March 30, 2025 • 27 mins
Listen as Raven Heyward, founder and host of DiversifyHER, converses with Marlee Reiter. She is the Founder and Host of the Rooted podcast, where she interviews founders, executives, and thought leaders in the health and wellness industry who are helping our society get back to our roots in terms of our food system, social connections, purposes and passions.
Connect with Marlee:
Instagram: themarleemethod
LinkedIn: Marlee Reiter https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlee-reiter-144b2a235/
Podcast: Rooted https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rooted/id1772484361
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello everyone and welcome to Diversify Her Podcast
.
I'm your host, raven Hayward,and today I'm glad to welcome
Marlee Reeder.
She is the founder and host ofRooted Podcast, where she
interviews founders, executivesand thought leaders in health
and wellness industry who arehelping our society get back to
our roots in terms of our foodsystem, social connections and
(00:22):
purposes and passion.
She has interviewed notableguests like the CEO of Solid
Core, sweet Green, purelyElizabeth and more.
She is graduating from UVA'sMcIntyre School of Commerce this
spring and is hoping to find afull-time role in this industry
that she is passionate about.
She's originally from LongIsland, new York, but her family
recently moved to SouthwestFlorida.
(00:43):
In her free time, you can findher working out in any form,
going on multiple walks a dayoutside, spending quality time
with friends and family, cookinghealthy recipes and reading
either romance novels ornonfiction.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Thanks so much, raven .
I'm doing well.
It's finally spring inCharlottesville, virginia, which
is where I am right now, sothat has been putting me in a
really good mood.
As you said in the intro, I'vebeen going on a lot of walks
since.
The weather has been awesome,so definitely doing well.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, I'm doing good, and I can say the same thing
about how it is in Chapel Hill.
It's sunny out today, so I'mreally glad about that, and the
weather is finally starting togo up, instead of being in the
low 50s and 40s like it has beenin the past.
But I want to thank you so muchfor joining me today and I want
to get us started with.
Can you share a little bit moreabout your academic and
(01:40):
extracurricular experiences thatled you to where you are today?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
academic and extracurricular experiences that
led you to where you are today.
Yeah, so I definitely can shareabout my academic and
extracurricular experiences thatled me to where I am.
But I honestly think I'm goingto twist the question a little
bit, if that's okay with you.
Yeah, I think I would like tokind of start a little bit
earlier than that, because Ithink it's kind of important to
(02:03):
note my earlier experiences thatled to where I am.
So I kind of have been thinkinga lot about this lately.
Actually, just why I kind ofhave more of an entrepreneurial
mindset and why I'm kind of okaydoing things a little bit
against the grain and carving myown path, and I think it kind
(02:24):
of stems back to the fact that Ihave parents that have always
pushed doing my own thing andthey've never really pushed just
doing what everyone else isdoing.
They've never pressured me tobe a doctor, be a lawyer, you
know that typical thing that wehear a lot of parents are doing,
which is totally fine if someparents do that.
(02:45):
It's just that that hasn't beenmy parents' approach.
And in school, for example,growing up, I was never punished
, for example, if I got a badgrade, because my parents always
cared about what my effort wasas opposed to the outcomes that
I had, and I always was puttingin my 100% best effort.
(03:06):
And then, alongside that, my dadis also an entrepreneur and
he's actually never worked forsomeone himself.
So I growing up, I waswitnessing my parents, obviously
, and they're like the closestpeople in my life.
Throughout my entire life I washaving that combination of not
having someone push something onme but then also seeing an
(03:28):
entrepreneur, day in and day out, build businesses and all of
that.
So I think that that is reallywhat has kind of had a really
large impact on personality ingeneral and, while being at UVA
obviously has had a great impacton me as well.
I feel like it is just reallyimportant to note that that's
(03:48):
kind of had a really reallylarge impact on just my
personality before even cominghere.
I could stop there, though, ifyou have, if you want to dive
into that at all, or I can gointo UVA, which whatever
direction you want to take it in.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
No, I would love to dive more into that.
I feel like I resonate with alot of what you were saying.
My parents, they're the sameway.
They never pressured me toreally necessarily choose a
career path and even growing up,when I was doing certain things
, they were always like, as longas you tried your best, like we
just want to make sure you'reputting forth your best effort.
You know, no matter what thatis, but I'd love for you to dive
(04:23):
more into that.
I really enjoyed you talkingabout it.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, so well.
I guess that kind of is likethe overview of that.
But I think it is also kind ofwhat has affected my path at UVA
, specifically because I nevercame into UVA with a specific
major even in mind.
I came in completely undecidedand was open-minded to
(04:47):
everything, just to give alittle bit of background.
Doesn't know about UVA, I'm inMcIntyre, which is the
undergraduate business schoolhere, and most people come into
UVA when they are applying andif they want to be in McIntyre,
most people come in knowing thatthat's what they want to do.
We call it quote unquotepre-com because it be in
McIntyre.
Most people come in knowingthat that's what they want to do
.
We call it quote unquotepre-com because it's the
(05:08):
McIntyre School of Commerce.
I like that was not on my radarat all.
I didn't think I wanted to dobusiness at all.
I didn't.
I wasn't interested in financeor accounting.
I'm not a tech quantitativeperson at all and I had this
perception that that's whatbeing in the business school
would be like.
So I was kind of just open toanything.
I took an entrepreneurship classon a whim here in my fall
(05:31):
semester of my second year and Ijust absolutely loved it.
So I decided to look into theprerequisites to apply to the
business school because ours isa.
It was a two-year program, it'snow a three, but it began.
It began in my junior year here.
So I started looking into theprerequisites and what the
(05:53):
classes are here and I noticedthat it's actually not all
finance and accounting and youcan kind of do whatever you want
in the business school.
It doesn't have to be all theselike more math and technical
heavy classes.
So I spoke to the admissionsteam actually because it was
very unheard of of not coming inknowing that that's what you
(06:13):
want to do.
And then also I didn't take anyof the prerequisites.
So they said well, we'veactually never really had this
situation before where youhaven't taken the prerequisites,
we won't see what your gradesare when you apply.
