Latest news with #Pierson
Elle
5 hours ago
- Business
- Elle
Daniella Pierson's Mission to Champion Female Entrepreneurs
The Newsette founder Daniella Pierson has a new venture to add to her portfolio: Chasm. According to TechCrunch, all-women teams currently receive just 1.8 percent of VC funding. This initiative aims to close that gender gap in entrepreneurship, supported by an impressive roster of members, including musician Lionel Richie and Sneex inventor Sara Blakely. Essentially, investors like Richie and Blakely will pay $25,000 a year to be a member of Chasm. With the funds Pierson receives from her high-status friends, she will then disperse monthly grants to young, female entrepreneurs, giving them tools and resources for their businesses to thrive. 'Chasm is going to make a massive dent in the gender gap by focusing on one solution that has a domino effect: creating more successful female entrepreneurs,' Pierson says in a press release. 'If you think about who has the most wealth and power in the world, they have two things in common: They are men and they are entrepreneurs. We're creating an ecosystem rooted in community, insight, and real resources.' As a 29-year-old BIPOC entrepreneur, Pierson says she takes the issue personally. She started The Newsette while still in college and grew it into a powerhouse email juggernaut before leveraging her rapidly expanding network to launch Chasm. Chasm will offer only one grant per month; those interested can apply for these funds by filling out a form online. The site also offers resources for young entrepreneurs, welcoming every woman to join the community. These could be as simple as a membership to Instacart+, the first partner of the new company, which allows less time to be spent at the grocery store for working women. It even has a newsletter, much like Newsette. With her impressive list of backers, Pierson emphasizes, in an email interview, that members are value-driven, hence them giving the $25,000 as a direct grant rather than as an investment. 'They get to see what they're fueling every single day, whether that's through our grant winners, or real stories of impact,' she says. 'Many of these people are dear friends who believe fully in the mission.' The organization is also not a nonprofit. 'The only way to create sustainable, systemic change is by introducing a business model that can fund itself,' Pierson adds. 'If I raise $10 million in donations, I can make $10 million of impact. But, if I use my media background and network to build Chasm into a $500 million company, then we inspire other member-to-many models. That's when billions start flowing toward real, scalable solutions. If I can prove that this model drives both value and change? That's a tide that lifts every boat.' Pierson is also a co-founder of the 'mental fitness ecosystem' Wondermind with Selena Gomez, a website offering resources to those in need. The singer and actress made headlines weeks ago as the startup laid off the majority of its already small staff amid financial troubles. Pierson left the company in 2023, and Chasm continues Pierson's mission-led work. Others involved in Chasm include Instacart CEO and chair Fidji Simo, entrepreneurs Tony and Sage Robbins, and Drybar co-founder Alli Webb.
Business Insider
25-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A 29-year-old entrepreneur's side hustle brought in $40 million in a year. Now she wants to help other 'uninvestable' women.
Before building her multimillion-dollar business, Daniella Pierson said she was "the poster child" for "do not invest in." Now, she aims to help other "uninvestable" women secure financing for their ideas with her new organization, CHASM, where she wants to help close the gender gap in VC funding. "I had zero investment, not because I didn't want it. I wanted it very badly," Pierson told Business Insider. "I went to dozens of VCs, and I was rejected, rejected, rejected, laughed out of every room." One "household name" told Pierson she spoke too much and too quickly, and didn't know what she was talking about: "I cried the whole Uber home." Despite the setbacks, Pierson made a name for herself with her newsletter, The Newsette, which she founded in 2015 during her sophomore year at Boston University. Until graduation, she would write the entire newsletter between 6 and 10 a.m., covering the latest news in beauty, fashion, and business, before rushing to classes. Then she'd work on it in the evenings and weekends too. "Even after we made a million dollars, I still wrote it," Pierson said. "I didn't have fancy VC money to fall back on." In 2021, The Newsette had a team of 14 and brought in revenues of $40 million in one year and made a profit in the tens of millions. The following year Pierson launched another newsletter, Wondermind, cofounded with Selena Gomez and the actor's mother, Mandy Teefey. That year, Forbes named Pierson the world's youngest, wealthiest self-made woman of color. Numerous barriers It took Pierson more than five years of hard work to become successful beyond her "wildest dreams." Pierson said she grew up as "the dumb twin — that's not a nickname I gave to myself. That's something my lovely teachers and peers called me in public to my face." She faced numerous barriers and challenges as a female entrepreneur. She failed her business project at college and was almost kicked out a semester before graduation. She was diagnosed with OCD when she was 14, and also lives with ADHD, depression, and anxiety. Pierson doesn't want it to be this hard for other women like her. The amount of funding all-women teams receive is low. In 2022, they accounted for 2.1% ($5.1 billion), BI previously reported. In 2023, it dropped to 1.8% ($3.1 billion). "That made me really mad," Pierson said. "So I was like, what am I going to do? I'm going to close the gender gap." CHASM, which launched on May 20, has