Daniella Pierson of The Newsette
How do you see yourself?
"FEARLESS CREATIVE LEADERSHIP" PODCAST - TRANSCRIPT
Episode 200: Daniella Pierson
Here’s a question. How do you see yourself?
I’m Charles Day. I work with creative and innovative companies. I coach their leaders to help them succeed where leadership has its greatest impact. The intersection of strategy and humanity.
This week’s guest is Daniella Pierson. She is the Founder and CEO of The Newsette. And the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Wondermind.
She and her story are extraordinary.
Daniella started The Newsette seven years ago, at the age of 19. Last year, the company generated $40 million in revenue. She and her mother are the only shareholders.
She has done this in the face of being told, in so many ways, that she could not. That she was incapable. That she was inadequate. That she was dumb.
She has done this by refusing to accept the criticism or the labels or the extreme self doubt.
She has done this by building an organization so filled with the best parts of herself, courage, intelligence, kindness, that in the end the organization became capable of taking care of her.
“And I pretended that The Newsette was actually this big company that I was interning for. And none of them had any idea that I was the founder and CEO and basically the buck stopped there. Because I knew if they did, they wouldn't think it was as cool and that was obviously a huge confidence issue of myself, but that's what I said earlier on, I take no responsibility for overcoming the label of being the dumb twin, or not being successful, or being a loser, or whatnot. Truly The Newsette, it almost, as if it's a being that exists by itself, took me there, because every single day that I grew as a writer, as an entrepreneur, every single opportunity that came up, that built every layer of my confidence and truly saved me, if I'm being honest.”
I hope you’ll find the time to listen to her whole story.
It is a story of hope built on the determination of one remarkable woman to define herself and her life on her terms.
Here’s Daniella Pierson.
Charles: (02:40)
Daniella, welcome to Fearless. Thanks so much for coming on the show.
Daniella Pierson: (02:44)
Thank you so much for having me, I'm really excited.
Charles: (02:48)
When did creativity first show up in your life? When are you first conscious of creativity playing a role in your life?
Daniella Pierson: (02:55)
Hmm. (laughs) Wow. What a profound question. I'm used to the first like podcast question being like, "So where'd you grow up?" or like, you know, "What did you want to be?" I think I've always been very creative. I have an identical twin sister, and so one of my first memories is me and my mom and my sister just like painting outside with our fingers, and I always loved fashion and drawing and just anything that had to do with creating something, and that's actually, you know, what led me to my first entrepreneurship journey is, as a child, I would go beg my mother to go to Michaels and I would get a bunch of supplies to make earrings, and I had no idea how to make earrings, but, you know, I wanted to make earrings.
And so my mom said that she found me, and I actually remember this, in my room, when all the other kids were playing outside or whatever, and I was just sitting on my bed and I had a whole station, like a whole supply chain essentially of all of the parts of the earrings I was building, and my mom came in and was like, "What are you doing?" I was like, "Oh, I'm building my jewelry business.” And she was like, "What are you talking about?" And I was six years old, and the next day, I think she was like, "Okay," and had no idea what to say. The next day, she was mortified to realize, after she picked me up at school, that I had been trying to sell all of the earrings to the teachers and that I had actually made like 40 bucks.
And she was so embarrassed and like apologized so much. And the people were like, "Oh no, we love the earrings." And then from there, I started making bookmarks, I learned how to make these knot things, I just... I loved being able to create something and then sell it to someone, even though the first sales of my day were probably pity sales. (laughs)
Charles: (04:52)
Where do you think that entrepreneurial spirit came from? It sounds like it was always part of you.
Daniella Pierson: (04:56)
Yeah, it was pretty instinctive. My parents both grew up in very poor backgrounds, so pretty poverty level. My mother is from Colombia. I recently went back to Colombia for the first time and I saw her house, and it was actually really crazy to see, the fact that my mother grew up in a house that was as big as probably an average garage in America. And she was, very happy, and she worked her ass off to basically become an oral surgeon, and she...
