September 16, 2025 • 50 mins
In this episode of Clover, I sit down with Cherie Werner, the force behind Fiesta, the largest community for founders and investors in Austin, and FoundHERs, a dedicated space for women entrepreneurs. Cherie shares her journey from startup life to building Fiesta almost by accident, and how “leading with welcome” has become her guiding principle.
We talk about what it really takes to turn a crowded room into genuine connections, why consistency and inclusivity matter, and how women founders can push past the urge to be “perfect” before showing up. Cherie also offers simple conversation starters and follow-up practices you can use to walk into any networking event with more confidence.
If you’ve ever felt intimidated walking into a room full of strangers—or if you’re looking for a better way to grow community around your own work—this conversation will give you both inspiration and practical tools.
You’ll learn:
- How Fiesta grew into Austin’s largest founder–investor community
- Practical ways to break the ice beyond “What do you do?”
- Why consistency and inclusivity fuel stronger communities
- A mindset reset for women founders: show up before it’s “perfect”
- Follow-up strategies that turn quick chats into lasting relationships
- How to design events and spaces that make people feel truly welcome
RESOURCES MENTIONED
🌐 Websites & Communities
- FIESTA → https://www.fiesta.community
- Grow.FIESTA (global platform) → https://grow.fiesta.community
📨 Newsletters
- The HERald → Women-focused newsletter Cherie publishes (first Friday after FIESTA events).
- FIESTA Focus → Founder/community newsletter (week before and after each FIESTA).
📱 Social Media
- Cherie’s LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheriewerner
(LinkedIn is her most active platform).
📚 Books Mentioned
- Let Them by Mel Robbins
- Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima
- Worthy - Jamie Kern Lima’s second book
🎙️ Podcasts Mentioned
- All-In Podcast
- On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cherie Werner (00:00):
Foreign
Erin Geiger (00:10):
welcome everybody to the another episode of the
clover podcast this week. I'm soexcited to have Cherie Werner on
the show, Cherie, I feel likeyou are the number one, or, if
not, one of the top superconnectors in Austin for
entrepreneurs. And I've been,I've been wanting ever since I
had this glimmer of an idea tohave a women in leadership
(00:32):
podcast. You were definitelytoward the top of my list of
people who I wanted to have on.
So thank you so much for takingthe time out to chat with me
today.
Cherie Werner (00:42):
Well, thanks for having me being such an honor,
honestly. So
Erin Geiger (00:46):
it's gonna be a lot of fun. There's specific things
I do want to talk to you about,but before we get to that, I
would love to hear kind of like,what, what's your journey,
right? So, like, how did you getto where you are today? Kind of
like, walk us through the pathof sherry. You know, I would
love to see, because you're,you're involved right now, and a
(01:09):
lot of really amazing things.
But I would love to hear also,like, what built
Cherie Werner (01:13):
up to that. Ah, great, great question. Well, so
my journey began. I'm actuallygoing to be celebrating my 40th
anniversary with my husband onJune 1. So I've been married for
40 years, and I have threedaughters, and their ages are
2434 and 36 so yes, there's a 10year gap between it, and I never
(01:42):
dreamed of of wanting to be astay at home mom. I mean, that
just like you know, wasn't partof my story. But when I had my
first child, there was somethingcalled hormones I wasn't aware
of, and they kicked in, and thismotherly instinct that I did not
realize I had just kicked in.
And it's like I can never leaveher, you know, she's so
(02:05):
precious. And you know, prior tothat, I was working a corporate
job for a large company, TRW andAnd so that led me on the
journey of being a mom. And Imean, a mom is such an important
role. It's not for everybody,but for me, it ended up
becoming, you know, what I did,who I was, and I loved being a
(02:31):
mom. And my husband traveled alot. He has been an innovator,
entrepreneur all of his life,and has worked for small
companies and then did his owncompany back in like 95 I guess,
something around that timeframe,and, you know, so we went on the
(02:52):
seven year journey of of being awife of a startup founder and,
oh my gosh, the highs and thelows and the low lows and
everything in between, you know,just gave me this insight into
being a startup founder and andthat company actually, you know,
(03:14):
funny story was that It was aproduct that helped track your
out, your time, distance andpace, that think way before the
iPhone and stuff like that. Hewas the first one developing,
and when they were developing,it was on like, all these
different phones, you know, eachone had to have it. And we were
(03:34):
helping him. We'd go out testingthe phone with him and stuff
like that. And as he was tryingto raise funds, he could never
raise any VC money, because theyall said nobody will ever run
with the phone. So it was one ofthose stories. And anyway, fast
forward, you know, I get to kindof take a side seat to what it
(03:57):
was like being a founder.
Because if you're married to afounder, you're you're part of
the journey. Yeah, and and sothen when, like I said, I told
you about my three daughters,when the youngest went off to
the college, it was like, nowwhat? And I had made my husband
promise He'd never do a startupafter the bones of motion, which
(04:20):
was bought by Adidas, and heworked for 10 years. It was like
the most peace. It was like sucha great feeling. And then, and
you know, when they got rid ofthe entire innovation team, it
was either we had to move toPortland or Germany, and our
youngest was just going intohigh school, and it, we couldn't
(04:43):
do it. I mean, you know, hersisters had moved back to Austin
because they wanted to watch hergrow up and and so we decided
that he would not stay withAdidas. And he's like, I have
another startup in me. And verymuch. Like childbirth, you
forget about the labor pains,you know. And so we started the
(05:07):
startup and and that was in 2018and it was my husband, myself
and our two older daughters. Andit was an app that was about
delivering messages of kindness.
It was called Koya, so thinkHallmark meets Venmo and Pokemon
Go, and it's you're giving yourown message, and then you're
(05:28):
going to have it delivered at aplace that you know this person
is going to go to, because youhave this ongoing relationship
with them. And then you canattach money to it. So if it was
a coffee shop, say, I'm tryingto think of a coffee shop
downtown, let's say Trader Joe'sdowntown, I could use that as
(05:50):
the delivery mechanism. But whenI hit send, you would get a
message like, Hey, Aaron sharescreated a Koya for you to find
an Austin Good luck finding itin that moment. You know, you're
being thought of, but we go tothe Trader Joe's at sea home,
that's when you actually get themessage that I've created for
(06:10):
you. And it could be like, Hey,Aaron, it was great talking to
you, you know, enjoy, you know,something on me. And it would be
money that we would transferover. And we were kind of
focused on trying to solve theloneliness crisis, because we're
all moving so often. You leavehome, go to college, you have
(06:31):
friends there, then you firstjob, and then first job, you get
married and you move. And it waskind of thought of because my
husband traveled a lot withadidas when he was working with
Adidas, I should say it right.
And then my two older daughtersat the time. The eldest was a
(06:53):
humanitarian photographertraveling all over the world
take, you know, doing photos.
And then her sister startedtraveling with her and doing
storytelling. So never like, Oh,I'm going to start a community
group. Was never part of it.
However, I did do a communitygroup when the girls were
(07:14):
younger, like going through highschool and junior high, because
I homeschooled, and it was forhomeschool families, and we had
over 50 families that were partof that so, but there wasn't a
terminology of, Oh, I'm gonna bea community builder. I just
brought people together becauseI needed the support selfishly.
(07:35):
And you know, if you organizeit, they will come. And it's
kind of like Same, same with thesame with Fiesta, and then
obviously covid happened. Sowhen covid happened, what we
ended up what ended up happeningwas location based app. Nobody's
going out. Nobody's really usingit, except for those that found
(07:58):
themselves separated from, youknow, loved ones, so couples in
different continents would beusing it to to kind of do
messaging. And at that time, Irealized I was on lunch club and
kept meeting people, you know,for the purpose of sharing about
Koya, but I kept meeting peoplemoving to Austin, and it was the
(08:20):
same story. They could beanywhere, but they were choosing
Austin. They didn't knowanybody. And so oftentimes we
would say, hey, well, why don'tyou come over and have dinner
with us? And so I get to meetthese new lovely people. And I'm
like, Oh my gosh, you need tomeet this couple I just met. And
then as soon as covidrestrictions lifted, I decided
(08:42):
I'll just reach out to everybodythat I met that moved here to
Austin and see who shows up. Andwe had like, 70 ish people show
up for our first event, andsomeone said we should do this
again. And then that's kind ofhow it started. So didn't No
intention behind it. It's justlike, hey, covid not happened. I
(09:03):
mean, like, again, that's whereyou have to trust that. You
know, all things happen for areason, and sometimes in the
midst of it, you can't see it,right? Because, like, yeah, it
would have been great for Koyato continue on and still be
around but, I mean, we ended uphaving to sunset Koya because we
(09:23):
didn't have any funds left toput into
Erin Geiger (09:25):
development. Got it okay, but it almost seems like
that was the timing that wassupposed to happen. You know,
it's just like to move right in.
And so was it always Fiesta or,like, kind of tell me the
origination of that and how it'sgrown?
