Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / Dealing with Crazy Ups & Downs in Business with Lezlie Karls, Founder of Mid-Day Squares (part 1)

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Dealing with Crazy Ups & Downs in Business with Lezlie Karls, Founder of Mid-Day Squares (part 1) · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Leslie Karls for Female Startup Club. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the show. It's Dune here, your host and hype girl. And before we jump in, today marks something really bloody exciting for Female Startup Club.
• 0:26
  As of this week, we have joined the ACAST Podcast Network, and that means so many exciting things. Like we're going to be introducing some different kinds of episodes, like strategy breakdowns with industry experts and how-tos for early-stage founders and future founders. It also means you're going to start hearing a new voice on the show. You're going to meet my wingwoman and one of the best humans I know,
• 0:55
  Josephine. If you've ever messaged us on Instagram or you're part of magic, you will know just how wonderful Josephine is. And she's going to be joining me in this new series where we talk through insights, questions, and what's happening in the world of business. Now, something I'm really excited about is the comeback of our Facebook group. It's linked in the show notes, and I want
• 1:25
  Every Monday, I'll be sharing who I'm interviewing for that week, and this is where you can ask very specific questions that you want answered on the show. You can also drop your own questions and challenges, and we'll be shouting those out too, which is a great chance to get your brand featured on the podcast. Whew! Okay, that's all my exciting news to share for today. Let's get into the good stuff. Today, we're chatting with Leslie Carls from Midday Squares.
• 1:51
  We actually recorded an episode with Leslie way back in December of 2021. And it is such a cracker. You should go back and listen to it. So much has changed since we spoke in 2021. She's gone through probably the worst time in her business since then and has just come out the other side. So there's plenty of great insights and juicy learnings to take away.
• 2:14
  I hope you love this episode just as much as I do. And remember, if you have some specific questions you want to ask on our upcoming episodes, come and join us in the Facebook group today. Let's get into it. This is Leslie Carls for Female Startup Club. Hey, girl. Welcome back to the show. Hi.
• 2:34
  Thank you. I'm so fired up to be here. I feel like I just hung with you and I know you were telling me that it was back in 2021 that we did our original recording session. Yeah. What the hell? Which is wild. It's wild. That's nearly two years. That's too long. That's too long. That's too long. We should make this an annual thing.
• 2:57
  I agree. I actually got to come down to Australia and visit you in IRL. Oh my God, please come and stay with me. We would love that. We can just have like a day squares party in my backyard and like do some cool shit. I love it. I definitely want to make it happen. Like it's on my bucket list. So great. I'm going to, I'm going to find the time. 2024. That's it. It's happening. 2024. Okay. Bold.
• 3:24
  Locked. Yeah, locked. It's in. It's in the diary. I saw that you just turned 33. Happy birthday. Looked like a real vibe. Thank you. It was a vibe. Honestly, I have to say it was my best birthday party yet. And I think after, I wouldn't say I've been, I mean, I have been having birthday parties for 33 years, but of the birthday parties that I planned that I could remember,
• 3:54
  like the people in my life that, you know, really meant something to me that have been there for me in the past couple of years. And, uh, just, I did what I wanted, you know, sometimes you just, and also I was at a point in my life where I could afford to take care of people on my birthday, you know, like, you know, when you're.
• 4:14
  working and you don't have a lot of money and you want to celebrate your birthday and you ask everyone to chip in, that always makes me feel uncomfortable. And so even though I just did a karaoke night, it's not that extravagant, but I was happy that I was able to take care of my guests. So it just felt like, I don't know, it was a birthday that really resonated with me. I did
• 4:34
  had fun. We had pizza at some like local spot, ate it on my friend's front of her car and then just sung our heart out all night and like dressed in denim and diamonds. And it was just, it was silly and it was fun and it was a great release. Oh, I love that. I love that. The diamonds and denim and diamonds. That's sick. That's my vibe. All the sparkles, but like low key cool as well.
• 5:00
  It was a last minute like theme and like, I totally love themes and everyone was a little annoyed that I pulled the last minute theme. But who doesn't have some gene in their closet and, you know, throwing a bit of that glitter on their eyes and whatever we it was worth it. We had fun.
• 5:15
  This year I did Barbie and tequila and like I'm the only one of my friends that is obviously like has the full wardrobe of hot pink attire. So I'm out here being like, hey, I was actually in London at the time and I had my suitcase and I was like going through to the girls being like, OK, I've got this. I've got this. Like you can wear whatever you want, but it's Barbie and tequila. Everyone's doing shots.
• 5:39
  I love that. And obviously pink is your favorite color now, like your nails, your hoodie, your backdrop. I love it. I mean, it's all a vibe. I'm a pink girl. I love it. I'm a black girl.
