Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin created theSkimm 11 years ago as roommates. Here’s how they built a news empire for women.
The way we get our news is always changing — and lately, it seems to be changing more rapidly than ever before. We know people are tuning in daily to watch the show on TV, but they’re also increasingly watching highlights on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Some people discredit Gen Z and millennials for not keeping up with the news but the reality is, a whopping 79% still consume the news daily, and about 91% are getting their information on social media.
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One of the first outlets to make news bite-sized and informative was theSkimm, a newsletter that launched in 2012 and was developed by two former roommates, Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin. Today, theSkimm ecosystem includes six newsletters, the podcast “9 to 5ish” and theSkimm mobile app. The surprising thing is Danielle Weisberg, co-CEO of the Skimm calls herself a “reluctant entrepreneur.” However, she says when she and Carly Zakin quit their full-time newsroom jobs to build theSkimm from their couch, “it seemed like there was more of a risk in not doing it to our futures, and it felt like the safer bet was to bet on ourselves.”
Now, 11 years later they are still working side-by-side and continue to provide daily news to women – but they are also shining a light on the issues that are the most important to us. TheSkimm’s #ShowUsYourLeave campaign was born out of Danielle posting a photo where she was chasing her then 18-month-old in the middle of a meeting. She asked other women to send in what their paid maternity leave was like, and boy did they deliver. Thousands of women began DMing her and telling her their stories about the lack of leave at their company. “The pictures of women in delivery gowns working on their laptops because they needed to log a certain amount of hours before they could qualify for leave just seemed ridiculous,” she says. “Now we’ve gotten over 700 companies to post their family leave policy so that you don’t have to have that awkward conversation when you’re thinking about it in your workplace.”
Listen to hear why being co-CEOs is the right choice for Danielle and Carly (and how they make decisions and split responsibilities), what they learned getting funded as female founders, and what important issue they are working on tackling next.
How She Does It is bringing you episodes like these from female entrepreneurs who are carving their own paths every single Monday. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts! (And don’t forget to share with a friend if you’re loving the show!)
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