Podcasts about beautycon

No boys. No dresses. As a teen, Moj Mahdara, founder of the fashion media company Beautycon, knows she's different. And growing up in a traditional Iranian household, she struggles to reveal her own true identity. When two long-term houseguests descend — her grandmothers — Moj is shocked to learn that each woman has a surprising story of identity of her own. She learns secrets. She also learns that generations before her, family members had fought to define themselves. And it's through these old souls that Moj finds the strength to stand in her own truth. Listen here.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you have a great product idea but worry about standing out in a sea of competitors? In this episode of the Habits and Hustle podcast, I am joined by Shannon Race, co-founder of BioMe and former head of global marketing at Vital Proteins, who shares her insights on building successful brands in crowded markets. We dive into a range of topics including the importance of product differentiation, authentic storytelling, and leveraging micro-influencers for effective marketing. We also discuss the psychology of packaging design, the evolving landscape of traditional and digital marketing, and the key factors venture capitalists consider when investing in startups.  Shannon Race co-founded bio.me, a pioneering gut health and fiber supplement company, and serves as a board member and strategic advisor for Koia plant-based protein drinks. With over 12 years of experience in marketing and brand strategy, Shannon is currently a Principal at Starshot Ventures, where she leads investment strategy and advises portfolio brands. Shannon has spoken at industry events such as Create & Cultivate, BeautyCon, and BevNET.  What We Discuss: (01:00) Building Successful Brands in Venture Space (12:26) Celebrity Endorsement Impact on Brand (21:45) Revolutionizing Gut Health With BioMe (30:49) Trends in Wellness and Hormone Therapy (42:20) Entrepreneur Branding and Market Appeal (47:26) Elevating Branding Through Packaging and Storytelling (01:01:56) Enhancing Branding With Micro-Influencers …and more! Thank you to our sponsors: AquaTru: Get 20% off any purifier at aquatru.com with code HUSTLE Therasage: Head over to therasage.com and use code Be Bold for 15% off  TruNiagen: Head over to truniagen.com and use code HUSTLE20 to get $20 off any purchase over $100. Magic Mind: Head over to www.magicmind.com/jen and use code Jen at checkout. BiOptimizers: Want to try Magnesium Breakthrough? Go to https://bioptimizers.com/jennifercohen and use promo code JC10 at checkout to save 10% off your purchase. Timeline Nutrition: Get 10% off your first order at timeline.com/cohen Air Doctor: Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code HUSTLE for up to $300 off and a 3-year warranty on air purifiers.  Bio.me: Link to daily prebiotic fiber here, code Jennifer20 for 20% off.  Momentous: Shop this link and use code Jen for 20% off   Find more from Jen:  Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen   Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagement Find more from Shannon Race: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bio.me/?hl=en  Website: https://bio.me/

Breanna is an innovation-obsessed executive with 14 years of experience in digital marketing, social media and leadership. She is an expert in pioneering impactful brand strategies with an affinity for the latest developments in beauty and e-commerce. Through her expertise and stewardship of high-performing teams, she has spearheaded the launch of countless SKUs and propelled growing D2C brands to triple-digit success. Breanna thrives in the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing in the CPG industry. Her career began as one of the first Social Media Managers working for celebrities & the hospitality industry. She has spent the last decade in the beauty industry working for Henkel, Toni&Guy, Em Cosmetics and CAA's beauty incubator. She is currently StratiaSkin.com's VP of Marketing.In This Conversation We Discuss:[00:42] Intro[01:51] Shifting from agency to beauty brand leadership[02:23] Scaling from a side hustle to a major brand[03:19] Purpose-driven marketing with a scientific approach[04:18] Strategizing a brand refresh and repackaging[05:56] Embracing a science-driven, anti-marketing role[06:43] Transitioning from partnerships to in-house sales[07:32] Launching products with influencer events[08:40] Capitalizing on TikTok for customer acquisition[09:57] Episode sponsors: StoreTester and Intelligems[13:09] Building genuine relationships via organic gifting[15:24] Targeting influencers for better marketing results[16:35] Communicating effectively with TikTok influencers[17:09] Starting small but growing quickly with influencers[18:21] Strategic gifting to test products and engage[20:06] Focusing on TikTok content to build organic growth[21:40] Growing a TikTok following to build credibility[22:40] Driving revenue via regular TikTok live sessions[24:06] Stratia: healthy skin, backed by scienceResources:Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on YoutubeHealthy skin, backed by science stratiaskin.com/Follow Breanna Greenberg linkedin.com/in/breannagreenberg/Book a demo today at intelligems.io/Done-for-you conversion rate optimization service storetester.com/If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

She's famously an actress, a poet, a producer and privately a reiki master, and now she's launching her own skincare brand! Lili Reinhart joined us at our living taping of the pod at Beautycon this past weekend to talk about her skincare line Personal Day, share her struggle with acne, her experiences on accutane while filming Riverdale, how she wants the entertainment and beauty industries to change, and the mental + skin health tie.Shop Lili's episodeWatch our episodes!GlossAngelesPod.comCALL or TEXT US: 424-341-0426Join our Slack to try new products before they launchJoin our FB GroupInstagram: @glossangelspod, @kirbiejohnson, @saratanTwitter: @glossangelespod, @kirbiejohnson, @saratanEmail: glossangelespodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's the best dry shampoo these days? How do we really feel about ingestible collagen? And what products do we think cannot be duped? Kirbie and Sara answer our Glamgelenos' latest inquiries from our Slack Channel. We also announce some very exciting news about Beautycon, including who we'll be chatting with as our guest on Saturday, November 2. If you want to join us, head over to Beautycon.com to grab your tickets and use code GLOSSPOD for 25% off! Shop this episodeWatch our episodes!GlossAngelesPod.comCALL or TEXT US: 424-341-0426Join our Slack to try new products before they launchJoin our FB GroupInstagram: @glossangelspod, @kirbiejohnson, @saratanTwitter: @glossangelespod, @kirbiejohnson, @saratanEmail: glossangelespodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Several big news items to discuss this week: we're hosting a live episode of the pod at Beautycon this year! And we've got a discount code on tickets. Use GLOSSPOD for 25% off! We'll be announcing our special guest next week. Cassandra Grey bought back Violet Grey after Farfetch acquired it (and shortly after dissolved their beauty sector). We dive into why we're excited to see it back in her hands. But the biggest news of the week revolves around Tarte, Hermes bracelets, and gifting etiquette. We're genuinely confused about the brand's current social strategy — even as beauty editors, we rarely know what product is being launched or promoted, as most of the discussion online tends to stem from their unsavory antics. Extravagant press trips and designer gifts are great, but is it getting the brand the return they desire? Shop this episodeWatch our episodes!GlossAngelesPod.comCALL or TEXT US: 424-341-0426Join our Slack to try new products before they launchJoin our FB GroupInstagram: @glossangelspod, @kirbiejohnson, @saratanTwitter: @glossangelespod, @kirbiejohnson, @saratanEmail: glossangelespodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In S4 E1 of Chew on This, ​Ron and Ash sit down with Kevin Gould, Co-Founder of Glamnetic, as he shares his entrepreneurial journey from starting Beautycon to co-founding Glamnetic. He discusses the challenges faced during the pandemic and the importance of influencer marketing and community building. Kevin also emphasizes the significance of analyzing marketing campaign success and managing separate teams for different ventures while also sharing learnings between them. He highlights how collaborations and cross-promotions between brands are key strategies for growth, and how building unique value propositions and brand loyalty over time, along with thoughtful product development and retail distribution strategies, are essential for long-term success in the beauty industry.

Join us as we welcome Shannon Race, co-founder of Bio.me, to our podcast this week.     With over 12 years of experience in marketing and brand strategy, Shannon is currently a Principal at Starshot Ventures, where she leads investment strategy and advises portfolio brands.    She also co-founded bio.me, a pioneering gut health and fiber supplement company, and serves as a board member and strategic advisor for Koia plant-based protein drinks. Shannon has spoken at industry events such as Create & Cultivate, BeautyCon, and BevNET.    Bio.me is a female-founded company dedicated to improving gut health with effective, science-backed supplements. Their products, including bio.me Daily Prebiotic Fiber, bio.me Fiber Rescue, and bio.me Daily Synbiotic, aim to rebalance the microbiome and support overall digestive wellness. Better gut health leads to more energy, better sleep, reduced bloating, and a stronger immune system.   On this episode you'll learn:   How to Create a Strong Brand Identity: Discover the essential steps to build a brand that stands out, from understanding your audience and crafting a clear message to maintaining visual consistency and sharing an authentic story.   The Power of Fiber in Boosting Gut Health: Learn how fiber supports digestion, balances the microbiome, reduces inflammation, enhances nutrient absorption, boosts immunity, and helps regulate blood sugar levels.    Key Business Tips from Shannon & Co-Founder Chloe Melas: Gain valuable insights from their experiences in growing successful brands and navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship.

Follow us @doseofblkjoy & learn more about “A Dose of Support” from the 4A's - American Association of Advertising Agencies ⁠https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEW1U3sVdZRCQHPVtmwxAITUEA5I4ojWGAgKJMMp3Tc63l-A/viewform?usp=sf_link⁠ About God-is: Throughout her career, God-is has been a strategic executive who is responsible for better serving and engaging diverse communities through digital channels all around the world through brand marketing, campaigns with partners, and events and experiences. As a proud Black American woman hailing from the Bronx, NY, she is passionate about pairing an authentic community care approach with inclusive, culturally fluent marketing, community-integrated product and policy evolution and cultural insights to show there is value in all communities, and that they deserve to be recognized, respected and rewarded—not counted out. As a marketing executive at Twitter for over 4 years culminating in 2022, she drove strategy to make sure that campaigns and programs were connective, inclusive and reflective of the communities Twitter served. Externally, she both established and built on Twitter's work in developing relationships and programs with community leaders, content partners, influencers, creators, partners and brands. Prior to joining Twitter in 2018, God-is was Director, Inclusion & Cultural Resonance for VMLY&R. In this newly created role she focused on bridging strategic inclusive marketing and strategy with internal processes and policies to foster an equitable environment at the agency, and produce inclusive work outputs. Earlier, she held lead channel strategy roles at VMLY&R, global agency iCrossing, and Austin-based T3. God-is has been profiled in digital trade and national publications Adweek, Ad Age, Marie Claire, Forbes, Digiday, Fortune, Campaign US, and The Drum. In 2018 she was named an Ad Age “Woman to Watch” and Adweek “Disruptor” for continuing to fight for representation and equity in the advertising industry. In 2020 God-is was recognized for her work at Twitter amplifying historically marginalized voices as #28 on the Root 100 Most Influential African-Americans list, BET's Top 100 Most Innovative and Influential Business Executives, and by Fortune Magazine on their esteemed 40 Under 40 list of influential people in the technology category. In 2023 she was recognized by ColorComm as one of the influential 28 Black Women in Communications “Making History Now”. This same year she was also recognized by her hometown, the Bronx Tourism Council, and was inducted in the Bronx Walk of Fame for excellence in the field of marketing. In November 2023 God-is also was chosen to be inducted into the American Advertising Federation's esteemed AAF Hall of Achievement Class of 2023, a prestigious honor representing an impactful and innovative career in marketing, advertising, and/or media. In October of 2022 God-is joined The Walt Disney Co. as their first VP, Inclusive Marketing across all Disney streaming platforms and networks including content and IP across ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+ where she is tasked with developing and leading strategies to connect with diverse audiences and amplify inclusive content. In June of 2023 God-is joined Essence Ventures as their first-ever Chief Content Officer. Leading content strategy and connection with intersectional global audiences across all Essence Ventures brands including; Essence Publishing, Afropunk, BeautyCon and Essence Studios. As of 2024 she has been active as an independent consultant with top global brands and organizations around the world. God-is is also a highly sought after keynote speaker and moderator who has spoken for several brands like Netflix and Spotify, and at international events such as The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, The Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, and Brandweek in Palm Springs, CA among many more. God-is resides in the greater New York City area with her husband and daughter

Tamalin Srisook Polo began in the corporate interior design industry, but as a single mother, she decided to leave her job and start her own production company, Presence Entertainment. She quickly gained recognition by producing events for major publications like Architectural Digest, Angeleno Magazine, and Los Angeles Magazine. Her success with Presence Entertainment, a white-label company that produced immersive events for high-profile clients like Lionsgate, Fox, Ogilvy & Mather, Buzzmedia, Blue Shield, Unilever, and Cirque du Soleil, led to even greater opportunities. She became the original producer of Beautycon, the first large-scale beauty influencer event. This achievement opened the door for her role as Global Programs Manager at YouTube Space LA. Tamalin eventually founded Savoir Agency, assembling a team of seasoned experts who share her passion for creating elevated in-person events. Savoir is a unique hybrid agency, with a concept studio of talented event stylists and experiential designers, and an event production team that specializes in high-profile, large-scale, and bespoke destination events. Their client list includes big names like Good American, entrepreneur Emma Grede—the mastermind behind Skims, Good American, and Roku's latest show "Side Hustle"—Nike, Lululemon, Love Wellness, Google, Honda, and many more. Tamalin enjoys working with brands that seek an event specialist who can bring creative concepts to life, and she also collaborates with private clients who value bespoke detail and custom-made events. Savoir Agency website: https://savoiragency.com/ Savoir on IG: https://www.instagram.com/savoiragency/ Over the Edge Podcast is a collective survival guide for creatives who want to thrive in an unpredictable industry. OTE publishes new episodes weekly about pushing creative boundaries, making big moves without knowing all the answers and jumping off a cliff to our dreams while figuring out how to build a plane on the way down. Creative work is wild, but we can figure it out. Let's go over the edge together, friends. Free posing guide when you sign up for our weekly email series Creative's Edge: https://paigeray.com/creatives-edge Learn more about Paige on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/paigeraycreative/ Visit the Paige Ray Creative website here: https://paigeray.com/

In this episode of the Balancing Chaos Podcast, Kelley sits down with Rachel McCord, celebrity entrepreneur and TV personality on “Elevator Pitch” and “Growing Up Chrisley".These days, Rachel is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, Amazon Live personality, and one of the most influential influencers of our generation. But that wasn't always the case, before a successful exit in her twenties, Rachel started her first business with just $93 to her name. She went from trailer parks and food stamps to sharing stages with celebrities and thought leaders, including First Lady, Michelle Obama.In today's episode of the show, Kelley and Rachel discuss the importance of taking action and starting where you are in order to achieve success. She emphasizes the need for continuous learning and growth, even if it means starting small and making mistakes along the way. The two unpack a variety of topics when it comes to starting a business like like how to achieve financial freedom and feeling worthy of success, tangible tools like creating a customer avatar and how to build brand awareness. If you're looking to start a new career or build on an existing business you wont want to miss this episode! To connect with Rachel click HERETo connect with Kelley, click HERETo get 7 days FREE of Kelley's WBK method click  HERETo get Kelley's FREE Health and Hormones Webinar click HERE 

