Female Founders: Hanna Olivas of She Rises Studios On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Doug Noll
You really have to step out of your comfort zone no matter how scary it is. Number two, we need a mentor or accountability coach. You can always educate yourself or ask for help. All of us have to really take the first step. Too many of us focus on the how and not the why. If we are investing in other women, we have to have the faith and the confidence in who we are investing in. Finally, do your due diligence and really understand what it is that you’re doing.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Hanna Olivas.
In July of 2020, She Rises Studios was BORN. Hanna Olivas and Adriana Luna founded She Rises Studios in the middle of the global pandemic, as they saw a need to help women across the globe. She Rises Studios is the NEXT Global Women’s Network of Empowered Women Leaders. Our mission at She Rises Studios is to inspire, empower, and educate all women who are facing the most impossible situations, and teach them how to navigate through their own personal journeys with hope, perseverance, strength, education, and unstoppable fearlessness. We are educating and celebrating their growth. We believe the future is female and that we are better and stronger together.
Author, Speaker, and Founder. Hanna Olivas was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has paved her way to becoming one of the most influential women of 2021.
Hanna is the co-founder of She Rises Studios and the founder of the Brave & Beautiful Blood Cancer Foundation. Her journey started in 2017 when she was first diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. Now more than ever her focus is to empower other women to become leaders because The Future is Female.
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?
I originally had a nonprofit but during the Pandemic I saw a lot of businesses having to close up shop because of the financial impact. I really wanted to give women financial independence and find a way to provide jobs. The idea for She Rises Studios probably came after my own experience with another publishing company. I wrote an anthology with another woman and publisher and had a really bad experience witnessing a lot of negativity and competition between women. I then told my daughter, Adrianna, that we should write a book about what an Unstoppable Woman looks like and focus on collaboration over competition.
The book kind of started a movement. Then the Podcast was born and ended up doing really well, as did the book, so we decided to create the platform. We didn’t have any capital whatsoever to start She Rises and at the time we both worked full time running the Nonprofit. We had a lot of doubters and nay-sayers and a lot of unsupportive women, but I always said we must be doing something right because the more we spoke out, the more opportunities came. Our doubters were our fuel in us continuing to push this dream.
We will be 3 years old in September. We have done 14 books including Mom Magic, Shattering the Stigma of Single Motherhood, Me Too But Never Again, and Becoming an Unstoppable Woman. We have 6 solo projects currently and we have Phoenix TV that launches in March. She Rises was started on a wimb with a prayer and it’s amazing to see how much its grown.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
One interesting story is that there were thousands of women who were so supportive, but we also met a lot of women who were competitive. The growth of the company connected us with the positive and disconnected us with the negative. The positive side was that they divvied themselves out and led us to more extraordinary women that appreciated the value. We really emphasize collaboration over competition and empowerment for women.
The second part is working and being partnered with my daughter in this business after being estranged for most of her life. It has been the most extraordinary part of my story. I am in love with the team that we built together. The She Rises team is so quirky and we fit together so well. It doesn’t feel like work, it’s so meaningful.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
We were in the Podcast studio doing one of our very first sessions and as Adrianna was trying to connect the Podcast machine, I push the wrong button and a European voice comes on. I knock down the microphone and things are falling everywhere, and this was the first podcast we tried to tape! We have so many hilarious moments like this and I think the best part about it is we were never experts! We aren’t expert writers or podcasters but we were called to do this.
Another funny story was when we went to NYC and received all-access press passes to the Fast Company Innovation Festival where we got to meet Jamie Lee Curtis, Jennifer Garner, among many. I convinced Adrianna to fly out and join me and she came to NYC with sandals! An impromptu shopping trip to New Jersey and she finds the most magical shoes, even though they were simple black boots. Shopping with my daughter is near impossible and she took forever to find her perfect pair. But it’s a memory I’ll never forget and another bonus of working with my daughter.
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?