Cherie Werner (09:42):
Yeah, no, when, when it first started. Gosh, I,
and I actually do have a namesomewhere, and I had wanted to
prepare and get that, but whathappened was there was a meetup
group that was disbanding. Imeet up has a it was the only
group that I'd gone to,actually, and and it was for
(10:05):
founders. And you would go andtwo people would pitch, and it
was like five minute pitch, andthen five minutes of Q and A,
and then the next person. And sowhen that came up that they
wanted someone to take over it,I thought, well, I'll go ahead
and start here, because I, youknow, I didn't know any
(10:27):
different. And so I took thatgroup over and we renamed it for
like, a month. And, you know,because I homeschooled, I have
this thing with words. And so Iwas sitting one night and I came
up with the word fiesta. And youknow, it had to have it. You
(10:48):
know, it stands for founders,investors, entrepreneurs,
startups, techies, Austinnewcomers. And as we go global
now, it'll be adventurers,because that's what I'm finding,
is that founders are moreadventures. They come to Austin
from New York or California orinternationally, and they're
building ecosystems. Becausereally, as a founder, your
(11:12):
network is your net worth. Youknow it's that's the most
valuable thing that you can haveas a founder, and you're not
going to find it everyeverything here in Austin. So I
think we started meeting atCapital Factory in July of 2021,
in August, September timeframeis when I came up and put the
(11:35):
acronym Fiesta, and that reallyresonated with so many people. I
mean, because it is superinclusive. And, you know, the
one thing I really have strivedhard to do is to make sure that
everybody that comes through thedoors feels welcome. And because
we had, typically, you know,back then, probably 60, 70% were
(12:00):
new to Austin within a year. AndI still do ask, like, if you've
been here for one year or less,raise your hand. And I there's
still so many hands go up. Andthen I always have a handful of
people who just arrived withinthe last week, you know. So
people are still moving toAustin. I actually now get
(12:20):
calls. I talked to a lovely ladythis week who is moving here in
June from Australia, and she'slike, I was doing a search on
startup founders and foundFiesta and, and, you know, would
you mind taking my call? And soI remember back like, Of course
I'd be happy to and, and moreimportantly, it's not about me,
(12:43):
but it's like helping to makethose connections. So I was able
to introduce her to two otherpeople who moved here three
years ago from Australia, fromSydney, you know. And so they're
going to have such a betterperspective to offer to her, you
know. But I got to be theconduit of, you know, making
(13:03):
those connections and helping.
So,
Erin Geiger (13:06):
yeah, no, that's incredible. And really like,
it's really grown to be prettylike a vibrant community in
Austin and pretty well known. Sokudos to you for building such
an incredible community for ourlisteners who may not be in
Austin and may not be or not,heard of Fiesta, can you give
(13:28):
just kind of like a quicksummary of, like, what Fiesta
is, you know, and what themission is behind it would
Cherie Werner (13:35):
be great, yeah.
Well, so the purpose of Fiesta,as I saw it was one, you know, I
wanted people to feel welcomethat that were coming through
the door, because many of themwere new to Austin and or
startup founders, as I when Istarted, I said I would do one
event. Amount. That was all Isigned up for. And we people
(13:56):
started talking about it. Soword of mouth became the best
form of advertisement. So if youdo something and you do it,
well, people are going to talkabout it, and being consistent
would be another component ofdoing it. It was we always meet
on the third Tuesday of themonth, from 530 to 830, Capital
(14:19):
Factory has been very graciousto give us the space. So they
are an in kind sponsor on ourbehalf, and it's nice because we
draw a lot of people intoCapital Factory that might not
have ever come and the format isalso very consistent. We start
(14:41):
from 530 to 630 it's networking.
We always started off from thevery beginning buying pizza and
having like, beer and lemonade.
And you know, then startingaround 640 we begin. What I call
the programming, which is mewelcoming people to Austin,
(15:02):
finding out how many arevisiting, how many have been
here for less than a year,giving you know, like
announcements, and thenintroducing sponsors and
funders. So we've integratedthis past year to funders,
because startup founders want toknow, you know who they are and
and I'm trying to humanize it,because there's like this, oh,
(15:24):
you know, you know who are thesepeople? I can't, you know, I
can't touch them. But I mean,like the founders are the ones
who need to be elevated. Thefunders can help. But you need
to know which ones are going tobe the better ones to go to. And
then I allow 10 to 12 foundersan opportunity to pitch their
startup in one minute or less,and it's time, and you can do
(15:49):
that twice a year. And the valuebehind that is, is that if
you're more of an introvert.
Once you hear people talk aboutwhat they're working on, there
is an opportunity to go andconnect with them, because, you
(16:09):
know, that's what the wholepurpose of the event is. Is for
founders to be seen, and then,you know, for us to offer our
help. And I think, because ofthe format it, when you walk
into Fiesta, you feel thatVibrance. You feel that like
giving nature of people wantingto help each other. So you can
(16:30):
walk up to any group and say,Hey, I'm Aaron. You know, I'm
visiting, and people are gonnabe like, Hey, Aaron, welcome.
I'm so glad you're here. And youknow, what do you work on and,
you know, so I know numbers,like, the sheer number of people
there seems overwhelming, butyou, like, I said, you can walk
up to any group in you're goingto feel more than welcomed.
Erin Geiger (16:53):
Yeah, that's really, it's no, it's really
incredible. And I remember theone Fiesta I was able to attend.
You did ask, like, who's beenhere for under a year? You know,
different things. And there wassomeone who had arrived that day
and was there, and we were alllike, what? So that was pretty
incredible. But yeah, I rememberwe were chatting about this
(17:13):
before we started recording, wasthat I had reached out to you
because I had gone to Fiesta,and I was like, Oh my gosh,
because I think there's like,200 people, like, it was a lot.
And so I walked in late, becauseI don't live super close to
downtown. I have, like, kids topick up from school, whatever.
And so I came in kind of, like,right before the programming,
(17:36):
and it seemed like everybody hadalready kind of like, grouped
up, you know, so, like, I walkedin and I'm like, Oh my gosh,
everybody's chatting with eachother. And I, you know, I did
around, you know, I walked thecircle, you know, around the
room, and saw the pizza and thebeer and everything, and I
listened to the programming. Ithought it was incredible. But I
remember I messaged you after onLinkedIn, and I was like, it was
(17:58):
incredible, but how, how do youbreak in? Like, how do you start
talking? I felt like, everybodyknew each other, and you were so
gracious, and you replied, andone of the things that you told
me, which shocked me, was shewas like, you were like, 50% of
the people who attend everymonth have never attended a
fiesta event. And that justshocked me. So it just did, to
(18:21):
your point, it just did seemlike everybody knew each other
and like, How can I talk toanybody?
Cherie Werner (18:26):
It's funny how we have these assumptions of
things. But yeah, so 50% were inthe same bucket as you. And I
can't say that is, I mean, I'man extrovert, obviously. And I
know that being an introvert, itcan there are people who have
social anxiety. So the other wayto break into it is, meet me,
(18:48):
tell me, I struggle in crowds. Iwill be your biggest introduct,
you know, introducing you topeople. So I have like this, one
startup founder who is so quiet,and I see him just kind of
seeing me around, but he'sbrilliant and and I know that he
does climate tech andsustainability type stuff. And
(19:13):
so anytime I meet somebody thatthat tells me, because I listen,
you know, and I'm like, Oh, holdon a second. Let me go get this
person, and I bring them overand say, Oh, you talked to him.
And, you know, I don't knowwhere those will go, but finding
that person who can make thoseintroductions is also helpful.
(19:33):
And you know, I was talking tosomeone today at a networking
event, and I think this is supervaluable. They were saying, you
know, they go and, you know,like, I can't let and get talked
about what I do in a minute. AndI'm like, well, that shouldn't
be your purpose. Your purpose ofbeing there is to meet
(19:54):
interesting people, find thosethat you're interested in, that
you'd want to continue theconversation. Conversation with
and invite them out afterwardsfor coffee to go deeper and and
delve into what they're workingon and what you're working on.
And then maybe there might be amatch, but maybe there might not
be. So anyway, I thought thatwas, you know, I think that
(20:20):
that's super beneficial. Like,when you're out networking,
always lead with what can youoffer listen to to kind of
figure out, like, whatconnections can you make that
might be beneficial, whetherthey're from the same place, or
they're doing something similar,because they have then a
commonality that that they canbuild upon.
Erin Geiger (20:42):
Yeah, I know. And like, you some of the you were
like, also, like, first of all,before you attend an event, have
it in your mind of like, what doyou what do you want to get out
of the event? You know, you'rekind of, like, intentional while
you're there, instead of justlike, asking the typical, like,
what do you do? You know, youwere like, you can ask them,
like, what inspired them to cometo the event? Like, what are
(21:04):
they hoping to get out of it?
What's the most interestingthing they learned recently? You
know, kind of get theconversation going, because I
think people do like to talkabout themselves. So it's like,
you know. So those are kind ofgood icebreakers. And then you
also mentioned to me that whenyou or your husband leave events
you were like, you talk aboutwho was the most interesting
person that each of you met, andthen you will follow up with
(21:25):
that person and let them knowthat you know, and that
continues that conversation,which I thought was a really
good idea as well.
Cherie Werner (21:33):
Yeah, and the other thing too. I mean, so I
don't know if you remember thecheck in system when, when you
went with the name tag andhaving to fill that out. So, so
we, we're still working on that.
And part of the reason for fordeveloping it is that I found
because so many people wereshowing up at the event that
(21:54):
never RSVP. I mean, like, so youthink 50% new attenders, imagine
60% showing up that don't RSVPand then you have the 70% that
are RSVPing that don't show up,you know, so it's just like,
real weird thing that happens.
And I mean, like, I can't be ofany benefit to you if I don't
(22:17):
know why you're at our event, inthat you are at the event. But
if I know that information, ithelps. So with the name tag
system, event magic, when I scanyour name tag and we're talking
and I only scan the names ofpeople I want to follow up with
(22:38):
and I you were sent an SMSmessage that I scanned your name
tag. So you it'll say, CherieWarner scanned your name tag at
this event, and then we followup with a digest of all the
people who scanned you, orworse, that you scanned. So you
have that list after the eventwith the person saying, because
(23:01):
I don't know about you, but howmany times have you connected
with somebody on LinkedIn, andit's like, I know I connected
with this person, you know, Iscan their thing, but you can't
find it. Well, it was upon themto follow up and connect, and
some people don't do that andand so that's really
frustrating. And the other thingis that I remember details about
(23:21):
people when I can put myself inthat place where I met that
person, which is kind of neat.
And then, you know, we were at aCPG networking event this
morning, and this gal waslooking for something that was
only related to CPG, and shemight not find it, but she can
go back and look through thelist of everybody that attended,
(23:42):
because that's what we offer.