Since its inception in 1970, Essence magazine has been a go-to lifestyle magazine for Black women, covering a wide range of topics such as politics, fashion, beauty, and more. Today, Essence Ventures remains a pivotal part of the community, organizing events like the Essence Festival of Culture, Beautycon, Afropunk Festival, among others. In this episode, we have the privilege to hear from God-is Rivera, Chief Content Officer of Essence Ventures, as she shares her personal journey in the media industry and gives us a glimpse of what lies ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Glams, we'll be taking a much-needed fall break beginning this Friday, so you won't hear from us again until the end of the month when we have a special guest! Today we discuss what we'd do if we hosted our own event a la Beautycon, then dive into what worked (and what didn't) with the event's first production since 2019 under new management. Kirbie attended the show to see what made it different from years past. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We recorded an impromptu podcast of the Med Spa Club at Essence Fest in their BeautyCon booth!We had some candid conversation with the one and only Dr. Carlnetta Rabb. Dr. Carlnetta Rabb DNP,FNP-c is a wealth of knowledge. Earning her Doctrine of Nurse Practice from Louisiana State University (LSU). It was through detailed scholarly course work and internship she discovered a love for wellness, and preventative medicine. Dr. Rabb has worked in critical care, plastics, hospice, and child abuse, where she is often called upon as an expert witness to testify in child maltreatment cases. She has cared for and treated a wide variety of patients ranging from wellness to illness throughout her career. Dr. Rabb is an advocate and firm believer of health & beauty the wellness way.   stay connected IG: @kyuraesthetics www.kyuraesthetics.com

Eden Zeilo, a Brand Marketing Leader & Beauty Executive has worked amongst the industry's best from Shea Moisture to Black Opal and Fashion Fair to bring brands to life both globally and domestically. Here's what we discussed:

Have you dealt with hair loss before? Sara is sharing her recommendations for restoring your hair post-pregnancy. (Including some follower suggestions, too!) We then discuss Catt Sadler's facelift and whether 48 is too young to consider an invasive surgery of that nature. (Kirbie shares some thoughts here as well.) We close out the episode with the news that Beautycon is back, but how must it change to align with the needs of consumers in 2023?We'd also love your help growing the podcast, Glams! If you listen and support us, consider sharing an episode with your group chat or BFF. :)Shop this episodeGlossAngelesPod.comhttps://linktr.ee/glossangelespodCALL US: 424-341-0426Shop products from our episodesJoin our FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/glossangelespodcastInstagram: @glossangelspod, @kirbiejohnson, @saratanTwitter: @glossangelespod, @kirbiejohnson, @saratanEmail: glossangelespodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A note from team Getting Curious: This episode contains descriptions of violence that are at times graphic. Women in Iran aren't allowed to dance, sing, or show their hair in public. But it wasn't always this way in the country. In part two of our conversation with Moj Mahdara and Nicolette Mason of the Iranian Diaspora Collective, we're exploring the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran—and considering what a free, secular democracy, a new constitution, and an end to theocracy could look like for Iranians. If you haven't listened to part one yet, check it out. We discuss the basics on what it's like to live in Iran today, and map out the women-led revolution underway in the country. You can follow Iranian Diaspora Collective on Instagram @iraniandiasporacollective, and at iraniandiasporacollective.com. Nicolette is on Instagram @nicolettemason. Moj is on Instagram @moj.  And you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. The Iranian Diaspora Collective (501c3 pending) is a non-partisan, multi-faith group that is inclusive of multiple backgrounds, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity. The Iranian Diaspora Collective supports the demands of Iranians inside Iran who want a free, secular democracy, a new constitution and an end to theocracy. Nicolette Mason (she/her) is a celebrated writer, brand strategist in the fashion and beauty industries, and advocate for Inclusivity. She's a queer, Iranian-American, Jewish advocate, and a founding member of the Iranian Diaspora Collective. As an advocate for diversity and inclusion, Nicolette has collaborated with brands such as Barbie, Nordstrom, Target, NARS, and more, and also co-founded a cult-followed fashion brand called Premme, alongside Gabi Gregg. Moj Mahdara (she/they), is an Iranian-American entrepreneur, CEO and VC, a co-founder of Kinship Ventures and founding member of Iranian Diaspora Collective. They are focused on bringing more inclusion and diversity to the cap table and have invested in 100+ companies since 2011. Mahdara recently co-founded new fund Kinship Ventures alongside Gwyneth Paltrow. They are also the former CEO of Beautycon, a globally-recognized community for content creators, celebrities, fans, and brands. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Chris McClure, and Erin McKeon. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

A note from team Getting Curious: This episode contains descriptions of violence that are at times graphic. If you haven't heard about the women-led revolution happening in Iran, or you thought things had quieted down, that's by design. The Islamic Republic of Iran has banned women from dancing, singing, and showing their hair in public. And they've restricted Internet access for people across the country. Still, taking these risks—and showing the world—is worth it to Iranians who want a free, secular democracy, a new constitution, and an end to theocracy. This week, Moj Mahdara and Nicolette Mason—two founding members of the Iranian Diaspora Collective—join Jonathan for a two-part conversation about the country's biggest protest movement in more than 40 years, and what's at stake for women, young people, LGBTQIA+ people, and ethnic and religious minorities in particular. In part one, we'll focus on the last six months in Iran. In part two—out tomorrow—we'll explore the history of the Islamic Republic, and what the future could hold for the people of Iran. You can follow Iranian Diaspora Collective on Instagram @iraniandiasporacollective, and at iraniandiasporacollective.com. Nicolette is on Instagram @nicolettemason. Moj is on Instagram @moj. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. The Iranian Diaspora Collective (501c3 pending) is a non-partisan, multi-faith group that is inclusive of multiple backgrounds, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity. The Iranian Diaspora Collective supports the demands of Iranians inside Iran who want a free, secular democracy, a new constitution and an end to theocracy. Nicolette Mason (she/her) is a celebrated writer, brand strategist in the fashion and beauty industries, and advocate for Inclusivity. She's a queer, Iranian-American, Jewish advocate, and a founding member of the Iranian Diaspora Collective. As an advocate for diversity and inclusion, Nicolette has collaborated with brands such as Barbie, Nordstrom, Target, NARS, and more, and also co-founded a cult-followed fashion brand called Premme, alongside Gabi Gregg. Moj Mahdara (she/they), is an Iranian-American entrepreneur, CEO and VC, a co-founder of Kinship Ventures and founding member of Iranian Diaspora Collective. They are focused on bringing more inclusion and diversity to the cap table and have invested in 100+ companies since 2011. Mahdara recently co-founded new fund Kinship Ventures alongside Gwyneth Paltrow. They are also the former CEO of Beautycon, a globally-recognized community for content creators, celebrities, fans, and brands. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Chris McClure, and Erin McKeon. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

Jameel is the Founder and CEO of the consulting agency Writeful Place. His agency scripts narratives for personalities, brands, and businesses looking to realize unexploited revenue potential. Jameel Spencer is an award-winning veteran brand builder, who has played pivotal business roles for Shaquille O'Neal, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Simpson and more over the last 25+ years. Current clients for Writeful Place include WHP where he serves as CMO in residency, WHP+ where he is an Advisory Board Member, Reserve Bar where he is Executive Director of Spirited Change, Essence Ventures where he is the talent strategy lead for all their experiences to include the Essence Festival of Culture, AfroPunk and BeautyCon, and Endeavor as a consultant on Honeyland. Jameel is married to Chandra and has 6 children. He is a big advocate for the balance of work/home life. Listen to all his amazing work/entrepreneur/homelife thoughts and wisdom. OUAI: Go to www.theOuai.com to get 20% of your favorite products. EVERYLYWELL: Go to www.everlywell.com/INMYHEART To get 20% off your next at home lab test. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Special reminder that Kris is on maternity leave. We will be circling back on  previous episodes and feature special new episodes with our guest host,  Culture Editor at Autostraddle, Shelli Nicole. We will be back to our regularly scheduled programming mid-November! Welcome to the Bad Queers family, Moj Mahdara! Moj is the CEO of BeautyCon and joined Kris and Shana to discuss all things butch identities, Black Lives Matter, the real gay agenda, how all queers don't know each other and how Moj's wife is a genius. All this and more on this week's episode.Shoutouts:Shana - Black LGBTQIA+ Groceries (@blackandqueergroceries) Bay Area solutions for Black Queer Food insecurityKris - Intelexual Media (@intelexualmedia) by Elexus Gionde shares facts and stories about race, history, sexuality, black progression, culture and prideMoj - Shirley Raines (@beauty2thestreetz) makeup, hygiene and essential services for the homeless of Skidrow, CABad Queers is co-hosted by:Shana Sumers: @shanahasagramKris Chesson: @kris.chessLet's keep in touch:Email us for advice at badqueerspod@gmail.com or DM on InstagramFollow us @badqueerspod on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Tik TokCatch us live every other Wednesday on Get VoklLove our soundtrack? Check out Siena Liggins: @sienaligginsShoutout to our sponsor HER App

The Humble Beginnings of a Successful Business EmpireAir Date: Thursday, 4 August 2022 at 12:00 PM ET/9:00 AM PTWatch the Livestream on the OMTimes Magazine Facebook, OMTimes Radio & TV Facebook, or OMTimesTV YoutubeEver wonder what the beginning stages look like before a business empire is built?Do you love stories of inspiration where hard work pays and putting yourself out there, pays off?How creating & building community has become a key pillar for business success.Join my special guest, and soulsister, one of the sweetest, and still most humble women I know, Amy Nicole, an entrepreneur, educator, mentor & beauty expert.Amy is the Founder of Chic Studios – all things beauty, and Director of Wine, Women, Well-Being Okanagan- where we met!After spending 20 years as a professional makeup artist, Amy created a career doing what she loves most, which is educating and empowering others.Amy began her career in Canada, refining her knowledge and trade-skills, arriving at advance principles in makeup artistry techniques.Amy has been a valuable expert for leading beauty events in New York City, Los Angeles, and Canada working with top models and celebrities. Additionally, Amy has lent her expertise to broadcast realms and multiple designer fashion shows and events to include New York Fashion Week, LA Street Fashion Week, BeautyCon, to name a few.Amy's legacy with the Chic Studios brand was created out of a desire to develop a school that offered professional training, resources and the tools necessary to help makeup artists launch into a successful career.Amy recently launched The Chic Experience which is under the umbrella of her chic makeup schools, and offers events, conferences and retreats designed to connect and inspire like-minded females and creative entrepreneurs worldwide.Amy is an active member of her community and has sat on as a board member of organizations.Connect with Amy at IG @AMYCHICSTUDIOS https://www.instagram.com/amychicstudios/AMY@CHICSTUDIOSMAKEUP.COM#AmyNicole #SuccessfulBusiness #RosalynFung #boldsexywarrior #SoulgasmicBusinessSOUL ASCENSION BUSINESS ACADEMY is for impact hungry & ambitious coaches, lightworkers, healers, therapists, practitioners & bodyworkers, go from struggling to stand out in the noise, to have the roadmap and activations to boldly show up and stand out, so that they can confidently magnetize their soulmate clients and monetize on their calling with my Illuminate Method (TM).HI! I'm Rosalyn Fung Coaching: Bold Sexy Warrior, former registered psychologist turned Akashic Visionary Life & Business Soul Coach, and inside this potent container, I help my clients:Take all your ideas and put them into a clear path of action towards your big vision dream and businessOvercome self-doubt, belief in yourself & unleash your next level version of youEmbody the yummy sacred sales energy that magnetizes your soultribeEmbody CONFIDENCE to SHOW UP AUTHENTICALLY, BOLDLY & UnapologeticallyMy clients also get access to my expert team of industry leading coaches – social media, copywriter, & energy clearing coach -who are just as passionate as me about helping entrepreneurs just like you take your soul-led biz to next level impact, influence and income.DM me SOUL ASCENSION on Instagram @boldsexywarrior if you're feeling called to apply! Let's get you magnetizing 3-5 high-ticket clients in the next 30-60 days!Connect with Rosalyn Fung, Akashic Visionary Life & Business Soul CoachIG: BoldsexywarriorFB: Rosalyn Fung Coaching: Bold sexy warrior https://www.facebook.com/boldsexywarriorsFREE MASTERCLASS: Bust Your Procrastination, Boldly Show Up & Sign Your Soulmate Clients https://rosalyn.mykajabi.com/ondemand-masterclassVisit the Activate Your Soulgasmic Business Show Page at https://omtimes.com/iom/shows/activate-your-soulgasmic-businessSubscribe to our Newsletter https://omtimes.com/subscribe-omtimes-magazine/Connect with OMTimes on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Omtimes.Magazine/ and OMTimes Radio https://www.facebook.com/ConsciousRadiowebtv.OMTimes/Twitter: https://twitter.com/OmTimes/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omtimes/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2798417/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/omtimes/

Eric Galen joins us in the Gamechangers studio at FlU's College of Communications, Architecture + Arts in Miami, FL! Eric Galen has been representing top founders, brands, startups, and creators for more than 20 years. Mr. Galen leads Greenspoon Marder's Innovation & Technology Group, where he leverages his unique background of corporate, Web3, media, and entertainment law to help clients succeed. Eric also serves as a member of the firm's Entertainment & Sports and Corporate & Business practice groups. Mr. Galen's diverse clients and collaborators have included: - Companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Doodles, E11even Crypto, Fullscreen, Route, Calm, GameSquare Esports, OPI, Jaunt VR, Baccarat, Blo Dry Bar, Awesomeness TV, Tik Tok, Imagine Entertainment, Milk & Honey, Audiomack, and Haute Living; - Investors like Fuel Venture Capital, Raised in Space, and Muse Capital; Talent such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Johnny Depp, Will.i.am, Perry Farrell, Gina Carano, Dennis Rodman, Mayor Francis Suarez, The Picasso Estate, Mike Dean, David Copperfield, and Norman Seeff; and - Executives at companies like Conde Nast, WME, Faze Clan, BeautyCon, Techstars, Raised in Space, and more.