• 5:53
  Yes, yes, you are. I feel like every year on my birthday, I love to kind of reflect on, you know, what the year has been like. What are the highlights been? What are the lowlights been? What do I want for this next kind of year coming up for myself? Have you set any kind of goals for this next year? Yeah, I think for me, you know, the most important thing is...
• 6:20
  practicing being in the present more. I think that I spend a lot of time in my head, creating scenarios. I live a very stressful life being an entrepreneur and, you know, building this company. And so a lot of the times I'm stuck in a thinking mode or trying to
• 6:44
  you know, mediate outcomes, whatever it is. And I'm constantly in the future. I'm constantly stressed and thinking about what if this and what if that and creating scenarios in my head. And I realized that that's not a great place to be. And so...
• 7:02
  I think for me, 33 is all about trying to live in the here and now, which is really hard to do, easy to say. But just being present in the moment and not trying to let my mind take over.
• 7:21
  my thoughts. And I, and I think that will help me lead a less stressful life. And yeah, I think it comes down to stress and managing that stress. And because really your brain is so powerful. Your thoughts are so powerful.
• 7:36
  that half the time when you're worried and thinking about things and creating stories, they never pan out because they're not real, right? So being present and focusing on what is actually happening and what is actually in your control and just working through that is a saner life for me. So I'm really focusing on that and
• 7:58
  So far, it's going well. I mean, I catch myself a lot drifting, but at least I'm catching myself and then understanding where I'm at, what mindset I'm in, and then being able to bring it back to the present. So it's a process, but I think it's important for me to live more in the present, less in the future, definitely not in the past. And that helps me go on with my day.
• 8:23
  I resonate with that like so much. I feel like I am constantly in conversation with myself about, you know, yeah, things in the past, things in the future, conversations that have to be had. I really have like that busy mind. And it's true that, you know, it's so easy to say that, you know, we should live more present, but it's actually really hard. And so when I observe myself and just be like, fucking hell, I'm driving myself crazy, I
• 8:50
  I struggle to get out of that. I struggle to get out of that loop thinking that just goes around and around. Same conversation, same conversation, same conversation. How do you actually get out of it? Are you just kind of thinking something, observe that it's happening, and then you're like, I need to change what I'm doing right now or do something? What's the trigger and what's the action? Yeah, definitely. I think for me, I think we've talked about this briefly on your podcast before, but I'm in...
• 9:20
  therapy, business coach, therapy, whatever you want to call it. But I do it twice a week, once a week with my partners and once a week on my own. So the first step is kind of working through what are the fears, right? So what's driving these thoughts? What are the actual fears? And a lot of the time,
• 9:43
  it comes down to a specific thing that's driving those thoughts. And so it starts with addressing that thing. So maybe I'm just gonna make up something for the sake of the conversation. Let's say it's a competitor. Let's say I'm worried about a competitor. I see something on the market, I'm worried about it. So the first thing I'm gonna do is create anxiety around this thing, right? This product, let's say.
• 10:12
  And then I might spiral into an anxious les and creating stories and getting busy with just this ripple effect of anxious movement. And then so what I'll do is in that moment, maybe I'm going to want to go.
• 10:33
  deep into that. Like I go look for it and I speak to people about it. And I, I search for things like I'm, I'm in, I'm engaging in the thoughts. I'm engaging in the anxiety. So to your point, I'm looping, but I'm not just looping. I'm looking for it. I'm speaking about it. I'm thinking about it. So I'm feeding it exactly. I'm feeding the thoughts, the ideas and the story. So what do I do? The first thing I've learned is to stop doing that at all costs. Now that's really
• 11:03
  But that's willpower, right? So the minute I've identified there's something that's consuming my brain that's not positive and that's maybe allowing me to get away from the here and the now and what's in my control, I stopped feeding it.
• 11:17
  So that's the first thing I do. So whatever I was doing to feed it, I stopped doing that. So I just catch myself. I'm like, okay, I'm about to feed it. And you know, sometimes like as humans, we're kind of sick. Like we want to feed it, you know, and we want to like be in this loop. Like we're almost addicted to it. So that's the first step is cutting that, cutting it off.
• 11:37
  Then the second step, so once you cut it off, you actually realize that you stop thinking about it as much, which is powerful. So you stop thinking about it, so it's in your mind less. And then it's really just about taking the time to understand that you need to have action in your life. So if you can't action anything else,
• 12:01
  on this fear or this thought or this anxiety, then it needs to be dropped. If there is no action that can be had in the moment, then you have to let it go. And that is also really hard. But again, it's just practicing. It gets easier. It's like going to the gym. The gym is hard. And when you
• 12:23
  that's my opinion. It definitely gets easy to go to the gym, but once you're there, you can do more. Right. And so it's the same with this. You, you train your brain and you get stronger and stronger and capturing, um, those thoughts and cutting them off. And then just staying in the present. I mean, that's really what I'm working on now. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that it's important to not, to not feed the thoughts and engage in the thoughts.
