Maria José  Molfino (“Majo”) here. A few months ago, I launched Heroine – a podcast that features life journeys and down-to-earth conversations with women creative leaders and risk-takers – ordinary women who do extraordinary things because they embrace the unknown.

The podcast kicked off with the spectacular heroine's journey of Roz Savage – the first woman to row across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian ocean all by herself. WTF!

Many of the other interviews focus on women in innovative fields where science and art intersect, such as design, tech, and business. Interviewees include Marian Goodell (CEO of Burning Man) to Eileen Fisher (Fashion Designer & Icon). Guests are real badasses and have landed in headlines at Forbes, TechCrunch, TED, Fast Company, GigaOm, The Wall Street Journal, O, The Oprah Magazine, Refinery29, CreativeMornings, and The Great Discontent.

Since launching in April, Heroine has been featured in iTunes as New & Noteworthy, #3 in Design, and the Top 10 in Arts and has already generated over 80K downloads!

I truly believe that by sharing women’s stories, we can feel more empowered to drive our own narratives forward, instead of the ones that culture has written for us for thousands of years. The topic of this podcast is especially timely given what’s happening in our political sphere, and the historical precedence of feminism online.

Your contributions to this campaign will help me put time and resources towards spreading the word about Heroine, so that we can amplify these courageous voices and reach more women who need to hear them. One listener emailed me: “When she said she didn't feel smart enough, or intelligent enough to succeed, I realized that's my same fear. So in the last two weeks, I began talking with friends about actually starting to make my idea happen.” And another: “Every question you asked her, it felt like that could have been me and you having that same conversation in 10 years. I’m so inspired to move forward now." Feel free to read 130+ other 5-star reviews from women who have felt inspired and touched by other women's stories.

You're invited to the Heroine Live! Event

Most contribution tiers give you the option to attend our first event Heroine Live! on Thursday 10/27, 6pm - 11pm at Heron Arts in San Francisco –  a dope converted brick firehouse built in the early 1900s.

We'll be featuring a live Q&A with artist and author Elle Luna, followed by a Q&A and musical performance by musician and activist Ayla Nereo. I can't tell you how freakin' powerful these heroines are in creating art from the soul. You won't want to miss it. 

Elle Luna, The Crossroads of Should & Must & The Aphrodite Emerges Workshop

Ayla Nereo, Artist and Creator of album The Code of The Flowers

At the event, there will be appetizers, drinks, incredible live DJ set by Ryan Herr, hand-selected heroine portraits from Helena Price's Techies Project, amazing people and special guests including some surprise past and future heroines who have been on the podcast. You'll get to connect with an inspirational group of designers, artists, techies, musicians, leaders, founders and more!

Ryan Herr, Multi Instrumentalist, Composer & Producer

Portraits of Heroines from the Techies Project by Photographer Helena Price

Whether or not you can come to the event, your contribution will make a big difference in supporting women’s voices.

What We Need & What You Get

I’m raising $10, 000 in funding and it’s going to the following places:

• Any costs associated with the venue, food, drinks, and any live performances to celebrate and bolster women’s voices at the Heroine Live! event on 10/27 at Heron Arts featuring heroine-artists Elle Luna and Ayla Nereo.
• Funds that don't cover the event will be put towards producing and sharing the stories of creative women leaders so that they reach as many people as possible.

About the Perks

There are eight different perks, some available on their own and many combined with each other. Even if you can’t attend the event in SF on 10/27, you can support the podcast and get rewards in return for your generosity! 

The Event – Heroine Live!

See above for all the details. But in a nutshell: two of the most amazing heroine-artists I know, Elle Luna & Ayla Nereo, will be there for a live session and performance. There will be great people, appetizers, drinks, Q&A's, performances, and music. You’ll get the chance to meet other like-minded listeners, and even some past and future podcast interviewees like Helena Price.  