This week we chat with Moj Mahdara. You might know her best as the Co-Founder and Former-CEO of Beautycon, the globally-recognized community for content creators, celebrities, fans, and brands. Moj Mahdara's expertise in the beauty, wellness, and CPG market formed the brains behind the driving brand vision for Beautycon and its growth initiatives, launching the brand globally; where her strategic media partnerships, content development, market intelligence, and e-commerce built the community empire we all know and love over the past 5 years. In this episode, the pair reveal a lot of the “unknown” about Moj; piecing together the mosaic of her journey to a successful marketing career building from her foundation of childhood immigration, trauma, and alienation. Conversation of survival strategy in early twenties, the future of cryptocurrency, and the stigmatized nature of mental health are only the beginning. The two create the space for a call to action towards the mental health crisis, leaving behind a trail of compassion and wisdom. As a now active investor and working on her first book, Moj focuses on bringing the industry together via Beauty United.org. Twentysomethings, you won't want to miss this episode with the resilient Moj Mahdara, as she reveals the character development that drove her towards a life she once only dreamt of and a business that connects and inspires thousands.Follow us!Moj Mahdara: @mojBeautycon: @beautycon and (and website here)Dear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething (and on Fireside here)

Kendra talks to entrepreneur, investor and business partner, Moj Mahdara (@moj) about her COVID pivot, personal value proposition and the future of the industry. Moj is recognized as an expert in beauty, wellness and CPG (specifically consumerism and culture), and she is the  Co-Founder of Beautycon--a globally-recognized one-of-a-kind festival for content creators, celebrities, fans, and brands. She drove the brand vision for Beautycon and its growth initiatives, including a global footprint that spanned strategic media partnerships, content development, market intelligence, and e-commerce.  Moj is an accomplished speaker, business figure and an active investor with international recognition for her expertise in Gen Z and Millennial consumer profiles and behaviors. She has been named to multiple lists over the years, including Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire magazine; Fast Company's “Most Creative People” list, The Hollywood Reporter's “Top 25 Most Powerful Digital Players,” Women's Wear Daily's “Digital Power Posse” list and Variety's “Digital Entertainment Execs to Watch.” In addition to her many accolades, Moj is regarded as a senior leader who has always centered, culture, creativity and inclusive community.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kendra talks to entrepreneur, investor and business partner, Moj Mahdara (@moj) about her COVID pivot, personal value proposition and the future of the industry. Moj is recognized as an expert in beauty, wellness and CPG (specifically consumerism and culture), and she is the  Co-Founder of Beautycon--a globally-recognized one-of-a-kind festival for content creators, celebrities, fans, and brands. She drove the brand vision for Beautycon and its growth initiatives, including a global footprint that spanned strategic media partnerships, content development, market intelligence, and e-commerce.  Moj is an accomplished speaker, business figure and an active investor with international recognition for her expertise in Gen Z and Millennial consumer profiles and behaviors. She has been named to multiple lists over the years, including Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire magazine; Fast Company's “Most Creative People” list, The Hollywood Reporter's “Top 25 Most Powerful Digital Players,” Women's Wear Daily's “Digital Power Posse” list and Variety's “Digital Entertainment Execs to Watch.” In addition to her many accolades, Moj is regarded as a senior leader who has always centered, culture, creativity and inclusive community. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the first day of fall, and a busy AF September. That's okay because Instagram is on FIRE with beauty lewks that are inspiring us to break out of our bare faced slumps! First up, we recap our top #ICYMI moments from Spring 2022 Fashion Week so far –  including the runway show that inspired Carlene's new favourite lippie look. Next, we dive into the beauty news of the moment, like what the heck is happening with Beautycon, celebrity plastic surgery doppelgangers and Kylie's new-new baby-care line (yep!!).    Finally, Carlene reveals her skincare routine fail that led to a fortnight of itching. Stay tuned as Dr. Laurel Geraghty helps solve our sensitive skin woes, in a phone-a-friend segment brought to you by Cetaphil. You'll find out the difference between sensitive skin vs sensitized skin, the fastest way to fix a flare up, along with the simple routine (and ingredients!) you need to keep sensitive skin calm, cool and collected (like do you really need to avoid exfoliation?) Join us for a definitive round of True or False, sensitive skin edition.   Get social with us and let us know what you think of the episode! Find us on Instagram, Twitter. Join our private Facebook group

, or give us a call and leave us a voicemail at 1-844-227-0302.    For any products or links mentioned in this episode, check out our blog: www.breakingbeautypodcast.com/blog   Thank you to our show partners. When you support them, you support the creation of Breaking Beauty Podcast!    CetaphilOur conversation with Dr. Geraghty is brought to you in partnership with Cetaphil. Cetaphil's iconic, best-selling cleansers and moisturizers – Gentle Skin Cleanser, Daily Facial Cleanser, Moisturizing Cream, Moisturizing Lotion and Advanced Relief Lotion – are now reformulated to better meet the needs of even the most sensitive skin. Follow Dr. Geraghty on Instagram and Cetaphil on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook to continue to learn more about the new and improved formulas.    Flip Beauty Shopping App Flip is the new interactive way to shop for beauty products. Download FLIP beauty shopping app in the Apple App Store and Google Play today. Simply search for “FLIP Beauty Shopping App” and USE CODE GLAM30 for 30% OFF towards your first purchase, plus enjoy free shipping and returns.    *Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, all products reviewed are gratis media samples submitted for editorial consideration.*   Hosts: Carlene Higgins and Jill Dunn Theme song, used with permission: Cherry Bomb by Saya
 Produced by Dear Media Studio

#6: Sydney Carlson is the co-founder and designer of tech accessory company, Wildflower Cases, alongside her mom and sister. She is the epitome of a trendsetter and someone who is unafraid of showing up as her true self. I met Syd and her family over seven years ago at Beautycon and they were people that I just knew would be in my life forever. It was so fun to catch up with her and talk about how she deals with imposter syndrome, her daily routines and where she finds her inspiration for the phone cases she designs and the fashion she wears. This episode is all about following your passions and doing what makes you happy, because you just never know where it could take you. #MAYFAIRWORLD   Get In Touch With Sydney: Follow her on Instagram HERE Subscribe to her YouTube channel HERE Follow Wildflower Cases on Instagram HERE Shop Wildflower Cases HERE   Stuff We Mentioned Pajamas by Eberjey “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” by Don Miguel Ruiz   MERCH: The Essentials drop is now available! We are offering 20% off today (7/1/2021) only with the code MAYFAIRWORLD. Shop the drop HERE.    Want More From Mayfair? Follow Sam on Instagram HERE Follow The Mayfair Group on Instagram HERE Shop The Mayfair Group HERE TEXT 81247 for exclusive updates! By signing up via text, you agree to receive recurring automated promotional and personalized marketing text messages (e.g. cart reminders) from Mayfair Merch at the cell number used when signing up. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel. Msg frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. View Terms {http://attn.tv/mayfairmerch/terms.html} & Privacy {https://attnl.tv/legal/p/Vii} This podcast is produced by Nikki Butler Media.

Our episode today with Erik Huberman of Hawke Media was a mini-class of 5-6 various topics all combined in one show. We talked about increasing lifetime value, about how venture funds work, equity deal lessons, the marketing we should be focused on, and building an agency, systems, and owning your audience. We share the vision with Erik, as there's a lot of what we've done previously such as having an agency, and we like the fact that he's not trying to create his own products, but is just staying in his lane. We also talked about owning your own audience and bringing them somewhere where you can follow up with them as well as the idea of aspirational content where the content is built so it's inherently sharable as that's the content that people want to be shown. The content is what goes viral, not the sales page. We talk about how he is building sweat equity and brought in someone to view what he was doing, as there are probably some better deal structures out there. Erik has all these companies and basically crafted something where he can be his best self, which creates funds, books, and his own platform through scaling people. After you have listened, be sure to check out our chats with Charles Byrd and Sergei & Vadim Revzin to get your mind reeling with the opportunities behind venture funding and expanding your network for lucrative deals.  “Figuring out your average sales cycle is critical so you can analyze everything else well.” - Erik Huberman   Some Topics We Discussed Include: How venture funds are the next level of curation Accessibility for great marketing for all From beanie babies to a BMX The #1 thing that most companies overlook in their marketing Why 9 women can't make a baby in a month Why the consideration period is more important than you realize Dialing in your content with your product or services' aspirational ideals   Resources From Erik Huberman: Hawke Media Ecommweek.la Hawke Capital References and Links Mentioned: PostScript  Fab Fit Fun  Beautycon  Rebelmail  TapCart Are you ready to be EPIC with us?! Then grab our EGP Letter here! Did you know we have an awesome YouTube Channel?  Join the Facebook Community - be sure to hop in our Facebook group to chat with us, our other amazing guests that we've had on the show, and fellow entrepreneurs! This episode is sponsored by Easy Webinar - be sure to check out these special deals for our listeners. What Venture Funds Look For In Businesses - Sergei & Vadim Revzin Using Systems To Build And Maintain Strong Relationships - Charles Byrd

This week's episode is one about growth and giving yourself the grace to evolve. Jade sits down with Moj Mahadra, a founder and investor who is the CEO of Beautycon. Moj talks about the feeling of being told you don't "fit", mistaking ambition for self-abuse, coming out to her parents at 30, and why it took a baby for them to truly reconcile. On top of all of this, she talks about how her life was turned upside-down by COVID-19, which inspired her to start therapy and work through past traumas to achieve self-acceptance.  Moj has been named to multiple lists over the years, including Fast Company's “Most Creative People” list, The Hollywood Reporter's “Top 25 Most Powerful Digital Players,” Women's Wear Daily's “Digital Power Posse” list and Variety's “Digital Entertainment Execs to Watch.” In her own words, “Becoming an entrepreneur isn't for the faint of heart.” Download this episode of Tell Me About It with Jade Iovine wherever you get your podcasts! For more podcast info and pictures of Jade's pug Taco, follow Jade on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jadeiovine/ Follow Moj on Instagram for a deeper look inside her life: https://www.instagram.com/moj/  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Executive Produced by Nick Stumpf Produced by Catherine Law Engineered and Edited by Brandon Dickert Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

This week, we sit down with Kevin Gould as we continue our Forbes 30 under 30 series. He is an entrepreneur, talent manager, brand builder, and active angel investor based in Los Angeles. Gould is the CEO of Kombo Ventures which operates as a holding company to its core operating divisions: talent management, a strategic creative agency, and brand Incubation. He is the co-founder of three direct to consumer brands, all of which have raised no outside capital: Insert Name Here, a hair extension and products brand launched in October of 2018 with co-founders Sharon Pak and Jordynn Wynn, previously the first two employees at Colourpop Cosmetics and ranked by Tribe Dynamics as one of the leading hair brands on social media. Wakeheart, a fragrance and scent brand aimed at Gen Z and young millennials, launched in July of 2019 and co-founded with the Dolan Twins, two of the largest digital influencers in the world with over 20 million followers on social media. Glamnetic, a magnetic eyeliner and lash brand launched in July 2019 and co-founded with Ann McFerran, a former artist and entrepreneur. Gould is an active angel investor and advisor in a number of innovative startups; Clutter, Gyft (acquired by First Data), Compology, DraftKings, The Hunt (acquired by Pinterest), Whistle (acquired by Mars), Step, Rinse, Jukin Media, Brandable, Stem, Pocketwatch, Cargomatic, Beautycon, and many others. Named to Variety magazine's 2019 Dealmakers Impact List, honoring top dealmakers in the entertainment industry, Gould regularly speaks on panels and at events on new media, influencer marketing, and the convergence of technology, entertainment, and consumer brand building. Follow Kevin on Instagram here ▶ https://www.instagram.com/keving/?hl=en Learn more about Insert Name Here ▶ https://www.instagram.com/insertnamehere/?hl=en Learn more about Wakeheart ▶ https://www.instagram.com/wakeheart/?hl=en Learn more about Glamnetic ▶ https://www.instagram.com/glamnetic/?hl=en Subscribe to this page here ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqUr​... Follow Redirected on Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/theredirect...

Ashley Henderson is a Los Angeles native, a Howard University Alum ('11) and proud member of Alpha Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is the Founder of League Twenty Two, a creative events agency specializing in event production and execution, brand experiences and cultural relevance with a focus on Beauty, Music, Sports, Retail and Philanthropy. Some of her clients include Nike, H&M, Estee Lauder, YouTube and Beautycon. Instagram: @leaguextwenytwo. Website: www.leaguetwentytwo.com Projects that I loved working on: Nike #UntilWeAllWin Battle Of The Real Jollof, YouTube Black Creator Summit and 300 ent- Album Release Parties THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF HOWARD UNIVERSITY*** ________ Follow On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howardalumni/​​ Facebook Group: https://facebook.com/howardalumni​​ Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/howardalumni​​ Subscribe to Newsletter: https://www.humovemakers.com/​​ Howard Homecoming: https://www.homecomingathoward.com/​​ ________ Welcome to the HU Movemakers Podcast (www.humovemakers.com), where we highlight folks in Howard University Culture that are blazing the trail and making moves! If you would like to apply or nominate someone to be on the podcast, please email bio/headshot to humovemakers@gmail.com. ________ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humovemakers/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/humovemakers/support

When I think of the 7 of Swords the first thing I think of is that you’re getting away with something. Now, that could be a good thing or bad thing, depending on the circumstances. Often this card indicates solving a problem without direct confrontation. As much as we might WANT there to be a black and white solution to our problems, a right choice and a wrong choice,  the Seven of Swords often appears when we having to navigate ambiguity, times when there is no clear answer. If this sounds like your life, you're going to want to tune in.Our guest today is Jerico Mandybur, author of "Neo Tarot: A fresh approach to self care, healing, and empowerment", and "Daily Oracle: Seek answers from your higher self". She’s also the host of the podcast, Beyond Belief, and was previously the host of the chart-topping Self Service and a weekly guest on Girlboss Radio. As a tarot reader and spiritual coach, Jerico has held court at events hosted by Urban Decay, HBO’s Game of Thrones, BeautyCon, Depop, Soho House, the Chateau Marmont, Neuehouse, The Fullest Magazine, and more. Jerico is deep, and our conversation was juicy, can wait for you to meet her!********************************Find out more about our special guest, writer, tarot reader, and podcaster Jerico MandyburVisit her website: https://jericomandybur.com/Check out her podcast: Beyond BeliefGrab her tarot deck:  Neo TarotCheck out her Instagram feed: @Jerico.Mandybur *********************************AVAILBLE WORKSHOPS*Cutting the Cord - a Banishing and Welcoming Ritual Workshop*In this workshop we’ll be releasing our sorrows and clearing our wounds. Then, we’ll welcome in the ways we’d like to grow and flourish in the coming year. CLICK THIS LINK TO FIND OUT MOREThis is a Between the Worlds workshop and can be purchased as a one off, or is included in your Jupiter level subscriber membership.  Click here to register.**********************************Learn More About Your Host Amanda Yates Garcia, & Buy Her BookTo sign up for Amanda's newsletter, CLICK HERE.To order Amanda's book, "Initiated: Memoir of a Witch" CLICK HERE.Amanda's InstagramAmanda's FacebookTo book an appointment with Amanda go to www.oracleoflosangeles.com**********************************Original MUSIC by Carolyn Pennypacker RiggsCheck out Mind Your Practice - Carolyn's new podcast with author and arts consultant, Beth Pickens.Mind Your Practice is geared towards artists and writers looking for strategies and support to build their projects and practices (plus loving pep talks). There’s even a club - “Homework Club” - which offers creative people a framework for keeping their projects and practices a priority with *actual homework* and optional accountability groups made up of other artists and writers!You can visit MindYourPractice.com for more details or listen wherever you stream Between the Worlds.**********************************Get in touch with sponsorship inquiries for Between the Worlds at betweentheworldspodcast@gmail.com.**CONTRIBUTORS:Amanda Yates Garcia (host) & Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs (producer). The BTW logo collage was created by Maria Minnis (tinyparsnip.com / instagram.com/tinyparsnip ) with text designed by Leah Hayes.