a "mentor-to-many" business model. Fifty high-profile entrepreneurs and investors, both men and women, pay a $25,000 membership fee to help aspiring female entrepreneurs from pitch to exit, offering insights, networking opportunities, and grants. Pierson said she wanted to provide women the tools, knowledge, and connections they need to thrive as entrepreneurs without facing the same roadblocks that she did. Wider gap Pierson said women start out "50 feet below the playing field" when launching a business. She believes men are part of the solution. "The gap has opened wider because we're isolating men," Pierson said."That could be a controversial statement, but I don't think it is, because guess what? If 99.999% of the money, power, wealth, all of that belongs to men, we need some of them on our side." Pierson said she doesn't want to "just throw money at the problem." "I'd rather teach a woman how to fish than just give her a fish," she said. "I want to put them in the best position for success by giving them the ultimate Bible of everything." Some members already signed up for CHASM include Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx and Sneex; singer Lionel Richie; Fidji Simo, the CEO and chair of Instacart who is joining OpenAI later this year; and Tony Robbins, a motivational speaker and coach. "This is putting my heart and soul, and my time, where my values are, and I hope people really use this to become the most successful versions of themselves, no matter what industry they're in," Pierson said. "If I can do it, anyone can."
Miami Herald
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Three-time WNBA champion joins HBCU program
Prairie View A&M has made a major splash in the HBCU coaching landscape by hiring WNBA legend and Texas Tech Hall of Famer Plenette Pierson. She has joined the women's basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach. The former WNBA champion brings over two decades of elite basketball experience to Prairie View A&M for the 2024-25 season. Pierson joins the Lady Panthers after serving as associate head coach at Texas Tech, her alma mater, where she was instrumental in the team's resurgence. During her tenure, the Lady Raiders posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in over a decade and reached the quarterfinals of both the Big 12 Tournament and the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). Known for her ability to develop post players and lead recruiting efforts, Pierson helped guide Texas Tech to key wins over top-tier programs including Virginia Tech, Arkansas, and Iowa State. Her influence helped produce All-Big 12 standouts and one of the nation's top transfer classes. A former No. 4 overall pick in the 2003 WNBA Draft, Pierson is a three-time WNBA champion and former Sixth Woman of the Year. Her move to Prairie View A&M marks a powerful new chapter for HBCU women's basketball. Pierson was hired by new PVAMU head coach Tia Dillard, a former standout at Texas and WNBA veteran. Dillard comes over from the University of Houston, where she helped guide the Cougars to multiple postseason runs. Known for mentoring sharpshooter Laila Blair and excelling in recruitment, Dillard's leadership is already reshaping Prairie View's HBCU basketball identity. Her decision to hire Pierson blends pro-level pedigree with high-level collegiate coaching insight. The post Three-time WNBA champion joins HBCU program appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Greywalls golf course in Marquette feels like a time warp back to Jurassic era
It looks like no terrain you have ever seen before on a golf course — like you've been transported into an Ansel Adams landscape portrait. That's the grounds of Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with Lake Superior shimmering in the distance. Advertisement The aptly named Greywalls was sculpted out of breathtaking, tumbling land featuring granite walls and outcrops scattered throughout the fairways and greens — it feels straight out of the Jurassic era. It makes for a gnarly one-of-a-kind ride through the wilderness, with stunning views and elevation changes, never-seen-before fairway impediments and numerous holes that would qualify as the signature on most courses. Greywalls was created by Saginaw native Mike DeVries — who a few years earlier completed the acclaimed private Kingsley Club in Grand Traverse County — after Marquette Golf Club saw its original 1929 course, The Heritage, being overrun. DeVries, who earned his Masters in landscape architecture in 1994 from Michigan, has created well-regarded courses in west Michigan, including Pierson's Pilgrim's Run, Grand Rapids' The Mines and Hamilton's Diamond Springs. Advertisement Greywalls, opened in 2005, continually ranks inside the top 50 public-access courses in America, as judged by Golfweek: It was No. 40 nationally in 2024, and No. 2 in Michigan. How DeVries had the vision to carve out Greywalls from a rugged forest is jaw-dropping, both to the architectural expert and the untrained eye. Right away, you know you're in for something different. IN THE LOWER PENINSULA ... Nightmare green at Eagle Crest causes chaos at national championship The par-5 first hole tees from a high point to boldly sloping turf with rock outcroppings on each side. The par-4 second fairway has severe peaks and valleys as it winds and tumbles to a green site sticking out of the forest. A look from the bounding par-4 second fairway to the green at Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club in Marquette, Michigan near Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula, June 26, 2024. The par-4 fourth features a giant mound of fairway on the left with a small patch of moss and fescue on top of another jutting rock that drops off to a valley of fairway on the right. The green is protected on the left by a giant overgrown rock wall standing a few stories high. A rock wall closely guards the left side of the par-4 fourth green at Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club in Marquette, Michigan near Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula, June 26, 2024. The sixth might be the best of them all: a rare uphill par-3. But, boy, is it intimidating, hitting over a rock outcropping with a green sitting on a plateau surrounded by more rock. I'm surely one of thousands to bang it off the rock face guarding the right side of the green. The famed uphill par-3 sixth hole at Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club in Marquette, Michigan near Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula, June 26, 2024. And the par-4 seventh? Don't even get me started on that extreme roller coaster of a fairway with random jagged rocks splattered across it. Just making it through the hole with the same ball you teed off with — and without a sprained ankle — is an accomplishment. The par-4 seventh hole at Greywalls tees off from a high point on top of rock and features a cliff bisecting the middle of the fairway at Marquette Golf Club in Marquette, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula, June 26, 2024. Lake Superior is seen in the distance. The par-4 11th makes you feel like you're on the only golf hole in the world, beautifully framed by bunkers crisscrossing the fairway from every angle with the dense forest behind the green. View from the tee on the par-4 11th hole at Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club in Marquette, Michigan near Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula, June 26, 2024. Virtually every hole offers something unique, including tightly mown areas around the fast greens, which allow imaginative ways to get the ball rolling toward the cup. It's a design feature not seen enough at most courses. Advertisement The journey ends on the downhill par-5 18th with a tee shot down a chute framed by more rock outcroppings, with Lake Superior beckoning beyond the horizon. The view from the 18th green looking back up to the fairway at Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club in Marquette, Michigan near Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula, June 26, 2024. Greywalls has earned even more positive publicity over the past few years from two leaders of new-age golf media platforms. The website Fried Egg Golf spotlighted the course and featured a short video on No. 7 among its "Great Golf Holes" series. "Mike DeVries created one of the most memorable holes in golf simply by letting the jaw-dropping terrain be the star," Fried Egg founder Andy Johnson says in the clip. No Laying Up played its final match of its "Tourist Sauce (Michigan)" series in 2021 showcasing the entire course intertwined with commentary from DeVries. Greywalls is the type of experience where after you finish the round, you have to take a seat to talk through and digest the nigh-indescribable nature of what you just witnessed. Advertisement TRENDING: 5 public golf courses in Michigan I can't wait to play for first time in 2025 And though you might need a day to recover, you want to get out and play it again to see what kind of breaks you might get the second time around. It is a course every golfer from below the Mackinac Bridge should try to play at least once, and more than worth the half-day drive from southeast Michigan. Marlowe Alter is an assistant sports editor at the Detroit Free Press and a spraying golf aficionado. You can reach him by email: malter@ Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress). Advertisement Stay connected and stay informed. Become a Detroit Free Press subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Greywalls golf course in Michigan's Upper Peninsula lives up to hype
Fox Sports
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Dennis Hauger Sets Early Pace in Indianapolis Grand Prix Practice
INDYCAR Dennis Hauger's near-perfect season in INDY NXT by Firestone continued Friday morning, as he led the opening practice for the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Hauger was quickest at 1 minute, 14.2484 seconds in the No. 28 Rental Group car fielded by Andretti Global. Series rookie Hauger has won both races this season from the pole and has been quickest in every session but one practice at the season opener in March at St. Petersburg, Florida. SEE: Practice Results Series veteran Callum Hedge was second at 1:14.6287 in the No. 17 Abel Motorsports machine. Salvador de Alba ended up third at 1:14.7679 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car of Andretti Global. Rookie Lochie Hughes was the third Andretti Global driver in the top four with his best lap of 1:14.8332 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championships car. Caio Collet rounded out the top five at 1:14.8453 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car. The 50-minute session ended with slightly under three minutes to go after contact between veterans Myles Rowe and Josh Pierson in Turn 7 of the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. Rowe exited the pits in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy car parallel with the No. 14 HMD Motorsports machine of Pierson. The two ended up racing side by side through the first six turns of the circuit before Rowe nosed ahead. Pierson tried to dive under Rowe in Turn 7, and the two cars made side-by-side contact and slid into the grass. Pierson accepted blame for the incident on the team radio after returning to the pits. Up next is qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET today (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network), which will set the starting grids for both 35-lap races this weekend. Race 1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET tonight, live on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. recommended
