22.800 recent history, we bring you inspiring stories, practical insights, and 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:26.600 shared learnings to help you successfully navigate in today's environment. 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.159 Every Thursday, Made by Women will showcase the experiences of 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:36.640 legendary women, entrepreneurs, fierce up and comers, and everyday women 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:40.720 who found success their own way. Consider this your real 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:45.680 world n b A designed for the new now. I'm 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.880 Kim Azarelli and thanks so much for joining us today. 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:57.680 If you've ever worried about finding care for a child 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:02.600 or an elderly relative, Sheila Marcello knows what you're going 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:07.240 through and she created a solution. And if you're a 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:11.039 woman who wants to rise in her career, Sheila has 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:15.560 the tools and guidance for you. I'm Milan Vervie and 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:20.319 I'm talking today to Sheila Marcello, the visionary entrepreneur who 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:25.600 founded care dot com, the world's largest online destination for 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:30.080 finding and managing family care. Sheila is also the co 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:35.480 founder of Landed, a career platform focused on women. Both 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:40.640 companies combine her passion for technology with solutions to very 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:46.679 contemporary problems. Success might seem a foregone conclusion for Sheila. 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.400 After all, in twenty fourteen, she became the youngest ever 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:54.720 person to receive the Alumni Achievement Award from Harvard Business School, 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.280 and just a few years later, care dot Com was 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:03.280 acquired by I A c. For five hundred million dollars. 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:08.200 But every business journey has its challenges and lessons. Let's 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:18.440 get some insights now from Sheila Marcello. Sheila, it is 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.640 such a pleasure to have you with us today, so excited. 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:27.320 You are truly an extraordinary entrepreneur, and we want to 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:31.160 talk about how that came to be uh and all 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.639 of the things that you've learned along the way that 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:39.400 you can impart to our wonderful audience. You have created, founded, 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:44.920 co founded several successful companies, including care dot com to 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:49.600 help people find elder care and childcare and Landed to 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:54.639 help women advance in their careers. Both are critically needed 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:58.440 helps today, and you have two companies that you've been 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:03.240 intimately involved in responding to those needs. What has it 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:08.600 been in your personal background that enabled you to contribute 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.840 to the kind of success that you have had as 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:16.040 an entrepreneur. Thanks Milan. I'm so excited to be here. 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:18.800 As you know you've known me for a long time. 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:23.760 I was born and raised in the Philippines, and um interestingly, 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:26.800 I have what I call a tiger mom very proudly 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:30.640 and a teddy bear dad, so sort of the counter stereotypes. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:33.240 But what makes it so unique is that the Philippines, 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.040 as you know, you and I have been very involved 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:38.880 in helping the world economic form with their gender reports 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.840 that the Philippines is one of the top ten countries 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.920 in the world with the narrowest gender gap. It's unique 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.080 for an Asian country. And so my parents always allowed 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:50.080 my sister and I and I have four other brothers 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.680 along with my sister, to pursue our passions. There was 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:56.520 never a sense of stereotypes. I remember as a young girl, 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:00.840 my father was teaching me math to Gray Aids earlier 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.880 than my older brothers, and we were doing the same 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.680 math class because he just believed in us and was 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:09.200 always encouraging. And my father even taught me to read 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:11.560 early at a very young age and had to read 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.160 in front of friends and guests. So it was always 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:17.840 sort of highly encouraged to pursue education and our passions. 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:20.719 The second thing I think my parents imparted in me 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:26.880 was their very entrepreneurial We owned trucking company. Uh we 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:32.200 distributed sugar grow coconuts, had rice mills, you name it, 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:37.919 duck farms, mangoes, bananas, and so through through our lives 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:41.600 growing up, my parents never wanted us to be entrepreneurs. 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.600 It was a hard life. So at six kids, everybody 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.960 had designated professions. There was going to be a doctor, 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.960 a dentist, and accountant and engineer, a lawyer. You know. 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:55.760 My younger brother got Scott free whatever he wanted to do. 0:04:56.400 --> 0:05:00.640 But I was a designated lawyer, and interest ly enough, 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:04.040 out of undergrad I got into Harvard Law School. I 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.400 actually paused it for a little bit, and I didn't 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.279 want to disappoint my parents, but I fell in love 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:12.680 with business, and amongst everyone in my family, I ended 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.839 up becoming the entrepreneur. And the reason for that, Milan, 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.200 was because I started teaching at HBS and I got 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:25.640 introduced to grading internet business plans, and I decided that, like, 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:29.520 this is really interesting and it could create impact in 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.800 the world. Because the last sort of thing around what 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.159 my parents taught me was, um, you know, one of 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.320 the most memorable experience I had my life was we 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:41.679 had went back and forth between the United States and 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.440 the Philippines because my parents were entrepreneurs. And so in 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.320 fifth grade they sent me back to a provincial school 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:51.560 in the Philippines because I had forgotten the language, and 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.400 and I remember how hard that was. They made us 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:58.800 stand up and read Intagalog and I was embarrassed. And 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.040 but but we also learned a lot of different things. 