If you want to roll the diceand take the chance and apply,
then you can, but we reallydon't know if you're going to
(06:35):
get in or not.
So I said you know what.
I am going to roll the dice andapply because, why not, I'm
really interested in this and Iended up getting in without
taking the prerequisites.
I had to take them beforeactually getting in, but they
never saw what my grades were inmost of the prerequisites.
And I kind of told this storylike I'm really doing this
(06:56):
because of how passionate I am,I'm fully taking a risk because
I'm going to have to take theseclasses, yeah.
So I think that that also kindof defines a lot about who I am
and what I'm going to have totake these classes, yeah.
So I think that that also kindof defines a lot about who I am
and what I'm like.
I'm really willing to kind ofdo things through the back door
and kind of in an unconventionalway, and that's kind of what's
(07:17):
defined a lot of my life andwhat has happened in my life,
just by doing things a littlebit differently and not afraid
to kind of go against the quoteunquote rules, if that makes
sense.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
So yeah, yeah, and I think that that's needed,
because I feel that a lot of thetimes we think things need to
happen in the traditional sense,or whenever we're told no or
whenever we hear someone maypotentially be doubting us.
Sometimes I can honestly turnpeople away, or they think that
there's not another way.
So I love the fact that, eventhough you were taking a risk,
(07:51):
you still bet on yourself andyou took that chance, and I
think we definitely need a lotmore of that.
And I feel that with the pastconversations that I've had with
folks and the way that theytalk about Gen Z is, they
definitely say that we're boldand we're always going against
the grain, but no one reallyunderstands how much you know
how much that takes and likejust how much fearlessness that
(08:11):
takes for someone to actually beable to do that and have the
resilience to push through, evenif they are told no.
So I respect you and I commendyou for doing that and
congratulations with how you'vebeen able to pursue that.
And now you're in your senioryear and you're about to
graduate soon, and the way thatI met you is actually through
College Contact, which is aprogram that I want you to just
(08:35):
expand more about.
I know that you're the chief ofit, so what has been the most
exciting or challenging part foryou in the role so far, and how
did you even get involved withwhat college contact is?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, okay, so kind of a lot to unpack there.
I will start I think this makesmost sense with how I got
involved in it.
So well, actually, no, I'llstart with what it is.
So, basically, college Contactit was founded by two UVA
McIntyre graduates, so theygraduated here back in 2023.
(09:06):
And basically what it is, it'sa startup that connects high
school students applying tocollege with current
undergraduate college mentors tohelp with the admissions
process.
So the two founders they, likeI said, graduated back in 2023,
and they've been doing this fulltime ever since graduating.
It's been doing really wellever since they've been
(09:28):
graduating and they've helpedover 5,000 students get into
school.
I like is, like it's prettyclear, I'm really interested in
entrepreneurship and startupsand back in my second year at
UVA, I decided to start apodcast called learning out loud
with two other students here atUVA, because the three of us
(09:52):
were really interested instarting something ourselves,
but we didn't really knowexactly what that was.
So we thought it would bereally interesting to just
interview a bunch ofentrepreneurs from a lot of
different industries that weprobably would have never spoken
with if we didn't do this.
So Sophie and Leah, who are thetwo co-founders of College
Contact are one of the companiesthat we decided to interview on
(10:16):
Learning Out Loud because theywere in our network at UVA and
it was pretty easy to get intouch with them.
So I kept in touch with Sophieand Leah.
After interviewing Sophie onthe podcast, and because they
knew that I was interested instartups and we kind of made a
good relationship, they actuallyreached out to me to be the
(10:36):
chief of staff.
This was now a year afterinterviewing them.
They just had an opening intheir chief of staff position
and before this, quite honestly,I would have never expected to
be working at this company.
I'm really interested in thehealth and wellness industry and
it kind of was an opportunitythat just landed in my lap
because of the connection that Imade through the podcast.
(10:58):
So that's how I got involved.
It's been an awesome experiencegetting to work under the CEO
and COO of a startup, especiallybecause I want to be at a
startup and, in the long termfuture, would love to be
starting something of my own.
Would love to be startingsomething of my own.
So it's definitely been a greatexperience and they've let me
(11:18):
kind of have a lot of autonomyand take a lot of, a lot of
things under my own belt andjust do a lot for myself.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
So yeah, yeah, oh, my goodness.
Okay, I want to go back tolearning out loud.
That sounds really cool and Iwant to know is it still
happening?
Are you still running thatpodcast?
I know that you have your ownpodcast that I wanted to get
into as well, with Roots, butcould you talk to me just about
your experience with podcastingand what first drew you to
(11:44):
wanting to start?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
yes.
So, like I mentioned, thereason that we decided to start
it in the first place was morejust to learn from entrepreneurs
and founders so that we cantake those learnings ourselves
and hopefully one day apply themto something that we start
ourselves.
And we figured, okay, if we'regoing to be talking to all these
founders, why not record it andpublicize it for other people
(12:10):
to hear?
So, through doing learning outloud, it's no longer we aren't
doing it anymore because one ofthe co-hosts graduated and
actually both of them graduatednow, so it kind of just didn't
make sense anymore.
But through doing it, I reallysaw that it was a great way to
get people to have conversationswith you and it's not just say,
(12:31):
ok, we can have a 15 to 20minute coffee chat or something
like that.
Okay, we can have a 15 to 20minute coffee chat or something
like that.
You're getting to talk to somereally, really interesting and
amazing people for sometimesover an hour and it really gets
to help you form realrelationships with people, like
how I kept in touch with Sophie,for example, and then I was at
the top of her mind for thenreaching out to someone about
(12:53):
the chief of staff position andI have a lot of other examples
like that as well.
So, since I knew that Idefinitely want to be in the
health and wellness industry,that's kind of what led me to
then say, okay, since I had thisreally great experience with
this podcast, I want to start myown rooted in the industry that
I definitely want to be in andmeet some really great people in
(13:16):
that industry and, same thing,publicize the information that
I'm learning along the way.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So that was kind of the thought process there.
