From the minute I met Stacey Ferreira I knew that I wanted to interview her. Her youthful and kind hearted spirit as well as intellectual and entrepreneurial ways attracted my attention and I knew she would be amazing to talk to. She was speaking at the youth panel at OPEN and after discussing her experiences creating MySocialCloud, I asked her if we could interview her.
Flash forward to a month later and we were sitting at the courtyard in front of Pizza My Heart in Palo Alto. We had been exchanging emails earlier and she was so flexible and easy going (She sent her emails with a smiley face! Alexis and I couldn't have been more at ease) that we couldn't wait to meet her!
The interview went amazingly as she shared her experiences and insight, giving great advice that felt truly empowering. It was super casual and fun as we bonded over loads of things (like how we've all gone to all girls high schools and how AWESOME of an experience that has been!). Alexis and I were truly inspired as we left the interview because not only had Stacey said some amazing things that got us thinking, but because she was only a few years older than us and was an amazing, strong, confident, and smart women who had done and is doing some amazing things! By 18 she had a business, and by 20 she has just sold that business, is starting a new start up, and is co-authoring a book (2 Billion Under 20), not to mention the fact that she's going to be in the October issue of Seventeen magazine! Theres a concept that if someone can see a person they can relate to in a certain position, its easier for them to imagine themselves in that same position. I saw a 20 year old women not much older than me who had similar experiences (she understood all our teen issues having just finished that stage of her life) and had worked hard to create a business and was extremely successful. Suddenly, I was imagining a 20 year old me, running my own business and writing a book. The whole car ride home was spent gushing with Alexis, getting more and more passionate about our project (which has become a business of sorts to us now) with each sentence. We started off with how well the interview went and then suddenly we had new ideas for our project and next thing you know we were imagining a day where we were interviewing Sheryl Sandberg (author of Lean In! and first female member of Facebook's board of directors) and Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo! and former VP of location services at Google). Basically, Stacey inspired us. Here is this relatable, amazing, kind, and smart woman who has done so much, reminding Alexis and I (as well as everyone who listens to our interviews!) that we CAN do it, we just have to work hard and get out there.
Find Stacey Ferreira here (and send her some of your own love!):
Website: http://staceyferreira.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/staceyferreira
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thestaceyferreira
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyferreira
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Shanzay Kazmi
Flash forward to a month later and we were sitting at the courtyard in front of Pizza My Heart in Palo Alto. We had been exchanging emails earlier and she was so flexible and easy going (She sent her emails with a smiley face! Alexis and I couldn't have been more at ease) that we couldn't wait to meet her!
The interview went amazingly as she shared her experiences and insight, giving great advice that felt truly empowering. It was super casual and fun as we bonded over loads of things (like how we've all gone to all girls high schools and how AWESOME of an experience that has been!). Alexis and I were truly inspired as we left the interview because not only had Stacey said some amazing things that got us thinking, but because she was only a few years older than us and was an amazing, strong, confident, and smart women who had done and is doing some amazing things! By 18 she had a business, and by 20 she has just sold that business, is starting a new start up, and is co-authoring a book (2 Billion Under 20), not to mention the fact that she's going to be in the October issue of Seventeen magazine! Theres a concept that if someone can see a person they can relate to in a certain position, its easier for them to imagine themselves in that same position. I saw a 20 year old women not much older than me who had similar experiences (she understood all our teen issues having just finished that stage of her life) and had worked hard to create a business and was extremely successful. Suddenly, I was imagining a 20 year old me, running my own business and writing a book. The whole car ride home was spent gushing with Alexis, getting more and more passionate about our project (which has become a business of sorts to us now) with each sentence. We started off with how well the interview went and then suddenly we had new ideas for our project and next thing you know we were imagining a day where we were interviewing Sheryl Sandberg (author of Lean In! and first female member of Facebook's board of directors) and Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo! and former VP of location services at Google). Basically, Stacey inspired us. Here is this relatable, amazing, kind, and smart woman who has done so much, reminding Alexis and I (as well as everyone who listens to our interviews!) that we CAN do it, we just have to work hard and get out there.
Find Stacey Ferreira here (and send her some of your own love!):
Website: http://staceyferreira.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/staceyferreira
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thestaceyferreira
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyferreira
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Shanzay Kazmi