We chat with Beautycon CEO, entrepreneur, and investor Moj Mahdara about her relationship with money & wealth and her speech that inspired the name of our podcast.In this episode, we chat with Beautycon CEO, entrepreneur, and investor Moj Mahdara about her relationship with money & wealth and her speech that inspired the name of our podcast.Follow us, Instagram: @ialsopodcast, Twitter: @IAlsoPodcastSpeaker Bio: Moj Mahdara is a digital entertainment and branding entrepreneur and a Persian-American LGBT advocate. She's the CEO of Beautycon, a key connector in the makeup world, operating a growing number of namesake beauty-blogger festivals—in L.A., New York, London, Dallas, and Dubai—that attract as many as 12,000 attendees. Her empowerment-focused gatherings feature panel discussions and networking events. The company also launched a Birchbox-like subscription service in 2015, and it generates additional income by linking online beauty-advice stars with advertisers for marketing campaigns. A graduate of the University of California, Irvine, Mahdara previously served as CEO of Exopolis, a digital advertising studio, where she grew the client list to include brands such as Microsoft and Apple. Mahdara then formed the agency Made With Elastic, where she executed digital campaigns for Levi’s, Lacoste, and BMW. She became CEO of Beautycon in 2013, helping the company attract investors such as Hearst, Bethany Mota, BBG Ventures, and Troy Carter, and leading Beautycon to new levels with an expected revenue of $10 million in 2016.Follow Moj on Instagram: @moj Twitter: @mojism and Clubhouse: @moj

This week's episode features Girl Boss, Xixi Yang, who is an award-winning entertainment journalist and the founder of XYZ Media. She is the creator and host of "Pop News Edition", a show aimed to give viewers an in-depth, global look at some of the biggest pop culture stories around the world. As the first and only Asian-American woman to anchor “Live From the Red Carpet” solo from the Oscars and Grammys, XiXi has brought millions of viewers around the world live coverage through the Associated Press. She put her bilingual skills to use for a global audience by conducting interviews and delivering live hits in both English and Mandarin. Since 2016, XiXi has been an entertainment contributor to CNN and HLN, discussing pop culture and social issues on “CNN News room”, “Morning Express”, “On the Story”, and more. She has served as a spokesperson for various Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Verizon, Macy's, BeautyCon, and more. XiXi has been invited as an honorary speaker at various universities and schools, including Compton High School and Yale. XiXi shares with the We Know WeHo hosts her Re-Invest in Main Street initiative to support other women entrepreneurs affected by C-19, how she took a big leap and started her own media company in 2020, her collaboration with BH Cosmetics with her Lunar New Year Collection that just hit #1 with Ulta, the upcoming Chinese New Year and her thoughts on Bling Empire. Show Notes & Links: XiXi Yang Instagram @xixiyang BH Cosmetics Lunar New Year Collaboration Clubhouse Social App Conservatory West Hollywood WeHo Bistro Gracias Madre Bling Empire Sweet Lady Jane - Triple Berry Cake Superbowl meal boxes: Slab, Bludso's, Madre, All Day Baby Lady & Larder Cheese Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese - Blue Chees @pointreyescheese Ronan on Melrose for pizza Found Oyster oyster shucking lesson on Instagram highlights Carla's Cafe at Bootsy Bellows Sidecar Donuts - new location on Fairfax & 3rd Madre Happy Hour Bottega Louie West Hollywood Taco Thursday at La Peer Hotel Craig's LA - dinner specials back on the menu Sparrows Lodge in Palm Springs Holiday House Palm Springs Hotels Tonight App Joshua Tree National Park Split Rock Hike @ Joshua Tree Pioneer Town Motel

Kevin Gould is the founder and CEO of Kombo Ventures. Many people say they're the bridge between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, but Kevin's the real deal. We discuss why he outsourced his script coverage as a young talent agent, when he liquidated his IRA to start angel investing, how "sliding into DMs" helped him launch 3 beauty brands with $75 million in sales, and how I misjudged Kevin when we first met.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com--EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:Chris Erwin:Hi. I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up. A podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Kevin Gould:I did two things. One was I played credit card arbitrage. The second was I think I had forgot what I had in my Roth IRA at the time and I cleared the Roth IRA account and cleared it out, and then took that money and invested in startups. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Kevin Gould, the founder of Kombo Ventures and three direct to consumer beauty brands. Many people say they're the bridge between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, but Kevin's the real deal. He's also acutely aware of the value of his time. As a young talent agent in LA, Kevin actually outsourced his script coverage to his friends so he could fly up to the valley and meet with tech investors and CEOs.Early success drove Kevin to launch his own digital agency, Kombo Ventures. A key player in the YouTube and influencer revolution. At the same time, Kevin also began angel investing through a $40,000 cash advance against his credit card, but in 2018, Kevin wanted to go even bigger in digital. He began sliding into the DMs of up-and-coming beauty execs and pitching new business ideas. With just six figures of startup capital, Kevin launched three beauty brands, and just 18 months later, those brands now generate 75 million in annual sales.At the end of our interview, we talk about why Head of Live will soon be the hottest role in town. Getting called out on a Facebook earnings call by Sheryl Sandberg, and how I misjudged Kevin when we first met. All right. Let's get into it. Chris Erwin:All right. Kevin, let's rewind a bit. Why don't you tell me about where you grew up? Kevin Gould:I was born in Champaign, Illinois. Both my parents went to University of Illinois. I didn't live there for very long. I don't remember any of it. I was probably a year and a half old, and then I ended up moving to Greensboro, North Carolina where I spent pretty much my whole childhood through high school there, and so really call North Carolina home. Chris Erwin:Are your parents still in North Carolina today? Kevin Gould:No. My background on my parents. My dad is a professor of sports psychology. He also had a pretty extensive private consulting practice where he worked with a lot of athletes, and then my mom's a grief counselor. My dad ran the Sports Psychology Department at UNC Greensboro, which was a public college down in North Carolina. Then, after I graduated high school, he ended up going up to Michigan to Michigan State where he leads that department there still to this day. They're up in the cold now. Chris Erwin:Okay. Got it. What was it like growing up with a sports psychologist in the household? Were you like a big sports family? Were you a big sports fan yourself? Kevin Gould:Growing up I was a huge sports family. I think North Carolina is really known for basketball, so outside of Greensboro, you had Chapel Hill, you had Raleigh, you had Wake Forest, you had in that sort of like 90 mile radius. You had Carolina, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest. I also grew up in the era of Michael Jordan and the Bulls. I was a huge Bulls fan. It was really… Looking back it was really interesting having my dad as a sports psychologist. Kevin Gould:It's one of those things when you're a kid you don't fully appreciate it, right? Chris Erwin:Yeah. Kevin Gould:It was a little bit less of like necessarily my dad directly teaching me these things, but it was me picking up just from being around him and being around all these elite athletes the importance of positive thinking and mental toughness, because the really interesting thing and why sports psychologists are in business is primarily for individual sport athletes. He worked with a lot of tennis players, downhill skiers, race car drivers. If you're a car driver and you get in a serious wreck, that's in your head man and it really is hard to get that out of your head. There's a lot of mental work and mental toughness that goes into play. Kevin Gould:I think what ended up happening was sort of learning by osmosis and just being around all that, it really, to this day, I try to have a really positive mindset. Life in business as a roller coaster, right? So, really just being able to fight through that wall and having mental toughness is one of the key takeaways for me out of that. Chris Erwin:Yeah. I played some individual sports growing up like tennis and I remember how often I would get in my own head, and then reading a book called Inner Tennis, which was the psychology of the sport and just how powerful that thinking was. It's interesting that you highlight that. Kevin Gould:100%, and so my dad wrote the textbook for pretty much it's national use for sports psychology. I don't even remember going to the university and sitting in on the college classes and have to stop, I didn't understand. I was 8, 9, 10, right? Chris Erwin:Yeah. Kevin Gould:But the other half I really I think just picked up, again, just by listening and being present and being there. It was a super interesting experience. Chris Erwin:Was your mother in a similar field? Kevin Gould:They're both in the field of helping people. My dad was in the field of education. My mom was a grief counselor and she runs a non-profit still to this day. Quick kind of back story how that came to be. I had an older sister who actually died from a really rare metabolic deficiency before I was born, so I never had a chance to meet her, but for my mom at the time she really became like a pioneer of finding out more information about these metabolic deficiencies and helping educate other parents who maybe either lost loved ones to these or had children with these deficiencies and what was interesting is… Kevin Gould:Never really talked about this before. So, I've had this deficiency my whole life. I have to take medicine every day. I'm completely fine. I honestly don't even really think about it that much, but it is something that if left untreated is super serious. My mom really dove into helping other parents, particularly parents who've lost loved ones through this certain set of metabolic disorders. I think both of them were really, really loved to help other people. Again, my dad through the education lens and my mom's through sort of the grief support and consulting lens. Chris Erwin:Look, we're going to talk a lot about the many different businesses that you founded, but I just have to ask knowing about this condition. You said that you don't think about it often, but if you do take medicine for it every day, does that also cause you to think about your mortality and each moment counts and it's why you've maybe built so fast so early in your career? Have you ever thought about that? Kevin Gould:That's an interesting perspective and take on it I think. Look, I take medicine like three to four times a day and it's so ingrained in me, because I haven't known anything different. So, if you've been doing something your entire life, I don't know anything different than that. We can get into my drive and I think what drives me. I think maybe there's subconsciously some element to that. I don't know how much it plays in, but I mean, look, I think as we get older too, you obviously think about like what's important in life, what are you doing? What's your purpose? Kevin Gould:I think that could for sure have some play in it, but it definitely I don't think was the driving force for what drives me, but I think that's a really interesting take and perspective. I think there's some element of that that probably subconsciously comes into play. Chris Erwin:Yeah. All right. Well, let's talk about some other seeds of entrepreneurship in your early life. Did you know from early on that you wanted to build companies for a living or any other examples of skill sets that you're working on to help make you the entrepreneur you are today? Kevin Gould:I knew I wanted to be entrepreneurial. I just didn't know, one, how to go about it, where to start, what to do. We grew up sort of right around when the internet was starting to come up, but there wasn't YouTube, there wasn't a lot of information and education out there and people to look up to. Again, my parents were educators so they weren't necessarily in business. Kevin Gould:Then, I just didn't really have a lot of mentors when I was younger that I could look up to in North Carolina from a business perspective, but I feel like I just naturally gravitated towards… I was that kid that was the hustler that was always trying to start a side business. I have this memory that comes to mind. I was a swimmer growing up and the South and North Carolina, the community swim club over the summer are big things, and every summer there was this organization, it's called Swim for Cancer. Kevin Gould:The whole premise of Swim for Cancer was you would go raise money in exchange for swimming laps for cancer. The contribution of the young swimmer was go around the neighborhood, raise money, and then you'd swim a certain number of laps in honor of this organization. What it did at the time was I really was thinking back, I developed a lot of my sales skills through this, because I had to, middle of the summer, it's like a 100 degrees, humid in North Carolina, and I'm going around the neighborhood and I really had to figure out what my pitch was, right? Even though it was a non-profit, I was like 8, 9, 10 years old, I'm like, "How am I going to convince these people to give me money for this non-profit?" Kevin Gould:I remember going up to the doors like, "Hey, Mrs. Johnson this is Kevin. I'm swimming for Swim for Cancer, would you like to sponsor me?" Just through that, through knocking on 200, 300 doors over the summer, I started to sort of refine my pitch based on what was working and not working. Again, I didn't think that much into it at the time when I was at 8, or 9, or 10, but it was a really great learning experience that just translated to people skills later on in life, because I had to constantly adapt to the moment and every person was different. Kevin Gould:Mrs. Johnson was different than Mr. Jones who was the hard-ass guy, I'll be like, "How am I going to convince this guy to give me money for the non-profit? He barely wants to open the door." Then, at the end of the summer, you raise all this money, you swim all the laps, they have these awards, and then this is where I kind of learned in life like, "Look, everything in life isn't fair." Because I was like, "Man, I busted my ass all summer. I raised…" I don't know, like 2000 bucks or something from everyone in the neighborhood. I was like, "Yeah. I'm going to be the number one raiser in the city." Kevin Gould:I remember they called up the awards and they're like, "Oh, in second place is Kevin Gould with 2000 bucks." I was like, "Wait. Who could beat me?" Then, this one girl got $5000 flat and it was the check from the rich grandfather. I remember thinking, I was like, "Damn." Look, good for her, but I was like life isn't fair. It was a good… That whole experience was a great learning lesson, and then just throughout life I ended up working at that community pool. Kevin Gould:First started when I was 14 at the snack bar. That was a sales role, and then I became a lifeguard. You had to have a lot of people skills as a lifeguard, so I was always sort of training and not even knowing I was training for what I was doing today through all those things when I was a kid. Chris Erwin:I loved the story about raising money for cancer through the swim marathon. I also did a similar thing where I grew up in the Jersey Shore. In addition, I was also a boy scout and we used to sell Christmas, restoring Christmas. I remember I would take my bike out and go down these different driveways, knock on a random person's door in my town and sell them on a wreath and try and get money from them. Chris Erwin:It was like in the moment you feel awkward, you don't feel any confidence, but you start to develop those reps over time and you get better at it. Then, as you get older like sales is everything. It's not about just getting money from a client, it's about raising investor capital, getting your team excited, recruiting incredible team members to help build the vision that you have, getting buy-in from your friends and family, all the above, so what cool training you had early on. Kevin Gould:Yeah. It was amazing. To your point, every situation in person is different, right? You sort of have to in life and in business, you have to be able to adapt very quickly to the person and to the situation and everyone responds differently. For me, looking back that was amazing. I think that gave me an amazing head start and I didn't even know it at what I was doing at the time. Chris Erwin:Yeah. All right. Now, let's start to fast forward a bit. You go to UNC Wilmington, while you were there, was that a meaningful point in your life? Did you learn a lot or was it just a rapid stepping stone? Kevin Gould:When I was in high school I'd say I was an average to above average student. There was a lot of things that I was disinterested in and I'd always sort of asked my parents, "What am I learning this…" I was like, "Why am I learning this? I can't apply this to my real life?" Kevin Gould:There was always a little bit of that like, "What's the point of school because I don't think this is going to help me in the future?" I think that perspective was half right half wrong. I think I was a 16, 17-year-old kid just like stuck in school and there were a lot of elements that were helpful, but also, for me, there weren't a lot of things that I felt like were helpful for what I wanted to do. Kevin Gould:Anyways, I got into a couple of schools in North Carolina. I don't think I got into Chapel. I can't even remember. I don't think I got into Chapel Hill. I didn't have… Our high school super competitive, didn't have good enough grades. Got into UNC Wilmington, which is a pretty good school. I mean for me, what was important was on the beach. I was like, "All right." Greensboro. I'm going to what I thought was the coolest place in North Carolina, which is Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, and got down there. Kevin Gould:I spent three and a half years there. I graduated a semester early, because I got AP credits. I studied business. I think it was marketing with I think a minor in entrepreneurship and leadership studies. But, again, college I think can lay the foundation, but teaching entrepreneurship is a really hard thing to do and learning entrepreneurship through a book or a class or case studies can maybe you can learn a few things, but really entrepreneurship you just have to jump in and go. Kevin Gould:I think looking back elements of it were helpful, elements of it probably weren't necessarily helpful, but at the time there wasn't an option like there is today for an 18-year-old where if I was 18 today, for me, personally, I probably wouldn't have went to college, but there wasn't any other option back then. It was still like you better go to college and you need a college degree to get a job, and so I had to go. It wasn't really like an option not to go. Chris Erwin:Yeah. I totally agree that that is changing. It used to be, as you said, if you can afford to go to college and you get in, you go to school and that's just what you do right after you get out of high school, but nowadays there's a lot more options. I think people are more open-minded and they don't want to incur the ridiculous student debt. So, questions are, do you take a gap year? Do you travel? Do you go work somewhere full-time, and then go enroll in school with more focus or do you not go to school and maybe do a trade school or learn how to program? Chris Erwin:I think that is very empowering to our new workforce. I agree that for certain people even if you have access to college, it's just… Yeah. It doesn't make sense. Kevin Gould:What's amazing now is there's the power of choice and the power of information that wasn't necessarily there back then for everyone. I think young people have incredible opportunities now and there's still things… If you want to be a doctor, you have to go to school. Specialized things, there's no way around it, but I think for someone who wants to be into business, luckily, there's a lot more flexibility now and you've got a lot more options. Chris Erwin:Speaking of business, after UNC Wilmington you head to LA. Your first job is at talent agency WME, but you were in LA for about a year and a half or so before you started your full-time role there. What were you up to? Kevin Gould:Yeah. Actually, after I graduated, so I graduated in the winter. It was a semester early, so I didn't get out to LA for a few months after that. I had to kind of get my bearings, get everything together, and then I drove out, and then there was a little, maybe a little under a year and a half period where I honestly, man, I was right out of college, I was 21, didn't know what I wanted to do. Kevin Gould:I was in college, so I worked at… I had a bunch of odd jobs. I worked at the Student Rec Center, then I became a certified personal trainer. I thought I wanted to start my own personal training business for a while. I was like, "Okay. This is something like I could be an entrepreneur, do something at the time, which I thought I loved." Then, I moved to LA and I kind of had odd jobs for a while. Kevin Gould:I was personal training. I ended up personal training a lot of people in the entertainment business. I got a lot of referrals, some really high level working actors. Chris Erwin:How does that happen? You show up in LA, you have an East Coast network, and all of a sudden you're training people in entertainment. How does that start? Kevin Gould:I knew a couple people out in LA at the time, and I was always good at sort of connecting. I think it Myspace at the time. I was trying to just connect with people. I knew a couple people out here, and then it kind of like was anything, it was just… I think I was pretty good with people. I was great at getting referrals and kind of built like… It was a very short period of time, but a small book of business for myself. Kevin Gould:I mean, dude, I got a real estate license. I was all over the place. I was like, "I'm going to be a real estate agent to the stars. I'm going to…" I just didn't know what direction I wanted to go in, and then I sort of started reading up on the talent agencies, and then someone at the time, on the client side connected me, and so got into WME probably 15 months after I got out here. It was such an experience, man. There is nothing like going into one of the big talent agencies, and really at the time it was… It still is. It's WME and CAA, right? Kevin Gould:Going in to the mail room where you do anything that they say. It was like a crazy experience, man. I remember you get in the mail room, there's a class of 10 other people that start the same week as you, and so you kind of form this bond with those 10 people that are in the class and everyone's kind of trying to size each other up. It's super competitive, but you have to do anything that the agents say. Kevin Gould:You're not even an assistant, you're not an assistant yet, you're getting called up by an agent, and they're like, "Hey, I need you to go get me a coffee, make sure it's like seven scoops of this. Don't do six. Make sure you stir it. If it's not hot, I'm going to make you go back and get it." At the time, that's the worst job for me, because I don't even drink coffee. I'm literally trying to google like how different coffees are made. I wasn't that sophisticated. I wasn't drinking coffee at 21. Kevin Gould:You literally run errands for all these agents and you're delivering scripts to actors. You have to go deliver scripts. It was like a crazy, crazy experience, man. Chris Erwin:Yeah. When you started, you are signing up to be a yes man. People call you do whatever they need, the talent, the agents, what have you. Just within the first couple weeks, were you energized by that? Being like, "All right. I'm a yes man, but what a cool environment to work in," or was there a little bit of an itch saying, "I really want to have my own path here and this feels limiting?" What was going through your head? Kevin Gould:Yeah. There was definitely an element of, wow. The energy inside an agency is insane. Everyone's moving and shaking and there's information flow inside an agency that you don't get anywhere else, right? You sort of like get plopped into the agency and it's this hub of just information of everything that's going on in the entertainment world and you're like, "Whoa." You're seeing huge actors walk down the halls and you definitely… When you're a 22, 23-year-old, you jump in there, you're like, "Wow. This is really cool." Kevin Gould:At the same time I was already thinking, "Okay. How am I going to quickly get out of the mail room, become this and like the path to become an agent?" I was like, "I got to get out of doing this." How am I going to kind of make the jump to do something else? Chris Erwin:I think that you have mentioned that you started early work in the Digital Department and doing some of the verse like digital and influencer deals out there. What were you up to? Kevin Gould:Yeah. Slightly different though. At the time, there really wasn't that much of a Digital Department at WME. There was one person. I started on a traditional talent agent's desk. I was working with that at the time, all of the young Hollywood type… The CW actors of 10, 12 years ago, right? Those would be digital influencers now. At the time it was like the it people of young Hollywood, which is the stars of the CW or Twilight or whatever, or Glee or whatever it may be. Kevin Gould:Then, I jumped around to a couple different desks over the years, because you become an assistant, you work for an agent for a while, and then you sort of move up to different desks. I worked across the Talent Department, and then I worked across the Non-Scripted TV Department, which at the time was starting to do a lot more digital work. Then, there was literally a one-person Digital Department. I think maybe it added one more person when I was there. Kevin Gould:I wasn't in the Digital Department. I sort of started creating my own universe of what I thought was digital at the time just on my own. I think I was the worst assistant, because I was trying to figure out how do I do the least amount of work I can as an assistant and get by and do a great job for the agent, and then sort of run my side business on the side where I just started naturally gravitating towards what was going on in Silicon Valley. Kevin Gould:Every free minute I had I was reading TechCrunch. I was reading all the Silicon Valley blogs at the time about what was happening there and I started to see- Chris Erwin:This was around 2010, 2012? Kevin Gould:It's like 2011, 2012. The first year I was really just in it just learning the talent agency side of the business and I also learned the things I didn't like to do. When you're an assistant in the Talent Department, you're responsible for every couple of weeks you have to cover a script. The agencies get tons of submissions. The agents aren't going to read it, the assistants have to read it. You get assigned a script to read. I started reading these and I had to write a summary and I'm like, "This sucks, man. I don't want to read scripts and summarize a script." I actually started paying people on the side 50 bucks to do it for me because- Chris Erwin:You're arbitraging time. Kevin Gould:I was arbitraging time. I was like, "I hate doing this. It's not…" That made me really realize, I don't really want to be a traditional talent agent working with actors, because I don't like reading scripts. It's fun to watch movies, wasn't fun to watch scripts. Then, after the first year that's really when I started to get really intrigued by the digital space, and which then sort of led me to after just reading about it for a while, seeing some of these really cool companies popping up. When I'm reading TechCrunch, they raised a little bit of money, and I'm like, "Man, I feel like if they had some entertainment connections, I could be helpful to them." Kevin Gould:I just started emailing these like cold emailing from the WME email address. "Hey, this is Kevin, I work at WME. I'd love to meet with you guys. I think I could be helpful on the entertainment side." Then, on Fridays, I'd kind of fly up once or twice a month to Silicon Valley and just take meetings with these people. Chris Erwin:You're meeting with investors and CEOs, founders of companies? Kevin Gould:This was what I found interesting. I found a gap where people being young, people thought I had something of value that they didn't. I couldn't do shit for anyone in the talent agency. Like, "What am I going to do for an agent that's been there 20 years?" I didn't have a skill set that they didn't have. I would have to try to be them, right? Chris Erwin:Yeah. Kevin Gould:But I saw this gap where all of these founders and even these VC funds, they had no clue how the entertainment business worked. I was like, "Wow. I can be that bridge that sort of sits between both worlds." I really spent a year just getting to know the space, flying up, meeting with people, building the Rolodex, plugging them into relationships and not even asking for anything just to sort of build some relationships. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Do you remember some of these companies? Who are some of your first Silicon Valley clients? Kevin Gould:Well, maybe I'll cut to kind of how it officially kind of came to be, because before it was… I remember at the time I was sort of signing clients on the side. She's a really good friend of mine, Jesse Draper. Do you know Jesse? She runs a VC fund down in LA. Chris Erwin:I think I met her when I first moved to LA in 2012. I don't remember she was like on the cap table for big frame, but she was like around that whole world. Kevin Gould:Yeah. We put her with Big Frame. I signed her on the side as a client and I was like, "Okay. We're going to build out a huge digital show for her." She was plugged into Silicon Valley. She was one of my first clients while I was at WME that I like took on and worked with from a, not a company necessarily, but a person and her and I are still really great, great friends to this day, but then there were just a lot- Chris Erwin:Kevin, to be clear. The business was not through WME, this was through you individually? Kevin Gould:No. Not yet. Jesse was through WME and I signed her, I was at WME, and the agent that I was working for at the time was really supportive, and all the other businesses I was helping at the time, because I was at WME, it was really informal. I wasn't taking money from them. I was just doing it to learn the space. What it allowed me to do was refine my understanding of what made a good company, what made a good founder. Kevin Gould:I mean in the beginning my instinct wasn't as good. I was going after companies that couldn't get to scale, maybe didn't have the right founder, maybe there was a ton of competition in the space, and then at the time, I was working for an agent and the way the agency is laid out is you've got all the agent offices, and then there's a huge row of just like… You've been in the agency. There's a huge row of assistant desks and assistants all sit next to each other. Kevin Gould:I was sitting next to this guy, smart guy, worked at Goldman, gave up everything to come to the agency, and then he was working for Charles King at the time, who now runs Macro. We would sit next to each other and just talk about the tech space and we sort of share the same passion. We ended up leaving together and we started, what was at the time, a company called Startup Agency, which the whole idea was Startup Agency was going to bridge Silicon Valley and the entertainment side of the business. Kevin Gould:One of my first clients that we signed was, again, someone who's become a really great friend to this day. It was a company called Gift at the time, which the whole premise of Gift was a digital gift card app that could buy, send, sell, receive digital gift cards and I met CJ, the founder… I went to TechCrunch Disrupt, the big conference. I saw him present on stage. I went up and said, "Hey, man, I've got this company called Startup Agency…" Chris Erwin:You just approached him cold? Kevin Gould:Just approached him cold. He kind of looked at me like, "Who's this guy?" Kind of blew me off. I said, "Give me your card." I gave him my card. He gave me his card, and then the next week I called him, he was still apprehensive. I got on the phone. I was like, "Look, I can really help you out. If you could get to anyone in the entertainment business, who would it be?" Kevin Gould:He said, at the time, Giuliana Rancic was a new mom on E. Perfect for what they were trying to do as an ambassador for their business. I said, "Okay. Give me a couple days." I came back a couple days later. I said, "Hey, I got a call set up with Giuliana's manager and her team and Giuliana. Let's put a partnership together." Two weeks later, she came on as like a big face and an ambassador to the brand, and then we did a ton of other things for Gift along the way. Kevin Gould:That was one of the first clients, and then so Tim and I is still a good friend. He ultimately wanted to go more in depth with us, a single company, and that's when sort of Startup Agency kind of pivoted. I rebranded and kind of became an element of what Kombo Ventures is today. Chris Erwin:You go full into Startup Agency I think in 2012, right? Kevin Gould:Yeah. I think 2012. Yeah. It's the end of 2012. Right around there. Chris Erwin:Okay. Kevin Gould:It's funny because I think some people have very linear paths. They were like here for three years and here for two and here for a year. Mine was very like it all sort of blended together. I was at WME and I was trying to sign these people on the side and have my own business, and then I sort of moved into Startup Agency, and then that sort of morphed into Kombo. Kevin Gould:There was this constant just evolution of what I was doing as opposed to a hard rigid like, "Here for this year, two years, three years." It just sort of morphed and evolved over time. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Kind of like the image that's coming to mind is a plant or a tree that's growing, and then there are these branch offshoots that might be like, "Oh, I'm incubating this idea. See where that goes. Maybe it grows maybe it doesn't." Then, there's this other offshoot, and then it becomes like a through line where the core of your career and all these different things build upon that and reinforce it, but then can take you serendipitously in different directions. I feel like that's what you did. Kevin Gould:Life is all about serendipity and that's a good analogy you made about the plants and different paths. Then, it still ends up all working up to the same place, but it kind of diverges here and there, but it all ultimately, even if you don't think it makes sense and at the moment it ends up making sense. That's life. Chris Erwin:Yeah. 100%. Startup Agency, and then I think that you take on a 10-pole client in Videogram and Cinemacraft for a couple years, but Kombo, what is now known as Kombo Ventures, which is a hybrid talent management, IP, incubation studio, digital agency, consumer brand launcher, that also really kind of takes off at the same time. Kevin Gould:So at the time there's this company called Cinemacraft. They had a product called Videogram, really interesting sort of early video product that they had an algorithm that allowed basically videos to be spliced and diced algorithmically to pull out the most key points of the video. It was mostly like a B2B sales play where you sell into studios and networks and content providers. It was part of Turner at the time had this thing called Turner Media Camp where Turner was funding startups, and so that as a client at the time, I got super involved. Kevin Gould:I was really part of like the founding member of the team there. I wasn't the founder by any means, but was on the founding team and that was a great experience to get a little bit more operational in one company where I still had other clients at the time, and sort of I ultimately realized I wanted to at that time be involved across multiple clients, and really build out Kombo and the whole model of Kombo sort of shifted into a real agency where I was looking for… Kevin Gould:The thesis was go find late seeds, series A, sometimes series B companies that didn't have someone internally that had my relationships Rolodex, know-how of the entertainment business. Go to them and have a sort of hybrid model where I would take a retainer, because I needed to get paid, take sweat equity. I didn't have a formal finance background, so what that allowed me to do was learn all about cap tables, all about financing, learning by just osmosis of just being around it. Kevin Gould:Then, ultimately, what I realized, it's like, "Wait a second. These companies that I'm taking equity in…" Because I'm super particular and I wouldn't just work with any company, they all have zero trouble raising money from top tier funds. I was seeing I had a firsthand view of how well the company was doing, because I was very integrated with the companies. I started negotiating to let me invest in the last round of funding, because at the time, I was cutting small angel checks of what was 10k or 15k or 20k to them, at the time I was taking that consulting money, and then dumping it back in. Kevin Gould:It became this really interesting model where I had a couple wins that really worked. I had some that obviously went to zero, but the ones that worked, worked well and most importantly what it allowed me to do was I basically got to make money and get a really good generalist view of how lots of different companies are run, how lots of different founders work, because they all work different. It was just amazing at that time of my life to be able to do that. Chris Erwin:Well, and I have to say, so a few points. One, that rubric you talked about, flying up to Silicon Valley, starting to get a sense of what companies were meaningful that you felt are worth betting on versus not. You started to create that filter that you likely applied now at Kombo. So increasing your likelihood of success, better return on your time. Second what I'm hearing is that early stage companies, seed series A, getting them to pay you a monthly retainer as an advisor is not easy. Chris Erwin:I run an advisory business myself. I specifically target later stage companies that have cash wherewithal. So impressive that you're able to get them to spend money on you, but then also they want results often, and so you must have been delivering to have maintained those relationships. Kevin Gould:So very, very good point. It's really hard to get startups to pay you money when they're obviously very cash conscious, particularly if they're that series A stage where paying a $5000 retainer a month or whatever it is that I was charging back then was hard to come by. What I did was I always delivered before I asked for anything. I think that's a good thing to do in just life, whether you're someone that's trying to come in a company, whatever it may be. Kevin Gould:Always deliver a little bit, show that you can drive results, and then it makes it much easier to ask for something after you've already done that. At the time, I was like young coming out of WME, it's not like Kombo was kind of I guess what it is today where it's a little bit more established and I had a little bit more of a reputation. I didn't really have much of a reputation. The only way to do that was to deliver before I asked for anything, and some people would say, "Oh, well, that's a waste your time. Well, what happens if they don't compensate you or whatever?" Kevin Gould:I look at it a completely opposite way. It always… At least, for me, it always ended up working out. Even if I didn't end up working with them, I still know those people to this day. I can call on a favor. I've gained a relationship, whatever it may be. Maybe it took me 5 to 10 hours of work to put in to try to gain the client, but that's the only way I could get them was to deliver, and then ask later. Chris Erwin:Yeah. You were looking at it from a long-term point of view, lifetime value the customer. So, by doing the work up front, even if you don't get paid for that say like 5 to 10 hours, that could be a customer for the next 10 to 20 years of your life. They can be paying you cash retainer fees. They give you access to their cap table. They refer you to other advisory clients, because they like you. You're able to make other angel investments. Chris Erwin:It's incredibly valuable to put the work in, which also filters if a company appreciates that, that's someone that you want to work with. You feel them out over time. It's a two-way interview. Kevin Gould:100%, and life is a series of compounding relationships. You put in on that work, you help people out, you do good by people, and all of that over time starts to compound to I think kind of what it is today where I feel like I know a pretty good amount of people. I've put in a lot of favors for people, if I ever need to call in a favor, I probably can. It's just this like network effect that continues to expand over time. Kevin Gould:I try to encourage all these young people that are trying to get in it for the quick money. It's just take a step back and just think a little bit about the long-term and there's other things other than like the quick hit that are going to be ultimately a lot more meaningful and beneficial to you long-term. Chris Erwin:Something else I just have to quickly touch on here. I think you mentioned this when we last spoke, but credit card arbitrage with your angel investments. So, you are making these small cash retainers as far from life-changing money, building a small business, so probably not a lot of extra cash going around, but you're putting money back into your clients, so you're like not diversified. If a client goes away, you lose your angel investment and you lose that retainer, but you're even tripling down in a way because you were going into credit card debt so you can put more cash into these companies, is that right? Kevin Gould:I'll even go one step beyond that. I remembered another thing I did, which was crazy. One was I thought, "Okay. I've got all these access to these incredible deals." For whatever reason in my head, I've never had that risk alarm bell. For me, anything I do I don't think is a risk, because I feel like I've assessed the risk and I feel like if I'm doing it, it's not a risk. I ultimately know there is a risk, but I don't know, my brain has always operated a little bit differently in terms of risk profile. Kevin Gould:I said, "Man, I've got $40,000 of a line of credit on one of my cards and I'm looking at the interest rate, I'm like, "Okay. What happens if I basically go max out this card and basically play interest rate arbitrage where if I can get into a couple of companies there's the…" The downside of it might go under, but there's the upside of, "Look, maybe it's a 15% interest rate a year, but if this thing can 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, whatever it may be, that's a pretty good bet." Kevin Gould:I did two things. One was I played credit card arbitrage. The second was I think I had… I forgot what I had in my Roth IRA at the time and I cleared the Roth IRA account, and cleared it out, and then took that money and invested it in startups. Chris Erwin:Wow. Kevin Gould:For anyone listening, I would never recommend doing that. It's not a strategy I would recommend, but I don't know. It made sense to me. It's hard to explain, because it rationally doesn't make a lot of sense and I'm a pretty grounded rational person a lot of ways, but I'm also willing to take a lot of risk. I don't know, that made sense to me. Chris Erwin:Yeah. I think liquidating an IRA, I think there's like a 10% penalty on top of that too. Kevin Gould:Yeah. I had to pay the penalty to liquidate it too. I had to pull out the cash, you're not earning interest on the money you're gaining, you're also paying the pre-liquidation penalty, but I got enough capital between the credit card arbitrage, the IRA, and the incoming revenue that I had coming in on the agency side of the business, because I was just basically paying my rent. I'm pretty simple. I wear like basic hoodies, t-shirt. I didn't buy a lot of fancy stuff and that's how I did it. Chris Erwin:In these early days, was there ever a point though where there was like a cash crunch? Every founder, and like this is me like every week, "Oh, are we going to make payroll this month? Oh, here's all the things that could go wrong and put us out of business." But you need to think optimistically. Were you ever down on your business? Kevin Gould:Luckily, I kept it really lean at the time. It was more about like, "Am I going to eat or not going to eat?" I always had enough to… Again, I feel like one of my natural skill sets was sales, so there was always enough of a client base to cover. We'll talk about I guess in a little bit the brand side of things, because when you're running a brand, a larger brand there's a lot of moving pieces on cash flow. But because I kept it lean, I was generally okay, but I had to really not live beyond my means, and also always be on the hunt for new clients and new business development. Kevin Gould:I definitely wasn't swimming in cash, because, again, I was taking lower retainers in exchange for these equity stakes, and then when there were some cash crunches, serendipitously, a company exits and I get a payout or I close a bit deal. I don't know, man. It always ended up somehow writing itself and, yeah, it was crazy. Chris Erwin:Yeah. I think that's the success formula. It's hard work having some diversified bets, and then a bit of luck where things just work out, and resilience. In those tough times not hanging up the towel. Be like, "No. We can get through this." Because all startups they just need a little bit of time. With time, the worst that can happen is you go to zero. The best is like the sky is limitless. Kevin Gould:That's exactly the way I think about it. The worst that can happen is it goes to zero, and ultimately, you learn from it and you start over. I know that sounds very simplified, and so a lot of people I think going to zero is that's obviously terrible, but for me, I'm like, "All right. I'll just from scratch and rebuild." That's kind of how I always thought about is the worst that happens is I learned a lesson and I got to rebuild. Chris Erwin:I like how Jocko Willink describes it who's former special forces and he's now an incredible executive and leadership coach and has his own podcast and much more. He's done the scenario. He goes through his worst case scenario planning, which is like, "Okay. If I'm really making pennies, then I will have a blanket on a concrete floor and I will eat beans out of a can." He's like, "That's not that bad." He's like, "I've had worse in combat scenarios." Chris Erwin:It's like when it's uncertain of how bad it can get, you freak yourself out, but when you actually get there logically, you're like, "Oh, I can do that for a few months. I can do that for a year. Sure." Kevin Gould:100%, and obviously, you don't want to do it, but you'll ultimately be okay. Then, it's just a matter of being resilient and getting yourself out of it and coming up with the next thing. Ultimately, that's like all business. If businesses can't get creative and continually be ahead of what's next, they're ultimately going to find themselves in that position anyway, so you have to constantly be coming up with new things to reinvent yourself, get creative. I don't know. That's how I think about it. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Cool. All right, Kevin, let's talk about how Kombo Ventures has evolved over the past couple of years. You've had some very exciting developments in your company where in addition to all of your agency management, IP studio work, you've now launched three very fast growing direct to consumer brands. Let's start out, what was the catalyst to evolve Kombo Ventures, and then specifically get into beauty products? Kevin Gould:Yeah. A couple catalysts, and maybe I'll cut back slightly, and then loop back into how this all kind of came to be. After running the agency side of the business for a few years, I was seeing the rise of influencers and big digital influencers, content creators, YouTubers, and thought there was a gap in the market where a lot of these talent needed to think about their brand as a real scalable business. Kevin Gould:I ended up basically starting another part of the agency where more of a management company where we were just managing and signing digital YouTube creators, big talent, and so for a while it was a split of still working with companies and doing all of the advisory agency services we were talking about, which is one part of the business. Then, the other part was managing these talent. Kevin Gould:On the beauty side, one company probably five, six years ago I got really deep with as an investor. Sort of fell on hard times now with the events, business and COVID and everything was BeautyCon, and through BeautyCon, I really saw, one, the influence that influencers have on the beauty business. Two, the scale of beauty businesses and how much they can scale. I think they were always very forward thinking from an e-commerce perspective. Kevin Gould:Then, the other we're seeing through the influencers that we were managing was like just even at a very basic level when they had their own merch business, the amount of scale that one influencer could get from moving merch. Which then led me to, "Look, I really want to start building my own brands." I'd say in summer of 2018, I had known Sharon Pak and Jordynn Wynn for a while. They were basically like the first two employees over at ColourPop Cosmetics, big cosmetics company. Kevin Gould:I slid in their DMs on Instagram. I DM both of them together and I said, "Hey, what are you guys up to? I'd love to catch up." I schlep over to Calabasas because they were working out of Oxnard, we met in the middle. I sat down. I was like, "Look, if you guys could start a brand and what space would it be?" We sort of just started talking and they were like, "Look, we think the hair space is a really interesting space. We don't think it's been innovated." You're like, "Color cosmetics has. There's a lot of legacy players, but they're not great at social content creative like sort of influencers." Kevin Gould:I kind of went back that night and did a bunch of research. I came back a day later and I said, "Hey, here's all the research on the space. Let's do this." They're like, "Whoa. Are you serious?" I was like, "Yeah. Let's do it." Chris Erwin:You were like jazzed up immediately? Kevin Gould:I was jazzed up immediately. I was looking for co-founders that… It's important to have co-founders that can do things you can't and vice versa, right? Chris Erwin:Yeah. Kevin Gould:I think their core expertise was social, creative, community building online, and so we partnered up and the brand launched. It was a soft launch, but it launched in October of 2018. That was the first brand. Chris Erwin:This is called Insert Name Here. Kevin Gould:Insert Name Here, INH Hair for short. When we started, it was primarily actual hair. Like Ariana Grande style ponytails, like that ponytail she always wears, hair extensions, wigs, lots of hair products. It has since transitioned into overall hair business where we sell blow dryers, straighteners, hot tools. We have hair color now. It's expanded a lot. Then, cut to last year there were two other brands that I launched and co-founded. Kevin Gould:One was also in the beauty space called Glamnetic. It is in the women's eyelash space. I did that with my co-founder Anne McFerrin, who's incredible, and sort of similar in that she is incredible at social, creative content, community building. I think a real visionary from a product development perspective. We launched that. Then, the third brand was called Wakeheart, which I did… This was done a little bit differently. Kevin Gould:It was done with the Dolan twins who were two big YouTubers and digital influencers. It's a fragrance and scent brand, really aimed at like Gen Z and young Millennials. The through line is that with all these brands we're like, "Okay. Look, we need to get these things profitable within six months or less." That was like one goal we set. We're going to run these things lean. I wanted in the beginning a pretty large degree of autonomy. I didn't want to raise capital. So, self-funded the businesses- Chris Erwin:Jointly funded with your co-founders or were you just contributing capital? Kevin Gould:Different on each one. One of them I funded all of it. Two of them, I think we split some of it. Then, I was bringing… Mostly I was bringing the capital, and then I was bringing all the op side, everything on the operational side of the business. Then, I'd say I'm pretty strong on the marketing side as well, and so bringing a lot of that to the table and kind of cut to today. There's these three brands running, we still haven't taken on any capital for any of the brands. Man, there's like 90 something people across everything now. Kevin Gould:The brands grew really, really quickly. It obviously has been a very interesting year with COVID and how sort of everything accelerated from an e-commerce perspective. But it's been a lot of fun. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Going back to meeting the co-founders, how did you sell them on you? Because you show up… I think you kind of knew the ColourPop cosmetics team, but getting them to launch a business, change what they're doing, take on a bunch of risk, sign up for a lot of work. How did you get them excited about these ideas you had? Kevin Gould:You know what's funny is I feel like you'd have to ask Sharon and Jordynn, but they've kind of talked about it before. I think they like did… I don't know if they thought I was that serious at first, right? I was that serious. I literally sat down, and I said, "Hey, if you could launch anything, what should we launched?" Then, literally a week later we're meeting every weekend while they're still working like getting this thing strategized and planned and going. Kevin Gould:Yeah. I don't know. I think it was just an open honest conversation. I was like, "Look, we think there's a big opportunity here and let's take a shot at this and do it." I think to their credit too, I think they wanted to start… It was all serendipitous, right? They wanted to start their own business at the time and I think we all complimented each other in terms of the skill sets that we brought to the table, and so it just made sense. Chris Erwin:Then, you also said that you brought ops expertise to the table, but you don't have a background in launching CPG, e-commerce businesses, in fulfillment, developing relationships with manufacturers, designing packaging, so did you hire a team to help you figure that out or did you do it yourself? Kevin Gould:I've had my right hand guy, Lucas, who's been with me for a while. He's awesome. He also did not have a e-commerce op background. He had a banking background where he was at the Soros fund, and then kind of like do anything figure it out sort of mentality. I kind of just looked at the space and I was like, "We can figure this out." It's like anything, right? You put enough time into it and just dig in and be curious and ask a lot of questions. It's not rocket science. Kevin Gould:We're not building a biopharma company. It's not something completely out of my wheelhouse. I think by virtue of seeing a lot of companies being built over the years and sort of being close to the space, I knew enough as a generalist to be able to go in and figure it out, but you're right. Never cut a fulfillment center, put a fulfillment center deal together, never had to run the back end on the accounting side for an e-commerce business before, but you kind of just figure it out as you go. Chris Erwin:Just learn by doing. Kevin Gould:Learn by doing and the key is one thing with putting up your own money is you are very conscious of making sure you minimize mistakes, right? Chris Erwin:Yeah. Kevin Gould:For me, I'm like super high touch and heavily involved in each of the brands and still am to this day and just the key is, it's like, "How do you scale as quickly as possible to minimize the major mistakes you make?" It's okay to make mistakes and we want people to make mistakes because otherwise they're not moving quick enough and learning and growing things, but from a cash flow perspective going back to the cash flow piece, you need to make sure you don't make too many mission critical mistakes or you'll be out of business, particularly if you're self-funding your company. Chris Erwin:Speaking of the cash needed, how much capital did it take to actually just first launch these brands and get the first product out the door? Are we talking seven figures per brand, was it five to six figures of cash investment? Kevin Gould:I'd say minimum six figures on each brand, and then as they grow the biggest problem was trying to self-finance an e-commerce brand, if you're growing quickly is the inventory constraints. In the hair space, cost of inventory is really high. I had to put out for sure six figures initially to get the thing going. But, again, it seems crazy to do that, but to me at the time I felt like I calculated the risk. I felt like we're going to make this work and was willing to do it. It didn't seem like a… I don't know. I looked at it from all angles and I was like, "I feel like this makes sense and the worst that happens is I'm going to lose my money and I'm going to have to make it up again." Kevin Gould:But the real big challenge wasn't necessarily that I was fortunate to have had some successes with some of the previous exits where I made some money on some of the agency side of the business where I had that capital to deploy, but the most challenging piece comes, again, when you really scale it and you have to continue to deploy capital just to finance the inventory as you go, and you're too early to go to a bank. Kevin Gould:A bank's not going to finance a business that's been up and running for a year. You're almost even too early to go to a lot of the inventory financing solutions that are out in the market today. You kind of really need close to a year for them just to even get them interested, and so at points in time, I had to deploy a lot more than I wanted to. Chris Erwin:Personal capital. Kevin Gould:Personal capital. I had deployed overall a million dollars. I'm not going to break down exactly which one it went to, but across everything, a million dollars of capital, which was, one, way more than I expected. That's a lot of money. I'm not like loaded. That's a lot of money. Kevin Gould:I don't know. I believe in the brands. I believe in what we're doing. I believe in my co-founders. It wasn't like the businesses were losing money. That incremental dollar figure that has went up over time is getting plowed into inventory. It's not like we're a business like some of these other e-commerce businesses that got in trouble where they were just blowing money every month and they were losing money on the P&L. This was for financing growth. Chris Erwin:I like what you said about starting lean with the six-month timeline to prove it out and get profitable. I think what a lot of companies, particularly digital media companies did when I got into the whole game back in 2012 was here's a vision for a business model that we can enter, and then here's how we can make money, but a lot of it didn't come into fruition. Then, it required them to continually raise money from investors, and then a lot of money was lost. That wasn't the approach for you. Kevin Gould:Well, and I think there were, obviously, hindsight for all those guys or women. It's like 20/20 in terms of what went wrong. I think there was like guilty parties on both sides. I think you had entrepreneurs that were coming up with self-justified LTVs of customers, and then they're like, "Yeah. The LTV is a thousand dollars of our customer, therefore, we can spend 500 to acquire them." When there actually wasn't enough data to really understand, what was the LTV? Kevin Gould:Then, you've got investors pumping money into the space encouraging them and basically adding on to that narrative of, "Oh, yeah, yeah, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow." Then, when the growth wasn't there and the LTV didn't back out, the investors were like, "We're cutting our losses. We're not in." You had a bunch of these e-commerce businesses that just fundamentally should have been run a much different way. Kevin Gould:I think the space is now getting reset where there's a lot more e-commerce brands or Omni-channel brands that are being run a little bit more efficiently. I think just the investor base has gotten, has been pushing companies to do that a lot more, but I was like, "We should be able to run this lean." you know, then you got to put up the money for the inventory, you got to test, you got to be in the weeds. Kevin Gould:In the beginning, I always tell early founders of social driven e-com brands, we treated Instagram DM as a sales funnel, right? Anyone that followed us, we'd shoot them a personal DM like, "Hey, thanks for following us. Let us know if you have any questions. We're here for you." That was like warm… If you're in a B2B sales business, that was our version of prospecting new customers. We had warm leads of people that followed us and we were actually going in and DMing them, having conversations with our first few thousand people that followed us on social and actually drove real revenue from that. Kevin Gould:It was just a down and dirty kind of guerrilla marketing style way of getting new customers on not a lot of capital. Obviously, as you scale that doesn't work as you scale as much, right? But in the beginning when you're doing 10,000, 20,000 a month in sales, it was a really great outside the box marketing tool for us. Chris Erwin:Yeah. As they always say in the beginning do things that don't scale. You learn from those tests and experiments, and I also like hearing about the story that you didn't have a specific playbook to follow in the beginning. You kind of learned and made your own. It's crazy I think with the number of e-commerce companies that are out there and you have Shopify and WooCommerce that you would think, "Oh, here's the playbook, here's how you find the manufacturer, here's the margin that you need." Chris Erwin:There are best practices, but you still got to figure it out for yourself and each talent situation, each product situation, each team situation is uniquely different. You just got to start talking to people, trying things out, and taking your ego out of it. One thing I've learned from you because you've given me some advice for some of our clients is you can have clients with billion dollar top line licensing businesses, but you know what? Start out with a small experiment which is maybe just a thousand units and see what works, and then you could build upon that and that's the right way to do it. Kevin Gould:100%. It doesn't all have to come at once. Start small and prove it out, make sure it works, and build from there. I think your point too on ego and I think everyone as an entrepreneur always have to self…. They always have to self-check their ego. You, me, everyone to a degree has an ego and I think to be a founder or a CEO or someone that's leading a company, and I'm certainly guilty of this as well sometimes. Kevin Gould:It's like you have to check your ego, make sure you're an amazing listener, right? You have to listen to everything. You have to listen to your team members, your co-founders, your customers, right? Even though you might have a perspective that you think is right and it might ultimately be right, you still need to take in all the feedback and listen and make sure everyone has a voice. That's always something that you continually have to refine and work on as a founder. Chris Erwin:So fast forward, you launched these brands, three brands within the past couple of years and you had a big moment this year. I think on the recent Facebook earnings call, Sheryl Sandburg, I think the number two at Facebook. She calls out Glamnetic as a great example of a fast-growing small, medium-sized business that's using their advertising platform. This is like you hear Glamnetic and the founder's name on the earnings call. It's amazing. I think you guys posted a video of that. What did it feel like? Did you know in advance that was going to happen? Kevin Gould:We did. I wasn't sure it was a go until the night before. I heard it was going to happen, but I still thought, went listen in on their earnings call… On those earnings calls, things get cut out last minute. I was like, "Who knows if this is going to happen or not." It was a really cool moment, man. I mean I think like, "Look, you got to celebrate the wins." I think that was like… I had a drink that night with my co-founder, and the guys as well. That was really cool. Kevin Gould:The business was super young, it was really a little over a year old. We've been fortunate to scale very quickly and that was just a really cool moment. One of the biggest companies in the world and you're on their earnings call, but you know what? You take the night, you celebrate a little bit. You're like, "Wow. That was cool." Then, you get to work the next day and you just keep building. Kevin Gould:It was an amazing experience. It's something that I think always remember when you're like as an early moment of the end, but I don't know. It's also weird because the brands have scaled really quickly, but at the same time I still feel like they're in their infancy. I feel like we're just getting started and- Chris Erwin:Yeah. Let's put some numbers behind that. I think that you mentioned when these brands like I think last year, run rate across your three brand portfolio, call it around $1 to $2 million of top line revenue. Kevin Gould:A little bit more like four to five last year. This year collectively 75. Chris Erwin:75? Kevin Gould:Yeah. Chris Erwin:That's like 20x. Kevin Gould:Yeah. It's been insane, man. It's been… What's crazy is like, again, it's definitely growing a lot, but I still feel like we're that small startup that's just like hustling to make it happen and the key is we have, again, I've got amazing co-founders in each brand and amazing teams. We have a lot of really young people that love what they do. I think they're learning a lot in these brands. It's been an amazing experience for them. They also put in a lot of hard work though and everyone's really, really passionate about what they do. Kevin Gould:We've got awesome teams on each of the brands. I think we figured out the playbook and the playbook's always changing. It's constantly updating, but to run a really strong e-commerce brand today, you have to do a lot of things right. You have to obviously be with an amazing high quality product, that's number one. You don't get in the door and scale otherwise. Then, you have to be killer at… It's like the flywheel, social content, creative, influencer marketing, paid media, retention, email, SMS, a loyalty program. Kevin Gould:That whole flywheel has to be running in lockstep and in sync in order for the brands to scale, otherwise, what happens is if you only have two or three of those, the barrier to entry to start an e-com brand lower than ever, right? Chris Erwin:Yeah. Kevin Gould:Super easy to get a Shopify site up. Let's say you own a brand, then, it's fairly easy… I wouldn't say it's fairly easy, but it's easier to get a brand to seven figures in sales, right? It's become easier to do that, but still I don't want to discount that that's really still hard to do. Then, take a brand to eight figur