Yeah, I feel that I pretty muchhad the similar thought process
whenever I started my ownpodcast in high school, and it
really has become such a greatway to network and just you know
, know that people are in yourcorner and want to see you
succeed and are there to helpyou in any way that they can.
(13:41):
I truly think that it does makean impact and I understand that
the past week or last week, youhad the chance to go and do
some more networking and you hada great event that you went to.
That was all because of yourpodcast Rooted, so could you
tell us more about thatexperience?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Oh gosh, yes, Okay.
So last week I was at thismassive event called Expo West.
If you don't really know aboutthe food CPG industry, you
probably don't know what it is,but you honestly might, because
all these companies have beenlike posting all about it on
their social medias.
But anyways, what it is is thelargest trade show for better,
(14:21):
for you, consumer packaged goodproducts.
So about a year ago, before Ieven had the podcast rooted, I
first saw this trade show on abunch of companies that I follow
and it's hard to even explainlike what it really is, but
basically it's this hugeconference center and there's
crazy booths like the craziestthings that you can even imagine
(14:44):
.
You'll have to like show somevideos or something like I'm not
gonna be able to explain itlike crazy, crazy booths of like
every company like CPG companythat you can imagine is there.
And I saw this online and itwas like all my favorite
favorite companies that werethere and I was thinking I have
to go to this, like this wouldbe so cool to go to, and I kind
(15:04):
of subconsciously made it a goalin the back of my mind to go.
It wasn't really a goal to goto this year's or anything.
It just was a goal in the backof my mind like I need to go to
this.
So fast forward.
I end up starting a podcast inthis space interviewing a lot of
the companies that are there.
So like Purely ElizabethJackson's Chips, mush, primal
(15:26):
Kitchen, just to name a few andI had this idea.
I was like, okay, let me go onthe Expo West website.
This was probably back in thefall, this fall.
Let me go on the Expo Westwebsite and see who counts to be
able to go, because it's notopen to the public.
You have to be involved in theindustry to be able to go, but
it's over like 70,000 peoplethat were there.
(15:48):
So there's a lot of peopleinvolved in this, but you have
to like count in some way to beable to go.
So at first I tried playing thestudent card.
I called them and I said, hey,like I'm a business student,
like I could get this written inmy school paper, blah, blah,
blah.
That didn't work.
Sometimes the student cardreally does work and I'm
actually like really upset aboutgraduating because I will no
(16:09):
longer be able to play that.
But that didn't work.
So then I started lookingthrough the categories and like
really reading through thetechnicalities and I was reading
under press that blogs count.
Some influencers count, but forblogs and influencers you have
to have a specific amount offollowing, so that didn't count
for my podcast.
(16:29):
But then I saw that podcastcount.
You don't have to show anymetrics or anything.
So I just took a whim and Iapplied.
I really didn't think I was evergoing to hear back from them.
My podcast is definitely notthat big yet keyword yet but I
really didn't think anything wasgoing to happen.
Two weeks later I got an emailsaying that I was accepted and
(16:50):
they like showed me my badge andeverything and it was the
greatest experience ever becauseI got to meet in person so many
of the companies that I've hadon my.
It's great, connecting withfounders that you've either been
emailing a bunch, calling abunch, but then also just
getting to see the energy andthe motivation and inspiration
(17:13):
like in person person.
It's just really hard to evenarticulate honestly how amazing
of an experience it is, and Ithink I'm not doing the best job
of explaining what it's reallylike.
If you like don't have a visual, but I'll definitely like send
you some clips or something yes,please do so.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
What was your favorite part of the conference
and how long was it?
Where did you stay Like?
I want more details about thisconference.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, so it's in Anaheim, California, so right
outside of LA.
It's actually like right byDisneyland.
So one of the nights weactually my friend came with me,
so one of the nights weactually went to like a Pixar
hotel for dinner, which wasactually kind of a mistake.
I made a reservation at arandom place and walking
(18:00):
distance ended up being that, sothat was fun.
What was the original question,though?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
I wanted to know what was your favorite part of the
conference.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So honestly I so basically all the companies they
give you samples of food allday long, like you're walking
around.
It started at 10 am, it ends at6 pm.
It's a three day longconference.
I was only there for two of thedays, which was perfect.
For someone in my case, who'snot like a buyer, retailer,
(18:30):
investor or something like itwas the perfect amount of time.
So I was expecting to be eatinga lot, because you're walking
around for literally like sixhours just eating and like just
going from booth to booth.
But I wasn't expecting to bethat full Like you're eating
little samples but for six hoursstraight.
(18:50):
It's a lot.
Like I genuinely have neverbeen that full in my entire life
.
But honestly, like I loved it.
It was so cool getting to tryall these new products that are
coming out.
But I would say my favorite part, like I kind of already
mentioned, was just getting tomeet in person a lot of the
(19:10):
people that I've been speakingwith.
I even went out to dinner withone of the people that I've been
speaking with.
I even went out to dinner withone of the founders that I've
had on the podcast.
So that was a really greatexperience.
We had like a two hour longconversation and I just really
appreciated that he even reachedout to me to do this in the
first place.
So I think it just really showsthat these connections that you
(19:31):
make just literally by taking achance and sending an email can
lead to some crazy things likeall this literally just started
with me starting the podcastwith sending one email and then
eventually I'm like going tothis crazy like 70,000 person
event that I had to apply to getinto.
So just crazy stuff, I wouldsay.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Now that's amazing and again, like you said, just
the power of networking theseconnections.
So, for any of my listenersthat are watching this or
listening, what advice do youhave for them?
If maybe they don't know how tostart with reaching out to
someone, or maybe they feel thattheir LinkedIn isn't up to par
with if they're going to get aresponse or not, do you have any
(20:15):
tips or advice for them?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yes.
So I think I want to give alittle bit more background
before answering this.
So because I gained a lot ofconfidence doing this because of
something that happened, likesomething that I did at UVA last
year, so I think that that willhelp give some more context.
So in the same.
So not in the sameentrepreneurship class, but with
the same professor.
So I think that that will helpgive some more context.
So in the same.