You know, her family couldn't afford the tuition to the college in Colombia and so she had to win the only scholarship they had every single year, and then after she did win the scholarship every year, she also had other expenses that she had to pay for, like tools, etc. And so essentially my grandparents, who still live close to my family and are just amazing, from Colombia, they converted their incredibly tiny little living room into a dentist office, and my mother was doing basically discount dental work for all of the neighbors in order to pay her way through college, because she had been apprenticing since she was 11. So she knew how to do basically all of the things that the dentist were doing, but she was able to do it for less and offer that service and that's how she paid her way through.
And then she also told me that whenever she didn't have money, you know, for lunch or anything like that, she would make these lamps or she would make sandwiches and sell them at school and so it's very... And she told me that just a few years ago and so it's really funny how we both decided to sell things to people. She obviously needed the money much more than I did, at that time, and so she was just always a hustler.
My father is from Niagara Falls, New York, like very Italian and, you know, man's man, and he also grew up in a situation where he had a lot of brothers and sisters, his dad worked in a factory, probably made $20,000 a year in the best year and they were not middle class, and he knew from a young age, he always said, "I want to have a lot of money."
And he always told everybody in his family, "I'm going to be a millionaire." And everyone laughed at him, and so he had such a chip on his shoulder that he literally worked himself to the bone until that happened, and it took 35 years or whatever, from him literally working from washing cars, to selling cars, to being a manager, to then doing the finance of the cars, and then all of a sudden one day being able to finally buy a dealership, and then be a part of other dealerships, and so the entrepreneurial spirit was always around me. And I guess I just absorbed it, and I knew from a young age that I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny.
Charles: (07:54)
What does money mean to you now?
Daniella Pierson: (07:57)
Money means freedom for me. I grew up in a town and an environment where I saw money be such a controller over people and almost like, whoever made the money had puppet strings that he... they could control, and it was usually the man to control what the wife does and what the kids do and, you know, how the family acts and everything. And so, I always knew that I never wanted to depend on a man for money, and that I wanted to be independent. And so everything that I did with The Newsette was always leading up to me being financially independent, because I knew if I was able to pay for my own life, then I was virtually untouchable by anyone else, I had no... I didn't have to owe anyone anything, I didn't have to follow anybody's rules, I could live my own life.
And so now money means freedom to me. It also means independence. It also is redefining what a woman place is in a household or, as a 26-year-old woman, being able to make these big investments, and be in the midst of others who are maybe double my age and a different sex and be able to, you know, hold conversation with them. It really has equaled freedom, and unlocked a lot of confidence in me that I didn't have before, and allowed me to invest in other women, but also women of color. So, I mentioned I'm Latina, and so that's very important to me to invest in other women who didn't get the opportunity that I also didn't receive, and that's why it took me so long to get The Newsette up and running, because I never received an investment or anything like that.
Charles: (09:54)
You were 19 when you started The Newsette, right?
Daniella Pierson: (09:57)
Yes.
Charles: (09:58)
What made you decide to start that then?
Daniella Pierson: (10:02)
So when I got to college, I quickly realized that it was not my thing. I always... I was always more like my father. So my mother was obviously a genius, she had to get the scholarship every single year in Colombia. My twin sister got the genius gene, so she was always top of the class, she went to UPenn, an Ivy League school, and I hated school. I just... since I was little, I was just pulling teeth, my mom had to stay up with me until midnight doing flashcards, I just hated it, and I always thought it was because I was stupid. But I realized in high school it's because I did not care.
And recently, I was actually diagnosed with ADHD, which makes a lot of sense, and so I basically just shunned everything that had to do with authority and learning things that I knew I never was going to actually use in the real world.
So I just... I didn't buy into it, but then, all of a sudden, the start of junior year of high school, my sister was getting all of these incredible notes from these colleges, and I realized, "Oh my goodness, if I don't get my shit together in high school and turn my grades around, I'm going to be stuck in Jacksonville, Florida for the rest of my life."
And so that really lit a fire under my ass and basically the next day, I was like, "I need to figure out how to become a good student," and I realized that the way that I was able to do things was in sprints, so I was never somebody who could go home and do homework for three hours. I never could do that. However, if I had three free periods and lunch, you know, during the day, and I had a test that was, you know, five hours after I got school and I had two hours to study during those free periods, I could literally sit there and be a machine and just focus on reading exactly what I needed to know for the test, and then get an A+ on the test.