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:04.920 We cleaned the classroom floors with our hands. We would 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.440 get down on our hands and knees and scrub it 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.000 with the husk of a coconut. I'm really good at 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.480 cleaning floors today. It's a really good lesson. But they 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.600 really exposed us to hard work and a sense of 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:20.360 humility and probably something my friend Brian Stevenson always emphasizes, 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:25.800 which is proximity that at a young age, inclusiveness was 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:29.760 really important for my family and a life dedicated to impact. 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:33.080 And so I would say that combination of that unique 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:37.600 experience growing up in the Philippines, being exposed to the province, 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:41.599 and just having this sort of tenacity and grit that 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:45.400 my parents had as entrepreneurs I think really has been 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:49.240 indelible in my life. You know, it's such an interesting 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:54.200 story of one person's ascent in many ways. And while 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.760 you did become that lawyer they had hoped you'd become, 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:04.640 you certainly became an extraordinarily successful businesswoman. And it's fascinating 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:09.039 to hear how these very fundamental lessons like those you 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:12.880 just conveyed that you inherited from your parents have had 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:17.120 this lasting impact on you. So let's fast forward just 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:22.360 a tiny bit from those years, uh to your starting 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:26.280 care dot com. You did that in two thousand and six, 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.880 and I wonder where did the idea come from? Because 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:35.120 what you undertook was something truly exceptional, I think, and 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:39.080 it was seeing the need and responding to that need 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:43.480 through technology. What did it take to get there? How 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.320 did care dot com work? What steps did you take 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.720 to create just an enormous business? You know? I I 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.920 wish that I had the vision in the road map 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:55.280 at a young age and knew that I was going 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.160 to build care, But actually what end up happening is 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:02.160 I got pregnant in college. I wanted to be an 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:06.880 investment banker and a consultant and my parents were really pushing, 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:12.120 of course, to be a lawyer. UM. And after business school, UM, 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.000 I started to realize that in you know, grading internet 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.120 business plans, there was something about the power of the 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.440 Internet to help people. And here I was as a 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:25.400 young mother going through undergrad, my jobs, between undergrad and 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.360 grad school, through my career and then grad school. When 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.400 I did my j d NB at Harvard, we struggled. 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.040 We struggled with care And fast forward when I graduated 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:38.000 from HBS and decided after my teaching stint there that 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:41.200 I wanted to go join an internet company. I begged 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.480 my parents to come from the Philippines to actually care 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.200 for our youngest son, Adam, And as he was going 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:50.640 up the stairs my dad was caring for my son. 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.760 That afternoon, I got a call from my mother, frantic 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.120 at work that my my father had fell backwards UM 0:08:57.120 --> 0:08:59.280 holding the baby because he had had a heart attack. 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.480 And so I think this combination of being sandwich in 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.600 our space, that's being sandwich between childcare and senior care 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.400 at such a young age at twenty nine, made me 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:13.840 start to realize that I wasn't alone in all of this. 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:18.440 There's so many other millions of families and especially women 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:21.680 that are impacted. And I remember I was working in 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:25.120 a technology company and yet I was using the Yellow 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.320 Pages I'm dating myself to look for care because there 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.280 weren't a lot of other solutions. UM and back then 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:36.120 Classified were going out of business. Craigslist was just beginning 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:38.520 and it wasn't really reliable. You weren't going to go 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:41.800 there to look for care. And oh yes, church and 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.120 the y m c A or the local swimming pool. 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:45.600 I could put up an eight and a half by 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:47.920 eleven and have those little tag ear things that you 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:52.000 could peel off. I mean, they're just so technology. I 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.080 saw had a real potential because I was working for 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.160 a company that was helping families save money for college 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:01.199 called you Promise, and so was a great training ground 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:04.600 for me to understand. But the real personal pain point 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:07.880 that I went through was something that really inspired me 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.000 to say, I'm not alone in all of this, and 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.360 as I said, many women are impact in front. My 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.160 dear friend I Gin Pooh, who you know well, has 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.800 been fighting for domestic workers and she often says it 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:22.240 care is what makes all other work possible because it 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:26.400 is the underpinning. It's just like roads and bridges. You know, 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.280 you have to invest in that infrastructure to help women 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:33.280 work because the challenges are care costs is high. Caregivers, 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:37.840 a majority of which are women. You know, the average 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.280 pay eleven dollars an hour, I mean, whereas golf caddies 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:44.880 or what making fifteen an hour just doesn't kind of 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:48.000 add up. And then there are these care deserts. There's 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.400 just not even enough spots for kids around the country 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.160 for care for women to pursue work. And then I 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:57.720 haven't even layered in senior care. So all of that 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:00.600 I call I consider sort of the econ I'm excited 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.160 of care as opposed to the soft love tendency of 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:08.120 how people call the industry that we're in. I don't 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:12.480 really understand that this is actually one of the critical 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:16.720 issues and drives sort of the problems around an economic 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.000 crisis if you're not investing in this infrastructure. So you 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.520 had asked me, what does care dot Com due today? 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:26.760 You know, it's basically simple. It's matching families with caregivers. 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:31.520 Majority of the platform are moms, and caregivers are also women, 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:36.280 so it's actually really serving women. But ultimately it's about 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:40.240 servicing families and caregivers. Before I left in February, we 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:43.000 had more than thirty million members and over twenty countries. 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:44.960 So the way they think about that is every three 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:48.040 minutes a family finds care on the platform and a 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.679 caregiver finds a job. Well, you know, you're not only 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.920 created a solution, but you've just made the most compelling 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:58.319 case for why we need to address the whole issue 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:05.480 of affordable, available, and quality healthcare that people can count on, 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:10.320 and increasingly elder care, which we know is another huge 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.720 imperative for our society. So you came up with this 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:19.319 very innovative solution. But we know building a company is 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.840 accompanied with a lot of struggle. So tell us what 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:25.800 was it like, What was the hardest part in those 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.080 early days, and what did you do to get strength 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.960 so that you could keep going. I think the full journey, 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.559 though I very much enjoyed it and learned, was difficult. 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:39.680 Exactly what you're asking Land, I'd say. In the early days, 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:42.520 even at the start of the company, I was worried 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.680 about how I was going to be perceived. I had 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.719 my d d NBA at Harvard. Here I was going 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:50.719 to run A good friend of mine who was in 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.040 an investment bank when I went to get advice from 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:56.160 her and said, you're going to run a babysitting company 0:12:56.240 --> 0:13:01.520 with your experience. And I was so in secure about 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:06.440 running a company focused on women that I was really 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.920 worried that men weren't going to take me seriously. And 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.880 a very male mentor came up to me and it 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:14.959 took me out to lunch and said, are you in 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.520 the pain business or you the pleasure business. I didn't 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:19.160 really know what that meant, but what he was really 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.680 pushing me to really think about, milanas, how do you 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.760 stay true to yourself? A pain businesses look, you like 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:32.120 to solve consumer problems. Saving for college is not that fun, right? 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.800 And after you left, you promise you went to help 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:38.560 help at the ladders to help people find jobs. That 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:42.040 wasn't fun either, right, But that's what you're passionate about. 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.600 Because at the time I was weighing running a mobile 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:49.280 company sort of in the entertainment space, and and that 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.240 real advice I took home, I slept on and woke 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:53.920 up the next day. I was like, I have to 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.280 stay true to myself. So I think the beginning many 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:01.640 young founders when they're starting companies there's this insecurity that 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:05.600 sets in around how you're perceived or gaining a sense 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:07.599 of confidence to be true to who you are. So 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:10.480 that definitely was there in the beginning. And then as 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:14.080 we were scaling Care, some people said why wasn't this 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:20.280 a nonprofit and because somehow what was wrong with with 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:24.880 a you know, pursuing profitability with a comparable goal of 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:27.760 social good? And I started to realize part of my 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:31.080 role wasn't just the mission of Care, it was breaking 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:35.480 the mold that this was doable as a public company, 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.320 that we could scale this as a solution, and that 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.320 you could have a double bottom line. You know, we 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.880 call those bea corps now, but this was before they 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.640 were around. We were starting care dot com. So it's 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.520 an interesting sort of push that you had to