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This week’s guest is Deanna Wallin, founder and CEO of Naples Soap Co. She has a classic entrepreneur story: she sought a product, soap for her daughter’s sensitive skin. But no one sold one she liked. So in 2009 Deanna, a former nurse, created the soap on her own. Then she started to sell it. After a decade, with lots of twists and turns, she’s at the helm of an $11 million publicly traded company that mixes a dozen or so stores with flourishing ecommerce options, selling a line of self-care products.
Join us as we speak with Deanna and delve into her solution-oriented mindset, leveraging technology in the hiring process, the experience of taking the company public, and more.
3 Takeaways
Timestamps:
(00:25) Interview starts
(01:25) Deanna shares how she got started
(04:35) Taking Naples Soap Company public
(06:35) How Deanna has grown as a leader
(09:25) Building a 20,000sqft warehouse and corporate office
(10:50) What do you look for when hiring other leaders?
(12:20) Having difficult conversations as a leader
(14:52) Utilizing technology and Predictive Index
(16:30) Hiring in the current market
(18:15) Any leaders you look up to?
(21:08) Recommended reading from Deanna
(23:20) Parent bragging
(26:50) Hot seat questions
Join us every week as we interview business leaders to learn what makes them great, what they look for in growing leaders, and much more.
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