And so I realized what my working style was, and it was really adrenaline-filled. And to this day, a lot of the work I do is very adrenaline-filled and that's, I think, a huge part of why I've been successful, because I can really turn it on and then turn it off. And so I essentially just realized that I needed to do that in every aspect of my life.
I still never did any homework (laughs) when I went home, because every minute I was in school from 8:00 AM to 3:30 or 3:45, whatever it was, I was in school. I was reading, I was doing the assignments, I was paying attention, I was not socializing, I wasn't doing anything else. But then the second I got home, that was when I was like, "Okay, I'm free, I'm going to watch TV," whatever. But because I was able to do those sprints, I ended up being able to get an incredible GPA, junior year and senior year, and there were actually a few semesters where I got straight A pluses, like not even an A. And it's truly because I just found what worked for me.
And that was really empowering, because before that, I was called ‘the dumb twin,’ and people really, in my classroom would turn around and say, like, "I thought you were the dumb one?" or like, "I thought your sister was the smart one," or whatever. And it just goes to show that, if I wouldn't have found what worked for me, I could, to this day, still, feel like I'm incapable of anything. And I think the school system doesn't really do a great job at showcasing the different ways that you can be successful because, at least in my experience, in high school and college, etc., I was made to feel that if I was not a math genius or if I did not know how to name every single part of an atom or a cell or whatever, that I would fail. And that's just not the case, and I'm glad that I realized that before giving up on myself.
Charles: (14:04)
How did you overcome that label? A lot of people would've fallen under that label and just decided to be defined on that basis. How did you overcome that?
Daniella Pierson: (14:14)
I don't take any responsibility for overcoming that. It truly was The Newsette that did that for me, and The Newsette being my company, my first company. And so, not only was that my label, but that was also, you know, some... like being the stupid one, the loser, the one that was going to have to work at a fast food restaurant, whatever, that was just implanted in my mind every single day by people I cared about, as well. And as a young girl thinking, well, you know, that these people that you respect and you think know everything are saying that, then it must be true.
And so, there's a level of trauma there, but I just knew that wasn't it for me, like, I could... I had to do something with my life. I didn't want to just exist and not change the world in some way. And so when I realized that I hated college and I was basically just learning the same thing that I had learned in high school over again until I started my business classes junior year, I all of a sudden, was like, "Okay, if I'm definitely not going to get an internship or a job because of my shitty grades and because I have no interest in being an active participant of, you know, this college ecosystem, then I need to create the opportunity for myself."
And so I always loved magazines. I would read them cover to cover. My dream was to be an intern at a magazine, but I realized, not only did I not have the grades for it, but I had zero connections in the media world, and it seemed like every person that got an internship at the flashy magazines, their aunt knew someone, who knew someone else or whatever. And my parents, I don't even think they knew one person in New York. And so I thought, "If I can't get an internship or work at one of these magazines, what if I make one myself?"
And so, it was, I think, sophomore year, winter break, my sister and I both had come home and she was working on something that she was really passionate about for her classes at UPenn. And so I was basically just left alone, and I was so bored, and so I decided that I was going to make something of my own. And so I was thinking, you know, "What would I do? What would be really, you know... what would I love to do every single day? What would I feel like would be a gift to the world that I could create?" And I just remember the feeling that I would get reading magazines and how exciting it was. And so I thought, "What if I could take everything that I wanted to read, so the 50 different websites that I wanted to read every single day and curate it and condense it into a daily email newsletter that almost felt like a gift in people's inboxes?" And as soon as I thought about that idea, I literally just never stopped until even now, seven years later.
So that day, I came up with the name, I bought the domain, I realized that it needed to be a newsletter and not a website because I had no idea how to build a website, so I thought a newsletter, it would be easier. I somehow put together a splash landing page that looked so embarrassing, I found it, I mean, just so appalling. And I sent the first newsletter the next day to eight people because I posted it on Facebook and it was probably like, you know, five of my family members and three people who probably just wanted to see how shitty it was.
