Joanne Wilson
Joanne Wilson is a businesswoman, New Yorker, active angel investor, co-founder of the Women’s Entrepreneur Festival and more.
She famously hosts the Gotham Gal blog and Positively Gotham Gal podcast, the subjects of which she describes below and we talk about in our conversation.
Here is her description in her blog’s About page:
Necessity is the mother of invention.. and reinvention…
The path that led me here was not straight, but winding. I got my start in retail and wholesale. During the 1990s’ dot-com boom, I worked on the media side of the technology industry. I have chaired a few nonprofits and have sat on numerous boards in a variety of fields. I have been a-stay-at-home mom, I have been a working mom. A city dweller, a suburbanite (albeit briefly!).
These days I find myself in a different career, another turn in the road. In 2007, I made my first angel investment. Since then, my portfolio has grown to include more than 90 companies. I have also focused my thesis on female entrepreneurs — a decision that is more practical than philanthropic. Women founders tend to be tenacious and thorough. They ask questions and listen. They are great leaders.
My female founder thesis led me to create The Women’s Entrepreneurs Festival. This event is an incredible combination of inspiration, information and validation. Year after year, our goal has been to create an intimate setting and a spirited agenda designed for robust conversation and purposeful connections.
Oh, and as a side note I’ve also begun to make my mark in the real estate world.
Seeking balance in all things; while I work hard, I also play hard. I spend my time indulging in the city I love and am blessed to live in. I’m an insatiable foodie. I love cooking, baking and throwing a good party. I love to travel. I am a voracious reader of books, magazines, blogs, you name it. I enjoy collecting art, particularly emerging artists. Eating at the latest and greatest restaurant is another must-do. New stores and designers are also on my radar. I try to stay on the cutting edge of music, film and theater.
My husband is my best friend. When I take off all of these “hats”, my most important job is being a mom. We have three kids who are terrific people.
Someone once called me the “woman around town,” which I thought was quite appropriate. All and all, I’m a very lucky Gotham Gal.
140: Joanne Wilson: Gotham Gal
If you’re in entrepreneurship in New York City, you know Joanne Wilson, especially among the women entrepreneurs I talk to. She’s prominent in the New York entrepreneurial world, as well as art, travel, food
A lot of investors live stressful lives. Joanne doesn’t. As you’ll hear in our conversation, she also leads a rewarding life, which you’ll also read in any of her blog posts or hear in any of her podcast episodes — the happiness, fun, and emotional reward she describes her life with. I think it results from her focus on people, relationships, and community.
Like any great leader, she focuses on people. The first thing she does after vetting people she invests in is to support them.
Our conversation covers more personal leadership, but her success points to what I think environmental leaders could learn from her. Environmental work overwhelmingly focuses on science, politics, compliance, and facts. Until they focus on people, it’s hard to call many of them leaders. Seeking compliance or browbeating people with facts, no matter how science-backed, or laws, no matter how well-meaning, won’t get results. Nor will people enjoy it and keep doing it after your extrinsic incentives go away.
That’s why I could only start trying environmental leadership when I found reducing my waste to about 10% of the average American improved my life. Yes it took time, just like Joanne doesn’t blindly invest but has to vet people and research.
I didn’t press her on taking on a new challenge, partly because she told me when I arrived to her office about just having reduced plastic in her office. Partly because she just built her house and is building other new homes that way.
Also, I see her around New York, so the next time I see her, I’ll ask her if she’s done anything new by then. I predict she will have and I’ll invite her for a second episode.
Read the transcript.