• 12:50
  And just to remember that if you can't action on it, that it's out of your control and you need to just let it go and refocus that energy on whatever is in your control, whatever you can push forward in a positive way.
• 13:03
  Wow. Yeah. Gosh, thank you for sharing that. I'm going to use that little framework right there. I need it. It's hard. Yeah. Yeah, it is hard. I want to start talking kind of about, you know, we were just saying that the last time we spoke was December 21. So that's been like two years and I kind of feel like I want to...
• 13:26
  recap where you were at December 2021, you know, paint the picture. Where were you in Rev? What were you kind of doing or what was like big happening then? How many retailers were in? That kind of thing. And then I kind of want to just talk through a bit of like what's happened since then. Like what have been the highs and lows over the last two years that are kind of leading us to today? Totally.
• 13:50
  So 2021, I got to get myself back there because so much has happened since that time. I think the, so 2021 in December, we were getting ready to make some pretty big moves going into 2022, which was...
• 14:10
  taking our product from a two square format and making it a single serve format. So a one square format. Now, when we decided to make this decision to make the move, we didn't understand the
• 14:29
  what type of impact it would actually have on the business. Obviously, we knew it needed to be done. We had no choice. So there was a couple of reasons why we had to make this decision. One was the customers'
• 14:45
  didn't like consuming two squares at a time. And the solution to rewrap the second square didn't really make sense to us. We didn't enjoy the customer experience. So that was one piece from a customer standpoint. We had a lot of people that couldn't eat two squares at one time and really wanted that single serve. Second was the company...
• 15:06
  The two square offering didn't make sense at the price point that it was at. So we were either going to have to significantly raise the price in the two square format or make it a smaller pack size and do a small price increase. It's easier to digest if the price increase at a single square format than it would be to...
• 15:28
  increase it in two square format. It's just a price tag on the shelf matters. And when people are shopping, they will say that, well, not when they're shopping, actually, when they're not shopping, they will say that price doesn't always matter, that it comes down to different things. But that's just not true. When you are in the grocery store and you are
• 15:49
  looking at the different products and there is a product that's less expensive, but seems like it's just as good, the consumer is going to choose that product. So for us, it didn't make sense. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was going to have to be like $6 or something like that to price it for the two square. And then we brought it down to a single serve and we charged $2.49, which is a lot more palatable than...
• 16:11
  for a fair trade, clean ingredient, functional chocolate bar that gives you the things that you actually need. So there was that piece that we needed to do it for the survival of the business. And so we...
• 16:29
  made this decision because we had no choice to make it, but we didn't fully understand the repercussions of what this format change would be, because it was the first time we ever did it, right? So going into 2022, we had a lot of momentum and we were, you know, launching, continuing our launch into the U.S., which was going really well. We were continuing to figure out our manufacturing process. We were continuing to build out our community development.
• 16:52
  And then in June 2022, we made the two square to one square change and everything just plummeted. Like our sales plummeted. Like everything went, it exploded. Let's put it that way. It exploded. We were not ready for it. Yeah. So here's why.
• 17:16
  there's a series of things that happened that if any entrepreneur is listening to this and wants to make a format change on their product, listen good, because you don't think that you don't fully understand the complexities of what this means, right? Like you think, okay, you're going from two squares to one, how crazy can it be? So here's what happened. So basically when we ship the product in to the stores, okay. Okay.
• 17:42
  We printed our packages. Our packages were significantly smaller. So when we printed them, we had to print a smaller UPC code. And the UPC code is what everybody uses to scan the product out when they're at the cache. So the first error that we made was the UPC code was too small and it couldn't scan at the cache. Okay. So we're talking about millions of bars being on the market and it's not scanning at the cache register. Okay. No.
• 18:09
  This is crazy. Insane, insane. So a week goes and we start getting phone calls and people are starting to say, we can't scan the bars. And so we're like, this is a disaster. And so what does this mean? So if they can't scan the bars, the cashier needs to punch the UPC code in by hand. Okay. And-
• 18:31
  The cashier then punches this in as a cash item. So what happens in the system is the system cannot detect how much inventory is on the shelf. Okay. So basically what's happening at this point is saying to our distributors that the product is like in stock. Yeah. But it's actually out of stock. Correct. It's actually out of stock. Okay. So that was the first thing.