And if you're looking atpeople's linkedins, I could look
and see who does distribution,and I can reach out to them and
say, Hey, I was at the CBG eventthis morning, and I didn't meet
you, and I'm looking forsomebody to help me with
distribution. I see so like,there's this natural
introduction that can take placebecause you're at the same
(24:04):
event, but you didn't meet. Andso to help with that component
of networking and being able tofollow up with those that you
meet.
Erin Geiger (24:15):
Yeah, I know that's super helpful, because that does
happen to me quite often. Youknow, where I'll meet someone
and like, we'll even, you know,get that step of like, oh, let's
connect on LinkedIn. And they'rejust like, and then, you know,
later on, you're like, who wasthat person connected on
LinkedIn?
Cherie Werner (24:32):
It is so frustrating. I know, I know,
yeah. And
Erin Geiger (24:37):
you have a couple of offshoots from Fiesta, like
the founder, you know, aspect ofit, can you talk a little bit
about that? And kind of like,what sparked, you know, like,
oh, let's focus on femalefounders and kind of elevate
them a
Cherie Werner (24:53):
little bit. Yeah.
Well, so the one thing aboutthese that I love, compared to a
lot of. Their networking eventsthat you go to is, we're pretty
much at 60, 40% ratio, malefemale, which that's really
good, whereas a lot of otherevents you go to, it's like
8020, and but women were comingup, and it's like, Gosh, I wish
(25:15):
we had our own space, you know,to talk about different things
and without being kind of, youknow, mansplain too. And so I
thought, well, you know, let meopen my home and see who shows
up and and so we started offwith like 20 women coming. And
from the very beginning, webroke into small groups. And
(25:37):
because I felt like sometimes,you know, when you're with a
bunch of people, you can't godeep, but when you're in a
smaller group, and if you'rebeing asked questions, it opens
people up, and then once they'reopened up, then it asking the
question, which is, you know,what's your greatest need right
(25:58):
now? I mean, who doesn't want tobe asked that like, you know,
how can I help you? Aaron, Imean, and now knowing something
about you that way helps me tofigure out how to follow up. And
so then we took those and thenwe made a list and sent it out,
because when you do an eventonce a month. I mean, life
(26:20):
happens. I mean, you're a mom,kids get sick, or there's events
that happen, and so you might beable to make one or two of those
events a year, but by usfollowing up with this
newsletter that we put out andlisting those asks to scan
through that you might find oneor two people that you can
actually help in a tangible way.
(26:43):
And we have their LinkedIn andemail, making it easy for you to
reach out and say, Hey, I sawthat. You were looking for an
introduction to somebody at XYZ.
I can make that introduction. Imean, how easy is that? So? So
we started that, and then withwith Fiesta, we now do, like,
special dinners that are aresponsored, and we try and get
(27:09):
into investors and eightfounders at a table that are in
like, you know, they're at acertain stage with MRR and I
find and, you know, I would doso many more of these if I had
the energy and like, the rightvenue, but sitting around a
table and sharing a meal, oh mygosh, it's the best. I mean,
(27:32):
walls come down, people open up,and it's just, it's it's
beautiful, you know, to see. Andif founders are lonely, like
providing things that offer, youknow, more meaningful
connection, that's, that'sreally what I'm, I'm wanting to
do is like, Hey, I see you. It'shard. I mean, like, I know I've
(27:57):
been part of that journeybefore. It is hard, you know, so
and then we started doing ournewsletters. So I have the
Herald newsletter for women, andit's H, E, R, all caps, a, l, T,
and that goes out on the firstFriday after our event. And then
I do the Fiesta focus, whichgoes out on the second and
(28:18):
fourth Tuesday, the week beforeFiesta and the week after. And
it's really all about elevatingthose in the ecosystem. We
highlight two to three founders.
And, you know, I kind of scourLinkedIn and stuff for the
founders that have come throughand pitched, you know, have they
(28:38):
had any wins that that we canother, elevate and sharing
those. And so our newsletterwent out on Tuesday of this
week, and we had nine founders,like one female, you know, two
women raised 1.7 million, whichyou might be interested in.
Their companies called recess,and it's helping families find
(29:00):
after school care, you know,activities and stuff. So that
was exciting. And then, youknow, one of our founders who
pitched, he actually won theoverall South by Southwest pitch
competition, and in his categoryfor AI, and I mean, and it could
be like you, 30, under 30, wehad somebody with that. So it's
(29:24):
like feather amplifying andblowing wind into somebody's
cells to help further propelthem, and saying, I see you. You
know, let us, let us comealongside and cheer you on. And
the most exciting thing thathappened though, on Tuesday was,
we had our first proposal onstate so one of the founders,
(29:47):
who he met his wife to be at IfYES to two years and five months
ago on the 18th of whatever thatmonth was, and he reached out
said, hey. Going to be March 18,and I was wondering, would you
be okay if I proposed, becausewe met at Fiesta, and it's
really, you know, Fiesta hasbeen part of our journey. And so
(30:10):
I said, Sure, and it was fun,because I got, you know, being
the startup mama. I got to, kindof like, be a mama and be part
of that celebration and makingit special, so that he was the
last one to pitch his company,and then he went from pitching
his company in a minute tomaking a lifetime pitch of, will
(30:31):
you marry me on one knee? Andeverybody was stunned. And if
you go out to Fiesta dotcommunity in our newsletter. You
the video, there's a link to itthat you can see, and it would
that was probably very, I mean,obviously a memorable moment for
us. So you never know what'sgoing to happen. I mean, the
(30:54):
serendipitous connection. Imean, like, we wouldn't be
talking if you hadn't walkedinto a fiesta,
Erin Geiger (31:00):
right? Yeah, no, it's true. It's like, and I
remind myself of that every day,like things will happen. I'm
like, that wasn't planned, youknow. So just like, you just
don't know what's going tohappen. And I'm so in awe of
you, because it's like, not onlyhave you been a founder
yourself, but I need now you'recultivating this, this, you
know, huge impactful communityin your obviously, you're a
(31:23):
woman like this. This podcast isabout women in leadership, so,
but a lot of what you're doingis highly male dominated or
oriented. A lot of founders, I'msure that you've come into
contact with are are male. So Iguess it's like, you know, what?
How have you kind of managedthat, you know, being a woman
(31:45):
and like entrepreneur and like astartup founder world, like, Are
there situations that you'vebeen in where you're just like,
Yeah, I had to, you know, assertmyself, or do XYZ, or, you know,
kind of what? What situations oradvice do you have for female
founders or those that aretrying to make a connection and
(32:07):
network in the entrepreneurialworld when a lot of it is male
focused,
Cherie Werner (32:11):
I guess? Wow, yeah, that's a great question.
What have I done, huh? I youknow? I mean, I think for female
founders, it is hard. I mean,like the numbers are all there,
there. I mean, you know, but theone thing I would say for women
(32:35):
founders is you have to show up,meaning you have to put yourself
out there. I give, I mean, Iwork really hard to make it
equal between five and fivepitch percenters. I would love
for it to always be five male,five female. But women, I'm
like, begging them, you know,like, Hey, I know you have a
(32:55):
startup. Will you pitch? I'm notready, and we make a lot of
excuses, like we have to be haveeverything organized and in the
right place, and that's nevergoing to happen. So you know,
just realize that that won't youwon't have everything figured
out, but take advantage of anyopportunity that's presented to
(33:19):
you. Versus doubting yourself. Iwas trying to think of a quote I
heard this morning that, youknow, I'd rather fail than
regret not showing up or trying.
You know, it's better to failthan than than not take the
opportunity honestly, and thenfind people that you can
(33:44):
surround yourself with who youknow inspire you and and make
you want to be a better leader.
So, you know, I the women'sgroup was kind of birthed out of
like the fact that I listenedand women wanted a place where
they could just, you know, showup and be real and honest with
(34:08):
one another, and so that waspart, part of that. But because
of what I'm doing now, I'mmoving into a different thing,
and it's funny because that thecompany that we're working with,
there are all guys, and it's myhusband, and my husband is,
like, the most supportive ofwomen that and these guys are
(34:30):
also. They're very, verycomplimentary of everything that
that I have done, but it theythey communicate really
different and be like, it's likeyour passing and stuff like
that, and I have to there'sprocesses and understanding
that. So, you know, I have asweet friend that I talked to
weekly, and she reminds me it'sokay to say, I don't get this,
(34:56):
you know, it's okay for me to goslow and. And try and figure out
so that I keep the authenticityof what has been created with
Fiesta as we merge, eventuallydown the road, these two
entities to offer somethingbigger and better for founders.
(35:21):
Yeah, and yeah, we all struggle.
I mean, I even when we started,you know, when I started working
with my family, I I felt like Ididn't have all the answers and
the knowledge. I mean, I had adegree in marketing, but that
was obsolete, the exchange andbut finding the things that you
(35:42):
are good at, I think, isimportant. And, you know, I love
getting up every morning anddoing what I do. I mean, you
know, it's nice that I have thatopportunity to be able to do
that like I'm sure you enjoyelevating and giving women a
voice, you know, to be leadersin in stuff like that. So I
(36:07):
think that that's so helpful.
And always people learn. I mean,I, I, you know, if you would
have asked me five years agowhat I'd be doing in five years.
This would have never been partof my plan. And, you know, I I
(36:28):
almost didn't do this because Idisqualify I was disqualifying
myself because I wasn't asuccessful founder. I mean, our
startup, we had to sunset itbecause of covid, like so many
other people, but that didn'tmean I was a failure. I mean, I
learned a lot in that, right?
And of my age, I mean, I'm, likemost people my age are, like,
(36:51):
stepping back and retiring, andI'm working harder than I've
ever worked, yeah, but you knowthe value, and I think you have
to look at what is that legacyyou want to leave behind. And as
moms, as women, if you havekids, you remember, our ceiling
is their floor. You know, if asmuch as you're willing to grow
(37:13):
and do, they're going to standon top of that and hopefully go
further, you know, becauseyou've given them an example,
yeah, and we need to be that foreach other as women,
Erin Geiger (37:26):
yeah, and you've, you've touched on so many great
points there. Because I feellike, as women, we typically do,
we're like, Okay, we gotta checkall the boxes before we present
anything or start anything. Andeven in the corporate world, you
know, we are looking at jobdescriptions, you know, we'll be
like, well, we have almosteverything. We don't have this.