Episode SummaryGenerational differences may seem to divide us but there is one thing that unites us all, change. Change is the catalyst that propels each new generation to make an impact and leave their mark on civilization and Moj Mahdara has secured her legacy with the launch of Beautycon, a diverse and inclusive beauty brand that aims to change the popular perception of beauty and our access to it. Moj and Syd discuss all things change; how to see it, how to make it happen, and most of all, how to accept it, in this episode of The Sydcast. Syd Finkelstein Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master's degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein's research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life. Moj MahdaraMoj Mahdara is an entrepreneur and CEO. She is an expert in the beauty, wellness and CPG market and currently the CEO of Beautycon, a globally-recognized community for content creators, celebrities, fans, and brands. As CEO, she is responsible for driving brand vision for Beautycon and its growth initiatives, launching the brand globally, which include strategic media partnerships, content development, market intelligence, and e-commerce over the past 5 years. Mahdara is an accomplished speaker, business figure and an active investor with international recognition for her expertise in Gen Z and Millennial consumer profiles and behaviors. She has been named to multiple lists over the years, including ones in Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire magazine; Fast Company's “Most Creative People” list, The Hollywood Reporter's “Top 25 Most Powerful Digital Players,” Women's Wear Daily's “Digital Power Posse” list and Variety's “Digital Entertainment Execs to Watch,” and has traveled nationally and internationally to present Beautycon's first market intelligence white paper, FOMO Vol. 1.Additionally, Moj is an active investor, and working on her first book and focused on bringing the industry together via Beauty United.orgMoj resides in Los Angeles with her wife, Professor Dr. Roya Rastegar, their son, Neev, and their dog, Sufi. Insights from this episode:Differences between the generations, what sets Gen Z apart from the others, and why that matters in business and brand building.Reasons why businesses need to anticipate and adapt to changing platforms to remain relevant and successful.Details behind the creation of Beautycon, how COVID has impacted growth, and what Moj sees in the future for the brand.Benefits of leaning into change and providing the opportunity for others to change.Difficulties that Moj sees in the world and what can be done to bring about positive change.Quotes from the show:“[Gen Z] do believe in the concept of emoting power, intention, and I find them to be very, very inspiring.” — Moj Mahdara [12:32]“I think Walt Disney and Disney are some of the greatest North Stars of marketing we've ever seen and to think about [Beautycon] through that lens has always been inspiring to me.” — Moj Mahdara [19:32]On the creation of Beautycon: “The idea was how do we build this at-scale for everybody who wants to enjoy the beauty and wellness industry.” — Moj Mahdara [20:40]On COVID's impact on Beautycon: “We weren't set up to be able weather a two-year experiential storm and pivot into digital.” — Moj Mahdara [22:05]On the rise of virtual conferences: “Some of these conferences now have attendance that is far beyond anything before because there's no friction, there's no cost.” — Syd Finkelstein [22:41]“What's missing from these [virtual] conferences and events is the human connection and the opportunity for serendipity.” — Syd Finkelstein [23:03]“In life, what I have learned is that you always need to give people the opportunity to change. I think the kindest thing you can do for someone that you love is give them the opportunity to change.” — Moj Mahdara [29:05]“I think fear and anxiety drives most of people's misunderstandings around each other.” — Moj Mahdara [31:12]“It will be interesting to see what happens as Gen X comes into more executive leadership roles. I am very curious to see what happens.” — Moj Mahdara [34:33]“We are really at a time and a place where there are just too many people that aren't being taken care of.” — Moj Mahdara [37:47]Stay Connected: Syd FinkelsteinWebsite: http://thesydcast.comLinkedIn: Sydney FinkelsteinTwitter: @sydfinkelsteinFacebook: The SydcastInstagram: The SydcastMoj MahdaraTwitter: @mojismTwitter: @beautyconInstagram: @mojismInstagram: @beautyconSubscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)

Hi everyone. I hope you're keeping safe, healthy, and hanging in there. Sending love your way and my thoughts are with you.-----From a teen single mom with two young children surviving on food stamps and local government aid, to being able to graduate law from UCLA with high honors, as well as  working at a prestigious law firm, Jones Day, and eventually starting her own businesses- technology and legal consulting business called Tennenbaun & Kelly, inc., and Volto Urbano-  Founder, Lela Kelly, chats with Hello Beauty's Joyce Platon about her incredibly inspiring background and the science behind her skincare brand. From years living a high-demanding and fast-paced life, the effects of  stress began showing up on her skin and health. Volto Urbano, "face" "city", was develop to address issues the current skincare market has largely missed. Volto Urbano is a complete range of skincare that detoxifies, repairs, and protects skin from blue light, climate change, and pollution. It is the first climate defense skincare brand. FOLLOW VOLTO URBANOVolto Urbano's WebsiteVolto Urbano's Instagram Volto Urbano's FacebookFOLLOW LELA KELLYLela Kelly's Instagram FOLLOW HELLO BEAUTYHello Beauty's InstagramHello Beauty's FacebookHello Beauty's YouTubeFOLLOW JOYCE PLATONJoyce Platon's Instagram

Welcome to the Bad Queers family, Moj Mahdara! Moj is the CEO of BeautyCon and joined Kris and Shana to discuss all things butch identities, black lives matter, the real gay agenda, how all queers don't know each other and how Moj's wife is a genius. All this and more on this week's episode. Shoutouts:Shana - Black LGBTQIA+ Groceries (@blackandqueergroceries) Bay Area solutions for Black Queer Food insecurity Kris - Intelexual Media (@intelexualmedia) by Elexus Gionde shares facts and stories about race, history, sexuality, black progression, culture and prideMoj - Shirley Raines (@beauty2thestreetz) makeup, hygiene and essential services for the homeless of Skidrow, CAStay social at home with HER's video speed dating events. Get 50% off tix with promo code 'BQP'Get tix hereBad Queers is co-hosted by:Shana Sumers: @shanahasagramKris Chesson: @kris.chessLet's keep in touch:Email us for advice at badqueerspod@gmail.com or DM on InstagramFollow us @badqueerspod on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Tik TokCatch us live every other Wednesday on Get VoklLove our soundtrack? Check out Siena Liggins: @sienaligginsShoutout to our sponsor HER App

Welcome to The Vault... Meet Emerald Monet Emerald Monet is a Youtuber, internationally published model, blogger, media personality/actress, & overall creative from Milwaukee, WI. Emerald just started creating lifestyle content for YouTube this year and has already uploaded 50+ videos. All of which she creative directed, shot, & edited herself. She has been modeling for 3 years and has worked with numerous Milwaukee & Chicago based photographers. Although modeling isn't her only passion she has been published in various local & international publications while also becoming an ambassador for the company Ragstock. She has also stared in numerous music videos and walked for local designers in fashion shows. Besides running her personal social media pages, Emerald runs a beauty based Instagram page & blog. She has amassed nearly 40k followers and worked/collabed with brands such as Maybelline, Revlon, Juvia's Place, Beautycon, The Mane Choice, & more! Emerald brought her BIG personality to the big screen! She has landed a few acting roles, one of which even placed her on a red carpet in Chicago for it's premiere. She also conducts guest interviews at local arts related events. Emerald also enjoys reading, writing novels, graphic design, fashion design/sewing, writing and creating music, & more!!! As you can see Emerald is a Jack (Jill) of all Trades and has so intentions on letting up anytime soon! Rest assured this gem has no intentions on staying hidden much longer. IG:@emeraldmonet youtube: @Emerald Monet Hosts IG: @ambitious1k, @quethedeejay, @youcantsitwithusradio, @thresholdbrace facebook:@you can't sit with us twitter@Y.C.S.W.U. radio --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ycswu/support

Today we're talking Jesus and social media with Digital Brand Strategist, Social Influencer, Public Speaker, and most importantly, an amazing woman of faith, Chauncéa Carothers. Chauncéa grew up in DC,  but for the last 10 years she's been building her career in LA. She's partnered with brands such as Macy's, Neutrogena, Marriot Hotels, L'oreal, and Intuit. She's been featured in publications such as Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan, Beautycon, and refinery29. Just to name a few.In this episode we'll be talking about the benefits of Social Media, how she's been able to share her faith through her business, strategies to avoid mental fatigue, and much more!Follow The Wondering SonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewonderingson/Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/thewonderingsonTwitter: https://twitter.com/TheWonderingSonFollow Chauncéa CarothersInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/chauncea/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chaunceaWould you like to share your testimony, some encouragement, or need prayer? Email me at Eric@thewonderingson.com

In this episode, my guest, Caitlyn Chase, is sharing her story on how she turned her passion into a successful business, how to create your own brand, how she empowers women, how to stay positive and motivated, etc. My Guest Caitlyn Chase @caitlynchase has amassed a serious online following of luxury lifestyle lovers since the launch of her blog, Caviar & Cashmere in 2011. The Los Angeles based blogger-turned-entrepreneur began her career as a fashion and beauty writer for nationally acclaimed publications at the young age of 18. Caitlyn thrives on exploring the world of luxury lifestyle; sharing the things she discovers and loves with her readers, aiming to inspire them to lead a life well lived.  Ambitious, confident, and approachable, Caitlyn has become the go-to girl for all things luxury fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle.  Caitlyn has received accolades and awards from some of the most respected media outlets, from being named “One of the Top Ten Bloggers in Los Angeles,” “Trendsetter of the Year,” to recently being nominated for “Founder of the Year” in magazines such as The Huffington Post, Glamour, The LA Business Journal and Forbes, to name a few. Caitlyn has spoken as a luxury lifestyle authority and expert on numerous television news shows and panels including Simply Stylist, StyleCon, BeautyCon, CBS, Fox, and CNN. Caitlyn welcomes every collaborative opportunity that presents itself and reviews them with a discerning eye. She has had the pleasure of working with a plethora of international brands in many different capacities, from Olay, Diageo, Fairmont Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels, Virgin Limited Edition Hotels, Lionsgate Films, Lily Pullitzer, Amazon, ShopBop, L’Oreal, Simon G Jewelry, and many more. Your Host Olyasha Novozhylova - NotBasicBlonde @notbasicblonde_ NotBasicBlonde Podcast @nbbpodcast Olyasha Novozhylova is the founder and creator of Not Basic Blonde, a fashion, and lifestyle blog dedicated to inspiring young women to create an extraordinary style. The Russian model led an impressive 10-year career in fashion and runway in Atlanta and overseas, as well as enjoying several acting roles. Now a leading influencer, Olyasha shares her beauty, wellness, and fashion tips with an audience of over half a million.

