Charlotte Wasserman is a sophomore at Southern Methodist University studying economics with minor in business. She is passionate about empowering girls to become the best versions of themselves through her non-profit, It's a Girl's Life. Charlotte has been working on It's A Girl's Life since its creation as a middle school blog, which has since transformed into a 501(c)(3). In high school, she organized several events for teen girls, primarily focused on teaching grit and resilience; however, now that she is in college, she has transitioned to producing events to educate girls on their career and personal finances journeys. Her current focus, though, is on growing and being the host of the It's A Girl's Life podcast. She is on a mission to empower girls in their twenties and those soon to be in their twenties, helping them build their dream careers and financial futures while prioritizing their wellbeing, one inspirational interview at a time.
Why did you start It’s a girl's life?
“So I started into girls, like way back when I was in middle school. Actually I was in 6th grade. I was really bored on winter break, probably around this time, and I really just wanted to make an impact on girls my age. It was predominantly teen girls and I started writing this blog to share helpful tips along the way when I was growing up. And then when I got a little bit older, I decided that I wanted to work with this nonprofit that I found out in California. I was from Cleveland, Ohio and produced events for teen girls to teach them about grit and resilience. I thought that would be something that would be like a dream come true and make a really big impact on girls my age, but also teach them the concepts that were usually taught towards adults. But I thought it was still really important for, um, girls who are 1314 years old to learn about how to overcome failures, how to overcome challenges and obstacles, and really create a mindset that would allow them to build grit, be resilient, and manage everyday life's challenges. Fast forward a year or two after that, I stopped writing the blog, continued doing the events, and I really wanted to have a continuous impact on girls on a much more consistent basis than in addition to the events that we would have there once a year. So I decided to start a podcast where I interviewed a variety of really well known, and also just like inspirational, motivational young women or women in general. And people that I've loved that I've interviewed have been the founder of golden, the founder of Dormify, Amanda Zuckerman. But also some of my most recent favorite guests include Erini, who is a personal finance Instagram content creator, and she is growing her own podcast as well. I have really loved growing your podcast and being able to connect with women in a bunch of different industries and hopefully share some advice and tips they wish they knew when they were in their high school and college, postgrad, etc.”
How does your organization try to create a group of resilient and motivated females?
“So, obviously, this has changed over the years between having the blog where we just posted my New Year's goals, or how to set things that, how to set goals, they'll be attainable and you'll actually be able to complete to then having the podcast where we interviewed a bunch of guests, they shared their advice, what they wish they knew, in between. And then the event, which was an in person experience for girls to come all together and realize that they're not alone, which I think was one of the most powerful things that I realized when I attended the event as an attendee, in addition to creating and organizing the events. But I think one of the things that streamlines throughout every single thing that I've done with this girl's life is that we're sharing real people's stories in order for others to recognize that everyone has their own different path in life. And even though we're all unique, we're all trying to do different things, there's still some consistency in the fact that we all face failure, we will all face challenges, we will all do things, mistakes, we will all have setbacks, and that doesn't make us any valuable, for the other person. And yes, we'll all face different things to different degrees, but that doesn't mean that that separates us, which brings us together. And being vulnerable enough to share with people what is really going on behind the scenes, behind all the cameras, behind the Instagram pictures, is the fact that we all feel all these different types of feelings all the time. And that's really powerful. And that's like a message that I want every single girl to be able to recognize, that if you want to create, like, a real connection with someone, the thing that ties every single person together, no matter where they are in their life, is that we all have the same set of feelings, and we all feel them, um, all the time or at some point in our life.”
What are some ways we can inspire young girls, especially girls in their 20s?
“The most powerful thing that I've ever done for myself, and something that I suggest others do, is listen to podcast interviews and read books that share people's stories. When I was younger, I mostly listened to a lot of entrepreneurial stories because those were the books that shared a lot of setbacks, and then how they formed success out of those setbacks, I thought that was really inspiring. But as I've gotten older, I think it's translating that research and reading and surrounding myself with that type of content, I've realized that it's really important to not only find that online and there's so many sources to be able to do that, but also just find the people in your life that you can kind of create those connections with in person because at the end of the day, those types of people are all surrounded around you. You just have to find the right ones and share with them enough so that you can really form a connection. And if you don't have the opportunity to be able to do that, then turn to social media, uh, turn to online stuff, turn to books to find that connection and recognize how powerful being vulnerable is. But if you have the opportunity and you have people around you, seek out those connections, put in the time and effort to be able to foster them and care for them. And I think that that will make all the difference in your life when you realize you're not alone and you could be surrounded by people that can really support you, and you could be supporting others. Creating that bond is really something that is extremely, extremely powerful, and you shouldn't ever think that or overlook that.”