We don't have that. I guess Ican't apply. Whereas our male
(37:49):
counterparts are like, I canhandle it. And it's like, I'll
apply for this, or I'll startthis startup, or all, you know,
and they don't have all theirducks in a row. And you're
right, I feel like that's we'rekind of like, well, we're not
completely set up yet, so weshouldn't take this plunge, you
know. And then you mentionedage, and so it's like, how, how
(38:10):
do you manage that? Becausethere's some people who are
like, Well, I'm too young to dothis, or I'm too old to do this
and speak to that a little bit,you know, because I feel like
you're gonna have, like, a lotof great insights around
Cherie Werner (38:20):
that too. Well, I'll speak to it for, you know,
from from a motherlyperspective, because the one
thing I would always, you know,tell my my daughters, is that
you're always mentoringsomebody. You're old enough to
mentor somebody. So if you're10, you know, mentoring five
year olds, you know, becauseyou're playing with them and
stuff like that. So I think forwomen, you know, if you're
(38:47):
single and you're wanting to getmarried, you know, find a
married woman that you admireand and talk to her about, you
know, things that she struggledwith and things that she wished
she would have known. And, youknow, have this repertoire of
questions, you know, if you'rewanting to be a mom, finding a
mom that you see how they'reinteracting with their kiddos,
(39:10):
and just like, how do you notlose it, you know, or whatever
it might be. So I just alwayslook for those people. And I
mean even myself, I'm alwayslooking for women that I can
learn from and admire, and somewomen will say why I can't find
anybody. But for the longesttime, some books were my best
(39:32):
mentors. You know you can listento podcasts and people who have
expertise in areas that you'rewanting to be better at, to
become better at that particularthing. For the longest, I was,
like, terrified of being a mom,and like, I felt like I wasn't
going to be a good mom, and Ijust had this one author that I
followed and read all of herbooks, and just felt so much
(39:56):
better equipped of being a mom,because I wanted to be that
great. Just mom, that lifegiving mom, you know, not that
one, and sometimes we don't havethat. But that's the beautiful
thing about life is, is that wecan always be learning and
growing. There's no excuse to bestuck in something.
Erin Geiger (40:16):
Yeah, I know that's so true and like, as you kind of
reflect, I mean, I know you arealready have so much you're just
scratched the surface, or somuch more that you're going to
accomplish. But when you thinkabout your legacy, like what,
what is a legacy you hope toleave as a as a leader in
general, and as like a woman inleadership
Cherie Werner (40:39):
that I I've already thought about that so
many times, the legacy. I mean,really, what I would love to
leave behind. I mean, I thinkhere, tangibly, in Austin, I
would love to leave behind, youknow, like a fiesta, something
that continues on as I stepaway, that continues to invest
with a heart that we're aboutelevating because, I mean, like,
(41:00):
gosh, spreading kindness andpouring into others. You know,
when, when you do that, there'sthis dopamine hit that you get
every time that you're able toto give and to serve others. I
mean, you know, someone comes tome and they tell me they're
depressed, and one of thequestions I usually ask like, So
tell me, what do you do to serveothers? And, and oftentimes they
(41:25):
haven't even thought about that.
It's like, go out and give ofyourself, you know, so, so my
legacy would be, you know,obviously, with my daughters, it
was investing in them as I was,as I was bringing them up and,
and, you know, one day, maybeI'll have grandchildren, and I
look forward to that legacy. Butfrom a tangible standpoint, my
(41:46):
husband and I both want to leavebehind something that just makes
the world a better place, thatthat, you know, people feel
seen. People know that they cancome in and someone is going to
be there to kind of know theirname, and so that's why I always
lead with Fiesta is all abouthelping founders to be seen and
(42:08):
known, because I think at ourcore, that's what we all want. I
mean, it doesn't matter ifyou're a founder, it's just as a
human being. You want people tosee you and approach you so
Otherwise, we wouldn't bedealing with this loneliness
epidemic that, you know, andbeing a founder, it's even more
amplified. But yeah, as acountry, it's like one of the,
(42:33):
you know, top it was what it'sbeen, the Top initiative of
solving for like, when Obama waspresident, he that's what the
general, Secretary, General, oh,I can't give his name. Big
Mirtha, I think, wrote a book onit called the loneliness crisis.
So, yeah, together,
Erin Geiger (42:56):
yeah, it is true, and it's especially as founders.
Okay, it can feel very siloed.
And so I guess on that, like, isthere anything that you kind of
do to set the tone for your day,to kind of, kind of get your
mind right so you could face theday? Some people meditate, some
people, you know, I mean,there's different things. Or
maybe you're like, I don't, Ireally get up and I just face
the day.
Cherie Werner (43:20):
I, you know, I've tried different things. I mean,
you know, I think there'sseasons in all of our lives that
certain things work for us. Imean, you know, there now I
just, I get out of bed and I go,I mean, like, just so much to
accomplish and get done, and,you know, I'm looking to try and
(43:41):
integrate more of those. I getup in the morning and I exercise
and, you know, I meditate in andI'm working towards adding that
in, but I get it. I mean, in somany regards, I'm like a
founder, and it's just likethere's not enough hours in a
day to get things done. And Ifeel this huge responsibility of
(44:06):
showing up and being there tosee these people who come
through our community and makingit better. Probably not you were
thinking you were going to getbut
Erin Geiger (44:20):
it's actually refreshing. They're like, I just
get up, I go, I start moving.
Cherie Werner (44:25):
Like, that's that's incredible. Yeah, I would
think my husband, I both, like,our ritual is, is, is that we
have an espresso machine and hefixes a cortado. And so we start
our day off that way. And, yeah,so that's good, making the bad
feeling like somethingaccomplished.
Erin Geiger (44:47):
Well, that is, there's, oh, there's a book that
I read, and I can't think of itnow, but they actually
recommend, like, making yourbed. Like, make your bed every
day. That's like something likeyou're starting off the day,
like you said, with anaccomplishment, you know, to
kind of propel you forward. So,um. And so earlier, you had
mentioned, like, you know, hey,sometimes books were my mentors.
Like, what books or podcasts orresources that have made an
(45:09):
impact on you that you wouldrecommend for others to check
out?
Cherie Werner (45:13):
Gosh, again, depending on what season of life
you're in, over the years, it'sbeen so many different things I
I'll say where I'm at right now.
I I listen to all in podcastswith my husband, because that's
one of his favorites. I love JayShetty. He has just the
different people that he has ondifferent perspectives. And I
(45:36):
really like listening todifferent perspectives. I have
no time to read. I mean, I usedto before doing all of this. I
literally am being like, if yousaw my house, I have so many
books, and I read a lot, but Ijust don't have time to do that.
But some of my favorite booksthat I've recently read that
have been inspiring, I'm in theprocess of reading. Let them by
(45:58):
Mel Robbins, yeah, which it'sbeen, yeah, which has been
really great, because, you know,you're going to always be
misunderstood by somebody, andyou know, just let them, you
know. So that's been, that'sbeen good. And then I like Jamie
Lima Kern, k e r n has writtentwo phenomenal books. She's the
(46:20):
one who did the It Cosmetics,and her first one is called,
believe it. And you know, as afemale founder, oh my gosh, the
things that she had to endure tobecome the the the most
successful female entrepreneurand selling a cosmetic company.
It's such a great read. And thenshe followed that up with, oh, I
(46:44):
can't remember what the hersecond book was, but, but that
was more general, and it wasequally as as good. So those are
books that, like, kind of standup, you know, like stand out
right now, but, yeah, and thepodcast when I when we're going
to sleep. So it depends on if myhusband puts on the podcast
(47:05):
first, or if I put mine onfirst.
Erin Geiger (47:12):
Yeah, I love everyone that you just
mentioned, and I did read,believe it, I haven't read her
second one, but, but I need tocheck that out. But believe it
really did resonate with me forsure. Where can people find you
online?
Cherie Werner (47:28):
So Fiesta dot community, and it's like, not
the grocery store, soit.community.com's and then grow
dot Fiesta dot community is ourplatform that we just launched
that is going to be more of aglobal So, Fiesta, communities,
(47:49):
everything here in Austin, andthen the one will be beyond
Austin, because of all thepeople who are remote workers
and are hopping around, and thenjust, you know, I'm on LinkedIn.
I that that's probably thesocial that I'm most engaged
with. I don't have time to doall the others. You know. Gotta
(48:11):
have grace on yourself. Youcan't do it all. I I'd love to
do a podcast. I just can't doit.
Erin Geiger (48:20):
You gotta draw the line somewhere.
Cherie Werner (48:22):
I love talking, so you're
Erin Geiger (48:24):
gonna have a great podcast. So I ask every guest
this question, because it's justsuper fun, and I create a
playlist for our listeners fromit. But if you can only listen
to one music artist for the restof your life, who would it
Cherie Werner (48:41):
be? Oh my gosh, I'm gonna do I go young or old?
I would say Taylor Swift, onlybecause I've gone to all of her
concerts with my my youngest andand I know most of her music
because it's the most relative.
And, you know, I just, you know,I like all genres of music, so
(49:02):
it's not like, Oh, this is myabsolute favorite or whatever,
but yeah, I love it. That's socool. Who would you listen to?
Beastie Boys?
Erin Geiger (49:14):
Oh, wow. Okay, now, right? I know it's so funny,
because a while back, I wastalking to my mom, and she was
like, still, Beastie Boys? Like,yeah. You an adult now? It's
like,
Cherie Werner (49:26):
my favorite, yeah, if I was to do one with my
husband, like, think of, youknow, because he, like, he would
have one, because when we weredating, every week he'd get a
new album. But it would beAmerica, probably only because
it brings me back to that timewhen we were first dating, and I
(49:46):
can, I know all the songs andstuff like that, but yeah, it
depends on where I want to goback to.