Annie and Nick take a deep-dive into the week's top stories, including allegations of abuse at Beautycon and the legendary NYC yoga studio Yoga To The People, plus they discuss Annie's analogue at-home workout and Nick's laser fixation. 

Hi everyone. I hope you're keeping safe, healthy, and hanging in there. Sending love your way and my thoughts are with you.-----Let's face it. You just never know when you're going to have a breakout and how bad these pesky things will leave a mark. Enter Hero Cosmetics: co-founded and lead by Ju Rhyu. Hero Cosmetics is the original award-winning acne patch. It's award-winning simply because it actually works, has a great price-point, and is there with you at every step of your skin's journey. From preventing breakouts to treating hyperpigmentation, Hero Cosmetics is with you during the entire cycle of your pimple. It is clinically-conscious which means the product line does not have harsh ingredients or chemicals that aggravate or make your breakouts and skin worse, and it's even safe for pregnant women or sensitive skin. It is made from medical-grade hydrocolloid which absorbs the pus from pimples so you can see the effects overnight. In this episode, Ju shares business tips on how she was able to hit that $1M mark in a year, and this includes an emphasis on how to pitch to investors and retailers. We discuss this month, June, as Acne Awareness Month, and through her #ToBrighterDays campaign on Instagram Stories's filters, the brand spreads positivity to its audience. FOLLOW HERO COSMETICSHero Cosmetics' WebsiteHero Cosmetics' Instagram FOLLOW JU RHYUJu Rhyu's InstagramFOLLOW HELLO BEAUTYHello Beauty's InstagramHello Beauty's FacebookHello Beauty's YouTubeFOLLOW JOYCE PLATONJoyce Platon's Instagram

Hi everyone. I hope you're keeping safe, healthy, and hanging in there. Sending love your way and my thoughts are with you.-----Jason Schneidman, also known as The Men's Groomer, is a celebrity hairstylist to James Corden, Jonah Hill, Old Dominion, Rob Lowe, Hugh Jackman, Jay Shetty, and many more. He is on a mission to transform homeless addicts' lives by giving them a free haircut. With this act of service, he is able to regain their confidence and give advice to hopefully touch their life to take the next step in healing. In this episode, Jason talks about his own experience of being a homeless addict and what makes him relentless that allowed him to become a successful, in-demand celebrity hairstylist. With a partnership with Country band, Old Dominion, for the song "Some People Do", they spread the message and clear the misconception about people not changing and that there are some that truly do when they're ready. Jason also shares his affordable, professional hair product line that is available on Amazon and the exciting things coming his way, as well as The Men's Groomer Foundation.  This episode has men's grooming tips that Jason shares from experience working with celebrities, such as the 2 hairstyles/haircuts that stand the test of time for men, what they should not do with their beards, and why his products are the perfect grooming essentials. FOLLOW JASON SCHNEIDMAN/THE MEN'S GROOMERThe Men's Groomer's WebsiteThe Men's Groomer's Instagram FOLLOW HELLO BEAUTYHello Beauty's InstagramHello Beauty's FacebookHello Beauty's YouTubeFOLLOW JOYCE PLATONJoyce Platon's Instagram

Entrepreneur, actress, author and memorable TLC Toddler and Tiaras reality star Isabella Barrett talks about what she's up to these days. Learn about her clothing company House of Barretti, her upcoming appearance on Next Big Thing NY and more!

Behind Her Empire is focused on highlighting self-made women leaders & entrepreneurs and how they tackle their career, money and life.Each episode covers their unique hero's journey and what it really takes to build an empire with key lessons learned along the way. The goal of the series is to empower you to see what’s possible & inspire you to create financial freedom in your own life.We have amazing women joining us including Lavinia Errico (Founder of Equinox), Toni Ko (Founder of NYX Cosmetics), Moj Mahdara (Founder of Beautycon), Daina Trout (Founder of Health-Ade Kombucha) and many more! We can't wait to share our interviews with you! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hi everyone. I hope you're keeping safe, healthy, and hanging in there. Sending love your way and my thoughts are with you.-----This week's Hello Beauty guest is Pacifica's Founder, Brook Harvey-Taylor. Pacifica is, what you would say, the OG of 100% vegan, clean, and cruelty-free beauty because Brook created her brand over 23 years ago when indie brands or even the clean beauty space was not a thing yet. Brook shares how she started Pacifica with no beauty brand knowledge and from borrowing money from both her and her husband's mom, as well as maxing out her credit cards. She has created a brand that's ahead of its time and continues to do so by continuously coming up with fun and interesting products such as her hemp-infused eyeshadows that have powerful color pay off and are creamy to touch. In this episode, we distinguish the meaning between vegan and cruelty-free, Pacifica's recycling program, Pacifica's commitment to the clean beauty space, why hemp is a great ingredient for makeup, and so much more. FOLLOW PACIFICAPacifica's WebsitePacifica's InstagramFOLLOW BROOK HARVEY-TAYLORBrook's Instagram FOLLOW HELLO BEAUTYHello Beauty's InstagramHello Beauty's FacebookHello Beauty's YouTubeFOLLOW JOYCE PLATONJoyce Platon's Instagram

About Erik: Erik Huberman is the Founder & CEO of Hawke Media, a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA that launched in 2014 and has been valued at $80 million. In just 5 years, Hawke Media has grown from 7 to over 120 employees and has serviced 400+ brands including Raden, BeautyCon, The Ridge Wallet, Buscemi, Red Bull, Evite, Verizon Wireless, HP. Want to See More of Erik? Follow him Online:Hawke Media WebsiteErik's LinkedInErik's InstagramErik's TwitterErik's FacebookTime Stamps:Useful insights and questions from this episode:Introduction 0:00Who is Erik Huberman?     2:12Starting Hawke Media     3:01Challenges in Growing an Agency    4:17How Important is Understanding the Cash Flow of Your Agency    8:05Figuring Out Your Business Goals     10:43How to Increase the Value of Your Agency     12:23How to Know the Right Time to Offer More Services to Your Clients     16:38Process of Adding New Services to the Agency     18:06How to Manage Employee's Capacity     19:24Ensuring Your Team's Well-Being     21:27Different Tools and Systems to Ensure the Performance of Your Business     23:02Convenient Automated Profitability Software     24:29What are the Important Core Metrics in an Agency     26:12Advice to Start-Up Agency Owners     28:14Blog: Hawke Media is one of the Top 20 Most Promising Digital Marketing Solution Providers in 2017 and was named at the Top Inc 5,000 fastest growing companies in 2017 as well. Hawke Media has worked with over 400+ brands including Evite, Red Bull, Verizon, HP. Today, Hawke Media continuously provides exceptional marketing services to the business owner along with their team of top tier experts that helps the different aspects of a business.Erik began consulting and advising and it was organic when he started an agency. He first sought out help, hired people, until it grew into an agency with over 170 people and is continuously growing up to this day. Understanding a niche that is completely under-served and needed help drove Erik into building the agency that is now Hawke Media.Despite being offered to sell the company quite a few times, Erik liked the idea of continuing. He loves the idea of working with different companies, helping entrepreneurs, and most importantly he is truly passionate about what he does. What are the Challenges in Growing an Agency? It's not always smooth sailing when it comes to running an agency. And, according to Erik, here are the challenges he faced while growing his company:People are volatile and emotional. People have different personalities, wants, goals, and needs. Even though their payroll is similar to their monthly revenue five years ago, there are times where they get thin on cash wherein it took a while to catch up with the revenue to make money for the team.He also shared a challenging experience when they had a $400,000 payroll and $800,000 for a month while having only $13,000 in the bank. Entrepreneurs also said that it could happen again so he better get ready for his business. “That is very rare that you when you're growing a business like this and you don't have a ton of outside funding and you're not publicly traded, you'll have so much cash that you're never gonna get thin.”Erik added, “Don't just let your money sit on the bank, invest it.”How Important is Understanding the Cash Flow of Your AgencyThe very first model Erik used to start his business was paying the flat base salary then giving 30% of what they get paid by the clients.On the next batch of talented individuals he hired, Erik said that they followed the same payroll model of which they give 30% of what they made in addition to their agreed flat rate. Erik found out that his employees are reactive. Erik added that they also looked at their amount of expenses on their first year to see how much they spent on overhead, advertisements, payroll, etc. He had a profit of 40% in the first year and from then, he knew it wasn't sustainable. And, from the data which they have gathered, Erik and his team decided to change their business model, and see which works best for them.Figuring Our Your Business GoalsThe team experienced hitting their benchmark early so they had to find ways to maintain it. Erik's original plan was to get into 10 million in revenue. He didn't have a grandiose plan and now he has a multinational, multi-billion-dollar company plan.According to Erik, “I had a very clear path to 10 million, very clear what was going to take. In my head. We're going to do it. It's going to take four years. And that's what happened. And then two years, almost two years ago, we hit it.”It is really important to be objective, innovative, and realistic when you're still figuring out your goals for your business. It's not enough to conceptualize, and you have to actually put your time and effort into it. How to Increase the Value of Your AgencyLuckily, Erik is married to a person who is in private equity. His partner gives him constructive advice on how he can make his business more profitable.  Now, here are the ways on how to increase the value of your agency according to Erik Huberman:1. Long Term ContractsLong term contracts value consistency and reliability. And, it is a must that the moment you sign an agreement you are fully aware of what you're getting yourself into. Make sure that you create appealing contracts for your stakeholders which you both can benefit from. Having long term contracts with your clients not only guarantees profits but it is also a gateway to meeting and attracting more clients and investors. 2. Client ConcentrationIt is important that you have multiple revenue sources, meaning you have a good amount of investors who are taking a chance on your product or you have multiple businesses where you earn profits from. And, as the saying goes, “Do not put all the eggs in one basket.”'”3. Recurring RevenueRecurring revenue shows how much investors or consumers are sticking around your business model and of course, the business's capacity to be profitable.4. Profitability and Gross MarginThese are both massive and important. These factors, play-in with profitability too. Everybody knows that if you run an agency and you own the whole entity. There are a lot of expenses that aren't necessarily needed but somehow, they are essential to keep your agency up and running. Erik also stated that profitability and growth rate are the kind of equation that you need to see and carefully analyze. Erik said that in order to consider a business profitable, it needs to have at least a 40% increase in profit. How to Know the Right Time to Offer More Services to Your ClientsThe person running an agency needs to understand how to build a brand in their business. Thus, he or she must also understand what his or her client needs.1. Know the Clients NeedsThe reason why Hawke Media is on top of their game because they truly understand what their clients need. However, before they venture into new services and offerings, they carefully analyze the risk of the said venture while making sure that their level of profitability is at least at a 40% margin. And of course, they also need to know how much or how little they're going to charge in their new services to make sure that it will be profitable. 2. Take Risks"We'll take some risk." Says Erik. "It doesn't have to be perfect at the beginning of the scale. It is what you have to get better at to achieve perfection on those margins. And that's how we build it out. So it's finding that expert that we can build a team around finding someone that's amazing in that field."As an agency owner. You must know when and how to take risks. And, make sure that you are doing it the “smarter” way. Hiring and finding the right people is very essential, but never forget to learn, teach, and adapt to new trends and techniques that are essential to improve your business and profitability. This way your employees will be more efficient.How to Manage Employee's Capacity Now, Erik's team has four full-time recruiters so they always have people on deck. They're constantly interviewing and ready to hire whether they have to replace people or bring in people as quickly as possible. They also have a full-training onboarding system that they've built so people can ramp up pretty quickly.According to Erik, it is important to establish your team's and the individual's strength and weaknesses. Through this process, you will be able to determine:Who you are going to hire?When do you need to hire?When do you need to train them?Who can take-up more tasks/roles?Ensuring Your Team's Well-Being One of the things that we agree on is making sure you are not burning your team. Erik ensures that his agency is a fun place to work."People feel very at home here, which is super fun and that's what we want. I think that's part of the culture.”"If we want this to be a place people want to work and we want this to be a place that my partner calls it as “people want to be from” where it's like if Hawke Media is on a rabid resumé, you're known as a badass and that's something we felt we get." He added.Different Tools and Systems to Ensure the Performance of Your BusinessErik uses real-time reporting on all his business matters. They built their own ERP system that pulls everything from their CRM to their project management, to their timesheets. They don't charge for the time but they track time allocation on QuickBooks to their client data where they can log in. These will consistently create processes around the time when they are not retaining clients and clients who are performing well.Convenient Automated Profitability Software Everyone who owns an agency knows that it is difficult to keep track of their agency's profitability, growth, risks, losses, and even productivity. Granted that some of our data are spread out on different tools, files, and platforms, and it's almost impossible to keep track. This is why I started Parakeeto, to makes transactions within agencies in just one place. What are the Important Core Metrics in an AgencyThe important core metrics are sales and marketing. Even lead generation. On the services side, it's retaining clients, it's upselling their growth that they are getting as well as what they are returning. Erik keeps it simple as possible within his five departments:Sales - New monthly recurrent business.Marketing - New leads.Accounting and Finance - Keeping track of growth and profitability.H.R. - Employee retention and sentiment.Erik said that his job is to visualize and predict the things that the company is lacking which hinders it from being profitable and whether they're leaders of innovation of not.The second part is promotional. Speaking, doing podcasts, trying to keep the brand out there and keeping it top of mind. And third is expansion. Advice to Start-Up Agency Owners Erik's advance is pretty simple when it comes to start-up agency owners."Either find that person, be that person or partner with that person, basically."Pretty straight-forward. But, if you're planning to start an agency or expand your agency you must be genuinely passionate about it, make sure to hire the right people for the job and treat them the way you would want to be treated. And, always remember to take risks wisely!

Moe Abdou is joined by Kevin Gould - angel investor, advisor, and mentor to an exciting and progressive roster of startups including Beautycon, Laurel & Wolf, and Draft Kings - to discuss his evolution and how he's adding value as an investor.

The Total Tutor Neil Haley will interview Celebrity Anna Grace Barlow. Anna Grace Barlow is hitting the ground running. The actor, singer, and dancer, is currently awaiting the debut of her musical film, Relativity Media's “Summer Forever” where she takes on the starring lead role of ‘Chloe' alongside Megan Nicole and Alyson Stoner this August. The movie follows three long-time best friends that graduate high school and make a pact to make their final days the most epic of their lives before they begin their adult lives.     The movie is set to premiere at BeautyCon in Los Angeles July 11th!   Official Website: http://www.summerforevermovie.com/   THIS FALL: Anna Grace Barlow is currently awaiting the debut of her role as ‘Bethany' in the FOX original series, “Scream Queens.” The highly anticipated horror-comedy created by Ryan Murphy and starring Emma Roberts and Jamie Lee Curtis is set to premiere this September. More recently, eager fans can catch Anna Grace as ‘Daisy' in the MTV series-adaptation of the iconic 1996 film, “Scream,” which will air late June. The series starring Willa Fitzgerald and Bex Taylor-Klaus pays homage classic production as a new generation of Lakewood youth come face-to-face with the town's troubled past. Returning to her theatrical roots, Anna Grace was asked to particispate in a lab of "The Untitled Prom Musical" as the role of 'Alyssa Green.' The musical lab was directed and choreographed by Tony-winning director Casey Nicholaw and costars Beth Leavel and Caitlin Kinnunas.