Mentorship, Mindshare, and Momentum: Real Talk on Entrepreneurship

Emily Maginn, CEO of EXO Technologies, joins us to share her journey in revolutionizing women's healthcare. From bootstrapping to fundraising, Emily dishes on the realities of solo founding in health tech. We explore the power of mentorship, protecting your mindshare, and building momentum in a competitive landscape. Tune in for candid insights and practical advice from a rising star in the startup world!

You can follow Emily on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-maginn/

 And learn more about EXO Technologies at: https://www.weareexo.com/

Follow us on Tik Tok @shesambitiousaf for more content and episode teasers!

Transcript

Angelica Maestas (Host): [00:00:00] Welcome to She's Ambitious AF, the bold and empowering podcast that turns up the volume on female entrepreneurship. Join us as we dive headfirst into the wild world of boss babes, where we spill the tea on all things ambition, success, and the occasional hilarious disaster.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Hi listeners today. I'm joined by guest Emily McGinn. Emily, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself?

Emily Maginn (Guest): Hi, my name is Emily McGinn, and I'm the founder and CEO of XO. We're a health tech company.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Awesome. Well, I'm so excited to have you here. We were having a little bit too much fun pre conversation and so we had to save the good stuff for this episode.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Yes.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Well, tell us a little bit about XO. What is it [00:01:00] now and what's the journey been to get here? In a nutshell.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Yeah. So XO is a health tech company dedicated to revolutionizing female specific health care. That's really audacious. What are we doing to accomplish that? We're rebuilding the foundation of women's health. and so that's kind of the little preview of what we do is we're starting at the foundation by addressing the root issue of the fact that there's just no good research on women's health. And so the way we can fundamentally change healthcare at its core is by starting at the beginning and developing and doing research.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Ask the right questions in the right way to get the right insights, 

Angelica Maestas (Host): I love it and it's so needed. So when you were growing up and you were little Emily, did you say I want to be a health tech founder or what was your planned path?

Emily Maginn (Guest): no, not at all. I didn't know what a founder was, I mean, cause I feel like that was trendy starting when I was in college, [00:02:00] maybe, you know,

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): that's when Facebook came out and then everybody, you know, wanted to be Zuckerberg. But when I was a kid, you know, I grew up in a very traditional academic household, 

Emily Maginn (Guest): And so our career paths were really. Doctor, lawyer, professor, our parents wanted us to have safety, stability, security. And so I'm just the little oddball that they don't really know what to do with. I

Angelica Maestas (Host): Now, do they at least know what you do? Can they describe what you do? Well,

Emily Maginn (Guest): for a long time, they were like, can you get a real job? Or like, what in the world is health tech? I think that our parents, once again, it comes from a place of wanting, like, Stability and security and for your Children. And so unknown when they have built and done everything they can to provide for you for you to then to just adventure office is something that makes them slightly apprehensive. [00:03:00] but, now, with our successes, They've come around, they're like, Oh, maybe, maybe something can come of this. But no, they, I think they get it. They're like, she does something with women's health tech. And now that she's winning, we'll clap for her too.

Angelica Maestas (Host): those of us who are in healthcare and health tech, we know the value of, of what you're building and why there's such a disparity when it comes to women's health data. What made you decide I want to start a company around this?

Emily Maginn (Guest): I think the first thing I'll say is I believe that Being a founder and the right idea chooses you. You don't choose it. so how we got here now came from just being open hand, open heart to all the experiences that I had in life getting to a place where I did recognize the disparity in women's health care research and treatment wanting to figure out how to [00:04:00] address that.

Emily Maginn (Guest): The Company that we have now where we're rebuilding the foundation of women's health with new clinically validated assessments is not how we started. We actually started as a smart textiles company. I've always kind of lived at the intersection of women's health and emerging health technologies. what that has looked like has evolved over time through learnings. And I think how that happened was as I was building, I recognized that greater disparity of women's health research and the unique challenges of building a product of integrity, efficacy, and excellence, which are the pillars of our company and the challenges of bringing that to market. And that, coupled with my own personal health journey that I was going through at the time, those two things coupled together are what XO evolve to what it is [00:05:00] today, which is really just more deeply rooted to addressing the greater problem and not just, through one product of our smart textiles product, which we had at the beginning.

