Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Tez Talks Radio. I am Marissa True and today I'm very excited to be joined by Chelsea Chung, the VP of Marketing at World of Women. World of Women is officially joining the Tezos ecosystem to further its mission of closing the participation gap in crypto, fostering a culture of female empowerment, supporting marginalized communities and emerging artists. Hi, chelsea, how are you today?

Speaker 2: 0:21

I'm doing fabulous. Thanks for having me, marissa. Hi Chelsea.

Speaker 1: 0:25

How are you? Today? I'm doing fabulous. Thanks for having me, marissa, it's an absolute pleasure. So, as is customary on this show, I always want to start off with your personal story, so can you tell me a bit more about your sort of journey into blockchain and Web3 and then, eventually, world of Women?

Speaker 2: 0:37

Yes, of course, I like to say that, in a way, crypto found me, the space found me. I wasn't necessarily seeking out, but it just continued to pop up in my awareness. I went through a lot of personal change in the year 2020, as did a lot of the world, as we were going through peak pandemic times and all reevaluating our lives. I had for quite some time, actually been preparing to take the leap from the corporate American world. I had, you know, worked in corporate America for the previous, you know, 11 plus years, always in very large organizations, always kind of on the marketing side, but always was longing for something more, was kind of seeking an industry that I felt like I had more personal connection to and on the side during my professional journey, I was training to be a coach. I was working with individuals and entrepreneurs. I was really passionate about supporting women specifically, I was doing a lot of women's groups and coaching and focusing on women entrepreneurs. In 2020, peak of the pandemic, I walked away from my corporate career and I set out to walk the entrepreneurial path and, in that process, also kind of realized that the grass is not always greener. There are certain things about the coaching industry that you know that I learned that I wasn't quite loving and I was kind of in this like wide, open space of really figuring out what was next for me. And in that time I actually found out, or I had made my first cryptocurrency purchases. It was also a time where I was kind of evaluating my own finances and becoming really inspired and motivated to take greater control and have more sovereignty over my finances and I began investing in the stock market a little bit. I began, you know, kind of experimenting with crypto just because I had been hearing about it, you know so. So with crypto, just because I had been hearing about it, you know so so often and so frequently, it just kind of kept popping into my awareness. And you know, at that time, of course, you know we were heading into the, heading into the bull run. You know I was washing my portfolio. Cryptocurrency really outperformed some of my other you know investments that I had made and it really some of my other you know investments that I had made and it really, you know it caught my attention and I wanted to learn more. So I began, you know, reading up on blockchain and you know the Bitcoin white paper, the history, the story, its impact kind of around the world. And as soon as I learned about, like, the core ethos of crypto and you know kind of the decentralized models, it really spoke to me.

Speaker 2: 3:24

On such a personal level, I've always been a little bit of a rebellious spirit. I've always been a humanitarian, I've always believed in the power of individuals and also you know how much we can really accomplish collectively when we are aligned towards certain aims, and so it really just spoke to those values for me and I became really hooked, went down the rabbit hole, as they say, and we know how deep that rabbit hole goes. At the same time, it was again really perfectly aligned that I met my current partner, who has been a cryptocurrency trader since 2016. It is his full-time gig. He lives and breathes the crypto blockchain, you know, every single day it is his number one passion, and so when we started dating and came together, I was just becoming really excited about it. I call him my crypto Sherpa. He really kind of showed me. You know everyone needs a crypto friend. I always say that. You know it's such a it can be such a difficult space to navigate. That having a personal connection that was able to walk me through it, you know, made all the difference and, as we kind of you know, deepened our relationship, deepened our own explorations in crypto and blockchain together, in crypto and blockchain together.

Speaker 2: 4:50

Again, I was re-evaluating my career and what I kind of wanted to do next. Things just happened right. They just continued to move in that direction and I became so passionate about just helping wherever I could. I was a member of the World of Women community through being an NFT holder. Prior to ever joining the team, I had gone to community meetups around the world. I had traveled for World of Women. I had made connections with people from all over. It was so personally meaningful and such a beautiful opportunity for me that I stayed engaged with the community. So when the opportunity arose to support World of Living in a more official capacity at the time I was also just doing consulting for other blockchain-based organizations it was just like such a natural fit to say yes, to wow, and that's what brings me here today.

Speaker 1: 5:39

That's amazing. I love that. It sort of it started out with this personal quest to sort of understand this new domain. Throughout the journey, you fell in love not only with the technology but with another and I love the term crypto Sherpa as well, because I think if we speak to anyone in this industry, we all have that one person in our mind that really sort of held our hand and guided us through this entire experience. So you mentioned before that you know you were venturing into things like coaching and basically, I think the core passion was individual empowerment. So what was it that took you from sort of being a community member of World of Women to taking the leap to say I want to do more here, I want to join the team. Like what was that defining moment? That you wanted to take part?

Speaker 2: 6:21

That's a great question and I wouldn't say it was a defining moment. It was a gradual movement into this industry from a career standpoint. So, you know, like, luckily, after I had left my corporate career and I was doing, you know, coaching and some of my entrepreneurial work, I really had the grace of space which really beautiful to be able to take the time and the space to not feel pressured about. You know, what am I going to do next? I need to get a job. You know I was really being gracious with myself and just because of my own, I know that I'm a personally passionate person and so I knew that I couldn't just say yes to anything. I knew that my next endeavor really had to be something that you know lit me up on another level. And so when I first got into cryptos, and also, you know, when I learned about NFTs, it just brought a whole nother layer of love for me, because, you know, it took everything I loved about crypto and then layered in art and culture and, you know, community and even like deeper ways for me. So honestly, marissa, I just couldn't. I couldn't not like I just I had to help. I had to kind of lend, you know, lend ideas.

Speaker 2: 7:38

You know I was showing up in communities really actively, I was being a sounding board, I was giving feedback, you know, and as someone who had had a decade of corporate marketing experience, you know I was finding that my skills were helpful.

Speaker 2: 7:51

You know helpful and kind of this new industry, with a lot of, you know, first time entrepreneurs or people trying to navigate kind of this new space, like I found that I was really able to add value. And so I just kept showing up and adding value because it was what I wanted to do. And then opportunities kept coming to me. Right, it was like, oh, you know, I know this person, they're trying to, you know, start up, you know, spin up a company. Would you be willing to talk to them or consult with them? And then you know, and then I would do some consulting there. And you know another NFT company and they needed some leadership, support and marketing and so came in and helped there. And so it was just kind of all built on itself because I was literally just following what I was passionate by and what opportunities were opening to me. So it all unfolded very naturally.

Speaker 1: 8:40

That's another common element that I've discovered in this industry that I love so much, where kind of once you buy into the Web3 ethos, it doesn't really stand as simply as a job. It's very much you're entering this domain and thinking what is it that I'm bringing to the table that I can offer to benefit the community at large? And that sort of effort, and also coming from a corporate background into a space that is very much emerging, also coming from a corporate background into a space that is very much emerging, I think many people were sort of intimidated out of it because they were like, oh, I don't know enough about Web3 without realizing that Web3 could really benefit from the skills that we've acquired elsewhere and then bringing it into that space. So I think that's a really wonderful connection To bring it to very bare basics, and I realize that for many, some may be completely unfamiliar with World of Women. So can we sort of start with what is World of Women? You know what is its core mission, what is it trying to achieve?

Speaker 2: 9:33

Yeah, so World of Women was founded. There were four founders and one was a woman artist by the name of Yam Kar-Kai, and she was involved in the space and was producing her own NFT art. You know, I would say she was one of the early artists and was finding success with her art and, as you know, pfps really started to grow. You know, she was observing them, she was watching and she just really noticed how there were really a lack of PFPs that spoke to her as a woman and really no PFPs that actually represented women at all. And so she had this vision for creating an art collection and a PFP collection to stand for the representation of women, and she was supported by four friends who really helped her bring this vision to life. And so, from day one, world of Women is always about supporting the representation of women, you know, and to build an inclusive future. That's another mission statement that has been with WOW from the very beginnings that Yam always saw that women bring so much to the table right and they have so much to offer and even as evolved as society, you know, as a greater whole, values of women and the role that women play, you know, is becoming increasingly prominent and important and so that mission has stayed true.