The Ebook – “The Magical Effects of Morning & Evening Rituals”

You'll receive an ebook (releasing December 2016) covering the basics of how to design and sustain nourishing and magical morning and evening rituals, so that you can be more grounded and focused in both your work and relationships. A one-of-a-kind approach to rituals that integrates the best of Stanford's behavior design and design thinking, with yoga, energy management, and leadership.

• Become less reactive and more intentional as you start your work day
• Batch your energy sources and self-care in a powerful amount of time
• Feel more productive without feeling fragmented 
• Slow down so that you can tune in to your intuition and what you really want
• Sync with your natural rhythms and those of nature
• Have more space and pause to make choices that nourish you
• Conserve your decision making power for creative and productive work

You can learn more about the ebook at mariamolfino.com/rituals. 

Shoutout on the Podcast! (On-Air Mention) 

You'll also receive an on-air thank you on the podcast (which reaches thousands of listeners worldwide) for standing behind women's voices and helping us share these stories more broadly!

The Meditation Playlist

I will curate a meditation playlist for you of some of the best guided meditations I know. This is perfect if you want to get started with meditation and don’t know where to start, or if you want to sample various different teachers and traditions to see what you like.

Private 1:1 Session

You’ll get a 75 min. one-on-one private virtual session where you can ask me anything. If you’re interested in receiving leadership and/or life coaching around a specific challenge you’re facing, I’m happy to provide that. If you’re thinking about starting your own project, business or podcast, I’m happy to consult with you in person in SF OR virtually and set you up for success.

See more about my leadership coaching and results I’ve gotten other people at http://mariamolfino.com/private

Private Talk & Presentation

You’ll receive my signature talk on how to overcome the Good Girl Myth – perfect if you care deeply about women’s creative leadership and/or diversity in design, tech, and business. 

Overcome the Good Girl Myth to Achieve Creative and Business Growth

Whether you’re a woman, work with women, or care about diversity in creative careers, you’ll learn how and why the commonly circulated and long-held Good Girl Myth holds women back. I'll explore this myth, how it affects women’s creative leadership, and strategies for overcoming it. This session contains useful nuggets for helping women to overcome personal blocks, helping other women achieve growth, and for empowering men in supporting the women (co-workers, wives, daughters, girlfriends) in their lives. You won’t want to miss this thought-provoking conversation.

I'll deep dive into:

• Myth definition and origination
• Research and stories that perpetuate the Good Girl Myth among women
• Specific model and journey arc for overcoming the Good Girl Myth
• Strategies for supporting the women in your lives in becoming more empowered creative leaders

Heroine Live! Event Sponsorship

As part of more officially sponsoring the event, you’ll receive:

• Your company logo or name at the event
• Your company logo or name on event correspondences (emails, Facebook event page, etc.)
• Your company logo or name on this Indiegogo campaign page
• A shout out to your company or name and representatives at the event 
• 3 tickets to event included for you and your team

Appearance on Heroine 

You’ll come onto the show for a segment about who you are, what you do, and why you’re interesting! We’ll make it personable and authentic. I'm flexible with this, so if you have ideas...I'm open! Ticket to event also included.

The Impact

Your contribution will help support women’s voices on the podcast. You will be helping us throw our first live event of over 100+ listeners to come together, celebrate, and feel connected to these stories – increasing the likelihood that they’ll share with their networks and help Heroine expand its reach. You’ll be supporting the podcast in increasing reviews and downloads, which helps with circulation on iTunes, and in turn, will help expand the impact of Heroine.

Since launching in April, the podcast has seen promising traction. For example, we have 130+ reviews and over 80K+ downloads. We’ve been featured in New & Noteworthy, #3 in Design category alongside design podcast legends like Debbie Millman & Roman Mars, and in Top 10 in the Art category.

Heroine reaches a dense and highly engaged audience of creative professional women, ages 25-35 in SFBA/Silicon Valley area who are making actionable steps towards their dreams.

