Growing up, Katia Tamer always had the entrepreneurial bug. At the age of 17, she was going around interviewing entrepreneurs and VCs to come up with a thesis on the key success factors of startups. She then interned at several startups before joining the Marketing team at Google. In 2021, Katia launched her own venture, Chaya, to address the lack of accessibility when it comes to basic nutrition information. Her goal was to make holistic wellness accessible to all through on-demand nutrition coaching. 

1- If you had a rewind button, what would you change about your journey?

Looking back, I would have loved to have more moments of pause and reflection. I would have told my past self to remember to enjoy the journey, not just think about the destination. There were so many great moments along the way, and we have to remember to pause more and soak those in! 

2- Can you name three milestones on your wishlist? 

As I graduate from my MBA in June, I’m excited for the opportunity to bring my marketing and entrepreneurship skill sets to a team that is growing rapidly. In my time as CEO of Chaya, I loved the different elements that were required on the job, and I hope to leverage those skill sets to have a global impact in the long-term. My personal milestone is to travel to as many countries as possible with family and friends.It is truly a gift to get to experience new cultures. 

3- What’s the best lesson you learned?

It’s all about people. At the end of the day, I believe the one thing that truly matters is people and building genuine connections. 

4- Who is your role model?

My parents have always been my role model. I feel grateful to have grown up as a first generation American, as I got to see my parents surpass expectations on what they’ve achieved in an entirely new country. Growing up and seeing their work ethic, the strong value they place in prioritizing family and friends, their generosity, and their steadfast commitment to their Lebanese roots, I’ve always strived to emulate them. 

5- How did surrounding yourself with a good support system help you advance in your career?

I’ve been lucky to get to work for teams where leadership entrusted me with stretch opportunities. In my first role at Google, I was essentially the Marketer you had to go to in order to publish a campaign on google.com globally. Leadership entrusted me with running the equivalent of several Super Bowl ads every day. I then had another manager give me the opportunity to lead International Women’s Day globally for Google. It was thanks to the leadership around me that was invested in growing talent that I could build out such a robust skillset.

6- What is one habit you worked hard on breaking to improve your life or career?

Gaining confidence in my voice - throughout my career, I was lucky to have managers that made sure I was in the room and had a voice. It’s thanks to them that I now have built confidence in using my own voice. I try to ensure now that I create this space for peers and others on my team as well. 

7- What characteristics do you look for in people you choose to work with?

Honesty, humility, empathy, and a get-it-done mentality. Low-ego is also very critical. We need to be able to be in the trenches together as a team when push comes to shove. As a team, nobody should be above doing some of the grunt work, if it means helping each other succeed. 

8- What skills did you work so hard on acquiring? 

I’m always working on my skills in active listening, empathy, and relationship building.Another skill I’ve worked extremely hard on throughout my career has been the art of storytelling. This is an often overlooked skill, but the need is huge, whether you are selling a product, your talent, or your ideas, the best way to do this is via storytelling. 

9- What made you jump from the corporate to the entrepreneurial world?

While I always had a personal itch of starting my own company, it was when COVID-19 hit and I found my own anxiety worsening that I started to develop a passion for changing the state of wellness. I grew frustrated by the disjointed and impersonal wellness ecosystem and wanted a solution that provided a more holistic approach to my health. I met my co-founder a few months later, and together we set out to solve this broken narrative surrounding wellness. 

10- What lessons did you learn after launching and closing your startup? 

I learned 4 important lessons from being an entrepreneur. 

1. Community is key: You need to build community to succeed as founder. I began by finding another co-founder, who was as passionate at solving the problem at hand as I was. We were then lucky to find a community of entrepreneurs within different incubator programs. 

2. Talk to people: We spent over 100 hours interviewing people to better understand the problem at hand. We were married to the problem, not the solution, and adapted based on what people told us they needed. 

3. Just do it: The key to achieving milestones as a startup is to go for progress, not perfection. It’s important to keep testing and being scrappy, and finding those first test users who will give you the feedback you need to hear.  

4. Better to try and fail, than fail to try: If I could go back and start Chaya again, I would do so in a heartbeat - I was lucky that I found a problem I am deeply passionate about, and that I gave myself permission to go and try to start something. This certainly won’t be the last time you see me taking a stab at starting something from the ground up.