Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / How a chewing gum brand is innovating with CBD, with Jamie, Gigi & Margaret, Founders of Favour

Transcript

How a chewing gum brand is innovating with CBD, with Jamie, Gigi & Margaret, Founders of Favour · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Jamie, Gigi and Margaret for Female Startup Club.
• 0:13
  Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of Female Startup Club. On the show today, I'm actually speaking to three incredible female founders, Jamie, Gigi and Margaret. Together, they've created a company called Favor, a CBD powered chewing gum brand. And what I found really interesting about this episode is the dynamic between these three women. Margaret and Gigi are mothers and friends, and Jamie is Gigi's 23 year old daughter, and
• 0:41
  And I think it's this special dynamic that's making this brand so unique with their different perspectives and life experiences. This is Jamie, Gigi and Margaret for Female Startup Club. Welcome to Female Startup Club podcast. I'm so excited to learn about Favour today. Do you guys want to tell me how the business came about?
• 1:03
  Sure. So, you know, we're three women, obviously, of different age groups who are on a mission to find a solution for CBD use. With that being said, all of our journeys with CBD have been very different. For me specifically, I was a recruited athlete to Columbia University for track and field.
• 1:21
  It didn't take long into my freshman year that I realized I wasn't taking care of myself. I didn't have proper self-care in place and really needed to step back from the team to focus on my mental health specifically. So I made that decision and what I thought would be a great way for me to focus on myself, it actually kind of led me into a spiral of depression. I was very scared to work out. I didn't want to go to the gym.
• 1:49
  And I kind of did a 180 from the person that I was before, losing that sense of structure in my everyday life, too. So about a year and a half ago, someone said, why don't you try CBD? And to be completely honest with you, I have never liked taking anything to make me feel better. So...
• 2:09
  I didn't really buy into it, but I gave it a go and started experimenting with all of the different products on the market, pills, capsules, tinctures. And at the same time, Gigi and Margaret had also started experimenting with CBD. They've always been very into holistic remedies their entire life. So they were experimenting with CBD to help alleviate some of the daily disruptions that they were facing as working moms, struggling so many different things at one time,
• 2:38
  starting to go through the aging process. And we all came together really over lunch one day and we're like, wow, the positive benefits of CBD are so real, but there's not one product that we can pull out of our pocket and rely on every day. So that was the impetus to start Favor, to create a CBD product that's,
• 2:59
  really easy for first-time users, but also scientifically backed, scientifically effective as a really reliable way to take your daily dose of CBD. Oh my gosh, I just love how ideas come about in like the most random, just conversations that just lead to this bright moment. And so you have this lunch, then what happens? So then, you know, we were playing, it really actually kind of started with, um,
• 3:28
  what are we going to call it? That's the first reaction is what is this going to be called? And we had this one tagline in mind and it was just you. And that was kind of our starting point. And we were thinking about all these amazing phrases that we could use to market the brand with just you, really with the mission behind it to really focus on yourself and prioritize your self-care and your mental health.
• 3:53
  Then, you know, we decided to hire a branding team and they were like, you know, we don't really think that that's the best name for the brand, but maybe it's something that we could include as a subsidiary of your name. And so we went through a whole naming process to really formulate what our brand was about.
• 4:12
  That's how we landed on favor again, with this idea of favoring yourself, favoring your mental health, putting yourself before others and being selfish about your own self care, because that's something that all of us have really struggled with. And that's why we take the product every single day. So I think all of us are creative. The first thing is like, what are we going to call it? What is it going to look like? And then just really laying out the stepping stones to
• 4:42
  Wow, that's amazing. Did you guys, had you had CBD gum before you started the brand? Like, was it a thing that was, is it a known kind of product that you can have CBD powered chewing gum?
• 4:58
  Margaret is the expert on this. So Margaret, do you want to take that one? Well, yes. And actually they taste differently. Also the different dosaging, it can vary. CBD on a whole is an expensive ingredient. It's an expensive product. So really what I think that where we came together was on the quality and also making sure what we, what, I'm a mother of two young
• 5:26
  Sort of always like to make sure that anything that I do would be safe for them. I think that's just a nice like kind of system to follow. And the gum, we have perfected it. We have prevented perfected the mint. I think the mint is a very challenging product.
