Building From Scratch — Without a Big Name

What does it take to build something when there's no big name behind you? Joy Chik spent 28 years at Microsoft -- inside one of the biggest brands and teams in the world. Building this podcast has meant something different: no communications team, no built-in audience, no institution opening doors. Just her, a guest, and whoever chooses to press play. In this episode, Joy talks with Laura Clise, founder and CEO of Intentionalist, who faced her own version of the same question. Laura spent six years between the idea for Intentionalist -- planted by a piece of hand-woven fabric she brought back from Cambodia -- and actually launching the company, all without a big institution behind her either. Together, Joy and Laura get into what building from scratch actually requires: the point where complaining about a gap turns into deciding to close it yourself, what it costs to confront your own fears with nowhere to hide, and what building something slowly -- one relationship at a time -- has changed in each of them. For newsletter updates, sign up here. For video episodes, visit our podcast on Apple, YouTube, or Spotify. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Send your feedback and suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] Logo and other art courtesy of Andy Reddout. This podcast was produced by Tom Larson and Sue Corcoran, and edited by Amy Enser.