I Want Her Shoes Podcast

Laura has spent her career looking at entrepreneurship from almost every angle. Before launching Ascendo, she founded Endeavor Miami, the first U.S. affiliate of the global entrepreneurship organization, where the portfolio grew to 23 companies generating more than $250 million in revenue. Earlier in her career, Laura held leadership positions at Visa and developed deep experience across fintech, payments, M&A, and private equity. Today, she brings all of those perspectives together as an investor.
In this conversation, Anna and Laura explore what makes an exceptional founder, why overlooked markets can create extraordinary investment opportunities, where venture capital may be looking in the wrong places, and how AI is changing the investment landscape.
They also talk about Laura’s own evolution from corporate executive to ecosystem builder to venture capitalist and what years of working across countries, industries, and boardrooms have taught her about leadership, reinvention, and success.
Because sometimes the greatest opportunities aren't where everyone is already looking. They're where very few people have thought to look yet.
👠 Key Moments
What connects the many chapters of Laura’s career as an executive, founder, operator, investor, and board member
What Laura saw in Miami’s entrepreneurial ecosystem before the city became a major startup and technology hub
The qualities she looks for when deciding whether a founder is truly exceptional
What investors can learn about a founder that will never appear in a pitch deck
Why Laura sees inclusive innovation as an investment advantage, not simply a social objective
How overlooked founders, consumers, and markets can create asymmetric investment opportunities
Why investment capital still hasn't caught up with the enormous economic influence of women
How Laura evaluates AI companies in a market where almost every startup has an AI story
Where she believes AI opportunities may still be underestimated
What venture capital may be overfunding—and overlooking
Why Laura’s experience as an operator changes the way she works with founders
What working at Visa taught her about building companies that can truly scale
Lessons about leadership from working across the U.S., Mexico, Latin America, global corporations, startups, and venture capital
How to recognize when it's time to leave a successful chapter and reinvent yourself
This episode is ultimately about seeing possibility before it becomes obvious.
Great founders don't all look the same. Great ideas don't come from one demographic, one geography, or one network. And some of the most compelling investment opportunities may exist precisely because everyone else is looking somewhere else.
Laura’s own career is also a reminder that reinvention doesn't mean leaving your experience behind. Every chapter can become part of the toolkit you bring into the next one.
🎧 Listen now for a conversation about venture capital, AI, entrepreneurship, Miami, women and wealth, leadership, reinvention—and what it really takes to recognize an opportunity before the rest of the world does.
Adding a chic twist to each episode, the 'I Want Her Shoes Podcast' is recorded in Anna’s stunning personal closet, strategically located near the vibrant Miami Design District. This unique setting not only provides a visually captivating backdrop but also embodies the spirit of fashion and innovation that the area is known for.
📺 Watch the episodes on YouTube to get a glimpse of this one-of-a-kind Miami closet—it’s definitely worth the view! https://www.youtube.com/@IWantHerShoesPodcast
Follow us for more updates:
IWHS Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwanthershoespodcast/
IWHS Pod Website: https://iwanthershoes.com/
Laura’s LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-i-mayd%C3%B3n-22018a/
Ascendo VC: https://ascendo.vc/

EPISODE CREDITS:
Writer and Host: Anna Anisin
Produced, edited, and mixed by the Formulatedby Team
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Over nearly two decades, Joanna has helped build and scale some of the most recognizable brands across technology, health, wellness, travel, and consumer products. She’s served as CMO of Spring Health, Skyscanner, ClassPass, and Reforge, worked across nine startups, led teams of more than 280 people, and helped scale global businesses reaching more than 110 million people each month.
But after years of helping other founders build extraordinary companies, Joanna is entering a new chapter: building something of her own.
In this conversation, Anna and Joanna explore what separates great marketing from a brand that becomes part of culture, what decades of operating have taught Joanna about leadership, how AI is reshaping marketing, and why curiosity may be one of the most important qualities we can carry into the next chapter of our lives.
They also dive into Joanna’s newest venture, NEON PALM, and what it feels like to move from advising founders to becoming one herself.
Because the most interesting careers rarely follow a straight line. And as Joanna says, beautiful things are never built alone.
👠 Key Moments
What nine startups taught Joanna about building, scaling, and starting over
Why Joanna considers herself an operator first—and a marketer second
The difference between great marketing and building a brand that becomes part of culture
How to keep brands human while operating at massive scale
Why creating cultural conversations matters more than simply creating content
What companies are still getting wrong about growth marketing
How AI will transform marketing—and where human creativity will become even more valuable
Why more AI-generated content doesn’t necessarily mean more meaningful content
The story behind Joanna’s new venture, NEON PALM
What becoming a founder has taught her after years of advising other founders
This episode is a conversation about building, reinvention, and staying curious—even after you’ve already achieved extraordinary things.
Because success doesn’t mean arriving at one final destination. Sometimes the most exciting thing you can do is decide to build again.
🎧 Listen now for a conversation about brands, AI, leadership, style, entrepreneurship, and why the best things we create are rarely created alone.
Adding a chic twist to each episode, the 'I Want Her Shoes Podcast' is recorded in Anna’s stunning personal closet, strategically located near the vibrant Miami Design District. This unique setting not only provides a visually captivating backdrop but also embodies the spirit of fashion and innovation that the area is known for.
📺 Watch the episodes on YouTube to get a glimpse of this one-of-a-kind Miami closet—it’s definitely worth the view! https://www.youtube.com/@IWantHerShoesPodcast
Follow us for more updates:
IWHS Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwanthershoespodcast/
IWHS Pod Website: https://iwanthershoes.com/
Joanna’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joannalord
Joanna’s LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannalord/
Neon Palm: https://neonpalm.co/

EPISODE CREDITS:
Writer and Host: Anna Anisin
Produced, edited, and mixed by the Formulatedby Team
Follow us on IG
Watch on Youtube

One of the summer’s biggest stories was the announcement and subsequent cancellation of John Galliano: Horizons, the major Spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition that would have celebrated Galliano’s extraordinary and complicated career.

Naturally, Anna and Ella have opinions. Was canceling the exhibition the right decision? Can we separate the art from the artist? And what would a Galliano-inspired Met Gala have looked like if it had actually happened?

But Galliano is far from the only designer on trial. Ella arrives with a confession of her own: she finally caved and bought her first pair of Matthieu Blazy Chanel shoes. So, is Blazy making Chanel exciting again and could we be witnessing the beginning of a new era for the house?

And while we’re asking important questions... why is everything suddenly “chic”?

Chic restaurants. Chic sneakers. Chic vacations. Chic interiors. Chic water bottles.

Has social media officially ruined the word?

After years of quiet luxury and understated minimalism, fashion also seems to be having fun again. Anna and Ella debate the bedazzling of everything, the return of maximalism and statement dressing, archival fashion, luxury prices, what they’re actually buying for fall and whether we’re finally witnessing the return of something fashion has been missing: Personality.

👠 Key Moments

Has the word “chic” officially lost all meaning?

The bedazzling of everything—and whether maximalism is officially back

Is quiet luxury finally losing its grip?

The canceled John Galliano: Horizons Met exhibition and the complicated question of separating art from artist

What a Galliano-inspired Met Gala would have looked like

Ella’s confession: buying her first Matthieu Blazy Chanel shoes

Is Blazy ushering in a new golden era at Chanel?

Archival fashion, creative-director shakeups, and what feels exciting in fashion right now

Are today’s luxury prices actually worth it?

What Anna and Ella are buying for fall and what everyone should stop buying

This episode is ultimately about something bigger than trends. After years of understated dressing, neutral palettes, and the idea that looking expensive meant barely looking styled at all, fashion seems ready to have fun again.

Maybe we don’t need another uniform. Maybe we need more personality, more experimentation, more fabulous shoes and fewer rules about what qualifies as chic.

🎧 Listen now for Anna and Ella’s summer fashion debrief and find out what officially made the Fashion Crimes list.

Adding a chic twist to each episode, the 'I Want Her Shoes Podcast' is recorded in Anna’s stunning personal closet, strategically located near the vibrant Miami Design District. This unique setting not only provides a visually captivating backdrop but also embodies the spirit of fashion and innovation that the area is known for.