• 5:43
  flavor to get. And one of the great compliments that we receive is the fact that people can keep it in their mouth for much longer than half an hour. I know sometimes I keep it in there, you really to chew it to get the effects, you want to chew it for 10 minutes and anything after that, you can get rid of it. But I think we've really come up with the perfect solution, the easy solution. Also, gum is something that will
• 6:08
  take your mind off of a stressful situation, just the act of chewing and moving the saliva. And as we know, even with, you know, this, these, the viruses and things going on, it's just really good to keep that system moving. And, and, and just the simple act again of chewing takes your mind off of stress. You're, you're busying yourself. And, uh,
• 6:27
  That's why it's gum. You know, gum is, people love gum. Even my friends that don't really love gum or they were brought up, you know, there's that generation of like not chewing gum. They love it. It's great. And it's minty fresh. I actually got rid of my coffee addiction at four o'clock going to the games by chewing gum. And it's the way that we have it in the packaging. It comes out, it's sanitary. It's easy. It's not a tincture. It's not, you know, a lot of those pills you have to wait till they absorb under your tongue. It's clean.
• 6:58
  a sea of our gum is really great. There's a few out there that are like tap-like and I've tried them and I'm like pulling them out of my teeth and thinking, oh my gosh, this is the worst, worst thing. And the flavor is horrible. And I really didn't find them that effective either. But you know, everybody knows how to chew gum and I didn't grow up. I grew up in a home where you didn't chew gum. Like it was like inappropriate kind of at the time to chew gum.
• 7:22
  But I mean, my mother's chewing gum now. I mean, she can't, she's like, oh my gosh, I love this. And we're all walking around loving our gum and it's fun. It's, you know, and if you want to be discreet about it, you can kind of chew it where people aren't noticing. But then when you want to chew it and feel you're relieving some tension and aggression, you can do that. So, and our consistency is really great. I mean, you actually put it in your mouth and you, it's a gum that you would want to chew, even if it didn't have CBD in it.
• 7:50
  And you are getting the 10 milligrams. You are getting the 10 milligrams in every dose, which is great because if you're having a challenging day, you can have two, three, four. I mean, you know, it depends on what crisis we're going through at the moment, right, in this world.
• 8:07
  But you can feel safe and safe assured. Also, my daughter has chewed it. It's been fantastic for, I think, kids during testing. There's been field studies out now that show it helps with the focus. As for athletes, students, it's very helpful.
• 8:23
  And we all chew it for different reasons. So, you know, Margaret and I have our issues of reasons. While we were toying with CBD, Jamie had her reason. And that's one of the reasons. I mean, Margaret and I for years have been together like what essential oil? What this? What are you doing? Super holistic. And, you know, for me, CBD has been a resolution for many things that we all needed help with. And I find it as a solution that helps with multiple issues that you have.
• 8:50
  And for me, that's ideal because to know that I can take one little 10 milligram of CBD, it's super bioavailable. It gets in your system really quickly and know that it's going to be effective and help me is great. So I think, you know, that's why we're here. Sounds amazing. I definitely want to try it. An airplane, airplane. You can travel with it. Oh my gosh, that's so cool. Wow. I've never even thought about that.
• 9:13
  traveling with CBD products. Anxiety for flying is one of the reasons I take it too. Instead of a cocktail now at 6 a.m., I can have a piece of gum. And your fresh breath under your mask. Girls, I think we need to come up with a favor mask. Oh my gosh, you should.
• 9:28
  going to talk about the dynamic of you three. Obviously, the audience can't see what I see right now, but I see this amazing group of three women. We have different ages. We've got two moms. We've got Jamie. I think you're in your 20s still. I know that you guys are also related. Gigi and Jamie are a mother-daughter duo here. Can you tell me what it's been like building a business together with these different relationships happening in the mix?
• 10:00
  Yeah, I mean, I think it's been really fun. I'll start with that. I think also when you have a cross-generational team, I think that's really helped us
• 10:10
  create this authentic mission behind the brand, right, is because we created this product out of a need that all of us had, all at different ages. I'm 23. Mom and Margaret are in their 50s. You know, this is a product that's for women across generations. And we could really bond over the struggles that we were facing and the amazing opportunities.
• 10:31
  positive benefits that favor has brought all of our lives. I will say, I think all of us have different strengths that we bring to the table and different viewpoints because of our age differences. You know, I'm more digital centric, whereas mom and Margaret are really like, let's break this down to the basics. How do we attack this from the ground up? And I think, you know, again, we all complement each other really well in that regard. I am
• 10:58
  super type A. So on the leadership standpoint, you know, I think we keep business to business and try to keep the emotions out of it when we can. But the reality is, we're three women who all have opinions. We try to all make sure that...
• 11:14
  you know, we're involved in the decisions that we're making and we're collaborating on every side of the business because we're able to do that. You know, this is our team. We're three people. We don't have any other employees or team members. So, you know, I think
• 11:30
  You know, we try to keep a balance, too. We try to have fun while also getting things done. And it's really an amazing privilege that we have, not only to be able to work with each other, but also for me to be able to work with my mom and also maintain the relationships that we have in our personal lives.
• 11:47
  Yeah, it sounds amazing. Wow. I'm just in awe of you guys. What a cool setup that you have and a special bond, I imagine, being able to work on this all together, three powerhouse women. So I want to talk about the money stuff and how you got started in the beginning with launching the brand.
• 12:06
  You know, from what I know, when I speak to other founders who have got CBD powered products, it's expensive. It requires startup capital. You know, then obviously you've got the branding side of it. You've got the launching side of it. You've got to buy the product. How did you guys get going in the beginning? Yeah.
• 12:24
  Yeah, that's a great question. So we're actually personally funded up until this point. So we only launched in February. We're very, very new. And we really wanted to do this ourselves so that we could not only test different channels but really hone in on our marketing messaging, how we want to convey the product to the consumer and really have a good understanding of what's working and what's not working before we decide to raise around. And I think...
• 12:53
  we're still not ready for that. You know, we feel like there's still a lot for us to learn to figure out and new products we want to launch, um, et cetera. And I think it's really important for us to be open about that too, because I think, especially in this wellness or vice space, as people are calling it, there's so much capital being thrown out to these companies. And I think as founders, you really have to know when the right time is to kind of take that next step. Um,
• 13:21
  And if you have the ability to kind of personally fund it and really test the market and understand your product, understand your customer.
• 13:29
  then you're in a lot better place when you do go to raise around because you know where exactly to put that money. So that's where we're at right now. Yeah, we've been fortunate enough to personally fund that. I think that's also been important for us in the decision-making process. It's like, this is our money. You know, every dollar counts. So where do we put, how do we put it in the right places? And I think the girls can agree. We have a very collaborative effort in the decision-making process just because,
• 13:58
  You know, we are working with our own capital and I think things are a lot closer to home when that's the case. Feel free to add on to that.
• 14:08
  I'll add in on that too, because I've, I've also done another business before and I feel that when it's your own capital and your own dollar, I mean, it's easy to spend somebody else's money, correct? Right. In any arena. But when, when you're, you have this much and you need to spend it wisely, you're super cognizant of every single dollar that's going here and going there. And you want to make sure you get a bang for your buck and everything you do. And I think for us, you know,
• 14:34
  I wouldn't want to go spend someone else's money freely and not know really where our focuses need to be. So for us developing the areas that we feel we need to fund and not fund and what's working and not working, we're testing with our own money and it makes us more comfortable that way doing it. So...
• 14:54
  And really accomplishing. It's a great challenge to do that. You know, it's really, it's like pushing yourself to really see what you can do and how far you can go. It's kind of fun. It really is. It's a big challenge. Yeah, absolutely. And making sure that you, yeah, push it as far as you can, as you said. So I want to know more about the journey from when you first had the idea up until February, when you launched, how long was that process and what happened in that journey?
• 15:21
  Well, we actually started working on this almost a year ago. In a cottage. Yeah, yeah. Almost a year ago now to date, the beginning of last summer. So, you know, we were working on the formula, the product. Then was when the name was a bit different, you know, when we were trying to get our branding strategy together and how we would market it. So, you know, it was a year, well, it was about eight months
• 15:50
  nine months, I guess, because we're not even three months old. We're three months old. So yeah, we launched February 13th. So, you know, we worked from June. And the mission, you know, also coming together with what the mission is really what we wanted this to be. And I think as three women that have been, you know, we've been out there in the world, we've,
• 16:09
  We need simplicity and we need availability. And I wanted to make sure, too, that we were available to the masses in a sense. And I know that, you know, price points being sometime restrictive for people, it was really important that we had that mission, that we were really in this to help people. We ourselves are not into pharmaceuticals.
• 16:28
  really. So it was, you know, Gigi and I have always had, you know, those catch ups, like, what are you doing? What are you using? And, and this was really a wonderful way to get it out to the masses and something safe that we could get behind. And I think as three women sitting in the cottage that day, we discovered that, right, that we really wanted the same thing. And we also wanted to help people, we wanted something easy and available. That was non narcotic.
• 16:51
  And we're all about well-being mentally and physically. I mean, we're all very active, very physically into our well-being, but we're also into mental well-being, which is important to balance both of those in your life, if so. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.
• 17:09
  I think, you know, Gigi, Margaret and I have seen such a positive improvement in our lives ever since we've created Favor, been taking CBD, but also really taking a product that's effective, right? Because there's so many CBD products on the market right now that even though you're taking it, it may not be the right delivery method to be taking it by. And I will say, I think...
• 17:32
  for each of the things that we've been relying on favor for. It's made such a positive improvement that it drives us forward. It motivates us to share the product with more and more people because we know that it does have the power to make a positive change in your day-to-day life. So much so that people even comment on it, comment on your general positivity. You know, my boyfriend's like, wow, Jamie, you just seem so much happier. And I truly feel that way.
• 18:01
  Um, and that's a really powerful thing, I think, to really connect to a product as founders as well, um, in terms of really driving us forward to, to share this with the world.
• 18:14
  like a magic pill. Sounds really good. I want to talk about the launch of Favour. I know it was, you know, only three months ago and what you did and how it's kind of been impacted by everything that's happening in the world with COVID-19 and whether that's actually been a benefit to you guys.
• 18:35
  I think yes and no. So I know we all have some insights that we can share here. But I think we did launch in February, we had a very strategic launch plan in place that really was focused on physical interaction with the product. And unfortunately, you know, COVID hit pretty much two weeks after our launch, right when our launch events were happening, we had different activations that were planned.
• 18:59
  And that really threw a wrench in our launch more on the side of just being able to connect with people physically and have them touch and feel the product and try it. With that being said, you know, we had to quickly pivot and say, OK, you know, this is fine. This is a challenge, but we need to focus on digital for the next year.
• 19:19
  three or four months or foreseeable future. And we made a quick pivot to, you know, other marketing strategies, influencer marketing, seeding the product to people so that, you
• 19:34
  I think the advantage of this whole thing has been that, you know, we're really in a time where self care is a priority, where mental health is a priority. You know, you're doing a lot of introspection being inside your home on the things that you need to do to feel your best self or maybe things that you need to add into your routine. And,
• 19:54
  In that regard, on the messaging side, that's really worked to our advantage because that is the core of Faber's brand. You know, we are a product that is a solution for you to feel better. And we've really run with that. And I think it's been a great opportunity to really hone in what our brand mission is. And I know, Mom, you can kind of speak more to the distribution side and the things that we've had to change there as well.
• 20:21
  Well, I'm from a major retail background. And so for me, having physical presence in a store is super important because your customer recognizes the product and they're able to see it and read about it and read the ingredients and all that. So I was strategizing on how to build the retail side and get in stores, whether they're mom and pop, wellness stores.
• 20:43
  athletic stores, golf shops, all this, and everything closed down. So there was no, you know, nothing was open here. So that just went wayward. And again, we had to focus on how are we going to
• 21:00
  build this vertically right now and not go that way. So for me, you know, and I still believe that it does need to have physical presence in stores. And a lot of products these days only are on sites. And for me, I like to see a product. I like to touch it if I want to know more about it. I want to go.
• 21:20
  discover it myself and not look online and it comes in the mail and it's an unknown, which works too. But, you know, so it created definitely a challenge for us that way. This is where the cross-generational team comes in handy.
• 21:36
  Well, and I think we have to, you know, really be grateful and give a shout out to all our female friends out there. And there's some amazing women. And I think, you know, it's fun in this, in this arena, you know, everybody expects their packages, right? Their gifts. But what I'm so incredibly moved by is when a friend buys it and posts it, or, you know, a lot of my friends aren't on social media. So they'll send me like a little photo, you know, and that just means the world to me because when your friends are supporting you, then you've won, you know, and, and I love that when, you know,
• 22:04
  people come together as a community because they know, you know, it can't be easy launching at this. But in a sense, I think it was, it was, I don't know, we made lemonade out of lemons in a sense. I think it was really everything is where it should be. It just seemed to work perfectly. Yeah. And I think it's really allowed all of us to really focus on the foundation of our brand too and not get crowded out by the distractions. Absolutely. Absolutely.
• 22:30
  And it's been a good exercise for us as a team to really say, OK, you know, this is a challenge that's been thrown to us. How do we quickly find a solution to it? And, you know, each and every one of us has done an amazing job telling friends, telling family, coming up with new ideas and being creative. And I think that's where collaboration comes in key is to lean on each other in times where you do have to quickly pivot.
• 22:57
  What are some of the strategies that have been working well for you guys since you launched? Yeah, that's a great question. I'll start with this one. Obviously, mom touched on her retail background as well. Margaret also, you know, extremely experienced with the PR side of things. But my expertise is in influencer marketing. I have a consultancy on the side that advises early stage startups.
• 23:21
  So again, you know, when you're a small team, really focusing on your strengths, what we can bring to the table. Also with COVID, you know, everything's focused on digital. So influencer marketing has been...
• 23:33
  I guess I would say our top paid channel as a CBD product, there are a lot of roadblocks in place that prevent us from marketing in a paid sense on Facebook, on Google, etc. So that's a big roadblock for an early startup who doesn't want to be, you know, throwing out a ton of money to test a paid channel when we don't know if it's going to work. So for us in the
• 23:58
  three or four months that we've been launched, we have seeded product to so many influencers and friends. We've started to create these amazing relationships with influencers who love the product. And the ROI is showing good signs of life there. And for us...
• 24:14
  That's our focus too, because they're storytellers, they're creating use cases around the product. And for us, that's been really impactful on the marketing side and our customers have really connected to that. So influencer marketing is the primary. The other is email marketing, surprisingly, has been performing really well for us. Again, just finding those direct lines of communication with the consumer. And as Margaret was mentioning earlier, not everyone...
• 24:40
  that's buying our product is on Instagram or social media, even though a large portion of them are. So trying to diversify our channels too, as we move forward, slow but steady, is something that we're focused on too. But at this point, again, we're personally funded. We've really focused on organic growth and using word of mouth to tap into new communities and
• 25:04
  and utilizing our networks as well, and really leaning on people and asking people for favors. And yeah. Literally. Literally. Love that. Favor for a favor? Yes, exactly. So girls, I mean, feel free to add on to that.
• 25:22
  We had a fun, remember our first client called, she was having a dinner party and she wanted to, you know, give all of her guests the gum. So it was cute. So she put it as a little party favor and it's just things like that. It's, it's things like that, that really moved me. And I'm just very grateful for.
• 25:38
  because it's it shows support and love and yeah it's great party favors i love that what were the events you were going to do and are you going to bring those back when um things kind of resume to the new normal i hope that we are able to um i think we'd love to do something just to bring our community you need to dance you need to dance oh my god you guys need a triple tiktok account for like with each other that would be amazing you should do that
• 26:06
  Um, but yeah, I think we'd love to have an event, um, in, in future, especially now that we have created such amazing relationships with friends and the community that we've created behind the brand to give them an opportunity to come meet us and meet the product in person too, in a setting with like-minded people. Um.
• 26:25
  We did have a couple of events planned in March that literally got canceled a week prior, which is okay. You know, it happens. And I think, again, it's allowed us to really focus on the things that we needed to focus on in these kind of critical stages of our business as well.
• 26:43
  I will touch on events, too, because this past week we actually were invited to participate in a pop up out in the Hamptons. And, you know, things are just now starting where people still distance themselves socially and wear the mask, but they want to be outside and do these events. So favor was asked to partake. And in two days, I mean,
• 27:03
  It was incredible. We really engaged with a lot of amazing people that were so happy to discover favor. And everybody, most of them had not tried CBD and they were interested to be educated and learn about it. And they did want to try it. They just were afraid. And once we had a conversation, also our website is an amazing tool to educate you on why gum, why you should chew gum as your dose instead of
• 27:31
  doing a gummy or a pill, you know, they were like, oh my gosh, not only did they, they all wanted more than one pack. So, and we had a customer buy 20 packs and one, most people bought two to five packs at a time to try it because consistency is key with CBD to build it up in your
• 27:48
  system. But so even special little events like that, even though we aren't planning on a big major launch now, just being able to be out there and engaging with a small group, I think is super important. So anyone doing a brand or something where you can educate your customer, they can try it
• 28:10
  Small groups are great because you capture the audience. So we are going to continue doing that here and everywhere we can. And we're asked to participate.
• 28:21
  That's a good way. And I imagine for you guys, like a key strategy will also be just partnerships and collaborations in general with other brands who are able to promote and do paid marketing. A hundred percent. Efforts. We would love that. And we welcome anyone who wants to do that with us. We would entertain that. Slide into the DMs. We have some fun things in the works, but that's definitely something that we've thought about is how do we extend this brand into our everyday lives from various different touch points that,
• 28:51
  are separate from just the chewing gum. So a hundred percent. I think brand partnerships are just amazing too, because you get to cross promote and collaborate with brands that have similar audiences. And I think it just, it brings the brand to life in such a greater sense too. So yeah, more to come on that. I'm very excited.
• 29:15
  people too, you know, so I don't know, we all have such energy, great energy and to share that and to take other people's energy and put it all together is always makes for an exciting story or product. 100%. Absolutely. I want to ask all of you your top piece of advice for women who have a big idea. So Margaret, let's start with you. What is your advice?
• 29:43
  Oh, wow. A big idea. Well, I would say think it through, write it down, you know, jot down as many pros and cons as possible. Anytime you get involved in something, it changes your life, right? Because if you're, especially if you're putting your own money into it, you have to really think about that and how passionate you really are about it and where you want to see it. For me, I'm very involved in the mental health world down here. I'm involved in two
• 30:10
  And recovery homes for men and women, most of them are the side where they really can't afford traditional mental health care. So I always have that in the back of my mind where I can help out in that facet in my life at this age, at this point in my life. And really just what you will get out of it if you really love it and if you're passionate about it. I think when you're passionate about something, you will win either way, but you have to really love it.
