Ep 92 | Sarah Gibson Tuttle

Written By Yasmin Nouri

Ditching Corporate to Pursue Your Wildest Dreams

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Risking everything you have to pursue a dream can be the scariest but most rewarding thing a person can do in their life. Today’s guest has done just that. Sarah Gibson Tuttle is the CEO and founder of Olive & June, an innovative at-home nail-care brand that's disrupting the industry.

Sarah spent a decade in equity sales trading at Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan. She never thought she'd become an entrepreneur until her love for Drybar inspired her to create the same thing, but for nails. Although everybody thought her idea was crazy, Sarah was confident it would work and put all her savings into the first flagship store. Olive & June is now successfully democratizing nail care with their full suite of at-home mani and pedi products. 

In today's episode, we talk about how life's curveballs can be the biggest gift to sending you on a new path to rediscover your purpose and Sarah explains what it was like for her to ditch her safe corporate job to follow her passions, what kept her in her previous job for so long, and how her divorce added to her motivation to shake things up. She also shares the fears and imposter syndrome she overcame on the journey and the importance of therapy in her personal and professional life. 

Tuning in, you’ll hear how Sarah got funding, how she built a strong community around her brand, and how she has successfully pivoted over the years (especially during COVID). She also shares the importance of delegating and how, as a wife, mother, and entrepreneur, she manages it all. For a very vulnerable real conversation on what it takes to build a multimillion-dollar company from scratch, tune in today!

Show Notes:

  • What inspired Sarah to leave her job and found Olive & June. [00:50]

  • What holds people back from making the same type of career leap. [03:20]

  • How passion keeps Sarah in this entrepreneurial journey despite its hardships. [05:21]

  • What kept her in her job as an equity sales trader for so long. [08:52] 

  • How her divorce added to her motivation to shake things up. [14:34]

  • Insight into the transition period of leaving her job and moving to LA. [16:58]

  • How she built connections to get interviews in talent management and the benefits of resistance. [19:36]

  • The importance of therapy in Sarah’s personal and professional journey and how her divorce made her more empathetic. [24:50]

  • The fear and imposter syndrome she felt when she put her life savings into her first store. [28:03]

  • Sarah’s thoughts on the value of community and how she built one for her brand. [31:02]

  • The importance of innovation in Olive & June’s products. [33:30]

  • How the first salon scaled into at-home care. [36:50]

  • The importance of having a vision but also being flexible. [39:05]

  • How Olive & June pivoted during the pandemic and supported their community. [40:09]

  • Sarah’s approach to fundraising and what her relationship with her investors looks like. [42:32]

  • The best investment advice Sarah received but didn’t appreciate at the time. [46:18]

  • How Sarah supports other women founders. [48:25]

  • How she balances all the different aspects of her life. [50:22]

  • What it was like for her to build a team, delegate responsibilities, and give up control. [54:39]

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Yasmin Nouri
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