Starting a business is hard, and raising money to do it is not easy either. Being a woman in the tech industry is even harder! Doing it so well that Forbes recognizes you as one of their 30 Under 30 in the Marketing & Advertising category? Nearly impossible. Kelsey Hunter did all of these things and has never doubted if she is where she should be. She is the solo founder of Paloma, a fast growing company which provides brands with everything they need to turn Facebook Messenger into a growth channel, driving conversions through automated messaging. Kelsey joins Socialfly Co-founder Courtney Spritzer in the MouthMedia Network studios for a conversation about her journey to success and building her company from the ground up, along with a surprise and a brainstorm.In this episode:
Hosts
Stephanie Cartin is the co-founder and CEO of Entreprenista, an all-in-one platform – which includes a private community & business membership called The Entreprenista League that's made up of over 2,000 women founders at all stages of business, a weekly newsletter received by 60,000 readers, two podcasts, in-person educational & networking events, and an award program – that women founders at all stages can turn to for everything they need to grow.
Stephanie is also the co-founder of Socialfly (acquired by Truform Media Group in 2024), Markid, and Pearl Influential Capital. She has won countless awards, including the SmartCEO Brava award, which recognizes the top women CEOs in New York, and a Stevie Award for Women-Run Workplace of the Year. She has also appeared in Bloomberg, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Refinery29, and more.
Courtney Spritzer is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, author, and community builder with a passion for creating brands and platforms that empower women to lead, grow, and thrive.
In 2012, she co-founded Socialfly, a leading social-first digital and influencer marketing agency. Over the course of a decade, she helped scale the business into an award-winning agency working with Fortune 500 brands and emerging startups, building a powerhouse team and culture along the way. In 2024, Socialfly was acquired.
In 2018, Courtney launched the Entreprenista Podcast to spotlight the stories of inspiring women founders. That passion evolved into Entreprenista Media in 2021, a media platform and community supporting women entrepreneurs at every stage of growth. She now co-leads the continued expansion of The Entreprenista League, a membership-driven community and ecosystem for founders.
As an angel investor, Courtney supports female-led and mission-driven startups aligned with her vision for a more inclusive and equitable business landscape.
She is the co-author of Like, Love, Follow: The Entreprenista’s Guide to Using Social Media to Grow Your Business (2015), a strategic guide for leveraging social platforms to drive business success.
Her work and ventures have been featured in Bloomberg, Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and The New York Times. She is committed to championing visionary founders and helping build the next generation of impactful, community-driven businesses.
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Highlights
- How Kelsey started Paloma, and how efforts to get sizable investment in your company can make you feel like you’re not going to make it to the next day.
- How she did something generally thought of as insane—fundraising over the holidays—and why it worked.
- The struggle to have and project the right image before you’ve really made it.
- Making right decisions when under financial pressure.
- Helping someone succeed in the hiring process.
- Managing stress—and why Kelsey doesn’t work on Friday nights.
- And the value of a support group people who really understand you as an entrepreneur.


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