Speaker 2: 10:59

So World of Women launched its first, you know, pfp collection and really it really, you know, found early success. I mean, it was also a combination of just like that right moment in time, you know, when the PFP market was really was really, you know, hitting the peak, you know, in just supported by her legacy and her success as a woman artist. And so, while that's where WOW began and immediately was supporting other artists in the space, world of Women began to, you know, to buy art from other women and underrepresented artists and making sure that, you know, that there was greater diversity within the scene of art NFTs know that there was greater diversity within the scene of art NFTs and then also contributing a lot of the company's funds to causes to support, you know, women's and girls' causes, climate causes, environmental causes, to really, you know, align with Yam's values and the values that she set out for the organization. So I would say that is where WOW came from and its beginnings and I think today, you know, wow continues to evolve and figure out, you know, great like even more ways to expand its mission and its role and its impact and that, honestly, is what really brought World of Women and the Tezos ecosystem together was this opportunity, this kind of mutual recognition of like, hey, we think there's more we can do here together.

Speaker 2: 12:34

I'm sure you and many listeners know that Kathleen Brightman is a co-founder of the Tezos Protocol. She is a powerful woman in the blockchain space and she was also looking to amplify. You know the impact of and for women across. You know this whole industry, and so it was a really natural fit for us to come together and you know we've been really excited. We'll be where we are, kind of building our ecosystem and what's next for us.

Speaker 1: 13:05

So, yeah, I can go into that now, or if you have other questions we can circle back to that, Before we jump into that, I do want to talk a little bit more about one of World of Women's core missions, which is to close the participation gap. So, to help people understand, how would we define the participation gap? Because I was reading some statistics that I actually believe came from WOW or a report that WOW shared, which was that roughly 37% of cryptocurrency holders are women, but only 27% of the Web3 workforce are women. And not only that when it comes to startup funding, only 13% of startup founding teams are led by women that accomplish sizable funding. So we've got gender disparity, we've got funding disparity and we've got I guess the broader term is participation disparities. How has that issue sort of crystallized within the world of women community, and what sort of the approach to tackling something as significant as that?

Speaker 2: 14:08

Yeah, it's a big undertaking, for sure, and especially when the you know when the, when the winds are against you in some ways or you know it's. It's like many, I think many of us, depending on where you live in the world and the cultures that you grow up in. But I think many of us have grown up in a time where we have found a lot more gender equality than some of our. You know our mothers before us, our grandmothers, and you know. So, coming into this industry, it can be a little bit of a it's a little bit of a shock. Sometimes I'm like, oh wow, we're still. We're still this far off. You know, and we know. We know that women are underrepresented in tech. We know they're underrepresented in finance, know that women are underrepresented in tech. We know they're underrepresented in finance, and so sure it makes sense that you know, at the peak of the intersection of tech and finance, that we would see a greater underrepresentation as well. But you know those, those stats that you you mentioned, there are some really great reports. A lot of those come from, you know I have to shout out Boston Consulting Group, which you know did do a look at the industry to try to understand the makeup of the workforce, right, and that's where a lot of those numbers come from. And, from a participation standpoint, as you mentioned, in terms of cryptocurrency holders, the estimations are much higher. You know, it is more promising, and it does speak to the fact that, like, this was always meant to be a genderless industry, right, it was always meant to be a democratic, like open, decentralized, pseudo anonymous thing, and that it wasn't supposed to matter what your gender is, what your age was. But you know, I'm going to repeat something that I heard Kathleen Brightman say, because I think it was really brilliant is that, even though crypto is genderless, the culture is not right and the communities are not, and so, at the end of the day, we are still very real people who are in community together and, for those of us who work in this industry, are facing this in our day-to-day lives because we show up every day to progress it.