Erin Geiger (49:53):
It's very true, because there's certain Yeah,
times of your life or like,Okay, do I picking a current
person? Or am I picking, youknow. Like a classic or
whatever. So yeah, I totally getit. So Sheree, oh my gosh, we're
I always tell guests, I'm notgonna take up too much of your
time, but I feel like I couldtalk to you forever. So thank
you so much.
Cherie Werner (50:12):
So much fun.
Thank you really. I would loveto have coffee with you and then
continue conversation. So yeah,let's
Erin Geiger (50:21):
do it. Let's do it, or you're both here in Austin,
so that would be amazing. Soyeah, thank you so so much. Oh.
Foreign
Erin Geiger (00:10):
welcome everybody to the another episode of the
clover podcast this week. I'm soexcited to have Cherie Werner on
the show, Cherie, I feel likeyou are the number one, or, if
not, one of the top superconnectors in Austin for
entrepreneurs. And I've been,I've been wanting ever since I
had this glimmer of an idea tohave a women in leadership
(00:32):
podcast. You were definitelytoward the top of my list of
people who I wanted to have on.
So thank you so much for takingthe time out to chat with me
today.
Cherie Werner (00:42):
Well, thanks for having me being such an honor,
honestly. So
Erin Geiger (00:46):
it's gonna be a lot of fun. There's specific things
I do want to talk to you about,but before we get to that, I
would love to hear kind of like,what, what's your journey,
right? So, like, how did you getto where you are today? Kind of
like, walk us through the pathof sherry. You know, I would
love to see, because you're,you're involved right now, and a
(01:09):
lot of really amazing things.
But I would love to hear also,like, what built
Cherie Werner (01:13):
up to that. Ah, great, great question. Well, so
my journey began. I'm actuallygoing to be celebrating my 40th
anniversary with my husband onJune 1. So I've been married for
40 years, and I have threedaughters, and their ages are
2434 and 36 so yes, there's a 10year gap between it, and I never
(01:42):
dreamed of of wanting to be astay at home mom. I mean, that
just like you know, wasn't partof my story. But when I had my
first child, there was somethingcalled hormones I wasn't aware
of, and they kicked in, and thismotherly instinct that I did not
realize I had just kicked in.
And it's like I can never leaveher, you know, she's so
(02:05):
precious. And you know, prior tothat, I was working a corporate
job for a large company, TRW andAnd so that led me on the
journey of being a mom. And Imean, a mom is such an important
role. It's not for everybody,but for me, it ended up
becoming, you know, what I did,who I was, and I loved being a
(02:31):
mom. And my husband traveled alot. He has been an innovator,
entrepreneur all of his life,and has worked for small
companies and then did his owncompany back in like 95 I guess,
something around that timeframe,and, you know, so we went on the
(02:52):
seven year journey of of being awife of a startup founder and,
oh my gosh, the highs and thelows and the low lows and
everything in between, you know,just gave me this insight into
being a startup founder and andthat company actually, you know,
(03:14):
funny story was that It was aproduct that helped track your
out, your time, distance andpace, that think way before the
iPhone and stuff like that. Hewas the first one developing,
and when they were developing,it was on like, all these
different phones, you know, eachone had to have it. And we were
(03:34):
helping him. We'd go out testingthe phone with him and stuff
like that. And as he was tryingto raise funds, he could never
raise any VC money, because theyall said nobody will ever run
with the phone. So it was one ofthose stories. And anyway, fast
forward, you know, I get to kindof take a side seat to what it
(03:57):
was like being a founder.
Because if you're married to afounder, you're you're part of
the journey. Yeah, and and sothen when, like I said, I told
you about my three daughters,when the youngest went off to
the college, it was like, nowwhat? And I had made my husband
promise He'd never do a startupafter the bones of motion, which
(04:20):
was bought by Adidas, and heworked for 10 years. It was like
the most peace. It was like sucha great feeling. And then, and
you know, when they got rid ofthe entire innovation team, it
was either we had to move toPortland or Germany, and our
youngest was just going intohigh school, and it, we couldn't
(04:43):
do it. I mean, you know, hersisters had moved back to Austin
because they wanted to watch hergrow up and and so we decided
that he would not stay withAdidas. And he's like, I have
another startup in me. And verymuch. Like childbirth, you
forget about the labor pains,you know. And so we started the
(05:07):
startup and and that was in 2018and it was my husband, myself
and our two older daughters. Andit was an app that was about
delivering messages of kindness.
It was called Koya, so thinkHallmark meets Venmo and Pokemon
Go, and it's you're giving yourown message, and then you're
(05:28):
going to have it delivered at aplace that you know this person
is going to go to, because youhave this ongoing relationship
with them. And then you canattach money to it. So if it was
a coffee shop, say, I'm tryingto think of a coffee shop
downtown, let's say Trader Joe'sdowntown, I could use that as
(05:50):
the delivery mechanism. But whenI hit send, you would get a
message like, Hey, Aaron sharescreated a Koya for you to find
an Austin Good luck finding itin that moment. You know, you're
being thought of, but we go tothe Trader Joe's at sea home,
that's when you actually get themessage that I've created for
(06:10):
you. And it could be like, Hey,Aaron, it was great talking to
you, you know, enjoy, you know,something on me. And it would be
money that we would transferover. And we were kind of
focused on trying to solve theloneliness crisis, because we're
all moving so often. You leavehome, go to college, you have
(06:31):
friends there, then you firstjob, and then first job, you get
married and you move. And it waskind of thought of because my
husband traveled a lot withadidas when he was working with
Adidas, I should say it right.
And then my two older daughtersat the time. The eldest was a
(06:53):
humanitarian photographertraveling all over the world
take, you know, doing photos.
And then her sister startedtraveling with her and doing
storytelling. So never like, Oh,I'm going to start a community
group. Was never part of it.
However, I did do a communitygroup when the girls were
(07:14):
younger, like going through highschool and junior high, because
I homeschooled, and it was forhomeschool families, and we had
over 50 families that were partof that so, but there wasn't a
terminology of, Oh, I'm gonna bea community builder. I just
brought people together becauseI needed the support selfishly.
(07:35):
And you know, if you organizeit, they will come. And it's
kind of like Same, same with thesame with Fiesta, and then
obviously covid happened. Sowhen covid happened, what we
ended up what ended up happeningwas location based app. Nobody's
going out. Nobody's really usingit, except for those that found
(07:58):
themselves separated from, youknow, loved ones, so couples in
different continents would beusing it to to kind of do
messaging. And at that time, Irealized I was on lunch club and
kept meeting people, you know,for the purpose of sharing about
Koya, but I kept meeting peoplemoving to Austin, and it was the
(08:20):
same story. They could beanywhere, but they were choosing
Austin. They didn't knowanybody. And so oftentimes we
would say, hey, well, why don'tyou come over and have dinner
with us? And so I get to meetthese new lovely people. And I'm
like, Oh my gosh, you need tomeet this couple I just met. And
then as soon as covidrestrictions lifted, I decided
(08:42):
I'll just reach out to everybodythat I met that moved here to
Austin and see who shows up. Andwe had like, 70 ish people show
up for our first event, andsomeone said we should do this
again. And then that's kind ofhow it started. So didn't No
intention behind it. It's justlike, hey, covid not happened. I
(09:03):
mean, like, again, that's whereyou have to trust that. You
know, all things happen for areason, and sometimes in the
midst of it, you can't see it,right? Because, like, yeah, it
would have been great for Koyato continue on and still be
around but, I mean, we ended uphaving to sunset Koya because we
(09:23):
didn't have any funds left toput into
Erin Geiger (09:25):
development. Got it okay, but it almost seems like
that was the timing that wassupposed to happen. You know,
it's just like to move right in.
And so was it always Fiesta or,like, kind of tell me the
origination of that and how it'sgrown?
Cherie Werner (09:42):
Yeah, no, when, when it first started. Gosh, I,
and I actually do have a namesomewhere, and I had wanted to
prepare and get that, but whathappened was there was a meetup
group that was disbanding. Imeet up has a it was the only
group that I'd gone to,actually, and and it was for
(10:05):
founders. And you would go andtwo people would pitch, and it
was like five minute pitch, andthen five minutes of Q and A,
and then the next person. And sowhen that came up that they
wanted someone to take over it,I thought, well, I'll go ahead
and start here, because I, youknow, I didn't know any
(10:27):
different. And so I took thatgroup over and we renamed it for
like, a month. And, you know,because I homeschooled, I have
this thing with words. And so Iwas sitting one night and I came
up with the word fiesta. And youknow, it had to have it. You
(10:48):
know, it stands for founders,investors, entrepreneurs,
startups, techies, Austinnewcomers. And as we go global
now, it'll be adventurers,because that's what I'm finding,
is that founders are moreadventures. They come to Austin
from New York or California orinternationally, and they're
building ecosystems. Becausereally, as a founder, your
(11:12):
network is your net worth. Youknow it's that's the most
valuable thing that you can haveas a founder, and you're not
going to find it everyeverything here in Austin. So I
think we started meeting atCapital Factory in July of 2021,
in August, September timeframeis when I came up and put the
(11:35):
acronym Fiesta, and that reallyresonated with so many people. I
mean, because it is superinclusive. And, you know, the
one thing I really have strivedhard to do is to make sure that
everybody that comes through thedoors feels welcome. And because
we had, typically, you know,back then, probably 60, 70% were
(12:00):
new to Austin within a year. AndI still do ask, like, if you've
been here for one year or less,raise your hand. And I there's
still so many hands go up. Andthen I always have a handful of
people who just arrived withinthe last week, you know. So
people are still moving toAustin. I actually now get
(12:20):
calls. I talked to a lovely ladythis week who is moving here in
June from Australia, and she'slike, I was doing a search on
startup founders and foundFiesta and, and, you know, would
you mind taking my call? And soI remember back like, Of course
I'd be happy to and, and moreimportantly, it's not about me,
(12:43):
but it's like helping to makethose connections. So I was able
to introduce her to two otherpeople who moved here three
years ago from Australia, fromSydney, you know. And so they're
going to have such a betterperspective to offer to her, you
know. But I got to be theconduit of, you know, making
(13:03):
those connections and helping.
