How to keep going (when the going gets tough)
SAYge Real Founders offers weekly real stories, support and conversation around the rollercoaster journey that female founders and business owners navigate.
Meet Demetra Mallios & Joy Hoover
You are in for a treat this week. I am so happy to introduce you to two incredible female founders that have been an inspiration to me. They have both channeled personal pain into groundbreaking innovation, forging mission-driven companies with purpose at their core. Although their companies are well on their way to success with funding and contracts (and lots of buzz), make no mistake - these two ladies are currently on the rollercoaster 🎢. They share their journeys with you along with advice for how to withstand the dizzying ups and downs without wanting to flag the operator and yell “I want off!”.
Watch or listen 🎧 to their stories and they would love to connect if you want to dive deeper - just click the message links below their stories. Scroll down for insights and resources on staying grounded on the rollercoaster ride!
🎙️Listen to the podcast
Demetra Mallios, the CEO and founder of Puberry, shares her journey of creating an interactive and gamified EdTech puberty platform. Inspired by the lack of comprehensive health education and the stigma surrounding puberty, Demetra aims to provide a holistic solution for youth, parents, and teachers by offering medically verified health education. She discusses the challenges of getting an early team, overcoming stigma, raising funding and navigating the hard journey of starting something from nothing. Sign-up for 1-month free of Puberry. Learn more about Puberry here
📧 Connect with Demetra
🎙️Listen to the podcast
Joy Hoover shares her journey as an inventor and entrepreneur dedicated to women's safety. She dives into her poignant personal experiences and how they shaped her mission to empower women through Esoes Cosmetics. Joy emphasizes the importance of sharing stories, the need for community support and education. She also describes the “Discipline of Hope”, an outlook she learned that helps her when the urge to quit feels overwhelming. Learn more about Esoes here
📧 Connect with Joy
🚩Spoiler alert: Things are going to get hard.
Whether you have an established business or are a founder just starting out, here’s a newsflash: Things are gonna get hard sometime soon. I know, I know this is actually yesterday’s news. So the question is - what do you do to keep the ship (you) afloat in those rough waters? Joy and Demetra share advice on this topic that was a mix of mind shift and body shift.
Regarding mindset, Joy recommends giving yourself a “quitting day” and emphasizes the importance of trying to maintain a perspective focused on greater purpose being greater than your pain at that moment. Take a listen.
“I call it the Discipline of Hope. You will not feel hopeful a lot of days. Not in building something, not in healing from something, not even in parenting or other things that you face. But there are those glimmers of hope that you will find. The discipline of hope is believing that the glimmer is around the corner, is holding on on the hard days, going ‘I'm just gonna straight up survive today’. I'm gonna get through the day and get to my bed to where I can go to sleep and wake up and try again tomorrow.”
“But if your purpose is bigger than your pain and your purpose is bigger than any obstacle, if your why means more to you than anything that could come in the way, right, and you will have a million hurdles coming in from you….But stepping into that purpose and pain, if it helps one person, if it saves one life, if it creates a safer world for my daughters. Your why, put it in front of you.”
Shifting mind and body
Joy pointed out a great way to shift your mindset, brilliant actually. When it comes to navigating the ups and downs, there is another key theme that has emerged from many of the founders I interviewed. Shift out of your chair. Get outside. Go for a walk. Turn off your phone (gasp). So many founders said the ability to carve out time for themselves, to be in touch with their surroundings in the present moment and dedicating self-care time each day has given them the power to stay steady.
Demetra notes key decisions that have helped her including getting a dog, consistent exercise and taking time to turn off her phone and sit by the water. She says that staying active pays dividends in helping her feel mentally unburdened, clearer and more focused.
“I try to maintain, as much as possible (because I have not been consistent either although I played sports all my life).. anything in terms of moving your body. There’s a huge difference between a Demetra who has worked out consistently-ish for a month versus when you see me when I haven’t done any of that.”
She also shared that listening to certain podcasts—ours included, yay!—featuring stories from other founders and their journeys gives her a sense of connection and reassurance. Hearing others navigate similar challenges makes her think, "Okay, we’ve faced similar tough spots," lending confidence that she and her team can overcome them too.
Demetra also shares Joy’s sentiment (along with many of our founders interviewed) on keeping focused on what you're doing to stomach the continuous ups and downs.
“As long as you keep powering through and it’s something you genuinely feel will bring value bigger than yourself, you’ll be able to deliver it.”
Thank you Joy and Demetra for sharing your authentic journeys! Remember these incredible founders have opened their doors to you so feel free to reach out through the message links in their story bios. Check out some resources below to help you stay steady on the rollercoaster.
Free resources to help navigate the rollercoaster!
🗓️ Sign up for SAYge Real Founders virtual event “Connection & Staying Grounded.” (Free) Tuesday December 2nd 12-1p EST