This one is from the archive. It first went out in January 2025 on my previous podcast, and I'm bringing my favourite episodes across so the whole journey lives in one place.
What does it actually take to become a female founder in fintech with no degree, no finance background and no network handed to you?
In this episode I share the full story. Dropping out of high school at 15 to study fashion. Buying my first property at 19. Building and selling my first fitness company. Launching a podcast about investing. Moving across the world to the US. And eventually pitching myself into a co-founder role in private capital, an industry I had no business being in on paper.
I get real about the failures too. A retreat business wiped out by COVID. A partnership that fell apart. Getting burned by the smoke and mirrors of the capital raising world. And the mindset that changed everything for me: shoot your shot, ask for what you want, then prove it.
I also talk about what it feels like to be the only woman in the room. When we ran Founders AI Lab, the room was 98% male. That number is not an accident, and it is exactly why I keep talking about this.
In this episode:
Why I never doubted I would be an entrepreneur, and how an unconventional upbringing shaped that
Buying my first investment property at 19 with my grandfather as a mentor
Building, pivoting and selling my first company, Activate U
What real estate, crypto and my first podcast taught me about money and risk
The side of capital raising nobody warns you about
How I pitched myself for a co-founder role and got it
Being 2% of the room, and why women belong in finance and tech
Time Rich is reshaping how women flourish in the age of AI, focused on growing revenue, rewiring self-doubt, and becoming visible alongside a badass ambitious community. 💸
Substack: timerichclub.comInstagram: @timerich.ai
Linkedin: Ella Molony Cook
Time Rich Club for ambitious women and queer entrepreneurs, leaders and business owners. Free to join. Applications vetted for down to earth humans, good vibes only.
PS. I've teamed up with AJ Yadav to launch The Agent Labs, home of The Content Stack: a 40 day challenge where he hands over the agents behind his 400K follower content machine.
Join us at theagentlabs.ai