Speaker 2: 16:05

And so there are the approach that World of Women takes to address. It is, we kind of say, two primary pathways, like networking and resources, because what women need to really succeed in this industry, to continue building it, are they need champions, they need supporters, they need people that they can trust and make connections with and dream with and build with that network is really critical. But they also need the resources, they need the funding, they need the platforms that can connect them with others. They need access to things to build their businesses, to education and information. And so, through resources and network, that is how we are aiming to really support and I think where World of Women can come and be a little differentiated, you know, with our legacy and with the prominence that we are able to build, you know, with our name and with our position as a leading community for women in the industry and now powered, you know, by the might of the Tezos ecosystem, there's so much amplification that can happen and there's, you know, more we can do from a resource standpoint. And so, you know, within the long-term vision of what we can roll, we do really envision kind of building this new economy. Right, we have in this industry these tools and these resources and these models to experiment with new ways of supporting each other, with new ways of peer to peer support, with new ways of, like you know, decentralized, decentralized funding and allocation.

Speaker 2: 17:49

Right, so like the Dow model is really interesting to us and you know we kind of have this like thesis or this idea. It's like, well, what happens when you build a new economy by women, for women, and you put them in direct control of supporting each other, you know, like what happens? What happens when we have an economy that is actually meant to flow and that is meant to be deployed? You know, like what happens, what happens when we have an economy that is actually meant to flow and that is meant to be deployed, you know, in support of women with vision. How can that flow continue to propel us all to really building this future that we envision? So, from a marketing positioning standpoint, or from, like, a segment standpoint, you know we're really doubling down on those women who really are building the industry. Right, and again that goes back to our mission of building an inclusive future. Because again, we have a thesis, or believe that if we have more women building this space and creating experiences and brands and products, you know, that are inclusive of feminine values, you know and not necessarily like designed for women, but only that they, you know, are keeping women in mind or feminine values in mind that that will then help attract more women to this space.

Speaker 2: 18:59

And you know, in my own kind of research or you know, digging through all those numbers and try to distill and make sense of it. You know my estimations, based on the available data, is that you know there are 650 million women in the world. You know over half a billion women who are considering digital assets and when we talk about making this a thing, you know making digital assets mass market and you know making blockchain technology. You know usable and have like use cases across industries across the world. Right, like most of us want these things right, we want them to.

Speaker 2: 19:41

You know gain mass adoption and mass adoption is not going to happen unless you know women are part of that. You know we're 50% of the population and we need to. You know we need to play a role. So it is a lot to chew, but you know it's a lot to bite off and to work towards. But you know, as long as we can again really define those pathways and how we're going to support women through networking and resources and we set our goals and we measure that to see like the impact that we're making over time, you know we really do believe that we can be one of the organizations and one of the brands that is helping to pave the way you know for that next 500, 600 million women into digital assets.

Speaker 1: 20:24

What I love is that the mission isn't some kind of lofty goal, like there's a meaningful strategy that's structured around it.

Speaker 1: 20:30

It leverages the technology in ways that we've already seen used before, but just towards different audiences, and I completely agree with you. You said something that really stood out to me, which is you know, this is supposed to be a genderless technology, but you are right. Ultimately, the users are fundamentally human, so we can't actually separate those things out as much as we might like, and when we define something as genderless, if we don't factor representation in at the start, then what we're really looking at is another male dominated model that women sort of have to conform into rather than to influence and structure for themselves. I also love the principle of you know, like-grown economies, without it strictly being women-focused, because I am sure and I actually know a couple WOW NFT holders there are plenty of men who understand the value and importance of that, that are seeking how they can also contribute and how they can provide their influence or their skillset to uplift more people and involve them into this space.

Speaker 2: 21:43

We have our community today. We have roughly 14,000 unique within the wild ecosystem. 60% of them are women, but 40% of them are men, and so you know we do. We are a very mixed community and we pride ourselves on that. You know, we love having a diverse community, sees the potential for not only this industry to become mass market, but you know, also like the values of, like how we want to build the future Right, like how do we, what kind of space do we really want to build this into? A lot, of, a lot of the men in our community have actually joined because they have daughters or they're trying to introduce like their, their wives, you know, into into the space, and so I think that's just like a really beautiful story as well. Right, it's like a lot of these men, you know, they, they want to build a space. They've, they have found so much excitement and passion and community and like, just like beautiful things in this space that they want to one day bring their daughters into it. You know, I think that's such like a lovely yeah, we will continue to kind of grow this mission together, regardless of your gender.

