One the Come Up

Anya Schoolman began her career in the environmental movement in the mid-1980s, working with nonprofit organizations in both Latin America and the United States. After earning a master's degree in international relations and environmental policy from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, she spent nearly a decade in senior federal policy positions, including at the U.S. Department of the Interior. She subsequently worked with philanthropic foundations, advising on grantmaking, environmental strategy, advocacy, and program development. In 2007, following a conversation with her son about installing solar panels, she founded the Mt. Pleasant Solar Cooperative in Washington, D.C., organizing 50 neighbors to pursue affordable residential solar installations. The initiative expanded into a network of community cooperatives, leading her to establish the Community Power Network and eventually Solar United Neighbors, a national nonprofit that helps communities adopt solar energy and advocate for renewable energy policies.
She earned her bachelor's degree in history from Barnard College (1985) before pursuing graduate studies at Columbia.
In April 2014, she was named a White House Champion of Change for Solar Deployment in recognition of her work expanding access to solar energy.

For today's episode, I was joined by Alexandra Cavoulacos. A Paris native, Cavoulacos crossed the Atlantic to study at Yale, where she initially pursued molecular, cellular, and developmental biology before switching to political science. She worked at McKinsey for three years before leaving to cofound The Muse in 2011. We discussed her transition from consulting to entrepreneurship, how The Muse helps job seekers navigate the unwritten rules of the professional world, and her experience coauthoring the bestselling book The New Rules of Work. We also explored her subsequent ventures in Web3 and crowdfunding, her current role as COO of BackerKit, and her advice on career exploration, mentorship, and the importance of working with talented people.

Today I was joined by Thor Retlzaff, co-founder of Wasted*, a urine-mining company that turns pee into fertilizer via infrastructure (such as porta potties). Retlaff's career began at Lewis and Clark College, where he majored in anthropology and sociology. Inspiration would come to Retralaff and his cofounders through a series of mountaineering expeditions in the backcountry of the Arctic, Patagonia, Nepal, and in their backyard of Lake Tahoe. On these adventures, they were exposed to the human waste crisis happening in our pristine natural ecosystems — where untreated waste was leaking from pits into the surrounding environment; this originally spawned the nonprofit Do Good Sh*t. In 2020, Retlzaff and his cofounders started Wasted* after realizing that "liquid gold" is filled with vital nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen that can be used in our fertilizer. Today, Wasted* is working on expanding beyond the New England states and bringing to market The Can -- which is a fully independent operating porta potty that can create fertilizer all on its own and requires 90% less water than typical porta potties.

Tessa Zimmerman was the inaugural graduate of the Watson Institute's partnership with Lynn University, where she earned a first-of-its-kind bachelor's degree in Social Entrepreneurship. Inspired by her own experience of struggling with anxiety in the classroom and the lack of mental health resources in schools, Zimmerman wrote her college thesis on training and equipping teachers with bite-sized well-being tools. This idea later became her nonprofit, Upstream Education. Today, Upstream partners with individual educators, schools, and districts to equip them with bite-sized well-being tools based on mindfulness and positive psychology practices. Upstream is one of the first nonprofits on the podcast, and Zimmerman and I discuss the business models of nonprofits, how grant funding works, and how being a nonprofit allows Upstream to expand its reach.

Today I was joined by Sandra Takei. Takei's career began at UC Berkeley where she majored in Biology, thinking about becoming a nurse. After realizing she was more interested in creating change at the macro level, Takei transitioned to studying pedagogy. The first guest on the podcast to study at King's College London, Takei obtained her master's in science education and PhD in education research from there. Her PhD research investigated why high school students matriculating in universities choose or don't choose to study physics or modern languages. Today, Takei works at Stanford helping professors tailor their curriculum and classes to become better teachers.

Today I was joined by Christian Brown, co-founder and CMO of Glewee. If Brown wasn’t a founder, I’d venture to say he’d be an oracle. Here’s my evidence: it’s the first day of freshman year for Brown at Danvers High and in Advertising 101 he predicted the growth of micro-influencers in the coming decade (more on that story in the podcast). As a junior, he started laying the foundations of Glewee as just an idea for a clothing company for a DECA project, he launched the company his senior year and kept it during college, eventually selling thousands of items and using the profits to fund his travels and influencer network. Suggestion here: DECA needs an incubator arm. Today, Glewee is a marketplace for brands to find small to medium sized influencers and create campaigns. The first guest that completed undergrad in Chicago (DePaul University) this podcast is also good for those thinking to further their education in Chicago.

Geri Kirilova is a partner at Laconia Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in technology companies transforming established industries. In this conversation, Kirilova reflects on her path from NYU Stern to helping build Laconia, why she chose an unconventional career over a more traditional route, and the role luck, failure, and relationships have played along the way. She also discusses her approach to mentorship, the value of putting yourself in positions to get lucky, and her move from New York to Zurich, where she sees an emerging technology ecosystem and an opportunity to bridge European startups with the U.S. market.

Today I was joined by Mitchell Hora, Founder and CEO of Continuum Ag, a company that uses soil-health data and its TopSoil platform to help farmers improve their soil and profitability. Hora’s career began at Iowa State (also included in this discussion, a list of all the reasons why Iowa State is better than the University of Iowa). Continuum Ag was founded in 2015 as an agricultural consulting company focused on soil-health testing before expanding into agricultural data and technology. Today, its TopSoil platform helps farmers organize farm data, measure the carbon intensity of their crops, and certify lower-carbon grain, which can create opportunities for farmers to receive premiums through biofuel and sustainability markets. Also, if you were searching for another podcast, here’s his: https://www.youtube.com/@continuumag8789

The first Swede on the podcast, Hamza Qadoumi is a co-founder of Ecobloom, a Stockholm-based AgTech company that specializes in crop-monitoring technology. Qadoumi’s career began at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where he obtained his degree in mechanical engineering. Further, as just the second guest to attend university in the Netherlands, Qadoumi obtained his master’s degree from Delft (as a side note, he now considers the Netherlands a second home)! Ecobloom was founded in 2018, initially developing EcoGarden, a miniature greenhouse and aquaponics system designed for growing food at home. The company later shifted its focus toward commercial growers with EcoSense, a crop-monitoring platform that uses cameras, sensors, and AI to identify plant stress and disease and recommend potential actions. Today, Ecobloom’s technology is used by farms across 12 countries, with the broader goal of making food production more efficient and sustainable.

An interesting episode on modern slavery.