• 19:00
  major disaster and now
• 19:02
  What we realized is, so we did test our UPC at our printer, but that's just one printer. What we later discovered is that many different retail stores have different types of scanners with different technology. So just because you tested your printer where you're printing does not mean that it's approved and certified to scan it all, scanners at retail stores. So there is a GS1, which is...
• 19:32
  Basically, it's there for all your barcode needs. So it's like you, they, GS1 works with all the retailers. Okay. So they like generate your barcodes and they set them up and all that stuff. So when you're doing your packaging design, you can actually send GS1 a copy of your artwork and they will scan it and give you a certification saying that the product scans. So like, and it's $15. Can you imagine that?
• 19:58
  But again, no one tells you these things. You're learning them as you go, and it's insane. And even graphic designers, unless they're regulatory food specialists, they might not understand the guidelines on how big or small a UPC code should be. So again, it's like that new beginner kind of...
• 20:15
  like stupidity that happens, that happened as an MBS. And it's like if you're, you've got a small product, you've got a small billboard to work with. So of course you're kind of like, I don't want to make this bigger than it has to be because there's a lot of stuff that needs to go on this packaging. Yeah.
• 20:31
  Exactly. And that's actually a whole other conversation of how much needs to go on a packaging and the sizing and what needs to go on. It's complicated. But there is a special barcode that the barcode, basically, it's a cropped barcode, but it's meant for mini packaging. So it does still scan, but we didn't know that. So basically, we had to quickly figure out
• 20:54
  how we were going to repackage our millions of dollars of raw packing materials we had in the warehouse because we couldn't afford to throw it out. So we had to like buy a machine with $17,000, get it to our facility, relabel everything through this machine. We had to order label. So it was crazy.
• 21:11
  repack it. Like it was, it was just a nightmare. So it became super demoralizing for the whole team. So we have this UPC code problem. Then we have this inventory problem. We don't know what's selling what's not because everything is not detected in the retailer system. So our sales significantly drop because nobody's taking orders because in their system, it says they have like,
• 21:38
  In a grocery store, you have to imagine there's 40,000 SKUs. They're not focused on midday squares. Additionally, in the summer is the slowest time for grocery stores. So people are on vacation, staffing is lower. So there's not as many people working the store. And then the third thing, which really fucked us, was the price tag. So the
• 22:02
  The execution of removing the old price tag to put the new price tag on was a disaster. So basically it said $3.99 for one square, which is our old price, instead of $2.49. So customers were flabbergasted. They were like fuming. They're like, what the fuck, Midday Squares? You slice the package in half and you charge us the same amount. So there was a crisis.
• 22:32
  That was almost the entire 2022 going into 2023, I would say. And that's basically what my year has been like, has been, you know, coming from the down, the whole team and everybody, us just getting this company back up. And we had like a big, you know, we had a change management situation and we had,
• 23:00
  had a culture shift, which was really hard too. I think like, you know, a lot of people came in at the time where there was, you know, this one square change, which created a lack of momentum. And, you know, as founders, it was really, really hard when you're really, you're going through your worst times. You're not sure where the company is going. You have a lot of pressure. There's a, there's, you're losing money. Like I remember last June, we were not this June, two years ago now.
• 23:29
  We were losing a million dollars a month. Okay. We were just hemorrhaging money and,
• 23:37
  You're trying to get the team to be motivated. You're trying to be motivated yourself. And you're just hurting inside. And as a founder, it's a lonely road. Like people don't feel bad for you and they shouldn't feel bad for you. Like you chose this, this position. You're the owner, you're the founder, it's your job. But you know, speaking to honestly, like it was fucking hard. Like I felt alone.
• 24:00
  I felt misunderstood. And while you're feeling this extreme fear, you have to fire up a team. And that becomes really hard. And deal with investors and shareholders and everyone else that's involved. Totally. Totally. And then your customers and your hemorrhaging money, you know, you did this big changeover. And now you've got to rebuild the company back up.
• 24:22
  And, you know, we had the change management. So you're, you know, the culture was suffering and we were trying to, you know, hire. And again, like trying to bring on people that fit the culture and all those things. Like it's really one of the hardest things that I've noticed over the last two years and even since the beginning of time is it's very hard to get the team right. And that doesn't mean that the people that have been at Midday Square are not the right fit or not.
