Podcasts about FAO Schwarz

This week Richard Perez returns to the podcast to talk about the topic of Toys, which is actually very personal to all of us because we actually played with toys when we were children. Today we're asking what happens when a boy likes a girl toy? What about when a boy just straight up likes trucks? And are some toys worth nearly dying for? Yes! Plus we talk bombing, how any movie that is ever made is a miracle, and we introduce over three new spinoff podcasts. Listen to this ep and then go see Richard on tour this spring! STRAIGHTIOLAB MERCH: cottonbureau.com/people/straightiolab SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON at patreon.com/straightiolab for bonus episodes twice a month and don't forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wondered what it takes to land a deal with the top retailers nationwide? Today, Juliana VanLaanen, co-founder of 2 Mama Bees, pulls back the curtain. Just five years ago, she and her best friend, Samantha, started a backyard Etsy shop selling handmade window boxes and refurbished playhouses. Fast forward, and now their playhouses are available in over 110 retail locations and major online platforms—including Target, Walmart, and Saks Fifth Avenue, plus seasonally at FAO Schwarz. In this Part 2 of our conversation, Juliana dives into her experience at Walmart's Open Call, an event where sellers pitch directly to buyers, and she shares; her top tips for landing that game-changing invitation, the best places to get your product noticed online, her strategy for negotiating exclusivity, and why breaking into stores like Costco, with its almost four-year buying cycle, is a long game that's worth the wait. Do you like what you're hearing? Consider giving it a caffeinated thumbs up. We'd really appreciate it! Need a little (and sometimes big) push to start and stay focused to grow your side hustle? Dive into my online Masterclass: How To Turn Your Thoughts Into Wanted Things. For the full show notes head on over to the home of Side Hustle Hero. https://www.sidehustlehero.com/121 Connect with Juliana: 2MamaBees website Remember, you'll receive 20% at check out with code: HERO20 Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook About Joan Be on the show! Tell us about your side hustle success story!      

Ever wondered what it takes to get a side hustle product into a big-box store? Where would you even start? Today's guest knows.  In late 2019, Juliana VanLanen and her best friend Samantha Alavi-Jackson started a small backyard Etsy shop selling homemade window boxes and refurbished playhouses. Today their playhouses are sold in over 110 retail locations including Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, Wayfair, FAO Schwarz, and Saks5thAve.  In this Part 1, Juliana dives into; how they scaled from Etsy to big box success, major hurdles of scaling their first year and how they tackled them, their strategies for customer engagement, market research, and maintaining product quality, and how Juliana and Samantha juggle not only a thriving business but also eight kids! Do you like what you're hearing? Consider giving it a caffeinated thumbs up. We'd really appreciate it! Need a little (and sometimes big) push to start and stay focused to grow your side hustle? Dive into my online Masterclass: How To Turn Your Thoughts Into Wanted Things. For the full show notes head on over to the home of Side Hustle Hero. https://www.sidehustlehero.com/120 Connect with Juliana: 2Mamabees website Remember, you'll receive 20% at check out with code: HERO20 Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook About Joan Be on the show! Tell us about your side hustle success story!      

Join me in this episode of the Business Lounge Podcast as I sit down with Juliana, co-founder of 2 Mama Bees, a remarkable company that transformed from a backyard Etsy store into a twelve-time award-winning brand. Specializing in high-quality, eco-friendly playhouses, 2 Mama Bees products are now available in over 110 retail stores, including major names like Target and FAO Schwarz. For more information about Two Mama Bees, visit 2 Mama Bees and follow them on social media for updates and new product launches. https://www.facebook.com/2mamabeeshttps://www.instagram.com/2mamabees/https://www.youtube.com/@2mamabeeshttps://www.pinterest.com/2mamabeesinc/ The Business Lounge is a show to learn all about online businesses. We will help you create the life and business you want and become the go to in your niche with relevant marketing, relationship development, and the proven tools you need to succeed and grow your business. Our company specializes in helping CEOs streamline their business, increase profits all while working less!. We are here to help you grow your online business together and create the perfect work and life balance for YOU!. Jess Cassity & The Business Lounge team are here to help you create the business and life you dream of. Not sure where to start? Check out our everything page - https://jesscassity.com/start-here-everything/ 12 Month Marketing & Profit Planner - https://shop.jesscassity.com/12mmpp  Struggling with email content our friend Liz is the wiz when it comes to all things email - https://jesscassity--lizwilcox.thrivecart.com/email-marketing-membership/636a7bf190949  Our Favorite Social Media Scheduling Tool - https://i.mtr.cool/YFNHLW 

Rachel Jarrett is the co-CEO of Zola, a leading platform for wedding planning that has experienced explosive growth under her leadership. With over 2 million couples choosing Zola for their wedding journey, Rachel is renowned for her innovative approach and collaborative leadership style. Her achievements have been highlighted in Inc Magazine and studied at Harvard Business School. Rachel brings extensive experience from traditional retail and ecommerce, previously leading Baby & Kids at Gilt Groupe and holding senior roles at Barnes & Noble.com, FAO Schwarz, and Toys “R” Us. She holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and is actively involved in advising startups and serving on boards, including Tech.

Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Christopher Duncan has lived in England and the US, where he has been residing for 24 years, making him a - British South African American. Christopher is a multi-talented entertainment professional who graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in 2006. With over 5 years of experience as a Financial Aid Advisor and Promoter at the same institution, Christopher has demonstrated his commitment to the arts in various roles. He is an artist with a passion for painting, writing, playing guitar, singing, and songwriting. Christopher's latest creations include a children's book and music recordings, which he is currently in the process of publishing, along with new artwork. Check out his art on Instagram at:@duncan.mckewan.art Su Polo went to SUNY New Paltz for a BFA in Painting and is an accomplished artist, designer and makeup artist with a background in painting, video and TV production, graphic designer 3D designer for FAO Schwarz windows, worked for the last 8 years as a graphic production designer at KIND. Her passion for community work began in high school where she helped create dramas, comedies, and children's plays that were taken to neighboring schools and nursing homes. Su's creative pursuits include stage set design, poetry, singing and songwriting. She has designed stage sets for The Alternative New Year's Day Spoken Word/Performance Extravaganza for over a decade, for over ten years, such as: P A'LANTE A LA LUZ (Charge Into The Light) and SOLARIS, which reflects thematic issues that the event has highlighted since its inception, such as the celebration and preservation of our planet's natural wonders, climate change, social justice, the power of the spoken word and participated in many Figment events as a sculptor, on Governors Island with 7' kinetic works titled Umbrella Reliquary l and ll and smaller pieces, utilizing found objects, emphasizing the importance of repurposing materials. As a jazz vocalist, musician and curator, Su has provided a platform for spoken word artists and musicians for 25 years through the Saturn Series. Currently, she is studying at the Art Students League and enjoys photography and painting still life and landscapes in watercolor. Follow Su at: @skylarksinging1 and www.supolo.com -Creator/Host: Ozzie Stewart - onthecallpodcast.com -Guest: Chris Duncan/Su Polo - @duncan.mckewan.art +  @SuPoloNYC  -Exec. Producer - Ozzie Stewart @otc_podcast20 -Camera: "Cheeze" -Graphics Design: Kevin Tinsley -Editor/Music: Cheese Slice Films @cheeseslicefilms -Artwork by: Crystal Shipp aka 'The Tree Lady' -Website: James Bailey Check: https://www.facebook.com/amentosweetspots Thank you @akinadebowale for my book's #coverart ! #otc #onthecallpodcast #podcaster #podcast #ozzie #host #service #shininglight #service #capetown #southafrica  @england  #watercolor #neighborhoodplayhouse #financialaid #advisor #promoter #artist #designer #makeupartist #painting #writer #painter #singer #songwriting #childrensbooks #music #recording #publishing #artwork #video #tvproduction #graphicdesigner #3d #FAOSchwarz  @SUNY  @KIND #passion #communitywork #highschool #comedy #childrensplays #state #schools #nursinghome #stage #setdesign #poetry #SpokenWord #celebration #preservation #planet #climatechange #socialjustice #power #sculptor #governorsisland #jazz #musician #curator #photography #landscapes #adobeillustrator #trailer #simonandgarfunkel #crosbystillsandnash #iguana #storyboard @@SpotifyforPodcasters

Text us and say hello!In this episode, Lou and I take you on a nostalgic journey back to the magical world of 90s toy stores.We kick things off by reminiscing about the sheer excitement of stepping into a toy store back in the day. It wasn't just about shopping; it was an adventure. We chat about the giants of the era—Toys "R" Us, KB Toys, FAO Schwarz—and what made each of them special. From Geoffrey the Giraffe welcoming us into Toys "R" Us to the enchanting atmosphere of FAO Schwarz, it's a trip down memory lane you won't want to miss.  Plus, we don't forget the local and independent toy stores either, praising their unique charm and the personal touch they brought to our childhoods.As we move towards the end of the episode, we touch on the decline of brick-and-mortar toy stores and how the rise of online shopping marked the end of an era. Yet, it's not all gloomy; we also talk about the stores that have adapted and survived, keeping the magic alive for new generations.We wrap up the episode by sharing some heartwarming stories from our listeners, who were kind enough to send in their most cherished memories of 90s toy stores. It's a beautiful reminder of how these places weren't just stores; they were where our imaginations were ignited.So, join Lou and me as we explore the aisles of the past, reliving the wonder and excitement of the 90s toy store experience. It's an episode full of laughter, memories, and maybe even a few surprises. Don't forget to hit subscribe and follow us on our social channels to share your own toy store tales. Let's keep the nostalgia alive together on Generation 'S'.Support the Show.We've got merch!Check out the site for some awesome Gen 'S' swag :)

The Rock surprises shoppers at FAO Schwarz in New York, and Season 28 of The Bachelor and America's Got Talent Fantasy League kicks off next month!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a special holiday season edition of a Monster Mash, we're rolling for a wintry mix of monsters! The fates (or dice, whichever you prefer) have us reimagining toys, elves, and reindeer in some rather grotesque ways, with settings spanning from FAO Schwarz all the way to space. Let Rudolph's blood-red glow guide you through the night, but remember, children: you can't ever truly buy your way off of Santa's naughty list...   Do you have a setting you'd like us to build? Send us your worldbuilding prompt! https://forms.gle/F4SNMH3k7ea5fr1F8 And if you're feeling particularly generous, you can support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/worldbuildwithus Chat with us on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/SRFhWV3 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@worldbuildwithus Email us your suggestions: WorldbuildWithUs@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter: @LetsWorldBuild    Intro theme: "Half Mystery" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0  Outro Theme: "Study and Relax" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Madame Alexander had a dream to educate through dolls and 100 years later, Madame's legacy is still inspiring new generations of children.   Designer and author Bruce A. de Armond joins host Louisa Maxwell to discuss the life and work of Beatrice Alexander.   Madame was born Bertha (Beatrice) Alexander, in New York's lower East side where her father had a doll shop and hospital. Beatrice trained and worked as a bookkeeper but the advent of World War One and a shortage of the supply of dolls from Europe inspired Beatrice and sisters to create their own cloth dolls. The success of the cloth dolls persuaded Beatrice to launch the Alexander Doll company in 1923 and began her legendary collaboration with toy store FAO Schwarz in New York. Beatrice styled herself as “Madame “ Alexander capitalising on her European roots to give an aura of glamour to the brand. Madame Alexander had vision as a designer and as a business person. She negotiated a variety of licensed deals to make dolls in the likenesses of Hollywood stars: Jane Withers, Judy Garland, Sonja Henie, Carmen Miranda and Scarlett O'Hara. She launched the chic fashion doll Cissy who gained world wide recognition as the face of British beauty brand Yardley. Now in 2023, a century later, Madame Alexander's dolls are still celebrated and collected as they appeal, not only to doll collectors but to lovers of film and pop culture. Bruce A. de Armond is an interior designer  with an international portfolio creating signature styes for hotels, casinos and department stores. Bruce combines his interests in art, dolls and fashion by working with museum collections, auction houses, and contributing to books on vintage dolls. Bruce A. deArmond's blog dolledition.com explores the ever evolving story of dolls and fashion. 

Satin on Baby Miranda's shoulders and a smile on her lips / How lucky can she get / Nature in his pocket right at his fingertips / How lucky can Phil get / Every episode a party where the fun never ends / You can circle the globe with a circle of friends. Welcome to the final stretch of the Northern OverExposure Podcast! Come along with co-hosts Lee and Charles as they delve into FAO Schwarz, returning back to home, and more! At the end of the episode, Jeff comes in to share his personal experiences with Northern Exposure, along with some helpful thoughts about the meaning of the title, so stay tuned to the end! patreon.com/northernoverexposurepodcast Theme music by Matt Jackson Podcast Artwork by Bball Y'all (bballyall.com) Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Stitcher, Spotify, and SoundCloud. write in: northernoverexposurepodcast@gmail.com twitter: twitter.com/NorthernOverPod

Shop Talk exposes some unforeseen repair costs for owners of electric vehicles such as the Rivian R1T pick-up. Because of gigacasting a fender bender repair can cost as much as $40K or more. Caught My Eye prepares you for a cost increase of your favorite Girl Scout cookies, and they have discontinued their most popular cookie of 2023. Also, ladies of the night strip down at all hours now in California city to blatantly flaunt their wares. The Mayor of National City blames it on the Governor's recent signing of a bill that leaves a loitering loophole for prostitutes. The Founder of toy retailer FAO Schwarz, Frederick Schwarz, is our Business Birthday.We're all business. Except when we're not.Apple Podcasts: apple.co/1WwDBrCSpotify: spoti.fi/2pC19B1iHeart Radio: bit.ly/2n0Z7H1Tunein: bit.ly/1SE3NMbStitcher: bit.ly/1N97ZquGoogle Podcasts: bit.ly/1pQTcVWPandora: pdora.co/2pEfctjYouTube: bit.ly/1spAF5aAlso follow Tim and John on:Facebook: www.facebook.com/focusgroupradioTwitter: www.twitter.com/focusgroupradioInstagram: www.instagram.com/focusgroupradio

Grab your favorite transformer, skip past the haunted Zoltar, and meet Brandon and Jeremy at your local FAO Schwarz to discuss the 1988 Tom Hanks classic, "Big." While sipping on their latest whiskey selections Jeremy and Brandon discuss the iconic scenes and performances in the movie that many believe helped make Tom Hanks. Special thanks to Tin Cup and High West for the whiskey. And thank you to director Penny Marshall, Tom Hanks, and 20th Century Fox for (1988) Big! Thank you to Spotify for all the music you heard on this episode. You can follow the podcast on social media where you can suggest new movies and get special previews to upcoming shows. Twitter: @InflightPod Instagram/ Facebook: @inflightmoviepod Email: inflightpod@gmail.com

Leaders, you can learn to enjoy the moment.It doesn't always come naturally for multi-tasking leaders. There always seems to be another opportunity to explore or a “fire to fight”. But, you miss too much when you're always on the move versus enjoying the moment with your team, friends, or family.That's where this powerful message from Global COO, Jon Ragan at ThreeSixty Group comes in. He shares an impactful personal story of realizing the importance of presence and enjoying the moment even under the most difficult circumstances.You can immediately apply this lesson to your professional and personal life to make them more meaningful, purposeful, and fun.In case you're not familiar with it, ThreeSixty Group owns iconic brands including FAO Schwarz, Sharper Image, Wembley, and Vornado sold in over 90,000 retail locations around the world.Jon also has expertise in driving enterprise growth and transformation at Fortune 500 companies including General Electric, Grainger, and Weyerhaeuser.LinkedIn Profile http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonraganCompany Link: https://www.thethreesixtygroup.com/What You'll Discover in this Episode:Beekeeping and Boy Scouts - The Powerful Lesson he Learned.Advice He'd Give his Younger Self.The Big Benefit of Having a Hobby.What the Enneagram Revealed.A Strategy to Maintain Work-life Balance.The Unexpected Twist that Led to his Success.How Leadership Starts with his Onboarding Strategy.The Worst Leadership Advice he's Heard.How you Discover the “Sweet Spot” of your Personal Leadership. -----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

Austin Petersen is a creative executive, producer and entrepreneur. Currently he is the host of the Wake Up America Show at WakeUpAmericaShow.com every Monday-Friday from 7-9am central time.  Writing, video editing, producing, and managing massive social networks is his forte, as is building healthy communities, as well as fundraising. Petersen is a former 2016 Presidential and 2018 US Senate candidate. Petersen was Director of Production at FreedomWorks, and was also an Associate Producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano's show, “Freedom Watch” on the Fox Business Network. Owner and publisher of The Libertarian Republic, as well as CEO of Stonegait LLC. Mr. Petersen has been featured in Getty, Reuters, Fox News, Fox Business, the LA Times, NBC and Time Magazine, Reason, the Kansas City Star, Russia Today, al Jazeera and hundreds of local and nationally syndicated radio shows. Petersen has turned his website The Libertarian Republic into a powerful online news source for the public, with an average of 1 million unique visits monthly. As a publisher and professional pundit, Petersen grew The Freedom Report podcast into a top audio news source, with an average of one million monthly downloads. As a creative content producer, business executive, and successful political organizer, Stonegait's CEO has a lifetime of activism ahead, with decades of professional experience in a wide variety of industries. His work has appeared in Getty, Reuters, the LA Times, NBC and Time Magazine. His famous “Toy Gun March” and charity fundraiser was an international news story, raising thousands for the U.S. Marines charity Toys for Tots. Petersen made his feature film debut as an Executive Producer through Stonegait with the famous science fiction novel Alongside Night, starring Kevin Sorbo. As a product demonstrator and Toy Soldier at FAO Schwarz in Manhattan, Petersen moved from the sales floor to management in six months, and was again promoted to the corporate office's buying team less than six months later. He even appeared on the Conan O'Brien show. Find out more about Austin at: Website: https://wakeupamericashow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-petersen-5b41353/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AP4Liberty Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ap4liberty/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP4Liberty YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AP4Liberty Check out our YouTube Channel:Jeremyryanslatebiz See the Show Notes:https://www.jeremyryanslate.com/1109 You may watch the FULL Video Episode also via my Rumble channel: https://rumble.com/c/JeremyRyanSlate

Austin Petersen is a creative executive, producer and entrepreneur. Currently he is the host of the Wake Up America Show at WakeUpAmericaShow.com every Monday-Friday from 7-9am central time.  Writing, video editing, producing, and managing massive social networks is his forte, as is building healthy communities, as well as fundraising. Petersen is a former 2016 Presidential and 2018 US Senate candidate. Petersen was Director of Production at FreedomWorks, and was also an Associate Producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano's show, “Freedom Watch” on the Fox Business Network. Owner and publisher of The Libertarian Republic, as well as CEO of Stonegait LLC. Mr. Petersen has been featured in Getty, Reuters, Fox News, Fox Business, the LA Times, NBC and Time Magazine, Reason, the Kansas City Star, Russia Today, al Jazeera and hundreds of local and nationally syndicated radio shows. Petersen has turned his website The Libertarian Republic into a powerful online news source for the public, with an average of 1 million unique visits monthly. As a publisher and professional pundit, Petersen grew The Freedom Report podcast into a top audio news source, with an average of one million monthly downloads. As a creative content producer, business executive, and successful political organizer, Stonegait's CEO has a lifetime of activism ahead, with decades of professional experience in a wide variety of industries. His work has appeared in Getty, Reuters, the LA Times, NBC and Time Magazine. His famous “Toy Gun March” and charity fundraiser was an international news story, raising thousands for the U.S. Marines charity Toys for Tots. Petersen made his feature film debut as an Executive Producer through Stonegait with the famous science fiction novel Alongside Night, starring Kevin Sorbo. As a product demonstrator and Toy Soldier at FAO Schwarz in Manhattan, Petersen moved from the sales floor to management in six months, and was again promoted to the corporate office's buying team less than six months later. He even appeared on the Conan O'Brien show. Find out more about Austin at: Website: https://wakeupamericashow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-petersen-5b41353/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AP4Liberty Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ap4liberty/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP4Liberty YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AP4Liberty Check out our YouTube Channel:Jeremyryanslatebiz See the Show Notes:https://www.jeremyryanslate.com/1109 You may watch the FULL Video Episode also via my Rumble channel: https://rumble.com/c/JeremyRyanSlate

Season 20 Episode 2 This whole episode is ICONIC. The designers wake up at the ICONIC crack of dawn to ransack the iconic FAO Schwarz for the (maybe most?) ICONIC challenge, it's the Unconventional Challenge! Patricia and Hernease discuss the Second Immutable Law of Project Runway Nature, how Prajjé is so ready, dark whimsy and why Laurence needs some unconventional space! For Real!! JOIN US!!!! This Week's Cheatsheet https://www.tumblr.com/theworkroompodcast/721227096134991872/ep174?source=share Find each other on Discord! A Little Project Runway Chat: https://discord.gg/xW7JpXKfx7 Nayland's Fashion Collaboration with JCRT to Benefit Transgender Law Center https://www.jc-rt.com We're On Patreon! www.patreon.com/theworkroompodcast For the newest bonus episode, we have a Dream Three Worn Story! Nayland, Patricia and Hernease each share their own personal stories about a treasured item. Find The Workroom Podcast: The Workroom on FB: facebook.com/theworkroompodcast The Workroom on IG: instagram.com/theworkroompodcast And, keep sending notes, gossip and hot takes to: intheworkroom@gmail.com Find Hernease: Website - herneasedavis.com Twitter — twitter.com/hernease IG - instagram.com/hernease Find Nayland: Website - naylandblake.net Blue Sky - Naylandblake.bsky.social Tumblr - tumblr.com/naylandblake Remember, Nayland is off Instagram! Find Patricia: Twitter - twitter.com/senseandsight IG - instagram.com/senseandsight Find Samilia: texstyleshop.square.site Listen to Linoleum Knife! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/linoleum-knife/id403079737 Black Lives Matter Initiatives - blacklivesmatters.carrd.co Asian Americans Advancing Justice https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/get-involved thelovelandfoundation.org The donation helps to fund the initiatives of Therapy for Black Girls, National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network, Talkspace and Open Path Collective. Loveland Therapy Fund recipients will have access to a comprehensive list of mental health professionals across the country.

I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid. I'm also a KayBee kid, a JCP Wishbook kid and an FAO Schwarz kid! That being said, all toys are NOT created equal, this week the Rivera kids go head-to-head over who had the best little plastic playthings. AAWA Charlie is ready to Rock and Ride with the Biker Mice From Mars, while Jon swings with Spider-Gwen from Earth-65 through the multiverse! “More games, more toys, oh BOY!”

Marvin Berglas founded Marvin's Magic in the UK 35 years ago. It's now in 60 international markets. This is a bonus episode cut down from our How to be a CEO podcast, to listen to the full episode click here.In this episode:The story of how they got into FAO Schwarz in New York's Rockefeller PlazaTheir role in innovating "retail theatre" and experiential shopping How QVC and TV shopping revolutionised their business modelFor the latest business news head to www.standard.co.uk/business Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Movie Meltdown - Episode 592 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") Bust out the hot cocoa and Christmas cookies and settle in as we discuss the controversial holiday horror “classic” Silent Night, Deadly Night. And while we try to decide just how to put “The Star Wars Holiday Special” into perspective for someone who hasn't seen it, we also bring up… Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, Wednesday, Glorious, that creepy old mother superior nun, retail fantasies, Linnea Quigley, command strips, a fork to the gut, creating Catholic weirdos, Utah, who's gettin' it on at an orphanage, Charles E. Sellier Jr., FAO Schwarz, RoboSanta, talking through a glory hole, Tim Burton movies, child trauma, Bob Vila, not watching Troll, Jenna Ortega, hunting a human, merchandising nightmares, sledders, hanging out with The Doors, a murderous snowman, a Lovecraftian entity, who unlocked the door, homicidal maniac dressed as Santa, Jack Frost, Phil Donahue, dancing on a giant piano, the God-like level of Dolly Parton and being distracted by the toys. Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for the 1984 film “Silent Night, Deadly Night”, so go watch the movie before you listen. “He's got his own traumatic Santa memory.”

Marvin Berglas founded Marvin's Magic in the UK 35 years ago. It's now in 60 international markets. In this episode we talk about:The story of how they got into FAO Schwarz in New York's Rockefeller PlazaTheir role in innovating "retail theatre" and experiential shopping Why they hired actors instead of magicians How QVC and TV shopping revolutionised their business modelDifficulties converting exhibition audiences into buying ones The value of close partnerships Protecting brand reputations in global marketsThe product that made them The magical legacy of the Berglas family Marvin will be appearing at the Evening Standard's SME Expo, which is being held at ExCel London on April 25-26. Go to https://smexpo.co.uk/ for more information and to register for tickets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter McGowan is an immersive storyteller with over two decades of experience bringing iconic stories to life in physical, digital, and strategic spaces. As co-founder, President & Chief Storyteller at Storyland Studios, Peter has worked with some of the most recognizable corporate and creative brands in the world, including The Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, LEGO®, Ubisoft, Mars Wrigley M&M'S®, Nissan, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, FAO Schwarz, and many more. Peter is a champion of bringing brands' unique stories to life by broadening their visual vocabulary beyond words and helping shape the cultural influence of their organizations. His robust background in technology, art, and architecture has equipped him to skillfully integrate multiple fields of design to tell immersive stories on the graphic and environmental stages. Peter is especially passionate about partnering with non-profit and cause-based organizations through PlainJoe - A Storyland Studio to reflect their missions with excellence and heart.At the end of the day, he loves spending time with his wife, Jennifer, and their three kids making memories that usually involve LEGO® sets, Star Wars, Disney, or all three.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/reallivetalk/donations

In today's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, Sezzle, and and Silk, A&M's David Ritter and Mohit Mohal joined Anne and Chris to discuss: - Starbucks' efforts to load balance online orders at its stores. - The long-term impact of Nike's new, more sustainable fabric, Forward. - Wegmans calling it quits on scan-and-go mobile shopping. - The value of Pier 1's owner throwing Tuesday Morning a lifeline. - And closed with a saucy roundabout on Target's new FAO Schwarz partnership. There's all that, plus buying iPhones while intoxicated, Super Bowl halftime nostalgia, and asking Alexa for tips on how to get gum out of a kid's hair. Music by hooksounds.com

US stocks rose Monday. Plus, Alphabet sells off a secret telecom project, trial begins in Nikola founder's fraud case, and Target will sell FAO Schwarz toys.

US stocks rose Monday. Plus, Alphabet sells off a secret telecom project, trial begins in Nikola founder's fraud case, and Target will sell FAO Schwarz toys.

Meet Neale GodfreyWhen a relationship ends and you haven't been the one taking care of the finances, figuring out how to move forward can be paralyzing. Luckily, it's a learned skill and on today's episode, Pete and Seth are joined by New York Times #1 Best-Selling author Neale Godfrey to discuss finances, kids, gray divorce and more.It's important to understand your own finances and to learn how to handle them moving forward. It's also incredibly important to keep your kids in the loop so they're aware of how finances are going to affect them. (They are very id-focused beings, particularly the younger ones, after all.)It's important to never confuse your net-worth with your self-worth. You're not the money you earn, or don't earn. Money is about choice. Live within your means. And what about having your kids work? These are lessons for you to learn and to teach your children.We also touch on gray divorce and why the numbers are growing for couples divorcing after the age of 50.Our conversation ranges the gamut in today's episode, but there are lots of juicy tidbits to help you learn how to be more financially healthy after your divorce, regardless of how old you are or if you have kids when it happens.More About NealeNeale Godfrey is the financial voice for women and multi-generations as well as a world-renowned speaker and author, who has inspired millions through her work. She motivates, trains, educates, and frankly, entertains by delivering her core message: Empower yourself to take control of your financial life. Neale brings an important perspective on connecting the financial dots for families, which she delivers to thousands of corporate audiences and financial advisors.As the creator for the topic of “kids and money” and trailblazer for financial literacy, Neale Godfrey has worked tirelessly over the last 35 years to connect the family around the topic of money.Neale began her journey in 1972 as one of the first female executives at The Chase Manhattan Bank (the world's largest bank at the time). She later went on to become President of The First Women's Bank and founder of The First Children's Bank in FAO Schwarz. Neale was also involved with the Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship in Harlem.Neale is the New York Times #1 Best-Selling Author of Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children and has authored a total of 28 books to empower kids and their parents to have a healthy relationship with money.Neale has represented global companies as a National Spokesperson; including Microsoft, UPS, Lincoln Financial, Fidelity, AIG, Nuveen, Aetna, Coca-Cola, among others. She has also appeared as a financial expert on programs such as; The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and The Today Show, on major news networks such as; CNN, CNBC, and FOX Business, and starred in the PBS Special, “Your Money, Your Children, Your Life."Neale is a popular contributor for Kiplinger, a former contributor to Forbes.com and Huffington Post, and a former Nationally Syndicated Columnist for the Associated Press.Neale has served on White House and Governor's Task Forces, as well as on the Board of Directors of UNICEF, UNWomen, Young President's Organization — YPO (Member since 1987), The NY Board of Trade, and Morris County Chamber of Commerce.Links & NotesNeale Godfrey's WebsiteNeale on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and FacebookSchedule a consult with SethGot a question you want to ask on the show? Click here!

Hello babies! We're getting ready for summer by fostering butterflies and sending passive aggressive messages to our neighbors. On today's episode, we discuss the magic of FAO Schwarz and a still valid 90's celebrity crush. On Wiki of the Week, we read the Wikipedia page for "Banana peel," that yellowy outer covering of the banana fruit that we all can't get enough of.

This episode of the Being Human is Good For Business podcast features three supply chain management leaders in an informative discussion about the challenges they are facing in today's changing times. The panel (our first ever!) includes leadership development expert Heather Marasse, Managing Partner of Trilogy Effect. Joining Heather is:Steve Weinstein, Head of Supply Chain & Operations at Zarbee's, the number one pediatrician-recommended cough syrup and sleep support brand for kids 10 and under. Angus Scott, Senior Vice President at Coravin, a wine technology company that is changing the way the world drinks wine, with products available in 60 countries, andJon Ragan, the Chief Operations Officer at the ThreeSixty Group, the company behind such inspiring brands as FAO Schwarz, Sharper Image, Discovery and more.In this podcast you'll learn that: Now, more than ever, the supply chain is as strong as the relationships you've got with your vendors and suppliers. You need to be able to understand and trust each other if you're going to be able to bring your products to market reliably, so relationship-building skills have come to the fore during this pandemic. There's been a shift in the balance of power for people managing the supply chain. Leaders here are gaining increased visibility and involvement in making important decisions. For supply chain leaders, being vulnerable, learning to say no, and having healthy discussions to solve internal conflicts has been the key to keeping businesses afloat during the pandemic. Links to information and resources discussed in this show: How are you managing? How the pandemic is changing how we leadWhat is a leadership coach? Coaching with the Leadership Circle ProfileWe invite you to subscribe to the Being Human Is Good for Business Podcast on iTunes, Amazon, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, and Spotify (links below) or wherever you get your podcasts. We'd really appreciate if rate us or leave a review because it helps others find our show. Apple Podcasts |Google Podcasts| I Heart Radio | Spotify| Amazon

On Episode 41 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Danny quizzes us on the real names of famous fictional characters from our past.    Present: There's a new surgeon in town... and Jon tells us why this surgeon might be terrifying for some.     Future: There is a Texas-sized island of plastic in the ocean and Produce Jeff explains how scientists are experimenting with a new kind of plastic that is environmentally friendly. It will blow your mind!    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz and Sharper Image for sponsoring this episode of Timely. You can find all of their latest products at Target:  http://www.goto.target.com/jWrEWb.     We recently launched the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! http://www.youtube.com/timelypodcast    Date: February 22, 2022    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

On Episode 40 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Jon explains why "shower thoughts" might be our most profound.   Present: Was the Star Wars soundtrack the result of plagiarism? Producer Jeff explores. Check out Charles Cornell's YouTube channel. We got the idea for this segment from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R5r4shLDbs&t=184s    Bonus Present: The James Webb Space Telescope is going to allow us to see the universe in ways it has never been seen. What if this new technological marvel fails?    Future: Danny tells about a 1972 M.I.T. study that might predict the collapse of society. When is this supposed to take place?   Special thanks to FAO Schwarz and Sharper Image for sponsoring this episode of Timely. You can find all of their latest products at Target:  http://www.goto.target.com/jWrEWb.     We recently launched the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! http://www.youtube.com/timelypodcast    Date: January 28, 2022    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

After a Christmas party of naughty Twitter people ends in chaos, I attempt to wiggle out of any traumatic memories that may occur to @Howlingmutant0 (master comedic id of Twitter) by taking him shopping at the historic FAO Schwarz and Barnes & Noble on Fifth Ave., NYC   Full episode is available for Patreon subscribers only. Please subscribe at patreon.com/filthyarmenian   Follow on Twitter and Instagram @filthyarmenian  

It's our 200th episode, and there's only one movie BIG enough for this: Big! It's our Tom Hanks month, capping off with our final T. Hanks-giving! (Episode starts at 9:21 if you want to skip our announcements) Why on earth does he have sex in this movie?! Where's the magic ticket? Why are we lingering on the SEVERE trauma Josh's family is enduring? How much therapy is needed after this movie? Also, Tripp fixes almost all of this movies ills with a very small change.  Looking for episode #195? It's Ghostbusters, and it's at Patreon.com/DissectingThe80s, along with nearly 20 hours of bonus content at the $5 tier! Get 20% Off + Free Shipping, with the code MACHO at Manscaped.com. All this and more! “NewsSting, Ouroboros” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Keywords: Big, Tom Hanks, Piano, FAO Schwarz, Robert Loggia, Movie, Retro, 80s, Podcast, Eighties

We walk from the Harry Potter Store in New York to Times Square. We tell you all the places we stoped by, including our favorite stores. We mention: Eataly, Fao Schwarz, Lego Store, Time Square, Rockefeller Center, Gran Central Terminal, Hamilton Theater, Pele Store and M&M Store. --- 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/talkshowforkids/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/talkshowforkids/support

In this episode, Delano talks about Kahlil Gibran and Einstein, why creative people run the world and how they can value themselves more, the challenges of instilling creativity in corporations, as well as some solutions and tricks for doing so successfully including teamwork, problem-solving, and the art of dissociation. He also shares with us about the Guinness World Record he is aiming to break for most books sold in one day, which he calls “the most ridiculous thing I've ever attempted to do.”Delano A. Johnson, aka #TheCEOofCreativity, is originally from the Bahamas and has lived in New York for the past twenty-five years. He is the successor of Dr. George C. Fraser and COO for FraserNET, Inc, the parent company for FraserNation, Winds Financial Learning Centers, and the PowerNetworking Conference. He is the author of the best-selling book, Refuse to Live Talented & Broke!, as well as an international speaker, brand architect and leading authority on personal and corporate creativity who has worked with some of the world's most recognized brands such as BMW, Pfizer, Sheraton, Verizon, ATT, and Disney, just to name a few. He is a Grammy and Dove Award nominee, and a singer/songwriter with 9 Marlin Award wins. In 2008, he was the Online Creative Manager at ToysRus® headquarters responsible for all online visual offers, branding, and new acquisition brands, including the iconic FAO Schwarz®. After 3 years, his creative leadership helped grow the online division from $50 million to over $750 million. Personally, Delano is passionate about helping artists, entertainers, and entrepreneurs manage and maximize the high demand for their creative output. He believes that everyone is a creative genius and teaches his patented Creative Transformational Principles™ to thousands each year. Delano is the proud father of Jonathan Isaac, David Alijandro and Dyamond Jolie. Silicon Valley based company Innovation Minds takes a crucial step in helping  solve the new challenges of the post-pandemic global workplace by launching this podcast, in which we interviews a diverse offering of business leaders from around the planet on how to use innovation to engage the workforce, as well as how to innovate engagement using technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to humanize relationships in the new distributed workplace.Innovation Minds is a leader in using AI-driven technology to engage employees through their philosophy of Innovation At the Edge, and decided to launch this podcast to promote the urgent need for engagement at this delicate time.Guests for our first season include corporate HR leads, world-class consultants, best-selling authors, and employee engagement and innovation experts working across a wide range of industries: Clint Pulver, Themba Chakela Jamie NotterMaddie Grant Delano Johnson Shawn Nason Luke Jamieson Coonoor Behal Jeff Tobe Niven Postma Adriana Bokel Herde Sindhu Joseph and Dickson TangYou can read more about our season one guests at our website, and sign up for reminders to make sure you never miss an episode. 

The New York Times did a lengthy look at the influence Joe Rogan has over comedy.Kristin Schall talks about her job in the candy department at FAO Schwarz

Mattel Films is partnering with MGM to put Polly Pocket on the silver screen. Hasbro and Epic Games are creating a line of Victory Royale toys for Fornite fans. And Kidfluencers are driving over $1 billion in toy sales. The kids market activity is being driven by (1) the explosion in kids screen time and (2) that kids digital viewership overtook linear for the first time in 2020. We highlight the key deals, consumption and regulatory trends, and the evolution of kids business models from subscriptions and FAST streaming apps to digital goods and social commerce.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 websiteEmail us: rounduppod@wearerockwater.com--EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:Chris Erwin:So Andrew, have been noticing that media entertainment companies are rapidly investing in building out of kids-focused content verticals as of late. Andrew Cohen:Yeah. We wrote a report about it a few months ago. Because as we track deals in a space, it seems like every week, every month we kept seeing new big announcements around kids content. Chris Erwin:And I think in that report, which came out April 1st, it's on our blog if I remember correctly, that we tracked over 20 major investments, deals and partnerships around digital kids content over the past couple of years. That same deal activity, that trend has continued, if not accelerated. And we're seeing also a particular ramp up in content initiatives by toy manufacturers. So, some of those deals that we referenced in the report, we talked about the launch of new subscription apps for kids. So we saw launches by the New York Times, Amazon, Times, Spotify, Apple, and more. We also saw an increase in ad-based kids content models. So 2B Kids, Roku Kids, and even a cool partnership between NFL and Nickelodeon, creating a unique kids experience for a linear TV and digital stream of NFL game. Chris Erwin:Also, the growth of derivative commerce and partnerships. So like Nastya, a massive global kidfluencer, she did a deal with Will Smith-owned Westbrook Studios. We saw OK Play raise 11 million. And HOMER, another digital app, raise 50 million from Lego, Sesame Workshop and Gymboree. And then even since then the highlights have continued. Back in April, Hasbro and Epic Games came together to create a new line of product, a Victory Royale toys for Fortnite fans. Then in May, MGA Entertainment is moving its L.O.L. Surprise! unboxing brand under more screens and a new film that's going to land on Netflix in October. And then less than a couple of weeks ago, Mattel Films partnered with MGM to develop a new Polly Pocket feature film. So we're seeing all this activity, there's a lot more here than what I've just gone over, but Andrew, why is this happening? Andrew Cohen:So I think it's two main things. One is that visual content consumption among kids is growing at unprecedented rates. So publishers and platforms see an opportunity here to bolster longterm fan loyalty by capturing this first truly digital, first native generation. And two, new regulation is arising that complicates how this viewership is monetized. So starting with the first one, young kids are spending more time today on digital platforms than ever before. Today's generation children is the first to grow up spending more time on visual platforms than on traditional media. And in 2020 to 2021, as this entire generation has been forced to stay home and adopt e-learning, this paradigm shift has only intensified. And 2020 really represented an inflection point in this transition from linear to digital consumption. Andrew Cohen:So really these are not the screens that their parents grew up on, or that we grew up on. Growing up watching Nickelodeon, cartoon networks. In 2020, for the first time children younger than eight we're watching more videos online than on live TV, or even on streaming services. Online videos accounted for nearly 75% of all screen time for young kids. And in the U.S., kids ages four to 15 spent on average 85 minutes per day watching YouTube and 80 minutes a day watching TikTok. Chris Erwin:Just to be clear, Andrew, so that's 165 minutes total between both platforms, right? Andrew Cohen:Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, I don't know how much time I used to spend watching cable as a kid, but seeing those numbers for TikTok and YouTube is really eye-opening. It's the availability of mobile devices and of the internet, I think has been the most significant factor for why kids are spending increasingly more and more time consuming online content. In 2020, 97% of young children live in homes with at least one smartphone, which represents a 54% growth since 2013. So as a result, 170,000 kids go online for the first time every day. And as of 2018, 40% of new internet users globally were children. So when the COVID lockdown started in March, screen-time instantly shot up around 50%. And now over a year later, that percentage still hasn't budged. But Chris, as digital consumption is ramping up, so is the legislation that regulates how we monetize it. Chris Erwin:And it's funny, just I think late last week I was talking to an advisor on privacy regulation and COPPA requirements. And yeah, overall there's growing government regulation and parental concerns around kids' screen time, which makes a monetization of this audience particularly challenging. And with regulation it creates uncertainty. And as we know, investors and operators don't like conducting business where they don't know what the rules are and how it's going to evolve. But yeah, of note, there's also increasing scrutiny by Congress and the government overall about consumer data collection and protections. And as we saw over the past month, there was big new legislation that was just recently proposed. But particularly on children, there's the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. It's also known as COPPA. A lot of people talk about this, but don't know exactly what it is, so let's quickly explain it. Chris Erwin:COPPA requires operators of commercial websites, online services and mobile apps to notify parents and obtain their consent before collecting any personal information on children under the age of 13. The aim of this is they give parents more control over what info is collected from their children online. And this is enforced by the FTC. So yeah, there some violations here over the past couple years that were pretty big. So in 2019, right? Google and YouTube were forced to pay record $170 million fine for violating this law. That same year, TikTok also paid a $5.7 million fine. Over the past couple of months, as Instagram has worked to launch their new kids platform, they've increasingly become under scrutiny, I think from the government and different watch groups as well. Chris Erwin:So speaking to the point of uncertainty and what's changing here, California passed legislation protecting kids up to the age of 16, right? So extending this by three years. And there's now new laws, even at the national level, to extend COPPA to kids up to 16 as well. That is material for all the different brands and marketers and publishers that target audiences in that age range. Overall, as the laws designed to protect kids who are consuming content online are developing and expanding, it's estimated that by the end of 2021 800 million kids will be protected by digital privacy laws, as opposed to only 130 million just in 2018. Chris Erwin:So, that's probably around a four X increase in just the past few years. So what's the main takeaway? Regulation is not going to stop viewership, but it does create uncertainty around monetization. So, companies need to create kid-safe environments that they control. So this is the emergence of new business models that are direct-to-consumer with subscriptions, dedicated apps and digital experiences, new ad based models, and then derivative commerce, right? Monetizing through alternative products like physical and digital goods. So Andrew, let's expand on that. Andrew Cohen:Yeah. So you just mentioned subscriptions, and we're seeing that kids content is really a secret weapon to bolster LTV, its lifetime value for subscription services, which is kind of the golden metric for them. And when you think about it that way, it's no wonder that everyone from Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Paramount+, HBO Max, Spotify, New York Times, Amazon, Time Magazine, the works, everyone who you named up top and more, are investing so much in building out their kids vertical across subscription platforms. Andrew Cohen:The role of kids in the streaming wars is particularly interesting. It's an effective tool to onboard two generations of subscribers with parents and kids, thus boosting customer acquisition, and also allows them to develop sticky habits that reduce churn, boosting customer retention. So kids content not only drives customer acquisition for subscription services by promoting signups among parents, there's also an opportunity to kind of skate to where the puck is going by providing an early stage on-ramp to younger audiences who are now going to grow up with these platforms and develop meaningful user relationships. And as these younger audiences begin building habits on these platforms at an early age, they're only going to come more and more valuable to these platforms over time. So that's the subscription model. But as you mentioned, Chris, with COPPA, it's making ad-based models a bit tricky. So you want to talk about that? Chris Erwin:So even though with all the new regulation and watch group scrutiny, the ad-based business models around kids content is trickier. Companies are still going to navigate it because it's still a huge, big market and it's growing quickly. So, let's talk about some stats here. 61% of parents say they are more attentive when watching TV with their kids than when they're watching alone. How does that translate into potentially buying more products? Chris Erwin:Well, parents are 250% more likely to buy products that they see advertised while watching with their kids. And then, parents spend 59% more than non-parents across categories. So, when there's co-consumption between parent and child of content, parents are leaning in, they're engaged more, they're more likely to buy products, they're more likely to spend than their non-parent counterparts in across all those categories. That's very powerful. It's thus no wonder that the kids digital advertising market is projected to grow by over 20% between 2018 and 2021, culminating in 1.7 billion by the end of this year, which is projected to make up around 37% of the total kids advertising spend. So I think there's a third new revenue line here to also consider, Andrew, which is derivative commerce. Tell us about that. Andrew Cohen:Yeah. So, kids IP franchises are the most viable path to the diversified revenue flywheel that all content brands are striving for regardless, kids and not kids. And this is really best epitomized by Disney model flywheel that we've seen. I think it's really interesting to note that 13 of the 16 highest grossing media franchises are from kids' IP. And the vast majority of revenue generated by these franchises comes from merchandise. So really the kids' audience, I think, is the most prime to spend on consumer products around the content and the characters that they love. Traditionally, we've seen this with Blockbuster, franchises on the big screen from Disney, but now we're starting to see it with kind of small screen visual influencers as well, led by Ryan's World and pocket.watch. Chris Erwin:And this is an example, Andrew, that everyone loves to talk about, but let's dive into the specific data here. So this is probably the leading example of the kids digital content flywheel. So pocket.watch's digital content portfolio has 7.4 billion video views each month, powers a massive consumer products division of over a hundred licensees across multiple categories. Chris Erwin:So Ryan's World in particular, over 29 million YouTube subs, generating over a million hours of video views each day. Their total retail empire has surpassed over $500 million in revenue. And they're selling consumer products everywhere from Walmart to Amazon, to FAO and more. In 2020 alone, Ryan's World CP generated more than 250 million in sales. Now I think from our research, Ryan and his family takes home around 30 million in revenue across their whole business. And for the first time last year, I think they saw around 60 to 70% of that 30 million come from their consumer products division. That's the first time it has outpaced their YouTube ad revenues, a very big new trend for that family and also for kidfluencers overall. And then also another big note, Ryan's World launched their own virtual world on Roblox last year, where fans can purchase gems that can be exchanged for virtual goods and more. And then we're going to see a lot more of these virtual activations by kidfluencers going forward. And Andrew, I think there's some other detail you have there. Andrew Cohen:Definitely. I think when you look at where kids are spending time and money, you have to talk about gaming, and specifically the metaverse. The top metaverse platforms each command one to one and a half billion hours of playtime per month. So it's no wonder why not only Ryan's World, but also toy companies like Lego, Hasbro, Mattel are all activating these virtual spaces. And not only is that where they're spending their time, like I said, it's where they're spending their money. Sometimes on physical products, but oftentimes on virtual products and in-app purchases. So 82% of free children's apps, those made for kids five to 12, offer in-app purchases. In 2020, in-app purchases generated 31 billion in revenue. A prime example of this is Kim Kardashian, whose kids friendly, free-to-play mobile game generated $200 million per year, mostly through these in-app purchases. So it's definitely... I think probably the next great frontier of kids content and commerce. Chris Erwin:So Andrew, I think we are really at the end of our time. So I think the takeaway here is that content is driving these massive new revenue streams across overall kids entertainment and kids experiences. There's a lot more activity to track here. We'll have to get to it in a future roundup. So I'll just have to say Andrew, till next time. Andrew Cohen:Next time. See you then.

On Episode 39 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Jon shares three seemingly silly origins to things that have become normal.    Present: Producer Jeff tells us about an ongoing development in the urban legend of feral human cannibals in national parks. This leads to a discussion on other popular urban legends.    Future: What would happen if everyone stopped buying houses and only rented? Danny tells us about this potential future.    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz and Sharper Image for sponsoring this episode of Timely. You can find all of their latest products at Target:  http://www.goto.target.com/jWrEWb.     We recently launched the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! http://www.youtube.com/timelypodcast    Date: July 6, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

On Episode 38 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Which historical figure would have the best YouTube channel?    Present: Is it possible to freeze a human in the present and bring them back to life in hundreds of years?    Future: If we were to bury a time capsule for future humans to learn about our world today, what would we put in it?    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. You can find all of their latest products at Target:  http://www.goto.target.com/jWrEWb.     We recently launched the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! http://www.youtube.com/timelypodcast    Date: June 15, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

On Episode 37 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Is there an extra-terrestrial graveyard under earth? Jon will let us know.    Present: Producer Jeff explains why there is so much talk about UFOs lately.    Future: Danny tells us about recent advancements in AI which leads to an interesting debate.    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz and Sharper Image for sponsoring this episode of Timely. You can find all of their latest products at Target:  http://www.goto.target.com/jWrEWb.     We recently launched the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! http://www.youtube.com/timelypodcast    Date: May 25, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

Dan & Manny put the 1988 Tom Hanks comedy classic

On Episode 35 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: What did the English language sound like 1,500 years ago? Producer Jeff plays audio clips walking us through the evolution of the English language.    Present: Are you familiar with the Pocket Conspiracy? Danny tells us about a little girl who is putting an end to the lack of pockets in women's clothing.     Future: Coffee might be going extinct. Jon fills us in on this concerning trend.    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. Learn about their Easter plush line at faoschwarz.com.    We recently launched the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKdokFwpdMPwDoQDURqfsGQ/featured    Date: April 19, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

Today we bust out the FAO Schwarz giant keyboard and discuss why all we are is all we've got, so maybe we should all cut each other some slack. Based on the tweet: We pour our hearts and souls into the work because they are the best raw materials we have.Support the show (https://leeclowsbeard.locals.com)

On Episode 34 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Jeff tells us wild, unknown stories about mankind's efforts in space travel.    Present: How is Star Trek responsible for Joe Biden's presidency? Jon takes us on a mind-blowing journey through various domino affects.    Future: Will future humans be physiologically different? Are we changing? Danny provides some answers.    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. Learn about their Easter plush line at faoschwarz.com.    We recently launched the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKdokFwpdMPwDoQDURqfsGQ/featured    Date: March 29, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

On Episode 33 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: An American archaeologist went to his grave believing a lie. Jon tells us about it.    Present: Burger King recently failed at social media with a bad tweet. Danny tells us about other companies that did social media wrong.    Future: What will be going on in 1 billion years on earth? Producer Jeff fills us in.    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. Learn about their Easter plush line at faoschwarz.com.    We recently launched the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKdokFwpdMPwDoQDURqfsGQ/featured    Date: March 15, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

On Episode 31 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Producer Jeff takes us on a tour through the history of American Music. Happy Black History Month!    Present: 2020 was a hard year. If you could have slept through it, would you have? Danny walks us through this thought experiment.    Future: Do you know what cultured meat is? It might be the meat of the future. Jon explains.    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. Learn about their Easter plush line at faoschwarz.com.    Follow the recovery of Joseph Flavill here (mentioned in the Present segment): https://www.josephsjourney.co.uk/    We are excited to announce the launch of the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKdokFwpdMPwDoQDURqfsGQ/featured    Date: February 15, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

On Episode 30 of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Danny tells us about inventions that you would think are new, but were actually invented a long time ago.    Present: Jon shares a nerve-racking story about someone who is in danger of losing millions of bitcoins.    Future: Jeff found an article highlighting amazing ideas found on social media and message boards to improve our future. We're all about ideas... so we have fun with this one.     Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. Learn about their current spring plush line at faoschwarz.com.    We are excited to announce the launch of the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKdokFwpdMPwDoQDURqfsGQ/featured    Date: February 1, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

On this episode of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: How many people died in the American War for Independence? How long ago were the pyramids built? These are questions about history we don't normally ask, but the answers will blow your mind.    Present: Jon talks about how we recently got to work with Jimmy Fallon!    Future: Disney Plus just made a lot of announcements about the future of Star Wars. Danny fills us in.     Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. Learn about their current spring plush line at faoschwarz.com.    We are excited to announce the launch of the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKdokFwpdMPwDoQDURqfsGQ/featured    Date: January 16, 2021    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

Mary Reichard and Nick Eicher review the top news stories in a year chock full of major occurrences; Paul Butler and Sarah Schweinsberg report on why so many more people put up Christmas decorations this year; and Johnny Franklin and Carl Peetz have a little fun with some of our mistakes. Plus: an FAO Schwarz sleepover, and the Thursday morning news. Support The World and Everything in It today at wng.org/donate. Additional support comes from Law & Liberty: discussing the pressing issues of America with an informed perspective at lawliberty.org.

On this episode of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Jon shares some of the weirdest and creepiest coincidences in history.    Present: President Trump is the first president in history to serve only one term, be impeached and lose the popular vote. Danny tells us about other presidents who share in some of these achievements?    Future: 2020 will go down in history as a not-so-great year. But did it speed up the future of carless cities? Producer Jeff explains.    Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. Did you know FAO Schwarz offers virtual classes in science and magic? It's called the FAO Schwarz Academy of Wonder. Lean more at faoschwarz.com.    We are excited to announce the launch of the Timely, Randomonium Podcast YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKdokFwpdMPwDoQDURqfsGQ/featured    Date: December 19, 2020    Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough    Producer: Jeff McCullough    Don't forget to check out Randomonium and Timely on YouTube and Instagram.

Who's coming to visit Tim Schuebel and Jolynn Carpenter? Join us every Monday- Friday Timmyboy #1 Comedy Podcast Podbean 01-646-481-9234 NoHope4usAll@gmail.com #Timmyboy #Professor Gobblefarts #FAOSchwarz #magicwords #PeytonManning #WolfBlitzer  

You have to act quickly, but tomorrow morning (if you live in New York) you can book a nights stay at FAO Schwarz! Slightly less quickly, but still on a schedule, get ready to see the Christmas Star a week from today!

BGBS 048: Jeff Harry | Rediscover Your Play | See Where Your Curiosity Goes Jeff Harry is a positive psychology play speaker and founder of Rediscover Your Play, with a mission to work with businesses to address their deepest issues such as toxicity at work, creating an inclusive work environment, and dealing with office politics through the experience of play. Jeff explains that adults are limited by their expectation of results and calculations of the future. By encouraging play, Jeff crafts an environment where adults can live in the present moment, think outside the box, and in turn, take risks and tackle issues in a more resilient, positive way. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook all depended on Jeff to help their staff infuse more play into their day. His work has been featured in the New York Times, SoulPancake, the SF Chronicle, and more. Beyond that, Jeff speaks internationally about how workplace issues can be solved through play and was selected by Engagedly as one of the Top 100 HR Influencers of 2020 for his organizational work on addressing toxicity in the workplace. Jeff encourages us to get bored, follow our curiosity, and remove the need to “should on ourselves” due to other people's expectations. By doing so, Jeff helps us look within to ask, “What gets you in a place where you can hear you and no one else?” In this episode, you'll learn... Inspired by the movie Big, Jeff wrote letters to toy companies from 5th grade through high school with all his toy ideas until one responded and said that if he wanted to go into toy design, mechanical engineering is the way Once Jeff got his degree, he finally got the job of his dreams in the toy industry. And he hated it. Jeff banded with 7 other "nerdy guys" to build the largest children's Lego STEM education company in the country, teaching about 100,000 kids a year. The Lego STEM company was so successful that companies began asking for adult workshops, so they started working from scratch to help companies play outside the box The first time Jeff wore his signature Lego bowtie, he was dared to wear it to a conference. The more he wore it, the more genuine people would be around him and more connections he would make In junior high, Jeff did everything he could to get into the "cool" pool party with his friends, only to lose his core of play in the process. It was then that he promised himself to never compromise who he truly was again According to a UCLA study, you will hear the word "no" 148,000 times by the time you are 18 years old Just do the things that feel good to you. You'll know when you're trying to "should" on yourself when it doesn't feel right Jeff's dad came to the US from St. Vincent as a doctor and his mom came from the Philippines to work as a nurse. They met in an operating room in Minnesota Jeff encourages us to ask our friends what value we bring to the friendship and when we seem most alive to begin defining a path for ourselves, rather than relying on what society deems as right or wrong Resources Rediscover Your Play Website Youtube: Jeff Harry Plays Instagram: @jeffharryplays Twitter: @jeffharryplays LinkedIn: Jeff Harry Medium: @jeffharryplays TikTok: @jeffharryplays Get Inspired How Do You Add Play To Grown-Up Life - Even Now - NY Times A Play Experiment To Remind You Who You Are - Medium How To Play Through These Uncertain Times - Medium Quotes [20:14] I remember as I crossed that threshold, I felt such a wave of relief and I was expecting next to be so happy. But instead, as soon as I passed through, I felt like I left myself back there. I remember...just feeling like the loneliest I had ever felt in my life up until that point...and I remember making a pact with myself that day: I am not going to compromise who I am just to be cool or to people-please. [28:04] It's not that you shouldn't dress up or you shouldn't put your best foot forward if that is you. Yo, do you. But if you feel like you're doing it just because you're trying to impress others, and you don't feel comfortable in that space, then why are you doing it? [33:06] There are moments when you're in a state of flow, where you're creating something and it's hitting on all cylinders, challenging intellectually, it's challenging you creatively, and you feel alive, right? Like you just feel so excited about it. And that is what I mean by play. And that is what I want to help people rediscover.  [36:00] Just get bored and see what comes up, because you have to actually quiet down everyone else's voice so you can start listening to that inner curiosity, that inner child, that's gonna then whisper something to you like “start that podcast” or “write that blog”. Podcast Transcript Jeff Harry 0:02 And often all of us getting out and it's like, you know, like 90210 with that cool walk and, you know, throw in the towel over my like shoulder and, you know, and just act and so like dope because I'm, I'm finally going to get accepted as soon as I walked through this party. And I remember we were like, 10 feet away and feeling excited. And then I see a friend of mine run and I think Jeremy and a bunch of other people, and they weren't being led into the party. And they happen to be black. And there was a scuffle as like, maybe seven feet away. And I remember someone saying to them, Bob, you get the fuck out of here. We are not letting any support. And man when I heard that I just froze. Marc Gutman 1:03 Podcasting from Boulder, Colorado. This is the Baby Got Backstory podcast. we dive into the story behind the story of today's most inspiring storytellers, creators and entrepreneurs. I like big backstories and I cannot lie. I am your host, Marc Gutman, Marc Gutman, and on today's episode of Baby got backstory we are playing. No, I'm not joking. And neither is today's guest who is super serious about play. Today we are talking with Jeff Harry. Jeff has built an entire business and life out of play. Jeff shows individuals and companies how to tap into their true selves to feel their happiest and most fulfilled ball by playing. Jeff has worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook, helping their staff to infuse more play into the day today. Hey, if you like and enjoy the show, please take a minute or two to rate and review us over Apple podcasts or Spotify, or the listening platform of your choice. These platforms use ratings as part of the algorithm that determines ratings on their charts, and ratings bring exposure which helps us to build an audience which then helps us to continue to produce this show. And if I may ask just one more favor. If you like the show, please recommend it to at least one other person. You may think well like it this week. That would make me happy. And who doesn't like a happy Marc Gutman? Jeff Harry is an international speaker who is presented at conferences such as inbound, South by Southwest and Australia's pause fest showing audiences how major issues in the workplace can be solved using play. Jeff was selected by bamboo HR and engaged Lee as one of the top 100 Hr influencers of 2024. His organizational development work around dealing with toxic people in the workplace is playworks work has most recently been featured in The New York Times article, how do we add more play to our grown up life. Even now, which we will link to in the show notes. He's also been featured on AJ plus SoulPancake, the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN. And as you'll hear in today's episode, while we spend most of our time pretending to be important, serious grownups, it's when we let go of that facade, and just play that the real magic happens. Fully embracing your own nerdy genius, whatever that is, gives you the power to make a difference and change lives. Jeff believes that we already have many of the answers we seek. And by simply unleashing our inner child, we can find our purpose and in turn, help to create a better world in this is his story. Today, I am talking to someone who does something that I don't believe I've ever had any experience with directly at least in my adult life, and we'll talk about that. I'm so just intrigued and excited to get into this conversation. I am here with Jeff Harry, who is a positivity psychology play speaker. So Jeff, like I'm gonna ask you right off the bat, what is a positivity psychology play speaker besides being a mouthful, Jeff Harry 4:53 Right? Um, knows. It's a great question. First, thanks for having me. I'm the best The way in which I described positive psychology in plays I, I combined positive psychology and the idea of player the concept of play, to work with businesses to address some of their like deepest issues like dealing with toxicity at work, how to create an inclusive work environment, how to deal with office politics bs. And we all do it through the mindset of positive psychology as well as the experience of play. Marc Gutman 5:27 Very good. And so, you know, a question I typically lead off episodes with is something to the effect of, Jeff, when you were a young boy, when you were eight years old, did you always want to have a job in play? But I can't really ask that because I'm assuming eight years old. Yes. That is exactly the job that you wanted. Jeff Harry 5:50 Yeah, so so and I love that you pick the number eight because I think that's when I saw the movie Big. And that was the catalyst for me. So I saw the movie big with Tom Hanks. And if you remember that movie, you know, he plays with toys for a living, he works for a toy company of all things. So you know, seeing the movie, I ran down to FAO Schwarz thinking if I just danced on the piano, a CEO would discover me and offer me a job. And that did not happen. So then I started writing toy companies in fifth grade on my word processor. That's how old I am. And I was spamming toy companies with letters before spamming was a thing, I would send like six letters at a time, that were like three or four pages long with all of my toy ideas, to any toy company that I could find the address to. And I just kept doing that all the way through high school until a company contacted me and was like, yeah, you need to stop sending these letters. And if you want to go into toy design, you should go into mechanical engineering, I did that which I probably should not have just listened to some random letter, but I did it. And then I went to school for it, graduated and then went into the toy industry. And I don't know if you've ever had a moment where you get what you want. But I got into the toy industry. And I hated it. Like there was no play, there was no high fives there was no toys. They might as well have been selling microwaves. And I was just like, What am I supposed to do with my life. And I was in New York and 911 just happen. So I was like questioning whether I should even be here. And I don't want to die in a cubicle. And I remember leaving New York and heading to the Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area living in Oakland. And I remember finding a job where you can teach kids engineering with Lego. And it was only seven nerdy guys at this job. And I just hung out with him. And we helped grow the largest Lego STEM education company like in the country. And we all did it by just playing and making it up as we went along. Like we would pick cities because they were fun. We had no business plan. We pick fun people to hire. And we just weren't just making it up via play. And because we were doing so well. And we were teaching like 100,000 kids a year, Silicon Valley started recognizing us and was like, hey, do you run things for adults like team building events? And we were like, of course we do. Even though we did it. We didn't know we were doing we're just making it up. So we just say yes to anything. And then I realized as where was running a lot of these workshops for adults, they would talk about creativity and collaboration and connection. But they weren't playful environments. They weren't like creating a playful place where people could take risks, and quote unquote, think outside the box. So I was like, you're not tackling the big issues. So I created rediscover your play as a way to just like, yo, let's go right at those hard issues. But let's use play and positive psychology to do it. Marc Gutman 9:02 Wow, that thank you for sharing that you went from eight all the way to, through through now to now it's a time warp. And so we're gonna, we're gonna hold that we know where the story kind of leads. But I want to go back. I mean, you told me before we started recording that you're in Chicago with your family. And is that where you grew up? I mean, was your life like, like big was it with Josh Baskin, were you, you know, rooting for the Cubs? And? And, yeah, I know the movie. I know the movie. Well, you know, Jeff Harry 9:32 Well, I hated the cubs. I'm a White Sox fan, because I live in the south side, right? I live in the south suburbs of Chicago. And that's where I grew up. But yes, I am like, my dad is from the Caribbean. small island off the coast of Barbados called St. Vincent. Only 100,000 people. You know, I think he was the first doctor to make it in the US off his Island. And then my mom is from the Philippines and came here. You know, when I A lot of us nurses were going to Vietnam. And then they met in an operating room. My mom doesn't remember this. But they met an operating room because he was the attending physician in Minnesota, in Rochester, Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic, and she was the nurse on call. So that's just how like they got here. And then yeah, I grew up in a really predominantly white generic suburb, you know, that had Chili's and, you know, a Walmart and a bunch of other really boring places. Marc Gutman 10:32 So what was it about toys? I mean, it seems like that you were enamored for what you've shared with me with toys at a young age. I mean, you stayed with it, you kept hammering all these companies with your your desire to get in the industry, and you actually went and, and fulfilled that vision? And to answer your question, yes, I would say my life has been marked through our various chapters with getting what I wanted, and what I dreamed of only to realize my dream was way cooler than the reality. And they didn't match up and had to make a shift. So I feel you there. And I'd love to talk about that in a little bit. But kind of want to know, like, what about toys? Like, what was it about toys? And what kind of toys in particular were you drawn to? Jeff Harry 11:13 I would, I mean, I think I was more drawn to play but what I think I loved about some of the toys that I played with, you know, the GI Joes. And again, I love to do was I love to combine all of my board games together. Like Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, mousetrap, clue, monopoly, like all of them together, and I would set up this epic, you know, game for my sister and, and tying into like, what I now coin is my play values. The reason I love doing it, even though they hated playing that game, was that it was an experience for us. I love creating experiences for people. I love the creativity of it. And I love the connection. Like how do I build a memory from this? So like, that was the type of plays that I always wanted to do. So that kind of ties into even what I do now. But I think, you know, and maybe this is a perfect time to share my most embarrassing story from my teenage years. Um, is, where do I start? Yeah, it was seventh grade. I think it was seventh grade, where so much of what I do now is shaped by what happened in seventh grade. And, and I don't know if you remember, seventh grade was seventh grade. Good for you. I just want to just get an idea. Marc Gutman 12:33 It was a mixed bag. Jeff Harry 12:36 Right? Like most people don't like junior high, like they're just not enjoying junior high. And I remember sixth grade was like, super fun. It was playful. But I remember seventh grade. And I remember the first day of school. And all I wanted to do was play Foursquare, right? Because like Foursquare was like my game man. Like, you know, everyone's in there. You know, you compete, you get kicked out, and then you just get back in line. And I was so obsessed with Foursquare, that I remember walking down the hall, you know, to recess, or maybe it was lunch, and I was literally singing the song. I'm gonna play some Foursquare, gonna play some Foursquare. And I was so like, aim to get out there. And I remember going out first day recess, and like, nobody in seventh grade is playing. Like, no one's hanging out. And everyone was, was there before. So like, I remember running up to like, Matt, in, you know, Jimmy and just being like, yo, you want to play some Foursquare? And they're like, no. And they're all like hanging out just talking. Like, why is everyone talking? And then I remember Matt saying something to be like, hey, do you know that Ryan is dating Samantha? And you know, and mark is dating Julie? And I'm like, so do they want to play Foursquare? Like, I'm just trying to get an idea of like, Why no one's over there. And can we start playing right? And they're like, No, dude. Like, no, like, they're going out. And I remember being like that, what did he say? like Mark, Mark was going to first base with Julie. And I was like, What does that even mean? Like, you know, like, look over to the baseball field and like, No, dude, like they're kissing. That was like, I don't understand what's happening. Why is no one playing. And then I realized, like, a little bit later on, like, there was a new game that everyone was playing that I did not know which was being cool. And apparently there was a vote of like, Who's cool and who's not cool over the summer and, and there was no mail in ballots, so I never got a chance to chime in. So like the cool people had already been ranked, and I was like, really low on the totem pole, and I was like, This is wack. And I was like, Well, I'm just gonna keep going to play Foursquare. But every day we'll go out there. We know a buddy there. So Like this is frickin Bs, man. Um, and then I remember I was like, fine, I just want to belong, right? Fine. I won't play I just want to belong. So remember going up to, like Matt and being like, what do I need to do? Like, what do I need to do to be cool? He's like, you got to start, you know, like, daily. Um, how's that supposed to date? And he goes, Well, you know, you know, everyone, everyone that's cool has banks. And I was like, What are you talking about? It's like an all of the top ranked dudes literally had those like, bangs from you remember the 90s, where like, they flicked them out of their hair, right. And I'm a black, Filipino dude with a shoot fro at the time. And I'm like, I can't grow bangs. But I remember stealing my sister's Vidal Sassoon moves. And like putting all this mousse in my hair, and shoving it down to create this frozen bang, just so I could get accepted. And that moves would dry up by fifth period. And I didn't know that this is what happens. And when that happens, the bang turns from like a bang to like this raccoons. But that's just like coming out of my forehead. And I'm like, trying to talk to ladies like Hello, ladies. And they're like, oh, Grace, you know, and I'm like, this is just Bs, like, this being cool thing is BS. I hate it. But I needed to be accepted, right? So I constantly do all these things. And then I remember, late in the year, everyone was always being asked to go to parties. And I never got invited, right. And then there was this last party of the year. And it was like, the pool party of the century, for this junior high. And everyone that anyone's gonna be there. And I was like, Oh, can I go? And remember Matt being like, you know, it's invite only and I'm like, What is that even mean? So like, you have to get invited by someone that's already accepted, right? So I remember begging all these people, you know, can I come to the pool party with you? And they're like, now, now, like, you're not ranked high enough, or whatever. And they remember going up to Antonio, and Joey via Gomez, and being like, I go to the party, like, Can you bring me to the party. And they were like, maybe. And then I remember, basically being at their beck and call, you know, folding their triangle notes and handing them off to like their girlfriends and buying their lunches and doing whatever I could to, like, just get accepted by them. And then after two weeks, you know, I'm in the car with them going to the party, and I'm so amped, and like, like, I'm literally singing the same song of like, going on, go to the party, going into the party, go into the party, and I'm so like, excited. And then I remember as parking 20 feet from the party, and awesome, all of us getting out. And it's like, you know, like 90210 with that cool walk. And, you know, I'm throwing the towel over my like shoulder and, you know, and just acting so like dope because I'm, I'm finally going to get accepted as soon as I walked through this party. And I remember we were like, 10 feet away and feeling excited. And then I see a friend of mine run and I think Jeremy and a bunch of other people, and they weren't being led into the party. And they happen to be black. And there was a scuffle. As I'm like, maybe seven feet away. And I remember someone saying to them, like, fuck you get the fuck out of here. We are not letting any party. And man when I heard that, I just froze. Because the like, I'm black. Like, am I like, like, are they gonna let me in. And I just like, I felt as if like water had like, rushed up to my knees and just like, froze, and I couldn't move. And I'm like five feet away from like, the entrance. And remember Antonio, looking at me and being like, Yo, dude, like, come on. You know, it's no big deal. And I'm like, No, it is a big deal, dude, like they're gonna let you in, but they're not gonna let me and I don't even know where I am. I don't even know how to get home. And I remember getting up to the front. And, you know, the people that were blocking the party looked at Antonio and then looked at Joey, both were Latino and then looked at me, and they were like, is he with you? You know? Like, is he black? And Antonio's like, nice Latino. And I remember thinking like, Don't say anything, like don't say anything and you get it. You get in if you don't say anything. And I remember them just like nonchalantly, like, given a head nod of like, Alright, go ahead. And it was like nothing to them. But for me, it was like it was everything, like being accepted was everything. And I remember as I crossed that threshold, like, I felt such a first a wave of relief. And I was expecting next to be like, so happy. But instead, as soon as I pass through, I felt like I left myself back there. And I remember, there were like, 15 people at the party, and everyone's talking. And it was just so silent for me. And I felt such shame and guilt. And it was this pool party. And I remember like, going into the pool, because I wanted to play and no one's playing. And I remember just sinking down in there. And just feeling like the loneliest I had ever felt in my life up until that point. And I was like, is this it, like, Did I give it all up for this, and I remember making a pact with myself, like that day, like, I am not going to like compromise who I am, just to be cool, or to people, please. And I remember freshman year, then going into my basement, and making a weird games that I would play by myself just hanging out there. And after a while, some of my friends heard, like, you know, I was just hanging out in my basement, and it was a place where you don't get judged, and you can, you don't have to be cool there. And they would start coming over. And we would just make up ridiculous games. And I just created like, a safe space for us to just be like, our nerdy selves. Um, and what's ironic is like, that's what I do. Now, I do the exact same thing. But for adults, um, but it all stemmed from that experience. Marc Gutman 21:52 Wow. And thank you for sharing that and getting, you know, authentic and, and real on that, on that relive of that story. Jeff, like, why did you call that? Why do you call that your most embarrassing story? Like, I didn't hear embarrassment and that story? Jeff Harry 22:10 Well, I think I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed multiple times, I was embarrassed first, to be who I am, right. And then I was embarrassed. When I finally became, quote, unquote, cool, because I was embarrassed with who I became. Right? So like, I wasn't happy in either of those places. So it finally came down to me being like, alone, that's sitting in my basement, where I that embarrassment, like left me because I wasn't trying to please someone else. I, you know, wasn't ashamed of myself anymore. And I could actually just be my nerdy mate. Marc Gutman 22:53 And so what did you get from play back then? And how does that relate to how I play? How do we see and interact with play today? Jeff Harry 23:04 Yeah, so I define play as any joyful act, where you're fully present in the moment where there really is no purpose to the play, you know, you are letting go of results. And you don't have an anxiety about the future, you don't have any like regrets about the past, you were just fully in the moment, almost like in a state of flow, as a lot of adults like to refer to play as, and there's something powerful there. Because when you think of your best memories, their play moments, there are moments when you're playing, you know, they're not when you're documenting stuff on Instagram, um, and the opposite of play is depression, as Dr. Stuart Brown says, and if you think of like the world that doesn't have play, it is a world that doesn't have innovation, it doesn't have creativity, it doesn't have humor. And it's just like, especially during these uncertain times, especially during COVID times, like, so many people are. So many adults are fixated on results all the time, which really is like I see results and expectations is like the thief of joy. And because they're so fixated on what 2020 was supposed to be so many people were disappointed with twit 2020 was or what it is. And the more resilient you are, the more play oriented you are, the more you're able to roll with it. You know, the more you're able to be like, okay, that didn't happen, but that's not a big deal. I can figure this out, right? And embracing that playful, childlike spirit is what is going to help us actually get through the rest of 2020. Marc Gutman 24:44 So Jeff, I noticed and thank you for talking about play there. I noticed that both today you came to the interview, wearing a bow tie that almost looks like bit like a spinner. And in your headshot you have it like Tell me about that. What is that? Jeff Harry 25:00 So what this is zero clip it owns as you can see it, it's a Lego bow tie. And I used to wear it when I was working for that educational Lego organization. But I started wearing it as an experiment. Almost a dare from my colleague, Lisa at the time, was like, yeah, Gary to wear that at a conference. And I was like, Yeah, I am gonna wear it at a conference. And I remember wearing it because I felt like everyone at a con at conferences, has a facade, you know, like a professional veneer of like, this is who I am, what do I do for a living bla bla bla, you know, I'm not sure I'm a serious adult. So I was like, trying to mock that and being like, well, I'm gonna wear a costume to it, my costumes gonna be this stupid Lego bow, tie my clip it on to anything, t shirts, sweaters, whatever, it doesn't really matter. But that's going to be how I dress up. And I remember the conferences being so much more enjoyable. Because for some weird reason, because I'm wearing this nerdy artifact, and I would attract other nerdy people, and they didn't feel like they had to be their professional selves around me. And we can talk about nerdy things like Game of Thrones and Avengers, and why they love the Lego and anything else, you know. And I was just like, Oh, dude, I should just wear this all the time. And the more I wore it, like on airplanes and other places, just I, I realized, like, I was able to connect more with people, because then they would be willing to share stories about themselves, because they felt more comfortable being around me, because they realized I was playing. So why can they not just also play? Marc Gutman 26:35 Yeah, what's wrong with being professional being an adult? And I sense in your value system, that that is something that you like, you're like, hey, that that's, that's the wrong way to be. Jeff Harry 26:45 I don't know if it's right or wrong, because I don't like to think of things as right or wrong, you know, it's just like, Hey, you do you boo, boo, you know, like, like, but What I don't like is being inauthentic. And I don't like that we are always told how we're supposed to show up. Like, this is the right way to show up. This is the wrong way to show up. You shouldn't do this, you should not do that. You know, like we've been, you know, I say this a lot in a lot of interviews is, you know, the reason why a lot of adults don't play is because of 148,000. Nose, like, there's been studies that found that we hear the word no 148,000 times by the time, we're 18 years of age. On top of that, we get shut down all the time by adults and our parents and everyone else. And then we go to school where they tell you to ask they have you asked for permission, you have to raise your hand all the time. And then you look at media and social media that's always telling you you're not enough. So all of that is happening. And then anytime you want to be yourself, you're told you're being Miss too mischievious or being too much, that it's such a rebellious act for us to just be ourselves to just be our weird, nerdy self. So when I when I refer to as professional, it's not that like you shouldn't dress up, you shouldn't like should put your best foot forward. If that is you. Yo, do you. But if you feel like you're doing it just because you're trying to impress others, and you don't feel comfortable in that space, then why are you doing it? like who are you trying to impress? And and by trying to impress people that you might not care about in like a year? Like, how's that working out for you? Does that bring you happiness? And I've found that it has Marc Gutman 28:36 This episode brought to you by Wildstory. Wait, isn't that your company? It is. And without the generous support of Wildstory, this show would not be possible. A brand isn't a logo or a tagline, or even your product. A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product service or company. It's what people say about you when you're not in the room. Wildstory helps progressive founders and savvy marketers build purpose driven brands that connect their business goals with the customers they want to serve. So that both the business and the customer needs are met. This results in crazy, happy, loyal customers that purchase again and again. And this is great for business. If that sounds like something you and your team might want to learn more about, reach out @ www.wildstory.com and we'd be happy to tell you more. Now back to our show. And so tell me a little bit about this idea of play. I mean, I feel like it's one of those words that you can say it and I'm not sure that the schema that the the image that everybody has in their head always matches you know, and I think that we that might be one of the challenges and I feel like that happens like around the word story. I was building a business For a long time around the word story, and you know, that can mean different things, you know, 10 people come up and say, I want you to help me tell my story. And that can mean 10 different things. And you know, it's like, it's just like this word that we all think we know. But in reality, we haven't all agreed on, kind of like when I say horse, and we're all like, like, I'm like, right? Okay, I get that. So what is play? If you could dive into it a little bit? Like, how do we do it? And like, why is it so difficult? Like, what why are we challenged in this thing called play, which seemingly should be natural and easy? Jeff Harry 30:34 Well, part of the reason part of it is the 148,000 nose, and part of it is being told that we're supposed to show up to the world a certain way, you know, that they're adults are very results focused. Because we really want to always be telegraphing what's going to happen next, so we don't get disappointed. And that actually puts us in a really bad situation where we can suffer from depression and anxiety, because we're trying to control everything. And play is much more resilient. It's like it's purposeless. And you know, you're at play, because everyone's play is different. Like I said earlier, it's like any joyful act, where you're fully present in the moment. So when you're at play, you forget about time, like, what are the things you do where you forget about time, where you're just so fully involved, that you're like, oh, man, I didn't even realize I was doing that, you know, that could be this podcast, it could be making videos, it could be writing, it could be, you know, whatever. The thing is, that just brings you a lot of joy and satisfaction. And I think a lot of times people think, well, I you know, I don't play you know, I stopped playing. There was a moment when I went to the playground in the night and never went back to the playground. And I challenged that I remember I was coaching someone once though, was a lawyer. And she was like, Yeah, I don't play. And I was like, Well, what do you do? Like, what do you do in law, and she's like, Oh, I help people that hate each other to come to an agreement. And I'm like, that could be your play. Like, if you really enjoy it, and you like the puzzle, problem-solving part of it, like explore that, right? But I think, let me know, you felt this way with story. But when I would mention play to a lot of companies, they would recoil. They'd be like, Oh, gross, like I don't, we don't need to play, we need results. We need profitability, we need blah, blah. But when you reference it as flow, right, which is also a state of play. And you know, Dr. Chick said, me, Hi, this positive psychologist has this flowchart, literally called a flowchart where the state of flow is when the difficulty of the task meets your skill level perfectly, you know, and when the difficulty of the task is really high, but you don't have a lot of skill, you have a lot of anxiety, like when you first start a job, and you're like, Oh, my gosh, I don't know what I'm doing. But when you have a lot of skill, and the task isn't that hard, then you're bored, like when you've been at a job for way too long, or you've been binge-watching Netflix for way too long, and it's not bringing you joy anymore. But there are moments when you're in a state of flow, where you're creating something and you're like, it's hitting on all cylinders, you know, challenging intellectually, it's challenging you creatively, and you feel alive, right? Like you just feel so like excited about it. And that is what I mean by play. And that is what I want to help people rediscover. Marc Gutman 33:33 Yeah, and I love that idea. I mean, I can totally relate and resonate with this idea that we're super results focused and it always has to have an outcome and I think that was always kind of the trouble when we were talking story a lot of times it was like, What tangible result will this will this have and I can't promise you always know a lot of things are like, you know, in that in that space, where it's like talking about you're going to connect better you're gonna relate better you're going to all these different things to help people locate themselves. I think now people are seeing it more clearly that a brand story is an asset and something that drives revenue but but prior to that, it was it was challenging, and I think it also again, you know, using just that qualifier, brandstory helps a little bit when talking about it. But you know, when I think about this idea of play, like how, how do we do it like give me give me an example of what you know, you might do and you know, what kind of team that you might work with in the business world, if you will, and how you let them other than saying go play, like, like, how does it like how does it work? Jeff Harry 34:42 Right? So when I'm when I'm trying to answer the question for individuals is different from organizations. Alright, so when I'm answering for individuals, we first have to start with the idea of soothing or calming, so my play mentor Gwen Gordon talks about how You can't play until you're calm, or until you've soothed yourself in some way, if you have a lot of anxiety, you know, or anger or frustration or something like that you can't really play. And she talks about how you learn how to soothe and calm yourself from the person that that took care of you the most, you're the person that nurtured you the most. So you might be adopting a lot of the anxiety that they had, and a lot of that trauma. So you first have to identify how do I calm and soothe myself, if you think of when you have your best ideas, it's like when you're in the shower, or when you're walking, or when in some state where you're like, Oh, this just feels really nice. And then ideas just start popping up. So identify for that for yourself, how do you soothe and calm yourself. And then after that, then I challenge people to get bored, which is ironic as a played person, but it's just like, it's time to get bored, which means you got to shut out all of that noise. So hop off your social media for a couple hours, hop off binge watching Netflix for a few hours, and just get bored, like, and see what comes up, because you have to actually quiet down everyone else's voice. So you can start listening to like that inner curiosity, that inner child, that's gonna then whisper something to you, like start type podcast, you know, write that blog, like, reach out to that person you've always wanted to reach out to, but you're super scared. Like, it doesn't even matter what the thing is, as long as you're following that curiosity, because once you follow that, it leads to something else, which leads to something else, which leads to something else, like just even thinking about your podcast, when you first started it to now where it is so many, you know, so many, you know, years later, like, look at how it just is evolved, right? And even Steve Jobs talks about this, and I don't like I was quoting that guy, because he was super mean to a lot of people. But you know, it's never linear on the way back, right? So why are we trying to plan everything out in a linear fashion going forward? When it's just like this jagged craziness? You know, when you look backwards? Like, why are we not following our curiosity more, right? As for like, at companies, it really depends on what their pain point is, if they're dealing with toxic people at work, you know, my friend, Gary ware, and I put them through experiential play workshops, where they try to have a hard conversation with that toxic person, like they do it over and over again. Because a lot of times, we don't even know how to practice having hard conversations, just like we don't know how to practice telling our own story. We don't have practice having like having a difficult crucial conversation with someone, right? Like, or dealing with our inner critic, we don't know how to how to dress that mean voice in her head. So we practice that in the workshop, and actually almost embody that inner critic, and then address it directly. Mine is garga Mel, and then I'm like, Thank you, garga. Mel, for your super rude comments. I don't need them right now. I appreciate it. But you need to sit in the back of the car. I'm driving right now. So like, I put them through a lot of experiential play, and create a safe space so they can kind of like start to figure out who am I and how do I want to show up for work? Marc Gutman 38:13 Yeah, and maybe I'm a little bit confused. Because like, when you were using that example of having a crucial conversation. That didn't sound like play to me, that sounded like kind of like sounded like tough. That sounded like work. So maybe it was kind of like back it up a little bit. And like, explain to me like how how this play thing kind of actually works? And people people experience it in order to move forward in? Jeff Harry 38:38 Yeah, sure. Sure. So in the in, I'll go through the dealing with toxic people workshop, right. So when we when people first arrived to the workshop, we are like, you know, people are people are pissed. Some people are angry, like I've seen, like, we did it in Australia. And, you know, people were, you know, in tears at one point, and they were laughing at one point, because at the end of the day, what a lot of people bonded on was the fact that they weren't alone. Right? Like, just in regards to toxic people. I think it costs like $223 billion in the last five years for Fortune 500 companies, of people just leaving because someone's super toxic. So when they first walk into the room, you know, we go, Hey, we're gonna be you know, messing around, we're gonna be playing a lot. So what we want you to do right now is we want you to envision that inner a hole, that inner toxic person, and we want you to embody that person and we want you to interact with each other as that person as that, as I refer to Chad, you know, and people start doing it and they see how absurd it is, as they're saying it to each other and moving around the room. But they're starting to like feel Oh, and then we ask them afterwards. What was it like to be that ale? What was it like to be that toxic person? some people love it. Other people absolutely hate it. And then we run them through a lot of other things. Role Playing where they either are that person, or they're talking to that person. And, and it's a lot of roleplay. And a lot of times, at first, it is hard. And things can be hard. And they can also be playful. And sometimes they're not always fun at the time. But they're, we're diving into something much more deep rooted. And by practicing and being like, oh, man, you know, going off to Chad, you know, at work and being like, hey, Chad, when you're at that meeting, and you cut off, Samantha, um, you not only did you did it feel really rude for her. So she didn't feel like sharing. But it also communicated to all of us that you didn't want to hear what we had to say, you know, and you practice saying that, because you Chad might not know that they're a toxic person, and you're practicing having that conversation. And we do it multiple times where it feels a little awkward, you start to get comfortable with it. And then you have the bravery potentially, to go back out there and actually have a real conversation with your chat, right. And that's what we're trying to do is a lot of times, it's not always like, Oh, this is gonna be fun and joyful, but it's just like, let's get to serious issues. But let's do it in a role-playing way, where you actually embody what it feels like. So you don't, so it's not as bad as you think it's going to be because I think a lot of times we build it up in our head that this is gonna be really hard. And then you try it and you realize it's not that hard. Marc Gutman 41:29 Poor Chad, always has to be Chad. Always has to be Chad. Chad, if you're out there, I believe in you, man. I know you're a good guy at heart. Like don't don't listen to what Jeff is saying. So I love this idea of listening to your curiosity, like like following that, how do you know that that little voice you hear? Is curiosity versus something else? How do you know it's not a gremlin? How do you know it's not? You know, that little voice that's telling you, you know, who you should be? Like, how do you know that's the right little voice to listen to? I feel like we have all these like little little voices in us, right? That come up, Jeff Harry 42:09 Right? There's so many voices, right. And I can dive in the whole inner critic stuff in a moment if you want. But I'm someone I was at a winery once and someone's and I was like, you know, I don't know anything about wine. And the wine guy was like, you know, if you drink the wine, you like it, you keep drinking it, if you don't like it, you stop drinking again. And that's really the same thing with curiosity. You know, if you follow this curious thing, and it's just like, Hey, you know, make this video and you and you kind of like it and you're like, Oh, that's kind of fun. I think I'm gonna continue to do that. And if you don't like it, then you're like, Ah, I'm not interested anymore. You know. And that's kind of how kids are, when they're at the playground, they go play something with someone, they don't even introduce themselves formally, they just start playing. And then when they're done playing tag, then they're like, Yeah, I don't want to play anymore. And it's the exact same way. Just do the things that feel good, that feel good to you. You know, you'll know what that it's, it's not you and that you're trying to should on yourself, when it just doesn't feel right. When in just feel like when you can ask yourself, who am I trying to please right now? And then you're like, Oh, I'm trying to please my boss, sir. Oh, I'm trying to please, this friend of mine, you know, or I'm trying to please somebody, instead of trying to focus on what I want and what my needs are. So that's how I would be able to tell people how to decipher it. Marc Gutman 43:33 Yeah, and I think there's this thing, like, you know, and like that you brought up the podcast at one point as an example. Because Yeah, I mean, that is like, kind of, for me, the right example of curiosity, and following my curiosity and play, and that it was an experiment, I didn't really know where it was going to go. And, and that gave me a lot of freedom. You know, sometimes I would think, though, that by not planting my flag by not declaring, I'm going to make this a big thing. It also kind of gave me like, one foot in and one foot out, you know, it kind of gave me this, like, defensibility. And I think, you know, when I heard you talk, it's like, yeah, like, even when I think about and put myself in this in this situation, it's like, yeah, I'm gonna make that video, but really, I'm doing it because I want to put it on YouTube. And I want people to like me, and you know, I want some sort of, to your point result and the problem being and YouTube's a great example, I love I love shooting videos. I, I love the idea of being a YouTube, or, but I'm not, right, like, I mean, it was really hard for me to, like, accept that, like, I don't like to edit. And you know, YouTube's just not a channel where I can show up regularly and create content even though I do put some stuff up there from time to time. But it was really hard for me it's really hard for me to kind of like admit that it was hard for me to say, look at this as like, hey, it's a cool experiment or it's a cool frame of play that opened up a door or that's like this point in my journey that's now pivoting to someplace else. You know, I'm really personally struggled with this like, you know, am I Am I curious? Or am I wishy washy? And so like, how do you, you know, respond to people that struggle with that, like, is this curiosity? And is to your point? Is this just the way it's nonlinear? And it should be or am I just like, all over the place, and I gotta, like, be a little more, you know, have a little bit more direction. Jeff Harry 45:19 Um, I don't know when I hear the wishy washy and this is just my take on it, but it's just like, I hear this, like a should voice in that, right? Like, maybe you are wishy washy, sometimes. Maybe you are curious, sometimes, like, Who knows? Right? Like, you'll you'll figure it out by just experimenting more like I, if this is interesting, I make a lot of tic Tock videos, right? Like, I'm really fascinated by that app. Because there's a lot of play in there. There's a lot of people that are not taking them seriously in it. But even I, you know, we'll make a video, put it out there. And then like, Man, that was super fun to make. And then there's a part of me that goes back and just like, how many views how many views that again, Oh, my gosh, I didn't get that many views. And then I get like, there's a part of me that's like, it's super disappointed. But I remember as I was mad as I make more content, and I'm just putting it out there. And I didn't let go of it. Because like, it doesn't really matter whether it's popular or not popular, because I've had things that have gotten blown up and like 40,000 people watch it. And I'm like, Man, that's not even something I liked. I didn't even like as much making that video that video was like, man, how can be wrong like this other video. And then I realized like, that the arts, like people's opinion of your art or your creation, almost is none of your business. Which is ironic, right? It's just like, just create the stuff and put it out there, Jeff. And when I do that, then it's just so much more fun. Because I have to keep reminding myself, why am Why did I start making these in the first place? Oh, because I just enjoyed the creation, right? And then like a month dolla, like you put it out there and then it gets swept away. Like you you work on this design for so long. And then the wind blows it away. Because it was never about you. It was about just the creative process. And knowing when I make a fun TikTok video to start my day, if it Prime's my day to see everything in a very playful way. And then my friend Deseret told me this, which I really loved. Where, where when something good happens at the beginning of my day, ask yourself how can it get any better than this? Like, how can this situation get any better than this? with curiosity? And when I start my day with a tick tock video, and I'll just describe today, right? Like, you know, I started my day I made this video. Oh, this is awesome. How can it get any better than this? Oh, sweet. I have this really cool podcast with these people from England. How can it get any better than this? Now I'm talking to you on your podcasts? How can it get any better than this? I get to see my girlfriend later on. How can I get him better than this? And I'm positively stacking and priming myself to look for positive patterns throughout the day. And then that makes a good day. But usually when someone focuses on having a bad day, it's because they're focusing on one moment in time. And thoughts usually lasts between nine seconds and 90 seconds. So they're just running that bad moment in their head over and over and over again. And then looking for other bad moments. But you can get out of that by simply being curious and asking yourself the right questions. Marc Gutman 48:26 I want to be clear that after this podcast, it gets no better than this. Yeah. This is it. Jeff like this is like just I mean, I know you're you're curious, but like this is the little voice inside of you telling you. No, but it doesn't it doesn't this is this Jeff Harry 48:41 The sultry Gutman voice is the best thing I'm gonna get today. Marc Gutman 48:45 Well just enjoy it. Just enjoy it and know I mean, sometimes it knows to know it's this is as good as it gets. So, Jeff, how is it addition to being curious how else can we flex this play muscle? And like how do we know we're doing it? Right? Like how do we know we're... Jeff Harry 49:03 There is no right. So it's it's letting go of the idea of right and wrong. Because like during COVID times, and I put this out so much like nobody knows what they're doing. No one ever has ever known what they're doing. They're just making it up as they go along. And then and then people will make like webinars or courses that are like, this is what you should do. And you should do it this way. And maybe that will work. Maybe it won't maybe p90x is not going to get you on fit. You know, it's it's like it's just one way and it's their way. But you have your own way, right? And listening to so many people preaching about what we should have done or what we should do during the pandemic like this is how you should start your business. This is how you should pivot during the pandemic. And I'm like, wait, were you around in 1918 I'm just trying to get an idea of who was around running a business in 1918 during the last pandemic Because if you weren't, then shut up, like, like, stop acting like you know what you're talking about? Because none of us do. We're all simply making it up as we go along, right. But you know, a play experiment that I put out to a lot of people that I really enjoy doing with a lot of my clients is, you know, try this right? Reach out to your friends, like maybe three or four of them, and ask them these two questions. I'm like, What value do I bring to your life? Because I think a lot of people don't know why people are friends with them. Like, I don't know, what do I do for you? Why are we friends? Why don't you continue to hang out with me, which is really important to hear. Because a lot of times you don't know what you do for people, and you get to hear all that love back. So what value do I bring to your life? And then second, I asked them, like, whenever you see me most alive, or another way to ask it is like, when have you seen the most playful, most joyful, most present, you know, most happy. And they'll remind you and be like, man, when you were traveling, you felt that way. Or man, when you were like making that podcast, or when you make your videos, you seem so happy. And it's an and listening to multiple different people's perspectives on it and writing all that down. And looking at that, and being curious about what's on the page. Because all your friends are going to tell you totally different things, you'll start to see patterns and be like, Oh, man, that is what I'm most alive. Oh, man. That is the value I bring to people's lives. I never even realized that. And then follow that just follow that guideposts and see where that takes you. And I'm telling you, it's gonna take you to a really cool dope ass place. Marc Gutman 51:47 Yeah, I know, there's so much gold and nuggets in there. And all I can think of is that perhaps p90x and muscle confusion isn't going to work for me. Like I thought that worked for everybody. You know, I thought like I thought like, I mean, I've never done it. But like, I figured that, like, if I did it, I would be ripped in like Beachbody. And now like maybe like, you know, there's a reason I'm not doing that. Because it's not for everybody. It's not for my Thank you, Jeff Harry, you just you just let the p90x monkey off my back. Jeff Harry 52:17 Right. And let me remind me reminds me of something else that I talked about a lot, right, which is affluent deadness, right. So I know, a lot of millionaires like I know a lot of people that you would consider successful, you know, whether like famous or whatever the thing is, and a lot of them are not that happy. Like, I know people that have enough money, they could travel the world 10 times over, they can buy whatever they want. And they have a deadness to them. Not everyone, but a lot of people that are in this Echelon that we and many people are striving for. And they're either worried about losing all their money, or they're comparing themselves to somebody else. So they're like, Oh, I'm not as I don't, I don't have as many riches or I'm not as famous, or I don't have as many followers as this other person. Right? Or they're just straight, like, bored. But not in the curious, bored, but bored in the sense of like, Oh, I thought it was supposed to be more fun when I got here. And then they post on Instagram, that they're like, living these amazing lives, and everyone should be like them, but when in the background, you know, it's coming from a place of insecurity. So they're selling this lie of like how amazing this life is, with all this effluence when they're not happy, and then there's always people striving to get there only to get disappointed when they get there as well. So why are we pitching this as the successful right way to do it? Like it's just all bs to me. And instead, instead of being affluent, like, like, affluent, you know, monetarily. Why can't you be affluent, like socially or in an impactful way, or able to like build huge, like, really real connections are able to share your story in a way that's compelling that other people want to share? Because that that is like makes you alive? That is the type of like affluence I would want to reach out to one where you feel most alive and you feel most like yourself. Marc Gutman 54:24 So what if we have trouble getting bored? You know, like, I think of myself, I'm like, restless, I'm anxious. Like, I don't know if like just walking away from my phone and sitting in a park is always gonna do it for me, like, how do we get more bored? Jeff Harry 54:37 That's a good question. And the reason why I say bored is because if you think about when you were a kid, your best ideas came when you were bored, right? but also your most dangerous ideas came when you were bored. Right? So I think it and bored can also be referred to as calm, right? So it could be something as simple as like what we said earlier, like taking a shower. You have a ton of ideas when you take a shower, do a have a bubble bath, or go on a walk or you know, or you know, sometimes I do brainstorming sessions with my friend Lauren. But we do it over mimosas and then come up with a bunch of crazy ideas that way. You know, I've told people, you know, to do a play, experiment with their friends, where they get them all on zoom. And you're like, you know what, I'm not playing enough. And then we all you know, have a bunch of Moses, and we just start brainstorming all these ways in which we use the play as friends. And what we can do now in these COVID times, right, like, I was, I was coaching someone that was like, well, I love to travel, and I can't travel right now. And we were like, Well, then let's play with it. Let's play with the idea of like, how can you travel? What is it that you loved about travel? and she goes, I love meeting new people. I love meeting new people from other countries. I love those conversations. So she started looking for all of these nomadic networks and camp indies and all these travel places. And then found all these other people that also love to travel but live in other countries. And now she has all these new relationships with people. And she feels like traveling. And by just simply hanging out with them and has places to stay when she can fly again. That's all by her getting a little bored, a little calm and then being like, oh, let me follow this curiosity and see where it takes me. So like, that's where I would challenge people to just be like, again, you don't have to do it the right way. But just what comes what suits you? What, what what gets you in a place where you can hear you, and no one else. Marc Gutman 56:43 Hear you, And no one else. I like that. So Jeff, is we come to the end of our time here. Thank you so much. We'll make sure to link to everything. Jeff Harry in the show notes. While you were talking. I was looking at your Tick Tock. Yes. There's a lot of play there. Jeff Harry plays on Tick tock, and probably all other handles, but we'll make sure to get those linked appropriately. In the shownotes. Jeff, when you think back to that awkward eight year old boy and maybe that teenager with the bangs that were plastered against his face, or even that that boy that had to give up a sense of himself and go into that party just to be included? If you ran into that, that version of yourself today, what do you think that younger version would say? Jeff Harry 57:34 Would say to me? Marc Gutman 57:35 I'm sorry, you say if he saw you today? Like what would he think? Jeff Harry 57:40 He'd be like, that's badass dude. He'd be like, Oh, I don't need to try? Like, Oh, it was like, I had all the answers the whole time? Like, ah, wow, that that takes the load off me. Let me put down the moose. You know, like, let me let me stop word the zeek ever reaches in jerboas. Because I realized like, Oh, I don't need to actually try so hard. You know, like, I feel. I feel there's such pressure to try so hard to be some perfect version of yourself. When like, you have all the answers you need are ready. And you just really need to play enough in order to figure them out. Marc Gutman 58:33 And that is Jeff Harry. Positivity psychology play speaker. Yep, it's still a mouthful. I'm all about the play. And Jeff really got me thinking about this idea of where our best memories come from. And I agree. My best memories are when I'm in a state of play, when I'm not looking for any particular result. And it's long been a wild story core value that's posted, read on our website. Play for a living, followed by the words. The world of business is a much better place with humor, smiles and belly-aching laughter. we approach our jobs in mission with a sense of playful humor. It's okay to laugh. It's okay to poke fun at yourself. If you can't poke fun at yourself, poke fun at us. We can take it with a smile. A big thank you to Jeff Harry. stay curious, keep playing. get bored. Sounds like a recipe for success to me. Well, that's the show. Until next time, make sure to visit our website www.wildstory.com where you can subscribe to the show in iTunes, Stitcher or via RSS so you'll never miss an episode. A lot big stories and I cannot lie. You other storytellers can deny.

On this episode of Timely: The Randomonium Podcast, we discuss the following topics:    Past: Producer Jeff tells us how a meeting between between Russia and the United States in 1959 led to Pepsi becoming one of the largest militaries in the world. Yes, that's right, Pepsi: the soft-drink company.     Present: What's underneath Antarctica? Danny explains.    Future: Jon tells us how a decades old prediction about a bizarre expedited mail delivery method might actually come true in the near future.     Special thanks to FAO Schwarz for sponsoring this episode of Timely. Did you know FAO Schwarz bringing the magic and wonder of its iconic toys to Target this Holiday Season? Lean more at faoschwarz.com.    Date: October 28, 2020   Hosts: Jon Stamm, Danny Gula, and Jeff McCullough   Producer: Jeff McCullough   Don't forget to check out Randomonium on YouTube and Instagram.

EP236 - DNVBs w/ Nate Poulin Episode 236 is an interview with Nate Poulin aka @digitallynativ about Digitally Native Verticle Brands (DNVBs).. Upcoming Events Digital Day North America Jason & Scot Keynote September 23 8:40-9:25am CT Channel Advisor Connect – Jason & Scot October 7th Texas A&M Retail Summit Jason October 9th  9:50am CT ShopTalk Meetup – Jason October 20-22 Measuring Ecommerce Success Against Fast-Changing Benchmarks.      Topics Nate Poulin (@digitalnativ) cut his teeth with DNVBs including Bonobos and Outdoor Voices and is currently the Chief Merchant for Monica + Andy. In this episode, we discuss a range of topics around the current state and future of digitally native brands. Don’t forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 236 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded live on Monday, September 14th, 2020. http://jasonandscot.com Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. Transcript Jason: [0:24] Welcome to the Jason and Scott show this is episode 2 36 being recorded on Monday September 14th 2020 I’m your host Jason retailgeek Goldberg and as usual I’m here with your co-host Scot Wingo. Scot: [0:39] Hey Jason and welcome back Jason and Scot show listeners today on the show we are going to do a deep dive into one of our favorite topics in retail and e-commerce Brands going direct to help us navigate through this we have a really exciting guest on the show he goes by digitally native without Annie and we’re going to have to get the story on that so digitally Naik negative on Twitter and then outside of the twittersphere he goes by Nate Poulin Nate is based out of Austin and he cut his digitally native vertical brand T that Brands such as bonobos outdoor voices and more he’s also the founder of digitally native Consulting Nate welcome to the show. Nate: [1:21] Hey guys thanks for having me excited. Jason: [1:23] We are excited to chat with you Nate and I know you’ve listened to the show we always like to start things off by kind of getting a little bit of background about how you came to the industry so can you tell us how you found yourself in the, the digitally native Commerce base. Nate: [1:40] Totally so I spent the last 15 years and retailgeek, I started the early part of my career working for startups and this really sort of predated the proper e-commerce era. And worked my way through retailers work for FAO Schwarz and Toys R Us and ultimately landed, about 11 years ago in the brand sphere specifically in apparel so I work for Michael Kors for four years through their IPO and then I was sort of in my late 20s in New York City. [2:10] Andy and the team had bonobos had been at it since 2007 this was 2009 and I decided to join bonobos and really take a stab at this sort of whole building brands on the internet phase I felt like that was a future that and I still feel that way, and so I spent four years of but no of us and also two years at outdoor voices and then most recently a stint at the black tux, and then between some of those students also consulted with a number of direct consumer and digitally native Brands and really. Through that whole journey just got exposed to the business the customer centricity, and you know the opportunity that exists and really quite frankly have just kind of nerd it out, um on the business and it’s something that I’m passionate about both in terms of what you know my day-to-day is, but also you know when I click When I close the books each day I’m still thinking about it so crunching on these issues and still very much sort of part of the community so it’s been a big part of the last I would say decade of my life. Jason: [3:13] That’s awesome we’re eager to dive into a bunch of those topics but I have to tell you I feel like we’ve already been duped I feel like you you started your retail career pre-digital and yet you call yourself digitally native. Nate: [3:26] I know it’s it’s a little bit of a misnomer, and that’s kind of my secret weapon I think that I actually have a pretty rich background in wholesale and Retail and so you know a lot of what I serve published from a Content perspective also folds in some of that perspective but. You know my true love is is e-commerce and direct-to-consumer for sure. Scot: [3:48] I’m excited to learn you get your start and toys and I’ll try not to derail the whole show talking about Star Wars choices Jason knows that I like to do. Nate: [3:56] Well it’s so funny that you mentioned that Jason because I when I first went to New York City I grew up in Maine originally and I made a trip to New York City and one of the stops this was like sort of a 8th grade trip one of the stops was FAO Schwarz, and they were they had built an entire floor of Star Wars toys and Lego because it was I think it was around the time of yes was episode 4. And it was just the coolest thing that I’ve ever seen in my entire life and so I ended up working at FAO because of was my dream job I was like I need to come back here, you know 10 years later 15 years later and work for this brand and his business so I have I do have sort of a Star Wars origin story there. Scot: [4:37] Very cool awesome and me are you a Star Wars fan or you just just like the display. Nate: [4:42] You know what I’m a fan of the original series. I sort of to be honest I stopped I think on episode 5 I haven’t seen the most recent ones but I do have a 5 and a half year old son, and so I feel like we’re going to go back through the entire involve the entire film series and I’m excited about that for him. Scot: [5:03] Awesome yeah we can talk about the right order later in the show Jason just went through this so we have a lot of experience I’ve been Uncle Scott Uncle Star Wars Scott has been trying to help with this whole thing. Jason: [5:16] Yes God has been a big help the only problem is my son now likes got way better than me. Scot: [5:20] All right let’s jump into Brands so. One of the things I wanted to talk about at the top is Jason and I have present about these topics all the time and we’ve kind of because we do it we present together most times we kind of use a common vocabulary that I noticed you and web have kind of a different vocabulary so we were talking about it on Twitter and I honestly forget the Genesis of this but you started this really cool you just kind of started saying well let’s build a little taxonomy so you started this taxonomy project which I have found super helpful and then we a couple other people glommed on and had some interesting insights talk us through that and what kind of inspired. Nate: [6:06] Yeah I mean I’ve actually sort of been in the on the back burner trying to sort of like, organizing notes and really create some sort of knowledge base around direct-to-consumer and it really started with the desire of writing a book but then it quickly dismissed that sort of concept just because, this industry is moving so fast that a book quickly becomes at least in my opinion becomes sort of like an artifact and not a resource. And so I was looking for ways to kind of like. [6:35] Build out this you know whatever note or whatnot and I stumbled upon our own research which I think is actually another one of those Twitter Darlings but it’s really just sort of a networks note-taking tool and I started to build out you know kind of my own knowledge base, and when I pick up on some of these types of conversations whether it be Twitter or sort of back channels or what not. It’s it’s sort of like drives me to like get to the bottom of how would we actually organize this I built another, similar sort of exercise but crowdsourced like a library of you know but what would what would your UTC library and look like. And so each time I go through this I’m gathering information from people who are really much smarter than I am. And trying to like harmonize it into a way that’s actually meaningful and useful. Since I’ve been doing this now for about 90 days and you know I I sort of think about the future and how long and the runway for this industry and I just think, creating that value like incrementally every single day at some point will either be very valuable to me or valuable in general and so that’s sort of the Genesis of that that idea and I’ve also sort of like subscribe. [7:46] The concept of digitally guard digital gardening and you know building a second brain and so I sort of dubbed this thing that I’m creating d2c brain, and it’s you know like I said it’s pretty robust it’s wonderful for me because I you know I’m immersed in this every single day and the way in which we can sort of like harmonize this information is nonlinear it’s networked and so I can add little bits to little parts of this broader network of information each day, and sort of come back to it and reference it so that’s sort of the Genesis of the project and I think the convention I’m just going to continue to do it and hopefully in the case, taxonomy of Brands they had some degree of value to someone out there who’s interested in this kind of stuff outside of just myself which I do find it valuable. Scot: [8:34] Yeah I thought it would be helpful to talk through it and I don’t know who wants a tech I’m happy to take a shot at it or Jason if you want to ornate if you want to so well, anyone want to take a shot at just kind of describing this taxonomy. Nate: [8:50] I don’t have it up on my screen so if you guys have reference to it then I’m happy to let you guys drive. Scot: [8:55] Yeah just you want to or. Jason: [8:58] Sure I’ve memorized it so I’m happy. Scot: [9:01] All right Jason you run out of it. Jason: [9:02] Yeah so the. It’s a taxonomy or a sort of a hierarchy in the the notion is that the highest level. Um in the taxonomy is the primary distribution method so do you own your own distribution do you rely on third parties to distribute your product. Um underneath the own distribution there’s a couple of different models there’s d2c brand so Marky example of that would be like Casper. There’s private label brands that would be like while bupropion from Walgreens, and there’s owned Brands which would be you know an exclusive brand that a retailer owns that’s differentiated and not commodity like the private label so that would be like, cat and Jack are all as well home or something like that. So you’ve got you own the distribution you’re either a deed to see a private label or a known brand and then under D to see there would be a couple of other potential attributes. You could be a vertically integrated brand which I think gets you all the way too. [10:19] You know you you menu design and manufacture your own product that you sell through your own distribution, but this first version of vertical brand is I’ll call it old school vertical brand so it would be like the gaps and Abercrombie and Fitch has and sort of, pre-digital. [10:39] Vertical fully integrated Brands the next category would be the indeed unofficial digital native vertical Brands so I, I think when you wrote the taxonomy use glossy a as a an example I feel like you have to use bonobos since it’s Andy. The the next category was linear brands, and this was sort of audience first. Based Commerce and so I feel like I’ll be totally candid I didn’t completely get this one I think this was a. An argument from will he was using Barstool Sports as an example in. Nate: [11:27] Yeah I think this one was like sort of the intersection between between media and commerce and that sort of. Media brands with a Holter ultimately going to become e-commerce Brands and e-commerce Brands would become media Brands over the course of time and so that. The future sort of looks like that Barstool model where they build like a very light. Passionate and loyal audience and then they just speak for whatever different ways they can monetize that audience audience over time and one of the certainly one of those ways is to sell them physical products. Jason: [12:00] Cool that toy makes sense and it’s better when you explained it right and then a specific subset of the linear brand would be the celebrity brand and like. [12:09] Kylie Jenner Cosmetics would come to mind is that example so then if you jump over to the third party distribution you have, big first big category is your sort of Legacy brand that’s the you know traditional brand that’s manufacturing products that they sell through wholesale that would be like Ralph Lauren, and you’ve got kind of two distinct versions of that you’ve got a brand that was born wholesale and still is wholesale like, Coca-Cola for example and then you have brands that were born wholesale and have made a pretty extreme pivot. 2D to see and I feel like the poster child there is Nike but there are others the Under Armour is like significantly moved to D to C VF Brands which is like North Face and vans has moved significantly to do the C so that’s a, a subset of the. [13:04] Of the sort of hybrid Legacy Brands and then you have these Marketplace native Brands so these are guys that were, born assuming they would use a third-party distribution but the primary third-party distribution they had in mind was a Marketplace like Amazon or Ali Baba, a great example there is an anchor the cables and charging accessory company that’s done so well on Amazon and. So well in terms of my personal wallet share for some reason I have some weird fetish with anchor cables. [13:40] And so if I’m remembering right because obviously I don’t have this in front of me as a reference that I think those those that’s the main taxonomy. Nate: [13:51] Yeah so I think they like the impetus behind this front of taxonomy it really explores the tension between distribution obviously like owned and third-party and the relationship with the customer, so if we think about in the purest sense you’ve got a digitally native vertical brand that’s both producing you know all the way Upstream from a supply chain perspective. All and then delivering you know through their own Channel all the way down stream to the consumer and in my opinion that’s sort of like that that happiest path for, you know bro long-term gross margin creation. Because you own all those sort of like elements and you control the elements of production and distribution and you also own the first party data with your customer. So I think I think of like the industry as swinging towards this model and the what’s hitting us and then what sort of like. [14:44] Taking oxygen out of the bubble where out of the room is you know all of the like all of the costs of doing business with respect to e-commerce. Instead you’ve got you know customer acquisition cost which you guys have talked at length about you’ve got variable cost of fulfillment you’ve got subscription cost of Technology. And you’ve got this sort of like horde of data that you have to sift through to be able to make good decisions where as you know the Legacy brand model was. Produced an overseas move it through a facility out two points of distribution and sell it to the customer and we don’t we’re agnostic to who that customer is that we just want them to walk by our store and come in and purchase something. And so that’s just you know that’s sort of the distance that the industry is traveled. And I think exploring each one of those sort of like elements underneath the distribution channels. [15:35] Starts to give us like a more robust you of like how brands are competing and what the options are that exists because these brands are rational and they’re going to find that oxygen they’re going to find the happy path relative to their business. And so breaking these big pieces down into this this sort of like component parts is so valuable because I think a lot of the. Serve a lot of the tension that’s drawn in a lot of maybe The Angst around you to see or the forecasting around me to see, is the conversation is really guided as though these all of these things are one big, moving object but the reality is there’s a tremendous amount of nuance in each one of these models in each one of these businesses and so to understand them we actually have to get to that level of detail so at least that for me that’s part of that what we’re trying to connect, tease out when we’re talking about this taxonomy and talking about different ways that Brands can grow. Scot: [16:28] Yeah and it’s helpful to have a common vocabulary because Jason I use own brand a lot and then people like you mean private label and we’re like no it’s a little different in that you know this isn’t the Old Roy dog food we’re talking about here these are these are Brands and to themselves like like Echo is a Kendall or like owned Brands right so those are not the same thing as I’m going to knock off some dog food or or you know a can of beans or something like that. Jason: [16:55] Side note for our most advanced Wesner listeners scotches dropped and awesome Legacy Walmart reference right there. That was Sam Walton’s dog. Scot: [17:04] Yeah yeah well Roy cool and then Chase anything else on the taxonomy. Jason: [17:13] No I again I think it’s super useful to think about the structure and it got kind of crowdsourced and there were some good like dialogue about like you know what. What’s the order of Precedence like what what is you know what are more important and should be higher on the on the hierarchy and I thought like that was it was a helpful exercise for my own thinking one thing that did occur to me and I don’t feel like it should change the taxonomy in any way but Justin. To me an interesting observation this is mostly focused on. The primary business model that the these various entities would use to make money. But the I feel like it is true that there are a bunch of. Um primarily third party distribution companies I’ll pick Legacy brands for a second that are. Doing d2c right now but probably not for the purpose of. [18:16] Take governing significant share or making money they’re probably doing it for a test and learn customer intimacy data collection project so I like for example, PepsiCo has launched a few direct-to-consumer sites for like snacks.com and Shop pantry.com. Like I don’t think they’ll ever have meaningful share of the individual bags of Frito-Lay chips on that site they probably launched it as some kind of learning environment and conversely. I would argue Casper has dabbled in some. Retail distribution deals but usually not with the intent of wholesaling their product or having a traditional wholesale relationship but you know more as a marketing vehicle for their D to C so it is. Nate: [19:04] Yeah I would totally agree with that and I think when you had reference glossy a versus bonobos that’s sort of where my mind went was even in the early days of bonobos we went offline you know I think in ten, maybe 2009 so it’s pretty early in the whole d2c Evolution and we went offline with Nordstrom as a partner and that was a really fruitful relationship but I always in terms of classification of these Brands and I totally agree it’s like really a spectrum that moves but I typically Define these Brands by their dominant sales Channel, so they’re dominant sales channel is pure play direct consumer even if they have a wholesale distribution business or you know they’re selling through Affiliates or whatever they’re sort of secondary tertiary model is, I think that that tells us something about the business but doesn’t necessarily mean we have to shift their classification because otherwise there would be a gazillion of these right. Scot: [20:04] Yeah and I like the path to the consumer as the defining Factor because it’s kind of the most interesting part of the discussion right so where you Source your stuff is as you know, it’s it’s a factor but it’s not as important in my mind as your path of the customer. Nate: [20:22] Totally I totally agree I mean I think it’s that conversation that like level of Sir conversation meeting with the customer. The way that you service the demand and what the way you service the customers needs is it is it such a big differentiator and I think in doing that well that the best of the DMV BRD to see brands, have carved out sort of better. You know path for growth than what we’ve seen traditionally because in doing that and doing that well you get to uphold all of the values of your brand and all the tents of your brand, as soon as you turn even if you’re a personal you have a personal brand if you start to turn over elements of your personal brand to somebody else, you’re immediately losing control of that element you know and you can trust someone to do something or or execute something to the highest degree but it’s never really going to quite meet your own standards and I think a lot of ways, and so and I won’t feel as authentic and that is coming from a first party, and so I think that’s also something like hitting on that point of the relationship and path to the customer that’s just become so important in this business. Scot: [21:29] Yeah and then as a software guy I noticed I wasn’t involved in this one but you put together a little bit of a tech stack and you called it DT C 3.0 Tech stack so you know what, what are some of the elements so here we are it’s 2020 and let’s pretend I guess you are starting your own dnvbs modern marketers going to need in that text act that you think about. Nate: [21:57] Totally it’s become sort of acronym soup. Still I’m going to try to not step on that too many times but you know really when building a brand you know whether it’s from 0 to 10 or 10 to 20 or Beyond, I think it’s helpful to like identify and organize around the heart of your business so depending on how you’re going to compete, or go to market you know you’re going to want to set the roots of your text a core the core of your Tech stock around a specific Solution that’s going to be you know able to scale for years and years and it’s going to help you out compete you know the Challengers that are out there and so whether that’s you know typically for young brand that’s either, an Erp system obviously there’s a platform conversation around Shopify or Bigcommerce or if you’re going to build your own there’s a CRM customer resource. Management system and there’s these pieces can be oriented in a number of different ways and also have you know other Tech opportunities to sort of like plug into and so there’s just this almost an unlimited number of configurations that a brand can elect. In 2020 and I think it’s interesting to dig into these different nuances and it’s interesting to understand. [23:22] Um how about brand selects their Tech stack says a lot about how they intend on competing and creating value and orienting their value chain, and so there’s no there’s no right answer and I think it’s another one of those cases that’s just a very nuanced discussion but one that’s changing you know and evolving quickly. Scot: [23:41] Yeah didn’t know bonobos seamlessly weren’t a Magento and I fell over on them is it and I remember that right. Nate: [23:47] That is exactly right so the year before I started I think it was 2010 the bonobos crashed on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and I think that’s a great example, of you know how far we’ve come right like bonobos had two distinct offices so have one office in New York and one office in Palo Alto so there’s an entire tech office that was building proprietary front end technology for bonobos and some other data science projects and then you get an entire organization built around building a retail brand. And you know those were that’s how we sort of like built a Brandon’s in 2007 through 13 and ultimately. Bonobos even their solution Beyond Magento was to build on a spree Commerce. And so in Shopify existed during that timeframe but there was a sort of notion that if you wanted to build an Enterprise scale you know massive brand that ultimately Shopify wasn’t going to be able to scale with those brands, and of course now we look at that and say that was terrible decision and Consul these Brands a lot of money and a lot of time and resources but that’s, that’s the distance that we traveled in terms of Technology one thing I will say you know now that we’ve outsourced all of this technology and where there’s all these plug-and-play Solutions but. [25:07] You’re still spending a lot on technology is their options are great but I think that in the industry there’s they’re sort of like. We need the fog of War a sort of like meeting all of the best pieces to wear into Tech stack but ultimately Brands would probably be better served you know just focusing again on what they need to do to compete uniquely in the world. Jason: [25:28] Yeah so I want to jump in on a couple questions here but before I do one of the things you call that in the text a queue called a PLM and Scott and I were debating a little bit what you meant by that. Nate: [25:43] For at least in my terms that’s product life cycle management. Jason: [25:47] Okay we were both wrong for the record. Nate: [25:49] Everything that had brand develops and creates a designs he sort of would go into the PLM system in that helps link your vendors to your sort of like main staff here at Erp and one inspect the conduit of information and capturing all of that creativity and putting it into a system. I’m curious to know what you guys thought of that. Jason: [26:12] Well Scott assumed you made a typo and meant product information management him because you you have an icon for each thing and it was like three three t-shirts for the the product life cycle cycle management and I was guessing potentially you meant product listing management so I could pin that could send the cake content to multiple. Destinations or marketplaces. Nate: [26:36] No that was the sort of like Upstream orientation there and then I did have the product information management system which I didn’t originally but someone brought it up to me so glad that was added for sure. Jason: [26:47] So It’s funny because you at you you kind of highlighted that hey even though there are a lot of. More accessible plug-and-play pools in all of these categories today you you know you you go out and acquire and Implement a full stack of these things and, there’s a lot of complication there frankly are a lot of potential data silos and integration projects and, and pretty quickly you you rack up pretty high cost of ownership and Technical debt the the, the in the Enterprise world the debate we used to always have was Best in Class versus pre-integrated sweet right and it feels like that’s still playing out for these relatively young companies. I mean do you go out and buy the trendy version of each one of these points Solutions and then you have to hire a technical team to integrate all of them or can you live with the OMS that Shopify gives you or the payment that Shopify gives you or, you know you know there are some other like pretty heavily integrated Stacks like netsuite or something like that. Nate: [28:00] Totally I think it’s like I mentioned it it’s sort of is it’s a decision that’s based on where you where you’re at and where you want to go in terms of the scale of the business but I have been seeing more and more that you know Brands can travel a lot further than they used to on a much lighter Tech stack and a lot of these other elements don’t necessarily need to be integrated in so much further down the line but again it’s it’s such a difficult, needle to thread because. Like we just spent a good amount of time talking about how important the path to the customer is and owning that first party data and being able to synthesize it and owning it in really capturing Rich data throughout you’re the tech stack exist to sort of organize and be a tool to harmonize all of that data and actually operationalize it and you know. When you start to say well we’re not going to do this or not going to do that it’s a conscious decision that you’re not going to have that functionality and someone, another brand or another business may have that may have better visibility into what is happening in their business and that’s just you know challenge that brand brands have to live with, because. Doesn’t matter who you are you’re operating on a salary cap not a salary cap but like a spend cap a budget and you know you have to make those trade-offs and decisions because money runs out before opportunity does. Scot: [29:21] The others are probably a life cycle here where you kind of have you know you’re born and you’re kind of in that yeah that infant kind under 5 million run rate and then you know there’s a certain Tech stack and then you get to 10 to 20 and then you have to add some other stuff and then you know hundred 200 400 there’s there’s a lot more. Part 2 the stack you have to kind of throw in there. Nate: [29:43] Yeah there’s a I think there’s a couple of like critical elements before brand start to like it too heavy weight with technology and what one of those being foundations of data so structured data and making sure you know you have an understanding of how, your data is coming together and then two is really a lot of these companies are so figuring out how they’re going to build their business and figuring out what channels to play in how they’re you know what products to build etcetera and you know as that Journey from adolescence and to score like teenager and adult stage happens you really have to nail down the process of how you operate your business end-to-end and I think. Too often Brands don’t have those two boxes check before they you know start to like invest in some of this heavier weight technology and I think you guys are probably seen it if you try to stand some of those things up on really shoddy data is just, it’s not a successful cocktail that you’re building so it’s definitely one where. The onus should really be on strong foundations before Brands gets you over their heads I would say. Scot: [30:52] Yeah and let me ask the converse so you’ve been at tons of these Brands and and advised a bunch what what’s what do people get wrong is it that they don’t get attribution they’re not, they don’t have Rich enough product data is it customer data is it mobile was wrong where do you where do you find people kind of miss the mark as they’re building these brands. Nate: [31:15] I think the biggest you know evolution in the industry and the biggest opportunity has been linking customer like actual property like order level Transaction what are we actually selling and who are we selling it to you it sounds really simple but in a lot of ways you know at some of these Brands practice has been has been more Silo than it needs to so a lot of what I’ve sort of like worked on is how do we bridge the gap between marketing creative, merchandising supply chain operations like how do we bring that group together operate in a way that you know. Doesn’t levies that this data sort of like operate in silos or accumulate in silos we need to be able to like. Build the view of the entire customer journey and then and the product that supports it so I think that’s sort of been the biggest you know opportunity for direct to Consumer Brands is really tightening that link between marketing and operations / [32:18] Product and I drop on like back in the Michael Kors days when you were in a legacy brand the to Mark the marketing team in the merchandising team we’re on different floors of the building and you know rarely interacted at sort of anything below a leadership level and so it’s really that’s a fundamental swing that we’ve seen in the retail business is that you bring those Bridging the Gap between those two functions. Jason: [32:49] That that totally makes sense I wanted to Pivot off of the tech stack a little bit right. Obviously you’re a good advocate for for sort of digitally native Brands and you’ve worked for a number of them it feels like the, the public narrative on them has shifted a lot lately like it used to be like oh they’re the future they’re the up-and-comers like this is you know the next wave of everything and more recently if you know you’re starting to hear like. Yeah you know maybe that trend has kind of petered out like maybe it’s run its course and so I’m I I don’t know like I have on the mixed feelings but like where do you stand do you feel like. Dnvbs is mostly played out and you know just wasn’t able to achieve scale and and you know was interesting but but not a game-changer or is it still early Innings and there’s a, a significant chance for dnvbs to change the world. Nate: [33:52] I think we’re still very much in the early innings, I think the like I mentioned before I think brands are seeking gross margin and seeking oxygen to continue to grow, and I think there’s from a pure play perspective it’s challenging it’s a challenging environment for digitally native Brands but I do think that, the shift in consumer Behavior towards e-commerce is is loosening some of that and creating some you know competitive advantages for brands that are that are really communicating digitally as their main platform with customers, so I think you know and then you also have technology like Shopify and some other elements that are enabling these businesses to start up with a lot less capital and really like reach a certain level of success, taking less investment so I think we’re still in the early Innings and I also think that there’s going to be continued innovation in the way in which you know Brands reach customers like right now. We’ve got a couple of very congested channels those being Facebook Instagram. In terms of like creating that spark and that you know interest in the awareness of a brand and discovery of a product and I do foresee there’s just by force of like the size of the digital prize I think some of those things are going to become unstuck for a direct to Consumer Brands and then I also think that you know. [35:20] Branding is going to evolve or is evolving creative is evolving, and product will continue to elevate and iterate in physical product I mean and innovate, and I think if we can bring those elements together dnvbs d-des he’s going to have a really great future um in what I love about it is you know everyone’s trying to move to this mom like not everyone but the large share of brands are at least interested or testing like we talked about earlier and so there’s there’s definitely smoke there we just have to figure out the right formula bring it together and bring it together in a way that. Is efficient and allows these Branch to thrive and continue to grow profitably and reach a certain scale. Jason: [36:04] Hmm yeah I could totally see that do you happen to be familiar there’s a construct that Gardner invented called the Gartner hype cycle. Nate: [36:12] I’m not familiar. Jason: [36:13] Yeah so it’s really cool and it’s shocking how many things tend to fit this curve but essentially, what what Gardner hypothesized by mainly around technology Innovations a long time ago was new stuff is always getting invented. And when it’s new it almost always gets overhyped and the like the utility of it. That is Promised wildly exceeds what it could actually deliver. And so gardeners premise was eventually every new trend or technology reaches what they call. Peak of inflated expectations so they draw this curve and it has this initial like huge Spike and at the top of it you’re at the peak of inflated expectations. Part of the reason I like the Gartner hype cycle is because of these funny names so then what happens is. [37:04] The technology you know it becomes apparent the technology isn’t going to deliver. [37:09] The those over those inflated expectations and so the technology starts to drop down the slope and they call this downslope the trough of disillusionment. [37:21] And so you know sent you know so pick anything artificial intelligence right like I would argue it’s probably right at the peak of inflated expectations right now and. Two years from like there was a time when QR codes were super overhyped and everyone’s talking about them and like they’re going to cure cancer, so then QR codes fall into the trough of disillusionment hey they didn’t cure cancer people were totally wrong they were overhyped this is lame, but eventually these products mature and they climb out of the trough of disillusionment into this area that. Gardner and calls the slope of Enlightenment where they eventually achieve this plateau of productivity where they kind of. Deliver commensurate value for what they are and so Gardner pick all these different categories and they map all the trends in this category on the on these hype Cycles, um and when you see some of them like it totally makes sense like you know QR codes got wildly overhype they dropped in the trough of disillusionment guess what’s happening right now like QR codes are you know reasonably productive for a variety of use cases, and that was maybe way too much work to explain it but to me dnvbs like are perfectly following the hype cycle as well like. [38:41] There was. Peak when they were over-promising and they may be starting to drop into a trough of disillusionment but that by no means means that there’s not a plateau of productivity in their future. Nate: [38:53] Yeah I mean I think that’s totally right I think when we look back at some of the brands that maybe have driven some of the like the collective disillusionment and dnvbs one, we’re judging a brand that’s still very young right and we look at a Michael Kors I’ll drop him now and again you know they we went through the IPO and 2011. [39:15] Of course was bankrupt you know in the in the 80s and had this tremendous run of success. And there’s other stories that are out there right as like businesses and types of business models that have gone through you know, gross and contraction etcetera and so we’re one we’re judging the business the opportunity that exists in the NAD, in a very early inning of its development not the terminal point and to you know there’s just a tremendous amount of learning and being on the Leading Edge that has happened over the last, years or so with respect to you how to you know how to do this you know how to build the railroads and infrastructure and all this kind of stuff to access customers to be able to. Grow and scale and I think particularly on that end. On the side of Technology on the side of supply chain on the side of infrastructure we’re still in it on the side of Technology we’re still very very young and those those types of, you know Innovation with that in terms of, picks and shovels Etc is really going to drive electric Menace amount of growth and opportunity for digitally native Brands and on a much more efficient scale so I think that’s absolutely right. Scot: [40:31] Yeah this is a good time to make a big announcement Jason because he’s a big believer in in where we are on the hype cycle he is going to release a mattress and it’s going to be the retail retailgeek dnvbs because we don’t have enough dnvbs companies right Jason. Jason: [40:49] Absolutely and what’s going to be unique about this mattress is actually going to fit in a box and I can ship it right to your house. Scot: [40:55] But what if you don’t like it can you return it. Jason: [40:57] You totally can there’s a no-questions-asked 30-second guarantee money-back guarantee. Scot: [41:03] Awesome you’re innovating again. The I work with a lot of startups and one of the things that comes up a lot is what’s the address bull market of all these Brands going Direct, and I went through this with cello visor where you know the early days people would say well what’s the addressable Market I was like retail and then would laugh at me the so then I had to kind of like show well here’s this magazine called internet retailer and they have the IR 500 then they did the hire 1,000 and there’s a thousand companies and here’s their sales and and you know then we can extrapolate from there this many number of companies Etc have you ever thought like what is the addressable Market of all these these brands that are coming up. Nate: [41:49] Yeah I mean I think. I think emarketer put out a survey or study this year that was suggested that direct to Consumer Brands we’re going to do about 18 billion in Revenue now this was released early in the year so my assumption is that that’s going to get except Blown Away in terms of the the expectations for the industry this year and then we think about as you mentioned total retail for exclude automotive and we exclude restaurants that’s about 3.8 billion, and so direct-to-consumer right now as a penetration to retail is less than half a percent percentage point and. Scot: [42:23] Three point eight trillion. Nate: [42:25] Three point eight trillion science thank you for crafting and so when I think about the opportunity. Over the next ten years I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that we get to 10% direct-to-consumer. And you know I 10% obviously you’re doing for you know 400 billion dollars in Revenue and I think you know the path to get there is everything that I just mentioned around unlocking the efficiencies at scale, and I think the only guard rail that I would meaningfully put against the ultimate growth of direct consumer as share of Market is just the the fundamental economics of selling e-commerce when you include cost of goods sold and you include all of the variable costs of doing business and fulfilling each order you know it gets you squeeze out a lot of the prophet and opportunity, and so I have started this thesis around you know. Average order value and how that impacts the viability of pure play e-commerce obviously the higher you go the respect to average order value the more margin you’re creating even if the rate is lower, and so I think there’s going to be a tension or a ceiling with low aov products metal that will continue to be dominated by that the Amazons and the Walmarts of the world that really have already built a lot of this efficiency that I’m that I’m talking about that’s really inaccessible for, each individual brand as we think about that brand growing in some business. Scot: [43:52] Okay yep so. So how about this thought experiment so so if we were on a whiteboard I draw a big circle that that would be retail and that’s three point eight trillion and then I would draw a circle inside of there and that’s that’s DTC today and I put it inside because everything sold at retail is effectively what we’re calling a brand and I should have said this at the top of show we we Loosely used the word brand to being you know a manufacturer of goods sometimes people get confused like in our Twitter conversation someone’s like well where does Macy’s fit in this and we’re like well that’s that’s a retailer not a Brandon they didn’t kind of get the manufacturer versus retailer kind of differential there maybe hopefully people were falling along with that, do you agree with that and in that bubble inside is going to get bigger and hit some terminal velocity to your point is that kind of how you think about it. Nate: [44:42] Yeah absolutely and that’s totally right I think there’s it’s easy to get tripped up on that terminology but I think that divided between retailer and marketplaces is accurate, and I just think you know at some point when you think about the. Most efficient Avenue for growth for some Brands it’s going to be scaling offline versus continuing to scale online, and that we’ve already seen that right we’ve seen it with Harry’s going to Target and many many others bonobos going to Nordstrom back in the day and so we’ll continue to see that you know just as oxygen air gets a little bit thin as you continue to grow and you find a password that you can find more oxygen and more scale more distribution brands will continue to do that and the question becomes one do we do we still call them direct to Consumer as we talked about but that’s where I see that the ceiling and the cutoff taking place, but I think if you’re if you’re selling over a certain price point let’s just call it $75, from a Navy perspective I do think that there’s a lot of Runway with pure play e-commerce and continuing to scale Brands and it’s good again I do believe just based on where the world is going and where Commerce is going I it should get easier rather than more difficult. You know but that’s sort of where we’re at where I see things many out over time. Jason: [46:06] That and that makes sense side note on the the emarketer stat you you quoted I’m sensitive to this because I’m way over published on the internet. That that emarketer report on d2c will always stand out to me because there’s a paragraph in it about what a failure Peloton is. Nate: [46:27] So to say that. Jason: [46:32] That hasn’t aged particularly well, but I’m curious though to talk about the the complete other end of the brand life cycle for a minute because it’s made the news a lot, there are a bunch of brands that were story Brands you know had huge consumer adoption made made people a ton of money and in recent times. Have like lost customer interest gone bankrupt and in most cases been acquired by Simon Malls and I’m curious if you’re following that Trend and if you think there’s. You know anything interesting like do those brands have a second life with Simon or did Simon reconstitute them and spin them off or is that just you know where where you know former glorious Brands go to die. Nate: [47:19] Totally I I’ve been really like sort of digging in on this particular topic because as you mentioned these are you know these are brands that I grew up with you know part of my sort of Journey and story so just I have like an affinity to these these brands are very curious as to where their final destination will be and so, you basically and I don’t have any you know knowledge other than what I’ve gathered so this is really more of my perspective on it as an outsider but. You’ve got authentic Brands Group which has been working with Simon and most cases and sometimes they’ve been working independently, to roll up these brands in these properties and as you mentioned a lot of them like Aeropostale Nautica Brooks Brothers Forever 21, Sports Illustrated these are Brands like Brooks Brothers was founded in 1818, Sports Illustrated has been around since 1954 so these are brands that are have a richness in terms of you know our culture American culture richness in terms of their history and of origin story, and I think what we’ve seen in kind of ties in with the direct consumer and digitally native movement is that, it takes a long time to build a meaningful brand you know it really is a Brick by Brick process of building that brand so you don’t knock all those bricks down in one day you sure the business can suffer and in some cases they can go through a bankruptcy and come out on the other side but. My view of this is that you know Simon and authentic spring break group are buying these properties for. [48:49] You know seems to some people as like okay you’re just throwing money away but I look at it as in many cases of tremendous value especially if we can gather enough of them you within sort of our brand portfolio. And then you know you’ve got them all order the largest bottle opener in the country operating a hundred eight malls and 67 Outlets. And so you’ve got a distribution Network for all that product and so we just kind of went through the taxonomy of Brands and talked about distribution own versus. Third party and now this isn’t going to be own cuz obviously there’s you know there’s a there’s a relationship here and there’s rent to be paid Etc. [49:24] And when you look at it at a very high level across those businesses their cert vertical izing and rolling up all of these Brands and what they’re seeking I think is. You know if we can move some of these Brands through some of our channels we can collectively you know revive these brands, we can invest in these Brands we can you know generate more revenue and margin off of these Brands and they’re you know they’re fine with I would say I would guess they’re fine with Transit like the, actual volume that the breads are going to do lowering because you know again they have that sort of like networked relationship where they’re really focused around. How do we make these the pieces fit and then you know they’re also acquiring if they bought Sports Illustrated as a mention and so they have the license there and they’ve got a media property to distribute some of these contact some of the content and some of these Brands so I think it’s you know. There’s a lot of talk about malls and being over retailed and over you know square foot and the United States which I don’t disagree with but I do think you know. Sometimes the opportunity swimming in the other direction is easier to get to then you know going the direct consumer path so certainly at the scale that they’re trying to do it it seems like there’s a big opportunity there. Jason: [50:42] Yeah I hope that a number of these brands do earn a second another act I mean I think we’re all desperate for Toys R Us to come back. Nate: [50:50] Absolutely. Jason: [50:51] Seems super strong at the moment one fun irony though I feel like if Simon acquiring a bunch of these Brands is you know in all the antitrust talks and hearings one of the things that always comes up is Amazon is the is playing the game and they’re the referee. And I feel like it’s going to be funny to see the shocked look on a bunch of senators faces when they find out that the Brooks Brothers suit that they’re wearing is also the referee and playing the game at the mall. Nate: [51:20] Absolutely it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how this sort of plays out and it’s you know as someone who’s just you know passionate. Follower of the retail industry and someone who’s been in the industry for a while these are the types of things that are just so interesting to me because it’s really unique set of circumstances in one I don’t think we necessarily seen at this scale before and so, how this plays out I actually think it’s going to have a meaningful you know impact on physical retail and Brands opening stores and malls. So there’s quite a bit at stake for the American Consumer here and for these Brands and Retail in general. Scot: [51:59] Yeah that that’s the kind of brings me to the end game so that you guys have a mall there Jason remember the name of it it’s almost like DTC mom. Jason: [52:07] In Austin yeah. Scot: [52:10] Remain yeah yeah and so we actually went to a show and walk through there and we did a whole episode just kind of walking through. And you know that’s a really cool experience you get these really deep brand experiences but then online you know if I kind of think through the endgame here, it’s a really weird customer experience to do we just go to social media and Google and we search for Brands and find them and then we have. The Casper experience the bonobos experience or do you think at some point there’s an aggregation of these things online that you know makes them have a better, Discovery mechanism unified check out and that kind of thing and you know we’re do you see that going down the road. Nate: [52:55] Yeah I think it’s it’s a really good question when I spent a lot of time sort of trying to unpack. I think the challenge with like a roll-up or a Marketplace of direct to Consumer Brands is we start to mute what makes them great, in a lot of cases which is you know like the origin story, the authentic Mission the purpose you know the energy and the creativity of the brand and the product and so if you start to build a marketplace around that then inherently the marketplace becomes the conversation and not necessarily the uniqueness of the story of a specific brand and so what I would expect. [53:34] Is an inventory on the flip side of that you’ve got, certain the strength in numbers conversation in the economies of scale of actually rolling up some of these Brands if you actually did do that on the certainly on the back end of the operation. And so I would expect we see sort of like, smaller either holding companies or smaller conglomerations or smaller Acquisitions that you create these little PODS of direct to Consumer and digitally native brands that are anchored, around an individual around a customer and they’re sort of a niche their preference that, and I think we’re starting to see some of that already that were brands are starting to, buddy up or even you know move together partner together cross-pollinate Etc, around these particular Lifestyles or preferences I just don’t see like, unless you know I actually was sort of trumpeting that Shopify should do something like this a while ago but that doesn’t seem to be their game I feel like they’re probably the one that could be that become the DTC Mall, but they haven’t shown their cards yet with respect to any intent to do that. Scot: [54:43] Yeah the Jason what do you think. Jason: [54:46] So you’re saying this shop app is not a turnkey de Simo. Nate: [54:51] No it is very good at telling me when my packages are going to arrive though so I appreciate that. Jason: [54:56] Yeah and the answer this year by the way is your weight, is when your bases are going to arrive because it covid ya ya know it I mean who knows how it’s all going to end the. I don’t personally see that being the in-game for Shopify to become that that much I just think it’s Shopify is amazing at a bunch of things and. I just think building D to see traffic is not something that they’ve. Done it all or have any endemic advantage in doing and that’s what you would really like that that’s the hardest thing to get to build a deed to see Bray Mall it’s not the the sellers it’s the consumers. Nate: [55:45] Yep. Jason: [55:47] I don’t know. Scot: [55:48] Yeah as a consumer I want a discovery vehicle because I didn’t know about that italic one until I just kind of saw people talking about it on Twitter. And you know it. It feels like there’s this huge opportunity to be the discovery engine for people interested in this category and right now people just kind of it’s just Word of Mouth you just really or you know a store or something you don’t it’s really hard to discover these things. Nate: [56:13] Yeah there’s a been at there’s been a couple that have popped up I mean very shop I think is trying to make a move into this sort of space of being like a trusted you know source for recommendations and then on the characterize it probably unfairly on the more like Consumer Reports sign of things may be dating myself with that reference but you know you’ve got thing testing which is really been done a great job of digging into DTC Brands and really doing like unboxing and product reviews and all that kind of stuff so those are those are some of the resources that we’re starting to see I think it’s just you know it’s still, the search for breaking up the duopoly or the you know the ownership that Facebook Instagram and Google have over attention and eyeballs you until we get you know meaningful crack in that armor it’s still going to be really difficult to make. Direct-to-consumer discoverable outside of those channels and that’s where I think physical retail and that’s where I think you know wholesale and all those other channels come into play because there’s still a large portion of individuals like lives you know assuming that we get back to some degree of normalcy where we’re doing things and you know in three dimensions we’re doing things in public we’re doing things socially and you know so I think, a lot there’s a lot of tension with how we’re going to make direct consumer more discoverable and get in front of more people. Jason: [57:40] Yeah I got to be honest I am sure something is going to come along to disrupt it like I think it’s less likely to look like a. DDC version of a search engine or a catalog or you know sort of a traditional mall like I you know I don’t think it’s going to I’m not a big fan of like the neighborhood Goods of the world and the, those kind of d2c aggregators or Tim Armstrong’s DDX and all those sorts of things I think it’s going to be something that’s more out-of-the-box right so if I had to bet I have no idea what it’ll be but if I had to BET right now I would be more likely to put money on something like. Live streaming. And maybe it’s tick tock that you know probably not Oracle Tick-Tock but but some future iteration of tick-tock that that’s more likely to disrupt Amazon as the sort of. D2c Discovery vehicle. Nate: [58:34] I will hardly agree there I mean I think if you look at the legacy of QVC and HSN, these are massive businesses that could drive tremendous amount of you know attention and revenue and and you know I think that’s absolutely a place that’s ripe it’s just yeah, how do you get enough. Energy and get enough movement behind it to get onto the platform I think that’s the hardest part is just you know acquiring and building enough of a network effect to make that valuable for consumers. And for brands. Jason: [59:08] Yeah it’s hard to say and even harder to do so I think you’re right but now I think that’s going to be a great place for us to leave it because it’s happen again we’ve used up all our allotted time as always if you enjoyed this episode we sure would appreciate that five star review on Amazon. Scot: [59:27] Nate thanks for joining us we really appreciate this is a great conversation we could have gone another hour but I know people need to go to sleep and stuff if folks want to learn more about your thought leadership you put out there and what not work what are some of the best places for them to find you. Nate: [59:43] Yeah really the only sort of social Channel I have is on Twitter you can follow me at at digitally native with no e on the end and thanks guys I appreciate this has been really fun. Scot: [59:55] Yo I know he just run out of characters. Nate: [59:58] No actually there is a digitally native with an E who has no followers and has never tweeted. And so I’m patiently waiting for Twitter to clean that out and hopefully be able to take over that territory. Scot: [1:00:13] Jack if you’re listening help us out here. Jason: [1:00:16] You say that like there’s a chance he’s not listening. Scot: [1:00:20] Well you know he’s busy could be in Africa are working on Square tonight or something. Jason: [1:00:25] Yeah when I heard he has a couple gigs so good point really enjoyed the conversation thanks very much for the time Nate and until next time happy Commercing.

Learn more about KidfreshSupport the show and even get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.Full Transcript:F Geyrhalter:Welcome to the show, Matt.M Cohen:Thank you. Nice to meet you.F Geyrhalter:Absolutely. So in your bio it states, "As someone who was interested in how brands connect with consumers, Matt was looking to develop a concept that would really connect to people's lives and be meaningful." Now, this statement alone got me so excited to have you on the show. You actually went from being a management consultant at Accenture to a COO at a consulting practice that got sold to Omnicom, which those in the industry know, that's the big one, and now you're hiding veggies in frozen meals for kids with your brand Kidfresh. Tell us a bit how and why you started this brand.M Cohen:Well, I'm still wondering every day. I don't know. I had a career, everything was fine, and then one morning I woke up and I'm like, "What kind of bad food..." excuse my French "... kids are being fed here in the US?" Basically what happened to put it simply is, I became a parent. I became a father. And as such, I started to experience what kids eat in this country, and I was absolutely horrified. So coming from France, I could not understand and even accept that kids were fed with such junk food. That's how it started.F Geyrhalter:And as far as I understand, Kidfresh started as a retail store in New York City, serving freshly prepared wholesome meals for kids, right?M Cohen:That's right. Our initial idea was to create a retail concept, a chain, a little bit like a Starbucks for kids, but with freshly prepared foods and other grocery items for kids, all natural and organic. That was the initial idea, so we created a store in Manhattan on the Upper East Side, initially.F Geyrhalter:And what happened? What happened to the store versus going with frozen food?M Cohen:So what happened basically is that... First of all, the store really established the brand, and it was really great because when I started the business with my partner I was being bombarded by requests for interviews from all over the world because the concept had really resonated everywhere. So, I mean, literally, I was on the phone doing interviews with the Radio Tokyo, and then being interviewed with Canadian newspapers and then Middle Eastern radio, these type of things. I was like, okay, well, maybe that's it. Maybe I made it in America, but more importantly what happened also from a business standpoint is that this attracted a lot of other retailers and other brands that were always coming to the store and exploring what we were doing, right? Essentially the most important one for us initially was Whole Foods.M Cohen:They came to the store, we had a great conversation, they were like, "Okay, hey, why don't we bring your products into our stores?"F Geyrhalter:Interesting.M Cohen:... and, "sure." And so we started doing that in New York City first. First in one store, then in all the stores in New York City, and then we had other states that were interested in carrying our line, and so we quickly realized that the opportunity was actually outside of the store much more than with the store, and that we would have a much greater impact and a much faster impact by going wholesale versus than going retail, one store at a time, brick and mortar and all that, all the capital expenses and resources that it required. Demand came from other retailers and we're like, "Okay, let's flip the switch and go wholesale."F Geyrhalter:And did Kidfresh... was that the brand name for the store that transitioned over to frozen?M Cohen:Yes, absolutely.F Geyrhalter:That's amazing.M Cohen:We kept the same... Yeah. Yeah.F Geyrhalter:And I have the feeling that given your very different background, the management consulting life, it must have shaped your first year running Kidfresh.M Cohen:Oh yeah. I mean, I thought everything happened on PowerPoint and Excel when I came in. [inaudible 00:04:52] consulting and then I realized that real life is somewhat different. So it was a big learning for me, for sure. But what did help me was to at least have some sort of framework of processes and organization and structure that needed to be put in place for any business. Right?F Geyrhalter:Right.M Cohen:... Rules and responsibilities, accountabilities, who reports to whom, systems, structures. So that really gave me a framework that I still carry with me today as I continue to grow the business.F Geyrhalter:And on top of that, it sounds like that your background always flirted with branding, right? I mean, you were always just a degree separated from branding, from marketing, and I'm sure that that influenced you too in finally launching your own brand.M Cohen:Oh, absolutely. I mean, particularly when the company that I worked with before was sold into Omnicom, I was completely immersed with other agencies, and being on the account side, managing accounts, and really looking at it from the branding and communication side of things. So, that brought me even more, a sense of what can make a brand succeed, basically.F Geyrhalter:And coming from that background and working with agencies and being surrounded by agencies, did you invest in branding immediately? When you started the first retail store, did you actually fully invest in, let's get this set up the right way? Or was that something that came a little bit later and you were winging it more in the beginning?M Cohen:It's the former. We really started with branding. We really started with finding the right name, first and foremost, and we did some surveys and we did some analysis and so on and so forth to really find a name that we felt resonated. Right? When you think about Kidfresh, it seems obvious, but it didn't exist. And so we explored lots of different names, and then we hired a branding agency from the get-go to really develop our brand positioning, our identity, and all our entire brand book from logo to colors to fonts and all the other attributes that make a brand as such.F Geyrhalter:That's music to my ears. How do you think that impacted you? How do you think it helped you versus taking it slow and bootstrapping the branding aspect?M Cohen:I think it really helped us get immediate credibility. We looked bigger than we were, and as such we conveyed more credibility and also more trust because it's a business where you provide foods to children, and it was important that we established trust with parents from day one. And so we went very much into branding with a sense of, this is a way for us to get our name and our idea out there in a way that will engage the consumers in a favorable way.F Geyrhalter:Absolutely. Absolutely. What does branding mean to you now that you've been with Kidfresh for a while and given your background, what does that term branding mean to you? Because it's such a misunderstood term. People just think it's a logo, but it's so much more, what does it mean to you?M Cohen:It is several things. It is first of all, an identity, and it's as much an identity for the consumers than it is also for yourself, your employees, your teams, your third party partners, right? You have a name, you have a look and feel, you stand for something. Right? So, that's very important. And then secondly, I think it's also an emotional connection with our consumers, right? We mean something, our name means something. When you buy a product Kidfresh, you know that's not going to be junk food, that it sounds and feels good for you. And that's what we stand for. Right? So it's not a lie. It's actually to the contrary, it's very much all promise. So, an identity and an emotional connection with a promise behind it. That's what branding stands for.F Geyrhalter:Very well put. One comes to think about like, when you started this brand of creating food, in the beginning, regular food and then frozen food once you went past retail into the actual retail stores, not your own store, how do you create food? Someone who doesn't have that background, did you have a co-founder that came from the food background?M Cohen:Yes.F Geyrhalter:Okay. Okay.M Cohen:Yeah. My co-founder had experience at Dannon for many years...F Geyrhalter:Perfect.M Cohen:... [inaudible 00:10:22] surrounded ourselves with experts. We started with a pediatric nutritionist from NYU. We visited childhood obesity pediatric units in hospitals in the Tri-state area in New York just to understand what was going on. We had retail experts. So I think building a team of experts that fill the gaps is also critical. Going back, maybe to your point about management consulting, is really creating an advisory board, helped us a lot initially.F Geyrhalter:That is really, really good to hear, and that's not always the case with today's startups. I absolutely, hundred percent agree with that. I surround myself with experts all the time, because that's why they're experts. And just a couple of minutes with an expert can save us hours and weeks of time, sometimes. So very much [crosstalk 00:11:17]. You're also very data driven. It sounds like you get a lot of input, you do a lot of questionnaires, you get a lot of answers. Was there ever a moment where you got a lot of ideas back and you get a lot of customer data and you felt like, "You know what, thank you for that, but I'm actually going to go a totally different way with this." May it be a certain product launch. Even at the beginning of Kidfresh, was there ever a time where you did a crazy brand move just based on your gut instinct, where you felt, "You know what, this is my brand, this is my baby. I want to go that route even though everyone says go to the other direction."M Cohen:So, it's very interesting because we've been bombarded with ideas and opportunities to go in so many different directions, which in a sense is a good thing because it shows the brand resonates and has legs beyond what we're doing. But one key area where we were really solicited very much by consumers and also retailers to go into snacks, dry snacks, right? So that we had more portability and the Kidfresh brand name could extend in portable, nutritious snacks for kids. And we started to play with it quite frankly, but then we realized that it would be so big and distract us so much from our core, right? Our core being food like meals, cooked meals, that even though there was a legitimate demand and certainly a potential in the business, if we were to go that route, it would be too risky for the overall company as a whole. And so [inaudible 00:13:09] said, "No, not for now, but it's certainly in the back of our mind, but not for now."F Geyrhalter:And I think it all comes back to your positioning and to your purpose, right? Because you can always point back to that and say, well, our purpose is not to have snacks, but our purpose is actually to have real meals that have the hidden veggies [crosstalk 00:13:28] Right. Exactly. So, that's one of those big advantages to have that purpose nailed down early on, and it's kind of like your guiding light that you can always use for a brand and you don't get sidetracked to saying yes to all these amazing opportunities, which they are all amazing opportunities. Right? So on the flip side, was there ever anything that you did with your brand, may it have been a campaign or may it have been a new launch or a change of colors or logos or anything where you felt like, "Oh, that totally went off the rails."M Cohen:I would say... You know what, going back to snacks and handheld products, when we were exploring the snack idea we were like, well, maybe there are some snacks that you can do in frozen. Right? And we tried that, we did some frozen burritos and things like that, but realized that this was too much of a departure for the consumers in terms of their habits and what they knew, and it didn't work out as we had planned. Yeah. That's a line of products that we felt, "Hey, let's try to do some frozen snacks." but were not... It's not what we expected.F Geyrhalter:And it's just a couple of degrees away from what you usually do and it already didn't resonate. Right? It's so interesting how consumers are so... Your brand means something so specific to them, and even if you just go a little bit the other way, it's already too much for them. To me, that's fascinating.M Cohen:It is. But it speaks also to the relationship and the connection we have with the consumers, and that's a great asset for us really. It's a unique element of our business, and we have the highest loyalty in the category. So, our consumers want us and want us to stay who we are.F Geyrhalter:Besides obvious sales, but how do you feel that loyalty? Do you feel it on social media or do people write to you? What are some of those messages you get as a brand that makes you feel like, "You know what, people really have our back. They absolutely love us."M Cohen:Well, we have actual data. We have access to data that shows that a consumer that did not buy Kidfresh before, and that tries it once, will repurchase it over, and over, and over again. We have the data, it's very clear. We have the highest loyalty rate in the industry, over 60%. And then that translates also into messages and things that are more sort of content, if you will. People share stories or they talk to their friends or they refer the brand, but the data is the data.F Geyrhalter:Oh, absolutely. Yeah.M Cohen:It's very clear.F Geyrhalter:Absolutely. So you started your retail store, you got all of this amazing press and suddenly Whole Foods came knocking. Was that the moment where you felt like, "You know what, we have something here." Or was there another big breakthrough moment for the brand where you were in a certain amount of stores, or did something happen where you felt like there was one day where Matt sat back with his glass of Bordeaux and said, "You know what, this is it. We have a brand." ?M Cohen:Well, I mean, certainly the initial conversation with Whole Foods, for sure. But then we started to branch out of the store in different ways. For instance, we had a little refrigerated kiosks to JFK airport at the JetBlue and American Airline terminal [crosstalk 00:17:25] where we were [inaudible 00:17:26] travel lunchboxes for kids. And that was sort of branching out of the store in the first way. Then we had the Whole Foods [inaudible 00:17:40], that was the second thing. And then we were also doing a lot of catering, but branded catering for the FAO Schwarz store in New York [crosstalk 00:17:49], Build-A-Bear store in New York. We were their catering operation.M Cohen:So, at the end of the day, there's a point where you do so much more business outside of the store than in the store that really you understand that that's where you need to go, right?F Geyrhalter:Yeah. Yeah.M Cohen:The store being such an operational sort of weight, if you will, to carry every day, at some point you cannot do both. You'll have to make a decision. Am I a wholesale operation or am I a retail business? Right? And I clearly remember that day. It was like one of these days that is like a total nightmare, you cannot even see the light, and you're like, "Okay, we just cannot do this anymore. We have to pick and decide who we are."F Geyrhalter:Yeah. So instead of this being a celebratory moment, it was actually a moment of anxiety because you had too much going on and too many opportunities, and you just had to create some clarity?M Cohen:In a way. In a way. But after that anxiety came also a relief.F Geyrhalter:Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Absolutely. If you would look at the Kidfresh brand today, and if you would look at the positioning of the brand, of the values of the brand, of what you really stand for as a brand, you would put this down into one word, I call it your brand DNA. If you would be able to describe Kidfresh in one or two words, what would it be?M Cohen:Two words. You want two words, I'll give you two words. Kid and fresh.F Geyrhalter:That took some pondering.M Cohen:No, but really, I mean, it's really about kids' food. So it's really about children and making sure that they have foods that they like, but they also bring nutrition and taste and value. Right? And then fresh is really the freshness of our product, our ingredients. It's real chicken, it's real tomatoes. Everything is real and fresh. So yeah, kid and fresh.F Geyrhalter:Which I think is amazing after all those years, right? That it goes back right to that name, and that's why it's so crucial to get the name right in the beginning. Right? I mean, that is just so important.M Cohen:So crucial. Absolutely.F Geyrhalter:And something that was in the back of my mind entire time we were talking, and I think now is a good time to ask, obviously, what is so great about Kidfresh is that you're basically tricking these kids of eating mozzarella sticks with a dipping sauce but in reality, there's actually cauliflower in them as well. Right? You hide these vegetables in a smart way, so that kids actually eat healthy, but they feel like it's still fun, and it's still their kind of food. What happens at the time when the kids turn... I don't know, what age do they turn when they suddenly start realizing that they've been fooled all along?F Geyrhalter:And what happens? Is it a revolution?M Cohen:No, but we actually do not recommend to fool the kids. Right? We're sneaking vegetables, yes, but we want vegetables to be part of the conversation as opposed to not. So just to be able to say, "Hey, you like this chicken nugget? Well, hey, there's a little cauliflower that's mixed in. Let's have another one."F Geyrhalter:Yeah, yeah.M Cohen:We want to be honest and transparent. So, my hope is that when kids find out and realize that there's cauliflower or chickpea or butternut squash blended in the product, that they don't see it as a betrayal, but like as a [inaudible 00:22:05] why not actually, as an enhancement.F Geyrhalter:Right, right. And I mean, at that point, you already got them so hooked that they're fine with it anyways.M Cohen:Yeah, it's already too late. It's already too late.F Geyrhalter:It's too late. It's too late.M Cohen:They're going to try another chicken nugget and then they're going to come back to ours. F Geyrhalter:That's right. That's right. That's hilarious. Obviously you've made it as a founder of a very successful startup that's very purposeful. A lot of young founders are looking up to people like you who have achieved what you have achieved. Is there any brand advice that you want to give to kind of finish off our interview, just something that you've learned over the years where you would advise other founders as it relates to your brand, or even just regular entrepreneurial business advice where you say, "Look, here's something that I learned that I think I want to share with other entrepreneurs."?M Cohen:I would say, be patient and determined. It's a lot about being tenacious, fighting every day and believing into your product, into your brand, into your team and resources, being really steadfast into what you're doing. That would be my advice. Sometimes, slow and steady wins the race. We all want to go fast and be the next big thing overnight, well, in most cases it takes time, and that's okay.F Geyrhalter:I like that. I like that. Yeah, absolutely. So listeners who want to turn their kids into Kidfresh fanatics, where can they go? Where can they find your frozen treats?M Cohen:In most grocery stores throughout the nation from Vons in Southern California where you are to Walmart, Target, all the Kroger banners, Publix, Whole Foods, most retailers for the nation.F Geyrhalter:Can they order online too? Or are you in all retailers [crosstalk 00:24:25].M Cohen:Yes.F Geyrhalter:Okay. Okay.M Cohen:No, they can make an order at kidfresh.com or go to Amazon as well.F Geyrhalter:Perfect Matt. Well, listen, thank you for your time. I really appreciate it. This was really educational and appreciate all your insights.M Cohen:Thank you Fabian and take care.F Geyrhalter:Absolutely, you too.

In this episode, Christian Haynes '20 interviews Che Anderson '11 about his work supporting public art, and how his Holy Cross experience inspired him to make his mark on the City of Worcester. Recorded November 20, 2019 --- Transcript Ché: If at 23, 24, 25 you find something that's really keeping you up at night, and that's making you wake up early in the morning, go pursue that. There's no right or wrong way to do life, we're all just figuring it out. Maura: Welcome to Mission-Driven, where we speak with alumni who are leveraging their Holy Cross education to make a meaningful difference in the world around them. I'm your host, Maura Sweeney, from the class of 2007, director of Alumni Career Development at Holy Cross. I'm delighted to welcome you to today's show. Maura: In this episode we hear from Ché Anderson from the class of 2011. A New York native, Ché now claims Worcester as home. After making his mark on campus as a co-founder of the Brother to Brother Committee, Ché continues to make a positive impact on the Worcester community as an alumnus. Currently working as deputy cultural development officer for the City of Worcester, Ché was one of the organizers of the POW! WOW! Worcester Mural Festival. First debuting in 2016, POW! WOW! Worcester is an annual week-long festival that has already curated over 130 pieces of public art. For this great work, Ché was named to Worcester Business Journal's 40 Under 40 list in 2018. Maura: Christian Haynes, from the class of 2020, speaks with Ché about how this work came to be. Starting with his childhood in New York City, they speak about the many people and moments that have shaped Ché as a professional and as a leader. Filled with inspiring takeaways, their conversation showcases the power of putting the Holy Cross mission into action in the community. Christian: I'm here with my man, Ché Anderson. Ché: Hello there. Christian: So let's go ahead, it's your boy Christian, you already know what it is. So I'm talking about... I got to bring myself into this. Ché: I hear you, I hear you. Christian: First question, is it Ché or Shae? I know you have people that have known you for about 10, 20 years that still call you Shae. Ché: Yes, they do, my name is Ché Anderson, hard Ch with the accent over the E. I was named after Ernesto Ché Guevara, and oddly I got that name because my grandmother, rest her soul, was a Black Panther and she was a Black Panther from Harlem. And she raised my father strictly in that environment, and so having his first born son, he wanted to give me a name that, from the way I hear it, was powerful but that said, I would cause a little bit of trouble. And initially he wanted to name me Huey after Huey Newton. Ché: And my mother was just like, "No, I don't want that name". So they landed on Ché, because it was unique, and because they both thought that he was a really interesting and powerful figure. And so you could imagine growing up, now 30 years and people going, "Well either you have a lot to live up to", or, "Do you know what he was about or what he did?". And it's like, "yes", I've read every biography and autobiography I can of that person. Christian: That's wow. Did you feel that type of environment, that Black Panther type in your environment growing up, in your household growing up? Ché: I think that... It's funny, my mom was a correction officer, and worked on Rikers Island in New York. Which, for those that don't know, it's an interesting facility, to say the least. Ché: And I think that my mother always, drove home how important it was to be aware of myself and all my situations. Not only what it meant to walk a street, but what it means to walk the street as a black male, and how that can be perceived by different people. And so some of that was in the ideologies and philosophies of those in the Black Panther party, some of those are just growing up as a black person in New York City, and some of that is from my grandmother coming from South Carolina. So I think that, when you have family, all that legacy comes with you in the way that you're raised or brought up, or the different lessons you're taught. Christian: That's a lot. Ché: It is, it's heavy. Christian: It is heavy. I think that's the right word to use. Do you ever ask your mother why correctional officer was like... Ché: Yeah, apparently my mom was trying to figure it out, I think like most people are in life, in their early twenties and I think she knew that there were some really interesting opportunities and good pertinent opportunities in civil service. And for her, she had actually a friend who was taking the exam to be an officer, and so she said, "You know what, good pension, good paying job if I have a family", and she was recently married, "This could be a great fallback for the family". And then lo and behold, nine months into her tenure, that's when she found out she was pregnant with me. And she did it for 22 years, and went again from Rikers, which is one of the most notorious prisons in our country to working at Manhattan Courts, which is a little more relaxed. Ché: But my mom is the toughest person I know. She's a soldier, she's a warrior, but also somehow like the most loving person ever know. Christian: How close were you and your grandmother, from your mother’s side? Ché: Very, My dad actually wasn't really around much growing up. So my mom's side is who I really knew well. And so my grandmother was the one that kind of took care of me while mom was at work, and so she got to hear a lot of my first words, and first things like that. And my grandmother, it's odd, for work, she would actually clean houses, and so I spent a lot of my Saturday and Sunday mornings going with her to affluent people's houses and sitting on couches watching cartoons. Ché: And so it was an interesting dichotomy, growing up in the Amsterdam Projects where I grew up, which public housing, and then going to these affluent Central Park West houses and seeing what it's like to have a doorman, what it's like to have people who are throwing words like sommelier around, and not having any idea what that meant. And having fancy dogs, and having big flat screen TVs before we had that, when we still had the TV with the knob on it. Which was... but again, all that frames kind of who you are as you go up, right? So because of that I think I always felt comfortable everywhere. Because I was able to experience that at an early age, and around all kinds of people. Because I was able to see all sorts of people from, again, the penurious that were struggling, trying to figure it out, to the princely, that were running around throwing thousands of dollars at their kids, or their nieces and nephews. Christian: That's pretty tough, I thought we had a similar background. My mom was cleaning... she was a home attendant, taking care of the elderly. Coming from the Projects, even going to these houses in Bushwick at the time. They weren't the best houses, but they were still houses. And I guess you could say it's similar, from coming from the Projects not really having nothing, to seeing these fish tanks, these bigger TVs, these rooms that, more than one bedroom, more than two bedrooms. These people have a lot more than me, it's not a lot, but it's a lot more than me. And just spending time with my mother like that, I guess that made me more comfortable being in different spaces, like you say. Christian: But I remember the first time I learned about you, hear about you, learn about you, because in class I was into stats, psych stats, and I was on the website, Holy Cross website in a see 40 under 40. So what stood out to me was that title, and it was a black man. So I got to figure out what this is, and I realized he was a Holy Cross alum. I was like, the first person I had- Marcellis. I know you know this man. Ché: Big shout to Marcellis Perkins too. Christian: Of course, he got some questions for you too. I was like, "Who is this man?", He was like, "Yeah, Ché Anderson, yada yada, alumni 2011". And we actually going to meet up pretty soon, I'll come through if you want, and then that was the first time I met up with you at Crossroads. I'm like, "Yeah, he seemed like a cool dude, talk fast". Ché: I do talk fast, sorry about that. Christian: No, you're good, yeah yeah yeah yeah... no but you talk real fast. I was like, "Yeah, he seem like a cool dude", I remember the first time you mentioned... That was the first time you mentioned to me that you had connects with the Pawtucket Red Sox, and then there was a big thing at the time that they were coming from... Ché: From Pawtucket to Worcester. Christian: Yeah to Worcester, I think they made it here right? Ché: Yeah, they are opening day is April, 2021. Christian: Yeah so, baseball was a big thing for me, still is. So I was like, "Yeah, I got to say connect to this man right here". Christian: But I know you got a lot of work with art and street art, so just going back to your childhood or teenage years, whatever, do you remember your first time experiencing that or seeing it and admiring it. Whether it was street art, art, any type of art form? Ché: Yeah, so my mom, when she did have days off, we had to go somewhere, every time. I think that part of her raising me was that she wanted me to experience everything that she couldn't. And that literally meant everything. Some Saturdays we would just go for a walk and we'd walk Central Park and walk down Fifth Avenue and just window shop, but it was cool to just see all the different things people were getting, and FAO Schwarz, which was down on 59th and then Fifth Avenue, the toy store from Big with the big piano and we'd go in there, and I'd inevitably convinced her to get me like a Ninja Turtle or something. But I had to see it, it was this big experience and we'd go to the American Museum of Natural History, or we go to the Guggenheim. And often I was way too young to really comprehend it, but my mom tried to make sure I saw everything. And I think that that... Those are some of my earliest memories experiencing art. And I remember walking through parts of Harlem, or parts of Brooklyn, or lower Manhattan, and you see graffiti and places but you're kind of fed this narrative that that's bad, that's desolate areas, you don't want that.   And oddly, it probably wasn't until seven or so years ago that I had this experience, and it's actually what led me on this path that I thought was really interesting. I was in Worcester, Post grad, living in a city I was sort of familiar with, but I didn't get off the Hill as much as I probably should have while I was a student. And the artist Banksy, from London, one of the most prominent public artists living today in modern history was doing a residency in New York City.   And my friends were running around taking pictures and posting them on Instagram, and I needed a new cool profile pic so I ran down to New York and I was blown away by how many people were traveling to New York City to catch a glimpse of this artwork. I came from Massachusetts, people were coming from Connecticut, and from Jersey, and growing up in New York, and you get this, quite often you stayed in your borough.   If you didn't have to travel to see family or a close friend that lives somewhere else. If you were from Manhattan, you stayed in Manhattan. If you were from Harlem, which is part of Manhattan, but you stayed in Harlem and that was it. And so people were coming from Staten Island taking the ferry to look at this artwork and I said, "This is awesome, where else is this happening?"   And eventually I started researching, and I learned about Wynwood, and more about what's happening in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia has this mural arts program that's been changing the city since the 1970's and I was like, "Hey, Worcester could do this, we have the wall space for sure, but we have a creative community, we've always kind of been an alternative community, let's see where it goes". And that was kind of it from there, it took off.   But it's one of those things where it's... I tell people, "You grew up in New York City and you don't really appreciate growing up in New York City until you leave New York City".   You know what I mean? You don't realize how many things you have at your fingertips, and how alive the city is, and how active it is, until you're at a city that closes down at midnight and you're just like, "What's going on?" Christian: I'd say 10 o'clock. Ché: Or until you're at a place and you're like, "Aw man, I can't sleep and I'm starving", but there's no bodega. Or you're like, "Aw man, I really want a Uber or taxi", and it's like, "No, there are none in the area right now, it's too late". And so it's not lost on me that what really made me appreciate being a New Yorker was not living in New York, and having to sort of figure out where to find the pockets that made me feel like I was home. Christian: I would've thought that you done a lot of research about graffiti, especially in the 80's in New York. Ché: Oh yeah, of course, at this point I have, but growing up, no. And I tell people this all the time, I think that people see 40 under 40, I got this award for this public art project that I'm always taking pictures with murals and I'm doing talks, and stuff about murals... That's all in the last 10 years. I didn't study that, I'm not classically trained in any of that. There are people that'll bring up famous artists to me, from different movements, and I'm just like, "Nope, no idea what you're talking about". But it goes to a point of, people have their belief of a right way to do something, and that you have to be the biggest scholar and that. You don't, like you can just be passionate about something, you could really like something and find your niche in that world.   And that's what it is for me. I appreciate the culture, I respect it, I've learned my history on it. So I'm not just someone that's a culture vulture that came in and was like, "I'm going to do this thing". No, I've sat with graffiti writers, I've had to hold some graffiti writers names close to the vest because no one needs to know that. But the fact of the matter is that as a person who appreciates neo-contemporary art, which is just the really fancy way of saying street art or graffiti, I was able to come humbly to a table and have a seat at it now, and have just open conversation.   And so this is a person who... I want it to be a lawyer, I was a poli- sci major, I interned with the Manhattan DA for seven years, that was it for me. And so to go from that, to this sort of hobby that's become a big part of my now job and everything else, I think is a testament to the fact that if at 23, 24, 25 you find something that's really keeping you up at night, and that's making you wake up early in the morning, go pursue that. There's no right or wrong way to do life, we're all just figuring it out. Christian: Yeah. You mentioned neo... What is it? Ché: Oh, neo-contemporary art. It's a recently used, made up term, to allow people to contextualize what street art is. Street art has this sort of trivial, kind of fun sound to it, but if I talk to you about Renaissance art, you're like, "Oh wow, that's Renaissance art". Or if I mention modern art you're, "Oh my God, that's modern".   So people started calling street art neo-contemporary, new-age contemporary art, because you're now having people that have taken artwork and put it outside to make it public, and now they're taking that same aesthetic and bring it back inside some museums, and galleries, and spaces like that. So it's just a newly coined term to make it sound more official. Christian: Sounds like... So I'm going to dance class right now, and it sounds like, what they deal with B-boy and B-girl, and turn it into break dance, it's a commercialize it. Do you think it's the same? Ché: It's similar, I think that there are... the sad reality of it is that there are certain cultural norms that different people experience, and to make the masses feel comfortable with it, it becomes a different thing.   It's like when you talk about hip hop versus rap, there's none of this. But for some people, it's like, "Well, hip hop is a bit more nuanced, and safe, and rap is grungy and dirty and raw", and I tell people when it comes to street art and graffiti and such, I don't see a difference.   I think that they are synonyms, it's semantics. Both are generally painted with spray paint, outdoor. The difference is that one tends to be formalized and legal, and one's illegal. But if I paint a beautiful portrait of Dr. King on a wall, but I do it illegally, but it's gorgeous. It's perfect rendering, is that graffiti or is that street art? If I pay you $2,000 to paint your name on my wall, is that graffiti or street...   We get too deep into the weeds of it. Sometimes you got to just appreciate it. Again, I've seen some of the most beautiful art I've seen, bar none, gallery, museums included, online included. I've seen some gorgeous things people do with letters. And you think about typography in general, and how lettering, and hand lettering, and hand scripting, and hand styling has grown right from the clothes you wear, and the person who chose that font, to the way you type. There's a certain nuance to that.   And I've seen some of the best done publicly, by just graffiti writers. But that's just me. Christian: I think you did mention this, but do you make art yourself? Any type of art? Singing doesn't count cause you say you can't sing. Ché: Ow man, I can sing, just not well is what I'm saying. I don't do visual art.   But here's a fun fact that most people don't know about me. I write poetry. I have since I was younger. I don't perform it, I don't really share it, but I do. I've always done that, it's been what I turned to when I'm really stressed out or something, I write down a poem about something. And it's one of the main reasons why when I was on campus, and we had this organization called the Brother to Brother committee, we did this poem Black Man Rising, and we did it. A big part of doing that was that... it was like my outlet to actually perform some semblance of poetry. So no, I don't draw or anything. Christian: But you mentioned the Brother to Brother committee. Ché: Yeah. Christian: Turn into the Male Involvement Coalition, which I am the co-chair of. And we just performed Black Man Rising in The Griot. Did you hear about that? Ché: I did not hear about this particular, no I didn't. Christian: I do have a video I'll show you after. Ché: I need that, I need to see it. Christian: And we did perform it in my sophomore year at BSU fashion show at Mechanics Hall. Ché: Do you kick it off? Christian: Yeah. Ché: Are you the, "Look at yourself again. Alright... alright... You're not a Black Man Falling, You're a Black Man Rising, by James H. Chapman. Christian: We switched it up, it was dedicated to Rob Jones. Ché: Okay. All right, I hear you. Christian: It was a cool experience, and I just found out that you were the founding members of Brother to Brother committee. So talk to me about that and how it was back then. Ché: So when I was a sophomore, there was a conference members of the camps were invited to, and it was called the CHAS conference, the coalition for higher achievement and success... consortium for higher achievement success. And they had one that was specific to black and brown males. And so a group of us attended it, and were so uplifted at Skidmore by the people we're hearing from.   I believe at Skidmore, by the people we were hearing from and hearing new initiatives at other colleges and campuses, when we came back to campus, we ended up just meeting a bunch of times and discussing some of the issues that were affecting people in our communities. As we were talking about doing things inevitably, we hit a point where we started doing events but we weren't a recognized student organization. We were just a bunch of students doing these things that having talks, having dialogues, facilitating conversations and we were just dynamic. You had students that wanted to be architects, that wanted to be lawyers or wanted to be doctors that were athletes, that were thespians. So we realized we kind of had something and said, "Okay, we could formalize this in RSO." There was Jeff Harris, who was class of 2012 went to high school with me and there were these two things we did in high school.   One was a daily affirmation and the other one was Black Men Rising that Jeff performed. So he introduced that to the campus and that became our calling card for this group. Then Antonio Willis-Berry, he was 2013, there was this Shawn whose last name is escaping me, but he was class of 2013, Jose Paz, who was class of 2012. We just had this group. Then there was a gentleman named Tyrone Billingsly who was kind of the elder statesman of our group along with Eric Collazo. The two of them didn't want a role officially. They were happy being like ex-official members but just guiding us because they'd been here longer. So when we finally got recognized, I was a senior advisor and Jeff was one of the co-chairs and we sort of just became this network of men on this campus that just wanted to talk about issues that impacted or afflicted us or just talk about uplifting things that were happening in the community, talk about music, eat some good food.   It really was his brotherhood that got developed. It's funny because initially, the way I became the Brother To Brother Committee is it started out as a Black and Brown Coalition, which sounded militant for some people, which we were cool with. But we said, "You know what? If indeed, we want to open this up, there's an opportunity," and we realized, You know what? There were folks on campus who weren't Black or Brown that were extreme allies, that were on the front lines for all these conversations and so we shouldn't exclude them like that. They're our brothers in arms. To be honest, there were women on campus who were willing to pick up arms, so to speak, and stand on those front lines and protest and argue with us in the same way. So there was this sort of overarching brotherhood, sisterhood, familial aspect of it.   But it all started with this group of brothers. So that was kind of that. What was crazy is, in the very first year as a recognized student organization, we have this picture that I love of ... there were five of us and we held seven awards from the SGA award ceremony, three for the organization and four for individual members of the organization. I was like, "This has to be a record for a first-year organization." It felt great to sort of have to prove why we belonged and then show like with our work that we were here just to make the campus a community, like a true community, which is wild.   Honestly, I remember the first time you told me about ... first of all I heard about the Men Involvement, the MIC. I was just like, "That sounds familiar. What happened to the BBC in it?" I think Rob Jones was just like, "Oh yeah. It kind of became this other group." I remember meeting you and Marcellis and some other brothers and I was like, "I couldn't have hoped for anything better." Part of it, it makes you sad. You're like, "Wow, they have some of the same conversations we had almost a decade ago." You wonder if that's sort of just the nature of being on a campus, having new students and you're always onboarding new people. But to see that there were people here who were dedicated and you know what I mean? It makes me happy to like sit across from you and be like, "Oh man, this is me 10 years ago." Christian: I appreciate that. I really do. I think that's the reason why we ended up calling it MIC because they were people who didn't identify as being Black or Brown, but who had the same struggles that we have as males and that's why we're open to any male. Our meetings are open to anybody. There are a lot of people who want to help us, who feel like even if they don't agree with some of the things that we believe in, they want us to know that. I think that results into a great dialogue, great conversations and us doing things on campus to made the campus better, so yeah. Ché: So Black Man Rising was super controversial the first time we did it. Christian: Why? Ché: Because effectively, you had this group of ... and our first group that did Black Men Rising were Jeff Harris, 2012, who played basketball, Freddie Santana, who's Puerto Rican, from New York, my year, 2011. Mudiaga Ohimor, who my year as well. Mud was 250, 6' 8". He was a big dude. Jonathan St. Firmin who was another New York guy who we know. Jonathan is probably like 5' 9" and if he's taller than 5' 9" and he's listening, I'm sorry Jonathan, but about 5' 9" to me, probably like 150, like a smaller dude and then myself. So you had this interesting range of gentlemen. Some were quieter, some were bigger, into parties. Some were athletes, some weren't, but you had this sort of force of effectively militant looking men talking about the powers of a Black man on a predominantly White campus.   So people were like, "You know what? This may not be the best thing for us, where we come off as too aggressive." We were just like, "Us? Aggressive? We're going to do it anyway. We're going to do it anyway." So we did. There were people inside our group, there were people inside the administration who were kind of like, "You know, this could not go the right way." We said, "There's something to speaking your truth that's important. This is what we experience and maybe we have a dialogue around that afterwards." But we did it and we got a standing ovation and organizations around Worcester asked us to come off campus and perform it, because it was something that was unique at the time for this group that you may not always see together kind of speaking truth to power, if you will. So yeah man, it was something. Christian: I feel that, no, I definitely feel that. I remember first being introduced to it ... My first year as the MIC freshman and sophomore year it was, I'll say, very slow. Not a lot of people attended. But like myself personally, I didn't feel as if it was that important. I wasn't into this, who I am now, into this like Black man power, being a Black man, especially on this campus. I wasn't really into that. I was just trying to go through school, get my degree, all that stuff, whatever. But then I really talked to Marcellis and other people, they introduced me to that. Like the importance of being a Black man. Christian: I know even coming from New York, the only thing I had to worry about was the police, because there wasn't a lot of White people that I really had to worry about. I came from a really mixed culture, like everybody from every ... It's New York. You know what I'm saying? You see everybody. But just being on campus was a different vibe and I didn't get that notion until sophomore year. Towards the end of sophomore year, that's when I would ... actually, towards the end of sophomore year, second semester after we did Black Man Rising I saw the power that we had. I saw the audience that we had, the support that we had. It opened my eyes and it was just like, "Damn. We do got power." Ché: You do. Christian: When you talk about it being controversial now, it will make me do it even more. I think freshman year and sophomore year, beginning of sophomore year I was like, "Hey, it was controversial. Let me not ... " Ché: It takes time to, I think, part of the collegiate experience, particularly if you're a student of color or someone whose English wasn't their first language or something to that effect there's the natural onboarding, right? You're 18, 17, 19 years old trying to figure out what you're going to do for the rest of your life. Trying to make it to 8:30 classes when everyone knows they suck. Christian: Mine was actually pretty good. Ché: Well lucky you, I guess, but you have that experience and then it's how do you socialize? How do you meet people? How do you make friends? How do you figure out who you are? Who are you, right? Whose are you? How do you look? How do you dress? What do you comfortable in? There was a guy when I was at Holy Cross named Tom, everyone called him Pajama Pants Tom. Pajama Pants Tom literally wore pajama pants to everything. He worked at Kimball. He wore them to class. Pajama Pants Tom had a 4.0 and took six classes every semester from the time he was a first-year student. He audited classes because he just wanted to learn more. I think he got a Fulbright, went abroad, came back with long hair. Looked just like Jesus. It was amazing. Pajamas Pants Tom was one of the smartest people I ever met.   But if you looked at him and saw this kid walking into class in the winter in pajama pants and flip flops, you're like, "What's wrong with this person?" but he was comfortable with himself early on and so that didn't matter. So I think that some get there earlier but there's that dynamic of just like, "I'm just trying to get these A's and go on." But also real quick, I just have to shout out Shawn Johnson because I realized his last name was Johnson, as well as Matt Harper and Darien and Jose Paz and Jeremiah Gonzalez.   Darien Henry was actually our freshmen apprentice, our first year student who was part of the group. The reason why I had to shout them out the same way that Eric and Tyrone was, because when I say it was a brotherhood, like I meant that, right? Like Lance Williams, like there are people who I don't see all the time, but if ever something happened, if every one of them had a big thing, Tony Zelayandia, that's family. It really is. So from the time that we were 20, 21, 19 years old to now, I'm 30 it is intriguing to me to think I'm on campus and we started this thing here and now people are going to be class 2023 they're on campus and people are still joining this thing. Man, that's something. Christian: Yeah, we definitely got it. We got freshmen really into it. It's just the legacy that you have and you see it grow and grow and it's just amazing. I'm glad to be a part of that legacy. MIC... Brother to Brother... It's a brotherhood that's kind of... so I notice... so I read that your mother played a big part in you going to Holy Cross, right? Ché: Yeah. Man. Christian: I feel like the question is asked a lot, what made you go to Holy Cross? What made you stay at Holy Cross? Ché: That's a good question. When I was deciding where I wanted to go, being the first in my, I think, semi-extended family to go to college, my mom, who was like, "I have to do everything right with her firstborn," hit a point where she said, "You know. You need to go to Harvard." I was just like, "You're right. I should go to Harvard." So we looked at schools, mainly looked at Ivy league schools, but I was going to a Jesuit high school in Harlem, New York. Big shout out to Rice High School. Christian: Wait, what's the name of it? Ché: Rice High School. Christian: Right. I feel like I know people from there but it's not there anymore. Ché: Kemba Walker- Christian: Right. Okay. He's not there anymore. Ché: ... plays for the Boston Celtics went to Rice High School. But no, my high school is not there anymore, which is sad. It's sad. The bodega across street's still there. Christian: It's still there. Ché: Rice not there. But I was looking at a lot of Ivy league schools. My mom, wanted me to look at Morehouse because she thought there was something special about being, again, around other men who look like me and maybe had similar struggles or similar situations. Actually, a brother who was at Rice High School said, "You know what I think what would be a great institution for him? College of the Holy Cross." My mom looked into it, saw similarities to my high school. Thankfully, it wasn't an all boys school, all men's college. I did that for four years in high school, but she said, "I think this would be a great space for you. It's not too big. Great academics." At that time I felt that I was an athlete, so she was like, "Maybe you can do something around sports." I did not. I did not while I was here. Christian: We're going to talk about that too. Ché: No. But after talking about it, it actually was my second choice. After all the looking at colleges, I thought I wanted to go to Columbia. For me, I was like, "That's where I'm going, it's 20 blocks from where I grew up. One of my best friends in the world was going there." It was perfect. My mom said, "You need to leave New York." It actually is one of the best decisions she's ever sort of made for me. At the time I was angry, but her thing was so much of my family is in New York and stayed in New York and I needed to see something else. I had to see another part of the world. Oddly enough, it was only four hours away, but I said, "Okay. We'll see Holy Cross. Then if I don't like it, I guess I'll transfer." During my first semester here, I actually was uncomfortable.   I just it was too far and all my friends were back in New York and I was trying to acclimate to the new environment and Worcester wasn't New York City. I remember calling her and saying, "Ma, I need to go back home. I got to transfer to Columbia." She said, "Nope." She said, "Nope. I'm not helping you with any of the tuition, so you do that if you want to." Christian: You're paying for it. Ché: Right and I was just like, "Nope. I'm broke." I think for her it was, "You know what? You got to see this through and at the end of the day, if you don't like it, come back to New York." I find it to be intriguing that now it's been 13 years since I first got to Worcester and I still live here. Now I'm one of the biggest Cheerleaders in the city. But that's because of my mom kind of making me get here and honestly because of the campus, over time, making me fall in love with it. There was a person here before Rob named Boyd Servio-Mariano, Dr. Boyd Servio-Mariano. He's a doctor now, so I got to say that. Doc, which is what I call him, he spotted me as a first year student. There was a competition, a dance contest, during ALANA Student Weekend. Oh yeah, I used to boogie. I used to get down. So I got up on stage and won this dance contest. Christian: You won. Ché: Yeah. Yes I did. Christian: What was the competition? Ché: It was just they played music and you've got the freestyle to it and they played like an old Chris Brown song. It was Run It or something. I won and that was Friday night. Then Saturday night they did a trivia contest for Explore Asia. There was a group called Asia, which was for Asian students or Asian-American students. Christian: It's still here. Ché: So they had an Asian trivia contest and I went up against a kid, Chris Bondoc who actually went to my first high school before I transferred high schools. He's an Asian-American student. We had a trivia contest and I won. Point for me, take that Chris, all these years later. But Doc grabbed me and was just kind of like, "If you come here, you got to come find me." I was like, "All right, older guy. That's strange." Then I do come to campus, I realized because he went to my high school and at the time again, I was a young person with a lot of energy and didn't know all the best places to put it, so I was just running around and going crazy.   He grabbed me up and said, "Hey, you should come to this multicultural peer education group." I was just like, "No, I'm not going to do that. I'm not. I'm sorry." Then the MPEs, received tickets to the Boston Celtics game in Worcester. I said, "Oh, I need tickets to this game." He goes, "Only way to get tickets is if you come to a few meetings." I was just like, "Ah. You got me." Christian: He got you. Ché: So I came to the meetings and I loved it and I loved what they were talking about and I was all for it. then I went to the Celtics game and that was it. I'd inadvertently found myself a mentor. We literally had a conversation this past weekend. That's my guy. But he's another person who worked in the Office of Multicultural Education and picked me up and helped mold me into a productive person. That's what helped keep me at Holy Cross that he introduced me to guys like Tyrone Billingsly and Eric Collazo and other brothers on campus that were doing great things. He kind of forced me into, or some organizations that led to me getting on the BSU board and knowing the infrastructure to help found the Brother To Brother Committee.   He got me involved off campus and working with local junior high schools and high schools and talking to young people off campus and understanding what nonprofits role in developing a city were or an interfacing with a college. He kept me on the right kept me in shape when I stepped out of line, like a big brother would. So really, I think that he's a big part of that. I had somebody to look out for me because honestly, we all have on campus who knows kind of what happens, right? Like do I just spiral out and kind of not go on to do some things I've done. I don't know. So I think that's what kept me. My mom got me here, to be honest and then I had a mentor, I had a big brother who made sure I finished out strong. Christian: You kind of answered my next question. Who you we went to when anything went well or went wrong. Ché: I had some upperclassmen, like I said, Tyrone. I got Lawrence Dickson who play basketball. He's a cool dude. I saw him at the game the other night. Eric Collazo who was my RA my first year, rocky start, but then I was dancing at his wedding. When I say the brotherhood is strong, I mean that. So I think those are the people I turn to. And then there are people younger than me too, right? Like Jeff who wants a high school with me was a guy I roomed with my junior year when he was a sophomore. We had a quad. My first year roommate was my roommate every single year. That's still one of my best friends. If anyone could ever marry him, which, tough order, I'll be his best man. That's that.   Big shout out to Stefan. But I feel like I had this network also and I have to give her a huge shout out. Brianna Turner, who was my year at Holy cross. Licensed Social Worker, dynamic woman. They used to call us the velvet glove and the iron fist because Bri could make something out of nothing. She was just dynamic and got things done. We were the two co-chairs or the leads, I guess, because NPS didn't have co-chairs. So she was very task-oriented, goal-oriented, task master, bullet point list and I was the velvet glove. Like I'm going to make the sound beautiful and like sell it to the masses. It worked well because we both knew our strengths.   She was another person who those days where I was like, "I don't feel like doing this," would pick me up by my collar and be like, "Nah, come on. We got stuff to do. Let's get after it. So I learned a lot about project management as a student here because of Bri. I don't think Bri would even consider that or acknowledge that or call it project management. But she was someone who got me to understand, task management. I took that with sort of the personality that I had and I'm like, that's what helped me become a project manager for the City. Christian: That's fire. So I will have to say my person is Rob Jones. Shout out to Rob Jones. Ché: Big shout out to Rob Jones. Christian: He put me into MIC, put me on to a MIC and kind of like forced me into MIC, in a way. Ché: I see a trend. That was the trend. Christian: I think we all need those people to go to even just to talk to. I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but did you ever feel uncomfortable because of how you looked, or who you ... Christian: ... feel uncomfortable because of how you looked or who you were on campus? Ché: Yeah, I- Christian: Or even, so sorry to cut you off, have you ever felt the impostor syndrome? Ché: Oh, I still feel imposter syndrome now. Yeah. To answer the first part, your question, I am a lot of things. There are a lot of words to describe me, right. But for me, I'm an African American male from New York City, right. I love hip hop and rap music. I love ridiculous movies. I love sports. Some of that is considered stereotypical, right. Expected of me as a six foot three male who looks like me. And I think I struggled with that at first when I got to campus, right. I started listening to a lot more Bruce Springsteen, and Def Leppard, and Poison, and Mötley Crüe, and country music, which I never listened to growing up, but I was like all right, Dixie Chicks is going to be it because I want it to fit in to what a Holy Cross student was, right. I stopped wearing the stuff that I was wearing and started switching up and going, all right. I could wear some khakis and boat shoes. Christian: Right what you're wearing now. Ché: Yeah, but I wear this for work. Don't come at me like that, all right.   Don't do me like that. I have to go in a closet, all right. But honestly, right, I was just like this is what's expected of a Holy Cross student. And I went through that for a year of just why am I wearing these cardigans all the time? Honestly, right. Because that I thought that was ... And then it took me a minute to get comfortable in myself to be like you know what? If you didn't hear the new Gucci Mane album, that's your fault. You're missing out, right. I'm not the one ruined and things. And yeah, I mean I dress like this for work, but in all seriousness, I think that getting back into whatever I felt was appropriate for me and whatever culture I represented, it took a minute, but I got there. And I think that as far as imposter syndrome, I think that was part of it, right. I was trying to acclimate and blend in because I wanted to feel like I was a part of something, not realizing I was already a part of something.   And even now I find myself in some rooms, or on some boards, or on some committees and I walk in and I'm just like I can't believe I'm here. And I think that almost everyone feels. I know famous, well-paid, well-off people that I've got a chance to meet who will confide that they feel like they don't belong in some of the rooms they get, or they feel like they shouldn't have won the awards compared to some of their peers. And I think that's just natural. You know what I mean? I think when you do something extraordinary, quite often you don't expect to do something extraordinary. It happens and you fall into it, and you're like oh my God, here's this thing. And a lot of that is just a team around you. I have a team around me of friends, and coworkers, and confidence, mentors and mentees that will lift me up when I need it. And like, "You did some dope, you did a TED talk. That's great. Enjoy that."   And the ones that will deflate my ego sometimes. They're just like, "You're acting out. Relax. All right, let's not forget the way you dress for work," like you did to me. So I think that's all important to your makeup. A lot of people will say look at your five closest friends and that'll tell you who you are. And I think that that's a really simplistic way to look at it, but the people that you surround yourself with, the people that you spend most of your voluntary time with, that tells you a lot about who you are and who you can be. They're the ones that define some of your limitations, however you may see them, because they're going to limit you or they're going to push you to whatever's next. And so I'm lucky to have some people that I consider good friends or just kind of friends that I can call on and say, "Here's this crazy opportunity." They'll be like, "Go get it. Go after it. And if you don't get it, at least now you know how to do this thing that can maybe get the next opportunity to you." Christian: Told you I was going to get back to that athletic dream that you had, because honestly, all jokes aside, I had the same goal. I was trying to walk on to the baseball team. It didn't work out. I think that was probably the toughest thing I ever had to face all my life. I mean I went from a real high to a real low, and it was just like I was doing things that I probably would've never done before. I felt like I was trying to find myself again because before that happened I was a baseball player. After that, I didn't know who I was or what I was. I was really trying to find myself. I feel like you probably went through the same thing. Ché: Similar. I think that that I was always a nerd first. You know what I mean? I was always an academic, but I love sports and I was okay at them, and so it's funny, I got here. That did not work out, obviously, walking on or anything. And then played club basketball, intramurals. We won intramurals four years, twice in the A league, twice in the B league, a big shot, but we lost the championship. Anthony DiMichele, who's a football player, they beat us. And if I don't mention it, he was going to mention it, or make a comment or something when they posted it, so I just got to put it out there. But I never stopped playing. The school is getting a new field house, right. And that's fine. But back before they destroyed the last field house, my name was on the back board up until two years ago, right. Because we did a dunk contest and I dunked and put my name up with a sticker. That is like the best part of any legacy I got sports-wise on campus, and that was cool. That was cool that it still stayed there. But I think, back to your point, at some point you have to rebrand, just figure out what your thing is, right. It's like if you're a person that threw amazing parties in college, and then you look back and you're like wow, I'm 53 and I still throw these crazy house parties. Not saying that's not fine. If that's your thing, cool. Shout out to all my 53-year-olds throwing parties. But that just wouldn't be what I want to be known for, right. I'd hope that I had accomplished something in my life. And I think that a big part of the growth of your experience through your time on a campus is understanding that you can be dynamic. You don't have to be ... In high school you kind of fall into well, I am an athlete. I'm a great student. I'm the captain of the chess team. You have that thing that defines you. Ché: And I feel like as you grow, you want to be a utility person, you want to be dynamic. You want people to go, "Oh yeah, Christian. I know him from this thing," in one room and then another room go, "Oh right, but he's also really great at this thing." I think that you can be many things to many people, and that's something that it took me a while to learn, but once I did, that was it. I want it to be the Renaissance of all Renaissance. Christian: So I got a lot more questions. So all right, after your Holy Cross years. Oh wait, so a question. What are the untold stories of Holy Cross from your end? Ché: The untold stories of Holy Cross. Christian: Yeah, spilling the beans out here. Ché: There's a trillion untold stories of Holy Cross. Christian: We just need one. Ché: All right. One thing that happened on campus one year was we were talking about the experiences that students of color have on predominant white institutions campus. And we thought about some of the HBCUs and how they have yard shows, right. Stomp shows and such. And so we threw one. So when I was a senior, we figured out ways to finagle some money. Christian: On campus? Ché: On campus. And some of the administrators had contacts because they're a part of historically black Greek letter organizations. And we rented a stage. And right in the Kimball Quad, right down the stairs, the same way they do battle of the bands, we took that stage, we brought out four step teams. We had the Rhythm Nation Steppers also perform. We had people cooking out, right. They were cooking burgers, catfish, fried fish, like they did back down South. People were doing sides and soul food. We have food from the local places. Addie. Do you know Addie? Addie wasn't around at the time, this place called Sweet Teas, but yeah, same kind of feel, right. We even got some food from up at Home Style, right. And we got a microphone, and we had a DJ, and the DJ was playing hip hop, urban music the whole time. And then when there was time for show time, they did their step show, and we had a ball. And then we throw after party afterwards up at Hogan.   And for me it was amazing because for that six-hour period we got to feel like the campus was ours, right. And I think that that, for me, was a beautiful thing because the students came from BC, and from BU, and Becker, and Clark. I mean it was packed, not just Holy Cross students, because other people wanted to see what it'd be like if they also, at their traditionally none necessarily super diverse campus, can come and see just what a mass of us would look like, and what a party for all of us looked like. And it was something. And so I'd say that it was something I wish would've continued after we were gone because I think it is a good reminder of what can happen.   Similar to when Holy Cross played Howard, and Howard brought the band, and the dancers, and everyone up. And then four of us ended up going down to Howard the next weekend to visit. Class one Friday wasn't important that weekend. But we went down to Howard and we got to go to their homecoming, and there were so much love from Howard. They brought us on the field. We got to do the swag surf with everybody, because it was just oh, look at these three students of color who are extending themselves beyond Worcester to come down here to this area. And so that love was something that literally inspired us to bring it back and have this yard show step show. So there's some stuff that doesn't make it through kind of the storytelling pass down components of what we're doing, but is something that one of the things I hang my hat on this campus. Christian: You definitely should. Ché: I was excited. Christian: But transitioning into after college. So MCPHS. Got it. Boom. University. Right. Assistant director of engagement or student affairs? Ché: Student activities, student engagement. Christian: Okay. And initially wanted to get into law and government, but ended up there. Ché: At a college. Christian: Right. If you want to talk about that, you can. Ché: Yeah. Christian: Yeah, go ahead. Ché: Yeah. So I was prelaw, poli-sci. I got to my senior year and realized I don't think I want to be a lawyer anymore. And after my mom stopped crying, she was like, "What are you going to do?" Christian: I mean hold on. Not that there aren't any lawyers coming out of Holy Cross. Did she expect that? Ché: Oh yeah. No, for her, that was it. Christian: Interesting. Ché: My son, the lawyer was how a lot of conversations started. That was a thing. Christian: So Thanksgiving was- Ché: It was awkward. It was awkward, yeah. I only got one serving of mac and cheese, so you know how that goes. But she effectively was just like, "What are you going to do?" And I said, "For the first time in my life, I really don't know, but I do know I'm not moving home. I'm going to figure it out." And I start applying to jobs and looking for opportunities. And one of the former VPs here was Jackie Peterson, who's amazing. She recommended that I apply for the position at MCPHS. And I was staying on campus. I was working at [OME 00:49:20] for the summer, and they paid me a small stipend and then I got to live on campus, so I got a place to stay. And I interviewed for this position that was totally above my punching weight. You know what I mean? I was like I'm not going to get this. And Dean Peterson sends a recommendation and it got me the interview.   And again to that earlier point, right, sometimes you just need that foot in the door to make it happen, and I must've crushed the interview because they pulled me in and said, "Hey, we think you'd be great for this position." Right. First person ever in this position, I get to build and develop a program based on some other things they've been doing, and I said, "Let's do it." And I spent two years there working with students, working for students, engaging with people. The highlight of my time there is I got inducted into Phi Lambda Sigma, which is a pharmacy fraternity, not a pharmacist, but in this pharmacy frat, so shout out to all my brothers and sisters from Phi. Christian: I tried to hold it in. Ché: No, that's cool. That's cool. I got a pin and everything. It's official. But you know what? While there I had a supervisor who was a Dean of students, effectively the de facto leader of campus, named Shuli Xi, and he was so into the idea of me being a statesman. He would always say that to me. Don't be a politician, be a statesman. You want to be a person of and for the people and with the people, not just someone looking to get elected. And because of that, he brought me into his government affairs meeting. He made sure that when there was a consortium of the colleges that, I guess, I served on the student activities one, but also went to some of the student affairs ones in general with people who were in positions way above my own.   When I told him I wanted to join a committee at the chamber of commerce, he said, "Fine, and we'll give you the time off you need when you got to go to those meetings." When I told them I want it to be a Rotarian, and at the time I was one of the youngest Rotarians in the city, part of the Worcester Rotary Club, he said, "Great, we'd love to have MCPHS represented there." And so he supported sort of the dynamism of me going I don't know what I want to do, but I want to do everything and see what's going on. And he was cool with that. Even down to when I went and told him I was leaving to go work for the city, for the government, he wasn't like, "Oh my God," he was just like, "I'm sorry to lose you. But yeah, that's the next step of your life." He looked out for me as a person, which I appreciated so much. And my time there was great. I know a lot of pharmacists now and optometrists. Getting my glasses is super easy. If ever I need acupuncture, I get a discount.   That's sweet. But it was a great step in transitioning from 22 to 24 because I learned how to be in charge of something, right. Student activities was mine. The budget, I managed the Student Government Association, I developed a campus activities board and managed them. And so I learned project management, I learned people management. It was great, and it was a perfect transferable thing for kind of the next step in my career. So it was a kind of unique path. But again, it goes back to there's no right way to do anything. You kind of figure it out as you go. Christian: So I wanted to ask you what do you think has a big impact on a community? Let's say for yourself as an individual working at a desk, law and government. That's my view. Law and government. Or working with the community as you do now? Ché: So the answer I'm going to give you is a cop out answer, I'm going to let you know that, but there's a reason why. And so it is a reason why. Neither one of them, quite honestly, is more important than the other one. I think that they both, and as cliché as it sounds, are both equal for different reasons, right. I think that if you're a person that is solely behind a desk, and let's say you solely work on legal matters, on policy, on development of strategies, that is how you input change. That's how you impact things to a point that they're standardized, right. I can be a great leader and I can say, "You know what? As long as I'm in office, this is going to be the thing," but as soon as I'm out of office, if someone else just comes in and goes, "I don't believe in that," that's done. There's no policy there. There's nothing kind of on paper. There's no legal ramification of it. It only impacts a very small population or people at a certain time.   I think that when it comes to community development, community impact, you want something that has longevity, right. Every parent wants for their kid to not have to struggle the same way they did. I think that that should work as far as generations of constituents and community. I don't want the next you, or me, or whoever to have to fight the same fights I fought. Then what did I do for that time I was around? But I think that you want to be authentic to the place you are, and that there's a component that has to come from the community, right. Holy Cross' whole mission ... I just always say men and women for others. And then it was a shift to men, and women for and with others. And that shift is important, it's imperative, right. It's not about doing things for people, it's about doing things with people, bringing them along, having a conversation, knowing when it's time to lead and when it's time to follow.   And so I think that you got to work with the community to see what the community wants, right. Because you could have a great idea and the community could be like, "We don't care about this right now," right. "We have this other more dire thing." And so you have to know what the thing is before you can implement policy, or structure, or an infrastructure around it. But if you just have people that are, let's say, marching in the street, and fighting the man, and having ideas, but no-one flipped that switch to implement policy, well then you just have angry people, and another population of angry people who are mad that this population's angry, and they are just butting heads and not getting anything. If you just have people sitting in a room being bureaucrats, then nothing actually permeates to the community because you have no idea what the community wants. You're just doing whatever you saw online, or on TV and you think you're doing the best thing, but the two of you come together, that's how change actually happens. That's how real, positive, sustainable change happens.   So I'm a person that hates sitting behind my desk, to be honest. I'm not a fan of it. I'm a person that wants to be around people. And you have those days where you're like I've had nine meetings in a row. I haven't eaten. I've been just taking information in. But if I don't have time to go sit down and write that stuff up, and write those notes, and get it out to other departments to make things happen, or follow up with community partners because I didn't really understand something they said, but I want to do more with it, I'm missing the boat. So I know I just kind of said both, and that's not the answer you want, but I do think that both are equally important. Christian: Yeah, I kind of expect that coming from you. Ché: I mean, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Christian: Yeah. And you did mention the mission statement. Holy Cross mission statement. I feel like you have that before you even got to Holy Cross. Is that true? Ché: Oh yeah. That's the way I was raised. My mom said two things to me every day from the time that I was probably 3 or 4 going off to school, to the time that I was 18. My mother always said, "Hey, listen. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated," which is just basic. But to this day, she still, "Treat everyone the way you want to be treated, and be a leader, not a follower." To the point that when I was 10, she'd say, "Be a leader," and I'd say, "Not a follower. Leave me alone," but I think that for her there was something about making my own decision, and being able to decipher what's right from what's wrong.   And also whether I'm walking into any building, whether it's the person that's the concierge, or the person picking up trash, or the maintenance person, or the CEO of a company, you treat everybody with respect, and you show love to everyone. And I take that even beyond that, right. Whether I'm walking in City Hall and I'm talking to the mayor, or the grounds crew, or a person who might be homeless in front of City Hall, I say, "What's up?" I show love. I don't always have things to help, but I'm always going to give you respect as a human being.   And I think that that's something my mother instilled in me and then it moved on through all my schooling, and the Holy Cross sort of just drove it home a bit. But that's just the way that I was raised. Christian: So you got this mission statement Holy Cross, but then you got your own from back home: be a leader, not a follower. And so was the other one? Ché: Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. Christian: Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. I kind of struggle on that. There was one where treat everyone the way you think they should be treated. Ché: Yep. That one, I think, gets problematic. Christian: Yeah. Ché: I think no one wants me treated poorly, right? Christian: Right. Ché: So the idea is that you reciprocate that. I think treat everyone the way you think they should be treated gets into some real interesting things with some of your own biases or implicit biases or unrecognized issues you may have with some things. I think it's well-intended, but I think that it can lead to some interesting situations. Christian: And the one I never agreed with was treat everybody the same. Ché: Nope, same. I think though, whenever you talk about things like DEI, right, diversity, equity, inclusion, there's a reason that it's equity and not equality, right? There's an image people always paint of if you have three kids looking over a fence and they're different heights and you give them the same size box, that's equality. Everyone has the same stuff. That doesn't help all the kids, right? You want equity. You want the really short kid to have a taller box because then they can all see the game. And I think that in certain pockets of our communities, you're starting to see that. It needs to permeate more, but that equity is important. And that doesn't mean that you give everyone a dollar, right? The millionaire doesn't necessarily need that dollar, but that person that's struggling maybe needs $5 or $10 to make it out. And that's obviously me oversimplifying it, but I think that that's part of that being someone for and with others, you know what I mean? Christian: Yeah. Ché: It's the width to understand what the need is, and then it's the for that if you have more, you got to help out. And I don't mean to get all socialist here. That's not what I'm trying to do, but I'm being honest. Christian: Yeah, for real, bro. Ché: You know what I mean? You have to be realistic and then understanding what the needs are of people, if we're going to truly help and benefit people. Christian: Yeah. So I guess with the combination, if you have a combination with what your mother taught you and what Holy Cross taught you, have you ever came up with a mission statement that drives you to do the work you do now? Ché: The honest truth is that I have a statement that that drives me. It has a swear in it. You can figure out which word that is, that that is the one. I have two things that matter to me that drive everything I do. The first is I want to impact my community. And so that's whatever I have, right: time, talent, treasure, anything. I want to make sure that when all is said and done, whenever my last moment is here, that people said he cared and he did good by us, whatever that community can mean. And that can be my hyperlocal community, that can be my global community, whatever the case is.   The other is do cool stuff. And I think that for me, there's something special about doing projects that people think are interesting and fun. Not that there aren't things that are just that ... like making the microchip is important, and for some people that's super interesting. For the other people it's all right, whatever. But for me, I want to do stuff that people are like, "Aw man, that was awesome. That was an experience. That was a moment." Because creating moments is difficult in life and you hope to have and share a bunch with other people. So if I can combine the two and I can do things that are going to impact and change my community for the better and make sure that stuff is cool, that's what both allows me to rest but also keeps me up at night. You know what I mean? Christian: Yeah, I got you. Ché: Like thinking of how to do it, but then sleeping happy when I make it happen. Christian: Yeah, definitely feel that. What was your favorite project so far? Ché: One of them's a selfish answer, and one's not. I'm going to give you two quick ones. This year as part of the public art project POW! WOW! that I helped bring to Worcester, we were able to paint murals and do workshops and activations with youth in a public housing area of the city of Worcester. And we also painted on the abutting schools and did workshops in the abutting schools to this area. And so we got to work with a population that doesn't necessarily see academic development the same way, that doesn't feel it the same way, that may not even know it's happening, with kids that quite often feel overlooked. And I know, because I was one of those kids growing up.   And so to go over there and have these young people feel a new appreciation for the arts and feel like celebrities are coming around their neighborhood to paint, and getting tutorials from people that have worked with Dis

