Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Building Purpose-Driven Ventures: Amber Brandner's Journey from ICU Nurse to Studio Principal

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Building Purpose-Driven Ventures: Amber Brandner's Journey from ICU Nurse to Studio Principal · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:17
today's guest is the Principal at a Frame Venture Studio, Amber
0:21
Brandner. They are a venture studio that
0:24
builds purpose driven consumer goods and tech focused on health
0:29
and well-being through a holistic approach.
0:33
Amber works encompassing brands, products, partnerships,
0:36
experience and people with a collective offering strategic
0:40
support for responsible and sustainable growth.
0:43
Amber is a passionate leader with a deep curiosity and our
0:46
collective potential. A creative force working at the
0:50
intersection of venture narrative and collective
0:53
intelligence. Her work lives where systems
0:56
meet soul designing ventures, environments and ecosystems that
1:00
foster authentic collaboration, emotional depth and regenerative
1:04
growth. She is co-owner at Mirth Water,
1:08
where they are on a mission to improve emotional well-being and
1:11
healthy hydration. Amber currently serves on the
1:14
Advisory Board for the Center for Applied Ethics and Values in
1:18
Emerging Technology at UCSC. She's also an alumni
1:23
entrepreneur in residence at UCS DS Office of Innovation and
1:27
Commercialization and a mentor at Blackstone Launchpad.
1:31
She is the director of the docu short Between Narratives, A
1:35
poetic inquiry into the space between paradigms and brings a
1:39
systems literate, humanity centered lens to every project
1:42
she joins. Her leadership skills have
1:45
developed at organizations such as Ted X, the National Science
1:49
Foundation, World Economic Forum and Singularity U Amber brings a
1:55
wealth of hands on expertise to her role, emphasizing impact
1:59
driven strategies and community focused development.
2:02
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AD back benefits.com. All right, back to our guest
2:43
today, the principal at a frame venture studio, Amber Brander.
2:47
I appreciate you making the time to Share your story today.
2:50
Thank you for having me. So, Amber, as I look at your
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career path, it's very fluid and multidimensional.
2:58
ICU nurse, venture studio founder, building community art
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spaces. You're shaping, you know, future
3:04
forward businesses. I want to try and walk through
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some of those major chapters with you.
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You started in ICU working with cardiac patients, managing Code
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blue teams, and even training in palliative care.
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That's a high stakes, deeply human environment.
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Can you take me back to that time?
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What did those experiences teach you?
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Yeah, well, connecting the dots is always fun.
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I love looking back and thinking, you know, how did this
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one connect to the next one? Those golden Nuggets.
3:43
Yeah, I started in ICU when I was 19 years old and I went into
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nursing really thinking, you know, I think I was the first in
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my family to go to college. So it was a very kind of
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pragmatic choice of I'm good at science, I like people let me,
4:04
you know, do this thing, it's a a good living.
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And so I chose that path for that kind of reason.
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And I chose ICU specifically because it was the most
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challenging. And I, I guess that I just maybe
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liked the idea of a bit more control around things and, and
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being able to help people in the worst situations.
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But for a while after I left nursing, I actually wanted
4:34
really to separate myself from that identity.
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I would feel like, especially in the first couple years, people
4:43
saying like my nurse friend Amber, I'm like, I am not your
4:46
nurse friend. You didn't want that to be like
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that much of your identity. Yeah.
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I mean, I felt, I've always felt like what we do is not who we
4:57
are. OK.
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And I think that when you have a role like a nurse, people often
5:03
kind of hold it up as like, that is, you know, that's your
5:07
profession becomes a huge part of your identity.
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And when I left nursing after having been in it since I hadn't
5:14
been 19, it felt like I had to kind of like rebrand myself for
5:21
myself. Like I was trying to understand
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who I was after leaving that, but I struggled to the point of
5:27
like, what did I gain from that? At first I was like, oh, I'm
5:32
like hiding this part of myself. And then I realized over the
5:35
years of just like how much came in from like multi stakeholder
5:40
conversations, having like all these different physicians for
5:43
different organ systems, right? Plus case managers, plus your
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social workers and every day having to really look at the big
5:51
picture and bring everybody up to speed and manage the needs of
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everybody and communicate clearly.
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You know, when I left that I went into kind of a large scale
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event production with Ted X and I remember hosting these events
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and people being like Amber, you're so calm, like you know
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what's going on. I'm like, nobody is dying.
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Nobody's trying to die, you know.
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Everything you hear is really low stakes.
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So you end up like being able to.
6:22
Yeah. I mean, I think the biggest
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thing it taught me is perspective and the brevity of
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life, you know, being 19 years old and, and being with people
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who are are passing or have regrets in their life or family
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members who wish they had been more present and there with
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their family before their loved one was ill.
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It taught me massively about the inequalities in our society and
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how that shows up in so many ways, from compliance of your,
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you know, health regimen to preventative care to the dignity
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that you have in your dying and the palliative care piece.
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I mean, it's still part of life, right?
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Like, this is still a phase of life.
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So yeah, I mean, I learned a lot from it.
7:16
Yeah. And then at some point you
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started moving more towards creative strategy, systems
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design, social entrepreneurship, which is kind of more where you
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find yourself today. I'm curious, as you kind of look
7:27
back and connect those dots, was there a specific moment, maybe a
7:31
slow realization that told you it was kind of time to shift
7:35
this focus? SO2 Parts 1 One was the jolt
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away from nursing, which happened after a couple of night
7:48
shifts. I worked and I had a car
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accident and after, well, in that car accident, I felt
7:57
essentially like I had been kind of given an opportunity.
