Nina Christofilis, a Northeastern second-year business administration major, is taking on women in the business sphere through her podcast: The Ladyboss Podcast. 

Ladyboss was launched in 2020 and tells the story of successful women who have different paths to achievement in various business fields.

Christofilis started her podcast at 17 years old when she was stressed and applying to colleges after realizing that “every single person has a completely different story” to achieving success.  

“The heart of Ladyboss is to not only amplify and provide a platform for women’s stories that are out there because women in business don’t tend to get opportunities to talk about their lives and how they got into their work,” Chrisofilis said. “But, to also share my network with people who want to learn more about different professions.” 

Working at her mom’s luxury consignment shop taught Christofilis how to sell clothes and sparked her interest in business and branding herself. 

Through her interactions in the store, Christofilis realized that “women who are already in business and who have been successful are so willing to help young women who asked for help … [because] they want to contribute and help the younger women break into it,” she said. 

Starting a podcast in the business sphere was a natural next step, she said.

 “Since a very young age, I’ve always had a very strong passion for business and entrepreneurship and women’s presence in business, because I saw a lack of it,” Christofilis said. 

The format of Ladyboss is typically an interview-style video podcast. While Christofilis loves to write, she finds that “when you’re telling someone’s story, there’s no better person to tell the story than the person who’s lived that experience.” 

Christofilis admits that getting word out about her podcast took time. Most of her guests she first met as clients in the consignment store. 

“My first season had 10 episodes, I didn’t really have a theme,” Christofilis said. “I interviewed everyone from a doctor of rheumatology at the University of Washington … [to] a professional soccer player in the [National Women’s Soccer League] … [she] lived in a family friend’s basement.”

When she arrived at Northeastern, Christofilis recruited Chloe Schnapp, a second-year marketing and brand management major, as head of marketing. Schnapp is a self-proclaimed introvert, so working for the podcast allowed her to push herself outside her bubble and helped her learn about herself.

“My favorite part is working with Nina,” Schnapp said. “When I met her, I really thought it was just going to be a business relationship … but I feel like I got to know her on such a personal level — that was so important.” 

Schnapp is not Christofilis’ only team member. Over the summer, Ladyboss recruited two interns who helped Christofilis dig into other social channels. She credits Ladyboss intern Margarita Myakova for boosting their LinkedIn presence, which has helped increase listenership.

Myakova, a second-year international business major, met Christofilis while studying abroad in Scotland. Myakova said Christofilis acted as a mentor and provided guidance in a welcoming environment rather than being just a boss.

Myakova called the internship “an incredible opportunity to enhance [her] marketing skills and really learn about social media strategies and how to utilize them effectively.” Myakova found that “more importantly, I got to work in such an amazing dynamic and environment.” 

Christofilis lives and leads by the phrase she learned from podcast guest Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and screenwriter: “Do it scared.” 

“Everyone’s scared to do something, but you have to be fearless… build the courage to do it scared,” Christofilis said. “Over time, it becomes more and more gratifying as people come up to you and go, ‘Hey, I listened to this, and it really resonated with me.’ It will mean so much more to someone else by you taking that risk.” 

When considering how her female identity interacts with podcasting, Christofilis said she feels “really lucky to be one of the few [female] business voices out there.”

As a college student, Christofilis has found that while filming, editing and building her network is difficult, delegating work to her team has helped her keep a work-life balance. 

“If the podcast is feeling hard to work on one day, sometimes I push it off, and I go, ‘You know what? I’d rather go hang out with my friend for this hour and do this another day,’” Christofilis said. “I’ll still make the deadline I want to make, and I’ll still get it out when it needs to get out.” 

Christofilis’ marketing class at Northeastern has been impactful in helping her learn how to maximize her business model for the podcast. 

“My Northeastern business classes have given me more literacy when I’m speaking to these women in business,” Christofilis said, which has helped her deepen her understanding of the topics she discusses.  

Christofilis’ advice to anyone who plans to start a podcast is to find something they are passionate about. 

“You can’t fake passion … you can’t fake enthusiasm,” Christofilis said. “Be the most passionate person about [the subject] because people want to listen to someone who is so obsessed with what they’re talking about.”