Richard and Chris talk with David Nigli about the return of FAO Schwarz and its role as an iconic American brand. From its founding in 1862 to today, FAO has a special place in the hearts of toy lovers worldwide. What makes that success? And while "experiential retail" may be the new buzzword, it's been the essence of FAO for 157 years. Listen in as Chris, Richard and David talk about this beloved toy institution. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-playground-podcast/support

If you were only paying attention to the headlines, you’d be forgiven if you thought that the future of brick and mortar retail is a bleak one. But brick and mortar isn’t dead - far from it. In fact, with digital-first players like Amazon getting in the game, pop-ups popping up left and right, and 8-figure investments in places like The Beverly Center in Los Angeles and Hudson Yards in New York, one could argue that we’re in a bit of a retail resurgence. Still, retail strategy remains a sticking point for most brands. To help us uncover the secrets of brick and mortar success, we talk to Dylan Lauren, the CEO & Founder of Dylan’s Candy Bar. Why Dylan? Because Dylan’s Candy Bar launched in 2001, and has thrived during this entire period of disruption and change. Dylan’s Candy Bar is the largest confectionery emporium in the world with over 20 locations worldwide, including a new location in Hawaii. Their flagship NYC store is a cross between FAO Schwarz, Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, and Disneyland. Success for Dylan’s lies in constantly creating fresh, memorable experiences that keep people coming back for more. We also learn why Dylan conceives of the brand as a fusion of art, fashion, and lifestyle, plus the top lesson learned from her father, the iconic fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Links Dylan's Candy Bar Connect with Dylan on LinkedIn Join our Exclusive Facebook Group! What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? Join our invite-only, private Facebook group just for Brand Builder Community members, where you can connect with fellow entrepreneurs and founders, crowdsource ideas, share best practices (or lessons learned), and get your most important questions answered. Join now! Facebook.com/groups/brandbuilderpod Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

In this episode of The Toy Report, Toy Book Senior Editor James Zahn ("The Rock Father") serves an update on the latest happenings in toys, games, and family entertainment. Among the big stories this week, Schleich makes a big push at retail in the U.S. this holiday season with FAO Schwarz, Toys "R" Us Adventure, and more; Distroller USA debuts Cheekie Fairies; Barbie wraps the "Be Anything Tour"; L.O.L. Surprise Winter Disco gets a movie; and the Pop Insider looks at the booming collectibles market based on vehicles from TV and film. But that's not all! Get these stories and more right now! Be sure to subscribe to the Adventure Media and Events Podcast Network on your favorite service for more great shows and episodes! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adventuremedia/message

Cat and Pat discuss FAO Schwarz hips, dying, being weak, gurney vibes, and so much more!----SUPPORT SEEK TREATMENT ON PATREON! For $5/month, you will receive 2 monthly bonus eps, 3-part weekly eps dropped at once (ad free), and merch discounts:https://www.patreon.com/seektreatmentBUY SEEK TREATMENT MERCH:https://www.teepublic.com/stores/seek-treatmentFOLLOW CAT:https://twitter.com/catcohenhttps://www.instagram.com/catccohenFOLLOW PAT:https://twitter.com/poreganhttps://www.instagram.com/patreegsSEEK TREATMENT IS A FOREVER DOG PODCASThttps://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/seek-treatment

Jason Hackenwerth is an adventurous abstract sculptor who’s medium is thousands of latex balloons. His enormous sculptural inventions can fill a towering museum atrium, or mall. His sculptures are enormous, and the vivid pictures on his website are only an echo of the overwhelming power of experiencing them up close. Jason Hackenwerth teaches at St. Pete’s Eckerd College and works all over the world. To his knowledge, he’s the only artist right now doing serious, curated art with balloons. He talks about the challenges of validating a new kind of art when you don’t have a community of artists working in that style. In this conversation with Barbara St. Clair, Jason shares the moving and “terrifying” story of his early experiments, and how his first big installation went so badly wrong. And how he turned that failure into a new way of working that got him a year-long gig building a sculpture a day on a stage inside FAO Schwarz, and traveling the world creating giant balloon sculptures. Jason explains his passion for the ephemeral nature of his artistic practice - and his ongoing artistic quest to push this unique medium constantly further. And the challenges of creating artwork that curators expect to look like a birthday party. Find out more about Jason Hackenwerth’s work at http://www.jasonhackenwerth.com/. Time-lapse footage of the installation of Pisces at the National Museum of Scotland - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtqPxtSMK9E. An interview with Jason during the unveiling of Corona at the Abu Dhabi Science Festival - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHv9PMl-Ki8. The video he mentions of a year of impromptu sculptures created while people watched him at FAO Schwarz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg3aE1zytnI

Barbara Piette Knightsbridge Advisers Managing Principal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-piette-7681b010/ Barbara joined Knightsbridge after spending more than twenty years as a venture capitalist, holding partner positions with both Charles River Ventures and Schroder Ventures. At Knightsbridge, Barbara is actively involved in all aspects of portfolio management, including all investment due diligence and decision-making processes. In addition to Knightsbridge, Barbara works as an advisor with five emerging venture capital firms: Tera Ventures, focused on born-global digital startups; Hyperplane VC, focused on AI; the Material Impact Fund, focused on materials; _Underscore, focused on the cloud; and Will Ventures, focused on sports technology, as well as several early stage technology companies spanning industry sectors such as robotics, blockchain enterprise software, and cybersecurity.   As General Partner of Charles River Ventures from 1986 to 1992, Barbara was responsible for a successful portfolio of health care, technology, and consumer companies and served on the boards of several companies. From 1992 to 1999, she invested with a life sciences focus as a Partner of Schroder Ventures, co-founding the SV Life Sciences funds and serving on the boards of eight companies. From 2000 to 2006, she was President of Blackwood Capital, investing in and advising private and public companies.   Barbara received an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School and holds a BS summa cum laude from Boston College where she graduated first in her class. She serves as an Overseer of Boston Children’s Hospital and as a Board member of the Concussion Legacy Foundation. She serves on the Board of the Alliance for Advancement and Diversity in the Sciences, is a member of the Massachusetts Women's Forum, and previously served on the boards of the Koch Center for Cancer Research at MIT and the Harvard Business School Association of Boston.  She has been an annual judge for the HBS New Ventures Competition for over twenty years. In this episode, we discuss: Serving on 16 corporate boards and 2 non-profit boards, including the time she served on the FAO Schwarz board and what she sat next to Why she feels diversity is important Being the only woman on many boards and the question she was asked most often from male board members Some overwhelming stats on what women on boards do for company culture and profit Why a diverse culture should be created on day one Why it’s easier than ever to start a company Why keeping the conversation going is vital and how to create more awareness   What the problem in placing women on boards comes down to and how to change that Ways to get involved right now and why communication and mentorship is key

FAO Schwarz, the iconic 5th Avenue toy store closed its doors in 2015.  But a new 20,000-square-foot version has opened at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Join James Cook, Taylor Coyne and Gar Herring as they get a first look inside.  After that, they take in the Dyson Demo Store, Nike's House of Innovation and Dekalb Market Hall in Brooklyn. To learn more about North America's many other prime urban corridors like Fifth Avenue, download the CityRetail report. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android  Listen: WhereWeBuy.show  Alexa: Say "Enable the Where We Buy skill" Tweet: @JamesDCook Email: jamesd.cook@am.jll.com  Instagram: @jamcoo Leave a message on the Where We Buy hotline. We may use it on an upcoming show. Call (602) 633-4061  Read more retail research here. James Cook is the director of retail research in the Americas for JLL.  Taylor Coyne is a research manager for JLL. Gar Herring is SVP, Retail Development for JLL. Theme music is Run in the Night by The Good Lawdz, under Creative Commons license.

Giacobone: FAO Schwarz comes back by Uptown Radio

Tots Turnt: It’s that time of year, where we take some time out and open up our hearts and wallets to get some less fortunate children TURNT THE FUCK UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS! New York City: Jim travelled to New York City to take in the magic of the holiday season! Jeff’s Dick: Jeff stopped smoking weed so he goes by the name of Mr. Rager with his hard dick that deserves a beaten. RACIST!, ASIAN!, OFF WHITE!, BODIED!, PATREON!, JIM AND THEM OFF ROAD!, BEYONCE!, ED SHEERAN!, FASHION!, DOUBLE STANDARDS!, PATRIARCHY!, FEMINISM!, PRIVILEGE!, TOTS TURNT!, DONATIONS!, FAO SCHWARZ!, ROCKING HORSES!, OLD STYLE TOYS!, BLOCKS!, LEGOS!, TURN TRICKS!, SHAKE IT UP!, TRAIN!, THE HAPPINESS!, DONATION!, RAFFLE!, EXTRA ENTRIES!, HOUSE FIRE!, CHESTNUTS ROASTING!, BOOGIE WOOGIE SANTA CLAUS!, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!, ANDY WILLIAMS!, YOUNG GIRL!, 19!, TEENS!, DATE!, TOO YOUNG!?, FRANK SINATRA!, CROONERS!, GANTZ!, BONER!, POWERS!, JEFF’S DICK!, RED DEAD 2!, DRAG RACE!, KARAOKE!, DIDA RITZ!, NAT KING COLE!, NATALIE COLE!, THIS WILL BE!, TIK TOK!, iLOVEFRIDAY!, TRACER!, HIT OR MISS!, SURVIVOR!, NEW YORK CITY!, DAILY SHOW!, JON STEWART!, THAT FEELING!, MOVIE!, TV SHOWS!, PIECES OF SHIT!, RUDE!, BUMS!, CRAZY!, MIDTOWN!, HILTON!, WAY OF LIFE!, LONDON NYC!, ROCKEFELLER CENTER!, CHRISTMAS TREE!, SNL!, NBC!, MAGNOLIA BAKERY!, CRAZY BUM!, SCREAMING!, NEW YORK MOMENT!, FLIPS!, GRIFT!, DONATIONS!, HOME ALONE 2!, JOE’S PIZZA!, ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE!, ELLA HUNT!, LOST BAG!, MAGICAL!, TIMES SQUARE!, MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL!, CARNEGIE DELI!, BROOKLYN DINER!, JEWISH MUSTARD!, REUBEN!, KUGEL!, JERK OFF!, HARD DICK!, NO WEED!, HORNY!, BEAT MY MEAT!, SOHO!, SOUTH OF HOUSTON!, SUBWAY!, VINE!, RYAN GOSLING!, CEREAL!, MUSICAL!, GLEE!, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!, SONGS!, SHOW TUNES!, LETTERBOXD!, 2 AND A HALF!, 3 AND A HALF!, NATALIE PORTMAN!, BLACK SWAN!, HESHER!, GARDEN STATE!, MEME!, NICOLE KIDMAN!, BROADWAY! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD JIM AND THEM #565 PART 1 RIGHT HERE!

Today is Thursday, December 6, and we’re looking at FAO Schwarz vs. Geoffrey’s Toybox.

Heidi and Arianne talk about the upcoming Pokemon Movie Detective Pikachu, the hiring of private firefighters to protect mansions, and the reopening of the famed toy store FAO Schwarz.As always, if you enjoyed the show, follow us and subscribe to the show: you can find us on iTunes or on any app that carries podcasts as well as on YouTube. Please remember to subscribe and give us a nice review. That way you’ll always be among the first to get the latest GSMC Social Media News Podcasts.We would like to thank our Sponsor: GSMC Podcast NetworkAdvertise with US: http://www.gsmcpodcast.com/advertise-with-us.htmlWebsite: http://www.gsmcpodcast.com/social-media-podcast.htmlITunes Feed : https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gsmc-social-media-news-podcast/id1120883019GSMC YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnNnGMp0Jaw&list=PLF8Qial15ufpPnxs1xqANLSJVL0LPcfkj"list=PLF8Qial15ufpPnxs1xqANLSJVL0LPcfkjTwitter: https://twitter.com/gsmc_smediaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/gsmcsocialmedianews/Disclaimer: The views expressed on the GSMC Book Review Podcast are for entertainment purposes only. Reproduction, copying, or redistribution of The GSMC Social Media Podcast without the express written consent of Golden State Media Concepts LLC is prohibited.

In this very first episode of How It’s Paid, Stacy tells Jonathan all about former-NBA player Gilbert Arenas’ money from his $111 million contract. The key expenditure we speculate about is a whopping $100,000 shopping spree at FAO Schwarz. Then, Jonathan gets to guess whether Stacy made it all up or whether it’s actually real. […] The post 001 – Gilbert Arenas – $100,000 at FAO Schwarz appeared first on How It's Paid.

Nike's HR Nightmare, Target Swimwear, Retail Apocalypse Welcome to another episode of Pop Fashion! This week, there's so much drama at Nike that they had to set up an HR hotline. Kim Jones is headed to Dior, Target is showing off Photoshop-free swimwear models, and FAO Schwarz may be coming to an airport near you. Retailers are definitely tracking your habits at the returns counter, and postal workers are drowning under your Amazon packages. And is America's retail apocalypse just getting started? Come hang out! Pop Fashion Links Website: www.popfashionpodcast.com Instagram: @popfashionpodcast Twitter: @JustPopFashion Lisa’s Links Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisatella Website: www.lisarowan.com Kaarin’s Links Twitter: www.twitter.com/truetostyle Website: www.truetostyle.com

Episode 5 focuses on the drive that each of us has to do something fulfilling, something that pushes you to evolve and change not only your life, but the lives of others, for the better. Neale Godfrey is a prime example of that drive! She's written 30 books, was one of the first (if not the first) female executives at Chase Bank, she's been guest on Oprah a few dozen times, and is the Chairman of The Children's Financial Network. Neale became a pioneer for women in finance in the 1980s, and opened the world's first children's bank at FAO Schwarz in 1988.  This bank became so popular, The late Princess Diana once brought her young sons, William & Harry, in to set up accounts!

In our 65th episode, we find a gorilla training camp deep in the woods lead by the great revolutionary Cesar. We see some damn dirty apes help clean up a dirty ape dam to restore Nordstroms, FAO Schwarz and their neon lights back to San Fransisco and Gary Oldman's image of progression. Then we see why you can't trust the apes who look like they survived a meth fire and koba turns the authority table on humans as we talk about Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Listen as we break down, brutally joke on, and parody the movie's plot and the characters, as well as give each of our scores out of 10. Go back and listen to our previous episodes in the Planet of the Apes Series, including the new release War for the Planet of the Apes (Ep. 63) and Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Ep. 64). Also be sure check out all our previous episodes including the new release Spider-Man: Homecoming (Ep. 62) and all the movies in Transformers (Ep. 57-61), Pirates of the Caribbean (Ep. 52-56), Fast and the Furious (Ep. 44-51), X-Men (Ep. 33-43), Star Wars (Ep. 24-31), Harry Potter (Ep. 15-23), and MCU(Ep.1-14) movie series'. Hit us up with how you feel about Dawn of the Planet of the Apes or if you were just as disturbed by the fact the apes had no genitals or that Malcolm's son wanted to be genderless. Follow on Twitter for Release Schedules and Buffoonery: twitter.com/OrderOfOpinion Like our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/orderofopinion

Our best friend for life, Applejack, makes his triumphant return this week, before we get really sad about the deaths of NYC's Toys R Us and FAO Schwarz. And have you ever wondered if a horse can throw up? We Google the answer LIVE, because we're all about the facts here. Starring Brian Altano, Scott Bromley, Ryan Scott, and Max Scoville.

littleBits Announces the littleBits Store - The Company's First-Ever Retail Venture and a Lab for Creating Inventions Large and Small littleBits Store Press Preview July 29; Opens to the Public July 31 WHO: littleBits Electronics, Inc., the startup that is democratizing hardware by empowering everyone to create inventions, large and small, with its platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks, is thrilled to announce it is opening its first ever littleBits Store in New York City. The pop-up store, located at 355 West Broadway in the SoHo district, is opening to the public on July 31, 2015. WHAT: The littleBits Store is a lab for inventions, large and small, and like the company, is on a mission to empower everyone to unleash their creativity. The store is targeted towards families, educators and creative professionals and promises to take visitors on a journey of invention through a series of interactive experiences including: Get inspired: Warm-up with the musical twister wall, a new take on and homage to the iconic (and sadly gone) FAO Schwarz giant piano. Create inventions: Take a seat at one of the workshop tables in the lab and create your own invention such as a Keytar (a synth guitar), a BitBot car, a self-powered drawing machine or anything from your imagination. Create inventions: Take a seat at one of the workshop tables in the lab and create your own invention such as a Keytar (a synth guitar), a BitBot car, a self-powered drawing machine or anything from your imagination. Share creations: Step into the Get Snapped Photo Booth to share your invention with the world, inspire others in the community, and see how everyone is an inventor. WHEN: Press Preview - Get a Sneak Peek of the littleBits Store Before it Opens to the Public! 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 29, 2015 2:00 p.m., Presentation by littleBits CEO Ayah Bdeir 2:25 p.m., Ribbon Cutting 2:30 p.m., Hands on activities - Press get to experience littleBits Store WHERE: littleBits Store 355 West Broadway New York, NY (in SoHo between Grand and Broome) WHY: The littleBits Store is pioneering a new concept in tech retail: Inventions To Stay and Inventions To Go. Visitors who participate in the workshop tables are able to leave their inventions for others to remix, encouraging open source collaboration, or buy what they invented on the spot, thus putting into action littleBits' agenda of breaking down the boundaries between the technology we consume and the technology we invent. The littleBits Store will be open M-F, 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., and Sat & Sun, 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ----------------------------------------- Visit the Adafruit shop online - http://www.adafruit.com Subscribe to Adafruit on YouTube: http://adafru.it/subscribe Join our weekly Show & Tell on G+ Hangouts On Air: http://adafru.it/showtell Watch our latest project videos: http://adafru.it/latest New tutorials on the Adafruit Learning System: http://learn.adafruit.com/ Music by bartlebeats: http://soundcloud.com/bartlebeats -----------------------------------------

Guerreiros, em guarda! Nesta nova missão, Rafael Motta (@RalfMotta) Fábio Moreira (@facosmo), Ivanildo Campos (@ianildo1) e Marcos Moreira (@marvincosmo), vão voltar à infância para mostrar uma confusão de gente grande!

The Mad Mexican Angel H. Rivera welcomes talented graphic designer and artist Ciro Casanova! Ciro and Angel discuss comic book babies, fun times at FAO Schwarz and the best non-Disney animated films of all time.

Lex was traveling this week so we have a guest, one John Gruber. He's apparently some guy in the Internet. Not coincidentally, this is our longest episode ever. What was the deal with bearer bonds back in the 1980s movies? They were basically what every villain was after. In the upcoming SPECTRE, it's probably something else. Don't take the kids to see American Sniper for the holidays. We talk again about our Frozen experiences. A holiday trip to FAO Schwarz seems dicey but if you're in Manhattan how can you not? Also, Dylan's Candy Bar. Oh, man. Playmobil has some great robbery sets that Gruber and Moltz speak highly of. Their kids might, too. Not sure. Moltz's kid is getting a PC laptop for Christmas and Moltz is already having trouble with it. Moltz wants to know if Jon's and Gruber's kids are getting his Minecraft book for Christmas. Gruber's kid might be getting a Playstation 4 with LEGO Batman 3 and FIFA Soccer. Jon's kids might be getting Minecraft for Playstation. One wants an Easy-Bake oven. If you don't follow the Grubers on Twitter, they had an interesting time setting up their Christmas tree this year. Moltz's tree contribution is putting up his Star Trek ornaments. He doesn't have this one but it's on his wish list. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb. You can also follow John Gruber here: @gruber or @daringfireball

You are listening to Deep Paper Cut from John and Toni Rakestraw, produced by StreamingMurder.com. Our books are available at Amazon.comIt was a deep paper cut and I take blood thinners… the blood dripped all over the FAO Schwarz catalog by accident, but a few days later I got the items I’d dripped on. I kept trying to do it again and again… nothing! I discovered that you need a different person’s blood each time. Too bad the blood bank locks its blood safe too well. I’ve tried. Maybe the hospital will work… am I a vampire?We hope to see you next time here on the internet at my blog.Dungeon & Dragons is all about Storytelling...Where Dice and Imagination Rule the Realm!Website - http://johnlrakestraw.com/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rakestraw.johnTwitter -  https://twitter.com/John_RakestrawTumblr - https://www.tumblr.com/blog/johnrakestrawSanta and Dungeon Master for hire - https://www.gigsalad.com/father_yule_john_rakestraw_springfield

You are listening to Deep Paper Cut from John and Toni Rakestraw, produced by StreamingMurder.com. Our books are available at Amazon.comIt was a deep paper cut and I take blood thinners… the blood dripped all over the FAO Schwarz catalog by accident, but a few days later I got the items I’d dripped on. I kept trying to do it again and again… nothing! I discovered that you need a different person’s blood each time. Too bad the blood bank locks its blood safe too well. I’ve tried. Maybe the hospital will work… am I a vampire?We hope to see you next time here on the internet at my blog.Dungeon & Dragons is all about Storytelling...Where Dice and Imagination Rule the Realm!Website - http://johnlrakestraw.com/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rakestraw.johnTwitter -  https://twitter.com/John_RakestrawTumblr - https://www.tumblr.com/blog/johnrakestrawSanta and Dungeon Master for hire - https://www.gigsalad.com/father_yule_john_rakestraw_springfield

Welcome to the debut episode of Movies My Friends Have Never Seen, the podcast where I, Nick Nadel, am joined by a friend to watch and discuss the one movie that everyone is SHOCKED that they have never seen. To kick things off, please welcome friend and pop culture blogger Matthew Buntley, who will be watching the little-known 1988 Tom Hanks vehicle Big for the first time. Download the MP3 directly here.  Will Matthew fall in love with the story of a young boy who makes a wish on a demonic fortune telling machine and turns into a grown-up overnight? Will he think it's a fun comedy classic for the entire family, or a searing portrait of a suburban New Jersey family torn apart by a phony kidnapping plot? And what will he think of the famous "dancing on a piano in FAO Schwarz" scene now that he's seen it in context? Click that play button and find out! Music: "Hot in the City" by Billy Idol. You might remember this song from the scene where grown-up Josh (Tom Hanks) goes wild in the back of a limo.  Paste http://moviesmyfriendshaventseen.libsyn.com/rss into iTunes (or your preferred podcasting software) to have new episodes of MMFHNS delivered directly to you as soon as they're released. Created and hosted by Nick Nadel. Audio production by Bill Scurry

12 Hour Day - Episode 3 Recorded on: April 14th, 2014 J.D. and Connor wander New York City. It's the first warm day in New York City and J.D. and Connor start at New York's famous FAO Schwarz toy store and then embark into the world in search of adventure. They head into central park, visit the scene of a crime in Battery Park, visit with friends at the UCB Training center, and even get on stage at the Gadget Hour. This episode is chock full of friends, locations, and moods. Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/12hrJDConnor

Reviews: DC Nation #1, Grim Leaper #1, Marvel Superheroes Magazine #1, Ravagers #1, Star Trek The Next Generation Doctor Who Assimilation2 #1, Superman Family Adventures #1 Jimmy is joined in studio again by good pal Matt Brick. Jimmy attended Book Expo America and met lots of cool folks there. Most notably: Capstone publishing had some cool comic books to check out, Mill Creek Entertainment had some great collected DVDs and NYC Subway Line had some awesome NYC subway inspired clothing and accessories (see pics below). News includes: DC reveals their gay character to be former Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott, FAO Schwarz and Midtown Comics team up, Image Comics is having a Revival, Spartacus to end on Starz and some E3 video game highlights! As always, listener feedback, the Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

Up until the end of the 1990s, Franco Dragone was Cirque du Soleil. He had created most of their productions and was responsible for the signature look that had defined the French-Canadians troupe. But after Mystere and O, he went his own direction. This hour, for the first time, hear why, what he thinks about Cirque's massive expansion and get some details on his latest project, the $280 million production for a Macau casino. When it opens later this year, it will be the most expensive live production ever. Plus, Celine's coming back, Obama's coming back,  FAO Schwarz and Ritz-Carlton are going, the Ruffins are with child, Chippendales does it 3000 times, candy is all the rage and the NFL and Vegas are at odds yet again. ALSO: A special LIVE INTERVIEW edition of the Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week with "Jersey Boys" star Travis Cloer, who appears at the Liberace next month.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comPhone: 702-997-3300 Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.Com