Full Episode Transcript

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

All right, welcome to the And Both podcast today. I am here with the incredibly talented and very multi-dimensional Andrea Sommer from Hive. She is the co-founder and CEO of Hive Founders. She is somebody that I met earlier this summer when I was a participant in the Hive Investment Readiness Accelerator. And so today I'm really excited to have her here to talk about a little bit about that and a lot of bit about her and bring it all together. So welcome.

Andrea Sommer:

Thank you. Excited to be here.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

yeah. I'm so excited because I think that you are doing so many incredible things in so many different directions that are helping to move the ball forward in all the areas that have been sort of shouted from the rooftops, I think in the last, especially the last couple of years when it comes to motherhood. When it comes to business. When it comes to investment and all of that stuff. So I would love for you to talk a little bit about Hive and sort of the backstory about how it all started. 

Andrea Sommer:

Sure. So I've started about 2016 or so when I was building my first business. I was living in London at the time and I was fundraising for the first time. I was really struggling to do that. I kept going to a lot of different pitch events, many, many events and I kept running into the same woman at those events- it was very memorable. She was the only other woman in the room. There were no women investors. There were no other women pitching. And one time we went for a glass of wine, maybe a cup of tea, I think it was a glass of wine, and got to know each other and realized actually we had really similar backgrounds. Hers more in finance, mine more in consulting, but very similar kind of corporate lives. We had gone to the same business school but in different years and similarly we were fundraising and struggling. So we decided to kind of band together and create this little hive mind of like ideas and contacts and sharing just to make the process less crappy for ourselves really.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yep.

Andrea Sommer:

And so what we each brought became the core of what we do, which is really a support group. We started as a support group. We meet in the basement of her office. I'd bring Croissants, she’d bring coffee. The next month, we'd reverse it. And 10 of us would sit around talking to each other about our problems, getting support, asking questions, sometimes crying, and really just a support group. And we did that for quite a while. the group grew and evolved organically. It was literally, “I'm letting you invite my friend or I wanna bring this other founder that I met who is really struggling.” And it was very organic. And then at some point we decided, hey, maybe we'll bring some experts in to do like different sessions on different topics that we wish we had known more about.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Love it.

Andrea Sommer:

So we'd bring in a marketing specialist or a finance specialist or someone else to talk. Things evolved a little bit with time. We started to have slightly more formal speaker situations. We’d do like a lunch hosted by a vendor. who would give us a talk and then also offer lunch. Really for the most part, for the first three and a bit, almost four years, it was that, it was a support group. I like to call it labor of love because it was just really something that I was just doing out of love and out of wanting to support women who were going through the same process as me and making it kind of a little less lonely and less crappy. And then at the end, in 2019, I moved to the US and so we started to do the same thing, but a little bit more virtually. because I wasn't there physically anymore. And then the pandemic happened. And actually for us, that was really fortuitous because it opened up the opportunity for us to start to reach and talk to a lot of founders all over the world rather than just in London via Zoom, which was what we had been doing during that transition period with me coming to the US. So we continued to do it virtually. We started to get founders from all over the place. And then at the end of 2021, Felicia, my co-founder sold her business. She exited. And I was wrapping an interim CEO role at a company that I'd been advising for a few years. And we had a little bit of extra time and we were talking about what should we do with Hive. At that point, we had about 350 members and we were like, maybe we should give it a go as a business and try to see if there's something more there. So we recruited a third co-founder who was a longstanding member, Caroline, and the three of us set out to formalize what we had been doing really informally for the last four and a bit years. The first of which became our Investment Readiness Accelerator. So we had been doing pitch clinics and fundraising support literally from day one. That was kind of why we became, why we existed, is to try to help each other fundraise better. And we combined all of this kind of knowledge and expertise and our experience fundraising, but our experience helping other founders to raise as well and to up level themselves into the accelerator and packed it all in into like this eight week program that's like designed to kind of shape you and mold you. reveal all the truths, good and bad about the process, so that you have a better chance of doing it successfully. So that’s kind of what became part one of the accelerator. And that's really our origin story.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

I love that. I love that there is this like the under the underlying theme in all of it is like, “I don't want to do this by myself. This is zero fun to do this by myself. I'm existing in this echo chamber.” So instead of doing that, it's like, hey, I know that you are having this experience too. So like, let's get together and oh, by the way, there's croissants like - just any excuse for croissants.