A little about me: I created Women in Design (in collaboration with Designer Fund), have a Masters in Learning, Design, and Tech from Stanford. I'm the podcast host with a strong track record of supporting women in leadership at various tech companies like Facebook and Airbnb. More about my work on my website: mariamolfino.com

Past interviews include:

• Helena Price (Twitter: 76K; Instagram: 19K) Released: May, 2016
• Jessica Hische, Lettering Artist (Twitter: 104K; Instagram: 73.5K) – Estimated release: August, 2016
• Marian Goodell, Burning Man Founder & CEO (Burning Man 101K; Burning Man 157K) Released: May, 2016
• Sofya Polyakov, Co-Founder, The Noun Project (The Noun Project- Twitter: 18.9K; Instagram: 6,578) – Released: June 2016
• Elle Luna, Designer, Author (Twitter: 13.5K; Instagram: 141K) – Released: June, 2016
• Katie Dill, Head of Experience Design, Airbnb (Airbnb Design Team Twitter: ~5K) Released: July, 2016
• Andrea Mallard, Chief Brand Officer, Omada Health (Twitter: Omada ~4K) Released: July, 2016
• Eileen Fisher, Fashion Designer (Twitter: ~9K; Instagram: 24.3K) – Released: August, 2016
• Ariana DeBose, Dancer, Broadway Player (Twitter: 16.4K; Instagram: 33.4K) – Released: September 2016
• Nidhi Kulkarni, Co-Founder, Spitfire Athlete (Instagram: 2.3K) – Released: September, 2016

Upcoming interviews include:

• Eileen Carey, Founder & CEO, Glassbreakers (Twitter: 5K; Instagram: 3,400) – Estimated release: October, 2016
• Shama Hyder, Web/TV Personality, Marketing Strategist (Twitter: 41.7K; Instagram: 11.6K) – Estimated release: November 2016
• Bethany Yellowtail, Fashion Designer (Twitter: 2.9K ; Instagram: 22.2K) – Estimated release: November, 2016
• Justine Musk, Author, Speaker (Twitter: 15.9K; Instagram: 1.3K) – Estimated release: Early 2017
• Many more coming!

Reviews (130+ Five-Stars)

“Having just started 'Lean In', I'm feeling distraught about women's fate in tech and business. These heroine journeys are exactly what I need to turn frustration into inspiration and action!”  ~ Katie Topper, Producer at Designer Fund

“Our generation needs more role models and amazing examples of feminine success stories. Thank you!”  ~ CEO and Founder of Voz

“As a tech worker starting out on a creative venture, this is exactly what I need.”  ~ Brittany Taylor, PM at Facebook

“Heroine is the podcast for the modern woman.” ~ Vanessa Koch, Design Manager at Asana

Read 130+ more reviews here.

Risks & Challenges

I don’t see any risks or challenges in throwing the first Heroine Live! I’ve thrown many events before, like Women in Design (at Medium, Dropbox, 500 Startups), hosted several successful women’s groups, programs, and retreats. As long as there are good people (like you) and the intention (supporting women’s voices), the event will be awesome no matter what.

The more people contribute, the more we can let these stories distribute! Hey, that rhymed! =)

Other Ways You Can Help

If you can’t contribute or don’t feel called to – the main way you can help is by leaving a review for the podcast.

How to Leave a Review for Heroine

From your computer

1. Go here to the Heroine podcast channel.
2. Click on the blue View in iTunes button in the left sidebar.
3. Once you’re there, click on Subscribe, and then Ratings and Reviews.
4. Click on Write a Review. (This will prompt you to sign in with your Apple ID.)
5. You’ll then get a box where you can rate the podcast and write your review. When you’re done, click Submit.

From your iPhone or iPad

• Go here to the Heroine podcast channel – this should launch Apple’s Podcast app.
• Note: Another way is to search for the terms “Heroine” once you’re inside the Podcast app.
• Hit Subscribe.
• Tap the Reviews tab, then on Write a Review.
• Enter your iTunes password to login.
• Tap the stars to leave a rating, then write your review and tap Send.

That's it folks! 

xo

Maria José

Thanks to our sponsor: