Discover how Jennifer Dulski, CEO and founder of Rising Team, transformed her career from high school teacher and nonprofit founder to a trailblazer in the tech industry. Jennifer's journey through leadership roles at Yahoo, Google, and Facebook provided a unique foundation for her to create a company focused on enhancing teamwork dynamics. In this episode, you'll learn how her diverse background helped shape Rising Team and why taking small, actionable steps can be the key to launching your own venture.
The importance of mentorship and balancing personal life with professional responsibilities takes center stage in this conversation. Jennifer shares her wisdom on the concept of a "work-life mashup," showing us how integrating family with our work lives, and releasing guilt, can lead to enhanced performance in both arenas. Drawing inspiration from her book "Purposeful," we explore how everyday individuals can utilize entrepreneurial strategies to drive significant change in their lives and communities.
Building trust and connection within teams is more critical than ever in today’s evolving workplace. Jennifer explains how Rising Team equips managers with the tools to foster psychological safety, appreciation, and effective feedback, ultimately improving team dynamics and productivity. We also explore Jennifer's global vision for Rising Team's expansion, touching on its current impact across various sectors and her ongoing dedication to teaching, mentoring, and supporting other female founders. This episode is packed with practical strategies and inspiring stories that will leave you motivated to lead with authenticity and vision.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
This is the Female Founder Show with host and
entrepreneur Bridget Fitzpatrick, exclusively on ASBN.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Female Founder
Show.
I'm Bridget Fitzpatrick and I'mso excited to talk with today's
guest, jennifer Dulski, ceo andfounder of Rising Team.
Jennifer, known for herinnovative leadership, has
established a stellar careerwhere she has worked with Yahoo,
google and Facebook beforestarting her company, rising
Team.
At Rising Team, jennifer isreshaping teamwork dynamics with
(00:40):
cutting-edge strategies, andher impact has been inspiring
women worldwide to breakbarriers and pursue their dreams
, and that's what we're allabout here at the Female
Founders Show.
So with that, jennifer, thankyou so much for joining us.
Thanks so much for having me.
Great to be here Now.
There's so much more to yourstory than what I just mentioned
, so can you share with us alittle bit about your background
(01:01):
?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, I have a pretty atypical background into
getting into a career in tech,which is that I started my
career as a high school teacher,and I started a nonprofit to
help motivated andunder-resourced kids become
first-generation collegegraduates.
So, in a way, I was a founderfrom the beginning, but the fact
(01:22):
that I worked in education andwas a teacher is pretty unusual
for folks who have careers intechnology, and I think it was
actually really helpful, becauseit gave me a deep understanding
of how to create a vision thatyou could get people excited
around, and how to raise moneyfor something and get it off the
ground.
And the reason I moved fromnonprofit into tech is because I
(01:44):
was looking for ways to createimpact at larger scale, and I
knew that in the nonprofit world, I could raise twice the money
and serve just about twice thepeople, and it felt like, if I
did this through tech, therewould be a way to scale it much
more exponentially, which wastrue.
The surprising fact, I will say, though, is that you know that
(02:05):
nonprofit that I started is nowgoing to hit its 30th
anniversary this summer, sosometimes you can create things
and they do scale dramatically.
It just takes a lot of time,and so, anyway, I then spent the
next 20 plus years working intech.
I've had leadership roles, asyou mentioned that.
You know several of the bigtech companies, and then I've
done three startups.
(02:26):
I'm on my third one.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, congratulations , very, very accomplished.
So you're now running RisingTeam.
Talk to us about the motivationfor starting Rising Team.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So this happens with a lot of founders.
I'm essentially building theproduct I wish I had had as a
leader of teams my whole career.
So I knew in all these roles Ihad leading very large teams
that the companies I worked inwere more successful when the
teams were successful, whenindividual people felt motivated
and inspired to do their workand connected to each other.
(03:00):
And I didn't feel like I hadthe tools I needed to do that at
scale.
So you know, I was lucky tohave executive coaches and be
sent to really amazing trainings, but it always felt to me like
I was being taught to fish andthen I would have to go back to
the lake with like the bookabout how to fish instead of the
fishing pole and the bait.
(03:20):
And so what we build at RisingTeam is that fishing pole so
that every manager on all kindsof teams can build deep
connection and improveperformance on their team.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I love that.
I love that.
So you saw the need and youcreated it.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yes, and it's kind of , in some ways it feels like the
company I've been meant tobuild my whole career.
It's like the culmination ofeverything I've done, because
the teaching and the scalingteams and actually even early in
my life I was a coxswain on therowing team.
I don't know if everyone knowswhat that is, but I learned a
lot of lessons about leadershipand about team building through
(03:56):
various points in my life andall of that is coming together
into building Rising Team.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So, as a successful female founder yourself, what
advice would you give thoseentrepreneurs that are just
starting out?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So my number one piece of advice is just get
started.
The hardest part about being anentrepreneur is just overcoming
the friction to do something.
It can feel really scary and infact, when I started my first
company, I looked up the odds ofsuccess and it turns out I was
more likely to have reportedseeing a UFO than I was for my
(04:33):
company to succeed, because onein eight US adults has reported
seeing a UFO and only one innine or 10 venture-backed
companies succeed.
But I thought to myself I willalways regret this if I don't
try.
And so the key is you know youdon't have to raise millions of
dollars day one.
You wanna just start with asmall step.
(04:53):
And you know we'll talk aboutit a bit later.
But I wrote a book calledPurposeful, about how all of us
have the power to be movementstarters and entrepreneurs, and
everything big that people startall begins with a small step.
So for Rising Team, as anexample, the first thing that I
did was just write an outline.
I didn't, you know, go try todo something big.
(05:15):
I just got it down on paper.
What's the problem I'm tryingto solve?
Who are the customers?
What are their needs?
How might I solve this for them.
And then I started talking to afew people about it, and it's
one small step and a secondsmall step, and that's how
things blossom.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's great advice, and not only you know mentioning
just get started, but also whatyou did when you just started,
because a lot of times they justjust start it, but okay, what
does that mean?
So thanks for sharing that.
That's great advice.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, absolutely, and they can.
The just get started can be allkinds of different things, you
know.
Sometimes people write an emailto their friends, sometimes
they gather people together,Sometimes they do a build a
little mini prototype.
It can be any version of it,it's just.
You know, like they say in yoga, get on the mat.
That is the hardest part ofyoga.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, exactly Now.
We all experience setbacks andchallenges as founders.
How do you navigate thosechallenges and maintain
motivation and positivity?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, this is, as it turns out, the number one skill
of being an entrepreneur is justpure resilience, and you know I
liken it to climbing a mountain.
I say, you know, being anentrepreneur or a founder is
like climbing a mountain.
Some days it's super sunny andI brought a picnic lunch and I
can see the top and it looksamazing.
(06:33):
And other days it is a giantstorm and I feel so defeated and
I can't even see the top.
And sometimes literally thosethings happen on the same day.
So I remind myself of a fewthings.
One is do I care about what I'mclimbing?
For If you're passionate enoughabout it, it makes you want to
keep climbing, regardless ofwhether the day is dark and
(06:56):
stormy.
Two is who am I climbing with?
So if you bring people along onthe journey with you that you
love to work with and climb thatmountain with, even on the dark
days, you can support eachother.
And the third is just one stepforward.
It's the same as starting witha small step.
(07:16):
The idea is, days will go backand forth and we know that.
So I remind myself, on thestormy days it will get sunny
again, and in fact sometimes Ihave days, or even weeks or
months where multiple bad thingswill happen in a row and I just
keep saying to myself somethingsunny is going to happen, and
(07:37):
invariably it does.
And then the key also is to notstop and slow down too much
when the days are sunny, becauseyou want to keep moving forward
Even when things feel great.
That's how you ultimately winin the end.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I love all of those steps, and you mentioned support
and who you're climbing with.
Have you had any mentors alongyour journey and, if so, how
have they influenced you?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
So many mentors.
So I have a saying that I use,which is every person is a
teacher and every experience isa lesson, and I developed this,
actually when I first startedwriting on LinkedIn.
So in 2013, linkedin asked me tobecome one of the early
LinkedIn influencers, and to dothat, it meant I had to write
(08:22):
regularly on LinkedIn, and atthat time, I wasn't writing a
lot and I just thought, gosh,what do I have to write about
that I can just talk about allthe time?
And so what I did was I wentback through my life and I
thought about all the people inmy life and all the experiences,
and I started writing postscalled Five Lessons I Learned
From, and it turns out I couldcome up with five lessons from
(08:46):
just about anyone.
I wrote one about each of myparents, I wrote about many
former bosses, I wrote aboutexperiences like teaching high
school, or I went abroad intothe Amazon rainforest, and each
of these things taught me many,many lessons.
And so when I think aboutmentors, my view is just they're
all around us if we keep oureyes open to learning from them,
(09:10):
and I've learned so many thingsfrom my various mentors, like
how to be a better listener, howto be resilient in tough
moments, how to show up withconfidence when you need to all
sorts of different things fromdifferent people.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
That's great and it's a constant.
So always learning, alwayslearning.
So I'm sure you get thisquestion a lot.
I do.
Balancing work and yourprofessional life, your personal
life, can be tough.
So how do you prioritizeself-care and maintain a healthy
work-life balance?
Speaker 3 (09:42):
self-care and maintain a healthy work-life
balance.
Yeah, so I am also a mom and Ido.
I get you know.
I teach.
I teach two classes at thebusiness school at Stanford and
I get this question all the timefrom students mainly female
students, but also male studentssometimes, you know, asking
about how do you do it, how doyou be an entrepreneur and be a
(10:02):
parent, and I use a term I callthe work-life mashup.
So I don't believe in work-lifebalance.
I actually think it's like notreally possible.
The idea of balance suggeststhat some things are equal all
the time and there's just no waythat these things are equal.
So I have tried in my life tomerge them together.
So a mashup is like layers ofmusic on top of each other or
(10:26):
applications, and that's kind ofwhat I've done.
You know, I was running myfirst company when my kids were
small and so I did things likeput our office across the
parking lot from the place wherethey took dance lessons every
day so that they could, you know, run over and I could do their
bun in the middle of the daybefore they went to dance, and
(10:47):
then they'd do their homework atour office afterwards.
And you know, as a founder, youhave the flexibility to do
things like that, which youdon't always have if you work
inside large companies.
And I've done both and I'vefound a way to make it work in
both.
My number one.
So I guess I have two learningshere.
One is it's okay to merge themtogether and people are actually
(11:10):
better colleagues and betterteammates when they understand
each other's lives outside ofwork.
And so I have not shied awayfrom, you know, bringing my kids
on work trips with me andthings like that.
The second is guilt doesn't makeme better at either work or
home, and so early on I feltguilty a lot of the time.
(11:34):
I thought, oh, I went back towork too soon after I had my
child.
I you know they're not, they'renot going to be as close to me
because I'm not spending as muchtime at home realized over time
that feeling guilty about itdidn't make me a better mom and
didn't make me, you know,feeling guilty about work didn't
make me better at work.
And so I learned to most of thetime, just put the guilt aside
(11:59):
and say I'm just going to do mybest.
That's all I can do.
I can do my best.
And there were definitelymoments that were challenging.
I tell a story sometimes abouthow, when my older daughter was
like three or four, she was atthe playground and she was in
one of those little playhousesand I went in and I said can I
play with you?
And she said I'm in a meeting.
(12:20):
Oh my God, this is how shealready sees me.
But you know, it turned outokay.
My kids are in their twenties,they're.
They have great lives.
We have a good relationship andI did my best.
That's all I can do.
That's great.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
And they saw you doing your best and I'm sure
that was very helpful.
Yeah, that's a cute story andthanks for sharing that, because
I think that a lot of peoplewatching this show are moms and
do feel that guilt and it'sprobably hard to put aside.
But, like you said, it's not.
It's not doing you any good,it's not doing your family any
good, it's not doing yourbusiness any good.
So, if you can put it aside,yeah, let's talk about your book
(12:58):
Purposeful, bestselling bookPurposeful.
Are you a manager or a movementstarter?
Talk to us about that and someof the takeaways that you'd like
for our audience to know.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
So I wrote that book.
While I started writing it,when I was president at
Changeorg.
So my job was to scale andamplify people's voices all over
the world around the campaignsthat they cared about.
And what I saw happening, whichwas amazing, is that regular
everyday people you know,teenagers and grandparents and
moms and veterans were startingthese campaigns to create real
(13:34):
change in the world, either intheir local community or
nationally, or sometimesglobally, and they were all kind
of following the same formula.
And actually that formulalooked very similar to what I
had seen in Silicon Valley ofthese people who start big,
successful companies.
And so I thought if I couldgive people the formula, maybe
more people could do thissuccessfully and start these
(13:56):
world changing movements andcampaigns or start big,
successful companies.
And so that's what the book isabout.
There are seven key steps todoing it, but I have since
shortened it into what I callthe big three C's, and those C's
are courage, community andcommitment.
And we've already talkedactually about two of the three
(14:17):
C's, because the first iscourage.
It's taking that small stepjust getting started.
I sometimes compare this tobeing like being the first one
to start a standing ovation whenthe show is just pretty good,
like you're not positive thatother people will stand up, but
you try it anyway.
It's that kind of feeling,that's the courage.
(14:38):
And then, and by the way,almost never do people start a
standing ovation and no onejoins them even though it feels
uncomfortable.
That's a good point, and so,yeah, and so then the second C
is community, because you can'treally create anything of
meaning and value if you don'thave people joining you along
that journey, and a lot of it is.
(14:59):
How do you tell the story andcraft a vision that inspires
people?
And then how do you welcomepeople into that tent and give
them roles and responsibilitiesso that they can carry on and
build it alongside you?
And even without you, like, ifI think about that nonprofit I
started, it's been running 30years.
I only stayed the first four.
(15:20):
It didn't actually need me forthe next 26 years.
And then the third one iscommitment, which we talked
about the mountain, like thenumber one reason that
businesses and movements fail isbecause people fall down and
don't get back up again.
And the truth is we're justgoing to get knocked down over
(15:40):
and over and the real path towinning is just okay, dust
myself off and and get up again.
So that's what it takes.
And then there are some othertips in there, like about
understanding the people you'retrying to persuade and not
getting caught up in what I callthe haterade and all of that.
(16:02):
But the key to being successfulare three Cs.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I love it.
I love it.
Thank you for sharing that.
Now I would love to talk to youabout how you're helping
managers and team leaders atRising Team.
Your software shares kits tohelp leaders build connections,
and so much more.
Can you talk to us a little bitmore about this?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah.
So you know, we're in aworkplace that is just massively
different and pretty challengedright now.
So if you think about the waywork has evolved over the past
three to four years since thepandemic, we're now in a spot
where 75% of all teleworkablejobs are hybrid, so people don't
work in physical offices asmuch anymore, meaning they don't
(16:42):
see each other that often.
Many companies are strugglingwith what we call RTO mandates
return to office.
So am I forcing people to beback in the office, am I not?
How many days a of wanting tofeel valued and a sense of
(17:11):
belonging at work, and now wehave AI excuse me coming in on
top and pressuring everybody tothink if I don't learn this, I'm
going to lose my job.
So this is an overwhelmingworkplace we're in right now and
um and it all lands on managers.
The poor managers are the oneswho have to help their teams
(17:33):
navigate this, and we just don'tequip them.
The current ways that we equipmanagers are insufficient,
because we either train them bythemselves with video or kind of
on-demand content and give themnothing to bring back to their
teams, or sometimes we give themcoaches and facilitators who
are really helpful but veryexpensive and hard to scale
(17:54):
throughout an organization, andso what we do at Rising Team is
that we give managers these kits, as you mentioned, which help
them guide their own teamwithout a facilitator, through
deeply connecting team workshopson key leadership drivers of
high-performing teams, so thingslike psychological safety and
(18:15):
appreciation and giving feedback, and then also pure connection
sessions that are just about howI get to know you better as a
human being, and we suggest thatteams do these a couple times a
quarter.
So not a lot of time, but withthat limited time, just the idea
of setting time aside to get tounderstand each other better.
(18:37):
We've shown 100% of ourcustomers move, their employee
engagement scores, theiremployee net promoter score,
manager effectiveness.
All of this goes up just bygiving managers the tools to
better understand their teams.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
That's awesome, and you know, business owners are
nothing without the hard work oftheir teams, and so, in your
experience, what's the numberone mistake that leaders are
making when it comes to theirteams?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Yeah, so the number one mistake people are making is
thinking they don't have timeto build connection.
So I and this is the number onemistake people are making is
thinking they don't have time tobuild connection.
So I and this is the number onepushback we get to people using
rising teams I don't have time,We've got too, we're too busy,
we have too many goals, etcetera.
And the thing I always pointout are you a Top Gun fan?
(19:25):
Did you watch the movieMaverick?
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Yes, I watched, I did yes, it was very good.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
So I am a big Top Gun fan.
I've seen the first one toomany times that I want to get,
and the second one a few timesas well.
And there's a great scene inMaverick, the new Top Gun, where
he takes the team to the beachto play beach football.
And theiral comes to the beachand he says what are we doing?
(19:51):
We have this important mission.
Why are we here playing games?
And Tom Cruise turns to him andhe says you said to create a
team, sir.
There's your team and that isflag football.
And my view is probably we cando a little bit better than flag
football because we can builddeeper authentic connections.
But to say I don't have a fewhours a quarter to spend time
(20:15):
making my team feel understoodand valued is why our teams
don't feel understood and valued.
And when they don't feel thatway, they quit, or they quiet
quit or they're justunproductive and unhappy.
So that's the number onemistake is I don't have time for
that.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Okay, and you talk about community a lot, and part
of that is trust, and it's ahuge part of leadership.
What advice can you share thathelps leaders build trust with
their teams?
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah.
So trust really comes fromunderstanding each other as
humans.
So it's funny before I builtRising Team when people used to
come to me and say, oh, I'mhaving a conflict or we have
this disagreement on the team,my advice was always go have a
beer or a cup of tea Before youget into like, oh, we're
fighting about this work thing.
(21:02):
Just understand each otherfirst, because usually that
explains why the things arehappening.
People don't act a certain wayout of nowhere that you know.
There's things going on in ourlives all the time.
And you know I one of myfavorite books is called
Everybody's Got Something byRobin Roberts.
I don't know if you've read it.
She's incredible.
(21:23):
Good morning America.
And yeah, and she's beenthrough a really difficult
multiple personal health battlesand she says everybody's got
something.
And she's been through a reallydifficult multiple personal
health battles and she sayseverybody's got something.
And it's just so true on anygiven day.
So I sometimes give a talk aboutthis topic and I asked this
question how many of you havereceived a phone call with
(21:44):
serious medical news at workabout yourself or someone close
to you?
And like, 80% of the audiencewill stand up to that question
because we all have.
We've all gotten that callabout a parent or a kid or
ourselves while we're in themiddle of a work day and when
you ask that question and peoplestand up and they look at each
(22:06):
other, it's this huge aha moment, like I am not alone.
And that's what builds trust isunderstanding.
We are not alone and that comesfrom understanding what's going
on in each other's livesoutside of work.
It doesn't mean you have to knowevery personal detail about
people's.
You know addictions anddivorces and all of that,
(22:27):
although if they're willing toshare, it might help you work
better together.
Right, you understand?
Right, Exactly.
So that's my view is trustcomes from understanding.
It comes from listening.
We are building tools to makeit easier for people to do that,
because sometimes it's hard toget into those conversations.
So you know, we have also shortmini kits that are 10 minutes
(22:48):
long that ask questions like howdo you like to be supported on
a bad day?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Okay, good, I'm glad you mentioned that because I was
wondering how do you pull itout of the team members that
just might be more introvertedor quiet, or maybe they don't
feel like sharing.
But I guess you're about to goback.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Well, the first thing is people.
We have a set of ground ruleswe start with and we tell them
to only share what iscomfortable to them.
So we never want to push anyoneto where they're feeling
uncomfortable.
The second thing is that theleaders who are facilitating so
the managers or the team lead.
We give them a little bit oftraining before they facilitate
(23:26):
these sessions.
And oftentimes we encouragethem to share first, because
usually if someone gives anexample of more open sharing,
then it encourages other peopleto be a little bit more open as
well.
And we also always give peopleoptions Like you can share
either a personal story or awork story.
You can share someone reallyclose to you or a little farther
(23:48):
out.
So we try to give peoplechoices so that they never have
to get uncomfortable.
And then you'd be surprised howbasic, simple questions like
how do you like to be supportedon a bad day, or what makes you
feel really appreciated at work,can really unlock, you know,
understanding of people that youdidn't have before.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
That's.
That's awesome, so I'm going tochange gears here for a second.
You have been in the techindustry for your entire life,
which is a very male-dominatedindustry and there's only about
15% of women tech CEOs, so talkto us a little bit about that
and how you navigated that.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Yeah, it's true, I have been a woman in tech for a
really long time and when thereweren't very many women, and
especially during various pointsin my career, I also ran very
male-oriented business likeYahoo Autos, as an example,
where I was like the only womanat the JD Power Conference.
I'm going to one next week.
So now it's different.
I will say there's a lot morewomen in tech than there used to
be.
And so now it's different.
I will say there's a lot morewomen in tech than there used to
(24:56):
be, and I always say that we'llknow we are done with this
battle when we no longer havewomen in tech panels at
conferences, because we won'tneed one anymore.
Women will be on all the panels.
But we're not quite there yet.
And it's even harder.
On the entrepreneurship side, Iwill say when I my first startup
(25:20):
, we ended up selling it toGoogle and I went to my first
founders at Google event and Iwas the only woman and I asked
them is it possible that noother female founders have ever
sold the company to Google?
And they looked it up and theysaid, nope, you're the first one
sold the company to Google.
And they looked it up and theysaid nope, you're the first one,
and that was 2011.
(25:42):
Now there have been many more.
So you know things are gettingbetter over time, and I think
what helps a lot is having astrong network.
So I posted recently forInternational Women's Day about
some of the women I met early inmy career who are still deep,
close friends to this day, andfinding other networks of
founders in general, and alsofemale founders, just helps get
you through that journey.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yes, now you've accomplished so much in your
career and you're so inspiring.
So what is next for JenniferDulski?
Speaker 3 (26:11):
So my first goal is to get Rising Team to every team
on earth.
That's my vision.
I'm not really kidding Like.
We already have it being usedon six continents, and we have
it in big tech companies, and wehave it in government offices
and schools, and the amazingthing is that the same content
works in all those places,because high performing teams
(26:33):
are driven by the same thing,which is feeling safe and valued
and doing their best work andso forth.
And then, after that, you know,I started teaching again in
2020 and it's a real passion ofmine.
So, instead of high school, Iteach business school.
But as I think about goingforward, in addition to Rising
Team, for me it'll be teachingand boards and helping other
(26:56):
founders.
So that's why I'm excited to dothings like this.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I love it.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for sharing all youradvice with our audience.
I'm sure it's going to help somany people.
Thank you so much for joiningus on the Female Founder Show.
Your story and advice are goingto inspire and help so many,
like I said, so we reallyappreciate it.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
This is the Female Founder Show with host and
entrepreneur Bridget Fitzpatrick, exclusively on ASBN.
If you're a female founder andwould like to help other female
founders with your inspiringstory, we would love to hear
from you.
This is the Female Founder Show with host and
entrepreneur Bridget Fitzpatrick, exclusively on ASBN.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Female Founder
Show.
I'm Bridget Fitzpatrick and I'mso excited to talk with today's
guest, jennifer Dulski, ceo andfounder of Rising Team.
Jennifer, known for herinnovative leadership, has
established a stellar careerwhere she has worked with Yahoo,
google and Facebook beforestarting her company, rising
Team.
At Rising Team, jennifer isreshaping teamwork dynamics with
(00:40):
cutting-edge strategies, andher impact has been inspiring
women worldwide to breakbarriers and pursue their dreams
, and that's what we're allabout here at the Female
Founders Show.
So with that, jennifer, thankyou so much for joining us.
Thanks so much for having me.
Great to be here Now.
There's so much more to yourstory than what I just mentioned
, so can you share with us alittle bit about your background
(01:01):
?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, I have a pretty atypical background into
getting into a career in tech,which is that I started my
career as a high school teacher,and I started a nonprofit to
help motivated andunder-resourced kids become
first-generation collegegraduates.
So, in a way, I was a founderfrom the beginning, but the fact
(01:22):
that I worked in education andwas a teacher is pretty unusual
for folks who have careers intechnology, and I think it was
actually really helpful, becauseit gave me a deep understanding
of how to create a vision thatyou could get people excited
around, and how to raise moneyfor something and get it off the
ground.
And the reason I moved fromnonprofit into tech is because I
(01:44):
was looking for ways to createimpact at larger scale, and I
knew that in the nonprofit world, I could raise twice the money
and serve just about twice thepeople, and it felt like, if I
did this through tech, therewould be a way to scale it much
more exponentially, which wastrue.
The surprising fact, I will say, though, is that you know that
(02:05):
nonprofit that I started is nowgoing to hit its 30th
anniversary this summer, sosometimes you can create things
and they do scale dramatically.
It just takes a lot of time,and so, anyway, I then spent the
next 20 plus years working intech.
I've had leadership roles, asyou mentioned that.
You know several of the bigtech companies, and then I've
done three startups.
(02:26):
I'm on my third one.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, congratulations , very, very accomplished.
So you're now running RisingTeam.
Talk to us about the motivationfor starting Rising Team.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So this happens with a lot of founders.
I'm essentially building theproduct I wish I had had as a
leader of teams my whole career.
So I knew in all these roles Ihad leading very large teams
that the companies I worked inwere more successful when the
teams were successful, whenindividual people felt motivated
and inspired to do their workand connected to each other.
(03:00):
And I didn't feel like I hadthe tools I needed to do that at
scale.
So you know, I was lucky tohave executive coaches and be
sent to really amazing trainings, but it always felt to me like
I was being taught to fish andthen I would have to go back to
the lake with like the bookabout how to fish instead of the
fishing pole and the bait.
(03:20):
And so what we build at RisingTeam is that fishing pole so
that every manager on all kindsof teams can build deep
connection and improveperformance on their team.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I love that.
I love that.
So you saw the need and youcreated it.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yes, and it's kind of , in some ways it feels like the
company I've been meant tobuild my whole career.
It's like the culmination ofeverything I've done, because
the teaching and the scalingteams and actually even early in
my life I was a coxswain on therowing team.
I don't know if everyone knowswhat that is, but I learned a
lot of lessons about leadershipand about team building through
(03:56):
various points in my life andall of that is coming together
into building Rising Team.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So, as a successful female founder yourself, what
advice would you give thoseentrepreneurs that are just
starting out?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So my number one piece of advice is just get
started.
The hardest part about being anentrepreneur is just overcoming
the friction to do something.
It can feel really scary and infact, when I started my first
company, I looked up the odds ofsuccess and it turns out I was
more likely to have reportedseeing a UFO than I was for my
(04:33):
company to succeed, because onein eight US adults has reported
seeing a UFO and only one innine or 10 venture-backed
companies succeed.
But I thought to myself I willalways regret this if I don't
try.
And so the key is you know youdon't have to raise millions of
dollars day one.
You wanna just start with asmall step.
(04:53):
And you know we'll talk aboutit a bit later.
But I wrote a book calledPurposeful, about how all of us
have the power to be movementstarters and entrepreneurs, and
everything big that people startall begins with a small step.
So for Rising Team, as anexample, the first thing that I
did was just write an outline.
I didn't, you know, go try todo something big.
(05:15):
I just got it down on paper.
What's the problem I'm tryingto solve?
Who are the customers?
What are their needs?
How might I solve this for them.
And then I started talking to afew people about it, and it's
one small step and a secondsmall step, and that's how
things blossom.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's great advice, and not only you know mentioning
just get started, but also whatyou did when you just started,
because a lot of times they justjust start it, but okay, what
does that mean?
So thanks for sharing that.
That's great advice.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, absolutely, and they can.
The just get started can be allkinds of different things, you
know.
Sometimes people write an emailto their friends, sometimes
they gather people together,Sometimes they do a build a
little mini prototype.
It can be any version of it,it's just.
You know, like they say in yoga, get on the mat.
That is the hardest part ofyoga.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, exactly Now.
We all experience setbacks andchallenges as founders.
How do you navigate thosechallenges and maintain
motivation and positivity?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, this is, as it turns out, the number one skill
of being an entrepreneur is justpure resilience, and you know I
liken it to climbing a mountain.
I say, you know, being anentrepreneur or a founder is
like climbing a mountain.
Some days it's super sunny andI brought a picnic lunch and I
can see the top and it looksamazing.
(06:33):
And other days it is a giantstorm and I feel so defeated and
I can't even see the top.
And sometimes literally thosethings happen on the same day.
So I remind myself of a fewthings.
One is do I care about what I'mclimbing?
For If you're passionate enoughabout it, it makes you want to
keep climbing, regardless ofwhether the day is dark and
(06:56):
stormy.
Two is who am I climbing with?
So if you bring people along onthe journey with you that you
love to work with and climb thatmountain with, even on the dark
days, you can support eachother.
And the third is just one stepforward.
It's the same as starting witha small step.
(07:16):
The idea is, days will go backand forth and we know that.
So I remind myself, on thestormy days it will get sunny
again, and in fact sometimes Ihave days, or even weeks or
months where multiple bad thingswill happen in a row and I just
keep saying to myself somethingsunny is going to happen, and
(07:37):
invariably it does.
And then the key also is to notstop and slow down too much
when the days are sunny, becauseyou want to keep moving forward
Even when things feel great.
That's how you ultimately winin the end.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I love all of those steps, and you mentioned support
and who you're climbing with.
Have you had any mentors alongyour journey and, if so, how
have they influenced you?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
So many mentors.
So I have a saying that I use,which is every person is a
teacher and every experience isa lesson, and I developed this,
actually when I first startedwriting on LinkedIn.
So in 2013, linkedin asked me tobecome one of the early
LinkedIn influencers, and to dothat, it meant I had to write
(08:22):
regularly on LinkedIn, and atthat time, I wasn't writing a
lot and I just thought, gosh,what do I have to write about
that I can just talk about allthe time?
And so what I did was I wentback through my life and I
thought about all the people inmy life and all the experiences,
and I started writing postscalled Five Lessons I Learned
From, and it turns out I couldcome up with five lessons from
(08:46):
just about anyone.
I wrote one about each of myparents, I wrote about many
former bosses, I wrote aboutexperiences like teaching high
school, or I went abroad intothe Amazon rainforest, and each
of these things taught me many,many lessons.
And so when I think aboutmentors, my view is just they're
all around us if we keep oureyes open to learning from them,
(09:10):
and I've learned so many thingsfrom my various mentors, like
how to be a better listener, howto be resilient in tough
moments, how to show up withconfidence when you need to all
sorts of different things fromdifferent people.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
That's great and it's a constant.
So always learning, alwayslearning.
So I'm sure you get thisquestion a lot.
I do.
Balancing work and yourprofessional life, your personal
life, can be tough.
So how do you prioritizeself-care and maintain a healthy
work-life balance?
Speaker 3 (09:42):
self-care and maintain a healthy work-life
balance.
Yeah, so I am also a mom and Ido.
I get you know.
I teach.
I teach two classes at thebusiness school at Stanford and
I get this question all the timefrom students mainly female
students, but also male studentssometimes, you know, asking
about how do you do it, how doyou be an entrepreneur and be a
(10:02):
parent, and I use a term I callthe work-life mashup.
So I don't believe in work-lifebalance.
I actually think it's like notreally possible.
The idea of balance suggeststhat some things are equal all
the time and there's just no waythat these things are equal.
So I have tried in my life tomerge them together.
So a mashup is like layers ofmusic on top of each other or
(10:26):
applications, and that's kind ofwhat I've done.
You know, I was running myfirst company when my kids were
small and so I did things likeput our office across the
parking lot from the place wherethey took dance lessons every
day so that they could, you know, run over and I could do their
bun in the middle of the daybefore they went to dance, and
(10:47):
then they'd do their homework atour office afterwards.
And you know, as a founder, youhave the flexibility to do
things like that, which youdon't always have if you work
inside large companies.
And I've done both and I'vefound a way to make it work in
both.
My number one.
So I guess I have two learningshere.
One is it's okay to merge themtogether and people are actually
(11:10):
better colleagues and betterteammates when they understand
each other's lives outside ofwork.
And so I have not shied awayfrom, you know, bringing my kids
on work trips with me andthings like that.
The second is guilt doesn't makeme better at either work or
home, and so early on I feltguilty a lot of the time.
(11:34):
I thought, oh, I went back towork too soon after I had my
child.
I you know they're not, they'renot going to be as close to me
because I'm not spending as muchtime at home realized over time
that feeling guilty about itdidn't make me a better mom and
didn't make me, you know,feeling guilty about work didn't
make me better at work.
And so I learned to most of thetime, just put the guilt aside
(11:59):
and say I'm just going to do mybest.
That's all I can do.
I can do my best.
And there were definitelymoments that were challenging.
I tell a story sometimes abouthow, when my older daughter was
like three or four, she was atthe playground and she was in
one of those little playhousesand I went in and I said can I
play with you?
And she said I'm in a meeting.
(12:20):
Oh my God, this is how shealready sees me.
But you know, it turned outokay.
My kids are in their twenties,they're.
They have great lives.
We have a good relationship andI did my best.
That's all I can do.
That's great.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
And they saw you doing your best and I'm sure
that was very helpful.
Yeah, that's a cute story andthanks for sharing that, because
I think that a lot of peoplewatching this show are moms and
do feel that guilt and it'sprobably hard to put aside.
But, like you said, it's not.
It's not doing you any good,it's not doing your family any
good, it's not doing yourbusiness any good.
So, if you can put it aside,yeah, let's talk about your book
(12:58):
Purposeful, bestselling bookPurposeful.
Are you a manager or a movementstarter?
