Female Founders: Hallie Seltzer of Pinpoint Productions On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Doug Noll

Celebrate the wins. Even the small ones. It takes a lot to be in business and when you’re hustling so hard sometimes you don’t allow yourself to see how far you and your team have come.

As a part of our series about Women Founders, we had the pleasure of interviewing Hallie Seltzer.

With nearly 20 years of experience in live events, Hallie Seltzer, is an expert in end-to-end production, campaign strategy, and creative direction. She is the Founder and Principal of Pinpoint Productions, a live events agency that serves as strategic partners to some of the world’s most impactful brands. Pinpoint Productions produce events that make brands look good by doing good.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Really glad to participate, thank you for having me! My love for live events started at a really young age. My family always had a passion for theater. My dad started out as a lighting designer and my mom was a stage manager/director — of course they both tried their hands at acting before that. My sister and I started putting on “shows” when we were little which encouraged my involvement in theater — running performances and marveling at the transportive quality of staging and music.

When I went to college in Washington D.C., I discovered another love. Politics. I joined my first protests, became active in community groups and was moved to try and make the world a better place.

When I finished college, I felt a bit lost. I had so many passions — music, politics, activism, theater — I wasn’t sure where I wanted to be. So I tried many different career paths, including PR, Music Tour Manager, Creative Strategist. And what I found was the realization that the thing I loved most of all was bringing meaning to live events. For me, this meant working with brands who wanted to make an impact and help bring their ideas to life. And I haven’t looked back!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

I’m not sure if this is the most interesting but something that really stands out to me is a new trend I’ve seen when hiring people. I’ve been surprised that salary is no longer the deciding factor for whether or not someone accepts a job. It is really about so much more, especially in the event industry. The people I’m interviewing want to feel like they are making a difference. They want to work for a company that has a commitment to health and well-being, including generous PTO and permanent flexibility to work from anywhere. When I was starting out in the industry it never occurred to me to think about my well-being — which is why so many of us burned out constantly. The only real consideration for taking a new job was increasing your salary. I’m really encouraged by this shift and it encourages me to be thoughtful and intentional about the culture we’re building at Pinpoint Productions.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?

Oh my goodness, so many mistakes are funny. But, at the earliest part of my career, I would say “yes!” to everything. I always thought the more experience we had as a company, the better. Enter, the ask to put on the first three games of a brand new Arena Football team. Did we know anything about arena football? No. Did we understand what it took to broadcast a football game on MSG? No. While none of this was necessarily a “mistake,” we tried to save money for this client by making regulation field goals. We went to Home Depot, grabbed PVC pipe, googled field goal specs and thought that we could just do it.

Hours later, our field goals were crooked, almost causing the game to be delayed. In the end, they were cleared and the game proceeded. But I definitely aged a few years in the process.

Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

This taught me that I needed to focus on the business and that I don’t have to say “yes” to everything. You don’t have to be everything to everyone. Finding your corner of an industry and where you fit is key. And it conditioned me to stay (a little more) in my lane.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My dad, Gary Seltzer, worked his entire career in the industrial event industry. He started as a lighting designer, then eventually became a producer, then he and his business colleague formed their own company. I was a kid when he went out on his own. In addition to him hiring me while I was freelancing to work with some of his newer tech clients, his entrepreneurial spirit was infectious. And, when I came to him, a thirty year old, wanting to stop freelancing and go out on my own, he was nothing but supportive. He still advises me to this day.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

Despite progress, I think deeply ingrained gender biases and stereotypes affect women and limit their opportunities. Additionally, the bulk of VC funding still goes to men — only 2.1% of VC funding went to women in 2023. And because of both of these factors, we still lack representation at the top. Many women don’t see other women in top leadership positions. Which means there’s less mentorship and encouragement as they make their way up. That has certainly been something I’ve felt starting and growing my business in a very male-dominated industry. On top of that, women are often the executives of their homes and are juggling way more than their male counterparts, and many work environments don’t allow for flexible schedules.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

There are so many that come to mind, but a few that come to mind:

1. Access to funding specifically earmarked for women. I’m thrilled to see funds emerge dedicated to funding women, Female Founders Fund, for example, and hope to see a lot more of this in the future.

