From Executive Roles to Entrepreneurial Soul: Angeley Mullins on Scaling Income, Influence, and Impact

1. What first sparked your drive to make a meaningful social impact in your career?

The truth is, impact has always been my compass. I’m deeply passionate about supporting women leaders and purpose-driven tech - these are not buzzwords for me, they are the foundation of everything I do.

One of my first jobs was as an advisor for The Grameen Foundation, an organisation committed to ending poverty and hunger by empowering the economic growth of women.

I was living in the Dominican Republic at the time. I would see women selling crafts and art outside the bank, but they weren’t able to get a loan. That’s when I started learning about how women are more disadvantaged financially and how lifting up women lifts up entire communities. That stayed with me.

Throughout my career, I’ve moved between the corporate, nonprofit, and profit-for-purpose worlds, holding various executive roles: Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Growth Officer. I started my own nonprofit, The Poverty Museum. I’ve worked at big corporations like Amazon. From early on, I could see that if we even took a small slice of the profits at these big behemoths, we could help so many people.

I’ve made sure that through the years a good portion of what I do has an impact angle.

2. You’ve recently gone out on your own and launched Aetheris Ventures. Can you tell us more about that?

Let me be honest: It’s scary going out on your own and doing something new. But it’s also hugely exciting.

I empower ambitious Founders and CEOs to unlock growth through mentoring and advising on AI Marketing & AI Go-to-Market (GTM) growth. I’m also an angel investor. I’m working on launching a venture capital firm that focuses on purpose-driven tech and I’ll start raising funds for that in 2026. I also do public speaking as a keynote speaker, moderator and panelist.

The name Aetheris Ventures was inspired by Greek mythology. Aetheris comes from Aether, the God of pure light and sky. For me, it represents what you can do to drive hope and unlimited possibilities. In my venture capital fund, my special focus is purpose-driven tech: companies that have a social or environmental mission to tackle some of the world’s challenges. I believe this is the future.

Prior to going out on my own, I had scaled seven companies. I’ve seen everything from pre-seed all the way to IPO, however I wanted to have a bigger impact in the world.

I’m also passionate about supporting female founders. My goal is to invest in 50% female founders.

3. As an angel investor, what do you look for in a potential company?

First, I look for the idea. Does it have a purpose? Does it have longevity? Will it benefit the next generations - Gen Z and Gen Alpha? Each generation has different needs and pain points to find solutions for.

Second, I look at the founders. How much grit do they have? They don’t have to be the utmost technical leader in their field, but they have to have the grit and the wherewithal to go the distance.

Third, I ask ‘Are the founders decent people? Are they good human beings?’ That really matters to me.

4. One of your recent positions was Chief Commercial Officer at Resourcify - a digital circular economy platform - where you raised $14million in Series A funding. What are the top 2 marketing tactics or strategies that drove success?

I really pushed hard to increase brand awareness. Resourcify does digitization of waste management. It’s the most unsexy niche. But their impact is next level. In Europe, 70% of all waste that is incinerated and goes into landfills is created by businesses, and a lot of it is because they’re not sorting it properly.

When I joined Resourcify, a lot of people hadn’t heard of them. A big part of my role was that educational piece, creating more awareness about their mission and bringing the company into a bigger spotlight. How did we do that? Through a lot of content marketing and strengthening the brand.

Pro Insight: 

Here’s a wake-up call: Some companies right now are firing their content teams because they think AI is going to do it all. That’s a big mistake. Anyone can create a product now quickly with tools like Lovable. The best way to drive revenue and differentiate your company in a crowded market is through brand, brand awareness and content. This is what will win in the age of AI.

6. In your new company Aetheris Ventures, you have a varied portfolio of income streams. What is your biggest income generator?

For many years, I was on the traditional corporate track where you work a job and you get paid. This year, I moved to a multi-tiered income stream: part venture, angel investing, advising Founders and CEOs, Mentoring, and Public Speaking. There’s not one driver. Each stream fluctuates up and down at different times.

Many people are moving to this multi-track stream. There’s a paradigm and value shift happening in the industry. As an example: Gen Z’s are so savvy. They are thinking ‘What’s in it for me?’ They are figuring out that the traditional 9-5 game is not going to work for them and their future, and they are figuring out new ways to work and make a good life for themselves.

One thing is for sure: AI is changing the game and things will never be the same. My biggest advice for those looking to forge their careers is to keep that in mind and prepare for a completely new era.

When I made these changes for myself, I was thinking about my longevity, my mental health, my physical health, all of that has a price tag. So far, I’m loving it!

Pro Tip: 

One income stream more women need to consider is investing. It’s quite a taboo subject for women, shrouded in mystery. It’s time we empower more women to step into it.

There’s lots of new companies being founded now to empower women financially. For example, Alinea Invest launched a new app that breaks down all the finance topics in lay terms, demystifying everything for women.

7. You currently mentor high-level leaders as one of your income streams. Can you tell me a bit about that?

Mentoring is a passion project for me. I’ve worked in a lot of male-dominated companies and departments. I was very used to being the only woman and the only woman in leadership. I didn’t have many mentors along the way.

I was taught in business school that you had to be one of the boys. But I learned through experience that isn’t true…it’s better to be yourself. It took me many years to understand that.

That’s what inspired me to start mentoring. I mentor Founders and CEOs, men and women. I use the high-level, executive experience that I have gained over the years to mentor on everything from how to lead, how to grow in your own career, how to deal with difficult situations, and how to master yourself.

I help leaders understand themselves better because that’s how you become a better leader. You need to know the job but it’s also crucial to know yourself. There are a lot of mental health issues in the tech industry caused by the demanding nature of it: depression, anxiety, burnout, and so many more. It’s a side of the tech industry people don’t talk about enough in public, however there are so many opportunities here for community, growth, and healing that could become so powerful if discussed more openly.

I have a very human-centred approach to mentoring, bringing together leadership and wellness. My role is to get leaders through these hurdles and into the next stage of growth.

8. You are excellent at growing your visibility. You pop up everywhere: Forbes, Tech Crunch, The Drum, podcasts, keynote talks. Any tips for someone who wants to grow their personal brand?

I do public speaking as a paid speaker. I love speaking with people and it’s one of the most treasured crafts. My advice is to just get out there and do it. Start speaking. The more you speak, the more people see you and the better you get at it. Visibility matters.

I live in Germany, but I’m an American, and in the US, they say, ‘All press is good press.’ Let’s say you tanked on a podcast and it didn’t go very well, my view is that doesn’t matter. You showed up and gave it a go.

You don’t have to get everything right the first time. It’s okay to make mistakes. When I started on LinkedIn years ago, I would post and get one like. Nobody would see it. But I kept going. I got better by doing.

What does work is if you are constantly out there. When people meet me, they’re like, ‘Oh, I know this girl, Angeley. She talks about this and that. I’d love to have her on my podcast.’ At the beginning of my speaking career, I even spoke for free at first to get my name out there. That grew over time and I have now become a paid speaker.

I also coach Founders on Founder-led branding. I meet a lot of founders who are afraid to talk about themselves and their businesses. I tell them, ‘If you don’t talk about it, how are people going to know about you? No one’s going to do it for you.’

And you don’t have to be in a leadership position to grow your personal brand. If you’re at the beginning or the mid stage of your career, post on LinkedIn, get your name out there. You have to advocate for yourself. You are in charge of your own career. How do you become visible? Be visible. There’s no secret sauce, just do it.

9. You’ve held many executive marketing positions through the years. What is your favorite brand moment or marketing campaign?

I’m really proud of a product and brand called: The Democracy Perception Index - the world’s largest study on the perception of democracy.

At the time, I worked for a market research firm, Latana. We took statistics from around the globe and used them to help businesses increase their brand perception and awareness.

We created the Democracy Perception Index in collaboration with the nonprofit, Alliance of Democracies. There were sections on people’s perceptions of democracy, but also on perceptions of the global world powers such as the EU, the US, China, and the conflict in Ukraine, Social media and free speech, and climate change.

We debuted the report to the Alliance of Democracy Summit in Copenhagen. All of the top A-listers were there, including President Barack Obama. We had global leaders citing the report and talking about the changes they were inspired to make in their countries or regions. Our video content made a big splash online and we were all so proud to work on something with purpose.

