Create & Cultivate 100: STEM: Ara Katz
THE STARTUP GURU.
A storyteller, designer, techie and dot connector, Ara Katz has vision.
A holistic vision and approach which she applies to every company she starts. Most recently, she Co-Founded and served as CMO of Spring, a venture and LVMH-backed mobile marketplace, which launched in August 2014. Before that, Ara was on the Founding Team of BeachMint, where she launched six direct-to-consumer, celebrity-partnered brands.
But the Seed of something new has sprung within her. A new journey that combines her curiosity around the human body, passion to raise the standards for consumer health products, and belief in the profound importance of the microbiome.
More from Ara below.
Name: Ara Katz
Instagram Handle: @arakatz
Where do your drive and passion come from?
My heart.
How do you feel as a woman in STEM?
Badass.
How have you successfully navigated such a male-dominated field?
By never thinking about it as a male-dominated field.
What are your hopes for young women who are interested in STEM?
That they pursue it. Our future cannot only be men asking the important questions and contributing to the solutions. That is, in large part, how we arrived here.
Can you chat about Seed and its aims?
Our aim is simple - to improve human health (and our understanding of it) through the microbiome - the 38 trillion microorganisms that live on and in us that are essential to our health and to what makes us human.
And in turn, about going with your gut?
For me, 'in your gut' is literal - our gut is our "second brain"; it is where the majority of the bacteria in your body reside (2-3 pounds!) and where they do the important work of keeping you healthy.
"Our gut is our "second brain.'"
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What is your biggest pet peeve?
Injustice, scarcity and bad tippers.
What are your biggest fears about running a business?
I fear complacency and mediocrity - so if we ever get to a place where our team feels either of those, we are failing.
What's something you'd like people to know about your job that they probably don’t?
The level of detail to which I'm involved and the amount of content I write myself.
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
Nothing. I learned the hard way that nothing external like my work should ever be a source of feeling complete.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
At this moment, POTUS.
What's the best advice you've ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
The pin my mother gave me just before she died that says, "She didn't always follow the recipe."
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
Hustle, persistence, creativity and the inability to see a bump as a dead-end.
What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
'Let the River Run' by Carly Simon - it's the closing credits song of 'Working Girl'.
Photo Credit: @davisfactor
Hair & Makeup: @SmashboxCosmetics @TheGlamApp @TheOuai
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