📺 Watch the episodes on YouTube to get a glimpse of this one-of-a-kind Miami closet it’s definitely worth the view! https://www.youtube.com/@IWantHerShoesPodcast

Follow us for more updates:

IWHS Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwanthershoespodcast/

IWHS Pod Website: https://iwanthershoes.com/

Anna’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwanthershoes/

Ella’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/ella_murad/

EPISODE CREDITS:
Writer and Host: Anna Anisin
Produced, edited, and mixed by the Formulatedby Team
Follow us on IG
Watch on Youtube

Together, Cynthia and Simon have built more than a remarkable venue.They've created a space where ideas are exchanged, relationships are formed, artists are celebrated, and community comes to life.

In this conversation, Anna explores what it takes to build meaningful experiences, lead as partners in business and life, and create environments that people remember long after they've left. Because great hospitality isn't just about service. It's about creating a sense of belonging.

👠 Key Moments:

How Cynthia and Simon built a business—and a life—together

The vision behind The Moore Miami

Why hospitality is really about human connection

Lessons from decades of entrepreneurship and leadership

What makes unforgettable spaces unforgettable

The future of luxury, culture, and experiential hospitality

How AI may change hospitality—and what should always remain human

The role of style, architecture, and design in shaping experience

Building a lasting legacy through community

The stories behind the shoes they brought to the podcast

This episode is a celebration of creativity, partnership, and the people who understand that the most meaningful experiences aren't manufactured—they're thoughtfully designed.

🎧 Listen now and discover why the greatest luxury isn't a beautiful space—it's how that space makes you feel.

Adding a chic twist to each episode, the 'I Want Her Shoes Podcast' is recorded in Anna’s stunning personal closet, strategically located near the vibrant Miami Design District. This unique setting not only provides a visually captivating backdrop but also embodies the spirit of fashion and innovation that the area is known for. 

📺 Watch the episodes on YouTube to get a glimpse of this one-of-a-kind Miami closet—it’s definitely worth the view!  https://www.youtube.com/@IWantHerShoesPodcast

Follow us for more updates:

IWHS Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwanthershoespodcast/

IWHS Pod Website: https://iwanthershoes.com/

Cynthia’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cynthia_okeefe

Simon’s LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-sorpresi-3504a922/

The Moore: mooremiami.com

EPISODE CREDITS:
Writer and Host: Anna Anisin
Produced, edited, and mixed by the Formulatedby Team
Follow us on IG
Watch on Youtube

But Melodie's entrepreneurial story began long before Max Retail. She skipped college, built a career in real estate as a teenager, lost everything during the housing crash, sold designer clothing out of a Sprinter van, opened her own boutique, and ultimately created the business she wished had existed when she was a retailer herself.

In this conversation, Anna and Melodie discuss resilience, reinvention, entrepreneurship, fashion, and why the best businesses are often born from the problems that keep us awake at night. Because success isn't about never failing. It's about having the courage to keep building

👠 Key Moments

Why Melodie chose entrepreneurship over a traditional path

Lessons from losing everything during the housing crash

Selling designer fashion out of a Sprinter van—and what it taught her

Building a boutique before launching a technology company

The inspiration behind Max Retail

How resale is changing the future of fashion

Why solving your own problem can lead to your best business idea

Leadership lessons from building and scaling a company

The realities of starting over—and why reinvention is a strength

How Melodie's relationship with fashion has evolved over the years

This episode is a reminder that entrepreneurship isn't about having all the answers. It's about staying curious, embracing change, and betting on yourself—even when the outcome is uncertain. Because sometimes the greatest opportunities are waiting on the other side of the biggest setbacks.

🎧 Listen now and discover why the most successful founders aren't the ones who never fail—they're the ones who keep moving forward.

Adding a chic twist to each episode, the 'I Want Her Shoes Podcast' is recorded in Anna’s stunning personal closet, strategically located near the vibrant Miami Design District. This unique setting not only provides a visually captivating backdrop but also embodies the spirit of fashion and innovation that the area is known for. 

📺 Watch the episodes on YouTube to get a glimpse of this one-of-a-kind Miami closet—it’s definitely worth the view!  https://www.youtube.com/@IWantHerShoesPodcast

Follow us for more updates:

IWHS Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwanthershoespodcast/

IWHS Pod Website: https://iwanthershoes.com/

Anna’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwanthershoes/

Melodie’s LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melodie-van-der-baan/

Melodie’s Website: https://substack.com/@maxretail

EPISODE CREDITS:
Writer and Host: Anna Anisin
Produced, edited, and mixed by the Formulatedby Team
Follow us on IG
Watch on Youtube