Andrea Sommer:

Totally.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

I just love the idea of like, I think that's so often what happens and especially with women is that there's that idea that like, there's only one seat at the table, so you all have to fight for it versus I mean, I don't know how many different quotes you can pull in where it's like, we don't we don't need to fight for that seat at the table, we just need to get our own table. And

Andrea Sommer:

100%.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

yeah, and what you guys are doing is exactly that you're creating this funnel to support people in realizing what they want to do and jumping off on their own business so that it comes from a place of not like, “oh, I made it, therefore I'm going to kick the ladder down behind me. I'm going to reach back and help somebody come up with me.” As somebody who was in the program, there is a ton of incredibly valuable information that you get from meeting with these other businesses and these other advisors and they say, you know, you're like, “I don't know that I would ever be able to get this person on the phone right now, because I'm at this stage.” So to be able to pull all these connections together and have somebody say, like, “I don't want to read this.” And you're like, oh, “okay, scrap that.” But, you know, it's just this idea of the community and you guys all having this shared experience versus continuing on in these like siloed paths as I like to call them. And I just think that's so incredible.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, I mean, I think we're stronger together. You know, like, I think that that's, you know, like, we live in a world that's so combative and so competitive. And I actually don't think I think that's inherently wrong to like our human nature. We're inherently social beings. We connect through eye contact and language. And, you know, and I think we just like society has pushed us away from that. And and I think that maybe this is a bit too weird of a thing to say. But I think the patriarchy has pushed us away from that. And I want to get away from that. I want to go back to like. our origin and how do we actually connect as humans and help each other, you know, because we're stronger together. Like there's room for all of us, right? We just need to build a different game, I guess.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah, I was reading this story about, they were talking about the evolution of the Neanderthal versus the Homo sapien and the fact that Homo sapiens actually were not as smart and not as talented and not as adapted to survive as Neanderthals, but Neanderthals died out because they couldn't work together. So like, I mean. at the very basic level. If you're an expert and you're an expert and you're an expert, you can't talk to each other or you can't learn from each other or you can't do anything together, it's all gonna die out.

Andrea Sommer:

100%. Yeah, and you know, I always say something that is a bit dorky, which is it takes a village to build a business and it really does.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Mm-hmm.

Andrea Sommer:

You know, you need you as a founder cannot have all the expertise that you need to be successful. You have you need other people, you need teammates, you need advisors, you need mentors, you need experts, you need investors, you need all this huge ecosystem of people. And you have to go into it with a mindset of openness, curiosity, and then you build your village. stronger village you can build, the better business you can build. And that's just my belief.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Exactly. It's like that web, right? Like you have to have more strands of the web versus just like one rope.

Andrea Sommer:

exactly, exactly.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah. So you have you have a daughter

Andrea Sommer:

I do.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

and how old is she?

Andrea Sommer:

She's almost five, she'll be five on Christmas Eve.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Oh my gosh,

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, it was a very memorable Christmas, let me tell you. 

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

So how, so if she, it's 2023, she's almost five. How does that all fit in with building this business? So you're fundraising for your own business. You are doing these hive events. You are launching hive and doing all the things. career-wise, corporate, all of that stuff. How does that fit with motherhood for you?

Andrea Sommer:

I mean, I think actually entrepreneurship and motherhood go really well hand in hand, because I think that entrepreneurship gives you the opportunity to create the flexibility that you need in order to do the things that you want. And it's, yes, a very busy job, and you have to be really focused on things, but I think becoming a mother just takes away some of your time, which actually gives you a forced focus.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yes.

Andrea Sommer:

So you don't have time to waste on things that don't matter and that aren't important, because you just don't have the time. Like you won’t be able to do the things that you need to do. So I think that actually having that as a forcing function has helped me develop a really important skill for entrepreneurs, which is learning how to say no to things and just being a bit ruthless about that. I'm like, don't have time. I literally cannot add more things to my day because I wanna go spend time with her. I need to pick her up and take her to school. There are activities that I need to do and that I want to do to be with her. Like I, I took me a very long time to decide to be a parent. because I really was like, can I actually reconcile wanting to spend time with this person and being a part of their life and their growing with all the things that I wanna do as an individual? And I said, yeah, I think I can blend these two things. And I do it well some days and some days I feel like a terrible parent, but that's just being a parent, I think. So. Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yes, I think that is 100% on par. Some days you're like, oh, I'm killing it. And other days you're like, should have stayed in bed.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, some days I'm like, she's still alive. That is good. And that’s all I can do today. Wow.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah. I did not leave my kid at school.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

I am doing a great job today.

