Dear Twentysomething – Détails, épisodes et analyse

This week, our host Erica Wenger wraps up an incredible Season 4 of Dear Twentysomething! 🎉

Join us as we reflect on some of the most memorable guests and standout moments from the season. Erica shares her takeaways, favorite conversations, and the wisdom we’ve gathered along the way. Plus, a sneak peek at what’s in store for Season 5!

Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning or just discovered the show, this episode is the perfect way to celebrate how far we’ve come and where we’re headed next!

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Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week, we chat with Melanie Strong!

Mel started her career as a first grade teacher and journalist. A fateful interview with her running hero Joan Benoit Samuelson led to a long-shot interview for an entry level job at Nike. She spent 17 years there, where she led several businesses including Nike Women and Nike Skateboarding, and worked on the launch of the Nike Running and Training Club apps.

Mel started angel investing and advising early stage founders in 2017, and left Nike to co-found venture capital firm Next Ventures in 2019. There she's focused on innovative technology investments across health, wellness and sports in companies like Oura ring and Outside. She serves on the boards of Outdoor Afro and USA Cycling, and most weekend you can find her riding her mountain bike on the trails where she lives in Hood River Oregon.

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Melanie Strong: @girlstrong

Next Ventures: @nextventures

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week, we chat with Jacqueline Blackburn!

Jacqueline is a Principal at Decisive Point and leads the acceleration portfolio. Jacqueline graduated from the United States Naval Academy and led forward-deployed teams in the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Community. She was responsible for training and building small teams for no-fail missions in the Middle East and Africa.

Prior to Decisive Point, she spent several years at J.P. Morgan working closely with founders and building out their early-stage Technology and Disruptive Commerce practice.

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Jacqueline Blackburn: @therealistjac

Decisive Point: @decisivepointvc

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we’re back with another solo episode featuring the host herself, Erica Wenger! 

At just twenty-four years old with startup businesses of her own in her back pocket, a podcast, and her new chapter in venture capital, Erica faces the daily challenge of what it means to strive for balance. Like most of us, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to tackle the workload, and how often is the challenge of time management and burn-out at our own expense…

In this episode, Erica breaks down her strategies, goals, and approach at managing her own mental health as a busy entrepreneur. Erica shares quotes that keep her mind at bay and tips to maintain a healthy balance between attending work as well as attending personal needs. Evaluating the negative effects of burnout and navigating through stressful times are just a glimpse into the stories this week.

Twentysomethings, if you’ve experienced burnout or are battling mental health struggles of your own, this is the episode for you. Listen in for tips on how to achieve balance as life gets stressful with our very busy and ambitious host, Erica Wenger!

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Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Emma Bates. Emma Bates is the co-founder of new disruptive social media platform Diem, designed for women and non-binary people. Diem is a new social universe aiming to tackle the inequality that exists for women and non-binary folks IRL and on social media. Diem is providing a safe, alternative space for women & non-binary folks to share knowledge about the things we don’t talk about openly, marking a move away from performative content and towards a more equitable, personal experience. 

In this episode, the pair trace back to Emma’s upbringing in the UK before moving to NYC in 2016. Emma covers everything from her War-Studies major in college, gender equity advocating, and how a blog she started at 19 with 100k+ readers became her untraditional entry into the world of marketing. Emma's work has been featured in Forbes, HuffPost, Entrepreneur and The Cut for her unique approach to marketing, community building, and partnerships. 

Twentysomethings, get ready for an episode blending passion and purpose with the incredible Emma Bates!

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Emma Bates: @emmashbates

Diem: @askdiem

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Kim Johnson, evaluating the nature and relevance of Community itself and how it applies to the world of business and twentysomethings. Kim is the Head of Community at Geneva, an NYC based messaging app for groups, clubs, and communities of all shapes and sizes. Her work at Geneva focuses on helping brands, creators, and community leaders of all kinds build their communities from the ground up. Before joining the team at Geneva she built Community at Glossier from the ground up for five years.

In this explained episode, the pair reflect on Kim’s college experiences and ideals that shaped her fascination with the need for community in the workplace. Transforming the blogging community into a brand for Glossier, this first job for Kim evidently shaped her career, with a community focused element in business. In breaking down what exactly a community is and means, Kim reveals it's relevance in the workplace and necessity in our daily lives. Shifting her career towards Geneva, she now works to maintain a platform that offers people a space to build an online community of their own, embodying several visions and purposes.

With the rapid growth of internet presence in our day to day lives, we’re finding a need for community more than ever before. Twentysomethings, get ready for an hour with the woman behind the scenes of several groups we know and love today, Kim Johnson!