And it was, it was really bad and I... literally, every single day, I had no idea how to write, I wasn't a journalist, I had no idea how to credit people, I had no idea what I was allowed to use from the internet, what I wasn't allowed to use. But I just knew, every single day, that I was getting better and honing in my craft. And so by four months later, all of a sudden, I have a few hundred and subscribers because it was really, you know, the only thing out there that really, curated, you know, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, business. I kind of realized, okay, the one part of this that is just really inspiring to me and I think inspiring to the very few readers I had, was the female empowerment angle. And so the fact that I loved reading about women and their careers and what they grew up wanting to be, etc., so that's what I put in the newsletter.
I would reach out to 50 people a day and some... they started off being, you know, very local bloggers, but then I was able to get a celebrity hair stylist, and then from there, I was able to get somebody who worked at Michael Kors as the Social Media Director. And so I was finding all of these people that usually would not be interviewed, but that I and all of these readers found so interesting. And so the medley of the digest, I guess, was this mix between news that was relevant in all of these different spaces that the women I was targeting cared about. But then also a really inspiring interview by somebody that they, you know, maybe wanted to be one day, so the Marketing Director of this amazing PR firm, or, you know, the person who decides what color of the year it is at Pantone or whatever it is. And so I just kind of focused on getting as much of that content as possible. And I was a one-woman show, I like to say my original team was three people, me, myself and I—
Charles: (19:40)
(laughs)
Daniella Pierson: (19:41)
—I didn't hire anybody or have any means to hire anybody until about two and a half years later after I graduated. But I knew from that moment, every single day... from that moment, every single day, every weekday, not the weekend, I never missed one newsletter, even when I had 25 people reading. Because I knew every single day I was getting better, and if I let anyone down and I lost one reader, that was a failure to me. And so I just kept getting better and better and teaching myself. And I don't know what I was doing, what motivated me, I think it was really this sense of purpose and this sense of building something, that every single morning, I woke up at 5:30 AM, sit in my dorm or in an apartment and, you know, etc., as I was growing through college and just write the newsletter, and I was doing the same thing I did in high school, where I sat there for three or four hours straight, did not get up for anything except to get Fruity Pebbles, which is what I would eat while I did it, and I would complete it. And those four hours would go by as if it was two minutes, because it was so adrenaline-fueled. And every single day, you know, sending that out, and then seeing people reading it, and then building an ambassador program for people to share, so then all of a sudden before class, I was sending stickers and t-shirts, and all of these things in the mail place right next to where my classes were, and my classmates thought I was crazy.
And I pretended that The Newsette was actually this big company that I was interning for. And so I would reach out to people that I knew in class, or people I knew from high school, who had new friends who were in sororities, etc., so I would cold outreach, total stalker mode on Facebook and say, "Hey, I'm working for this really awesome media company, The Newsette, if you want to become an ambassador, all you have to do is refer 10 friends and this is something great you could put on your resume." And that was, what, almost 10 years ago, like... or probably six years, six or seven years ago and so at that point, ambassador program, those weren't a thing and so that is really how I got to probably like 14,000 or 15,000 subscribers by just having hundreds of ambassadors who not only fell in love with the product, but also wanted something to be able to put on their resume that would set them apart for internships, for jobs, etc.
And none of them had any idea that I was the founder and CEO and basically the buck stopped there. Because I knew, if they did, they wouldn't think it was as cool and that was obviously a huge confidence issue of myself but that's what I said earlier on, I take no responsibility for overcoming the label of being the dumb twin, or not being successful, or being a loser, or whatnot. Truly The Newsette, it almost, as if it's a being that exists by itself, took me there, because every single day that I grew as a writer, as an entrepreneur, every single opportunity that came up, that built every layer of my confidence and truly saved me, if I'm being honest.
Charles: (23:02)
And seven years later, have you missed a day?
