Natalie White on being ready when your moment comes

Natalie White was born ready: She had the idea behind Moolah Kicks as a senior at Boston College and willed it into being, learning everything from startup finance to biomechanics to build the company from the ground up. Come for her wild story about pitching Mark Cuban in a hotel gym at 10 p.m., stay for the motivation to believe you can do anything you set your mind to.

💡 The takeaways: White’s advice is especially useful for anyone starting their own company, but there are takeaways for any job. If you’re looking to climb the ladder or push your org to the next level, take a founder’s mindset — and hustle like one, too.

• Overprepare — or, in other words, know your sh!t. Get the specifics on the stuff you do know, and have questions about the stuff you don’t. “I'm doing everything I can think of under the sun. Some might say it's wasted work because I've done countless exercises in things that have never come to light. But that's what has given me the confidence to feel like I'm ready.”

• Struggling with negative feedback? Have a mentality of service to others — you’re putting yourself out there to accomplish a mission, so don’t make it about yourself. “The more you make it about who you're serving, why you're serving, and what that goal is, the easier it is to not think about it as, ‘That's a ding on me.’”

• There are some soft skills that make White a great founder (think grit, authenticity, and being a quick learner), but part of being prepared is learning hard skills like accounting, marketing, and art. For non-founders, take that energy to grow beyond your job description.

🎤 Mic-drop moment: “I think so many of us are in women's sports because we want to build a brighter future for women moving forward. And that purpose and that sense of service is what drives me. Anyone who's giving feedback is helping us get there.”