Art Teacher to Jewelry Founder: How Larissa Loden Built a Business (and Life) That Fuels Her | Ep. 18

Larissa Loden never wanted to be an entrepreneur. She grew up watching her family's small business run on feast or famine and swore she'd never recreate that chaos — so she became an art teacher instead. Then her assistant principal handed her the permission slip that changed everything. A decade after that career pivot, she runs a multimillion-dollar jewelry brand — and the question she now says every woman rethinking her career should ask herself came from her own coach: is your business building you, or draining you?

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Larissa Loden is the founder and creative force behind Larissa Loden, a bold St. Paul-based jewelry and accessories brand. It started with a simple idea: you can look good, feel good, and do good all at the same time. Her midlife career change story is teaching art in Minneapolis to a handmade side hustle to a multimillion-dollar brand with a loyal community, national recognition — and over $150,000 donated to organizations aligned with her values. Beyond the brand, Larissa is an iPEC-certified coach, Substack writer, and speaker who helps entrepreneurs redefine success and build a second act that supports creativity, joy, and real life instead of burnout. Her story is a masterclass in career reinvention for women who want to build something of their own without blowing up the life that's working.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

[03:59] Why she swore she'd never be an entrepreneur — and how eight years of teaching art turned into a jewelry business anyway

[10:07] The one sentence from her assistant principal that became her permission slip for a full career transition: "You can always come back to teaching"

[14:28] The "land of the shoulds" — how following everyone else's playbook made her start to hate the business she built

[21:34] Losing 70% of revenue overnight in the pandemic, refusing to lay anyone off, and the Quarantine Craft Club pivot that turned e-commerce into her bread and butter

[26:18] How she decides where the brand's 5% give-back goes — and why every organization gets vetted through Charity Navigator

[32:46] The calm CEO playbook: no Shopify or Slack on her phone, no meetings before noon, and why "the more white noise I give myself, the better leader I am"

[34:20] The coach's question every woman navigating a midlife career change should sit with — "Is your business building you or draining you?" — and what it means that you are the driver of your life

[35:41] Redefining what success means to you: right-sizing the business, letting go of scaling, and watching it grow organically anyway