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It was kind of a wake up call. My car was totaled and I didn't
8:09
have a scratch on me. You know, many years later, I'm
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like, my knee hurts. I think that was related, but
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kind of walked out of it saying like, am I OK going up to
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another car saying like, you know, am I actually here?
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And, you know, I was 26 and I really had been thinking for
8:30
years, like, I want to learn Spanish, I want to travel, I
8:33
want to do this yoga training. I want to, you know, see more of
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the world, all these things. And I had just kind of always
8:39
put it off thinking like, well, when this bill is paid, when
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this is done, when I get to this point, then I'll then I'll do
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those things. And for me, that accident was
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something that just was, I think there were kind of taps and
8:57
whispers ahead of that. And it was a bit of a, of the
9:00
like shaking me to awake. And so I left that accident and,
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you know, tried going back in and just going to work and doing
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the thing and getting a new car. And I just like in, in the
9:15
depths of my soul knew that that wasn't right.
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So I ended up traveling for nine months in South America.
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It was, you know, a journey to, to kind of get to that point.
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I had a panic attack before I ever left.
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I had never really like internationally traveled by
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myself. It was the I, it was totally the
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fear of the unknown. And then, you know, a month into
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it, I was just like, oh, this is great.
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I'm, I'm, I'm awesome. Like, no worries.
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And I thought I was only gonna be there for a few months.
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And I extended and I taught myself how to build websites
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during that time because I had started filming and, you know,
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learning how to film and edit and had met up with someone
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there who was in film in Hollywood.
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And so we worked on several projects together.
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I think I even played with like deejaying and stuff like that.
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I took Spanish classes and did a yoga teacher training in
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Guatemala and, you know, did all these things that I felt like,
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you know, if not now when? And that was like that came kind
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of simultaneously. So just before that, and this is
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this is the big piece. So actually while I was still a
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nurse, while I was still working in the ICUI should say, I went
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to this art show at the the very first Co working space that I
10:48
can remember in San Diego. And at that art show, I met this
10:53
guy Pete, and he mentioned that there was going to be a meeting
10:58
for Ted X. And basically I invited myself
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to a meeting for the organization committee for TEDx
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in San Diego. And because I went to that and
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because I was surrounded by people for a season of my life
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where I saw, oh wow, like these are actually my people, these
11:20
creators, these storytellers. And I got to see a part of
11:24
myself, I think that that like cracked something open.
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And then the events that followed that were just
11:31
divinity, if you want to call it that, but at that.
11:34
Point You kind of didn't really identify as being a creator or
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storyteller until you were sort of wrapped in that community.
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I think it gave me the reflection exactly.
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I think there was always, you know, that maybe that aspect of
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myself was always there and I had painted and loved like
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creating, right? But I had always kind of othered
11:58
that from, from my identity. And I, I honestly think that the
12:04
thing I found in the Ted community was just that life was
12:08
like about the possibility and that like all these things,
12:12
these solutions existed. And it was about being able to
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like create a stage for those things to be shared with the
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world. And if more people knew about
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them, then we could solve some of our challenges.
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And what I started to feel was like I was getting people at the
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wrong point in their life. I was working in the end and I
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was working in this like triage one at a time.
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And I really felt. Like.
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Yeah. So I really felt like that break
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when I traveled for nine months. It basically like deprogrammed,
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you know, all of that. Yeah, just very like rigid
12:51
structure that I had kind of like gone into things with this
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map of life of like, that sounds what that's gonna be like.
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And then I was like, I have no idea what it's gonna be like.
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Was that freeing or was that scary?
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Sort of this? Like I, I, I give up control.
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I don't know where it's going. Yeah, I think man, it, it's been
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like such a spectrum, right? I feel like I came from this
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very like I'm going to take every class I can at night and
13:20
summer and do these and my degree and then this is the next
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thing and I'll be married by this age.
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And, you know, right, like having it all mapped out like
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we, we think we do, but very structured and very rigid, like
13:32
the ICU is. And I went from that to like
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this totally other side of like, I'm just gonna travel.
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I'll barter my my work. Like I can do this.
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I'm gonna make a documentary about this musical instrument
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because I think it's interesting and, you know, just just very
13:51
like free. But then also in that a bit of
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for sure feeling like, wait, who am I like am IA producer, am IA
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like am IA not entrepreneur. And actually that's like next
14:08
chapter there of of understanding what entrepreneur
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meant and being able to see that in myself.
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But I like the word producer because it is to create.
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And I think we could all like identify with that in some way.
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I'd say that I've now kind of oscillated back into a center
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point where it's like, no, you, you need some of the structure,
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right? It's good to have routines.
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It's good to use a calendar. It's like all of these things.
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And it's good to have like a lookout and have those visions
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of, of what you're building, but at the same time not to be too
14:47
rigid, right? Yeah.
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You know, you hit on something that has always been a really
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interesting concept to kind of wrestle with.
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And it's this. It's one thing to say like, we
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are not, you know what our job is, right?
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We are. We are more than that.
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But for so many of us, myself included, it's hard to sort of
15:10
pull that apart. And so if it can feel very
15:15
confusing, very disorienting when you had something that
15:20
anchored at least a portion of your identity, like nursing, and
15:23
now you're sort of jumping out into this great unknown, and
15:27
there's some excitement there. But it's also like, yeah, how do
15:30
we fit into this world? Like, what's my title?
15:33
What's my role? What do I contribute?
15:35
What do I take? And I hear you kind of wrestling
15:38
with some of these things. Yeah.
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And what what will people pay me for that?
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I do also, right. That's a that's a question.
15:45
I mean, I started out kind of working in this like film
15:49
storytelling piece because it just kind of came upon, I guess
15:53
in tandem with the Ted X production.
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But what I loved around Ted X was helping to tell, like
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helping people tell their story and just the power of the
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narratives that we and how our stories shape our reality.
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And so I got to meet a lot of amazing people while I did that
16:13
work. And I guess somehow over the the
16:16
course of time and and experiences, I started working
16:22
with some startup teams as well around kind of their pitch and
16:25
storytelling. And so that sort of came through
16:30
when I I met Brant Cooper, who recently passed away, but has
16:36
been a mentor and and a very, very good friend of mine for
16:42
over a decade. And I met him when I was
16:46
producing Ted X, I think it was about our our second, the second
16:52
time I had worked in this and I was directing with Patty
16:56
Stitson, a friend of mine as well still.
16:59
And you know, he had just written the Lean entrepreneur
17:04
and was a New York Times bestselling author and, and kind
17:08
of like consulted with all these large corporations around
17:12
innovation. And basically like I met him and
17:17
he's like, oh, this isn't natural to you.
17:20
Like this whole lean methodology and agile method and just the
17:27
way that you think about things, this is very natural for you.
17:32
And pairing that with sort of the passion for storytelling and
17:39
narrative building. Yeah, it's, it's sort of kind of
17:44
came not just like, oh, this is easy, but it it developed, it
17:49
evolved. And I think that's The thing is
17:51
that we are, you know, it's like Alan Watts says, like who are
17:56
you really? There is nothing else to know.
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I think that maybe that's like the journey in life, right?
18:03
And so while we have all these different things that we do and
18:06
identities, you know, it, it's not a static thing.
18:12
Like we are dynamic individuals, all of us.
18:16
So would you say that your time with Ted X and with Brent Cooper
18:20
helped to inspire the decision to start a Frame venture studio?
18:26
Oh my gosh, there's been so many things that have led up to a
18:29
frame. I mean, I've worked with
18:32
nonprofits and I've seen the kind of the challenges around
18:41
that, right? The model of doing good but
18:44
requiring and being dependent on donations.
18:47
I've seen and worked with founders who have been very
18:51
impact driven, but not focused on the capital side of things.
18:58
And I've worked also in working closely with investors in kind
19:03
of Web 3 blockchain space or, you know, looking at more kind
19:10
of traditional tech where it's very much about your returns and
19:15
on the investment and just very, very cut and dry and not at all
19:23
worried about the impact that it has on people or planet.
19:27
And so I think that there was, there was always this feeling of
19:32
like, why? Why do we have to choose between
19:36
like doing good and making money?
19:38
It's always felt like there should be some way to do both.
19:44
And then I, I think that honestly, my, it's been years.
19:50
It's probably been, I don't know, 4-5 years since I've like
19:57
had the vision and and really understood that Adventure Studio
20:01
was probably like the vehicle to carry out what I saw.
20:07
But I have felt like I have met so many amazing people who are
20:11
just so talented in their creations and, and expertise
20:16
that I enjoy creating with. And I again, it's like I, I love
20:21
and am excited by the potential of what we create together.
20:25
And so, you know, to be able to create a space and a way of
20:32
creation, like how we create, to be able to experiment with that,
20:38
to be able to really build an ecosystem and a system around
20:42
that that has been like, if you can figure that out, then like
20:48
only you know, you can, you can see how those things can kind of
20:53
move through. And it wasn't just me.
20:56
It was like finding the right person, which is my partner
20:58
Brad. And that was like, you know, the
21:02
ignition. So I'm, I want to wrap my head
21:05
better around what it means to be a venture studio.
21:08
Do you have clients? Do you have portfolio companies?
21:13
What, what are the services? What, what are they bringing to
21:17
the table? How are you helping kind of
21:18
paint a picture for us? Yeah, yeah.
21:21
It's, I mean it's evolved and I think that a venture studio
21:25
isn't A1 size fits all kind of thing.
21:27
So this is what we're doing, but usually Avenger Studio has a
21:33
group of exited founders or a specific kind of group of talent
21:38
that's come together and are able to build.
21:43
Sometimes they're building just as as their own group.
21:47
Sometimes maybe they have people that are coming in externally.
21:50
The way that we've been building and and designed A-frame is that
21:55
we work in a few different ways. So one is internal builds.
21:59
So that includes acquisitions. So for instance, Mirth was an
22:04
acquisition and transforming that from a single bottom line
22:10
into a triple bottom line business.
22:13
We also from outside of acquisitions build from the
22:18
ground up from the idea all the way through launch and scale.
22:23
And so that can come from our team, which is several of the
22:28
things that in motion now. So those are kind of 1 channel
22:34
is these internal innovations, this internal builds.
22:38
Secondarily, we have this new team that just joined us, but
22:44
this founders in residence where we have people that have built
22:48
something, they're usually a smaller team, maybe a solo or or
22:53
two founders. And you know, every startup
22:57
needs certain things. And we've really built A-frame
23:00
to be able to fill those gaps and be that strong support
23:03
structure as well as sort of this like Advisory Board and,
23:08
and still yet getting your hands in a bit more.
23:10
And so we can come in and kind of operate as this like
23:14
supercharged team with these founders.
23:18
And so we support that company usually with a stake of equity
23:23
that we're taking in that company.
23:25
So they become become part of our portfolio, but they also
23:28
become part of the A-frame family where we're able to
23:31
support everything that comes their way.
23:36
And you know, we get to essentially make these decisions
23:40
based on value aligned organizations as well.
23:44
Because there's something to like when all of these come
23:48
together, that shared resource pool gets even stronger and
23:51
stronger as well as the lessons that we learn.
23:53
And then the third piece is services.
23:56
So we actually have a marketing company, a global marketing
24:03
agency called Unusual Agency, which is led by our third
24:07
principal. So it's myself, Brad Harris and
24:11
Luke Tobin who are the three principals at a frame.
24:14
And Luke's background is deep in agency building.
24:19
He's had several successful exits from agencies that he's
24:23
built, the last one just sold, I believe to Brazil, South
24:28
America. And so he has a family office in
24:33
the UK and is leading the charge in building the unusual agency.
24:40
And so that agency services our companies, right?
24:44
Our internal builds, it gets to service these founders and
24:47
residents. They get a great deal at the
24:50
marketing that that everybody needs.
24:53
And then we can also when it's not a fit for the studio for us
24:57
to actually be Equity Partners, we can still offer services or
25:02
maybe a company just doesn't want to part with equity, right?
25:06
And all they need is marketing. In that case we can service
25:10
them. And so we have that revenue
25:12
stream that's like immediate. We have these like longer term
25:16
builds that we're that we're building because we see these
25:21
trends and these gaps in the world.
25:23
And then we have things like more immediate where it's
25:27
something like mirth where it's an acquisition and we're able to
25:30
transform that. But we've already found product
25:32
market fit. We already understand like the
25:35
the product is out there. And so that also kind of happens
25:38
to the founders and residents because they'll be at different
25:41
stages. But anyway, sorry long winded
25:44
answer but it's a it's been complex to understand.
25:48
And so you guys are, there's a lot of design, a lot of
25:51
marketing services, you, you, you guys have had a lot of
25:54
experience in helping to build and launch brands before.
25:57
So that's a big part of the value that you're bringing to
26:00
the table. Are you also able to help them
26:03
get access to capital? Because I understand, if I
26:07
understand it correctly, that's not something that a frame does.
26:10
You're not investing capital, you're investing your skills
26:13
into them, sometimes in exchange for equity.
26:16
But do you have sort of partners or other folks in your network
26:19
that you can often introduce them to?
26:22
Yeah. So in in some cases, I mean, I
26:25
think that's what's really cool about working with Luke as well.
26:28
He has that investment, he's actively investing.
26:32
And so in some cases, it may be that there's a company that he
26:35
is investing in that actually would make sense and it's going
26:38
to have a higher likelihood of success in working with us.
26:41
So there's a strategic reason as well that you know, Luke's
26:45
involvement makes sense not only for us but for him.
26:49
You know, I think that a big part of what we are looking at
26:53
in the near future is raising a fund so that when ideas have
26:59
gone through the validation process and passed certain
27:01
gates, we're able to allocate cash to those as well as to
27:07
those portfolio brands that are already in the portfolio.
27:12
I would say the other piece is that we are working with every
27:18
brand being investor ready. So that is definitely a gap for
27:24
many of the brands that we are that we work with and that are
27:28
coming on. They're looking at, you know,
27:30
yes, they need to be resourceful, they need to raise
27:33
and yet you know, they maybe they're, they're not going to
27:37
pass due diligence. They need help with their PNL,
27:40
they need help on really making that picture clear.
27:43
Or maybe their marketing, their marketing analytics aren't
27:48
there. They don't have the story there
27:51
for an investor to fully buy in or they just haven't reached a
27:55
point where they're actually investable yet.
27:56
And so we're going to help them get to that point.
27:59
So that's always part of the trajectory.
28:02
Where the capital comes from depends on, you know, where
28:07
they're at in their journey as well as I guess where we are,
28:11
where we're at as well because we're like I said looking at
28:15
that fund, but we have been building relationships with
28:18
investors throughout kind of the life cycle of investment.
28:22
So, you know, whether it's precede or really looking at
28:28
like Series A or larger investments, we're building
28:32
those relationships so that we have that pipeline to support.
28:36
What's the difference between single bottom line and triple
28:39
bottom line? Well, profit would be a single
28:45
people and planet is usually the other two lines.
28:51
And I mean, the differences in tension.
28:56
I, I would say is that, you know, you, I mean, some people
29:03
think this doesn't make sense, but I think everything you do
29:05
makes an impact, whether you're measuring it or not.
29:09
And if you are intentional around what you're creating, you
29:14
can create something that is going to bring strong returns
29:18
for your investors, a great exit for the founder or, you know,
29:23
long term success for them, but they're also going to impact and
29:30
improve lives. They're not going to do harm to
29:33
the environment. They're going to thoughtfully
29:35
make decisions. It does take effort.
29:40
It takes maybe a bit more time in some cases, but I think
29:46
having that thoughtfulness and that intention is what we need
29:51
now. Like we cannot sustain venture
29:55
capital venture, you know, all of this can't sustain in the way
29:59
that it's been done and our planet can't sustain our lives
30:04
as humans here will not sustain if we continue doing things the
30:08
way that they've been done so. Tell me about Mirth water.
30:15
Yeah. Mirth is the brand I mentioned
30:17
that was an acquisition. So, so the story of Mirth is it
30:23
was originally it's these cute little emojis on the cans, OK,
30:28
Each one, each one of these flavors had a face on it.
30:31
And it was sold in stores like Erawan and, you know, several
30:37
other small markets. And there was a lot of testing
30:42
being done in the grocers and speaking with the clients.
30:47
And, and the feedback was that it really turned their kids
30:51
heads, which was interesting because it was at that time very
30:57
much the founder had really built it out as sort of a, a
31:02
seltzer, maybe a mixer. It was more of an adult male
31:06
demographic that they were targeting.
31:08
But all this data was showing us that kids really liked it.
31:12
And of course, I mean, it was cute and it looked like the cans
31:16
themselves could be a toy. So we found Mirth.
31:22
Actually, my partner Brad had recently exited his last company
31:27
and was looking at what was next.
31:30
And you know, it was Mirth that we found after he had spoke with
31:36
hundreds of founders and kind of loved going on a choir and kind
31:43
of learning about about the pain points of these founders and the
31:48
opportunities and, and looking at this.
31:50
And so Mirth was one where it was a really great founder.
31:54
He just couldn't dedicate the time to to really taking it to
31:58
the next level. There was strong traction.
32:02
There was a there was a good brand already built.
32:04
And we, we thought that it would be pretty turnkey, but it ended
32:09
up that, you know, you that triple bottom line question, we,
32:16
we looked at it and really found that we had to do some product
32:19
innovation as well. So we took Mirth from something
32:23
that was made with natural flavors and like pure cane sugar
32:30
that was actually like benefit at the time in that first
32:33
iteration for them and really no nutritional value in there.
32:39
And we took it and transformed the product into a hydrating
32:45
bubbly water that is made with 100% organic fruit juice, no
32:51
added natural flavors or artificial flavors.
32:54
And it has a hydration blend that's crafted by Buoy, which is
33:00
a leading hydration supplement, which has 87 trace minerals,
33:06
ocean electrolytes and vitamin complex.
33:10
And so it's clinically been trialled to show greater
33:15
hydration, improve things in chronic illnesses like POTS.
33:19
And so we felt really confident about partnering with Bowie and
33:23
providing something that was not only going to taste great and
33:28
kind of quench your thirst, but actually hydrate you.
33:31
And so I mean, that's what that's what mirth is.
33:36
But the mission of it like the, the core behind it and the, the
33:41
word mirth means the emotions of happiness and joy.
33:46
And one thing that I was, I was really aware of and our team was
33:50
aware of is that we don't want to be toxic positivity.
33:54
In fact, we really need to be able to talk about our feelings.
33:57
And when you look at some of the challenges at the root cause of
34:02
what's happening in our world in schools and with children, I
34:07
think that you can see that we need language.
34:12
People need to be able to express themselves and need to
34:14
be able to connect. You're dealing with the constant
34:18
technology and, you know, the challenge of actually looking
34:22
each other in the eye. The generations are losing the
34:26
ability to express themselves with one another.
34:30
So mirth really stands at the center point of time spent
34:35
outdoors, emotional well-being and communicating those feelings
34:41
and hydration. And so our tagline is feel all
34:45
the little feels. We have these cute little fruit
34:48
characters and they talk about their emotions and they
34:52
introduce new words of vocabulary and everything is
34:56
really set around being in the outdoors.
34:59
So our brand aesthetic is even built around things like
35:02
Cotopaxi and Patagonia, and it should belong in the outdoors.
35:05
So it's drink mirth.com if anybody wants to look at it, but
35:11
I'll take a where. Can we find it?
35:14
So we are live on drink mirth.com right now for pre
35:19
sales and we'll be shipping in August.
35:23
So very excited. It's an, it's the awkward in
35:27
between moment right now where you know, want to like hand it
35:31
out to people and don't have it in my hand yet.
35:36
But it's honestly been such a joy to work on it because I just
35:41
believe in the mission so deeply, and I think it's
35:46
strangely like something that doesn't exist.
35:49
Yeah. It's.
35:50
Super interesting. Do you still have relationships
35:54
with some of the retailers that were carrying sort of the
35:57
previous iteration of the product?
35:58
Do you do you feel like you have a shot at getting back into that
36:02
shelf space? Yeah, we absolutely could.
36:06
You know, there's a a bit of a, a methodology here though of
36:12
within a frame of being really strong and indirect to consumer
36:16
and kind of proving, proving through D to C channels 1st and
36:21
creating demand for shelf space. What you deal with a lot of
36:26
times is brands will go to retailers too early, they're
36:31
paying high slotting fees and, you know, really middleman and
36:36
trying to get on the shelves or they're dealing with them not
36:40
having enough runway to fulfill the production needs.
36:44
And so we're really focused on having just a stellar D to C
36:49
channel to start. And then yes, we have those
36:52
relationships and and others we're looking at some after
36:56
school programs, things like that, that would be a larger
36:59
account. But we're yeah, just really
37:03
excited to to kind of look at it's a it's a drink that's for
37:08
kind of a it's a family friendly drink.