Angelica Maestas (Host): I love that. And it's all about evolution through learning. And along the way, along the journey, you start collecting data points. And some of them may be points that you don't want to hear like, Oh, this is really not the market we should be pursuing, or maybe we should go about it in this way. And I think a lot of founders that don't have that adaptability and the willingness to acknowledge and listen to what the market is saying, they flounder.

Angelica Maestas (Host): It's so rare to start out with the single thing. And that is the thing that takes you to success. There have to be a series of pivots along the way. I have that. Startup from way back when that we don't really mention a lot about, but it was a, it was a perfect [00:06:00] example of I was pursuing with passion, but without enough market research and data points behind it and quickly found that providers had no time for us and that they were not the market for us to be pursuing.

Angelica Maestas (Host): And so we shifted but, yeah, that's a great lesson learned in the founder journey for sure.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Yeah, what did they say? Venture capitalists, strong convictions, loosely held.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): follow the data. Thanks, boys, for quote. But it's true, it's true. Like, you just have to be open adapt, and that's how you thrive. Right?

Angelica Maestas (Host): So tell me what other, what other learnings have you had on this journey that have maybe been the most surprising?

Emily Maginn (Guest): Nothing can prepare you for being a founder. That's first and foremost. It doesn't matter how smart you are, how closely you've worked with other founders before, there's absolutely nothing that can prepare you for it. It is the loneliest, [00:07:00] hardest, most rewarding thing you will ever do. But there's absolutely nothing that can prepare you for it.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Amen. I liken it to, it's second to raising kids in the terms of reward factor. But also grief factor. And I can say this cause I've had teenagers. And so I know the level of pain that that causes, but it certainly brought a lot of joy raising kids as well. But entrepreneurship is, is lonely and. Some founders have the benefit of doing it while they have a partner, a spouse that is maybe providing financial cushion and I didn't have that in my first venture.

Angelica Maestas (Host): And so it was my livelihood and it's a very different story when you are the breadwinner and you're building this business from scratch.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Oh yeah. I'm a solo founder and a single person.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Gosh,

Emily Maginn (Guest): it. But

Angelica Maestas (Host): ballsy.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Who wants to [00:08:00] come shoulder the load with me? But no, I think that, you know, one of the things I've heard from multiple founders, almost every founder says it's the hardest thing you're ever going to do, but then for some reason, sometimes when you talk to the most privileged founders, so like serial entrepreneurs, six foot eight, 50 year old guys with like multiple exits under their belts, Stanford, all the privileges of the world. I don't know why. When they say that it doesn't matter how hard, like how many times you've done it, it's the hardest thing you'll ever do and the loneliest thing you'll ever do and no one will ever get it, that then it makes you feel better. But I think that you're not alone and knowing that the most privileged, truly the most privileged and successful people, everyone that I've met has thought like, this is so lonely and so hard. And that gives [00:09:00] you peace and permission. To like let go a little bit, but two, I think it also should encourage you to do what you can to equip yourself for this journey by surrounding yourself with the right people,

Emily Maginn (Guest): which includes a therapist. I would, I like, I told you this and I firmly believe it.

Emily Maginn (Guest): And I tell founder I know, like get a psychiatrist, get a therapist. That's like the number one tool you need in your tool belt.

Angelica Maestas (Host): I say it all the time. Entrepreneurship is the most vulnerable human experience that anyone can voluntarily sign up for. And it's good that we're talking about this because I do think that most founders conceptually understand like, oh, okay.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah, you're putting your heart and soul on the line and whatever. But until you're actually doing it and living it and also faced with rejection and maybe you have big wins and big [00:10:00] losses. it's a lot to put yourself through emotionally. And if you don't have the ability to access a therapist, because depending on where you live, some provider networks are not that great and are not that accessible.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Or if you've gone all in, quit your job, you are a single solo founder and don't have health insurance or great benefits at the time, tap into your friends and family and founder network. Really try to build that community of founders, people who know what you're going through,

Emily Maginn (Guest): yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You need to have friends. Don't forget your friends. That's a hard thing as a founder, especially as a solo founder when you're in it and you haven't made it yet. Yet. You will,

Angelica Maestas (Host): Mm hmm.