Speaker 2: 22:58

But you know, just one more comment on that in terms of the representation. I mean, this is just. This is just top of mind for me, because I literally just put out a tweet after scanning through a very prominent conference that is coming up in a few months. I was looking at their XSEED and you know their last 20 posts where they have highlighted their speakers. There is not one woman that has been highlighted and you know, to me that's a problem.

Speaker 2: 23:26

It's like we all, you know, it's like we're all okay with it being, with being genderless, you know, until you really like take a look at it and you're like, ah okay, are we okay with it being genderless or are we just okay with it being male, dominated and having the men represented? Because, you know, when I look at that, I question is this a place for me? You know, is this a conference that I will be welcomed at? Who are the speakers? Who can I learn from? You know, I think of their list of 182, you know male Earth speakers total. You know 18 of them were, you know were women. They at least have women on their speaker list. You know, I think it's okay to assume that maybe it's time just to showcase one of them.

Speaker 1: 24:15

Yes, I am a thousand percent with you on that, definitely as someone who's frequently attending these conferences and always sort of questioned why it's been so difficult to put more women on the stage, when every single woman I've encountered is, frankly, overqualified for their position in this arena and extremely knowledgeable about the topic, very lucid about their ideas and their stance on this technology, but, for whatever reason, need to over over explain or over justify why they deserve the same platform. And again, I think genderless becomes this weirdly politicized word where it's almost sometimes used against women to be like well, it is genderless and therefore, if you don't, if you don't arise to the top or like manage to kind of break through the noise of many of the others in the category, then maybe you don't qualify to be there.

Speaker 2: 25:06

And and I think that is another false argument that I think we often have to find ourselves in and that's not a new argument, right, it's the same argument that has, I think, been used probably throughout history, pertaining to all types of people, in all situations where there's majorities and minorities, and I think what we've learned from that is that you know that that's not actually the case and that representation matters and that diversity matters. I mean again, when you look at, you know, when you look at the statistics that are out, it's widely known that diverse teams perform better. You know that they especially like in with innovation and creativity. You know that they especially like in with innovation and creativity. You know that there's just like more ideas that come out. There are. There also are statistics that support that. You know women founded companies actually generate, you know, higher returns over a period of time, and I'm not trying to sit here and make the case that that women are better by any means, but like the data shows that, like diverse representation of all peoples is actually beneficial to us.

Speaker 1: 26:15

And I also believe that you know, when we're dealing with something like an emerging technology namely blockchain and Web3, if we don't factor that diversity in at the start, we're going to make it much harder for ourselves to correct later on. And, as you said, you know, this is a problem that's prevailed throughout history. Whenever we have the opportunity with a new space, just like this one, that is the optimal point in time where we have to really force this discussion, and so I think seeing an organization like World of Women really take by the horns is admirable, but it's never to underestimate the challenge, because it's been difficult before and it will be difficult now.

Speaker 2: 26:53

Yeah, exactly, exactly. You know, it is as I, as I mentioned earlier, there there are headwinds, right, it's not, it's it's not an easy thing to take on. It's also it's not. It's also not an easy thing to say that. You know, perhaps there are certain things that are happening in the industry that you know maybe we can do them differently or, you know, can we do them better. You know, back to the mission of building an inclusive future, or ensuring that the future is brighter for all of us, you know what are the pathways and the trends that we're going down in society that maybe it's time to question.

Speaker 2: 27:33

You know I'm thinking of, you know, like social media, for example, and we know that there are certain behaviors or role that it plays on, kind of our dopamine receptors, right, and you know there's certain things that we just continue to build and push because they drive results right.

Speaker 2: 27:52

And something that you know I think we're seeing in, like the cryptocurrency space, for example, is we're really coming out of this heavy like this, like points, meta, right, and it's like, oh, you need to this idea of sparring, right, and an aligned incentivization, which I'm all for, aligned incentives, I'm not arguing that.

Speaker 2: 28:12

But you know, when we think about farming and activity and engagement, you know I really question how valuable is it to have someone press buttons, or, you know, to show up every day just to take one particular action, because it drives the metric, but what kind of value is that adding to someone's life? And so those are the types of questions we ask ourselves internally as we continue to build out the plans for this ecosystem and launching, you know, a tokenized economy. It's like well, what kind of behavior do we really want to foster? How do we actually want to bring people together in more valuable ways, and how do we ensure that whatever we're building is actually contributing to the type of world that we want to see, not just follow the meta, because it's what is being done.

Speaker 1: 29:02

And I think that's also a very critical point, because when I think, when many see, you know, new projects launch, there is an assumed sort of course or track that it follows or dynamic that it's effectively going to embody, many of which argue is fundamentally unproductive, I personally think that there's plenty that could be changed in the dynamics that we're seeing, and so when you have entities that are consciously and meticulously considering how they want or like, I guess, the culture they want to foster and like the interactions they want to sort of cultivate, is again a very important thing to factor in from the very, very start. As we mentioned, you know, world of Women has announced it's joining the Tezos ecosystem, but that was just a couple months ago, in June. Can you share a bit more about what World of Women is endeavoring to build within the Tezos ecosystem and you know like, what can people look forward to as the Tezos community and the World of Women community merges?

Speaker 2: 29:58

earlier, so I'll circle back to it, right? So you know we're really we're evolving. We're evolving from an NFT, you know, collection collections, to true Web3 company that is, you know, positioned to serve women in a greater capacity, you know, to unite, to unite and amplify the power of women across their space. And so we are building on the legacy of, you know what our PFP collection stood for, using that as, like, our anchor point to then, you know, to now expand what we are building and what we're offering. And so the ecosystem that we are building on, etherlink, you know, will be designed to kind of serve as those two pathways that I mentioned, right, the networking and the resources.

Speaker 2: 30:47

On the networking side, you know we already have a community hub called Patio. It is where our NFT holders. Actually, you don't even need to hold a World of Women NFT, anyone can join Patio. So if you go to patiowowart you can check it out and create a profile. And you know it's still in its early stages. But we are, you know, we are a digital first global community. So how do we create experiences and products that keep us supporting each other and that facilitate greater connections, you know, in a digital first world.

Speaker 2: 31:24

And so that's what Patio is, and the goal is to move Patio basically onto Etherlink or continue to expand its on-chain capabilities with, you know, ether.

Speaker 2: 31:37

That also will kind of create a gateway to this like tokenized economy that I'm referencing, in which, you know we build kind of a utility-based ecosystem that provides those resources to support women, and so those resources may be access to things like grants or launch pads or, you know, I kind of mentioned, you know, the vision for a DAO to bring people together, you know, to be able to actually support women from a funding perspective and to help close that funding gap of men raising four times the capital of women in this space. But additional resources, we have a long list of partners that we've worked with historically and even more partners that we're talking to now to you know, to kind of round out our ecosystem with different you know and product services, or you know to kind of round out our ecosystem with different you know and product services, or you know things that can support women as kind of they're on their trailblazing path. So you know there will be the utility-based ecosystem and then our patio or digital hub, which is Etherlink enabled. So it sounds like.

Speaker 1: 32:39

World of Women is sort of the center of gravity for a lot of this activity. So while we have that at its epicenter, there are so many sort of different other projects and activations in its orbit that are going to basically sustain and foster its mission further.

Speaker 2: 32:57

Exactly. You just said it so much more beautifully than I did, and I love this. I'm glad that that's what you distilled for my description, because I think center of gravity is a really great way to put it. We also are looking to be kind of a hub of hubs or a community of communities, right, because there are so many fabulous women who are building in this space and so many of them who have brought together and fostered communities, right, there are already DAOs, there are already educational groups, there are, you know, there are companies that are founded by women or that are building products to support women. I mean, they like, they exist, they are out there and, you know, we at WOW feel like you know we can.