Andrea Sommer:

Exactly. Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yep, that's true. So when you... So my background is in OT and I used to see people all the time and I would go in and you know you do these evaluations and people say okay well how about you got to ask all these stock questions right? But the question that I used to ask people all the time that everyone would get hung up on was “what do you do for fun?” Because people are just so, you know by the time by the time they see me in a in a hospital situation they've already answered this question 40 times. So it's one thing that I really like because I think that when you're in this mode of like trying to switch, like you're going 100 miles an hour, but you're also trying to be in four lanes at the right time, right?

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Like you don't wanna miss the exit. So you don't, you know, for school pickup and you don't wanna miss this because you've got a presentation and all of that stuff. So what do you do for fun?

Andrea Sommer:

Well, I think I kind of define fun in a few different ways. So for me, my work is really fun. I find my working with founders, being with founders, learning about new businesses and really challenging and solving complex problems to be really fun. So it's actually, for me, working is fun.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Mm-hmm.

Andrea Sommer:

But I also do things to decompress that are not work. And I probably could be better at doing these things and working a little bit less, but just spending time with people is the thing that's the most fun for me is. going out with a friend and having a conversation, or just spending a little bit of time with my family, going on a little road trip somewhere and where we can talk about things and just observe the environment or just have a new experience together. So for me, that little moment of connection, that little moment of contact, that's the thing that's the most fun. And actually, I'm naturally quite an introverted person. So for me, small groups, one to one, one to two is really the optimal setup

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Mm-hmm.

Andrea Sommer:

where I can actually have a nice deep conversation with someone. learn a little bit about them, they can learn a little bit about me, and we both feel stronger as a result. Then there are other things that I do, but I think the foundation of kind of having that connection is really there. For example, I love to play cards, you know, and that's also a small group activity strategy game where you can kind of like plan and execute and then it finishes and it's like the stakes are so low, you know, so it's actually quite fun to just, you know, like play a game and then be done with it. You know, have like a I think that sometimes in entrepreneurship, things are so long and they carry on. There's no beginning and end.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Right.

Andrea Sommer:

Whereas with a game, there's a beginning and end. And actually that's quite reassuring sometimes to just say, ah, there's a conclusion to this thing. It's not just endless.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Right?

Andrea Sommer:

But I also love, yeah, I also love reading. I also love cooking things, although I have been a bit negligent with my cooking recently. And then ultimately I love culture. I love going to the theater. Those are things that really fill me with like, like joy is seeing like a new play or going to a new gallery and experiencing some art or traveling to a new place. I'm just a very curious person and I think having a new experience is I think the thing that brings me the most joy.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah, that must have been the opportunity to live in London and the access to theater and things like that there. Like, that must have been something really hard to walk away from.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, super hard, super hard, and I'm still mourning it.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Hahaha.

Andrea Sommer:

Totally honest. Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah, so you guys, so this year with Hive, there was, so Hive is eight weeks. And just for people that are like Googling Hive right now, Hivefounders.net. And so this summer, so it's eight weeks. And then what ended up the end of it, we demoed, our demo day was virtual and in person at Google in the UK. So you travel back and forth and get a chance to do that. And do you, when you go back there, do you have the opportunity to connect with, like Felicia, is she in, she’s in London?

Andrea Sommer:

yes, yeah, we try to do like a team meeting every time I go and have like a little strategy day. Sometimes it's longer, sometimes it's less. Over the summer in June when I went, we had the whole team there, all nine of us there, which was amazing. My other co-founder, Caroline, is currently in Helsinki, so it's a little bit less easy to do that, but she's gonna be back in the UK soon. 

Yeah, so for us, for me, it's really important to be there in person, physically in the same time zone. just in the same room talking about stuff. And even if we only meet shortly for an hour or two on business things and then go out for lunch or go out for a drink or something, then I think that kind of FaceTime, that connection time is really, really key.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah.