Emily Maginn (Guest): But like you need your friends you need founder friends because they're going to understand it and you need mentors, 

Emily Maginn (Guest): you can't expect every, you know, Like you can't expect [00:11:00] one person to be everything to you. I think that's important as well. Right? Like your

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): there's a role an executive coach serves a role. Cause those are two very different things.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Mm hmm.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Then you have various types of mentors, right? Like, think a lot of people are like, I want one super mentor and that's not how it works.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Somebody told me that you need three types of mentors. You have your peer to peer mentors, you have someone who is a few years ahead of you, who can help you navigate, and then you have like who you want to be when you grow up,

Emily Maginn (Guest): because you're going to have different conversations with those people. So

Emily Maginn (Guest): you

Emily Maginn (Guest): them. So it's like you need a team. And we're talking about like, when you're venturing out to be a founder, what do you need to like, best equipped for like, the craziest adventure that you can never be prepared for the best way to prepare?

Emily Maginn (Guest): Right. It's just surround yourself with people who are going to help carry. You through this and support you.

Angelica Maestas (Host): [00:12:00] It's funny. I was literally having this conversation with my 18 year old. Over the weekend and I was semi lecturing, but it was about, you are the company you keep.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Yes.

Angelica Maestas (Host): And I was, I was using myself as an example. I said, I started hanging around people who had similar goals.

Angelica Maestas (Host): And then I started developing relationships with people who were already Light years ahead of where I, of where I am, but where I wanted to be. And just through time, you start leveling up and you start getting, you change and you evolve and you get exposure to different ways of thinking, different networks, all of that.

Angelica Maestas (Host): And I think you're a hundred percent correct. There is that you need to have a different assortment of mentors, but I'm curious, how did, how did you find your mentors or how did they kind of appear in your life?

Emily Maginn (Guest): Well, another thing is most of the time a mentor picks you, you don't pick a mentor.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah, that's [00:13:00] true. 

Emily Maginn (Guest): So that is a reality. And because of that, you have to just put yourself in situations where you're going to meet lots of people.

Emily Maginn (Guest): And so, and then you also have to recognize that You might not always have the same mentors forever, right? Like just principle that I say all the time is that people come into your life for a reason, a season, a lifetime.

Emily Maginn (Guest): And like discerning appropriately, like you can have a mentor who's going to teach you one lesson, you know? And then that's it. Or maybe they're there for a season. Or, you know, it's great if they're there for a lifetime. And I think, and we want everyone to be championing us and for us forever,

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): if you recognize that you need to discern who's going to be in those roles appropriately. then you open yourself up to the right people to help you continue to level up,

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah. And it really takes awareness [00:14:00] of what, what, what is it that you're looking for and what ways are you trying to develop or is it exposure to certain networks that you're trying to get to? Is it knowledge you're trying to gain of a certain domain, whatever it is, there's some degree of intentionality in your relationships with your mentors.

Angelica Maestas (Host): And so I, I mentor and I love when mentees. know what they want from the time with me and, and they're prepared and they've already thought about things that they want me to look at or that they want my feedback on. So they already know gaps that they have that they're looking me to support with, or if there's certain introductions that they're looking for, they really are specific about what it is that would benefit them.

Angelica Maestas (Host): If I'm able to help them, then I will. And, and it does make the mentor's job a lot easier when you come with that level of preparedness.

Emily Maginn (Guest): right? And I think that's a very like structured mentor role, right? And that's about expectations, you know, beforehand, like [00:15:00] expectations are going to shape our reactions and are how we honor and respect one another, right? And so if it is like a very structured mentor role, that you, which is a really great thing to have to help move the needle forward.

Emily Maginn (Guest): If you have very clear, specific ask and goals that you are making sure that you're on the same page and working towards together, that's how you have the most meaningful relationships and like mentorship and being a mentee can also be both ways. Right.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Definitely because I do a lot of formal mentoring with various programs that I'm involved in, my most recent mentee, it was very bi directional that, you know, the relationship was, was give and take, and it, it's, It's awesome when you get to have that level of relationship, and if you're new to maybe formal mentorship, it's okay to just have conversations with people that you admire or are in a position that you would like to get to [00:16:00] at some point and, and keep it more informal if that more formal structure is intimidating in any way.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Yeah. absolutely.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Well, I would love to hear a little bit more about where you're at. Now on the fundraise side and what that has been like. 

Emily Maginn (Guest): So we have bootstrapped up into this point, which has been really fantastic. And now we are finally out there raising our first round. So I'm really excited to share that we're kicking off our road show. Things are going really well right now because we're just at the beginning. So that's great.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): you know, unprepared, but no, so for XO, we are setting out to raise our first rounds. I think that something that I've heard from other founders that I have found to be true now that I'm dived in completely is that when you're fundraising, you have to be a hundred percent committed to it as a solo founder that's really challenging because you have a business to run for [00:17:00] us, we are here in our first fundraise, I'm now a hundred percent. committed to making that happen. and it's exciting.