• 24:49
  weren't good in their own ways. It's just that every company is different. Every task is different. You need to find people that fit into what you're doing. You know, so we've gone that wrong here and there. Some people felt that they weren't the right fit for MDS. So building a team was, is challenging, was challenging over the last years. And I feel like today we're finally in that flow and, you know, really taking our time to do
• 25:17
  the due diligence in building that team. And you learn, like when you start, you know nothing. Like I was, five years ago, I wasn't a CEO. Five years ago, I wasn't the leader of a 45 person company. So overnight, you got to figure things out really quickly and understand what you need, what you want and lead people. So I think over the last two years, those were a lot of our pain points. And I would say it's only in the last like six months that I'm starting to really see the light
• 25:45
  you know, at the end of the tunnel, midday squares is back to where it was in terms of the sales. And ultimately, the coming up from the one square changeover
• 25:56
  was rough, but we made it through. We weathered the storm. I'm so proud of the team and everybody who just helped propel the company forward when you're doing this really bold fucking move. But at the same time as entrepreneurs, your job is to be bold and take calculated risks. But if you don't take risks,
• 26:19
  You're not going to get to where you need to go. That's my belief. And so I think it was a necessary risk, but it was rough. It was rough.
• 26:28
  I also really believe that if it's just all straight up, it's linear growth, like you're not learning along the way. Like even though it's the worst of the worst times when you're in the midst of that stuff, when you come out the other side, you are a stronger person. You have developed a new skill set. You have developed like that extra layer of resilience and you're stronger as a person. So I really do believe that the bad times are crucial actually in the end.
• 26:59
  I couldn't agree more. I think it's crazy what you learn in times of stress. When your back is pinned to a wall, okay? You're stuck.
• 27:15
  I think that's when I personally do my best work. I know it's fucked to say, but when I'm in those situations, I am able to make decisions extremely fast. I'm able to problem solve. I'm able to execute in a way that is inhumane at some points, you know, but I'm
• 27:35
  being in those times drive you to have to find a way to dig yourself out of the shit times. And you're right. Like you learn so much in a short period of time. So I agree with you. Like I'm the type of person that like looks at the glass half full, not half empty. Like every situation propels you forward. Every situation makes you stronger. Every situation makes you better, brighter, smarter, faster. Like, you know, the stuff I learned in the last 24 months, like,
• 28:03
  I mean, it's priceless, you know, and it's hard to say like that I'm happy that I went through it. But in a way, like I learned so much, you know, I learned so much about the team, about MDS and myself. So, yeah, I think good can come from that. A hundred percent. Yeah, absolutely. The ups and the downs.
• 28:25
  I want to talk about your, you know, content and your kind of marketing over the last couple of years, because, you know, even in 2021, you were absolutely crushing the content game. Like you, you'd had that kind of saga with Hershey's and you'd turn that into kind of a bit of a like reality, like ongoing documentary type situation. And from there, your content's just gotten, you know, better and better and more interesting and very much that approach of kind of like almost like a...
• 28:53
  kind of like a reality TV series about building a business. So I want to talk about your content and how you've kind of like approached and evolved and just a little bit of insight into what you guys are up to. I'm like such a sucker for guerrilla marketing and like organic storytelling. So I love to see it. I love to see it too. I think that there's a lot of content out there and we're
• 29:21
  you know, drowning in content. And I think we're lacking a lot of originality in content. And I understand why people don't get original in content.
• 29:33
  because of the algorithms and because of, you know, the want to go viral. So I think if we go back to, you know, what we do at Midday Squares and, and, and how we tell our stories, I just want to start by saying like, we don't have it all figured out. Like it's, it's really a ongoing process. What worked for us from zero to five years is not going to work for us for five to 10 years. Right. Like it, it,
• 30:01
  Like content creation is ever evolving and changes and you need to kind of grow with it. And I would say for us, you know, we started off with telling a story with our iPhones. You know, when we started in our condo, just picking up a phone and recording everything
• 30:17
  even when we felt super uncomfortable doing it. I mean, I hated being in front of the camera and it would take me sometimes hours to put together a video. I'd have to retake it a hundred times. Why? Because I didn't like the way I looked. I didn't like the way I sound. I felt cringe. I was like, who am I even speaking to? And you push through it, you get better at it, you get more comfortable and you realize that there are people out there that resonate with you. There are people out there that
• 30:43
  are your people and connect with your messaging. And so that's what happened at the beginning of Midday Square is we were telling our story, people connected with it, and it created...
• 30:52
  you know, a community. And so for the first like three years, we really focused on the behind the scenes of building midday squares, the drama, the highs, the lows, the good and the bad, and even the characters in the story. So like, you know, when we first started, we had, you know, some of our early startup team, like Jordan and Allie and
• 31:16
  Kram, like different people that were real characters in the show. Like they were big, larger than life personalities and that added to it. So we had this dynamic, we had this kind of energy that was going on early on with our stories, which was a lot of the behind the scenes. And then that kind of evolved into how do we tell a really impactful story or not even impactful. What does impactful mean? I mean, for us, it's, does it make somebody feel something deeply? Yeah.
