Stories of success and entrepreneurial innovation from Silicon Valley are often told as motivating tales and examples of resilience. Lisa Marino’s story is no exception. As the CEO of The Dopple, an online subscription and registry platform with a unique take on group gifting, Marino’s story exemplifies perseverance, ingenuity, and prescience — particularly in recognizing needs within the community.
Like many entrepreneurs, Marino has leveraged her own personal struggles into an innovative business platform. Her path to success, marked by everything from a difficult upbringing to a stint on public assistance after having her first child, has been informed by her experiences.
Here, we explore her journey and tell another story of excellence in entrepreneurship that definitely inspires.
A rise from humble beginnings
Like many, Marino’s adolescence was colored by an unstable home life, but she didn’t allow that rough start to define her. In fact, she credits those years with helping shape the path she eventually took. As a graduate of the Wharton School of Business with advanced degrees from Stanford University, Marino has an aptitude for overachievement. That doesn’t mean that there were no significant obstacles in her way.
Marino’s graduation from Stanford coincided with the dot-com implosion of 2000 and the loss of her health coverage. She was pregnant, and with both she and her husband unemployed, her family was suddenly thrust into a stressful, almost untenable, financial crunch.
Marino knew that she and her husband were drowning, and she was determined to make it through. She applied for government assistance and marshaled her close friends and family to organize a village of support to get them through the early months of newborn care and daily life. She didn’t need plastic toys, vibrating bouncy chairs, and piles of onesies; what she needed was people — to help them with the baby during the first sleepless weeks, pitch in with meal prep and cleaning the house, and jump in with financial assistance to keep stocked with diapers and formula. Marino and her husband eventually worked through their financial setbacks thanks to the strong support she had organized around them, and the gratitude she felt for her village long lingered in her mind.
A voice for mamas
Starting her career as a technology M&A banker, Marino’s first foray into leadership was as CEO of RockYou, a mom-focused interactive media and gaming company. She had a knack for creating space for parents of all kinds, especially mothers who could use a voice in the media market. This led to the creation of Mama’s Uncut, a collaborative space that explored real issues for all parents.
“We wanted to create a space that offered support and honest and raw discussions,” Marino said.
Since founding Mama’s Uncut, Marino’s career has followed a parent-centric path. Her newest venture, The Dopple, is an online platform that offers cool children’s clothing through a subscription service and a first-of-its-kind registry that allows parents to register for important items and services they may need. It is a registry idea that harkens back to Marino’s early days as a mother needing extra help.
“As a mother who previously depended on a coordinated and sustained level of support from my family and friends, plus financial help for essentials like formula and diapers, I realized that traditional baby registries were no longer addressing the needs of today’s families,” Marino explains.
A new way to register
The Dopple Registry is breaking new ground in the world of parenting, especially for new parents. As anyone who has ever been to a baby shower can tell you, parents-to-be receive a lot of gifts, but not all of them are items that parents need.
The Dopple allows group gifters to provide new parents with services such as doulas, housekeepers, and lactation consultants. In addition to the traditional items many new parents will need, there are also gift options such as meals and recurring diaper deliveries. Marino considers it a way of giving back and paying forward the help that she received. “It’s both my honor and my duty to pay it forward,” she told Success Magazine.
Marino also gives back to the community through her work as a board member with Pacific Clinics. The clinics’ commitment to helping diverse populations is important to Marino, both as a mother and as a Latina. “It’s important for women of color to support one another,” she explains.
Marino strongly feels that her diverse perspective has only strengthened the industries she has worked within, from media to gaming to parent-centered gifting and subscription services. Within these myriad competitive fields, Marino has seized opportunities and risen above circumstances to make her mark in the business world.
Today, Marino is putting her all into The Dopple and serving as a strong mentor for other single mothers and Latinas who wish to blaze their own business trail. By leveraging what she has learned about the necessity of one’s “village” when raising a child, Marino and her team have created a truly unique baby registry experience.
Going forward, Marino hopes to expand The Dopple Registry’s reach and attract more service providers as partners to the platform. As she knows well from experience, disparities and inequalities exist, but she remains hopeful that her work can help people circle the wagons around new parents and give them a helping hand as they start their parenting adventure.