So,
Erin Geiger (13:06):
yeah, no, that's incredible. And really like,
it's really grown to be prettylike a vibrant community in
Austin and pretty well known. Sokudos to you for building such
an incredible community for ourlisteners who may not be in
Austin and may not be or not,heard of Fiesta, can you give
(13:28):
just kind of like a quicksummary of, like, what Fiesta
is, you know, and what themission is behind it would
Cherie Werner (13:35):
be great, yeah.
Well, so the purpose of Fiesta,as I saw it was one, you know, I
wanted people to feel welcomethat that were coming through
the door, because many of themwere new to Austin and or
startup founders, as I when Istarted, I said I would do one
event. Amount. That was all Isigned up for. And we people
(13:56):
started talking about it. Soword of mouth became the best
form of advertisement. So if youdo something and you do it,
well, people are going to talkabout it, and being consistent
would be another component ofdoing it. It was we always meet
on the third Tuesday of themonth, from 530 to 830, Capital
(14:19):
Factory has been very graciousto give us the space. So they
are an in kind sponsor on ourbehalf, and it's nice because we
draw a lot of people intoCapital Factory that might not
have ever come and the format isalso very consistent. We start
(14:41):
from 530 to 630 it's networking.
We always started off from thevery beginning buying pizza and
having like, beer and lemonade.
And you know, then startingaround 640 we begin. What I call
the programming, which is mewelcoming people to Austin,
(15:02):
finding out how many arevisiting, how many have been
here for less than a year,giving you know, like
announcements, and thenintroducing sponsors and
funders. So we've integratedthis past year to funders,
because startup founders want toknow, you know who they are and
and I'm trying to humanize it,because there's like this, oh,
(15:24):
you know, you know who are thesepeople? I can't, you know, I
can't touch them. But I mean,like the founders are the ones
who need to be elevated. Thefunders can help. But you need
to know which ones are going tobe the better ones to go to. And
then I allow 10 to 12 foundersan opportunity to pitch their
startup in one minute or less,and it's time, and you can do
(15:49):
that twice a year. And the valuebehind that is, is that if
you're more of an introvert.
Once you hear people talk aboutwhat they're working on, there
is an opportunity to go andconnect with them, because, you
(16:09):
know, that's what the wholepurpose of the event is. Is for
founders to be seen, and then,you know, for us to offer our
help. And I think, because ofthe format it, when you walk
into Fiesta, you feel thatVibrance. You feel that like
giving nature of people wantingto help each other. So you can
(16:30):
walk up to any group and say,Hey, I'm Aaron. You know, I'm
visiting, and people are gonnabe like, Hey, Aaron, welcome.
I'm so glad you're here. And youknow, what do you work on and,
you know, so I know numbers,like, the sheer number of people
there seems overwhelming, butyou, like, I said, you can walk
up to any group in you're goingto feel more than welcomed.
Erin Geiger (16:53):
Yeah, that's really, it's no, it's really
incredible. And I remember theone Fiesta I was able to attend.
You did ask, like, who's beenhere for under a year? You know,
different things. And there wassomeone who had arrived that day
and was there, and we were alllike, what? So that was pretty
incredible. But yeah, I rememberwe were chatting about this
(17:13):
before we started recording, wasthat I had reached out to you
because I had gone to Fiesta,and I was like, Oh my gosh,
because I think there's like,200 people, like, it was a lot.
And so I walked in late, becauseI don't live super close to
downtown. I have, like, kids topick up from school, whatever.
And so I came in kind of, like,right before the programming,
(17:36):
and it seemed like everybody hadalready kind of like, grouped
up, you know, so, like, I walkedin and I'm like, Oh my gosh,
everybody's chatting with eachother. And I, you know, I did
around, you know, I walked thecircle, you know, around the
room, and saw the pizza and thebeer and everything, and I
listened to the programming. Ithought it was incredible. But I
remember I messaged you after onLinkedIn, and I was like, it was
(17:58):
incredible, but how, how do youbreak in? Like, how do you start
talking? I felt like, everybodyknew each other, and you were so
gracious, and you replied, andone of the things that you told
me, which shocked me, was shewas like, you were like, 50% of
the people who attend everymonth have never attended a
fiesta event. And that justshocked me. So it just did, to
(18:21):
your point, it just did seemlike everybody knew each other
and like, How can I talk toanybody?
Cherie Werner (18:26):
It's funny how we have these assumptions of
things. But yeah, so 50% were inthe same bucket as you. And I
can't say that is, I mean, I'man extrovert, obviously. And I
know that being an introvert, itcan there are people who have
social anxiety. So the other wayto break into it is, meet me,
(18:48):
tell me, I struggle in crowds. Iwill be your biggest introduct,
you know, introducing you topeople. So I have like this, one
startup founder who is so quiet,and I see him just kind of
seeing me around, but he'sbrilliant and and I know that he
does climate tech andsustainability type stuff. And
(19:13):
so anytime I meet somebody thatthat tells me, because I listen,
you know, and I'm like, Oh, holdon a second. Let me go get this
person, and I bring them overand say, Oh, you talked to him.
And, you know, I don't knowwhere those will go, but finding
that person who can make thoseintroductions is also helpful.
(19:33):
And you know, I was talking tosomeone today at a networking
event, and I think this is supervaluable. They were saying, you
know, they go and, you know,like, I can't let and get talked
about what I do in a minute. AndI'm like, well, that shouldn't
be your purpose. Your purpose ofbeing there is to meet
(19:54):
interesting people, find thosethat you're interested in, that
you'd want to continue theconversation. Conversation with
and invite them out afterwardsfor coffee to go deeper and and
delve into what they're workingon and what you're working on.
And then maybe there might be amatch, but maybe there might not
be. So anyway, I thought thatwas, you know, I think that
(20:20):
that's super beneficial. Like,when you're out networking,
always lead with what can youoffer listen to to kind of
figure out, like, whatconnections can you make that
might be beneficial, whetherthey're from the same place, or
they're doing something similar,because they have then a
commonality that that they canbuild upon.
Erin Geiger (20:42):
Yeah, I know. And like, you some of the you were
like, also, like, first of all,before you attend an event, have
it in your mind of like, what doyou what do you want to get out
of the event? You know, you'rekind of, like, intentional while
you're there, instead of justlike, asking the typical, like,
what do you do? You know, youwere like, you can ask them,
like, what inspired them to cometo the event? Like, what are
(21:04):
they hoping to get out of it?
What's the most interestingthing they learned recently? You
know, kind of get theconversation going, because I
think people do like to talkabout themselves. So it's like,
you know. So those are kind ofgood icebreakers. And then you
also mentioned to me that whenyou or your husband leave events
you were like, you talk aboutwho was the most interesting
person that each of you met, andthen you will follow up with
(21:25):
that person and let them knowthat you know, and that
continues that conversation,which I thought was a really
good idea as well.
Cherie Werner (21:33):
Yeah, and the other thing too. I mean, so I
don't know if you remember thecheck in system when, when you
went with the name tag andhaving to fill that out. So, so
we, we're still working on that.
And part of the reason for fordeveloping it is that I found
because so many people wereshowing up at the event that
(21:54):
never RSVP. I mean, like, so youthink 50% new attenders, imagine
60% showing up that don't RSVPand then you have the 70% that
are RSVPing that don't show up,you know, so it's just like,
real weird thing that happens.
And I mean, like, I can't be ofany benefit to you if I don't
(22:17):
know why you're at our event, inthat you are at the event. But
if I know that information, ithelps. So with the name tag
system, event magic, when I scanyour name tag and we're talking
and I only scan the names ofpeople I want to follow up with
(22:38):
and I you were sent an SMSmessage that I scanned your name
tag. So you it'll say, CherieWarner scanned your name tag at
this event, and then we followup with a digest of all the
people who scanned you, orworse, that you scanned. So you
have that list after the eventwith the person saying, because
(23:01):
I don't know about you, but howmany times have you connected
with somebody on LinkedIn, andit's like, I know I connected
with this person, you know, Iscan their thing, but you can't
find it. Well, it was upon themto follow up and connect, and
some people don't do that andand so that's really
frustrating. And the other thingis that I remember details about
(23:21):
people when I can put myself inthat place where I met that
person, which is kind of neat.
And then, you know, we were at aCPG networking event this
morning, and this gal waslooking for something that was
only related to CPG, and shemight not find it, but she can
go back and look through thelist of everybody that attended,
(23:42):
because that's what we offer.
And if you're looking atpeople's linkedins, I could look
and see who does distribution,and I can reach out to them and
say, Hey, I was at the CBG eventthis morning, and I didn't meet
you, and I'm looking forsomebody to help me with
distribution. I see so like,there's this natural
introduction that can take placebecause you're at the same
(24:04):
event, but you didn't meet. Andso to help with that component
of networking and being able tofollow up with those that you
meet.
Erin Geiger (24:15):
Yeah, I know that's super helpful, because that does
happen to me quite often. Youknow, where I'll meet someone
and like, we'll even, you know,get that step of like, oh, let's
connect on LinkedIn. And they'rejust like, and then, you know,
later on, you're like, who wasthat person connected on
LinkedIn?
Cherie Werner (24:32):
It is so frustrating. I know, I know,
yeah. And
Erin Geiger (24:37):
you have a couple of offshoots from Fiesta, like
the founder, you know, aspect ofit, can you talk a little bit
about that? And kind of like,what sparked, you know, like,
oh, let's focus on femalefounders and kind of elevate
them a
Cherie Werner (24:53):
little bit. Yeah.
