Amanda Zuckerman is the Co-founder and CEO of Dormify, a home decor brand and e-commerce store dedicated to fashion-minded girls and first-time renters. Amanda co-founded Dormify with her mother, Karen Zuckerman, while studying at Washington University in St. Louis, where she later graduated with a double-major in Design & Visual Communication and Marketing. In addition to her role as CEO of Dormify, Amanda is a founding member of Chief, a private network designed for women executives.
Amanda joins us today to discuss how her unique experience of starting a business that caters to college students while being in college gave her the focus group she needed to set herself up for success. She describes how developing a blog for her business led her to a network of brand ambassadors eager to share Dormify. She also explains how a grassroots approach to marketing was key to Dormify’s success and shares her best advice for reaching college students.
“Our grassroots approach to marketing helped us develop strong relationships with customers and excel into being a legitimate brand.” - Amanda Zuckerman
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Hosts
Stephanie Cartin is a serial entrepreneur, investor, podcast host, community builder, and a champion for women founders. She created the Entreprenista League, a community for women founders, to provide resources and support necessary at all business stages. She’s also the Co-founder of Socialfly, one of the first social media marketing agencies, as well as Entreprenista Media and Pearl Influential Capital which was recently acquired by Cherub. Stephanie has shared her journey managing her health challenges with Multiple Sclerosis, Infertility, and a complicated pregnancy and is an advocate for women going through similar challenges. Her story and businesses have been featured on the Today Show, Bloomberg and Forbes. Consider Stephanie your biggest business cheerleader.
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
- The inspiration behind Dormify and how Amanda turned an idea into a business
- Building a blog for your business and developing a network of brand ambassadors
- How they networked and collaborated with vendors for their first line of products
- How inexperience helped Amanda and her mom cultivate success in their brand
- The first challenges they met in launching their business
- What it’s like to work with your mom and how Amanda sets up boundaries
- Her advice to Entreprenistas who work or are planning to work with family members
- Dormify’s grassroots approach to marketing and how their marketing strategy has evolved
- How to successfully raise business capital with friends and family
- Building an impactful ambassador and referral program
- The power of TikTok and Amanda’s advice on reaching college students as a market
- How Amanda became the CEO of Dormify
- How Dormify’s latest fundraising round positively changed the business
- Amanda’s tips and best practices for raising capital
- A typical day outside of work for Amanda and her thoughts on work/life balance
- The true benefits of being the child of an Entreprenista
- Her advice to college students who want to start businesses while studying
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