• 30:39
  Right. I mean, in this era that we live in, in this time, you know, you can throw money into into something. And, you know, and that's what I think it's so great about that. We are self-funded is that we are very thoughtful about going about this and how we've gone about it.
• 30:54
  So I would say just make sure you really love it and you really believe in it. Right. Because it's like a film. I've produced films before. And, you know, those are really large budgets. And again, it's it's stressful. But if you don't like the movie, you know, you have to be careful. So so like your movie, like your cast, you know, and all of that will will will follow. Sure. Yeah, for sure.
• 31:21
  I love that. Thank you. Jamie, do you want to share your top piece of advice? Sure. I think that would be know your strengths and also be able to delegate, especially in a leadership role. Someone once told me that the biggest mistake that you can make as an entrepreneur is thinking that you know how to do everything.
• 31:42
  And I think in this regard, we're a small team. So focusing on the things that I could bring to the table from previous experience, even though I am only 23, but also kind of being able to understand that I have so much more to learn and that I don't know how to do everything. And that's actually been a more difficult exercise for me than I thought it would be because again, I'm super type A. I like to be in control of everything.
• 32:09
  And that's kind of at the core of my being. So I think personally, that's been a challenge is really being able to step back and say, okay, if I need help on this,
• 32:22
  say that I need help on it. And how do I go about being a proper manager in situations when I do need to delegate something? And also just making sure that I'm involving the team too. So again, just knowing my strengths, staying in my lane in that regard and being really open to saying no, getting help and delegating tasks. Amazing. Gigi?
• 32:48
  Um, they touched on a lot of it, but what I always think is where there's a will, there's a way. And if you're passionate about something, no matter what obstacle there is to overcome, you can find a way to do it. We've all, you know, we all have obstacles in life and we all have to figure out how to overcome them. And if you're passionate about something and you have a dream, go for it. You can figure out the way. And, you know, when you're doing it, you need to know if you're a,
• 33:14
  When you need to lead, you need to be the leader. And when you need to listen, you need to listen. And when you need to ask for advice, it's okay. Ask for advice. Go seek as much advice as you need to help implement your idea. And don't be afraid to be shot down. There's always someone else that will give you some help and an answer. I mean, we've all been shot down. And don't let that discourage you. Just keep forging forward and you will get there. So...
• 33:42
  Mom with the motivation. I love it. Mom with what? Mom with the motivation. Yeah. Love that. Oh, love that. Love it, love it. Okay, so now we're at the point of the podcast where I ask the six quick questions. And because we have three of you, we're going to do it slightly different than the normal format. So I think I'll ask the question and then we'll get all three of you to answer. And then the next one will just be for Jamie. Anyway, I'll just step you through it. How about that?
• 34:11
  Number one for everything is what's your why? And we can go in the same order as before if you want. Which was me, right? Yeah. So I think I kind of answered that in the previous question, you know, what's your why? The why for me for the gum was availability to the masses. Yeah.
• 34:31
  with favor itself is the immediacy of the effects, the immediacy of somebody in crisis. It could be severe crisis. It could also be something, you know, you're stuck in traffic and you're having a tough time. Everybody has different challenges, but the immediacy, the effectiveness,
• 34:47
  The quality, you know, Gigi touched upon all the products out there. In truth, it is an expensive CBD on its own is expensive. So I can almost guarantee that, you know, the milligrams that people say is in most of their CBD products most likely is not because of the price points. We just sort of there's only there's a number that can move only so far. So I would say that the quality is of the utmost importance.
• 35:16
  because I want to give it to my children. And I take it. So. Yeah. So from a product perspective, for CBD, delivery method matters. So we have kind of four pillars that really set us apart. And that's faster absorption, higher bioavailability of CBD, dosing made easy. And as Mark was saying, it's user friendly, it's accessible, and non intimidating for the first time user.
• 35:44
  And for me, being very holistic that I am and have approached health care, just, you know, to be able to provide mental well-being and physical well-being to people in an easy and concise, precise format.
• 36:01
  Amazing. Number two, I'll direct this just to Jamie, is what's been the number one marketing moment that's made your business pop? Love this question. So Birdie Beauty actually named us one of the 19 best CBD products of 2020. I think it was last month, which was a huge honor as a company that's only three months old. With that being said, we have so much more room to grow, but we've been able to leverage that for a lot of different partnerships. And that's been a great thing.
• 36:31
  incredibly, incredibly helpful. Yep. The power of PR. It's amazing. I'm going to ask all three of you this question is where do you hang out to get smarter?
• 36:44
  We'll start with you, Margaret. I read. I like worldviews. I love to travel. I love National Geographic. I love turning off the noise quite a bit and just also reading magazines, fashion magazines from all over the world. That's where I hang out right now. I'm...