Speaker 2: 33:38

Now, again, the power of the Tezos ecosystem is that we have the resources and the people and the legacy to build this foundation that can help unite us.

Speaker 2: 33:47

And so, you know, the last thing we would want to do is take away from any other woman founder leader organization and instead build a decentralized ecosystem that actually can uplift and amplify them.

Speaker 2: 34:00

And phrase of like, center of gravity, right, I also love it because we do have one of our secondary collections is called world of women galaxy and we have kind of this concept about you know stars and being in orbit and like attracting others and you know you burn bright as a star and you have this gravity like you pull others into your orbit.

Speaker 2: 34:23

So you actually just made a very like lore-based comment without even really realizing it, but it was very aligned to you know but, but to how we see ourselves and what we see is the potential. So, really, you know, I I'm really excited to see how we can, how we can scale this, and I know I touched on this before, but I think that is why. That is why we're very excited about Etherlink, because it does have the EVM compatibility, so it still works with everything that we've built up until this point, being an Ethereum-based NFT company but then allows us to utilize the scale and the benefits of building on Etherlink and building with foundational Tesla's tech and building with foundational Tesla's tech. So we really see this as the right stack and the right resources and the right ecosystem to really help us scale.

Speaker 1: 35:15

It sounds like, effectively, the progress of the technology is what's enabling World of Women to expand even more broadly. So I think there's a beautiful parallel where we're not only seeing the community and the ecosystem develop and accelerate, but as the technology also develops and accelerates, they sort of bolster one another and as it comes to you know, trying to trying to advocate for the future of Web3, that is quite a beautiful harmony to see. Another critical question and I understand, you know, in terms of what you've mentioned, that Kathleen Brightman has said and like this sort of, this alignment on the ethos behind this movement. But why else was sort of Tezos top of mind when it came to this sort of migration?

Speaker 2: 35:59

Well, and I also believe that World of Women was top of mind for the Tezos ecosystem and for Kathleen. I think it was like kind of the mutual benefit of Kathleen also recognizing, looking at the space and understanding what brands were out there right and what companies were already doing this. Kathleen had a vision for supporting women in a greater capacity. Before, you know, conversations even began about our organizations coming together and so, you know, I think there was some strong, you know, alignment and the right. You know I think she saw, you know, world of Women as a potential right. So the more we connected with Kathleen and spoke to her and then, you know, and then the broader, you know, broader Tezos ecosystem entities and meeting the Trilitech team and talking to the Tezos Foundation, you know it became really evident to us what an opportunity this really was, and I think you know it's not only the tech which we believe in and that you know it's been really great for me as someone who's been working more on the Ethereum ecosystem side to, you know, go to conferences, you know, to go to like ConsenSys, for example, in Austin, and I was having conversations with people and the reputation of Tesla's tech is so strong. It was great to hear that. You know it was great to hear the perception of the tech and what's possible and you know that got me even that much more excited.

Speaker 2: 37:35

But beyond the tech, which was the point I was trying to make, is that the connection I mean, like Tezos is, this is like, this is a big deal. You know, like Tezos is like a major. You know one of the foundational, like major L1 protocols, and so the learning and the connection and you know the access that the entities within this ecosystem have is incredible. You know, and, being an official Tesla ecosystem company and with a long-term commitment, you know of financial support to really build out this ecosystem. You know that has allowed WOW to think about its ecosystem more purely and not have to focus on getting additional VC funding or fragmenting its business by, you know, getting so many different avenues of outside support and raising money from, like, so many different entities.

Speaker 2: 38:33

And you know, managing that is actually allowed us to align, you know, singularly with this ecosystem. And that's not to mean that our ecosystem won't be, you know, won't be open across chains and possibilities, but I mean to have this like soul alignment actually allows us to put our energy and focus onto making this ecosystem as great as it can be and to tap into the expertise and the knowledge and the team and the resources. So you know, I was on a call a few weeks ago, you know, with the Trilitech team and I had made a comment, like you know, after talking about like the resources and the process and you know how we go about kind of moving certain things forward, I literally stopped in that meeting and I was like, is this what it's like to be a Tesla's ecosystem company? And you know, katie at Chilitech like nods her head and she's like yes, it is. And like wow, like this is, this is amazing. This is exactly the type of power fuel that we really need to bring this vision to life.

Speaker 1: 39:36

I think it's amazing because I think when you see that level of ecosystem support you see how projects can really really gain the momentum that they covet. But also on top of that, beyond the direct, I guess enterprise support that different entities can receive, it's also the health and, like the, the sheer diversity of the tezos community. Like, tezos is very much an arts culture driven chain, and so there's this beautiful synergy again between world of women and the, the arts community that have kind of built from a very bottoms-up grassroots movement. Everyone's very aligned on empowerment and diversity and showcasing and spotlighting different voices and perspectives, and that's been inherent in the bones of the tesla's art community since the very beginning. So I think I think there's a lot of parallels and like shared values that are drawn between world of women and the creative community that already exists there and are probably waiting to receive World of Women with really open arms.

Speaker 2: 40:39

Absolutely, and that's actually another great point. To go back to your previous question about what made us excited or what did we see as the potential yes, I mean there was such a clear alignment already around art and culture and that piece that you know I know our team in the art and culture, you know team Tezos, you know that community are already, you know there's already momentum there, there's already talks, and you know ways that we can amplify each other and events that we might show up to together. And you know it's such a you're right, it's such an integral part of both of our legacies that you know let's unite the power and do more. And I guess that's you know my ask to anyone who is listening to this and is excited about World of Women coming on board. It's like please, reach out, like let's, like let's, let's connect. I am so excited to even continue to learn more about the Tezos ecosystem.

Speaker 2: 41:38

We will be in Singapore at Token 2049. And we will be part of the TZ APAC showcase, which I am really excited by. So if you're coming to Singapore, please stop by and say, say hello. I will be there as long, along with a couple other members of our team, and but even if you're not, you know, please, like, please connect with me on on LinkedIn. My name is Chelsea Chung. Connect with me on X at the DGNS, you know. Connect with me at all the places. I just I would love to talk and learn more about what you're building and where we might be able to amplify. You know, and if there's desire to support this mission or even to get you know women at your companies involved, or whatever it may be, please, like, like, let's, let's support each other.

Speaker 1: 42:23

I love your ex handle, by the way, the D-Gen S.

Speaker 2: 42:28

Like a D-Gen, but a classy D-Gen, a femme D-Gen.

Speaker 1: 42:35

I think it's beautiful. Another classically male trope. So I think putting a feminine spin on that is excellent. Chelsea, you shared so much amazing information today about what world of women are working on and how you see this sort of fusion of the tesos and the world of women community coming together. Uh, to fruit know. Thank you so much for all the information you shared today. I think people have so much to sink their teeth into and to be excited about.

Speaker 2: 42:58

My pleasure. I'm. You know, I'm extremely passionate about this aim and whether, when I step back from it, like from an actual, like human perspective you know again like I'm in this industry and working to progress this because it's aligned with my personal values I actually see ways to kind of work out my own like life purpose here, which I've always, you know, for the last several years, have kind of honed my life purpose as to, you know, seed individual sovereignty within collective unity. So when I discovered crypto and blockchain, I was like, oh, this is it, like this is the playground where I actually get to see that. So what I'm trying to say is that this is so much more than a job for me. I mean, this is truly waking up every single day, super excited to see how we can progress this and how we can be trailblazers at the forefront of art, tech and culture, and so I'm here for it and I love talking about it and I look forward to, you know, I look forward to even more.

Speaker 1: 43:55

It's the exact kind of personality this industry needs, so I'm sure everyone's to like all the better for it. But you know, once again, Chelsea, I think you know I'm sure we'll catch up at some point, hopefully in person, in the near future. Yeah, Thank you, Marissa.