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Kim Johnson: @kimjohnson._

Geneva: @geneva (and website here)

Glossier: @glossier (and website here)

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Jessica Wenger McPhaul. Jessica is an Emmy-nominated costume designer and the founder of NAKED REBELLION, a nude lingerie brand offering products for every shade on Earth. Having graduated from FIDM and spent over ten years in the Costumers’ Union moving from set to set, Jessica found the inspiration for her brand when faced with challenges in finding undergarments designed for all skin shades and body types. From “House of Cards” to NAKED REBELLION, Jessica’s here for an inside scoop on her journey to entrepreneurship!

In this episode, the pair go back to the beginning of Jessica’s journey as a teen in Scottsdale, AZ who found her start in the world of costume design as a result of a criminal littering charge. Incorporating her passion for fashion into a “yes mentality,” Jessica reveals the trials and tribulations of her twenties and the decisions she made to land her success. Conversations on ditching college, production craziness, and starting a business with loved ones are the tip of the iceberg to this week’s episode.

Twentysomethings, if you’re doubting the idea that everything happens for a reason, get ready for an hour with the remarkable and ambitious Jessica Wenger McPhaul as she breaks down the luck and perseverance that landed her to a business and career of her own!

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Jessica Wenger McPhaul: @jesswengermcp

Naked Rebellion: @naked.rebellion (and website here)

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we’re bringing you another solo episode with the host herself, Erica Wenger! Erica received a masters degree from USC in social entrepreneurship where she gave a TEDx Talk, pitching the idea of just how social entrepreneurship will change the world. TED is a non-profit organization aiming to change the world one idea at a time in the form of short, powerful talks. TEDx was designed to propel their tradition of informative story-telling into local communities making knowledge more accessible, and therefore more powerful. 

In this episode, Erica takes us behind the scenes into her extensive and rewarding experience as a TEDx speaker. Discussing her experiences in and out of the classroom, Erica recalls the stress, preparation, and achievements that crafted her TEDx journey. This episode offers context behind the ideas Erica shares in her talk with an emphasis that profit and purpose are not mutually exclusive elements of business.

Twentysomethings, you might’ve listened to a TEDx talk before, but this week we find out what it takes to lead one. Get ready for this short and sweet inside scoop into the perspective of a TEDx speaker with our host, Erica Wenger!

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Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Erica's TEDx Talk: How social entrepreneurship will change the world

TEDx Website: here

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Courtney Claghorn. You probably know Courtney best as the Co-Founder of Sugared + Bronzed, everyone’s go-to sugaring hair removal and sunless tanning destination. Having revolutionized airbrush tanning with a proprietary solution and revived an all-natural, ancient Egyptian form of hair removal called sugaring, Courtney created the flawless destination we all know and love. With locations across California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas, this is just the beginning for Sugared + Bronzed. 

In this episode, the pair backtrack Courtney's journey to Sugared + Bronzed starting with her college experience between Colorado and Los Angeles. Morphing her passion for film with her career in entrepreneurship, Courtney reveals several parallels between the industries. Conversations of improv acting, dreadful work-shifts, and building an empire with the love of your life are just a peek into this week’s episode. 

Twentysomethings, if you’re feeling unsure of your next move, get ready for this episode where “trusting the process” becomes a lifestyle with the inspirational Courtney Claghorn!

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Courtney Claghorn: @courtneyclaghorn

Sugared + Bronzed: @sugaredandbronzed (and website here)

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Aleyna Dogan, breaking down the seemingly complex nature of NFTs, the web3 space, and why it's relevant to twentysomethings.

Aleyna is both an entrepreneur and writer currently working at VaynerNFT. Having started NFTimes, the weekly comprehensive NFT newsletter last July, she continues to expand her role in the new web3 world. With a focus on the grave importance of techno-philosophy issues, she now consults and assists the on-boarding of artists, especially women, LGBTQ+ and people from other underrepresented groups into the web3 space. 

In this explained episode, the pair reflect on Aleyna’s upbringing in Turkey and the lifelong fascination with technology that ultimately led her towards her college education at NYU. Aleyna takes us through her journey from the sparking curiosity of fake news and crafted algorithms to a full blown writing career in the web3 space. Conversations focused on explaining the web3 space, how NFTs work, and the future of the internet are the tip of the iceberg in this week’s episode. 

With NFTs emerging as a common topic of conversation, how many of us truly know what they are, how they work, and what role we play in this new web space? Twentysomethings, your answers are finally here! Lock in on this one-hour explained episode featuring the woman who writes the content you read, Aleyna Dogan!

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Aleyna Dogan: @aleynadogan

VaynerNFT: @vaynernft (and website here)

NFTimes : website here

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething