From LinkedIn to Founder: Gina Schinkel on Building Driftawave, Imposter Syndrome and the Future of Remote Work
From Leadership Kitchen · 00:54:45
Show by Renita Käsper
In this episode of Leadership Kitchen, I sit down with Gina Schinkel, founder of Driftawave, startup advisor, speaker, and former LinkedIn Talent Solutions leader, to talk about founder journeys, remote work, and building something before you feel ready.Gina's career path has taken her from hospitality and tourism across the world to tech sales and entrepreneurship. Today she helps distributed teams create meaningful in-person experiences through retreats, workations, and offsites.Together we explore:• What it really feels like to leave a stable corporate job and become a founder• The reality of imposter syndrome and building confidence as you go• Why mentors, communities, and founder networks matter• How to measure the impact of retreats and offsites in remote companies• What remote teams still get wrong about connection and trust• Supporting neurodivergent employees in distributed workplaces• Why building a founder brand can open unexpected doors• The small wins, setbacks, and celebrations that come with building a businessAnd of course, Gina shares her Leadership Recipe:🥄 Belief🥄 Energy🥄 A hack-the-game mentalityBecause leadership isn't built from perfect recipes. It's built through experimentation, difficult decisions, and learning as you go.Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Leadership Kitchen00:16 Meet Gina Schinkel and her unconventional career journey02:03 Measuring the value of in-person connection in remote work03:12 The Greek recipe and the power of shared meals06:44 From Australia to Aruba: building a global life and career11:09 Leaving LinkedIn to become a founder14:36 Fear, imposter syndrome and making the jump18:09 Family doubts and finding support as an entrepreneur25:36 Why Gina built Driftawave27:10 How often remote teams should meet in person28:53 Measuring ROI from retreats and workations30:14 Offsites as rewards, culture builders and employer branding33:38 Gina's hardest leadership lesson35:34 Leadership, AI and managing teams in startups40:13 The missing ingredient in remote work: trust and respect42:02 Supporting neurodivergent employees at company retreats46:27 Advice for women founders struggling with confidence47:41 When do you finally feel like a founder?51:39 Gina's Leadership Recipe54:30 Final reflections and outroThe conversation covers Gina's journey from global travel and hospitality to entrepreneurship, the realities of startup life, and the evolving role of human connection in distributed work.Connect with Gina Schinkel:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginaschinkel/Connect with Renita Käsper:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renitakasper/Follow Leadership Kitchen for more conversations on leadership, hiring, founder journeys, and building teams across cultures and borders:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadership-kitchen/
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