SCA Alum/Red Ants Pants founder Sarah Calhoun on SiriusXM & Huff Post
Realizing you need help and learning how to ask for help are crucial skills for a founder.
And while how much money you make at a startup is a way to keep score, a successful life can’t be measured only in dollars.
These topics were the focus of interviews with the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere, my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 p.m. Pacific, 4 p.m. Eastern). The show follows the journeys of founders who share what it takes to build a startup – from restaurants to rocket scientists, to online gifts to online groceries and more. The program examines the DNA of entrepreneurs: what makes them tick, how they came up with their ideas; and explores the habits that make them successful, and the highs and lows that pushed them forward.
Joining me in the Stanford University studio: Sarah Calhoun, founder of Red Ants Pants workwear for women
Listen to the full interviews by downloading them from SoundCloud here and here. (And download any of the past shows here.)
Clips from the interview below.
Sarah Calhoun has spent two decades building nonprofits and small businesses. She was the 2012 National Women in Business Champion for the Small Business Administration. In 2011, she served as a as a US Delegate to the APEC Women in Business Summit in San Francisco. The same year, President Obama invited her to attend a White House forum on jobs and economic development, and she was named Montana’s Entrepreneur of the Year.
Sarah graduated from Gettysburg College with a degree in environmental studies and worked with Outward Bound and the Student Conservation Association. She had no startup experience, but decided to start Red Ants Pants when she couldn’t find work pants that fit her properly. Here’s how she found her way:
I learned a lot from other people. My pattern maker and this fellow Richard Siberell, (a designer for Patagonia who took her under his wing) were incredibly patient with me explaining the process. I did a lot of reading and research on my own. I asked for help whenever and wherever I could, and that’s a big piece that I think is essential.