Podcast appearances and mentions of harry david

➡️ Join 321,000 people who read my free weekly newsletter: https://newsletter.scottdclary.com➡️ Like The Podcast? Leave A Rating: https://ratethispodcast.com/successstoryJim McCann is the founder and executive chairman of 1-800-Flowers.com, a company he grew from a single flower shop in 1976 into a multi-billion-dollar business. Under his leadership, the company became a pioneer in e-commerce and direct-to-consumer floral delivery, generating over $2 billion in annual revenue and serving millions of customers worldwide. McCann also expanded the brand through strategic acquisitions, including Harry & David, Cheryl's Cookies, and The Popcorn Factory. A best-selling author and entrepreneur, he is known for his focus on customer relationships, innovation, and leveraging technology to transform the gifting industry. ➡️ Show Linkshttps://www.x.com/jim1800flowers/   https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim1800flowers/ ➡️ Bookshttps://www.amazon.com/Lodestar-Tapping-Historic-Pillars-Success/dp/1637632738 ➡️ Podcast SponsorsHubspot - https://hubspot.com/  Lingoda - https://try.lingoda.com/successstory (Code: scott25)Vanta - https://www.vanta.com/scottFederated Computer - https://www.federated.computerCornbread Hemp - https://cornbreadhemp.com/success (Code: Success)Create Like The Greats Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/lu/podcast/create-like-the-greats/id1653650073FreshBooks - https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing-offer/Bank On Yourself - https://www.bankonyourself.com/scottStash - https://get.stash.com/successstoryNetSuite — https://netsuite.com/scottclary/Indeed - https://indeed.com/clary ➡️ Talking Points00:00 - Intro05:34 - Did Jim Know 1-800-Flowers Would Be Huge?07:52 - Fixing the Biggest Flower Shop Problem11:09 - Jim's Entrepreneurial Roots16:48 - Leading & Scaling a Successful Company21:06 - Jim's Boldest Move at 1-800-Flowers24:12 - The Success Pillars from Lodestar33:29 - The Power of Words35:06 - Sponsor Break37:44 - Jim's Best Self-Improvement Habit42:59 - The #1 Success Principle from Lodestar47:25 - How Jim Stayed Optimistic50:14 - Game-Changing Lessons from Jim's Career55:43 - Sponsor Break57:57 - AI: The Good & The Bad1:03:10 - Jim's Journey & the Story of Smile Farms1:10:58 - Building a Non-Profit That Works1:17:39 - Why Work Is More Than Just a Paycheck1:24:52 - Jim's Life Lesson for His Kids

In this episode of Celebrations Chatter, Jim McCann sits down with Debbie Howard, a caregiver advocate and author of “The Caregiving Journey;” and Rhonda Klug, Head of Experiential Marketing and caregiver advocate at Harry & David.  Together they explore the often-overlooked world of caregiving.  The conversation features practical advice for current and future caregivers, including the value of therapy and ways to create meaningful moments with loved ones. They also discuss how companies can better support their caregiving employees through employee resource groups (ERGs) and other initiatives. This thoughtful discussion offers valuable perspectives on navigating the challenges and opportunities of caregiving while finding moments of joy along the way.   New podcast episodes released weekly on Thursday. Follow along with the links below: Sign up for the Celebrations Chatter Newsletter: https://celebrationschatter.beehiiv.com/    Subscribe to Celebrations Chatter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@celebrationschatter  Follow @CelebrationsChatter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrationschatter/    Follow @CelebrationsChatter on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@celebrationschatter  Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/celebrations-chatter-with-jim-mccann/id1616689192    Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Yxfvb4qHGCwR5IgAmgCQX?si=ipuQC3-ATbKyqIk6RtPb-A    Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQwMzU0MS9yc3M?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwio9KT_xJuBAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNg  Visit 1-800-Flowers.com: https://www.1800flowers.com/    Visit the 1-800-Flowers.com YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1800flowers  Follow Jim McCann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim1800flowers/  Follow Jim McCann on X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/jim1800flowers (@Jim1800Flowers)

I know September feels early to start thinking about corporate gifting, but I promise it's not.  Your December self will thank you for doing this so early.  xo Jess Minny & Paul: https://www.minnyandpaul.com/ Wine Country: https://www.winecountrygiftbaskets.com/ Harry & David's: https://www.harryanddavid.com/h/fruit-gift/pears (^^these pears are so good, GET THEM) Mrs. Prindables: https://www.mrsprindables.com/ Funky Chunky: https://funkychunky.com/ Candyland in MN: https://candylandstore.com/ (^^did not mention them in the episode, but they're my the best!) i like you: https://i-like-you-minneapolis.myshopify.com/ Downloadable template coming soon, will link it here: https://askanassistant.substack.com/p/templates    