Daniella Pierson: (23:05)
So I am lucky enough now, seven years later, that I do not write the newsletter (laughs) every single day. I actually still did up until probably three years ago, which was way too long. I had team members and everything, but I just, you know, I couldn't let it go. But I'm so glad I did because now I have an incredible team that writes it and makes it's so much better, and we're growing, you know, into this, not only just newsletter, but media brand and the empire and agency, and it's very surreal, but without any VC funding and trust me, I tried to get it a few years ago and I'm very glad that it all failed, I'm very, very lucky.
You know, the things that you think you want so badly and that you cry for sometimes are a blessing. But we closed 2021 with $40 million in sales and eight figures of profit and that has enabled me to essentially become a millionaire at 25 and now I'm 26, which I never in my wildest dreams thought would happen to me. No one in my family thought that would happen to me either, and because of that, I've also been able to give my mother, who was always my biggest supporter and never allowed me to think that I would be the loser that everybody else thought I was going to be, she owns a small percentage of my company, because she was the only person that ever helped me with anything, essentially. And now she's a millionaire as well, because of this company, independently. And that is the biggest gift I think I could have ever given her back, by.…
And it doesn't mean anything and she didn't ever do it for the money, but to be able to give my mom the freedom that she deserves because she believed in me, is... it just, you know... again, it's like, what does money mean to you? It means freedom and it means being able to choose your own destiny.
Charles: (25:09)
So when you look in the mirror today, what do you see?
Daniella Pierson: (25:12)
(laughs) Sorry, that noise probably is not going to translate well on the podcast. When I look in the mirror... God, it's funny, especially now because of this new company, and now that I am, I guess, much more publicized than I was before. So, you know, I was in Forbes 30 Under 30 and then people knew the company and I was respected as a business woman and now because I'm Selena Gomez and Mandy Teefey's partner, I have a lot more visibility in that world, and so I look at myself and I am proud of the woman that I've become.
I'm proud that even through surviving a lot of trauma, I am here today and I didn't succumb to that because there were very... there are many times where it could have been the end and there are people in my life that truly saved me and The Newsette saved me, and therapy saved me. And so I kind of see a survivor in a way, emotionally, physically. And I also see a lot of things I can improve on. So, I think, whenever I walk through my apartment in Manhattan, my dream apartment in Manhattan, SoHo, I truly, sometimes I think... I wake up and I'm like, "Oh, I'm married to a rich guy."
Because that's literally the first thing that's in my mind, and I have to realize, "Wait, I built this." And it wasn't just me, I had help from my incredible team, like people on my team like Sean and Grace and Caroline and everybody else that has, you know, been able to build this with me, and my mother and my family support. But it is very odd, and I still can't believe when I walk into a store, that I can get whatever I want, that I don't need to ask my (laughs) parents, you know, to buy it for me. But I look at my apartment, I look at my life, I look at my bank account, I still feel like a total imposter and so...
And then sometimes I feel completely depressed, and even when everything is going right, I feel like, "What if I'm not the right person to do this?" So, seven years later, doing all the things that are on my resume that I literally would never have believed, I would've laughed in your face if you told me I did any of this stuff 10 years ago, because I literally would've said, "I'm not capable." And so truly it's like, (laughs) I had no skills, no passions, no anything and somehow, I was able to just do it. I still look in the mirror and think of myself as maybe I just got lucky. That was a very, you know, (laughs) a very messy answer but truthfully, I just said what came to my mind.
Charles: (28:08)
No, I very much appreciate that. If you were going to sit down with your 19-year-old self today, what would you tell her?
Daniella Pierson: (28:23)
I think I would say, "Even when it feels like it's the end or it feels like you've hit rock bottom, it never is." And I would say that to anybody who is struggling with depression or any sort of mental illness.
So I told you about my new company before we started recording, but mental health has been something that has plagued my life, my entire life, since I was six years old. It started with OCD and then I guess I also had ADHD, which I just recently got diagnosed with. I had depression, you know, I've... my mind has been my biggest weapon, but also my biggest, I guess, enemy. And so I think at 19 and... I would... and even at 16, I would want to tell myself, "You have no idea what you are able to grow into. What the people are saying around you, whether they're teachers or people you trust and love, or your parents or whatever it is, no matter what they say, they have zero power over labeling you because you can really turn into anything you want to be."
And I really proved that because, my God, I was the last person anyone in my high school, my college classes, my family would think that would ever be successful. So I think I would want to say, "Keep holding on and, and don't succumb to the sadness and the anxiety and the bad feelings, because it will always get better. And don't wait for someone to make it better, make it better on your own, even if you have no resources, no knowledge, no anything. You have the power to completely change your life."
Charles: (30:16)
The new company you've mentioned a couple times is Wondermind, right? Can you just give us a—
Daniella Pierson: (30:21)
Yes.
Charles: (30:21)
—give us a little bit of insight into why you decided to build that and why you decided to work with the partners that you've chosen?
Daniella Pierson: (30:29)
Yeah, so The Newsette I started when I was 19, I'm the only founder, I'm the only CEO, the only shareholders are myself, and my mom has a small portion of it, and so I was basically a solo founder. I feel like now I have such an incredible executive team that they really feel like co-founders to me, but it was a really hard journey for the first five years, being all alone and suffering through it all.
And so, the way that I was led to Wondermind is, we were lucky enough to interview Selena Gomez and Mandy Teefey, who are now my co-founders and my business partners. We were lucky enough to interview them for The Newsette and the interview was going to be about mental health. So instead of having one of my editors do it, I actually asked, you know, "Can I do the interview?" And it was during the pandemic, it was about a year and a half ago, and I think my editorial team was like, "Okay, but like why, are you like some secret Selena fan?", whatever, and I just kind of was like, "I just want to do it."
And so maybe I thought I was having like a midlife crisis and I wanted to write the newsletter again, I don't know. But I ended up getting on the Zoom with them, and it was all about mental health, and I ended up just realizing that they were being so raw and real and open with me about their own mental health journeys and struggles, and they both have mental health disorders, and how tough it was. And they were talking to each other as mother and daughter, but also as two business women.
So a lot of people don't know that they’re mother and daughter, because Mandy is such an accomplished producer and Selena is obviously a singer, actress, entrepreneur, etc. But they were talking to each other and saying things that they had never even said to each other in front of me about mental health. And at that moment, for some reason, I felt so vulnerable and open and able to tell them, they were like the fourth and fifth people I ever told in my entire life, that I had been struggling with OCD since I was six years old. And before that moment, and I'm not saying this to be dramatic or whatever, I literally would have rather died than anyone know that I had OCD. It was the most embarrassing thing I could ever think of.
No one knew except for my family members, if they even believed that I had that, and any help that I received. And it was such a shameful thing that I just carried around, because not only was I this young 20-something female entrepreneur... Latinx entrepreneur, like let's layer crazy on it and see who's going to support her and give her money to start a business, whatever. And so, I felt at that moment, maybe because I had reached a level of success, that I could actually be open and say that. And after talking to them and hearing just how powerful and how just warm and empowering they were about it, we just kept in touch and we were like, it's so ridiculous that the reason why so many people... there's crazy statistics, the majority of Americans don't get help because of the stigma of mental health. And not just people who have mental health disorders, people who have feelings, so everyone, you know. Not everyone who sees a therapist has something wrong with their mental health. And so we thought, "How can we utilize our superpowers, what we've built up until this point, to help people?"
And so I feel like The Newsette is my first baby, it was my first love, it literally turned me into the woman I am today. And the core mission of it, even the agency piece now, where we work with incredible brands like Amazon, the mission has always been to empower people, first women, and then with the agency, to empower diverse voices and diverse storytelling, etc. But my second love has now become basically changing the way that the world thinks about mental health. And so I... where I literally, a year and a half ago, again, would've rather died than told anybody I had OCD, all of a sudden, in the last six months, through all of the business stuff that we've done, I've literally looked into the camera in Zoom and told the most important people in the world, the biggest CEOs, the biggest everything, celebrities, everything, and told them I have OCD, and I feel nothing now. And it's truly because it just normalizing it.