So not in the sameentrepreneurship class, but with
(20:38):
the same professor.
So I've taken twoentrepreneurship classes with
the same professor His name'sChip Rensler, shouting him out.
So this was last year in myspring semester.
So the first assignment in ourentrepreneurship class was to
find the best speaker that wecould possibly think of to come
(20:59):
into the class.
At this point in time I did nothave the podcast rooted, so the
point of the assignment was,like I said, to get the best
speaker to come into the class.
But then, additionally, it wasa competition because the class
was going to vote on whichperson in the class got the best
speaker to come in.
So I'm a really competitiveperson and I was really
(21:20):
motivated to get some crazyperson to come in.
So I kind of had a uniquetactic.
When reaching out to people, Idecided to say that we already
have this huge entrepreneurshipevent happening at UVA, with
dozens of founders coming in andhundreds of students coming to
(21:40):
watch.
It was kind of a white lie, tobe quite honest.
So I was fine doing thatbecause at the time I wasn't
really reaching out to somereally high level people yet, so
I had no idea that someonecould actually potentially
respond.
I really didn't think someonewas going to respond.
I ended up getting the cofounder and CEO of Kava to
(22:02):
respond and say that he wasinterested in coming.
So I was kind of like, oh shoot, well, I told him that this
event is happening and that'swhy he thinks that he should be
coming, is happening and that'swhy he thinks that he should be
coming.
So I ended up getting the classto vote for the CEO of Kava to
come in because obviously, likepeople wanted the CEO of Kava to
come in.
And we ended up actually makingthis an event after that and we
(22:27):
kind of based it on the founderof Kava coming in.
We strategically then decidedto reach out to people and say
we have the CEO of Kava comingin, we have this event happening
.
So then we ended up getting thefounder.
This was with the help of a fewothers as well.
It wasn't just me the founderof Hydro Flask.
I don't know if you've heard ofAlex Hormozy.
He's like a bigentrepreneurship person online
(22:49):
and founder of Mush PrimalKitchen.
Founder of mush primal kitchen.
So doing that is really whatgave me a lot of confidence.
To then realize, okay, I'mliterally just an average
college student, but I gotmultiple people to response me.
Oh, like to answer yourquestion for the listeners.
So are all of you like?
(23:10):
Not saying you're all average,but I'm saying like you can
reach out to whoever you want.
Not saying you're all average,but I'm saying like you can
reach out to whoever you want.
Sure, most people might notrespond, but there are going to
be a lot that will, and you justhave to do it, and the first
person that you get to respondis going to give you so much
confidence.
To then realize, okay, I cancontinue doing this and it
(23:30):
honestly just for me at least,becomes really fun and kind of
like a game, like I'm kind ofstrategically thinking okay,
what can I say to get thisperson to answer me?
How can I get this person'sattention and for everyone
listening, that's still incollege.
Put in the subject line, fillin the blank of your school
blank student and then saysomething about yourself in that
(23:52):
.
That's going to get theirattention.
And I'm telling you, playingthe student card is huge, like
people want to help students andthat's a big reason why, among
others, why I'm really upsetabout graduating, because now
I'm like, oh, what should be inmy subject line to get their
attention.
So I know I'm not fully givingspecific advice about how to get
(24:13):
in touch with people, but Iwould say that it really just
stems back to that confidencething and realizing that at the
end of the day you're reachingout to a person, it's not some
like robot, it's not some figurethat you've like made up in
your head, it's just anotherperson, even if they're like a
CEO of a billion dollar person,at the end of the day it's human
(24:33):
connection.
So use that.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
I think that's great advice and even I was told if
you send an email from yourstudent email, like them just
seeing, like at uncedu or atuvaedu, like at the end of your
email, that'll also make themyou know, see the email and
potentially want to respond toyou.
So thank you so much.
(24:56):
You basically also answered thelast signature question that I
have, which is one piece ofadvice that you give Gen Z to go
out and diversify themselvesand you ending with that last
quote I think was amazing.
But do you have anything elsethat you want to add to it?
When you say diversifythemselves.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Can you clarify, like what you mean there so I can
make sure?
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah, so basically diversifying themselves is like
expanding themselves, exploringnew things, getting themselves
involved in multiple areas Likewhat advice do you have for them
?
Basically, just be the bestversions.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Okay, this is just what comes to mind first.
I don't know, I'm sure I'llthink about this in like five
minutes and think of somethingelse.
Comes to mind first.
I don't know, I'm sure I'llthink about this in like five
minutes and think of somethingelse.
But I'm just really passionateabout the fact that you're going
to attract the best people inyour life the moment that you
kind of start fully acting likeyour authentic self.
And that definitely obviouslystarts with like understanding
(25:52):
yourself and reflecting.
But I think a lot of people dohave an understanding of
themselves but they're trying tofit into a mold or fit into
something that they're not andyou're never like, even when it
comes to friendships or mentorsor anything else.
You're never really going tohave those people that like,
truly, truly like, do make youfeel great and fill your cup and
(26:14):
whatever else, if you're notacting your most authentic self.
And I think once you startattracting those people, that
kind of just spills into all theother parts of your life and
kind of does help you I don'tknow create experiences for find
opportunities, because thepeople that kind of like quote
(26:36):
unquote should be in your lifeare just always going to be
elevating you and I'm justsomeone that's so passionate
about the fact that, like, theright relationships are
something that's almost likeoverlooked a lot and just pour
into everything else.
So that's kind of on the top ofmy mind.
So I don't know if that's likea biased answer, but yeah,
that's just no, I love that.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
I think that's such great advice and that's
something that we've beentalking about lately, or even
just one of my goals for the newyear is just to be more
intentional and always show upas my authentic self, because
you never know like the bestversion of yourself is what you
want to put out there, and youknow what you give out is also
what you'll attract back.
I love that and thank you somuch for coming on the podcast
(27:18):
today.
You dropped some golden nuggets.
I loved hearing your story andI can't wait to see Rooted
continue to grow and that yetwill be a present once you know
you keep going, and I can't waitto see what else you do and how
you flourish.
