She Asked for $100K. She Got $1 Million with Emily Ramshaw

The first thing women are asked to prove is often the thing they’ve already spent years proving.Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 171Emily Ramshaw had nearly two decades in nonprofit media when she started The 19th, a national newsroom focused on gender, politics, and policy. She knew how to run a newsroom and knew the audience existed. But fundraising exposed a different set of rules, including donor meetings where she was told to uncross her arms, smile more, and make the work feel less threatening.In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Emily to talk about what raising money taught her about power, leverage, and the size of the ask. Emily shares the meeting where she asked for $100,000 and a donor pushed her to say what she actually needed, then offered $1 million. She also explains how she learned to turn every “no” into new introductions and how repetition changed the way she approached fundraising.Emily also shares why she built The 19th differently from the start, with paid family leave, elder care leave, health coverage, meaningful time off, and a higher salary floor. Her story is a reminder that women are not lacking the experience to succeed. They are navigating conditioning around who gets to ask, who gets treated like a credible bet, and what changes when you understand the rules well enough to rewrite them.What You'll LearnHow fundraising exposed the different rules women face around moneyWhat a $100,000 ask becoming $1 million taught Emily about scaleHow Emily turned rejection into a repeatable path to new fundersHow Emily designed The 19th around the barriers that keep women from advancingHighlights:(00:00) Meet Emily Ramshaw(02:32) Building the newsroom women were missing(04:49) Starting The 19th with $20,000(06:24) When your experience is the proof(09:39) Women funding The 19th(13:24) Learning to make the bigger ask(16:09) When motherhood changes the career equation(19:03) Turning every no into three introductions(19:54) The story that put The 19th on the map(21:03) Raising nearly $120 million(26:45) Why confidence was never the problem(35:01) The worst advice Emily ever receivedAbout Our Guest:Emily Ramshaw is the Co-Founder and CEO of The 19th, an independent nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics, and policy. Before launching The 19th in 2020, she spent nearly two decades in nonprofit journalism, including serving as editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune. Today, The 19th has a staff of roughly 60 across more than 20 states and distributes its journalism free to readers and partner newsrooms across the country. Under Emily’s leadership, the organization has raised close to $120 million while building an institution designed around the realities of the people doing the work.Emily Ramshaw’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-ramshaw-0b952854/ Emily Ramshaw’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eramshaw/ Explore The 19th: https://19thnews.org/ About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.This is a Lady Business LLC Production.