37:10
It's not just for kids. I mean, we're all kind of
37:14
chronically dehydrated, truth be told.
37:18
So to have something that's a refreshing, hydrating drink
37:23
with. A positive message attached to
37:24
it, right? Yeah, I mean with with something
37:28
that we're really building this world around Mirth where it's
37:33
not just a about it happens to be a drink, you know, and when
37:37
we're hydrated, we can feel more and we are healthier and all of
37:42
that. But I think at the core of it,
37:44
yeah, it's, it's about feeling all the little feels, including
37:48
feeling hydrated. And, you know, you hit upon
37:51
something sort of from the business perspective that I
37:53
think a lot of people may not realize, especially if they
37:56
haven't taken a product into retail stores before, which is,
38:00
you know, just getting the contract with the store.
38:03
You want to go in Target or Walmart where wherever you're
38:05
going to go, that's a big deal. That's a that's a huge
38:08
undertaking. But now the store wants to see
38:12
if the product sells through, right?
38:14
And that that is incumbent upon the brand to drive that sort of
38:18
demand there. So that's why your strategy is
38:21
interesting. Like let's build the brand
38:23
recognition, let's build the demand through D to C And then
38:26
when we can show, hey, we're selling X number of units gives
38:31
you a little bit more leverage when you go to have some of
38:33
these conversations with retailers and it gives them more
38:36
comfort to, to want to move forward because you can show
38:39
them that the demand, the brand recognition already exists.
38:43
Absolutely. They're not taking such a big
38:46
risk with you, right. Yeah, it's, it's interesting.
38:50
We've looked at several other channels, you know, vending
38:52
machines for instance, there's like the smart vending movement.
38:55
We have a friend doing that. So we'll trial some of that
38:58
talked about like bodega experiments where you kind of
39:02
take a small batch and, and try it in different locations where
39:06
you have kind of like the ideal target demographic.
39:10
Maybe it's in Lake Tahoe in the summer, right?
39:14
It's really advantageous for us because we have this very
39:19
diverse and dispersed team geographically within a frame,
39:23
there's about 20 of us probably. And so we have folks all over
39:30
that can kind of not only be advocates for it, but kind of
39:33
like walk it into stores even. And so we're really lucky to
39:38
have that and to have the expertise of people like Chris,
39:42
who's the founder of Knox Knox Provisions, which is the
39:45
binocular company now sold in REI.
39:48
But you know, he's taken brands from online into retail as well.
39:53
And yeah, exactly. We have a lot of great playbooks
39:59
and it's like. You know, it's not
40:02
one-size-fits-all, but when you have sort of this encyclopedia,
40:07
you're able to to be like, OK, like let's let's talk to Chris
40:11
on this one. So very helpful.
40:14
I'm kind of curious, Amber. You've got a lot of different
40:16
experiences. You you appear to me to have a
40:19
variety of skill sets. But if you were to try to narrow
40:22
it down, how would you define your superpower?
40:26
No, you shake off the very notion of narrowing it down.
40:30
Don't put me in a box. No, I mean, it was fun.
40:34
I, I was talking to somebody about like the challenge of, of
40:39
defining yourself. And it's like I've really gotten
40:41
to the point where I'll say like I'm a vessel, I'm a vessel.
40:45
And you know, the form that it's going to come through might,
40:48
might change, but that's, that's what I am.
40:51
But but no, I mean, I guess if I'm, if I'm going to like narrow
40:57
it down, it's that I'm, I'm listening to the space between
41:06
the words and I'm, I'm listening to what it is that wants to be
41:13
created, whether it's like through that person or through
41:18
the market. And I think that the way that I
41:25
want to create is highly intentional and highly
41:28
collaborative, that humanity centered design is a term that I
41:33
fell in love with and that I went deeper into because it
41:36
encompassed so much of my approach towards creating value.
41:42
So I guess in, in like, in essence, it's like I'm looking
41:46
at how do we create the most value together for all
41:50
stakeholders? And there's some strategy,
41:55
there's like, you know, a lot of creativity in there.
41:59
I love thinking about how we're going to tell a story or you
42:04
know, what that, what that brand's voice sounds like.
42:08
So there's definitely a strong piece of the creative.
42:11
But I'm also, I love like looking at, yeah, just from,
42:16
from the very conception of idea, like how are we actually
42:19
going to get this going? And it's, it's interesting
42:23
'cause it's like we're working in consumer goods and tech and a
42:28
lot of a lot of studios are going to pick a very kind of
42:35
narrow linear path. You know, we're an AI studio.
42:40
I mean, we have AI that we're working with, we have AI
42:43
developers in our team, but what we're centered around is our
42:48
values and this idea that we can improve health and well-being
42:56
through what we create. And, you know, through really
43:01
honoring that, like also all of us are these dynamic creators.
43:05
And so we're able to, I think, create things in a way that is
43:11
very meaningful to the world. I don't know if that answered
43:16
your question. I probably just avoided it in
43:19
that answer, but. Your your answer was summed up
43:23
in your physical reaction as you heard the question coming out of
43:26
my mouth. I don't know if you realized it,
43:27
but there was like a little twitch or like a mini seizure
43:30
that took place there. So let's let's shift gears
43:34
because I, you know, I appreciated one of the things
43:36
that you were saying about mirth.
43:38
And, you know, one of the messages is, you know, sort of
43:41
feel all the the feels. And, you know, sometimes, you
43:44
know, as we go through life, it there's hardships.