Angelica Maestas (Host): did you have any fears going in? Just, I mean, we know as female founders the realities of, of what fundraising is. Any trepidation? Mm-Hmm.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Oh, absolutely. I think there's the fear of rejection is the biggest one, right? And putting yourself out there. So there can be kind of like that false start of like, do we have to go? Do I have, you know, and it's like, sometimes you just gotta like jump in and realize that rejection is just part of the process and part of the learnings.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Definitely fear of that and then to the female founder part like that's real

Emily Maginn (Guest): but there's the world we wish we lived in and the reality of the world we do live in and if you want

Angelica Maestas (Host): Mm-Hmm.

Emily Maginn (Guest): you have to acknowledge the reality of the world we do [00:18:00] like live in learn to navigate that become exponentially more powerful and successful if you are hoping that things are going to be different, then it's, that's not going to serve you well.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Need to be aware as a female founder, as a minority founder, that it is just different for you for fundraising.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Mm-Hmm? . Mm-Hmm.

Emily Maginn (Guest): But like, You can't it get you down. You can't let it frustrate you too much. you have to like flip the script on it be like, well, I'm held to a different standard. Therefore I have to be more prepared. 

Emily Maginn (Guest): And the more prepared I am, the more successful I will be. I think that for myself has been what has allowed me to become more confident and more optimistic.

Angelica Maestas (Host): I think it's the awareness part is key and the unfairness of it. It's still okay to vent about it over wine, it really sucks. [00:19:00] We get 2 percent of venture capital,

Emily Maginn (Guest): it's less than, I think I had an email

Angelica Maestas (Host): less than, yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): days ago that was like, Hey, like headline was like, and it's even less than two now.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah. It's

Emily Maginn (Guest): like snooze that for reading over the weekend. Cause we need to just keep our head in the game right now to get the reality of what the landscape is now.

Emily Maginn (Guest): But Yeah, I think that you're touching on something important where there is venting and that is appropriate, right? You also can't pretend you don't have feelings and you're and it doesn't get to

Angelica Maestas (Host): yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): right? But there's a time and a place for like processing your feelings

Angelica Maestas (Host): Mm hmm.

Emily Maginn (Guest): then there's what can you do to protect your mindshare? So that you can have the greatest impact for good

Angelica Maestas (Host): Oh, I love that protecting your mindshare. I've been reading this book about how the brain works as I'm always trying to optimize my productivity and efficiency, [00:20:00] but now I'm learning about the amount of energy that even the most minute of things takes on the brain. And emotional energy and expending that as a founder, you don't have a ton of that to go around.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Especially if you're just starting your fundraise or you're active in your fundraise, that's where all your good energy and good thinking time needs to go. 

Angelica Maestas (Host): You'll be prepared to be asked a lot more questions, harder questions. Be prepared to get more questions around. Barriers to your success versus men get more questions around the opportunity. Just be prepared, have all of that ready at the hip to go. And, and you, when, when you and I first met, what was it a week or two ago?

Angelica Maestas (Host): And I heard your pitch and I said, wow, you just, you embody my, my dream founder avatar characteristics, [00:21:00] the preparedness, the energy, the drive, the. Strategy. It's just women have to be at that level to succeed in fundraising, especially. So I think more women just hear that it's just reality. Yes, you do have to work harder.

Angelica Maestas (Host): That's okay. The payoff will be bigger for you. Women do outperform men. The data shows that. And so the more women we get out there funded, we'll get to collect more of those data points.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Yeah, it's so true. And just so the listeners know, like, this didn't happen overnight, you know, like, I wasn't

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): resilient, right, and I'm

Angelica Maestas (Host): Oh, really?

Emily Maginn (Guest): was like two weeks ago when we met. 

Emily Maginn (Guest): No, I wasn't always this way. wasn't even the same person I was two, like, I'm not the same person that I was two weeks ago when I met you. Like,

Angelica Maestas (Host): Yeah.

Emily Maginn (Guest): have to learn to just let go, breathe. Be open to [00:22:00] opportunity and trust the timing of your life, truly.