• 31:43
  Is it hitting somebody emotionally? Is it educational? Is it entertainment? I mean, what is it doing to the viewer, right? How is it affecting them? And so we started telling these like three minute, four minute short episodes, right? And that was really, really challenging to figure out because basically at that time we had a full-time videographer. Yeah.
• 32:08
  who would just film at the office and follow us around with a camera and follow the team around and be in on the meetings. So we'd get like 40 hours of footage a week. And then we'd have to kind of navigate that down to a three, four minute story. So that was really challenging. But we figured it out and we did it.
• 32:28
  And I want to say like building teams to do this is really hard because it's new for businesses. It's new for the industry to find creators that want to be in a company and want to tell stories for a company. It was definitely challenging because creatives want to work on many different projects and don't want to be tied down. So kind of finding those creators that were willing to stay, that wanted to stay, and that also didn't get involved in the politics.
• 32:59
  office culture because the videographers couldn't, shouldn't get involved with the office culture because then it makes their job complicated because they're supposed to be telling a story, you know? So anyways, that's a whole other episode on the dynamic of how we've had to navigate that and how it was challenging too for the teammates. But ultimately by separating the two, you got the best content because the videographer was like a journalist looking
• 33:29
  We worked on those stories for a little bit. And then we realized that
• 33:34
  the strongest stories, well, not the strongest stories, but stories that really got virality on our TikTok and stuff like that were stories that were scripted. So we started writing scripts for our stories. Everything is true. It's just more scripted. And basically we take all the B-roll and we build upon the script and tell the story. So that's what we do. We started doing that about a year and a half ago and we started getting virality on TikTok. And I think
• 34:03
  it really resonated with people, that form of storytelling. So basically what we're trying to optimize for is how do we engage the algorithm, but also stay true to our storytelling style, which has been really hard because, you know, the algorithm...
• 34:20
  favor certain things and you're trying to be original and still tell great stories, but you still want to get organic views. We're still a business, right? Like our content arm needs to make sense financially. So we need those organic views. Like last year, I think we did something of,
• 34:38
  55 million organic views, which is incredible. I mean, if you put a dollar cost, a dollar to that, it's quite high of what that would cost to pay for those views.
• 34:52
  So there's real accountability and real challenge there on how to continue to get organic views and to continue to get videos that take off and kind of hit the algorithm. So we're still a question mark. And then there's the piece of how quickly we get content out. And that's one of our biggest challenges because to make these stories takes time. It takes about eight days for my content creator, James, to really put together a script and
• 35:19
  bring the B-roll in, start piecing together a story, get a first story draft to me. Then we go back and forth and we keep, you know, the process is eight days and it's long. How many stories do you post in a week? One story. That's the problem.
• 35:35
  You know, that's what we're facing today. That's the problem today. The problem today is that we need to get content out faster and we can't. The issue is, is how do you continue to build this division and, you know, manage costs and make sure it makes sense and create an ROI and create accountability and, and continue to keep the community engaged? Like there's so many times you could tell.
• 35:57
  you know, the story. And I think for Midday Squares, when we started a couple of years ago, we constantly had that drama. We constantly had so many stories to tell. Now the business has gotten to a point where there's a lot of stories to tell, but we can't tell all the stories. And the reason why we can't tell the story is because it can hurt our business. And why will it hurt our business? Well, it could be with...
• 36:26
  you know, retailers, it could be with government, like government agencies and how we interact. And like some of the things like there's crazy stories that happen at Midday Squares that we've recorded, we've documented and we want to tell, but it could put the company at risk. So a content creator has less risk than a company has, right? Because a company still needs to sell bars. So a company needs to tread relatively lightly on, you know, the type of content. So that's what we're kind of
• 36:53
  grappling with today, like how to tell our stories. And we are kind of our mission is to tell the good, the bad and the ugly. And we are still doing that. But as you get bigger into a business, the problems are different than let's say, oh, we have no more coconut sugar. And what are we going to do? We can't produce, right? They become a little more complex. So we're still trying to figure out how to navigate that. Like how ballsy are we willing to be? How much risk are we willing to take? Like, is our community going to
• 37:22
  have our back? Are they not? That's where we're trying to test the waters and figure out like, what is next? And how do we kind of continue to build this company? And is the strategy even going to work for us anymore? So there's a lot of question marks around the expansion of our content and how we're going to see it unfold. But for anybody who's listening to this, that's thinking about getting into content and wants to tell stories or wants to get out there,
• 37:45
  for their business or whatever it is that they're doing. I mean, social media is amazing. It's a free platform you can use to get your story or get your product or get anything that you want out there. I think it's important to be yourself unapologetically as much as you can. And I think that people will resonate with you. In terms of like the midday squares process, we, so right now on the team, we have one content creator. His name is James. He's fucking amazing. I love him.
• 38:13
  and then myself, okay? And we have had bigger teams at times where we've had multiple videographers on the ground. And right now we're a small team, but we haven't decided how we're gonna expand the team. And so this is what we're gonna be working on in the future. I know I'm jumping, I have ADHD, so I'm all over the place, but let me just go back. So we, basically our process is record what's kind of happening the day-to-day
• 38:41
  get the story on whatever's happening. It could be what's going on in the business. It could be what's going on with the founders, anything. And then basically take it back to the editing suite and look at your content. You know, then James and I will sit in a room, we'll talk for about an hour on an audio recording and we'll talk about what's kind of going on. So let's say it's,
• 39:02
  We're going to be doing a story coming up about like how we had to change our name, Busta Peanut, which was our original name of our peanut butter bar to Peanut Butter. So we'll go in the room, we'll talk about what happened, and then basically we'll take that and we'll develop it into a script. We'll refine it, and then we'll go into piecing together the story. Then we'll record, and then it takes me like a good hour to record. It's very hard to like memorize the lines and record it.
• 39:30
  And then James goes back, edits it into a story. We try to make it a minute, minute and a half, you know, and then we throw it up on TikTok. And the goal is to try to get four or five of those videos going up a week at the question marks. What's the cost and how do we do it efficiently and optimize for it? But that's really our process right now.
• 39:52
  And when you're, you know, looking at kind of the ROI and, you know, the views that you're getting and things like that, is this still kind of like your lead driver for the things that are shifting the needle for the company when it comes to your marketing strategy? Or is it now like...
• 40:07
  yes, like content is a big part of it. But now we've really got to be doubling down on strategic partnerships and demos. And is it, you know, influences or is it new product development that fuels the growth? Like, obviously, it's part of who the brand is. And it's a big part of like the DNA of what you guys have built. But is it the thing that's shifting the needle still? Or is it a mix of things? I mean, obviously, it's a mix of things. But like, what are the big needle shifters? I guess that's what I'm trying to say.
• 40:36
  Honestly, I would say there's a few different things. I would say the big needle pushers are definitely the disruption that we do through organic content works. And it's hard to measure exactly how it's driving, let's say, sales in stores. But...
• 40:57
  the presence of the brand is a good assessment of how our organic reach is helping the brand as a whole from through our content. And then I would say obviously like strategic influencer marketing, which Nick manages, which is our performance marketing arm, definitely moves the needle big time. I mean, influencers have influence. That's why they're influencers. So that's a key piece to the puzzle too. But I would say this, like content is king. Like,
• 41:26
  Of course, if you could figure out and, you know, or make great content and it goes viral and continue to get virality, that is organic virality is one of the best ways to get your brand out there. Celebritizing your own brand or celebritizing yourself and building a community and a fan base is king. Like that's the holy grail. It's the question is how to continue to do it. And that's the stuff we're working on this year. Just to give you context.
• 41:50
  I co-CEO with Nick, but I also am still in deep execution with the team. Like we just brought on a VP of ops in May and he's doing incredible things, but you know, we're, we're building the team together. And, and so I would say right now, I only spend about 10%, 10% is me being conservative, you know, like it's,
• 42:13
  I don't get a lot of time to spend on marketing and strategy and brand and content and media. So there's very little time going to this part of Midway Square. So you know when I started make shit, sell shit, market shit? Well, 2024 is the year that we're going to be honing in and doubling down on marketing shit and figuring out our plan. And I can tell you something, when the energy goes to that, we will come up with a fucking epic plan.
• 42:43
  And that's going to be, you know, how we drive through the vision. And then it's A-B testing. What's working? What's not? How do we switch it? What's the flywheel that we need to be looking at when we begin that journey of market shit? But like...
• 42:57
  that's coming up in 2024. I'm very excited about it, but it, it, content is hard. I mean, it is hard, but I think consistency is really key. Being true to yourself and making stuff that you would be a consumer of, like you got to start with you. What would you watch your own content? Would you consume it? You know? And, and that's the first thing that's really important. And if you're scared to put yourself out there, like,
• 43:22
  then maybe content's not for you because you've got to put yourself out there if you want to make content and do all those things. And even to this day, even though I've done it a million times, I still get insecure sometimes to put myself out there. It's hard. It's not easy, but it is a great tool and it did what it does. It did and continues to do wonders for our brand. And so I'm a big advocate of making content and putting yourself out there. But nonetheless, it's hard.