Celebrate 90 years of Harry & David's delectable pears and edible gifts with Celebrations Chatter. Jim visits Medford, Oregon's Rogue Valley to spend time with the incredible individuals who make Harry & David happen every day. In this episode, long-standing members of the Harry & David team share what the company means to them, the relationships they've formed along the way, their outlook on the future ahead, and a few of their favorite Harry & David products.   New podcast episodes released weekly on Thursday. Follow along with the links below: Sign up for the Celebrations Chatter Newsletter: https://celebrationschatter.beehiiv.com/    Subscribe to Celebrations Chatter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@celebrationschatter  Follow @CelebrationsChatter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrationschatter/    Follow @CelebrationsChatter on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@celebrationschatter  Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/celebrations-chatter-with-jim-mccann/id1616689192    Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Yxfvb4qHGCwR5IgAmgCQX?si=ipuQC3-ATbKyqIk6RtPb-A    Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQwMzU0MS9yc3M?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwio9KT_xJuBAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNg  Visit 1-800-Flowers.com: https://www.1800flowers.com/    Visit the 1-800-Flowers.com YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1800flowers  Follow Jim McCann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim1800flowers/  Follow Jim McCann on X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/jim1800flowers (@Jim1800Flowers)

As we continue to recognize National Family Caregiver Month & National Alzheimer's Month, Sherri Snelling, corporate gerontologist and “Caregiving Club On Air” podcast host, interviews the following guests on this episode: 1. Megan Witbracht with UCI MIND which is one of about 30 Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) in the country. Megan shares the latest clinical trials and drug announcements to treat Alzheimer's plus support groups and other help for caregivers of those with dementia 2. Neal Shah Founder and CEO of CareYaYa tells us about his innovative approach to providing personal care and companionship in the home for older adults – using medical school students. In Caregiver Wellness News Sherri talks about what actor Matthew Perry's death teaches us about loneliness. She also shares early gift ideas including great gift baskets from Harry & David's which has a campaign to support family caregivers. For Well Home Design News Sherri gives a shoutout to one group caring for veterans and their family caregivers: Tunnel to Towers Foundation a nonprofit helping to house homeless veterans, give smart homes to disabled veterans and provide mortgage-free homes to families who have lost a first responder in the line of duty. Sherri also shares insights on “dementia friendly travel” just in time for the holidays. This episode's Me Time Monday Wellness Hack is our Gratitude Gravy Recipe from Sherri's new book, Me Time Monday – The Weekly Wellness Plan to Find Balance and Joy for a Busy Life. Find out more at: caregivingclub.com/podcast/

Working caregivers, adults who balance a career while caring for an ailing friend or family member, often struggle with a lack of support and understanding from their employers and society at large. To discuss this growing issue, Jim is joined by Rhonda Klug, Head of Community Relations at Harry & David, along with Selma Archer and Zack Demopoulos, co-authors of 'The Working Caregiver: The Invisible Employee.' Tune in to gain a better understanding of the challenges that working caregivers face and how companies like 1-800-Flowers.com are striving to create a flexible work environment that supports caregivers.   New podcast episodes released weekly on Thursday. Follow along with the links below:   Sign up for the Celebrations Chatter Newsletter: https://celebrationschatter.beehiiv.com/  Subscribe to Celebrations Chatter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@celebrationschatter  Follow @CelebrationsChatter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrationschatter/  Follow @CelebrationsChatter on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@celebrationschatter    Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/celebrations-chatter-with-jim-mccann/id1616689192 Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Yxfvb4qHGCwR5IgAmgCQX?si=ipuQC3-ATbKyqIk6RtPb-A Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQwMzU0MS9yc3M?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwio9KT_xJuBAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNg   Visit 1-800-Flowers.com: https://www.1800flowers.com/   Visit the 1-800-Flowers.com YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1800flowers   Follow Jim McCann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim1800flowers/   Follow Jim McCann on X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/jim1800flowers(@Jim1800Flowers)