Andrea Sommer:

Because we live in a very disparate world within Hive, with me being in the US, Caroline being in Helsinki, Felicia being in London, the rest of the team being all over the place. So it's hard to feel connected. So those regular touch points really, really help.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah, I think that that's definitely something that I experienced myself is that, like you are across the country from me, the developer that I work with is in the Midwest, you know, people in New York, in, I mean, Boston's only an hour from me, but like I have definitely, I feel like I'm in the right space in entrepreneurship because I can do it remotely, because I can make the hours work between time zones and school and all of that stuff. But at the same time, there's not that, you know, let's sit down and meet together. So I think that that's a really cool opportunity to get everybody together. I mean, if it was me, I'd be in Finland right now because.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, although it's very cold there. Caroline said that it was like minus 9 or something, something very cold. Like minus 9 Celsius, I guess. It's less cold than Fahrenheit, but still really cold.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

That is, I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I'm a little bit against the grain on the fact that like, if it's cold, I'm, you know,

Andrea Sommer:

You're happy.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

I'm so happy. I just love when it snows

Andrea Sommer:

I’m with you. I prefer cold overheat any day. So

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Especially this year, you guys had all that crazy weather.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah. So when you think about, you've got the, you've got your business, you've got the community, you've got all of these things that you're managing. When it comes to the stuff, at home that's separate from that? What are the ways that you manage that in collaboration? Because I'm not, there's no way that I'm ever going to like ask somebody to come on and be like, how are you doing all the things? Because that's the point, right? The point is like to not do all the things.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

But how do you, how do, how do things get done?

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

So that, yeah, how do things get done?

Andrea Sommer:

how do things get done? It's a really good question. So I think like what one of the things that I think I read this somewhere, but I've been saying it since I read it, which is this idea, like I have a big problem with this idea of having it all, you know, and I actually think you can have it all you just can't have it all at the same time

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yes.

Andrea Sommer:

You know, and that's like the philosophy that I take is sometimes things will have to be deprioritized. Sometimes those things will be prioritized and The way I get things done is to just think, what is the thing that's the most important here today? Maybe that thing is spending time with my daughter because she's feeling, going through a milestone change or having some issue at school or some other thing, or she just needs an extra cuddle. And then I have to deprioritize some things and do that because that's the most important thing. And then sometimes she's fine. and I can focus on everything else. And then sometimes I can focus on myself and going in and get some exercise. I think the thing that I do that I feel like enables that is I'm just really disciplined about my time. I literally have my calendar color coded with the different priorities in my life.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Mm-hmm.

Andrea Sommer:

I have a color for things that are related to my family. I have a color for things that are related to work. I have a color that things that are related to investment. I have color that's like things for self care. And within that, I have exercise and being with people, fun, being with friends, right?

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah.

Andrea Sommer:

So I think that like, and actually I take a look at my calendar every week and I'm like, which color is missing? Where do I need to add more here? Do I need to reach out to a friend? Do I need to, you know, like do a bit more exercise? Do I need to spend a little bit more time thinking about this thing or that thing? 

And actually for me, that managing my calendar that way visually helps me figure out. where I'm lacking in areas that I need to be focusing on. So that's kind of how I do it. I've been having this approach for quite a long time and it works really well for me to prioritize everything that I need to do, which isn't absolutely to say that I don't drop balls and that I don't feel like I'm struggling sometimes, I absolutely do. But I think if I have a system, by having a system in place, that's like really, really helpful.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

I love that idea because I think that so many people for the way that I look at it is like, that's like the glass is half full, half empty kind of way of looking at your schedule, right? So a lot of times people use color to organize their thinking around things and they... They use it as a way to like make sure that they keep track of everything, but they don't use it as an opportunity to see where they can fill their bucket.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah. Love.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

And I love that your way of looking at it is not like, how can I fit more in? But it's how can I make sure that all of these things, like where does the emphasis need to be instead of what else can I like shoehorn into the week?

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, yeah, because the thing is, like, I think, like, to create balance, and for me, like, the idea of balance is really important. Like, for me, balance means being able to do all the things that are important to me, to a certain extent, right? But it doesn’t mean doing all the things all the time. You know, like, I think, like, sometimes I de-prioritize things, and that's okay. You know, like, sometimes I'm like, I need to, like, I need to go and go for a walk or go for a run or just, you know, clear my head somehow, you know, and recognizing that that reflection time is also really important and trying to build that. For me, building that into my schedule, building that into my life is really critical.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Building the quiet in.