Talk to us about that and someof the takeaways that you'd like
for our audience to know.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
So I wrote that book.
While I started writing it,when I was president at
Changeorg.
So my job was to scale andamplify people's voices all over
the world around the campaignsthat they cared about.
And what I saw happening, whichwas amazing, is that regular
everyday people you know,teenagers and grandparents and
moms and veterans were startingthese campaigns to create real
(13:34):
change in the world, either intheir local community or
nationally, or sometimesglobally, and they were all kind
of following the same formula.
And actually that formulalooked very similar to what I
had seen in Silicon Valley ofthese people who start big,
successful companies.
And so I thought if I couldgive people the formula, maybe
more people could do thissuccessfully and start these
(13:56):
world changing movements andcampaigns or start big,
successful companies.
And so that's what the book isabout.
There are seven key steps todoing it, but I have since
shortened it into what I callthe big three C's, and those C's
are courage, community andcommitment.
And we've already talkedactually about two of the three
(14:17):
C's, because the first iscourage.
It's taking that small stepjust getting started.
I sometimes compare this tobeing like being the first one
to start a standing ovation whenthe show is just pretty good,
like you're not positive thatother people will stand up, but
you try it anyway.
It's that kind of feeling,that's the courage.
(14:38):
And then, and by the way,almost never do people start a
standing ovation and no onejoins them even though it feels
uncomfortable.
That's a good point, and so,yeah, and so then the second C
is community, because you can'treally create anything of
meaning and value if you don'thave people joining you along
that journey, and a lot of it is.
(14:59):
How do you tell the story andcraft a vision that inspires
people?
And then how do you welcomepeople into that tent and give
them roles and responsibilitiesso that they can carry on and
build it alongside you?
And even without you, like, ifI think about that nonprofit I
started, it's been running 30years.
I only stayed the first four.
(15:20):
It didn't actually need me forthe next 26 years.
And then the third one iscommitment, which we talked
about the mountain, like thenumber one reason that
businesses and movements fail isbecause people fall down and
don't get back up again.
And the truth is we're justgoing to get knocked down over
(15:40):
and over and the real path towinning is just okay, dust
myself off and and get up again.
So that's what it takes.
And then there are some othertips in there, like about
understanding the people you'retrying to persuade and not
getting caught up in what I callthe haterade and all of that.
(16:02):
But the key to being successfulare three Cs.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I love it.
I love it.
Thank you for sharing that.
Now I would love to talk to youabout how you're helping
managers and team leaders atRising Team.
Your software shares kits tohelp leaders build connections,
and so much more.
Can you talk to us a little bitmore about this?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah.
So you know, we're in aworkplace that is just massively
different and pretty challengedright now.
So if you think about the waywork has evolved over the past
three to four years since thepandemic, we're now in a spot
where 75% of all teleworkablejobs are hybrid, so people don't
work in physical offices asmuch anymore, meaning they don't
(16:42):
see each other that often.
Many companies are strugglingwith what we call RTO mandates
return to office.
So am I forcing people to beback in the office, am I not?
How many days a of wanting tofeel valued and a sense of
(17:11):
belonging at work, and now wehave AI excuse me coming in on
top and pressuring everybody tothink if I don't learn this, I'm
going to lose my job.
So this is an overwhelmingworkplace we're in right now and
um and it all lands on managers.
The poor managers are the oneswho have to help their teams
(17:33):
navigate this, and we just don'tequip them.
The current ways that we equipmanagers are insufficient,
because we either train them bythemselves with video or kind of
on-demand content and give themnothing to bring back to their
teams, or sometimes we give themcoaches and facilitators who
are really helpful but veryexpensive and hard to scale
(17:54):
throughout an organization, andso what we do at Rising Team is
that we give managers these kits, as you mentioned, which help
them guide their own teamwithout a facilitator, through
deeply connecting team workshopson key leadership drivers of
high-performing teams, so thingslike psychological safety and
(18:15):
appreciation and giving feedback, and then also pure connection
sessions that are just about howI get to know you better as a
human being, and we suggest thatteams do these a couple times a
quarter.
So not a lot of time, but withthat limited time, just the idea
of setting time aside to get tounderstand each other better.
(18:37):
We've shown 100% of ourcustomers move, their employee
engagement scores, theiremployee net promoter score,
manager effectiveness.
All of this goes up just bygiving managers the tools to
better understand their teams.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
That's awesome, and you know, business owners are
nothing without the hard work oftheir teams, and so, in your
experience, what's the numberone mistake that leaders are
making when it comes to theirteams?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Yeah, so the number one mistake people are making is
thinking they don't have timeto build connection.
So I and this is the number onemistake people are making is
thinking they don't have time tobuild connection.
So I and this is the number onepushback we get to people using
rising teams I don't have time,We've got too, we're too busy,
we have too many goals, etcetera.
And the thing I always pointout are you a Top Gun fan?
(19:25):
Did you watch the movieMaverick?
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Yes, I watched, I did yes, it was very good.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
So I am a big Top Gun fan.
I've seen the first one toomany times that I want to get,
and the second one a few timesas well.
And there's a great scene inMaverick, the new Top Gun, where
he takes the team to the beachto play beach football.
And theiral comes to the beachand he says what are we doing?
(19:51):
We have this important mission.
Why are we here playing games?
And Tom Cruise turns to him andhe says you said to create a
team, sir.
There's your team and that isflag football.
And my view is probably we cando a little bit better than flag
football because we can builddeeper authentic connections.
But to say I don't have a fewhours a quarter to spend time
(20:15):
making my team feel understoodand valued is why our teams
don't feel understood and valued.
And when they don't feel thatway, they quit, or they quiet
quit or they're justunproductive and unhappy.
So that's the number onemistake is I don't have time for
that.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Okay, and you talk about community a lot, and part
of that is trust, and it's ahuge part of leadership.