43:46
And that's easier said than done.
43:49
I would be curious, Amber, to hear about a serious challenge
43:54
that you have overcome in your life, whether it's personal or
43:57
professional, how you got through that and what you
44:00
learned. Yeah, for sure.
44:07
I mean, gosh, there's still challenges, right?
44:11
I think that, I mean, I've, I have lost myself at times in, in
44:23
the work, I've just straight up lost myself at times.
44:30
And I think one of the biggest challenges has just like been to
44:36
be OK with being interested in who I'm becoming and, you know,
44:43
not comparing myself there's because I've been driven by
44:53
this. I don't know.
44:55
I honestly like the, the, the driving force of everything I've
45:02
done is around this idea of like, I know that we're capable
45:07
of, of meeting the, the needs of today.
45:10
I know that we're capable of so much more than we're giving
45:14
ourselves credit for. I know that like what we believe
45:18
is our reality right now is really constructed from each of
45:22
our point of views and the words that we choose and the beliefs
45:25
that we have and how we choose to share that and where we're
45:29
giving our attention. And so I think it can become
45:32
really overwhelming to kind of like see all the possibility and
45:39
then feel like, Oh my gosh, how you know, how am I going to ever
45:45
kind of like answer this calling personally?
45:50
Because I know that it takes all of us.
45:54
So it's this, it's this crazy thing of like, it isn't ever
45:59
going to be just me. It's always about all of us.
46:03
And so I think that getting out of my own way and anytime that
46:10
like ego comes in where and usually that's in the shape of
46:14
fear. But any time that that comes in
46:17
like being able to get back to a place where I'm remembering,
46:23
like for one, it's not just me. I'm not alone in this, you know,
46:28
And also, yes, it is very big, but it's one step at a time.
46:33
And like, how do I, because the anxiety that can come with or
46:37
the overwhelm that can come with taking on something real is, is
46:44
intense. So I've dealt with anxiety, I've
46:48
had periods of depression. I have luckily had yoga in my
46:56
life, which definitely is, is a core piece of mental health for
46:59
me. You know, I've had economic
47:03
struggles. I did not come from a, a well to
47:07
do family, you know, I, as I mentioned, like went to college,
47:12
worked hard and because I didn't have any safety net, that
47:17
feeling of scarcity has played a part in my life at times.
47:22
And I, I get it when founders, you know, are struggling in that
47:28
way and when they're working full time and trying to get
47:32
something started at the same time.
47:34
So I don't know if there's one struggle.
47:38
I mean, I think that identity crises have been a big part.
47:43
Like the the sort of the feeling of who am I to be in this room?
47:53
Not feeling worthy, not feeling good enough.
47:57
Yeah, I mean, I think that that, that thing of imposter syndrome,
48:01
you know, people talk about that all the time, but it's, it's
48:08
like as long as you're pushing yourself, you're going to have
48:12
that 'cause you're gonna be constantly putting yourself in
48:15
rooms where you're being called upon.
48:21
You're calling upon yourself to be more to, to be able to kind
48:26
of rise to the occasion, Right. And so I've had plenty of
48:32
moments where I have felt like, yeah, you know, this, this
48:38
feeling of I, I, I guess like, it's a feeling of like being
48:44
found out, like, oh man, I don't feel that so much anymore, to be
48:49
quite honest. Because I guess maybe it's a
48:53
combination of feeling comfortable in my own skin and
48:57
also just like having done the work, literally just doing this
49:01
work for so long. I'm like no like I know
49:03
something now but. And you know, this idea of
49:06
imposter syndrome, it comes up with a lot of people.
49:10
I know a lot of folks that have been on this show, a lot of very
49:13
successful, well accomplished people.
49:15
One of my guests, Gary Frye, actually wrote a book called
49:17
Silence the Imposter because it, this is a very powerful thing.
49:23
There's sort of this disconnect between what you know, you can
49:28
do and examples of what it is that you've done.
49:31
And there's sort of this negative voice that comes in and
49:36
diminishes those things and disqualifies you, you know,
49:40
before you even start on things. And so it's interesting.
49:44
I can't remember the name of the particular guest I had on
49:47
several months ago who actually developed a positive
49:50
relationship with his imposter syndrome, said it was he had
49:54
actually turned it around to be a superpower.
49:56
It was the thing that kept him every morning hopping out of bed
50:01
ready to prove himself again, pushing himself forward.
50:05
He just kind of looked at it as this little kick in the butt
50:07
rather than it being sort of like this like thing that kind
50:10
of weighed him down and made him question himself.
50:12
It it was kind of fuel for the the productive fire, so to
50:16
speak. Like having a disapproving
50:19
parent or something that you're like, I'm going to prove you
50:22
wrong, mom, I can do it. I have a very supportive mother,
50:26
but you? Can imagine other people have
50:29
been through that scenario. Sure.
50:30
I think that's that's a good way to frame it.
50:34
And you mentioned yoga is something that's been really
50:36
helpful to you kind of when you go through these times of
50:39
struggle. Is there anything else that you
50:41
found that you can sort of rely on go back to?
50:48
Sorry, I've got a, I've got my little girl Maya barking in the
50:51
background. Yes, I, I think that community
50:58
honestly has been the biggest thing to, to have people that
51:04
you can talk to and you know, when, when you're not all right,
51:10
that you can really just drop in with throughout many years.