Andrea Sommer:

yeah, yeah. Or, you know, for example, like I take my daughter to school on a bike, you know, and actually for me, that's great because A, I get some exercise, you know, twice a day I'm on the bike, you know, and I get some fresh air and she gets some fresh air. And then, you know, I also, when I'm coming back, I'm having that reflection time. because I'm exercising, you know, whereas if I was in my car, I think I wouldn't be quite as relaxed, I think, when I got home.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah.

Andrea Sommer:

I just be, you know, I just would have just driven somewhere. So I tried to like, blend things, you know, into my life and structure it in a way so that I can get what I need out of the time.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Mm-hmm.

Andrea Sommer:

And then I also I'm really mindful about interstitial time, what I call interstitial time, which is like, when you're waiting for something, you know, like you're doing something, you know, reading a little bit of a book or listening to a podcast while you're cooking or something. So you can actually do a bit more of those enriching things while you're having to do the things that you need to do to kind of manage your life.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

I love that. I just think that is, I love that there's so much in there that, I think a lot of times what happens is you get, I call it like “shoulding.”

Andrea Sommer:

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

So they're like, you should get 30 minutes of exercise, but that's it, right? It's just this like, it's like somebody dropped that on your to-do list versus like being more intrinsically, not intrinsically motivated, but intrinsically thoughtful and saying, this is what I need to do right now in order to do this. You know, like I need to move my body, so therefore I'm going to build this into my day or I need to. I look at my calendar and I notice that I don't have any social things. And last week I didn't have any social things, but I had it for this. So this week I'm going to work it in this way. And I think that Like the practicing what you preach is invaluable, especially like when you are helping to mentor and advise the next group of people coming up that it's not like, nobody wants to get on and see a PowerPoint presentation where it's like, you need to drink water and you need to feed yourself. And it's all that stuff that like just sort of gets dumped on us.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

And it just makes people feel bad if there’s no real way to like work it in there.

Andrea Sommer:

I mean, for me, like, I think, you know, as I've gotten older, and this is not something that was that I've always done, but I've just started to treat myself with more kindness and say, Hey, I'm doing the best that I can with what I have right now. And I'm giving all that I can, you know, and, and that's all that I can do, you know, I can only there's only 24 hours to the day. And I can only do so many things. And so I'm going to try to make the most out of the things that I'm doing.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

But I will say that you practice what you preach, like the next level of that for me was when I was looking for an accelerator, when I was looking for a place because it's that really vulnerable, like. You're like the little chipmunk with the little baby, and you're like, I made this, and you don't know where to put it out in the world because it's such a vulnerable feeling, right? Especially, I mean, anyone that's an entrepreneur is not taking someone else's idea and selling it. You're taking this thing that's very raw and unpolished, and you're trying to put it out into places. And I got on a call with you before I signed up for Hive. And you were like, come as you are, this like, we are, we are all, you know, there's lots of, there's lots of moms, we are a female founder focused accelerator, we are, we understand that you have lives and all that stuff. And I was like, okay, great. But like a lot of that is, is lip service that you get from places, right? So you get on these meetings, and all of a sudden, your kid is like, in the bathroom, and they're like, mom, I need you. And you're like, Oh, God. Okay, how am I going to segue? Like slightly, you know, pause. But when I got on a call with you, I don't, I don't remember what time it was on your time because you're three hours behind me. But I remember like your daughter came in and you were like, Hey honey, how's it going? And I was like, Oh, this woman actually does what it like what it says on the page, right? Like you, you have a kid that's not like know, like it's this idea that like you have to like hide them away in order to like be professional.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

And I'm pretty sure I hung up the call with you and was like, sign contract, because that's, that's the authenticity that is needed. Like we are not all trying to, we're not all trying to exist in a man's world of business.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

You know, it's like, it's like in COVID, like you got like the the weatherman who's trying to do the weather, and then the wife is sneaking in to get the kid out, or the kid's coming in, we are all people and we are all humans, and we have families, and we are raising children.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, I really want, I mean, there's two things. I want to have a life where I feel like I can be my whole self, you know? And I worked in my corporate life in very male dominated world. And I had to really hide parts of me because that's just what the rules were. And I really did not like that. It was very psychologically taxing for me to do that. So I was like, if I have the opportunity to create a different environment, I wanna set my own rules. I want to be able to bring my whole self. And sometimes that means that I have my daughter with me on my calls and sometimes that means I'm in my pajamas. And that's okay. You know, like, we're all just doing the best that we can with the resources that we have.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah.

