Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / 6 quick questions with Meha Agrawal, Founder of Silk + Sonder (Part 2)

Transcript

6 quick questions with Meha Agrawal, Founder of Silk + Sonder (Part 2) · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  Welcome back. Here are the six quick questions. So question number one, what's your why? Why are you waking up every single day and working on Silk and Sonder? Yeah, I think my mission statement for myself happens to be very similar for Silk and Sonder. And ultimately, it's
• 0:29
  really providing the tools and the community to spark joy in each individual so that they can illuminate the world. Because when we operate from a place of authenticity and freedom and happiness, you really are, really, you're just, it's like you're a spark. You can really light up this world. And so I think for me, it's making it easier for people to show up for themselves so that they can show up for everyone around them.
• 0:55
  I love that. That's so nice. Question number two is what's been your favorite marketing moment so far? Favorite marketing moment. I think for me, it would probably be, gosh, there's so many. I think
• 1:14
  I think my favorite marketing moment is in the early days when I saw the blog of a random – she was random at the time – random customer hit the palapose, seeing a ton of new customers using her code and coming in through that platform. For me, it was just this –
• 1:32
  you know, observation that women can have such influence with their readers and with their own micro communities, that what a special thing that people are able and willing to not only share silk and solder, but, but trust other people's words. And I think for me, that referral concept is just so special. And so I think for me, that's, that's one that sticks out. Question number three is what's your go-to business resource when it's like a newsletter, a podcast, or a book?
• 2:00
  Yeah, I love 20 Minute VC with Harry Stebbings. I also really love how I built this and Second Life as kind of podcast platforms. But honestly, I love Masterclass too. Like I love hearing from leaders of technology.
• 2:18
  Disney or even chefs or whoever it is. It just is so uplifting to see people who've really left their mark on this world. And we can just take lessons from athletes and entrepreneurs and actors and really combine it into our own operating system. And so for me, that's where I go. And then of course, books. I'm a ferocious reader. I read all the time. I prefer books over articles, but
• 2:44
  Obviously, articles are a little bit easier to skim through for tactical stuff, but for actual inspiration, I go to books. What are you reading at the moment?
• 2:52
  At the moment, I am rereading The Art of Thinking Clearly. It's a series of short snippets about our cognitive biases. So it sounds boring, but it's actually really digestible and really interesting with examples. And it just kind of reminds you that, you know, you are your harshest critic and you hold on to these crazy fallacies about life and yourself that are inaccurate. And so how do you undo that?
• 3:18
  Sounds so interesting. I'm definitely going to look into that one. I'm going to add it to my list. Love to read as well. Question number four is how do you win the day? What are your AM and PM rituals and habits that keep you feeling happy and successful and motivated? Yeah.
• 3:35
  Yeah. So my AM ritual is very much a combination of reflection and action and no notifications. And so I wake up, I put a little essential oil. If I'm not so lazy, I'll have the aroma diffuser running and I start by journaling and I purposely schedule my meetings further out in the day. So that way I can get my 15 to 20 minutes of uninterrupted time. It's a mix of
• 4:02
  gratitude, scripting, manifestation statements, affirmations, and what I'd like to kind of accomplish for that day. And then I switch into my Silk and Sonder and I actually plan, answer a prompt or two. I also scroll through Sonder Club. So before I even eat breakfast or have coffee, I have kind of connected with myself and I've connected with my
• 4:24
  community. And then in the evening, I try to do something to kind of expand myself. So that could be watching a masterclass, it could be watching something on Netflix, where I'm learning something, it could be reading, be listening to a podcast, combined with a workout and something delicious. And then I try really hard to not do work at least 30 minutes before I go to
• 4:49
  bed because I want to just be away from my gadgets. And so that sometimes involves more journaling, or it could just be watching something or just doing something that's unrelated to, to my role. It's really tough, though. It's really tough to put away the gadgets.
• 5:06
  And especially when you love what you do. I mean, I always tell my friends who aren't founders, I'm like, stop telling me I work a lot. It's like, this is what I enjoy doing. When you decide that that work is actually play, it's not work. But yeah, I think it's more, you know, like I think we have...
• 5:24
  we have people overseas and so I want to unblock them sometimes, but it is hard, but you know what, it's, it's some days, sometimes you don't do it, but some days you do. Some days you do. Question number five is what's been your worst money mistake and how much did it cost you? Worst money mistake. Oh, well, was it mine? But because the buck stops with me, it was my team. Um,
• 5:50
  We placed an order overseas for these cute little boxes, and it did end up being a lot more expensive because they didn't factor in, or we didn't factor in all the hidden costs because it was our first time getting things from overseas. We were a little too excited, so we placed a very big order, but then we didn't know what that would do to our shipping costs, and we always try to cover the shipping for our customers.
• 6:20
  It was a bit of a Cogs nightmare. And I think it probably cost us like quite a bit, like over $100,000, but we figured it out and we were able to offset it, yeah. So that would be my very expensive one. But I think on a smaller scale, I mean, that's probably the biggest one that I can think of, that would be one.
• 6:45
  That's a pretty big one. It's painful. Ouch. And last question, question number six, what is just a crazy story, good or bad, that you've had from this journey of building Silk and Sunder? Yeah.
• 6:59
  So crazy story, good or bad? I think a good story, and this might be similar to your marketing question, but the actress from Big Bang Theory, she organically posted about Silk and Sonder, and it was just crazy
• 7:16
  It's unexpected and so amazing. And I had people like my dad being like, wow, I just saw this. And I was like, oh, I didn't even know that existed. So I think those moments are really, really special when when people have like talked about Silicon Sun or you don't know. And a similar one, I was actually at a winery in New York.
• 7:34
  Napa and the guy hosting us happened to ask me what I did. And I was like, Oh, I work for this mental wellness company. It's called Silk and Sonder. He's like, Oh my God, my girlfriend loves Silk and Sonder. She's, you know, she's a huge fan. And he didn't know I was a founder. And he was like, she uses their journals all the time. And it's helped her treat her depression. And I was like, Oh, I was like, that's actually my company. Yeah. And it was just it was such a private affair, like the likelihood of something like that.
• 8:03
  to even come about in conversation was unexpected. And so it's those moments, like even as a founder, even as your company grows, when you hear those organic stories, just like in real life, it just is a true testament to your hard work and really what you're building. And so I love moments like that. That's special. They still are very special. Very special. Wow. Meha, thank you so much for taking the time to come on today and share your story and all your insights. This was amazing.
• 8:33
  Of course. Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure to be here.
• 8:40
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 9:04
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 9:27
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.
• 9:42
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 10:07
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 10:29
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.