51:15
Long term relationships are important to have people who
51:19
have been with you through different seasons of life be
51:23
able to remind you like, no, you're not, you're not a loser.
51:31
Remember all those great things you did?
51:33
Find the internal voice to give yourself that encouragement.
51:37
It is so helpful to have people that you know, love and trust
51:41
who can provide you that voice. Right.
51:44
Yeah. It's, I mean, family, you know,
51:48
my mom is still someone who I can call.
51:52
And sometimes it's just her holding space, you know, saying
51:55
that she's thinking of me or something.
51:57
But just that knowing you're not alone.
52:01
Exercise is really important. I mean, just to be able to sweat
52:05
sometimes it's a good cry. I mean, I think, you know, I
52:10
mentioned kind of the, the mental health piece of things
52:14
and everybody has their path. But for me, it's like I got to
52:19
feel it. I got to feel it.
52:21
I got to be with it. I got to let it move through me.
52:24
I got to recognize like I am not this feeling, but this feeling
52:29
is with me right now and that's OK.
52:32
Is this? Kind of lend into the book idea
52:34
that you had mentioned to me in an off air.
52:39
The Naked Truth of the Creative Life, my forever non written
52:42
book. I've actually started writing a
52:44
little bit and I've done some I've actually done some
52:47
interviews around it. But yeah, I mean, I think we
52:53
all, there's that saying of like, don't compare your insides
52:59
to someone else's outsides, right?
53:02
And I think especially in entrepreneurship and in
53:07
business, it's like very easy to see the success, to be quite
53:13
honest. Just to go back to this like
53:15
thing of feeling like somebody would find out.
53:17
Truth be told, I think early on that there was this perception
53:24
that I had like made it or that I like had more money than I had
53:30
or something like that. And I never like put that out
53:32
there. But there was just because I was
53:34
doing what I was doing and I didn't care if I had to eat bean
53:39
and cheese burritos to do what I wanted, like to be doing this
53:42
thing. I was going to do it.
53:45
I was going to live my life. I think that that perception of
53:51
success that people had where it was like there is you have to
53:55
define what your happiness is. You have to define for yourself
53:58
what success is because who cares what the rest of the world
54:03
is going to look at you and see. But we do tend to to fall into
54:08
that trap of like, oh, this person has made it, they're
54:12
successful, etcetera. And we often don't see all the
54:16
moments of falling apart, all the times we almost gave up, the
54:21
times we had to have a friend remind us that we're not a
54:23
loser. And, you know, I think that yes,
54:29
the book is like, actually it involves some, some, some
54:33
beautiful photography is the, the image that I have of like
54:37
each of these people in their kind of rawness and their moment
54:40
and sharing their story of of kind of the naked truth of like
54:46
the, the lows that we hit. And you know, we know ourselves
54:52
or the world knows us usually for the highs, but we know
54:56
ourselves often for the lows. I mean, how often do we do that,
55:00
like look at ourselves and and think of it as like the things
55:03
we could have done better, the opportunity we missed, you know,
55:07
the conversation we should have had so.
55:11
I'm glad you're giving voice to this, and I hope to be able to
55:13
read that book someday. You know, it's part of the
55:15
message that I try to help my guests communicate on this show,
55:20
which is, yeah, there's sort of this natural human tendency
55:23
where we compare our messy insides to what appear to be,
55:28
you know, other people's polished exteriors, not knowing
55:31
what's really going on, what the full story is, what they're
55:34
dealing with, what they went through to kind of get to
55:37
wherever it is you think that they are.
55:40
So. And I wonder if maybe this might
55:44
be the answer to my final question.
55:46
But before I ask it, I want to let people know the best way to
55:50
get in touch with you or to follow your story.
55:52
Amber, what would that be? I mean, I'm on LinkedIn as Amber
55:58
Brandner, that's BRANDNERI have a website, amberbrandner.com.
56:06
We have a frame venture studio.com and I'm Amber at afds
56:13
dot BC. And we've got drink mirth.com
56:16
where you can place pre-orders now.
56:18
Most important one. Yeah, recording now in kind of
56:21
the middle part of June 2025 and orders to hopefully be shipped
56:25
in August sometime. So the last question I've got
56:28
for you, Amber, we've had a nice conversation here today.
56:30
Hope to stay in touch maybe a year from now.
56:33
We're sitting down together and you're celebrating something.
56:36
What's that thing you hope to be celebrating?
56:39
Me a year from now, if I'm looking at the trajectory we
56:44
have we're raising, raising and have our our first few checks
56:50
for a fund, you know, it is a a necessary piece of the puzzle
56:56
and I think it would it is probably around that in terms of
57:03
the timeline. I think the other thing is just
57:09
to feel balanced and feel satisfied and happy and healthy.
57:17
I think those things are oh so important.
57:22
I mean, ultimately, you know, without, without feeling good,
57:30
without feeling kind of centered and, and that creative life
57:37
force moving through you, it's very hard to create right
57:41
anything worthy. And so I think that being being
57:47
in that place as often as possible would be something to
57:51
celebrate. I love it.
57:53
Amber Brandner from a Frame venture Studio.
57:57
Anne Mirthwater, I want to be the first to thank you for
57:59
sharing both your time and your story with us today.
58:01
I really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you so much.
58:04
It was a pleasure chatting with you today.
58:07
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
58:10
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
58:11
today.