And so what we're building with Wondermind is not just a company where we are putting positive quotes on sweatshirts or whatnot, because that doesn't help people. Our mission is to democratize and de-stigmatize mental health and introduce this concept of mental fitness. So just like you work on your body in the gym or you eat right, whatever, you should also be working on your mind. And so the ecosystem that we've built to really create this world in which you can work on your mind, whether you have a mental illness, whether you just have feelings, whether you just want to work on your mental fitness, again, is a three-part ecosystem.
So the first vertical is media. So essentially, you know, millions of people are searching, "What is depression? Why do I feel this way?" etc. Yet the only credible source they can find online is, Psychology Today, which is crazy to me because I don't know about you, but I haven't been searching Psychology Today for an article ever, and it almost feels like you need a PhD to even log onto that website. And so what we wanted to do with the content arm was have this incredible, inclusive voice, expert-backed, so we have this incredible committee of diverse professionals in the space, so therapists, social workers, psychiatrists, etc. So all of the content that we are, you know, putting out into the world via our first drop, the newsletter, is vetted from professionals. But we also wanted to provide a space where the biggest names in the world, as someone like a Selena Gomez, but also your favorite CEO, etc., could be finally be open about mental health without worrying about it being sensationalized because they talked about it on this news channel and all of a sudden it's clickbait, or whatnot. And so to really showcase the fact that the people you admire also feel, you know, sad and confused and lonely and scared and depressed and all of these different things. And so that's really what we're trying to do with the media, mixing entertainment with mental health, and creating a regimen, a content ecosystem around mental fitness. So that's the first part.
The second part is production. So, I'm not sure if you ever watched the show 13 Reasons Why, but that show on Netflix, which is still one of their top shows to this day years later, was actually produced by Mandy and Selena. Mandy found the book about a decade ago. And when it came out, it was incredibly controversial, but the one thing that everybody could agree on is that the suicide hotlines went up by this crazy percentage, and because the show had to do with depression, ultimately suicide. And it wasn't because more people wanted to commit suicide, it was because all of a sudden, this taboo topic, this word ‘suicide,’ you didn't even want to say out loud, was in millions of people's homes across the country, across the world, and people finally felt empowered enough to seek help. And so that's really what the entertainment industry can do and that show has, for sure, upgraded the conversation by decades because of how many people consumed it and saw it.
And they weren't watching it to get a lesson on, you know, this is what bullying can lead to, etc. They're watching it because it was a good show, but they came out of it thinking, "Wow, there are people suffering from all of these depression and suicidal thoughts," etc., and being more mindful about that, so that's the production arm. And then finally a product arm.
So, we're really excited to be the first company in the world to not only think about, how does mental health translate into physical product, but we're working with the best minds in psychiatry to take behavioral practices and turn them into tangible physical products for the masses. And so essentially it's the equivalent of, if you are stressed out, having somebody take five deep breaths, but packaging that into a product where the masses can actually access it.
So it's all about democratizing and de-stigmatizing. So via the content, via the entertainment, via the product, everything, all of the content is completely free. The product is going to be at a very affordable price level. So this is all about everybody being able to join this ecosystem, but then also de-stigmatizing it. So making it okay and almost cool to talk about your mental health, instead of it being something that you think is your worst attribute.
Charles: (39:35)
I'm conscious that you made the transition from very much the solo single entrepreneur, doing it yourself, to now having a team that you clearly trust. How do you lead today?
Daniella Pierson: (39:47)
Truly, I think it's… I lead with kindness. I always say that because I've seen what it looks like not to lead with kindness and I have never wanted to ever be in a toxic work environment. When I first started hiring people and they were 10 years older than me, I was actually bullied at my own company. And so I realized I never want anyone to ever feel this way. We lead with integrity, we lead with kindness, and so I really truly believe, and have heard from the people that work with me, that they are kind of shocked that we can get so much shit done without having a toxic work environment, without cattiness and mean comments, etc.
We literally remove people from our team, no matter how good they are, if they are bringing a toxic culture. Because truly, why shouldn't we be, you know, celebrating each other and coming to work every single day with a smile and excited, but of course still giving feedback and still being honest and still pushing people? But there's a way to do it where it feels like you're a coach, and you're not somebody's bully. And so I think I really try to lead my teams both at the Newsette and Wondermind as almost a sports coach and that instead of a family, we're a team, like a soccer team or something.
And so it definitely has taken me a long time. I was a horrible leader when I started, I had no idea what I was doing. I was 20 some... like early 20s, I made lots of mistakes. But overall now, at The Newsette, we're going to hit 30 soon... sorry, I think we've already surpassed 30, we're going to be 50 by the end of the year. For Wondermind it’s probably going to be similar so we're probably going to have about 100 people that I... that are under me. And every single time I am in any interview, especially with somebody who is going to lead a vertical and lead people, I always say the most important thing to me, when they ask me, "What does success look like?" It's leading with kindness and integrity and being thoughtful and being human first, and pushing people. But not to their limit and not to where they feel like they are incapable, and that's probably the trauma of me being labeled all of those things I was before. So I like to be a leader who empowers my team.
I'm not a micromanager. I like to give my team the tools they need to succeed. I see myself as a resource, not as their boss. So, you know, on our one-on-ones, "What can I be doing? What can I unlock in the company to help you achieve the goals that you need to achieve?" But also holding people accountable and knowing when you have to make the hard decisions. So that would be my very lengthy answer, but I choose to lead with kindness.
Charles: (42:47)
And last question for you, what are you afraid of?
Daniella Pierson: (42:51)
I'm afraid of failure, to be totally honest with you. I've reached... you know, at 26, I have reached a level I never, in my wildest dreams, could have ever, ever thought. You know, people work until they're 75, and 99% of the world don't get to have what I have now. I think losing everything and failing and all of a sudden not being in control of my own destiny is my biggest failure, and that's why I work so hard every single day, because I want to protect my freedom. And I also want to protect the freedom of others. So I want to make sure that our company is growing and thriving so that every single person, whether they're a woman or a man on our team, can feel like they have a secure position and that they are, you know, also providing for their own families, etc. And so I think the fear of failure, linking to the fear of myself not being free anymore, and then other people not being free, is probably the thing that drives me the most.
But it's okay to fail in little ways every day. I probably fail 10 times a day. You can never... even when you are so successful and you've checked off everything on your dream list and everything looks like it's going great, you're always disappointing someone. And so I don't want it to sound like failure is not a daily part of my routine because it definitely is, and as an entrepreneur, you feel like you're being punched in the face every five minutes, and you have to be okay with that and you have to build up the stamina to withstand that. But I think failing as a whole, failing my team is probably my biggest worry.
Charles: (44:42)
I want to thank you so much for coming on the show today. I am just so struck by the story, by the determination, by the resilience, by the intelligence, by the generosity and the care and the humanity that you've demonstrated already. And you've clearly already made a difference—
Daniella Pierson: (45:01)
(laughs)
Charles: (45:01)
—and I'm certain you're going to make a really big difference going forward. I really am grateful—
Daniella Pierson: (45:05)
Thank you. (laughs)
Charles: (45:06)
—to you for sharing today, this has just been extraordinary. I will remember this conversation for a long time.
Daniella Pierson: (45:10)
Wow, thank you so much. You know, oftentimes I feel like for these kind of interviews, especially with the caliber of people that you've interviewed and the person who introduced us, I feel so unqualified to be speaking to someone like you and be giving any advice at all. So I hope that my honesty has helped your listeners. But I truly am, you know, the situation where you look around and you're like, "Why am I here?" I'm really grateful that you wanted me on your podcast and I'm a big fan of yours, so thank you so much. (laughs)
Charles: (45:41)
I appreciate that a lot. Thank you, Daniella.
Daniella Pierson: (45:44)
Thank you.
—————
Let us know if there are other guests you’d like to hear from, and areas you’d like to know more about or questions you have.
And don’t forget to share Fearless with your friends and colleagues.
If you’d like more, go to fearlesscreativeleadership.com where you’ll find the audio and the transcripts of every episode.
If you’d like to know more about our leadership practice, go to thelookinglass.com.
Fearless is produced by Podfly. Frances Harlow is the show’s Executive Producer. Josh Suhy is our Producer and editor. Sarah Pardoe is the Media Director for Fearless.
Thanks for listening.