Andrea Sommer:

And I just think it does us a disservice to judge that, you know? So I try to create an environment for myself and for everyone else where you can be your whole person, whatever that means, you know, whatever that means for you. you know, whether you're a mother or not, whether you have your cat coming in the in the picture or your dog or you know, you come back from the gym and you're all sweaty or you know, whatever else, you know, like I think we are all here to learn. We're all here to connect. And, you know, so I say come as you are, you know, and really, and I come as I am, you know, I really do. And because I have no choice. 

You know, if I want to blend my life, you know, and then do all the things that I want to do. And the other thing that I think is really important is I want my daughter to be able to see that. I want her to be able to see me working, but also see that working doesn't mean, doesn't have to be this hidden thing that is like mysterious where she's not welcome. You know, she should be able to be welcome. I took my daughter when she was four months old to her first board meeting, you know, and my investors were like, this is weird, but it's cool. You know, she was there. She was a baby. She was four months old. She was just like there in a pouch, you know, like, but, you know. But I was like, I want her to be able to be with me, and I don't want to create the separation between personal life and home life. So much of the richness of who we are comes from our personal life, from our home experience, from the connections, our families. And I think I do what I do, I feel motivated by the mission for her, because I wanna build a world for her that's better. I don't want her to have to go through the same crappy experiences that I have. did in her work life. So, and maybe I'm a bit too optimistic and like idealistic about it, but if I can do a marginal improvement towards that experience, then I feel like it's a win.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah, I think the more that we can normalize people having lives, the better. Like it's this weird, I think about it as like, you know, in that time, in that era where it was this professionalism means that you come to work and you are like a one trick pony and you are in the office and yada yada. Like that was at a time where we didn't have the connectivity in our community that we do now, right? It's like, like you read these stories about like actors in the 50s or in the 30s that were like, you live in these crazy lives, but you never heard about it because there was not this like click, there's no internet, there's no way, but like we're so connected now, you know, when Facebook came on and when Instagram came on and all of those things where people are like, oh, I like, people I apply to a job and people look at my social media like whoops, maybe, maybe that's whoops, maybe that's great, whatever. But it's just this interesting idea that because we're so connected, we now have to be honest about it. And it does set us up for this moving forward of like for her, it's her own. life that like this is normal for her, right?

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

So this is it's always going to be this way. So if you're if you're shaping her normal as, you know, work is something that professionalism is what happens between your ears, not what happens in the world around you.

Andrea Sommer:

I want her to also feel welcome in spaces where women are not naturally inclined to feel welcome. It took me a really long time. And I remember when I was first fundraising, this kind of came to me in the first, it was one of my first pitch events. And I went in and I had, like, I wore this like gray suit and I tried to be like, kind of masculine about it. Cause I was like, you're a founder is a man and to fundraise you have to be kind of manlike. And I was like, and I looked in the room and I saw all these other men. I was literally the only woman there. There were no women investors. There were no other women pitching. And I was like, this is, if I'm gonna be successful at this, I'm gonna have to be differentiated. And actually the fact that I'm a woman is an automatic differentiation. So I'm gonna lean into that. 

And so from then on, I started to. like wear red to like my pitch events or wear a dress, you know, wear some kind of like statement jewelry, not like a flashy thing, but just something that was like, hey, I'm not like those other guys, you know? And actually rather than trying to mask the difference to really lean into the difference. And actually for me that was the thing that made it for me. Not only did it help with my fundraising because it made me memorable, it made me different and it made me unique. But also I think it just made me happier with my life where I could just be who I was and not try to hide parts of me for whatever reason. So I really like, I think being our whole selves is the biggest gift that you can give yourself. And also just to take so much energy to try to compartmentalize. I just don't have the time or the energy to dedicate to that. I'm like, you don't like it? Okay, I don't need to work with you. 

