This week on AND/BOTH, I’m joined by Nomiki Petrolla, founder of Theanna and a mother of four who is reshaping what early-stage entrepreneurship can look like for women in tech.

Nomiki has spent 15 years in the tech world, sitting beside founders, engineers, and venture-backed teams, often as the only woman in the room. That experience eventually led her to build Theanna: a platform designed to support women tech founders from idea to launch.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why women are turning to entrepreneurship not out of ambition alone, but out of a desire for agency
• The realities of building a startup with four young kids
• How AI is completely changing what’s possible for early-stage founders
• Why venture capital isn’t the only — or even the most aligned — path for most entrepreneurs
• The difference between building your first business for money and your later ones for meaning
• How motherhood sharpens clarity, decision-making, and boundaries
• What Nomiki is noticing about the next wave of women building tech
• Sustainable entrepreneurship vs. the unicorn mythology we’ve all absorbed

It’s a conversation about choosing your own path, understanding your season, and building something that fits your actual life, not a version of life you’re supposed to pretend you have.

Connect with Nomiki:

Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn: @nomikipetrolla

Theanna: @theannaio

Connect with Ashley:

Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com

Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/

Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822

Instagram: @mydovetail.app

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/

In this solo episode, I’m taking a moment to pause, look back on Season 9, and share what’s coming as we head into a new year and our tenth season of the AND/BOTH podcast.

This season brought so many meaningful conversations on the mental load, the realities of modern motherhood, how we build community, what comfort and safety look like in hard seasons, and the ways we try (and often fail) to carry less than we’re used to. We also continued our roundtable series, with thoughtful, deeply resonant conversations about grief and holiday burnout that so many of you reached out about.

I talk through:

• The themes that kept surfacing across episodes
• What these conversations revealed about burnout, expectations, and the pace we’re all trying to keep
• The “colander list” moment with my friend Meg and why it hit me squarely in the chest
• What it’s been like to grow a tech company, run a podcast, and raise four kids during a very full season
• Why we’re taking a short break before Season 10
• What you can expect when we return in the new year

And I share an invitation: if you’ve listened to the show and haven’t yet heard your version of motherhood reflected, I would love to bring more voices and stories into the mix. You can submit a guest interest form at andbothpodcast.com.

We’ll be back in January with Season 10—rested, reset, and ready for the next chapter.

Wishing you a holiday season with at least one hot coffee, a moment of actual rest, and something small that fills your cup.

Connect with Ashley:

Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com

Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/

Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822

Instagram: @mydovetail.app

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/

This week on AND/BOTH, I’m joined by Lauryn Warnick, CEO and founder of Villain Branding. Lauryn shares how she went from film school to tech startups to leading a verbal-first brand consultancy—and how the business has grown and shifted alongside marriage, motherhood, and the many seasons real life brings.

We talk about:

• Building a business that doesn’t pretend life at home is paused
• Why B2B storytelling has more impact (and heart) than most people expect
• Working with a spouse and figuring out routines that actually work
• The pressure of being the primary income earner while raising young kids
• Moving away from “balance” and toward navigating what each season asks of you
• The Disney moment that unexpectedly reframed flexibility, boundaries, and perspective

This episode is full of the conversations that don’t always make it into the highlight reel—how we work, how we parent, and how we keep adjusting the picture as life keeps changing.

Connect with Lauryn:

Website: www.villainbranding.com

LinkedIn: Lauryn Warnick

Connect with Ashley:

Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com

Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/

Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822

Instagram: @mydovetail.app

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/