do 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:53.360 to just prove to people that yes, you know, this 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.160 is possible. And more and more I try to spend 0:14:56.160 --> 0:15:00.320 time with social entrepreneurs and then even I, I know 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:03.160 you asked me the question, you know, like in the 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:06.640 early days, what was surprising to me, Milan is that 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.600 the challenge of the of convincing the perception of men 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.720 to realize the opportunity of investing in female focus businesses 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:20.080 not only started throughout all my fundraising of the hundred 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:24.760 million private hundred fifty million public was even when we 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:28.160 were public, we were running into issues. I remember an 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.240 analyst taking aside on a my non deal road show 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.960 preparing to go public, and said to me, you know 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:36.440 you're going to run into problems? Is is a male 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.400 analysts one of the top ones in Wall Street? And 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:43.880 I said why? He said, because there's a fundamental dilemma 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:48.320 that male analysts won't understand the product because they don't 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:52.640 ultimately use it. So interestingly enough, the profile when Open 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.520 Table came out is similar to yours, except they go 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.560 to restaurants. They know how to book that stuff. It 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:03.120 matters to them. But many young male analysts don't have children, 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.120 aren't worried about their parents, they don't even have likely 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:09.560 dogs or plants, because they're committed to their jobs. Right, 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:13.200 So you're going to have to figure out how do 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.200 you make this issue proximate to who you're selling it to. 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:21.280 And so those challenges we're with me all the way 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.920 through until the very end, in fact, and it's a 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.280 very interesting thing. And and I know that that we've 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:31.200 got to change that, we've got to figure out ways 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:35.640 in which men become more proximate to the issues that 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:40.200 women face. Well, you know, I think maybe COVID has 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:42.560 changed that a little bit. It may be one of 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:44.920 the bright lights out of it, if I can say 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.640 that about a pandemic, because we're certainly much more aware 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:54.200 today of just how difficult it is to juggle all 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:58.480 of this um and many of the the men who 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.080 are aware of these challenge is are seeing it in 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:04.600 a very proximate way. I dare say I completely agree. 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:07.479 But you know, it's so interesting to listen to you 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:11.359 because you're right. You anticipate that these struggles are going 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:15.399 to come early on, but as you so well said 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.160 in your experience, these stay with you. As an entrepreneur, 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:22.560 You're always thinking of that next challenge, that next piece, 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.560 what else do you have to do to overcome and thrive. 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:31.960 But care dot Com did thrive. It was thriving continues obviously, 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:37.720 and you started another company, landed. So how did that 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:42.280 come about and how did you juggle both companies? You know, 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:46.400 it's really interesting. I care dot Com launched a product 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:51.840 called Carrot Work. I would say it's probably year four 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:55.840 of our thirteen years stint at that company, and Carrot 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:59.720 Work was providing benefits for employees, and I would meet 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:03.880 with h r os and CEOs and CFOs and often 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.439 they would say, we love care as a solution for 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:08.560 our employees to make sure that they show up at 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.520 work and they could be present at work, but we 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:14.840 really have a problem with the pipeline of women. We 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:18.080 start off fift when they're young, and then of course 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:21.080 when you know, when they're in the corner office, it's 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:24.359 getting into the single digit percentage. And I said, wow, 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.920 that's that's a real problem. We know it, but that's 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:29.080 a different business from care dot com. Because they were 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.000 asking me, you know, should you launch a different product. 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.960 I had the fortunate experience that I joined an Aspen 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:39.199 Crown Fellowship class and allowed me to really search and 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:43.160 go deeper around impact. And it happened that in my class, 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:47.520 my HBS classmate from business school, a Lisa Skate Tatum, 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:50.600 was also in my Crown Fellowship class and she had 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:54.639 been contemplating the same issues about the pipeline problem. The 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.680 third thing that happened is Milan also was in my life, 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:02.160 who I remember we're telling me, who said to me, 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:05.720 the care issue is such a big issue to help 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:09.320 women focus on it. So the way to do that 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:11.800 it allowed me to focus on it is really worked 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.920 with Lisa where she became, you know, my co founder 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:19.840 on land It, and it has just been incredible at 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.600 really pursuing the shared mission and vision we had. So 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:26.320 we came together to found the company, and it's allowed 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:29.439 both of us by the way we're both women that 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:34.360 integrate our work and life together. We both juggle running companies, 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.160 we trade a lot of