This special sneak peek episode offers a glimpse of what’s coming to Feminist Founders in 2025 as Faith Clarke officially joins Becky Mollenkamp as a partner. Together, they share their honest, behind-the-scenes thoughts about their new partnership, how they’re building this business collaboratively, and the real-time challenges and insights at the intersection of business and feminism.

In this episode, Becky and Faith dig deep into:

• How violence—against ourselves and others—shows up in subtle ways in our businesses, often rooted in fear and conditioning.
• The importance of unmasking, being witnessed, and doing this work in community rather than alone.
• How capitalist norms and power identities can perpetuate harm in our workspaces, even when we’re trying to challenge them.
• What it looks like to tend to ourselves and each other as we strive to build businesses that prioritize safety, love, and collective wisdom.

This is just the beginning of many conversations like this. Starting in 2025, paid subscribers will get access to monthly private podcast episodes where Becky and Faith share real-time reflections, tough questions, and behind-the-scenes details about their partnership and business journey.

What’s coming for paid members in 2025:

• Monthly private podcast episodes like this one, diving into the challenges, insights, and messy realities of running a values-driven business.
• Monthly live events for community members to connect, explore these topics together, and create safe, supportive spaces for growth and transformation.
• Founding members also get a monthly mention (company name and website) in our newsletter with 3k+ readers.

If you want to be part of these conversations, now’s the time to upgrade your membership before the end of the year. Rates will increase in 2025 as this partnership officially gets underway, so lock in your access now!

UPGRADE NOW AT: https://feministfounders.substack.com/

In this episode of Feminist Founders, Becky Mollenkamp sits down with Amelia Hruby, feminist philosopher, podcaster, and founder of Softer Sounds, to discuss the radical act of leaving social media and building values-aligned businesses. Amelia shares her journey from academia to entrepreneurship, how she created a feminist podcast studio, and the intentionality behind slowing down and prioritizing a human-first approach to work. Together, they dive into the challenges of resisting hustle culture, the ethics of using platforms like Substack, and the power of cultivating community outside of algorithm-driven spaces. Whether you're contemplating leaving social media or seeking inspiration for running a feminist business, this episode is full of practical insights and heartfelt wisdom.

Amelia Hruby (she/her) is a writer, educator and podcaster with a PhD in philosophy. She is the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for entrepreneurs and creatives. And she’s the host of Off the Grid, a podcast about leaving social media without losing all your clients.

Amelia’s Website | Softer Sounds | Off the Grid | Book

Discussed in This Episode:

• What it means to run a feminist podcast studio
• The challenges and fears of leaving social media as a business owner
• Practical alternatives to social media marketing
• How intentionality can disrupt hustle culture and create space for alignment
• The design and philosophy behind Softer Sounds and Off the Grid
• Why intersectional feminism is at the heart of ethical business practices
• Strategies for visibility without social media
• Balancing creativity, community, and profitability as a service provider

Resources Mentioned:

• Amelia’s dissertation
• “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” by Shoshana Zuboff
• Worthwhile Paper
• Feminist Business School from Sister.is
• “50 Feminist Mantras” by Amelia Hruby
• Designer Kening Zhu
• adrienne maree brown’s Loving Corrections
• Black and Pink PenPals
• Amelia’s Arena boards (from bonus conversation for newsletter subscribers)

If you’ve been grappling with how to align your business with your values or wondering whether leaving social media could work for you, this episode is a must-listen!

In this insightful episode of Feminist Founders, Becky Mollenkamp talks with brand scientist N. Chloé Nwangwu about the unique challenges of building brand visibility for underrepresented and marginalized communities. Chloe brings her rich background in conflict mediation and international politics to her work in visibility engineering, helping brands influence behavior while honoring their identities and values. She and Becky dive into the concept of visibility as a complex, non-neutral force shaped by societal biases and systemic barriers. Together, they unpack key concepts like the ambition penalty, reciprocity gap, and validation paradox, exploring how these invisible forces affect women, people of color, and other under-recognized groups in the branding space. Chloe shares her methodology for creating an “ecosystem of influence” and her unique approach to visibility engineering that helps brands stand out authentically, despite systemic hurdles. This conversation is a must-listen for entrepreneurs committed to building brands that reflect their true values and vision for a more inclusive world.

N. Chloé Nwangwu (she/her) is the director of NobiWorks, a brand visibility consultancy rooted in behavioral science. She unabashedly believes brands and visibility strategies not built with power dynamics and biases in mind should consider disappearing from this plane of existence. NobiWorks equips underrecognized brands with visibility strategies and systems scientifically formulated to help them neutralize visibility biases while commanding — and keeping— attention in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Everything you do to be better seen, heard and understood should work. Full stop. And it is her personal mission to make that so.

Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Discussed in This Episode:

• Chloé’s journey from international conflict mediation to brand strategy and visibility engineering
• The difference between branding and visibility for underrepresented communities vs. mainstream branding
• Visibility biases and the “racial attention deficit” that affect marginalized groups in branding and beyond
• The invisibility tax and ambition penalty, and how these concepts reveal hidden barriers for under-recognized brands
• Cognitive biases in branding and how they create visibility challenges
• The importance of creating an “ecosystem of influence” for sustained brand impact
• Visibility engineering as a strategy for making brands “impossible to ignore”
• Practical steps to structure branding around social impact, inclusivity, and ethical visibility

Resources Mentioned:

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk: We Should All Be Feminists
• About Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s anti-trans rhetoric
• Change by Damon Centola
• Freedom Dreams in Philanthropy
• Resources from Nobiworks