Founder Profile: Jen Gurecki
Jen Gurecki spoke to Girlmade about juggling two jobs, snowboarding in and around Truckee, Calif., and unwinding after a 12-hour workday. (Hint: It involves pasta.)
WHO: Gurecki heads Coalition Snow and The Zawadisha Fund. Coalition Snow produces skis and snowboards designed for women by women. Zawadisha is a non-profit organization that offers loans, preventative health care and education opportunities to women in Kenya as a means to help them out of poverty.
So, basically… Jen Gurecki is a total badass. Here’s what she had to say…
Jennifer Gurecki founder of Coalition Snow and Zawadisha riding a rail
On being an entrepreneur
“It takes all your time. You have to be willing to live with uncertainty,” Gurecki said. “If you’re the type of person who needs security and needs that paycheck, you should not be an entrepreneur. You need to be flexible, you need to solve problems, you need to solve problems every day.”
Recommend a book. Or two.
The Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss: “It brings it down to just be smarter about what you do,” Gurecki said, who doesn’t make herself feel guilty by making the decision to take a day off. She tends to work more during the non-winter months and dedicates cold weather to snowboarding.
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg: “When I read this, I thought, ‘I’m fired up. I’m fired up,’” Gurecki said.
On teamwork
“The faces we have on (zawadisha.org) are the faces of the women we work with,” Gurecki said. Think about how you can highlight the people who are making what you do successful — and then it’s not about you, it’s about this collective group of people who are all coming together.”
Name someone you admire.
Eve Ensler (best known for The Vagina Monologues).
“She’s one of those women who’s basically said to the entire world, ‘I don’t care what you think. We’re going to change this,’” Gurecki said. “She goes out on a limb for women all over the world.”
How do you unwind?
“I will spend hours cooking. I can work a 12-hour day, and I’ll be like, ‘Homemade pasta night!’ I love going shopping for food, I like figuring out a recipe … I’ll watch ‘Chopped’ as I’m cooking.”