Well, so the one thing aboutthese that I love, compared to a
lot of. Their networking eventsthat you go to is, we're pretty
much at 60, 40% ratio, malefemale, which that's really
good, whereas a lot of otherevents you go to, it's like
8020, and but women were comingup, and it's like, Gosh, I wish
(25:15):
we had our own space, you know,to talk about different things
and without being kind of, youknow, mansplain too. And so I
thought, well, you know, let meopen my home and see who shows
up and and so we started offwith like 20 women coming. And
from the very beginning, webroke into small groups. And
(25:37):
because I felt like sometimes,you know, when you're with a
bunch of people, you can't godeep, but when you're in a
smaller group, and if you'rebeing asked questions, it opens
people up, and then once they'reopened up, then it asking the
question, which is, you know,what's your greatest need right
(25:58):
now? I mean, who doesn't want tobe asked that like, you know,
how can I help you? Aaron, Imean, and now knowing something
about you that way helps me tofigure out how to follow up. And
so then we took those and thenwe made a list and sent it out,
because when you do an eventonce a month. I mean, life
(26:20):
happens. I mean, you're a mom,kids get sick, or there's events
that happen, and so you might beable to make one or two of those
events a year, but by usfollowing up with this
newsletter that we put out andlisting those asks to scan
through that you might find oneor two people that you can
actually help in a tangible way.
(26:43):
And we have their LinkedIn andemail, making it easy for you to
reach out and say, Hey, I sawthat. You were looking for an
introduction to somebody at XYZ.
I can make that introduction. Imean, how easy is that? So? So
we started that, and then withwith Fiesta, we now do, like,
special dinners that are aresponsored, and we try and get
(27:09):
into investors and eightfounders at a table that are in
like, you know, they're at acertain stage with MRR and I
find and, you know, I would doso many more of these if I had
the energy and like, the rightvenue, but sitting around a
table and sharing a meal, oh mygosh, it's the best. I mean,
(27:32):
walls come down, people open up,and it's just, it's it's
beautiful, you know, to see. Andif founders are lonely, like
providing things that offer, youknow, more meaningful
connection, that's, that'sreally what I'm, I'm wanting to
do is like, Hey, I see you. It'shard. I mean, like, I know I've
(27:57):
been part of that journeybefore. It is hard, you know, so
and then we started doing ournewsletters. So I have the
Herald newsletter for women, andit's H, E, R, all caps, a, l, T,
and that goes out on the firstFriday after our event. And then
I do the Fiesta focus, whichgoes out on the second and
(28:18):
fourth Tuesday, the week beforeFiesta and the week after. And
it's really all about elevatingthose in the ecosystem. We
highlight two to three founders.
And, you know, I kind of scourLinkedIn and stuff for the
founders that have come throughand pitched, you know, have they
(28:38):
had any wins that that we canother, elevate and sharing
those. And so our newsletterwent out on Tuesday of this
week, and we had nine founders,like one female, you know, two
women raised 1.7 million, whichyou might be interested in.
Their companies called recess,and it's helping families find
(29:00):
after school care, you know,activities and stuff. So that
was exciting. And then, youknow, one of our founders who
pitched, he actually won theoverall South by Southwest pitch
competition, and in his categoryfor AI, and I mean, and it could
be like you, 30, under 30, wehad somebody with that. So it's
(29:24):
like feather amplifying andblowing wind into somebody's
cells to help further propelthem, and saying, I see you. You
know, let us, let us comealongside and cheer you on. And
the most exciting thing thathappened though, on Tuesday was,
we had our first proposal onstate so one of the founders,
(29:47):
who he met his wife to be at IfYES to two years and five months
ago on the 18th of whatever thatmonth was, and he reached out
said, hey. Going to be March 18,and I was wondering, would you
be okay if I proposed, becausewe met at Fiesta, and it's
really, you know, Fiesta hasbeen part of our journey. And so
(30:10):
I said, Sure, and it was fun,because I got, you know, being
the startup mama. I got to, kindof like, be a mama and be part
of that celebration and makingit special, so that he was the
last one to pitch his company,and then he went from pitching
his company in a minute tomaking a lifetime pitch of, will
(30:31):
you marry me on one knee? Andeverybody was stunned. And if
you go out to Fiesta dotcommunity in our newsletter. You
the video, there's a link to itthat you can see, and it would
that was probably very, I mean,obviously a memorable moment for
us. So you never know what'sgoing to happen. I mean, the
(30:54):
serendipitous connection. Imean, like, we wouldn't be
talking if you hadn't walkedinto a fiesta,
Erin Geiger (31:00):
right? Yeah, no, it's true. It's like, and I
remind myself of that every day,like things will happen. I'm
like, that wasn't planned, youknow. So just like, you just
don't know what's going tohappen. And I'm so in awe of
you, because it's like, not onlyhave you been a founder
yourself, but I need now you'recultivating this, this, you
know, huge impactful communityin your obviously, you're a
(31:23):
woman like this. This podcast isabout women in leadership, so,
but a lot of what you're doingis highly male dominated or
oriented. A lot of founders, I'msure that you've come into
contact with are are male. So Iguess it's like, you know, what?
How have you kind of managedthat, you know, being a woman
(31:45):
and like entrepreneur and like astartup founder world, like, Are
there situations that you'vebeen in where you're just like,
Yeah, I had to, you know, assertmyself, or do XYZ, or, you know,
kind of what? What situations oradvice do you have for female
founders or those that aretrying to make a connection and
(32:07):
network in the entrepreneurialworld when a lot of it is male
focused,
Cherie Werner (32:11):
I guess? Wow, yeah, that's a great question.
What have I done, huh? I youknow? I mean, I think for female
founders, it is hard. I mean,like the numbers are all there,
there. I mean, you know, but theone thing I would say for women
(32:35):
founders is you have to show up,meaning you have to put yourself
out there. I give, I mean, Iwork really hard to make it
equal between five and fivepitch percenters. I would love
for it to always be five male,five female. But women, I'm
like, begging them, you know,like, Hey, I know you have a
(32:55):
startup. Will you pitch? I'm notready, and we make a lot of
excuses, like we have to be haveeverything organized and in the
right place, and that's nevergoing to happen. So you know,
just realize that that won't youwon't have everything figured
out, but take advantage of anyopportunity that's presented to
(33:19):
you. Versus doubting yourself. Iwas trying to think of a quote I
heard this morning that, youknow, I'd rather fail than
regret not showing up or trying.
You know, it's better to failthan than than not take the
opportunity honestly, and thenfind people that you can
(33:44):
surround yourself with who youknow inspire you and and make
you want to be a better leader.
So, you know, I the women'sgroup was kind of birthed out of
like the fact that I listenedand women wanted a place where
they could just, you know, showup and be real and honest with
(34:08):
one another, and so that waspart, part of that. But because
of what I'm doing now, I'mmoving into a different thing,
and it's funny because that thecompany that we're working with,
there are all guys, and it's myhusband, and my husband is,
like, the most supportive ofwomen that and these guys are
(34:30):
also. They're very, verycomplimentary of everything that
that I have done, but it theythey communicate really
different and be like, it's likeyour passing and stuff like
that, and I have to there'sprocesses and understanding
that. So, you know, I have asweet friend that I talked to
weekly, and she reminds me it'sokay to say, I don't get this,
(34:56):
you know, it's okay for me to goslow and. And try and figure out
so that I keep the authenticityof what has been created with
Fiesta as we merge, eventuallydown the road, these two
entities to offer somethingbigger and better for founders.
(35:21):
Yeah, and yeah, we all struggle.
I mean, I even when we started,you know, when I started working
with my family, I I felt like Ididn't have all the answers and
the knowledge. I mean, I had adegree in marketing, but that
was obsolete, the exchange andbut finding the things that you
(35:42):
are good at, I think, isimportant. And, you know, I love
getting up every morning anddoing what I do. I mean, you
know, it's nice that I have thatopportunity to be able to do
that like I'm sure you enjoyelevating and giving women a
voice, you know, to be leadersin in stuff like that. So I
(36:07):
think that that's so helpful.
And always people learn. I mean,I, I, you know, if you would
have asked me five years agowhat I'd be doing in five years.
This would have never been partof my plan. And, you know, I I
(36:28):
almost didn't do this because Idisqualify I was disqualifying
myself because I wasn't asuccessful founder. I mean, our
startup, we had to sunset itbecause of covid, like so many
other people, but that didn'tmean I was a failure. I mean, I
learned a lot in that, right?
And of my age, I mean, I'm, likemost people my age are, like,
(36:51):
stepping back and retiring, andI'm working harder than I've
ever worked, yeah, but you knowthe value, and I think you have
to look at what is that legacyyou want to leave behind. And as
moms, as women, if you havekids, you remember, our ceiling
is their floor. You know, if asmuch as you're willing to grow
(37:13):
and do, they're going to standon top of that and hopefully go
further, you know, becauseyou've given them an example,
yeah, and we need to be that foreach other as women,
Erin Geiger (37:26):
yeah, and you've, you've touched on so many great
points there. Because I feellike, as women, we typically do,
we're like, Okay, we gotta checkall the boxes before we present
anything or start anything. Andeven in the corporate world, you
know, we are looking at jobdescriptions, you know, we'll be
like, well, we have almosteverything. We don't have this.