2. Access to training and education on starting a business that focuses on the unique challenges of women in business.

3. Expanding opportunities for mentorship and networking. I recently joined the Female Founder Collective whose aim is just this, to provide capital and learning opportunities to propel women forward in their careers.

4. Fostering a sense of adventure, ambition, and risk-taking in young girls. Show them role models and examples of female entrepreneurs like Oprah, Shonda Rhimes, Melinda Gates, just to name a few.

5. Build a social infrastructure that supports working women. This could include tax incentives for women entrepreneurs, paid family leave, care-giving support, and flexible work environments — as long as the work gets done, why does it matter when it gets done?

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

Oh my goodness, why shouldn’t we? Women are adaptable, resilient, and are known for having a strong sense of empathy and emotional intelligence. The women I work with have superior (in my opinion) communication skills and tend to prioritize team building and collaboration which makes for more diverse perspectives. These are just a few reasons in my experience while also acknowledging that women aren’t a monolith. Women should be founders because they can and want to be.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

I think a lot of people believe that you need to be a genius, or need to have invented something entirely new to be a founder. And that just isn’t true. You just have to find your corner of an industry, have a desire to build something better and go for it! Also, I think a lot of people think that you need to have a lot of money to start a company, when I started my company I was also bartending on the side.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

I don’t want to qualify who could be a founder. I think anyone can be a founder as long as they are really ready to hustle. To be a founder means you have to wear so many hats — lead generator, therapist, social media manager, bookkeeper, cheerleader — the list goes on. It takes a ton of energy. For the first few years, or however long it takes to get off the ground, one should also be prepared for very little sleep.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Hire an accountant. I know this is such a tactical start but I’ve seen countless businesses fail because they don’t prioritize operations. You can even hire someone on a part time basis. But trust that they are critical to helping your business be compliant and be able to grow. Just because you have a great idea for a company doesn’t mean you also have to be the finance manager. Outsource to the experts.

2. Not every employee needs to be as committed as you are. When I first started I found myself bothered when employees didn’t feel my mission the way I did. I lived, breathed, ate, and dreamed Pinpoint Productions. As a founder, that makes sense. But that isn’t something your employees are choosing for themselves. I learned that you do not need to be all-in in order to be a good employee.

3. With that in mind, put boundaries in place. Just because we have a device where we are reachable 24-hours a day doesn’t mean you should answer. In the beginning, I responded to clients at all hours. I didn’t want to miss a call. But taking that call led to more calls at all hours, emails in the middle of the night, I was “always on” and that can’t last forever, Now, with boundaries, clients know that I am off the clock at 7:00 PM, and if you need something after that, I’ll get to in the morning.

4. Force yourself to take vacations. It may be counterintuitive especially when you’re building your business and feel like there are never enough hours in a day. But travel and vacations inspire. They also give you a chance to rest and reset. As a founder, you’re in it for the long-haul so take breaks. Take vacation. And believe me, your team will thank you. No one wants a cranky, burnt out boss.

5. Celebrate the wins. Even the small ones. It takes a lot to be in business and when you’re hustling so hard sometimes you don’t allow yourself to see how far you and your team have come.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I’m grateful to all of our clients for so many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that our growing success and continued work with larger brands and organizations allow us to use a percentage of our time to support organizations pro-bono. For example, last year we worked with the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to plan a full day of festivities celebrating the end of their “Grow Share Thrive” campaign.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

As I shared earlier, I got my start in Washington D.C. and one of my passions is politics. For that reason, I’m incredibly committed to campaign finance reform. If you aren’t familiar with this concept, candidates from all parties are given the same budget and can only use a percentage of their personal wealth. Super PACS are eliminated as are the bulk of advertisements. This kind of reform will allow candidates to run who are in it for the right reasons. As a result, we’ll have significantly less corporate interest involved in our lives and our country will be in far better shape because our elected officials can focus on governing and not fundraising.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I definitely would want to take either Issa Rae or Mindy Kaling out to lunch. Both women are immensely creative, bet on themselves and also are showrunners, which makes them the ringleader of an incredibly challenging circus.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

bout the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.