We were lucky to catch up with Natalie Levy recently and have shared our conversation below.
Natalie, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Then in January 2019, we lost my mom, Linda Fink Levy, to suicide.
We’ve now lost several family members to it in total, and in digging into what happened and what we could have changed, I believe investing in our women and creating financial independence and supporting their skills and confidence in how they navigated their finances would have had material impact on their mindset.
It’s BEYOND time for a change in how we raise, support, and celebrate our women. Our girls, moms, and ourselves.
I launched She’s Independent in 2019 to support, skill, and inspire women to reach positions of power. She’s Independent Investments is a women-first investment group offering access and education to the angel investing ecosystem and boardroom opportunity.
I couldn’t be more passionate about the work we do and don’t just speak to money but to the importance of mindset and investment in ourselves. Many of our investing members are women writing checks for the first time and they are sharing a real change in mindset and confidence out of the experience.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
I went to school for engineering and mathematics before getting into wall street derivatives trading, angel investing, private equity, and various revenue roles within tech and data growth companies.
Grit and determination landed me my earliest roles and my data driven background and interpersonal skills allowed me to navigate into more aligned tech roles and then onto private equity.
Given my financial background and angel investment track record, I was in a good position to launch our women-first investment group, which marries education and skill development through active learning with high quality investment opportunity.
There are a number of educational and women-first businesses out there teaching and sharing hypotheticals for power moves in addition to a new wave of women-focused VCs. However, in offering women the opportunity to write their own checks, we are working with them to navigate into a new mindset while also advancing their skills through active learning opportunity.
We are also unique in that we offer a path for non-accredited individuals to learn and participate in our investment group even before they are in a position to commit capital. Access and education are at the forefront of what we do.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
When I started working on She’s Independent it was very much an impactful side hustle. It was a project that gave back to women while honoring my mother and my personal journey.
After a few years of navigating speaking engagements and workshops the women I was working with pushed me to move into the investing realm.
What used to be a few hours of time spent at convenient hours has turned into a full-time gig where passion meets scaling business operations to drive more impact.
We’re approaching 70 members across those who invest and those who are not yet accredited and on their learning journey, and we meet regularly to drive high quality deal flow and investments.
We’re tracking for 10 investments and $400k deployed in 2022 across 10 businesses. With our growing member based we expect to deploy upwards of $2M in 2023.
Our team is comprised of individuals stepping into deal leadership roles in addition to our core team handling operations and marketing efforts.
I have not taken salary to-date as we have been investing into our operational efforts, legal expenses, etc, but do expect there to be salary off of membership dues next year.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I have pivoted numerous times in my career and life. Never have I regretted making a decision to move on from a role or making a change that has felt off. Gut instinct is real and I’ve found it increasingly important to check in with myself to uncover what I need to do in the moment.
The most obvious life change was my reset following the loss of my mother to suicide in January 2019 which precipitated the launch of She’s Independent.
I sold the million dollar condo in SF and relocated to CO where I had close girl friends. Following months off to focus on healing, health, and handling loss related items I started stepping back into my professional journey. But how could I apply myself in a way that was more meaningful and aligned given my experiences? That’s when She’s Independent was born.
Even with She’s Independent, I went through various pivots to find where we were meant to operate. We only launched the investment group in January 2022, which is currently our core focus seeing the most traction.
Pivots, change, and processing of death and deep loss require a support network. I was so thankful to have invested in community and close friends over the years. Family and friends are what allow you to navigate through the toughest of things that life can throw at you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shesindependent.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shesindependent_/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/20289389/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgjZ9zJjJ3mSgKtXU2FtORg