Angelica Maestas (Host): When I talk about protecting your mindshare, it's about how quickly you recover. And one of the things that is helpful for me sometimes, because I am human and things do get to me, is to think back to When I was just starting out as a founder and how, like, how long was the recovery time from like one no and how like devastate your whole week.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Right. And you're like, the world is ending. This is never going to, I can't get out of bed. This is the worst,

Angelica Maestas (Host): hmm.

Emily Maginn (Guest): To now sometimes it's like, just like a blip. You're just like, all right. Like onto the

Angelica Maestas (Host): Mm hmm. Yeah. Mm

Emily Maginn (Guest): taking shots

Emily Maginn (Guest): sound too much like a fortune cookie, but apparently I do all the time and people love it or Yoda or whatever you want to say, but like winners lose [00:23:00] more than losers.

Emily Maginn (Guest): In your mind to help you flip that script and stay positive and keep going because otherwise you're just going to get stuck in the negativity of it all. Cause. It's not easy. If it was easy, everybody would do it.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Exactly. We're, we're so alike. And I, I try not to be a Pollyanna because I see things for how they are. Like, I know what the reality of situations are, but there is a silver lining in everything. Which means there's a gift in everything, but you have to be willing to look for it. And in some way, whatever, no, you got was for the better.

Angelica Maestas (Host): You can figure it out for yourself, but it's, it's always there. You just have to be looking.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Yeah, absolutely. I a hundred percent agree.

Angelica Maestas (Host): All right. I'm going to transition now to some rapid fire questions.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Okay.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Margarita, wine, or mocktail

Emily Maginn (Guest): Oh man. It's going to [00:24:00] depend on the day.

Angelica Maestas (Host): today. What about today?

Emily Maginn (Guest): Today. Well, I have an investor pitch tomorrow. Like, so I think I'd go for a mocktail. A Friday, I would maybe go with depending on how the week went, a glass of wine or a margarita.

Emily Maginn (Guest): I think you gotta set yourself up for success, especially while fundraising. And so, it's like being an athlete, so mocktail it is, I guess.

Angelica Maestas (Host): All right. Most influential book you've ever read.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Love does.

Angelica Maestas (Host): What was influential about it?

Emily Maginn (Guest): It's about action, how love is doing and beingIt's about the impact you can have on the world and good. It's a compilation of his life stories. He's just like a big things kind of guy. , he talks about living a life full of whimsy. And yeah, it's a great

Angelica Maestas (Host): [00:25:00] Love it. Okay. Teleportation or time travel?

Emily Maginn (Guest): Oh man. Teleportation.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Same. I went there too. I was like, time travel could just have disastrous effects if you have the ability to change certain events. So I also went with teleportation in the event that we are ever faced with this real decision. We know best piece of advice you've ever gotten. 

Emily Maginn (Guest): Oh man. I don't know. I think just be kind and do good. It's kind of just my own little motto, you know?

Angelica Maestas (Host): If your startup journey had a theme song, what would it be 

Emily Maginn (Guest): I don't know why this just came to me, but chumba wumba, I get knocked down and get back up again. It was something that came to me earlier today.

Angelica Maestas (Host): resiliency? [00:26:00] I

Emily Maginn (Guest): I don't know if that's my startup journey or just the season right now, but we're just going to keep going,

Angelica Maestas (Host): love it. One thing you'd wish you'd known before becoming a founder.

Emily Maginn (Guest): man. The best thing you can do is be truly yourself

Angelica Maestas (Host): Couldn't agree more. And last but not least, what can our listeners do to support you?

Emily Maginn (Guest): while we're actively fundraising. So if you would like to join us, champion women's health and impact the greater good. And you're an investor out there. We'd love to invite you on this journey with us. And are looking for additional research institutions to run clinical trials and so I think those are our two biggest ask. And then I, I've talked about being a solo founder. Here's my third thing. I'm always open a co founder. Anyone out there who's a [00:27:00] technical founder I just, I'm open to that as well. So I'm going to put that in the universe.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Good. I'm glad you did how can folks get in touch with you?

Emily Maginn (Guest): LinkedIn is probably best a follow on LinkedIn. I'm not a big social media person, but a little follow on LinkedIn is probably the best way to get me.

Angelica Maestas (Host): Well, it was wonderful having you on and I look forward to staying in touch and following your journey.

Emily Maginn (Guest): Thank you so much for having me. 

Angelica Maestas (Host): And that's a wrap on another episode of She's Ambitious AF. Remember to dream big, hustle harder, and show the world that when it comes to success, we're not just ambitious, we're Ambitious AF.