• 43:52
  I agree. And, you know, like I often surprise people when I say like, hey, when I started the podcast, I was terrified of public speaking. I was terrified of being on camera. And it wasn't until like episode 70 that I started to feel more confident in these conversations and kind of like I had a bit of, you know, a groove going on because I was just so shy and so not that person. And I think that...
• 44:16
  Everyone pretty much starts from that place of being like, shit, I don't know how to do this, but like you've just got to try, flex that muscle, build that muscle, and then over time you get better at it. And like, you know, just you shouldn't let yourself be crippled by that perfection of getting started because everyone figures it out and goes on the journey, right?
• 44:35
  A thousand percent. And that's the thing. Like we're putting ourselves out there every single day. I'm talking about you and I, like I am the same like you. I don't like public speaking. I don't like being on podcasts and not because I don't like to do it. It's because I'm nervous. It's because I'm worried about X, Y, and Z. But if we don't do it, how are we going to get better? Because the thing is, it's not that I don't want to do it. It's that I'm fearful of doing it because of the things that are in my head. But yeah,
• 45:02
  If we don't practice, like you said, practice and exercise that muscle, we're going to be stuck doing nothing. And then that's just a boring life. You know, that's just a life that's not filled with purpose. So 100%. 100%.
• 45:18
  Last question I want to ask you before we jump into the six quickies is if you were thinking about starting a business tomorrow, kind of taking the knowledge and the insights that you've had from the last five years. So you're coming from a place of, yeah, I know what I've done and what's worked and kind of the power of hindsight. How would you start a business tomorrow from scratch? You're like, okay, cool. Like what's step 101? What am I doing to start a new business? Doesn't matter what it is or category, blah, blah, blah.
• 45:47
  Or unless you want to go that deep, you can. For me, I would really make sure that if I was launching a product, that I started with a product that was financially viable. You know, Midday Squares has had to like dig its way out of a negative gross margin. We started the business at a negative 14% gross margin. Yeah.
• 46:14
  And I'm so proud to say that we are at 58% gross margin this quarter. And I know I mentioned earlier in the episode that not last June, but the June before we were losing a million dollars a month.
• 46:29
  Now we're at 100,000 a month and losing 100,000 a month. And it's a massive difference. And this year we're going to reach profitability, but that's after five years. And so if I was to restart a business, I would make sure that I had a strong gross margin,
• 46:47
  and that my product was financially viable from day one. I know that it's easy to say that now, but honestly, it was really treacherous going from negative 4% to 58%. And we still, you know, our goal is 65% gross margin. That's an incredible business. And so we're still working our way to get there. But yeah, I mean, it was brutal for five years. So I would say, if you're thinking about starting a product, try to get that right.
• 47:16
  And so just so I can fully understand, does that mean like from day one, you'd be like, okay, cool. What are the products that like, you know, the unit cost is this and I'm going to model it out so that my margin is this. And like from the get go, there is a strong and healthy margin for kind of like e-com, D2C and retail and then build off the back of that instead of something that is like, you know, too small a unit cost or something like that, that there's not enough wiggle room. Yeah.
• 47:45
  Exactly. Yeah. It's from the get-go understanding as much as possible, like pricing structure. So like, for example, midday squares, you know, perfect bar.
• 47:54
  in the US, which is a protein bar that lives in the fridge next to us, has done it already. They're 14 years in, they've built an incredible business. I think they're going to do 300 million or so this year. Don't quote me on that number, but they're doing really well and they understand their pricing structure. They've been doing it for 14 years and they have a good strategy.
• 48:21
  I think that my advice would be is whatever product you're going to launch, find what's on the market that is working that's similar to your product. And then try to do an analysis on that competitor. Why did they price this way? What's their product expansion? And why did they choose to do that? Why are they placed like this? I think kind of going deep.
• 48:43
  not just any product that's out there, but something that's similar of somebody that has been there, done it because pricing structures are really important. Gross margins really important. And yeah, I mean, look, sometimes the reality is if you're on here and you're listening to me and you're like, that's not my reality. You're right. That wasn't our reality. Like I'm sitting here on proof. Like we knew we could get to the gross margin over time by doing X, Y, and Z. But the
• 49:10
  it was painful. So I'm just saying, you may not always be able to start a company right off the bat with a gross margin or the right gross margin and perfect pricing structure and all these things. That's okay too. I'm living proof that like,
• 49:27
  you know, we start with negative four, we're here at 58% gross margin, you can, you know, you have to obviously do your due diligence and make sure that you actually can get there. But if I was to do it again, I would like to start with my gross margin being where it needs to be. Yeah, I love that. Great piece of advice. Thank you for sharing that.
• 49:53
  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.
• 50:18
  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.
• 50:40
  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.