notes, were there for each other, 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.680 we support each other, and so I I found this 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:45.159 such an incredible satisfaction of being a board member and 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:49.840 a founder of something I saw that other female founders, 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:54.760 unleashing their own potential, could pursue their passion and I 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:57.760 can impart the journey that I've been on on care 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.199 to how to scale those platforms they themselves can make 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:03.800 a big impact as well. It's something that's so near 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:07.360 and dear to me around working with female founders and 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:10.280 Landed has just been such a joy, and I'm just 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:13.399 thrilled that Lisa is making such this huge impact in 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.280 the world that she really wanted to. Well, that's terrific, 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:18.840 and you know, I know personally just how much you 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:24.080 care about women developing their leadership skills and going on 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:29.080 to enjoying great success that is commensurate with the potential 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:33.600 of so many. So you left care in two thousand 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:38.560 and nineteen, and you are, by any account, UH a 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:45.040 force of nature. So what is Sheila focusing on now? UM? 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:50.000 I would say certainly adhering to quarantine. And I had 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:54.920 planned to travel sabbatical, but I've been doing my Quarantine sabbatical, 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:59.320 but my kids tease me that it's not really sabbatical 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:07.000 because now I'm launching a couple of ventures with with 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:11.280 a few female founders UM to continue again to unleash 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:15.240 their power. I'm super excited. One of them is focused 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:18.920 on girls, and I'm just excited to build new companies 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:21.840 built by amazing female founders. And by the way, that 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:26.880 includes for profit and not for profit, because I think 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:30.480 impact can be achieved in many different ways and and 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.240 my goal is how can I help in any way 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:36.520 to scale that that what is in the hearts of 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:40.400 other people to help people UM. And then specifically, one 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:42.760 nonprofit I'm super proud to be helping right now is 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:47.639 Him for Her by Jocelyn mangan Um and it's putting 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:51.119 women on boards. Uh, So it's something I'm super excited 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:54.040 about to continue to support her. Uh. Some of the 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:57.760 companies are still stealth, but it should be announced within 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:02.800 the year. It sounds terrific. Will all be awaiting those 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:09.440 announcements with eager anticipation. I had mentioned earlier COVID Uh, 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:11.960 and you just talked about how you're abiding by all 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:15.920 the protocols and staying on the ground, which is rare, 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:20.639 rare for you. So how has it affected your work otherwise? 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:25.080 Has it brought on any particular challenges? Have you had 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:29.080 to make any major pivots outside of what you described 0:22:29.160 --> 0:22:32.440 in terms of really not doing all of that extensive 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:35.840 travel that you had anticipated in this period, but you've 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:39.440 put it to good use. It sounds like yeah, certainly, 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:44.360 going from a twenty four seven job running a public 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:48.640 company to then, you know, reducing travel in the hours 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:52.560 and all the inbound requests of my time, I've had 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:58.199 a real opportunity to do a lot of meditation, yoga, 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:03.160 just a self awareness time for myself. Just been a gift. 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:05.120 I hadn't had this in over twenty years because I've 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:08.400 just been running and gunning. But what's interesting about COVID 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:12.159 has certainly has been silver linings, is it. It's also, 0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:15.720 as you pointed out, it's allowed a lot of people 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:18.639 to open their eyes at the juggle is really hard, 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:22.280 and I'm seeing with a lot of my zoom calls 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:26.440 in also my male friends sharing with me that they're 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:29.320 now at the front seat to see this juggle of 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:32.440 work life balance. I used to have to hit people 0:23:32.440 --> 0:23:34.800 over the head to tell them that care was really important. 0:23:34.880 --> 0:23:39.199 They're realizing that it is definitely essential. Work at the 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:43.520 corner office is seeing it a lot too. Um So 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:47.800 this proximity that you described earlier, I believe it's a 0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:50.720 real silver lining in the care industry, and it's one 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:53.639 of the nonprofits that I founded and ran, and I 0:23:53.680 --> 0:23:55.800 do want to thank I a C for helping seed 0:23:55.880 --> 0:23:57.679 that with me as a way that they honored my 0:23:57.760 --> 0:23:59.800 founding of care dot com. I a C bought care 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:02.280 dot come earlier this year. As you know, is that 0:24:02.359 --> 0:24:05.320 the Care Institute is really focused around how do we 0:24:05.400 --> 0:24:09.240 influence the specific issue right now because it is top 0:24:09.240 --> 0:24:12.439 of mind for people. How do we use this moment 0:24:13.240 --> 0:24:16.720 because care is top of mind, because we really can't 0:24:16.760 --> 0:24:20.280 help women At the same time that I'm working on 0:24:20.280 --> 0:24:24.040 that nonprofit. It's really to train caregivers. I also see 0:24:24.080 --> 0:24:27.400 this huge need for Landed. Lisa and I are all 0:24:27.480 --> 0:24:31.200 over that UM and Landed not only to help women, 0:24:31.800 --> 0:24:35.280 but especially also people of color with everything that's happening 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:39.119 in the world, especially with post George Floyd and the 0:24:39.160 --> 0:24:42.879 Black Lives Matter movement. So I think there are silver 0:24:43.000 --> 0:24:46.800 linings in difficulty and challenges and really finding ways how 0:24:46.840 --> 0:24:49.800 we can make a broader impact. So terrific to hear. 0:24:50.320 --> 0:24:53.040 I want to ask you one final question because I 0:24:53.080 --> 0:24:58.360