Adrianna believed in me and us. My second person would be a publisher I worked with first because even though I had a negative experience, it showed me how I can make a publishing company more successful for authors. She was a publisher who really did help us see and understand the publishing company.
Another person who has inspired and pushed me through would be Liz Landeen. Liz is a strategist in Las Vegas in a shared co-op space where I had my nonprofit. When I first told her what I did, she was interested in working together. I ended up hiring her as my strategist and walked into her office with 20 notebooks of ideas. She coached me and motivated me to really push this platform. She was in my very first book, Becoming an Unstoppable Woman which was released in September 2021.
Finally, Nicole Curtis. She was a co-author in one of our books and ended up staying with me in Vegas and we ended up having a blast. We started as strangers, left as friends, and now she is my Executive Assistant.
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?
I would say the first thing that’s holding back is fear. Fear of not being seen as equal, fear of inadequacy, fear of imposter syndrome and not being taken seriously.
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?
Number one, you really have to step out of your comfort zone no matter how scary it is. Number two, we need a mentor or accountability coach. You can always educate yourself or ask for help. All of us have to really take the first step. Too many of us focus on the how and not the why. If we are investing in other women, we have to have the faith and the confidence in who we are investing in. Finally, do your due diligence and really understand what it is that you’re doing.
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?
Number one, it’s long overdue. I say that with the utmost respect to men. It’s long overdue and we should see women showing up in all different lanes: politics, business, science. It just needs to happen. Number two, women have proven time and time again statistically that when we open businesses, our businesses are successful, and we create jobs and boost the economy. If more women realized their potential, the opportunities are endless. Adrianna and I had no idea what we were doing and now we have 19 employees that we created jobs for and boosted the economy. If more women did that, we would see such a shift.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
We are just as strong mentally as a man is physically, if not stronger. Women have more tenacity and more perseverance. Being emotional is a strength and should not be considered a weakness. We’re more consistent. We’re really good at problem solving. We’re great in connection and networking. We’re excellent multi-taskers and for those of us that are moms it shows that we can multi-task and wear many hats.
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?
Not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. Some people really are happy with employment. Entrepreneurship is both a blessing and a curse: you’re always in create mode. But what you create by being a Founder, the possibilities are endless. There are women who are stronger truly working with a company, not owning a company.
I don’t believe that every woman can be a Founder because unfortunately many people throw the towel in just before it gets good. You have to weather the storm to get to the rainbow. Some people need immediate gratification and that’s not something you get being an entrepreneur. Your business becomes a part of what you eat, breathe, and live.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
1 . That I would lose sleep.
2 . That I was going to be somewhat of a therapist in business. When you lead by example, people want to pick your brain and ask HOW.
3 . Always have a bag packed to be able to go somewhere last minute. Always have that luggage packed in case you have to pick up and go.
4 . I wish someone told me that it’s progress over perfection. I was such a perfectionist, but mistakes are where you learn the most from.
5 . Once you open a business, it’s like your second marriage. I wish someone told me to have an accountability partner and coach.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
We created this platform open to all women who want to utilize it. If they want to network, we have the community. If they want to author, we have the publishing company. If they want to be seen and heard, we have the Podcast. We’ve grown into 16 countries and have learned how to do business with women in different cultures. One of the greatest things we have done is give the gift of connection and communication. We try to eliminate competition and make it collaborative. We teach women to be independent and I really try to give back to my community.
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.
I don’t want to see women struggle anymore in the sense of finance. I really want to educate women to become financially fit and I don’t want to see the single mom struggling paycheck to paycheck, so I want to change that narrative. I really want to teach women to understand their worldliness and that their past doesn’t define them. Women are struggling with anxiety, depression, etc. and I want to get to the root of that. I also really want to help women who do want to be business owners.
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 would want to have lunch with the woman who would trust me to help her step out and do what she wants to do. If there is one woman out there who really wants more for herself, I want to have lunch with her and show her that she can get it.
Michelle Obama. I want to know how she ticks. She has broken some major barriers and none of them have anything to do with her husband.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
About 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.