Do you have a favorite episode that you filmed for It’s a girls life podcast?
“I previously shared a lot of my favorite podcast guests that I've had, but I would say right now I love the episode of Lindsay Pinchuk. We talked all about marketing yourself to dream opportunities and how you can get that job, internship. Maybe it's joining a club, getting a position at school. I really love that episode. I think she's very knowledgeable, and I was so happy and honored that she wanted to speak with me on the podcast. Another favorite is Erin Compertini. I also loved in the beginning, the Kia, our golden episode. That was amazing, and I was so surprised she wrote back and wanted to be on it. She just shares her story, her resilient story of finding a hint and the journey that it took to the product that we now see on shelves and whole foods and where we get groceries. I think that's amazing, too.”
How can we keep it real?
“I think one way to keep it real, and one thing that I honestly need to be reminded of going into the new year is that you have to be willing enough to kind of break down the barriers that you might potentially set up for yourself. And I think we kind of do that to protect ourselves. You have to be willing to break down those barriers in order to really form a connection, like form a bond with other people. And that connection and bond is really important to your overall happiness and fulfillment in life. And I think one thing that it took me a really long time to realize when I was younger was that I thought that success, happiness, all those things were attached to doing the best in school, having a long list of extracurriculars. I was involved in producing a podcast, producing events, all those things. I felt like, oh, I execute on those things, and they'll make me feel genuinely very happy inside. And they are really good things to be involved in and really good things to value and I'm not saying you should just not care about what you do in school, or you should really try to figure out what hobbies you really like to do and make sure to add those into your daily life. But the one thing I think is behind all of that, once you strip all those things away, it's just you. And you should make sure that you put in time and prioritize the connections you have, the people you surround yourself with Because if you don't do that, you won't really be able to show up as your best self and all the other things that you want and you think make you feel a certain way. And people need other people to be around them, to inspire them, to push them to achieve their utmost potential. And I think that when it comes to being real, you have to be willing to be vulnerable. And it's scary sometimes, because I know with myself sometimes, I would fear that, what if I'm super vulnerable with someone? And at the end of the day, they decide that that person's not really a relationship in my life anymore, like a friendship, whatever. But truly, at the end of the day, people will come in and out of your life, and that's just the truth. But that shouldn't scare you from finding, say, the right friend or whatever. And the only way you're going to be able to find a really close friend or really important person in your life is if you be vulnerable with everyone and see what sticks.”
What are some challenges you face as a founder?
“I think some of the biggest challenges that I face have been time management. That's just always a hard one to balance between college, which is not only school, but also social events, and sticking with healthy routines and going to the gym and working out and all those things combined is all in the college experience. When in high school. High school is just school. You go to school, you come up, do homework, whatever. Everything else seems separate from school. In college, everything is like you're doing everything you're doing all in the same place. That can be really challenging, or at least was a little bit challenging for me in the beginning. But when you are specific about how you spend your time, you will be able to have enough time to do everything you want. You just have to figure out what's most important to you and schedule that accordingly.”
How do you balance being a student & founder?
“I kind of just answered that question, but I like to create really long lists of things I really want to be able to do, and then I go in. Maybe it's with a highlighter or I start things on the list that I think are really important to me. And then I look at my day, the following day, the night before, the day before, and I think about what are things I have to do, whether that's class or meeting I signed up for or whatever. Schedule those first, because those have to get done whether I want to or not. And then I see that the rest of the time, if I wake up at a certain time, I can choose what I spend time doing. I make sure to plan out things that I find really important, which aren't always correlated. I make sure I have time to spend on school and time to do the girlfriend stuff, and time to hang out with friends and time to go exercise. All those things, I put them in the calendar. And every day I can see I have time for everything I want to do. And obviously, it doesn't always go as planned, but it's good to have at least a good idea, at least try to do that, because usually, uh, you end up doing way more than you ever thought you could have done, or you probably would do way more than you could have if you didn't plan it out.”
What can we expect from It’s a girl's life in 2024?
“Well, one thing that I'm working on is bringing speakers to the youth campus where I go to college in Dallas. She's going to be a financial, personal finance, Instagram content creator. She has a podcast when you break your budget. She also wrote a book, and that's really exciting. The second thing is I have a bunch more podcast episodes published in the new year from a variety of guests that center on the topics of health, wellness, personal finance, education, and career life in your postgrad, high school, and above. Content that's empowering, educational, and really will help you guys realize that you can rewrite the narratives you have about your life.”
Follow Charlotte:
Linkedn: charlottewasserman
Website: https://www.itsagirlslife.org/
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