What advice can you share thathelps leaders build trust with
their teams?
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah.
So trust really comes fromunderstanding each other as
humans.
So it's funny before I builtRising Team when people used to
come to me and say, oh, I'mhaving a conflict or we have
this disagreement on the team,my advice was always go have a
beer or a cup of tea Before youget into like, oh, we're
fighting about this work thing.
(21:02):
Just understand each otherfirst, because usually that
explains why the things arehappening.
People don't act a certain wayout of nowhere that you know.
There's things going on in ourlives all the time.
And you know I one of myfavorite books is called
Everybody's Got Something byRobin Roberts.
I don't know if you've read it.
She's incredible.
(21:23):
Good morning America.
And yeah, and she's beenthrough a really difficult
multiple personal health battlesand she says everybody's got
something.
And she's been through a reallydifficult multiple personal
health battles and she sayseverybody's got something.
And it's just so true on anygiven day.
So I sometimes give a talk aboutthis topic and I asked this
question how many of you havereceived a phone call with
(21:44):
serious medical news at workabout yourself or someone close
to you?
And like, 80% of the audiencewill stand up to that question
because we all have.
We've all gotten that callabout a parent or a kid or
ourselves while we're in themiddle of a work day and when
you ask that question and peoplestand up and they look at each
(22:06):
other, it's this huge aha moment, like I am not alone.
And that's what builds trust isunderstanding.
We are not alone and that comesfrom understanding what's going
on in each other's livesoutside of work.
It doesn't mean you have to knowevery personal detail about
people's.
You know addictions anddivorces and all of that,
(22:27):
although if they're willing toshare, it might help you work
better together.
Right, you understand?
Right, Exactly.
So that's my view is trustcomes from understanding.
It comes from listening.
We are building tools to makeit easier for people to do that,
because sometimes it's hard toget into those conversations.
So you know, we have also shortmini kits that are 10 minutes
(22:48):
long that ask questions like howdo you like to be supported on
a bad day?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Okay, good, I'm glad you mentioned that because I was
wondering how do you pull itout of the team members that
just might be more introvertedor quiet, or maybe they don't
feel like sharing.
But I guess you're about to goback.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Well, the first thing is people.
We have a set of ground ruleswe start with and we tell them
to only share what iscomfortable to them.
So we never want to push anyoneto where they're feeling
uncomfortable.
The second thing is that theleaders who are facilitating so
the managers or the team lead.
We give them a little bit oftraining before they facilitate
(23:26):
these sessions.
And oftentimes we encouragethem to share first, because
usually if someone gives anexample of more open sharing,
then it encourages other peopleto be a little bit more open as
well.
And we also always give peopleoptions Like you can share
either a personal story or awork story.
You can share someone reallyclose to you or a little farther
(23:48):
out.
So we try to give peoplechoices so that they never have
to get uncomfortable.
And then you'd be surprised howbasic, simple questions like
how do you like to be supportedon a bad day, or what makes you
feel really appreciated at work,can really unlock, you know,
understanding of people that youdidn't have before.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
That's.
That's awesome, so I'm going tochange gears here for a second.
You have been in the techindustry for your entire life,
which is a very male-dominatedindustry and there's only about
15% of women tech CEOs, so talkto us a little bit about that
and how you navigated that.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Yeah, it's true, I have been a woman in tech for a
really long time and when thereweren't very many women, and
especially during various pointsin my career, I also ran very
male-oriented business likeYahoo Autos, as an example,
where I was like the only womanat the JD Power Conference.
I'm going to one next week.
So now it's different.
I will say there's a lot morewomen in tech than there used to
be.
And so now it's different.
I will say there's a lot morewomen in tech than there used to
(24:56):
be, and I always say that we'llknow we are done with this
battle when we no longer havewomen in tech panels at
conferences, because we won'tneed one anymore.
Women will be on all the panels.
But we're not quite there yet.
And it's even harder.
On the entrepreneurship side, Iwill say when I my first startup
(25:20):
, we ended up selling it toGoogle and I went to my first
founders at Google event and Iwas the only woman and I asked
them is it possible that noother female founders have ever
sold the company to Google?
And they looked it up and theysaid, nope, you're the first one
sold the company to Google.
And they looked it up and theysaid nope, you're the first one,
and that was 2011.
(25:42):
Now there have been many more.
So you know things are gettingbetter over time, and I think
what helps a lot is having astrong network.
So I posted recently forInternational Women's Day about
some of the women I met early inmy career who are still deep,
close friends to this day, andfinding other networks of
founders in general, and alsofemale founders, just helps get
you through that journey.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yes, now you've accomplished so much in your
career and you're so inspiring.
So what is next for JenniferDulski?
Speaker 3 (26:11):
So my first goal is to get Rising Team to every team
on earth.
That's my vision.
I'm not really kidding Like.
We already have it being usedon six continents, and we have
it in big tech companies, and wehave it in government offices
and schools, and the amazingthing is that the same content
works in all those places,because high performing teams
(26:33):
are driven by the same thing,which is feeling safe and valued
and doing their best work andso forth.
And then, after that, you know,I started teaching again in
2020 and it's a real passion ofmine.
So, instead of high school, Iteach business school.
But as I think about goingforward, in addition to Rising
Team, for me it'll be teachingand boards and helping other
(26:56):
founders.
So that's why I'm excited to dothings like this.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I love it.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for sharing all youradvice with our audience.
I'm sure it's going to help somany people.
Thank you so much for joiningus on the Female Founder Show.
Your story and advice are goingto inspire and help so many,
like I said, so we reallyappreciate it.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
This is the Female Founder Show with host and
entrepreneur Bridget Fitzpatrick, exclusively on ASBN.
If you're a female founder andwould like to help other female
founders with your inspiringstory, we would love to hear
from you.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.