Thank you everyone to listeningto Diversify Her podcast.
I'll be sure to link Marley'spodcast as well, so you guys can
(27:40):
go listen and check her out andbe sure to subscribe to her as
well.
Thank you all for listening andI'll catch you next time on
Diversify Her.
Hello everyone and welcome to Diversify Her Podcast
.
I'm your host, raven Hayward,and today I'm glad to welcome
Marlee Reeder.
She is the founder and host ofRooted Podcast, where she
interviews founders, executivesand thought leaders in health
and wellness industry who arehelping our society get back to
our roots in terms of our foodsystem, social connections and
(00:22):
purposes and passion.
She has interviewed notableguests like the CEO of Solid
Core, sweet Green, purelyElizabeth and more.
She is graduating from UVA'sMcIntyre School of Commerce this
spring and is hoping to find afull-time role in this industry
that she is passionate about.
She's originally from LongIsland, new York, but her family
recently moved to SouthwestFlorida.
(00:43):
In her free time, you can findher working out in any form,
going on multiple walks a dayoutside, spending quality time
with friends and family, cookinghealthy recipes and reading
either romance novels ornonfiction.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Thanks so much, raven .
I'm doing well.
It's finally spring inCharlottesville, virginia, which
is where I am right now, sothat has been putting me in a
really good mood.
As you said in the intro, I'vebeen going on a lot of walks
since.
The weather has been awesome,so definitely doing well.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, I'm doing good, and I can say the same thing
about how it is in Chapel Hill.
It's sunny out today, so I'mreally glad about that, and the
weather is finally starting togo up, instead of being in the
low 50s and 40s like it has beenin the past.
But I want to thank you so muchfor joining me today and I want
to get us started with.
Can you share a little bit moreabout your academic and
(01:40):
extracurricular experiences thatled you to where you are today?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
academic and extracurricular experiences that
led you to where you are today.
Yeah, so I definitely can shareabout my academic and
extracurricular experiences thatled me to where I am.
But I honestly think I'm goingto twist the question a little
bit, if that's okay with you.
Yeah, I think I would like tokind of start a little bit
earlier than that, because Ithink it's kind of important to
(02:03):
note my earlier experiences thatled to where I am.
So I kind of have been thinkinga lot about this lately.
Actually, just why I kind ofhave more of an entrepreneurial
mindset and why I'm kind of okaydoing things a little bit
against the grain and carving myown path, and I think it kind
(02:24):
of stems back to the fact that Ihave parents that have always
pushed doing my own thing andthey've never really pushed just
doing what everyone else isdoing.
They've never pressured me tobe a doctor, be a lawyer, you
know that typical thing that wehear a lot of parents are doing,
which is totally fine if someparents do that.
(02:45):
It's just that that hasn't beenmy parents' approach.
And in school, for example,growing up, I was never punished
, for example, if I got a badgrade, because my parents always
cared about what my effort wasas opposed to the outcomes that
I had, and I always was puttingin my 100% best effort.
(03:06):
And then, alongside that, my dadis also an entrepreneur and
he's actually never worked forsomeone himself.
So I growing up, I waswitnessing my parents, obviously
, and they're like the closestpeople in my life.
Throughout my entire life I washaving that combination of not
having someone push something onme but then also seeing an
(03:28):
entrepreneur, day in and day out, build businesses and all of
that.
So I think that that is reallywhat has kind of had a really
large impact on personality ingeneral and, while being at UVA
obviously has had a great impacton me as well.
I feel like it is just reallyimportant to note that that's
(03:48):
kind of had a really reallylarge impact on just my
personality before even cominghere.
I could stop there, though, ifyou have, if you want to dive
into that at all, or I can gointo UVA, which whatever
direction you want to take it in.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
No, I would love to dive more into that.
I feel like I resonate with alot of what you were saying.
My parents, they're the sameway.
They never pressured me toreally necessarily choose a
career path and even growing up,when I was doing certain things
, they were always like, as longas you tried your best, like we
just want to make sure you'reputting forth your best effort.
You know, no matter what thatis, but I'd love for you to dive
(04:23):
more into that.
I really enjoyed you talkingabout it.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, so well.
I guess that kind of is likethe overview of that.
But I think it is also kind ofwhat has affected my path at UVA
, specifically because I nevercame into UVA with a specific
major even in mind.
I came in completely undecidedand was open-minded to
(04:47):
everything, just to give alittle bit of background.
Doesn't know about UVA, I'm inMcIntyre, which is the
undergraduate business schoolhere, and most people come into
UVA when they are applying andif they want to be in McIntyre,
most people come in knowing thatthat's what they want to do.
We call it quote unquotepre-com because it be in
McIntyre.
Most people come in knowingthat that's what they want to do
.
We call it quote unquotepre-com because it's the
(05:08):
McIntyre School of Commerce.
I like that was not on my radarat all.
I didn't think I wanted to dobusiness at all.
I didn't.
I wasn't interested in financeor accounting.
I'm not a tech quantitativeperson at all and I had this
perception that that's whatbeing in the business school
would be like.
So I was kind of just open toanything.
I took an entrepreneurship classon a whim here in my fall
(05:31):
semester of my second year and Ijust absolutely loved it.
So I decided to look into theprerequisites to apply to the
business school because ours isa.
It was a two-year program, it'snow a three, but it began.
It began in my junior year here.
So I started looking into theprerequisites and what the
(05:53):
classes are here and I noticedthat it's actually not all
finance and accounting and youcan kind of do whatever you want
in the business school.
It doesn't have to be all theselike more math and technical
heavy classes.
So I spoke to the admissionsteam actually because it was
very unheard of of not coming inknowing that that's what you
(06:13):
want to do.
And then also I didn't take anyof the prerequisites.
So they said well, we'veactually never really had this
situation before where youhaven't taken the prerequisites,
we won't see what your gradesare when you apply.
If you want to roll the diceand take the chance and apply,
then you can, but we reallydon't know if you're going to
(06:35):
get in or not.
So I said you know what.
I am going to roll the dice andapply because, why not, I'm
really interested in this and Iended up getting in without
taking the prerequisites.