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Right, I just, I love the idea of like, you know, like no one wants to wear the uncomfortable pantsuit just because everyone else is.

Andrea Sommer:

No uncomfortable pantsuits.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

no.

Andrea Sommer:

Well, if that's your thing. If uncomfortable pantsuits are your thing, I support you

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Right, right. But it's just that like, it's that idea of, you know, again, pretending and you're like, you're like playing dress up in your own life.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

And it's hard, it's hard to have, you know, if you can't do one thing really well because you're trying to do two things okay, then you're never really gonna realize your full potential when it comes to whatever you're doing.

Andrea Sommer:

Exactly. 100%.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

I love the idea of being the example in terms of putting it forward.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, I want a better world for her. I don't want her to have to deal with the experiences that I had in my corporate life and the experiences that I have and that I see in my entrepreneurial life. I don't want that. I want a better world. And maybe that's being an idealist, but if I can dedicate my life towards making that goal, then I'm happy. I can... lay on my deathbed one day and think, yeah, I've done something good for the world.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Nailed it.

Andrea Sommer:

I've tried to make it a little better. And there are obviously sacrifices that you make with when you make those traces and I'm okay with them. So, yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Mm-hmm. I like that. What are you excited about looking forward to when you look forward in terms of like all of the things, right? Like life, business, yada yada. Very open-ended question here.

Andrea Sommer:

What am I looking forward to? I'm looking forward to, I mean, I think on a kind of on a personal level, I'm excited about opportunities for Hive next year. You know, I think we're exploring going down a path where we're building partnerships with corporates and with different governments to kind of do more accelerators, which I think will be really fantastic and something that I'm really excited to learn more about. 

Um, I think kind of, you know, I like, it's really easy to feel negative about the state of the world and, you know, like wars and everything else that's going on. And, um, and I just, I, for me, I'm like, I just feel like all I can do is to take individual steps towards making the experience for myself and those around me a little bit better. Like, I can't change the state of the world. I can't make wars go away or famine or whatever else. But I can make the experience for those who are immediately around me a little bit better, give them more tools, empower them to build the things that they want to build. And I think part of why we created our sister organization, Woman Kind Ventures, is because I love this idea of having a future that's for women kind too. You know, like, I like, the mankind is this concept to me that feels. really limiting, you know, like we are not man, we are women, right? And we can build a different world. And I wanna be a part of ushering that different world. So I'm optimistic.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah.

Andrea Sommer:

I see and I meet amazing women solving amazing problems every day. And I love that, you know? And I think that that's the thing that I'm the most optimistic about, that there are so many great minds trying to solve the important problems. Oh!

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah, and how we move the ball forward, having more people hop into the conversation of the way things are is not working. And we're just in this, it seems like we're just in this huge realization revolution kind of period, which is definitely the pandemic put the gas on everything, right? Good, bad, and otherwise. And so having that opportunity to recalibrate and think about and reevaluate what where the priorities are and what we're looking forward to and what the direction we wanna go in.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, for sure. You know, I think like as painful and horrendous as the pandemic experience was, I think it's an opportunity for us as a society to evaluate like the things that are important. And, you know, and one of the things that I really, I mean, enjoyed maybe is too strong a word is I really enjoyed that people had to, we had to bring our whole selves to work because we were there. You were there trying to work with your kids, not being at school and that was absolutely awful. I'm not saying that it was a great experience and it was really hard. And it was much harder for a lot of people, much harder for other people than it was for me, even though for me it felt hard. But I also, I do think that people have gotten more comfortable with this idea that, yeah, I don't wanna hide who I am. I want to be whole, you know? And I want to, and also not only that, but I want to have meaning in my life. I've made everyone think about what is life really about? 

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

You know, like what is my purpose? You know, and I don't know. For me, like following my purpose is really important.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Have you noticed since you've really got like a pulse on it, a difference between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic in terms of the number of women that are pursuing entrepreneurship and these accelerators and things like that? Like, I know the news is just bleak on fundraising, like women secure less than 3%. I mean, I've seen figures that are like 1.6 or whatever of

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

venture capital funding and like... Right, like it's all bad. So if you just read the news, you're like, well, I guess I'll never do any of that. It's not worth it. Yeti, yeti. But have you noticed a difference in or an increase change, whatever, in the number of women that are pursuing entrepreneurship post pandemic or during pandemic?