• 37:04
  and just looking for more answers to things in the world and things like that. So I, I, I'm, I read quite a bit. I would say that that's where I hang out because I'm home. We're not able to go out too far. So I'm not jumping into museums or lectures or, but, uh, I have learned quite a bit though, through zoom. I have to tell you, listening to Conrad's online courses, guys, it's really been a blast.
• 37:28
  I'm really like, oh, my God, there's so many things that I forgot. And I'm really impressed with the education that he's received during quarantine. Oh, is that who's Conrad? Sorry. Conrad's my son. Conrad's my 15-year-old son. Like, I'm going to have to make a note of this Conrad gentleman. With these Zoom classes and the professors, I'm really quite moved. And, you know, it was really fun to listen in on some of these lectures that he's attending. Love that. Yeah. Yeah.
• 37:58
  For me, I think I have two things. Sorry. One is I hang out with people that are older than me. That's always been something I do. I think they know more, they have more to share. I've just found the greatest role models that way. I've had the greatest conversations from hanging out with people that are older than me. And also, I will give a shout out to Spring Place. I really try to immerse myself in communities. I'm
• 38:21
  with like-minded individuals that are working on similar startups or, you know, can bring a partnership or an idea to the table when I'm working on something. And Spring Place has been a really amazing place for me to forge those connections. Great. I'm going to get the link after the episode and I'll make sure that I link it in the notes.
• 38:42
  And for me, I'm so lucky that I have so many friends that have started businesses or business minded and have careers. And so for me, engaging myself with people on a small basis and talking business and being the fly on the wall and listening to their conversations is,
• 39:04
  makes me smarter because it makes me think, oh, wow, I would have never thought of that. And my husband actually is great at that. I love to be a fly on the wall listening to some of his conversations. And he actually asks us stuff around the table and challenges us. And I just think engaging in conversation that's
• 39:26
  Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Okay, question number four for all of you is how do you win the day? And that's around your AM or PM rituals that keep you feeling happy and fulfilled and productive. Sweat.
• 39:42
  I love to sweat every morning. I have to sweat. I have to run. You know, I get like a little, oh, crouchity if I don't. And I just, so it's just really waking up a little earlier, getting that 20 minutes in. I have an infrared sauna, which I love if I can't get out for a quick two mile sprint, that kind of thing. So just really just getting a little sweat on and then moving forward. That's how I, that's how I start my day. Yeah. Yeah. I could.
• 40:11
  I completely agree with that. Sweating for me is a huge stress reliever. I will say another thing that's just really exhilarating for me is being able to cross things off my list. Going back to the type A personality, I am a list maker. I write everything down that I need to do in the morning and just the satisfaction of crossing things off and finishing that list just makes me feel like, ah, I can move on with my day. Now I can go to bed and finish the list. Right.
• 40:41
  Well, I'm a little, I mean, I like all those. That's great. I'm an energy person. So I think trying to be positive when I get out of bed in the morning creates a positive energy to keep my day going that way. And then you pretty much exert that energy onto other people. And I think people can read that. So I find that sometimes if I wake up a little,
• 41:00
  maybe on the wrong side of the bed. I'm like, I need to lay my head back down and sort of start it all over and say, okay, you're not waking up like this today. Wake up with a smile on your face. We're lucky. We're lucky because we have another day together. And so I like to wake up and start my day being grateful that I have one more day to be here with.
• 41:18
  with everyone. So, yeah. Yeah. I think it's really important to set the intention for the day. It's something that I definitely forget to do. And that's why I love having these conversations and asking these particular questions because it always gives me personally just something really nice that I can be like, Oh, I'm going to make sure I do that tomorrow. Yeah. Nothing like being around a Debbie Downer all day. Right. So, you know,
• 41:38
  Well, yeah, you have to be careful of that, right? What you absorb. And so for me, I'm not turning on the news in the morning. It's just, you know, your feet hit the floor. And like, you know, Gigi said, you're grateful that you're here. And you just kind of move that day forward in the best way possible. For sure.
• 41:56
  Question number five, I'll direct just to Jamie. It's if you only had $1,000 left in the business bank account, where would you spend it? It's a great question. We debated this as a team, but the general consensus was that we put this towards new products again, because we're self-funded. You know, we're not spending crazy marketing dollars. So for us being able to provide our customer base with a new product, we're
• 42:21
  which is in the works, by the way, with something new to add into their daily routines is very exciting for us. So that would be that would be it. Any teases you want to drop? Surprise. Surprise. Stay tuned. I will be a good one.
• 42:43
  I'll subscribe to your, um, to your newsletter as well. So I can make sure I'm in the loop. And last question is for all of you is how do you deal with failure? And it can be your personal approach and your mindset to failure, or it can be in response to like, um, you know, a specific incident or experience. Well, I mean, I think, you know, cause I've been in business before this there, you are going to encounter failure sometimes.
• 43:08
  whether in a relationship, a business, maybe you did something as a parent, you failed, don't let it get you down. You've got to just keep going. And I mean, as far as our business has gone, we haven't really experienced that because we're so new. We're only three months in. So we really haven't had a major downside. I mean, we've had to re-pivot and rethink. But
• 43:31
  That's part of that's I wouldn't consider that failure. But part of failure is being able to keep moving forward. And, you know, you're not the only one that's ever failed. Everyone's failed at something. So just just keep going. And, you know.
• 43:47
  Yeah. And failure and disappointment are similar to me. You know, being an actress and a model for years, I've definitely had my share of disappointment. But I think you're never failing if you just put yourself out there and try. And then sometimes just things you have to be more spiritual about it, which I tend to be.
• 44:06
  in that sense of just maybe it wasn't for you, you know, maybe it just wasn't intended. So sometimes we miss things, or we feel we miss the boat, or we may have, you know, not done our best, but maybe it also was for a deeper reason, you know, maybe we were supposed to go down that road, and then the road just wasn't supposed to go anymore. So I always try to look at the bright side of that word, right? So I'm not going to use failure, I'm going to use disappointment. Yeah.
• 44:31
  Nice. Because sometimes failure does lead to the next. It takes you to a different place. And it can be positive. So you have to look at it that way. And it could be better. Yeah, it could be better. You know, some of the first TV shows didn't work. Like what was that famous show that Simon Cowell is on? At any rate, years prior to that, there was there was one that failed, actually. And so then it took the second and the third one to really become famous as sometimes, you know, that's. Got to keep trying to keep trying.
• 45:01
  And I think for me on the mental health front, you know, I've struggled with depression. I've struggled with an eating disorder in the past, you know, five or six years. This is one of the reasons why, you know, favor has been such an amazing solution. For me, it's really helped my mental health. But on that note, I've been the kind of person to self-deprecate and really, you know, not treat my mental health properly. So I think in terms of dealing with failure, not only on the personal side, but on the business side, is being kind to yourself.
• 45:31
  you know, being okay with the fact that you're a human being, you're, you're supposed to iterate, you're supposed to learn, you're supposed to evolve. And I think the same goes for an early stage startup too, is being okay with the fact that you're going to make mistakes and you are going to fail. It's just a matter of fact at some point. And you, you need to be able to evolve over time and learn from those mistakes. But I think,
• 45:55
  It really starts with the things that you're saying to yourself and how you're personally dealing with that failure and how you carry that into your business endeavors as well.
• 46:05
  Yeah, I think it's definitely like important to remember that, especially when we live in this world of like curated perfection, things like social media. And so people often feel that other people don't fail. And obviously it's not what's highlighted in society as much now with social media. So, yeah, it's definitely important to remember to be kind to yourself and that it's all part of the process. Exactly. I think it's important to talk about failure, too.
• 46:35
  where they go wrong or what their weaknesses are. And as you said, it's because of this culture that's been created around creating this veil of perfection or hiding behind these platforms to use your words when maybe, in fact, you wouldn't be able to say those face-to-face with someone. And I think, especially for my age group, that's been a really destructive thing is, you know, using these platforms
• 46:58
  to spread hate, to, you know, point out people's flaws publicly without having personal conversations about it. So I do think that it's important for people to, you know, make failure something acceptable to talk about as well. And I think as a team, that's something that we're all really good at is being like, OK, that wasn't right. How do we how do we change that going forward?
• 47:23
  Yeah. And find the learning. And as a mother to to Jamie, you know, her at a very young age, most kids wouldn't talk about their issues of anxiety, depression, eating disorder. And for her to actually lay the issues that she needed to overcome out there in a public manner has helped.
• 47:41
  the the amount of outreach she had when she was younger by telling people i have this problem if you do it's okay like we're gonna get through it and jamie was very forthright and and having discussions with that to help other people and maybe keep them from doing the same thing or feel or knowing that they felt that way it's okay to feel that way but get some help so yeah
• 48:03
  It's amazing. Incredible. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. I have absolutely loved learning about your brand and the journey and that it's just you three. I think this is such a cool dynamic. It's definitely a first for me to speak with three female founders who are total bosses with lots of different dynamics going on. So I'm so grateful to have met you.
• 48:26
  Thank you so much for having us. It was a pleasure. And everybody give me a good smile because I want everybody to look at on this little picture. Oh my gosh, me too. You go first, I'll go second. All right. I love that. That's awesome.
• 48:47
  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.
• 49:12
  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.
• 49:34
  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.
• 49:51
  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.
• 50:15
  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.
• 50:38
  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.