We don't have that. I guess Ican't apply. Whereas our male
(37:49):
counterparts are like, I canhandle it. And it's like, I'll
apply for this, or I'll startthis startup, or all, you know,
and they don't have all theirducks in a row. And you're
right, I feel like that's we'rekind of like, well, we're not
completely set up yet, so weshouldn't take this plunge, you
know. And then you mentionedage, and so it's like, how, how
(38:10):
do you manage that? Becausethere's some people who are
like, Well, I'm too young to dothis, or I'm too old to do this
and speak to that a little bit,you know, because I feel like
you're gonna have, like, a lotof great insights around
Cherie Werner (38:20):
that too. Well, I'll speak to it for, you know,
from from a motherlyperspective, because the one
thing I would always, you know,tell my my daughters, is that
you're always mentoringsomebody. You're old enough to
mentor somebody. So if you're10, you know, mentoring five
year olds, you know, becauseyou're playing with them and
stuff like that. So I think forwomen, you know, if you're
(38:47):
single and you're wanting to getmarried, you know, find a
married woman that you admireand and talk to her about, you
know, things that she struggledwith and things that she wished
she would have known. And, youknow, have this repertoire of
questions, you know, if you'rewanting to be a mom, finding a
mom that you see how they'reinteracting with their kiddos,
(39:10):
and just like, how do you notlose it, you know, or whatever
it might be. So I just alwayslook for those people. And I
mean even myself, I'm alwayslooking for women that I can
learn from and admire, and somewomen will say why I can't find
anybody. But for the longesttime, some books were my best
(39:32):
mentors. You know you can listento podcasts and people who have
expertise in areas that you'rewanting to be better at, to
become better at that particularthing. For the longest, I was,
like, terrified of being a mom,and like, I felt like I wasn't
going to be a good mom, and Ijust had this one author that I
followed and read all of herbooks, and just felt so much
(39:56):
better equipped of being a mom,because I wanted to be that
great. Just mom, that lifegiving mom, you know, not that
one, and sometimes we don't havethat. But that's the beautiful
thing about life is, is that wecan always be learning and
growing. There's no excuse to bestuck in something.
Erin Geiger (40:16):
Yeah, I know that's so true and like, as you kind of
reflect, I mean, I know you arealready have so much you're just
scratched the surface, or somuch more that you're going to
accomplish. But when you thinkabout your legacy, like what,
what is a legacy you hope toleave as a as a leader in
general, and as like a woman inleadership
Cherie Werner (40:39):
that I I've already thought about that so
many times, the legacy. I mean,really, what I would love to
leave behind. I mean, I thinkhere, tangibly, in Austin, I
would love to leave behind, youknow, like a fiesta, something
that continues on as I stepaway, that continues to invest
with a heart that we're aboutelevating because, I mean, like,
(41:00):
gosh, spreading kindness andpouring into others. You know,
when, when you do that, there'sthis dopamine hit that you get
every time that you're able toto give and to serve others. I
mean, you know, someone comes tome and they tell me they're
depressed, and one of thequestions I usually ask like, So
tell me, what do you do to serveothers? And, and oftentimes they
(41:25):
haven't even thought about that.
It's like, go out and give ofyourself, you know, so, so my
legacy would be, you know,obviously, with my daughters, it
was investing in them as I was,as I was bringing them up and,
and, you know, one day, maybeI'll have grandchildren, and I
look forward to that legacy. Butfrom a tangible standpoint, my
(41:46):
husband and I both want to leavebehind something that just makes
the world a better place, thatthat, you know, people feel
seen. People know that they cancome in and someone is going to
be there to kind of know theirname, and so that's why I always
lead with Fiesta is all abouthelping founders to be seen and
(42:08):
known, because I think at ourcore, that's what we all want. I
mean, it doesn't matter ifyou're a founder, it's just as a
human being. You want people tosee you and approach you so
Otherwise, we wouldn't bedealing with this loneliness
epidemic that, you know, andbeing a founder, it's even more
amplified. But yeah, as acountry, it's like one of the,
(42:33):
you know, top it was what it'sbeen, the Top initiative of
solving for like, when Obama waspresident, he that's what the
general, Secretary, General, oh,I can't give his name. Big
Mirtha, I think, wrote a book onit called the loneliness crisis.
So, yeah, together,
Erin Geiger (42:56):
yeah, it is true, and it's especially as founders.
Okay, it can feel very siloed.
And so I guess on that, like, isthere anything that you kind of
do to set the tone for your day,to kind of, kind of get your
mind right so you could face theday? Some people meditate, some
people, you know, I mean,there's different things. Or
maybe you're like, I don't, Ireally get up and I just face
the day.
Cherie Werner (43:20):
I, you know, I've tried different things. I mean,
you know, I think there'sseasons in all of our lives that
certain things work for us. Imean, you know, there now I
just, I get out of bed and I go,I mean, like, just so much to
accomplish and get done, and,you know, I'm looking to try and
(43:41):
integrate more of those. I getup in the morning and I exercise
and, you know, I meditate in andI'm working towards adding that
in, but I get it. I mean, in somany regards, I'm like a
founder, and it's just likethere's not enough hours in a
day to get things done. And Ifeel this huge responsibility of
(44:06):
showing up and being there tosee these people who come
through our community and makingit better. Probably not you were
thinking you were going to getbut
Erin Geiger (44:20):
it's actually refreshing. They're like, I just
get up, I go, I start moving.
Cherie Werner (44:25):
Like, that's that's incredible. Yeah, I would
think my husband, I both, like,our ritual is, is, is that we
have an espresso machine and hefixes a cortado. And so we start
our day off that way. And, yeah,so that's good, making the bad
feeling like somethingaccomplished.
Erin Geiger (44:47):
Well, that is, there's, oh, there's a book that
I read, and I can't think of itnow, but they actually
recommend, like, making yourbed. Like, make your bed every
day. That's like something likeyou're starting off the day,
like you said, with anaccomplishment, you know, to
kind of propel you forward. So,um. And so earlier, you had
mentioned, like, you know, hey,sometimes books were my mentors.
Like, what books or podcasts orresources that have made an
(45:09):
impact on you that you wouldrecommend for others to check
out?
Cherie Werner (45:13):
Gosh, again, depending on what season of life
you're in, over the years, it'sbeen so many different things I
I'll say where I'm at right now.
I I listen to all in podcastswith my husband, because that's
one of his favorites. I love JayShetty. He has just the
different people that he has ondifferent perspectives. And I
(45:36):
really like listening todifferent perspectives. I have
no time to read. I mean, I usedto before doing all of this. I
literally am being like, if yousaw my house, I have so many
books, and I read a lot, but Ijust don't have time to do that.
But some of my favorite booksthat I've recently read that
have been inspiring, I'm in theprocess of reading. Let them by
(45:58):
Mel Robbins, yeah, which it'sbeen, yeah, which has been
really great, because, you know,you're going to always be
misunderstood by somebody, andyou know, just let them, you
know. So that's been, that'sbeen good. And then I like Jamie
Lima Kern, k e r n has writtentwo phenomenal books. She's the
(46:20):
one who did the It Cosmetics,and her first one is called,
believe it. And you know, as afemale founder, oh my gosh, the
things that she had to endure tobecome the the the most
successful female entrepreneurand selling a cosmetic company.
It's such a great read. And thenshe followed that up with, oh, I
(46:44):
can't remember what the hersecond book was, but, but that
was more general, and it wasequally as as good. So those are
books that, like, kind of standup, you know, like stand out
right now, but, yeah, and thepodcast when I when we're going
to sleep. So it depends on if myhusband puts on the podcast
(47:05):
first, or if I put mine onfirst.
Erin Geiger (47:12):
Yeah, I love everyone that you just
mentioned, and I did read,believe it, I haven't read her
second one, but, but I need tocheck that out. But believe it
really did resonate with me forsure. Where can people find you
online?
Cherie Werner (47:28):
So Fiesta dot community, and it's like, not
the grocery store, soit.community.com's and then grow
dot Fiesta dot community is ourplatform that we just launched
that is going to be more of aglobal So, Fiesta, communities,
(47:49):
everything here in Austin, andthen the one will be beyond
Austin, because of all thepeople who are remote workers
and are hopping around, and thenjust, you know, I'm on LinkedIn.
I that that's probably thesocial that I'm most engaged
with. I don't have time to doall the others. You know. Gotta
(48:11):
have grace on yourself. Youcan't do it all. I I'd love to
do a podcast. I just can't doit.
Erin Geiger (48:20):
You gotta draw the line somewhere.
Cherie Werner (48:22):
I love talking, so you're
Erin Geiger (48:24):
gonna have a great podcast. So I ask every guest
this question, because it's justsuper fun, and I create a
playlist for our listeners fromit. But if you can only listen
to one music artist for the restof your life, who would it
Cherie Werner (48:41):
be? Oh my gosh, I'm gonna do I go young or old?
I would say Taylor Swift, onlybecause I've gone to all of her
concerts with my my youngest andand I know most of her music
because it's the most relative.
And, you know, I just, you know,I like all genres of music, so
(49:02):
it's not like, Oh, this is myabsolute favorite or whatever,
but yeah, I love it. That's socool. Who would you listen to?
Beastie Boys?
Erin Geiger (49:14):
Oh, wow. Okay, now, right? I know it's so funny,
because a while back, I wastalking to my mom, and she was
like, still, Beastie Boys? Like,yeah. You an adult now? It's
like,
Cherie Werner (49:26):
my favorite, yeah, if I was to do one with my
husband, like, think of, youknow, because he, like, he would
have one, because when we weredating, every week he'd get a
new album. But it would beAmerica, probably only because
it brings me back to that timewhen we were first dating, and I
(49:46):
can, I know all the songs andstuff like that, but yeah, it
depends on where I want to goback to.
Erin Geiger (49:53):
It's very true, because there's certain Yeah,
times of your life or like,Okay, do I picking a current
person? Or am I picking, youknow. Like a classic or
whatever. So yeah, I totally getit. So Sheree, oh my gosh, we're
I always tell guests, I'm notgonna take up too much of your
time, but I feel like I couldtalk to you forever. So thank
you so much.
Cherie Werner (50:12):
So much fun.
Thank you really. I would loveto have coffee with you and then
continue conversation. So yeah,let's
Erin Geiger (50:21):
do it. Let's do it, or you're both here in Austin,
so that would be amazing. Soyeah, thank you so so much. Oh.
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