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, I am. I definitely see that. I did. Many people during the pandemic spend time reflecting on their lives, you know, thinking, what am I here for? What is my life about? You know, like we had, you know, what this extra time on this, this opportunity to evaluate the things that are important, you know, and, and for me, like, like I reprioritized things in my life to say, Hey, I want to do more of the things that matter and less of the things that don't. And, and I think that's, that's true for many people. I think entrepreneurship is is a pathway where people can find purpose, right? And follow their purpose. I think the pandemic had made people say, I don't wanna do, what am I doing here? Why am I doing this corporate life or this approach instead of really fulfilling, finding something that's really fulfilling for me? So I absolutely do see that. And the stats are always terrible and there's not much, I'm working to try to change that, but. you know, whatever impact I'm going to have is going to be incremental. But I think happiness and finding happy, helping people build joy in their lives and find their purpose and fulfill their purpose through their work so that their work is joyful, is their fun. Right? I want more people to have that experience where work is their fun.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Right.

Andrea Sommer:

And also where they're solving important problems because they're... like women in general and other underrepresented groups, we're neglected, we've been neglected by, in the product space and in the healthcare space and so many areas. And I think now I see women saying, no, I'm not gonna stand by that anymore. I wanna fix this, I wanna fix this. I have this problem, I don't like this or I see this problem and I don't like this and I'm gonna do something about it. And I think that's fantastic. And I absolutely think the pandemic accelerated that.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah. Sorry. I think, yeah, I think you're totally on the right track with, in terms of like, it just doesn't, it, like, I don't know that the level of women that are starting out with this would have been where it is right now would have would have switched entrepreneurship because it's what happened in the pandemic is it really like pulled the curtain off, you know, were things were not working well and things were not things were not what they were advertised as.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

And when the rubber hit the road, it was, okay, no, we really need to do differently. And the way that things are going, this is not a, what is the word? I totally lost it. It's not like a sustainable path.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, and I think the pandemic exposed lots of things that are broken, you know, and a lot of the things that were broken were things that women were patching together, you know, through our waking up earlier and doing our sacrifices, right? And it exposed all those cracks. And I think the same people who... for whom life was so difficult and complicated during the pandemic. And I think especially mothers, families in general really struggled. It was a big struggle, but obviously there are many other people for whom the pandemic was even worse than like families and having to manage everything. But I'm a big believer of trying to use adversity as a motivator. And for me, when something goes wrong, I'm just more motivated to make it better the next time.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yeah, to fix it.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

I love it. Well, I would love for you to let everybody know where they can find you and how they can work with you because if you have an idea and you are building a business and building a brand and you are looking for venture help in terms of preparation and all of those things, I... really absolutely had. I had a fabulous time in the hive experience. I'm not saying that it was like mai tais and cookies. It was a lot of hard work, but it's great because the work that you're doing, you're saying the economy of time. If you don't have time to waste, so if you don't have time to waste, then you've got to get down to business. And I think that the program was exactly that in terms of like... work on this now, don't work on this now, we're going to get to this week." And the way that everything sort of fell together was in a way that made complete sense once you trust the process and you know hop on the boat and sail off with it.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, trust is key. Trust is key.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Exactly, so let people know where they can find you and we'll put all of the links in the show notes as well.

Andrea Sommer:

Yeah, Highfounders.net is our main website. The Investment Readiness Accelerator, there's a page on there on the website about that. Next month, we will be launching a new accelerator that's for earlier stage companies who are looking to launch a product and build their MVP. So it'll be a zero to launch accelerator. And there'll be some information on the website about that as well. Yeah, and that's where you can find me.

Andrea Sommer:

Andrea@Highfounders.net.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on and I am really excited to have found you and really excited that there are more female founders, female founder, venture capital raising, female angels, all of that is coming down the pipe because it's part of that incremental change. I mean, you take a snowflake and you can make a snowball out of it. And so... being a part of that, I think that the work that you're doing is amazing. So thank you so much for coming on.

Andrea Sommer:

Thanks for being a part of it and thanks for inviting me to do this today. This was fun.

Dr. Ashley Blackington:

Yes.