I loved working on it. It was amazing to see that a tiny startup from Berlin could have such a big impact on the conversations of high-ranking political leaders and inspire positive change in the world.

10. There’s so many channels these days: social media, email marketing, paid ads and beyond. Where do you rank social media as a channel?

Extremely high! If you’re B2B or e-commerce, you need to be dominating social media. For example on LinkedIn only a tiny percentage of people are actually creating content. You can become a top creator on LinkedIn easier than many of the other channels right now, it’s not as saturated. If you’re in e-commerce, you need to be on Instagram and TikTok. TikTok Shop is a money-making machine right now!!

It’s going to be really interesting to see how social media develops in the age of AI. Take the example of the AI generated influencer who was featured at Wimbledon this year promoting products. There was a huge backlash to her being AI generated. Chat GPT’s new internet browser will be a gamechanger. AI is going to touch everything.

11. You are passionate about empowering women leaders. You’re an adviser and mentor for The Female Factor, Femme Palette and Women of SAAS. Can you tell me more about this?

I mentor women leaders because I understand what it’s like to be a female leader in a male-dominated industry where you don’t have the support around you.

We are still dealing with the same problems that generations of women before us were fighting for. There has been progress, but we still have so many challenges to navigate that our male counterparts do not.

However an important point to make is that it is not about women vs men. We need each other and we need each other’s help. That is the real point - to work together in harmony.

For example, we’re often afraid to announce that we’re going to have a baby. I was asked by a group of men at a late stage interview what my fertility plans are. Society has conditioned women to be nice and helpful, to not ask for too much, to not be too out there, right?

In my career, I’ve had people say, ‘You’re too aggressive. You’re too pushy.’ If I was a man, I would be called confident and capable. But then if I’m soft spoken, because my natural personality is quite soft spoken, people say, ‘Oh, you don’t have anything to say or you aren’t competent in that topic.’ This is one of the paradoxes of being a female leader.

12. As an African American woman leading in an industry that hasn’t always made space for women of colour, what advice would you share with others carving their own path in leadership?

I’m bi-racial: my mother is from Jamaica and my father is Irish-American. Growing up as a mixed-raced person I learned that there is still a lot of discrimination, sexism, and racism in the world… all the “-isms”.

For those of us that come from different backgrounds and find ourselves as the minority within a certain group, I tell people to try to not succumb to fear and go out into the world with your best self and best intentions. Because if you wake up in the morning and you start thinking about all the “isms” that are out there, you’d never get out of bed. The point is that you cannot control the thoughts and feelings of others. You can only be your best self.

I get a lot of mentees asking me if they should put their picture and full name on their CV. Because they feel like that would give away their ethnicity and expose them to biases. I tell them to do it. Why? If they’re going to discriminate against you, have them do it at the CV stage, and don’t waste your time interviewing with a company that doesn’t respect and value you.

The world can be a wonderful place, full of magic and kindness. However there can also be very tough moments. What I tell others is that:

“The definition of courage is not about the absence of fear. The definition of courage is about bravery in the face of fear. You have to have courage and push forward.”

As a leader, I cannot change every single situation people will have to deal with. What I can do is instill hope, encouragement, and inspiration for women to go out there and be their best selves and fight for what they want and deserve.

13. What marketing tactic do you feel is best to change hearts and minds and get people on board for your mission of supporting purpose-driven tech?

Authentic storytelling is the number one marketing tactic. Take Halle Berry and her new company, Respin. Her story is heartwrenching. She was misdiagnosed with herpes when she was really going through menopause. This happened to a celebrity who has access to the top doctors. This is how messed up the health industry is for women: our symptoms are not taken seriously. Halle launched Respin by getting out there and telling her story. And yes, she has a lot of followers as a celebrity, but her story resonated with women.

There’s loads of women founders out there who are telling their stories authentically and it’s connecting with people. It’s back to what we talked about earlier: if you’re not out there, no one knows you, right? Invest time in your founder-led brand and authentic storytelling, this is what will win the game.

Now it’s time to take action - check out Aetheris Ventures and follow Angeley Mullins on socials: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram