Ara Katz
About Ara Katz
I work in the invisible world of bacteria. Specifically, the 38,000,000,000,000 microbes that live in and on us that are reshaping our understanding of human health. This is our microbiome. My road to here has curves, bumps, and detours that don’t tell the full story on LinkedIn. Breastfeeding led me to bacteria, seeking supplementation led me to probiotics, and my mission to raise the standards for what we put in our bodies and realize the potential of microbes, led me to Co-Found Seed Health¹. I am not a scientist, but I know the standards of science (and how it is communicated) must be higher. I am a storyteller, designer, entrepreneur, question-asker, activist, and dot connector. I am curious about the nurture to our nature, the intersection of science and art, the necessity of systems thinking, and how we do health. I also love designing furniture. Before Seed, I Co-Founded and served as CMO of Spring, a venture and LVMH-backed mobile marketplace, which launched in August 2014. Before that, I was on the Founding Team of BeachMint, where I launched six direct-to-consumer, celebrity-partnered brands. I’ve ‘fellowed' in CCA's DesignMBA program + MIT Media Lab’s Center for Future Storytelling. I advise various startups across health, tech, beauty and fashion, and I've consulted to companies like Mullen Advertising and the Department of Defense. I started storytelling with feature films, producing titles like Paris, Je t’aime and the music documentary The People Speak (Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Matt Damon, et al.) I live in Venice with the two superorganisms I co-created. Some nice things said about me recently: - Inc. Female Founder Top 100 - Create + Cultivate 100 List - STEM - Marie Claire’s ‘The New Guard: The 50 Most Influential Women in America' - Chalkboard Mag ‘Balanced by Design: Mornings in Venice with Girl Boss Ara Katz’ - Business Insider’s' Silicon Alley Top 100' + ' '36 Rockstar Women in NYC Tech' - BI’s ‘Meet 23 of the most innovative and inspiring women in NYC Tech'