I had to take them beforeactually getting in, but they
never saw what my grades were inmost of the prerequisites.
And I kind of told this storylike I'm really doing this
(06:56):
because of how passionate I am,I'm fully taking a risk because
I'm going to have to take theseclasses, yeah.
So I think that that also kindof defines a lot about who I am
and what I'm going to have totake these classes, yeah.
So I think that that also kindof defines a lot about who I am
and what I'm like.
I'm really willing to kind ofdo things through the back door
and kind of in an unconventionalway, and that's kind of what's
(07:17):
defined a lot of my life andwhat has happened in my life,
just by doing things a littlebit differently and not afraid
to kind of go against the quoteunquote rules, if that makes
sense.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
So yeah, yeah, and I think that that's needed,
because I feel that a lot of thetimes we think things need to
happen in the traditional sense,or whenever we're told no or
whenever we hear someone maypotentially be doubting us.
Sometimes I can honestly turnpeople away, or they think that
there's not another way.
So I love the fact that, eventhough you were taking a risk,
(07:51):
you still bet on yourself andyou took that chance, and I
think we definitely need a lotmore of that.
And I feel that with the pastconversations that I've had with
folks and the way that theytalk about Gen Z is, they
definitely say that we're boldand we're always going against
the grain, but no one reallyunderstands how much you know
how much that takes and likejust how much fearlessness that
(08:11):
takes for someone to actually beable to do that and have the
resilience to push through, evenif they are told no.
So I respect you and I commendyou for doing that and
congratulations with how you'vebeen able to pursue that.
And now you're in your senioryear and you're about to
graduate soon, and the way thatI met you is actually through
College Contact, which is aprogram that I want you to just
(08:35):
expand more about.
I know that you're the chief ofit, so what has been the most
exciting or challenging part foryou in the role so far, and how
did you even get involved withwhat college contact is?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, okay, so kind of a lot to unpack there.
I will start I think this makesmost sense with how I got
involved in it.
So well, actually, no, I'llstart with what it is.
So, basically, college Contactit was founded by two UVA
McIntyre graduates, so theygraduated here back in 2023.
(09:06):
And basically what it is, it'sa startup that connects high
school students applying tocollege with current
undergraduate college mentors tohelp with the admissions
process.
So the two founders they, likeI said, graduated back in 2023,
and they've been doing this fulltime ever since graduating.
It's been doing really wellever since they've been
(09:28):
graduating and they've helpedover 5,000 students get into
school.
I like is, like it's prettyclear, I'm really interested in
entrepreneurship and startupsand back in my second year at
UVA, I decided to start apodcast called learning out loud
with two other students here atUVA, because the three of us
(09:52):
were really interested instarting something ourselves,
but we didn't really knowexactly what that was.
So we thought it would bereally interesting to just
interview a bunch ofentrepreneurs from a lot of
different industries that weprobably would have never spoken
with if we didn't do this.
So Sophie and Leah, who are thetwo co-founders of College
Contact are one of the companiesthat we decided to interview on
(10:16):
Learning Out Loud because theywere in our network at UVA and
it was pretty easy to get intouch with them.
So I kept in touch with Sophieand Leah.
After interviewing Sophie onthe podcast, and because they
knew that I was interested instartups and we kind of made a
good relationship, they actuallyreached out to me to be the
(10:36):
chief of staff.
This was now a year afterinterviewing them.
They just had an opening intheir chief of staff position
and before this, quite honestly,I would have never expected to
be working at this company.
I'm really interested in thehealth and wellness industry and
it kind of was an opportunitythat just landed in my lap
because of the connection that Imade through the podcast.
(10:58):
So that's how I got involved.
It's been an awesome experiencegetting to work under the CEO
and COO of a startup, especiallybecause I want to be at a
startup and, in the long termfuture, would love to be
starting something of my own.
Would love to be startingsomething of my own.
So it's definitely been a greatexperience and they've let me
(11:18):
kind of have a lot of autonomyand take a lot of, a lot of
things under my own belt andjust do a lot for myself.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
So yeah, yeah, oh, my goodness.
Okay, I want to go back tolearning out loud.
That sounds really cool and Iwant to know is it still
happening?
Are you still running thatpodcast?
I know that you have your ownpodcast that I wanted to get
into as well, with Roots, butcould you talk to me just about
your experience with podcastingand what first drew you to
(11:44):
wanting to start?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
yes.
So, like I mentioned, thereason that we decided to start
it in the first place was morejust to learn from entrepreneurs
and founders so that we cantake those learnings ourselves
and hopefully one day apply themto something that we start
ourselves.
And we figured, okay, if we'regoing to be talking to all these
founders, why not record it andpublicize it for other people
(12:10):
to hear?
So, through doing learning outloud, it's no longer we aren't
doing it anymore because one ofthe co-hosts graduated and
actually both of them graduatednow, so it kind of just didn't
make sense anymore.
But through doing it, I reallysaw that it was a great way to
get people to have conversationswith you and it's not just say,
(12:31):
ok, we can have a 15 to 20minute coffee chat or something
like that.
Okay, we can have a 15 to 20minute coffee chat or something
like that.
You're getting to talk to somereally, really interesting and
amazing people for sometimesover an hour and it really gets
to help you form realrelationships with people, like
how I kept in touch with Sophie,for example, and then I was at
the top of her mind for thenreaching out to someone about
(12:53):
the chief of staff position andI have a lot of other examples
like that as well.
So, since I knew that Idefinitely want to be in the
health and wellness industry,that's kind of what led me to
then say, okay, since I had thisreally great experience with
this podcast, I want to start myown rooted in the industry that
I definitely want to be in andmeet some really great people in
(13:16):
that industry and, same thing,publicize the information that
I'm learning along the way.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So that was kind of the thought process there.
Yeah, I feel that I pretty muchhad the similar thought process
whenever I started my ownpodcast in high school, and it
really has become such a greatway to network and just you know
, know that people are in yourcorner and want to see you
succeed and are there to helpyou in any way that they can.
(13:41):
I truly think that it does makean impact and I understand that
the past week or last week, youhad the chance to go and do
some more networking and you hada great event that you went to.
That was all because of yourpodcast Rooted, so could you
tell us more about thatexperience?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Oh gosh, yes, Okay.
So last week I was at thismassive event called Expo West.
If you don't really know aboutthe food CPG industry, you
probably don't know what it is,but you honestly might, because
all these companies have beenlike posting all about it on
their social medias.
But anyways, what it is is thelargest trade show for better,
(14:21):
for you, consumer packaged goodproducts.
So about a year ago, before Ieven had the podcast rooted, I
first saw this trade show on abunch of companies that I follow
and it's hard to even explainlike what it really is, but
basically it's this hugeconference center and there's
crazy booths like the craziestthings that you can even imagine
(14:44):
.
You'll have to like show somevideos or something like I'm not
gonna be able to explain itlike crazy, crazy booths of like
every company like CPG companythat you can imagine is there.
And I saw this online and itwas like all my favorite
favorite companies that werethere and I was thinking I have
to go to this, like this wouldbe so cool to go to, and I kind
(15:04):
of subconsciously made it a goalin the back of my mind to go.
It wasn't really a goal to goto this year's or anything.
It just was a goal in the backof my mind like I need to go to
this.
So fast forward.
I end up starting a podcast inthis space interviewing a lot of
the companies that are there.
So like Purely ElizabethJackson's Chips, mush, primal
(15:26):
Kitchen, just to name a few andI had this idea.
I was like, okay, let me go onthe Expo West website.
This was probably back in thefall, this fall.
Let me go on the Expo Westwebsite and see who counts to be
able to go, because it's notopen to the public.
You have to be involved in theindustry to be able to go, but
it's over like 70,000 peoplethat were there.
(15:48):
So there's a lot of peopleinvolved in this, but you have
to like count in some way to beable to go.
So at first I tried playing thestudent card.
I called them and I said, hey,like I'm a business student,
like I could get this written inmy school paper, blah, blah,
blah.
That didn't work.
Sometimes the student cardreally does work and I'm
actually like really upset aboutgraduating because I will no
(16:09):
longer be able to play that.
But that didn't work.
So then I started lookingthrough the categories and like
really reading through thetechnicalities and I was reading
under press that blogs count.
Some influencers count, but forblogs and influencers you have
to have a specific amount offollowing, so that didn't count
for my podcast.
(16:29):
But then I saw that podcastcount.
You don't have to show anymetrics or anything.
So I just took a whim and Iapplied.
I really didn't think I was evergoing to hear back from them.
My podcast is definitely notthat big yet keyword yet but I
really didn't think anything wasgoing to happen.
Two weeks later I got an emailsaying that I was accepted and
(16:50):
they like showed me my badge andeverything and it was the
greatest experience ever becauseI got to meet in person so many
of the companies that I've hadon my.
It's great, connecting withfounders that you've either been
emailing a bunch, calling abunch, but then also just
getting to see the energy andthe motivation and inspiration
(17:13):
like in person person.
It's just really hard to evenarticulate honestly how amazing
of an experience it is, and Ithink I'm not doing the best job
of explaining what it's reallylike.
If you like don't have a visual, but I'll definitely like send
you some clips or something yes,please do so.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
What was your favorite part of the conference
and how long was it?
Where did you stay Like?
I want more details about thisconference.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, so it's in Anaheim, California, so right
outside of LA.
It's actually like right byDisneyland.
So one of the nights weactually my friend came with me,
so one of the nights weactually went to like a Pixar
hotel for dinner, which wasactually kind of a mistake.
I made a reservation at arandom place and walking
(18:00):
distance ended up being that, sothat was fun.
What was the original question,though?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
I wanted to know what was your favorite part of the
conference.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So honestly I so basically all the companies they
give you samples of food allday long, like you're walking
around.
It started at 10 am, it ends at6 pm.
It's a three day longconference.
I was only there for two of thedays, which was perfect.
For someone in my case, who'snot like a buyer, retailer,
(18:30):
investor or something like itwas the perfect amount of time.
So I was expecting to be eatinga lot, because you're walking
around for literally like sixhours just eating and like just
going from booth to booth.
But I wasn't expecting to bethat full Like you're eating
little samples but for six hoursstraight.
(18:50):
It's a lot.
Like I genuinely have neverbeen that full in my entire life
.
But honestly, like I loved it.
It was so cool getting to tryall these new products that are
coming out.
But I would say my favorite part, like I kind of already
mentioned, was just getting tomeet in person a lot of the
(19:10):
people that I've been speakingwith.
I even went out to dinner withone of the people that I've been
speaking with.
I even went out to dinner withone of the founders that I've
had on the podcast.
So that was a really greatexperience.
We had like a two hour longconversation and I just really
appreciated that he even reachedout to me to do this in the
first place.
So I think it just really showsthat these connections that you
(19:31):
make just literally by taking achance and sending an email can
lead to some crazy things likeall this literally just started
with me starting the podcastwith sending one email and then
eventually I'm like going tothis crazy like 70,000 person
event that I had to apply to getinto.
So just crazy stuff, I wouldsay.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Now that's amazing and again, like you said, just
the power of networking theseconnections.
So, for any of my listenersthat are watching this or
listening, what advice do youhave for them?
If maybe they don't know how tostart with reaching out to
someone, or maybe they feel thattheir LinkedIn isn't up to par
with if they're going to get aresponse or not, do you have any
(20:15):
tips or advice for them?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yes.
So I think I want to give alittle bit more background
before answering this.
So because I gained a lot ofconfidence doing this because of
something that happened, likesomething that I did at UVA last
year, so I think that that willhelp give some more context.
So in the same.
So not in the sameentrepreneurship class, but with
the same professor.
So I think that that will helpgive some more context.
So in the same.
So not in the sameentrepreneurship class, but with
(20:38):
the same professor.
So I've taken twoentrepreneurship classes with
the same professor His name'sChip Rensler, shouting him out.
So this was last year in myspring semester.
So the first assignment in ourentrepreneurship class was to
find the best speaker that wecould possibly think of to come
(20:59):
into the class.
At this point in time I did nothave the podcast rooted, so the
point of the assignment was,like I said, to get the best
speaker to come into the class.
But then, additionally, it wasa competition because the class
was going to vote on whichperson in the class got the best
speaker to come in.
So I'm a really competitiveperson and I was really
(21:20):
motivated to get some crazyperson to come in.
So I kind of had a uniquetactic.
When reaching out to people, Idecided to say that we already
have this huge entrepreneurshipevent happening at UVA, with
dozens of founders coming in andhundreds of students coming to
(21:40):
watch.
It was kind of a white lie, tobe quite honest.
So I was fine doing thatbecause at the time I wasn't
really reaching out to somereally high level people yet, so
I had no idea that someonecould actually potentially
respond.
I really didn't think someonewas going to respond.
I ended up getting the cofounder and CEO of Kava to
(22:02):
respond and say that he wasinterested in coming.
So I was kind of like, oh shoot, well, I told him that this
event is happening and that'swhy he thinks that he should be
coming, is happening and that'swhy he thinks that he should be
coming.
So I ended up getting the classto vote for the CEO of Kava to
come in because obviously, likepeople wanted the CEO of Kava to
come in.
And we ended up actually makingthis an event after that and we
(22:27):
kind of based it on the founderof Kava coming in.
We strategically then decidedto reach out to people and say
we have the CEO of Kava comingin, we have this event happening
.
So then we ended up getting thefounder.
This was with the help of a fewothers as well.
It wasn't just me the founderof Hydro Flask.
I don't know if you've heard ofAlex Hormozy.
He's like a bigentrepreneurship person online
(22:49):
and founder of Mush PrimalKitchen.
Founder of mush primal kitchen.
So doing that is really whatgave me a lot of confidence.
To then realize, okay, I'mliterally just an average
college student, but I gotmultiple people to response me.
Oh, like to answer yourquestion for the listeners.
So are all of you like?
(23:10):
Not saying you're all average,but I'm saying like you can
reach out to whoever you want.
Not saying you're all average,but I'm saying like you can
reach out to whoever you want.
Sure, most people might notrespond, but there are going to
be a lot that will, and you justhave to do it, and the first
person that you get to respondis going to give you so much
confidence.
To then realize, okay, I cancontinue doing this and it
(23:30):
honestly just for me at least,becomes really fun and kind of
like a game, like I'm kind ofstrategically thinking okay,
what can I say to get thisperson to answer me?
How can I get this person'sattention and for everyone
listening, that's still incollege.
Put in the subject line, fillin the blank of your school
blank student and then saysomething about yourself in that
(23:52):
.
That's going to get theirattention.
And I'm telling you, playingthe student card is huge, like
people want to help students andthat's a big reason why, among
others, why I'm really upsetabout graduating, because now
I'm like, oh, what should be inmy subject line to get their
attention.
So I know I'm not fully givingspecific advice about how to get
(24:13):
in touch with people, but Iwould say that it really just
stems back to that confidencething and realizing that at the
end of the day you're reachingout to a person, it's not some
like robot, it's not some figurethat you've like made up in
your head, it's just anotherperson, even if they're like a
CEO of a billion dollar person,at the end of the day it's human
(24:33):
connection.
So use that.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
I think that's great advice and even I was told if
you send an email from yourstudent email, like them just
seeing, like at uncedu or atuvaedu, like at the end of your
email, that'll also make themyou know, see the email and
potentially want to respond toyou.
So thank you so much.
(24:56):
You basically also answered thelast signature question that I
have, which is one piece ofadvice that you give Gen Z to go
out and diversify themselvesand you ending with that last
quote I think was amazing.
But do you have anything elsethat you want to add to it?
When you say diversifythemselves.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Can you clarify, like what you mean there so I can
make sure?
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah, so basically diversifying themselves is like
expanding themselves, exploringnew things, getting themselves
involved in multiple areas Likewhat advice do you have for them
?
Basically, just be the bestversions.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Okay, this is just what comes to mind first.
I don't know, I'm sure I'llthink about this in like five
minutes and think of somethingelse.
Comes to mind first.
I don't know, I'm sure I'llthink about this in like five
minutes and think of somethingelse.
But I'm just really passionateabout the fact that you're going
to attract the best people inyour life the moment that you
kind of start fully acting likeyour authentic self.
And that definitely obviouslystarts with like understanding
(25:52):
yourself and reflecting.
But I think a lot of people dohave an understanding of
themselves but they're trying tofit into a mold or fit into
something that they're not andyou're never like, even when it
comes to friendships or mentorsor anything else.
You're never really going tohave those people that like,
truly, truly like, do make youfeel great and fill your cup and
(26:14):
whatever else, if you're notacting your most authentic self.
And I think once you startattracting those people, that
kind of just spills into all theother parts of your life and
kind of does help you I don'tknow create experiences for find
opportunities, because thepeople that kind of like quote
(26:36):
unquote should be in your lifeare just always going to be
elevating you and I'm justsomeone that's so passionate
about the fact that, like, theright relationships are
something that's almost likeoverlooked a lot and just pour
into everything else.
So that's kind of on the top ofmy mind.
So I don't know if that's likea biased answer, but yeah,
that's just no, I love that.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
I think that's such great advice and that's
something that we've beentalking about lately, or even
just one of my goals for the newyear is just to be more
intentional and always show upas my authentic self, because
you never know like the bestversion of yourself is what you
want to put out there, and youknow what you give out is also
what you'll attract back.
I love that and thank you somuch for coming on the podcast
(27:18):
today.
You dropped some golden nuggets.
I loved hearing your story andI can't wait to see Rooted
continue to grow and that yetwill be a present once you know
you keep going, and I can't waitto see what else you do and how
you flourish.
Thank you everyone to listeningto Diversify Her podcast.
I'll be sure to link Marley'spodcast as well, so you guys can
(27:40):
go listen and check her out andbe sure to subscribe to her as
well.
Thank you all for listening andI'll catch you next time on
Diversify Her.
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