Jess Hunichen and Emily Ward are the Co-Founders of the global Talent Management Agency, Shine Talent Group, founded in 2015 with offices in Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Built on the premise of collaboration over competition, Shine has grown a reputation for being an ally to both talent and brands bringing impactful campaigns and creative solutions.
In 2021 Jess and Emily identified a gap in the body confidence space and founded The BodCon - leading three virtual event conferences focused on sparking conversations around all things body confidence, body positivity and self love. In 2023, The BodCon was sold to Trafilea who will be expanding the brand’s reach and impact on the community. In 2022, after years of developing and perfecting a project management software to support their team of talent managers, Jess and Emily continued their entrepreneurial journey to launch The Thread, a project currently in beta. The first of its kind project management software that was built to support the needs of the talent manager sales cycle, increasing profitability and productivity.
With this success and others to come, in 2023 Jess and Emily launched Love x Money Ventures (formerly Shine Ventures) as a vehicle to share their experience and invest in bold founders with potential for global reach and market disruption.
Alyssa Arnold brings over 14 years of experience in strategic consulting and investment, specializing in empowering businesses through targeted fundraising and structured growth strategies. As the founder of ATex Energy Consulting and Wildwood Growth Partners to provide tailored growth strategy blueprints, comprehensive fundraising plans and business development roadmaps, ensuring businesses can pivot and scale effectively.
Alyssa also founded Pearl Influential Capital , an education-first investor community offering fractionalized deal flow through SPVs to make venture investing more accessible to early investors and influencers. Mid-2024 Pearl Influential was acquired by Cherub Technologies, she is now focused on building a scalable SPV model amplified across the Cherub Platform, helping founders raise capital faster. With deep expertise in fundraising, business strategy, and operational efficiency, Alyssa is a trusted partner for female founders and small to mid-sized businesses looking to accelerate growth. She is also an active investor and advisor to over 40 early-stage businesses and serves as COO of Bonjour Fête.
