Fiftyfaces Focus 2025 Pride Special

In this podcast Nathan Richardson is speaking on his own behalf and not on behalf of Grindr, on whose board of directors he sits. Nathan Richardson has been a member of the board of directors of Grindr since November 2022. He is a partner at Joffre Capital, a private equity firm and the co-Founder of Trading Ticket, Inc., a financial technology company, and served as its Chief Executive Officer, prior to which he held a series of roles in financial services and industry. He is now based in London.  Our conversation takes a tour through Nathan’s career, and his international exposure which was rich including a stint in the Peace Corps in Africa, and a glittering international career which spanned many countries and cultures. We turn to his time as a founder in Fintech, and what brought him to the Grindr board. We compare the work that Grindr is doing to raise awareness so some of the work Nathan did in the peace corps to spread sexual health awarness.  We move then to discuss the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the professional workplace and the challenges faced by the community at this moment in time as initiatives are rolled back and rights are not advancing.  Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for sponsoring our 2025 Pride Series.

Claire William is CEO of Oasis Domestic Abuse Service, and has spent most of her career in the charity sector. We got to know eachother over LinkedIN when I responded to her popular LinkedIN post about Lesbian visibility week, in which she described her life with her partner and their six children and the changing climate and political backdrop.    Our conversation is a warm and engaging trip through Claire’s life and career, one in which the charity sector plays a key role. We start with Claire’s childhood where she grew up in a council estate in a seaside town. We hear about her overriding drive to work and find her independence and trace her steps through various parts of the charity sector including charities committed to alleviating homelessness and now domestic abuse. We discuss the root of our first meeting – the Linked In post that started it all, and discuss why lesbian visibility is still an important issue and deserves its own dedicated week. We discuss Claire’s own coming out story, her experience of being included at work in different environments and the full life she leads now. We end with a discussion of the rewards that come from seeing people succeed and the advice that Claire would have for her younger self.  Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this Pride Series of 2025.

Meghan Stabler was until recently a fractional CMO at ThriveCart, and a member of the board of directors of Grindr since May 2022. She has had a series of marketing and strategy roles over the course of her career and is a keynote speaker on a range of topics.  Given Meghan’s expertise, we dive deep into marketing and branding as a discipline – speak about finding the voice of a brand and channeling the energy of a generation. Turning to her personal story Meghan describes her experience as a transgender woman – and the fact that when she decided to transition she experienced significant sacrifice, but that she didn’t see herself as having a choice.  We compare her experience transitioning in her mid-adulthood to what might be the case for younger people or people at different stages of their career – especially those who may be less well-established. We discuss the impact on children and on families, and on the importance of allyship.  Ending with her work on Grindr, we discuss her experience in technology, mobile app development, and marketing, and benefits the board and the focus that Grindr has. We discuss the importance of authenticity at every stage of one’s journey, and how it is so important to “be oneself”.  Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.

Rob Smith is Founder and CEO of the Phluid Project, a brand that recognizes the shifting attitude of Gen Z and young Millennials, merging fashion with community and education. He has served on boards for over a decade, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Steve Madden, following a career in marketing in which he held a series of executive roles. He chairs the development committee for the LGBTA+ Board Directors, is a TEDX speaker and is currently working on his first book.   Our conversation charts Rob’s career in fashion and how he found acceptance within this community as well as a keen sense for the ability for fashion to bridge the generational gap and tap into shifting psyches in markets. We talk about his work on boards and in the Phluid project, and what it stands for as well as why the current marketing campaign talks about Pride being a March and not a Parade. We move then to discuss the importance of role models at every stage of career progression.    Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.

Taryn Talley is a marketer with over 20 years of experience, who is currently Head of Marketing at an agency Position 2. She has had numerous marketing roles across the digital and traditional spectrum.    Our sweeping conversation takes us through Taryn’s upbringing and her career in marketing, as well as her experience in transitioning in her 20s and coming out on social media and mid-career and how this was received by her co-workers. We hear about inclusive and less inclusive environments, and about the power of allyship can make a tremendous difference in one’s career experience.    Staying on marketing we speak about inclusion and the power of marketing to embrace marginalized communities through intentional inclusion. We stress the importance of action over words.    We turn then to Taryn’s roots and her spirituality and in the particular the guidance she had from a spiritual guru, which taught her that her validity should come from within, and not from any external validation.    Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.