Heather Cabot

An inspiring and revelatory guide to starting and scaling a small business, from powerhouse duo Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson Like many business owners, renowned politician and activist Stacey Abrams didn't start a business because she dreamed of calling herself an entrepreneur. Her part-time post (and its $17,310 annual salary) as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives necessitated striking out on her own as a consultant--her first small business. Then, Stacey and her friend Lara Hodgson launched an infrastructure advisory firm--named Insomnia Consulting because they did their best thinking at 3:00 a.m.--and then another business, and then another. Fifteen years into their entrepreneurial journey together, they have tackled the obstacles that many business owners face: how to grow sustainably, hire thoughtfully, and keep up with the Goliaths in your industry. Now, for the first time, Stacey and Lara share their inspiring and relatable personal story and lessons learned the hard way to show how every business owner can confront the forces that conspire to keep small businesses small. Lauded for her "resilient, visionary leadership" (Barack Obama) and celebrated as a "passionate advocate of democracy" (Madeleine Albright), Stacey now brings her fierce sense of justice to the challenges that America's business owners face. Level Up arms readers with the confidence, know-how, and savvy to overcome the obstacles that hold their businesses back.

A fascinating journey into the booming business of legal cannabis: the first deeply reported story of how marijuana shed its stigma and came to be embraced by new and unlikely enthusiasts, from "Chardonnay Moms," to health and wellness fanatics, to aging baby boomers. From headlines like "Pets on Pot" to Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart "putting the pot back into potluck" in their Emmy-nominated show on VH1, to the array of CBD lotions and oils for sale at CVS and Sephora, to Arizona Iced Tea making a run at selling THC-infused drinks, one thing is clear: Marijuana has fully entered the mainstream. Drawing on exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in the world of cannabis, Cabot explores the economic, social, and cultural forces that have collided to create a frenetic gold rush mentality that has spurred new culinary trends, inspired innovative new uses for health, beauty and wellness, and attracted tens of millions in investor dollars while generating hundreds of thousands of jobs and untold tax revenue. All as cannabis remains federally illegal in America. Cabot takes readers on the road with Snoop Dogg and his business partner Ted Chung as they roll out the star's own brand of bud; to wine country, where chefs and vintners are harkening a new age of elevated dining; on the wild adventures of marijuana mogul Beth Stavola, where vaults of cash, armed guards and shady characters are just another day at the office; to the Marijuana Business Convention, as professionals gather to see cutting-edge technology for growing, manufacturing, and packaging a whole new generation of consumer products. The New Chardonnay tells the story of pot's astonishing rebranding, pulling back the curtain to show how a drug that was once the subject of multi-million dollar PSA warnings managed to remake its image and land at the center of a massive and surprisingly upstanding industry.

Meet the women who aren’t asking permission from Silicon Valley to chase their dreams. They are going for it - building cutting-edge tech startups, investing in each other’s ventures, crushing male hacker stereotypes, and rallying the next generation of women in tech. With a nod to tech trailblazers like Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer, Geek Girl Rising by Heather Cabot and Samantha Walvravens introduces readers to the fearless female founders, technologists, and innovators fighting at a grassroots level for an ownership stake in the revolution that’s changing the way we live, work, and connect. Readers will meet Debbie Sterling, inventor of GoldieBlox, the first engineering toy for girls, which topples the notion that only boys can build; peek inside YouTube sensation Michelle Phan’s ipsy studios, where she is grooming the next generation of digital video stars while leading her own mega e-commerce beauty business; and tour the headquarters of The Muse, the hottest career site for millennials, and meet its intrepid CEO, Kathryn Minshew, who stared down sexism while raising millions of dollars to fund the company she co-founded. These women are the rebels proving that a female point of view matters in the age of technology and can rock big returns if you have a big idea and the passion to build it.