Chloey is a stunning and unique talent a ‘Class Act' who can sing all genres of music ranging from Jazz, Rock, Pop, R&B, Musical Theatre to Classical. As a Songwriter her debut single Golden Dreams was released 2016, followed by the release of True Love 2017 and Lungs 2018 to instant acclaim. In 2021, she joined forces with talented singer-songwriter and producer Harry David to co-write new music together which saw the release of 'Hearts On The Line', 'Sky is Falling' , 'Butterfly' 'This Christmas' and in 2022 'Hopes & Dreams' and 'Golden Sun'. All tracks successful in receiving airplay throughout the country and played as Tracks of the Week at several radio stations and credited as Outstanding Tracks with BBC Introducing. Chloey has performed across the UK at venues including Hackney Empire, The Grand, Institute of Directors Pall Mall London, York Grand Opera House, Hull City Hall, KCOM Stadium, Wembley & Old Trafford Conference Centres, Lincolnshire Showground, Market Rasen Racecourse, Grimsby Auditorium, P&O Mini Cruise, Spain Summer 2019 and Autumn / Winter 2019 headlining with Brittany Ferries.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/houseofmysteryradio. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/houseofmysteryradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings and welcome to a special episode recorded live in the on-site Stream Commerce podcasting studio at the Los Angeles Global eCommerce Leaders Forum in early 2023. These episodes are presented by Stream Commerce, a full-service Shopify Plus eCommerce agency delivering world-class Shopify Plus digital storefronts & growth marketing solutions. Stream Commerce can help you navigate the new Markets, Markets Pro and Global-e international capabilities native to Shopify and work hand-in-hand to help you drive profitable global sales.And if you have questions about whether or not your international Klaviyo email marketing and paid performance marketing with Meta and Google is working as hard as you are, call the experts at Stream Commerce; they can help you maximize your return.The Global eCommerce Leaders Forum LA 2023 offered retail professionals strategic insights and actionable takeaways about how industry leaders are tackling their top Global DTC and cross-border eCommerce challenges – and how they are successfully making a case for investing in global retail growth. In this episode, we meet Catherine Hoffman Seaton, Vice President of Marketing at Windsor Fashions & Caroline Nuckolls, Head of Sales - Americas at Bambuser If you liked this podcast, you can follow it on Apple iTunes, Spotify, Google, the Amazon Music podcast channel or your favourite podcast platform. Please rate and review with a five-star rating and be sure and recommend us to a friend or colleague in the retail and cross-border commerce industry.You can learn more about the Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum and continue to keep up with the latest on cross-border commerce online at https://www.globalecommerceleadersforum.com.   Be sure and block off your calendar for the next GELF event in New York City on October 12, 2023!   I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, strategic retail advisor, keynote speaker and podcaster, and you can learn more about me on LinkedIn. About CatherineAs head of the global marketing team at Windsor, my focus is on engaging and inspiring customers across all touch points to drive brand awareness and loyalty. This includes leading all strategy, budget, operations and team across:-Performance Marketing (seo, sem, pla, display, paid social, affiliate)-Customer Marketing (crm, loyalty, email, sms)-Community Marketing (owned social, influencer, blog)-Brand Marketing (pr, partnerships)-Retail Marketing (in store marketing, local marketing, mall marketing) -Creative Graphic Design and Copy-Windsor LiveWith over 20 years experience in leading data driven customer centric marketing teams for multichannel retailers, I have held roles at brands such as Gap, Harry & David, Harbor Freight Tools, HSNi, Torrid and Windsor. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona and my MBA from Dominican College and currently reside in southern California where I enjoy the year round sunshine.About MichaelMichael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada's top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus  Global eCommerce Leaders podcast, and The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.    You can learn more about Michael   here  or on     LinkedIn. Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue,  his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!

February 17th is National Caregiver Day, a holiday that honors and celebrates the nearly 40 million Americans who take care of someone else - an aging parent, a child with special needs, or a friend or neighbor with chronic disease.   Many caregivers don't realize that they are filling this role and simply see it as their duty, when in reality it is one of the most selfless thing one can do. What could be more important than taking care of another person who needs help, especially when it's a family member?   As we've found more and more people within our company are caregivers, we've been searching for a way to give back, highlight their experiences, and say “thank you.”    So, I've invited a few guests onto Celebrations Chatter for a forum discussion on caregiving. They are:   Rhonda Klug, who I work with at Harry & David and has lead our efforts to give back to caregivers Amy Groyer, Author of “Juggling Life, Work, and Caregiving, and AARP's caregiving columnist Gary Barg, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Caregiver Media Group   Together, we'll take a look at many topics pertinent to caregiving, including the stigmas that surround caregiving and programs that can assist caregivers as they navigate one of the most important roles they will ever take.     New podcast episodes released weekly on Thursday. Follow along with the links below: Sign up for the Celebrations Chatter Newsletter: https://celebrationschatter.beehiiv.com/    Subscribe to Celebrations Chatter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@celebrationschatter  Follow @CelebrationsChatter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrationschatter/    Follow @CelebrationsChatter on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@celebrationschatter  Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/celebrations-chatter-with-jim-mccann/id1616689192    Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Yxfvb4qHGCwR5IgAmgCQX?si=ipuQC3-ATbKyqIk6RtPb-A    Listen to more episodes of Celebrations Chatter on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQwMzU0MS9yc3M?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwio9KT_xJuBAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNg  Visit 1-800-Flowers.com: https://www.1800flowers.com/    Visit the 1-800-Flowers.com YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1800flowers  Follow Jim McCann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim1800flowers/  Follow Jim McCann on X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/jim1800flowers (@Jim1800Flowers)

The Power of Scarcity: Leveraging Urgency and Demand to Influence Customer Decisions by Mindy Weinstein About the Book: Drive revenue and grow your business by using the powerful concept of scarcity Scarcity isn't just one of the key principles of influence, it's arguably the most powerful―invoking the kind of primal instincts that were essential to our ancestors' survival.  It's also the explanation for why, in the mid-1990s, $29.99 Tickle-Me-Elmo dolls were being scalped for $7,000 apiece. And yet, for all its power, scarcity is a principle that's little understood, even as it's frequently employed in sales and marketing campaigns.  Research on scarcity is published mainly in academic journals, not easily accessible to the mainstream public, and often written from an economic, rather than psychological, point of view. In The Power of Scarcity, Dr. Mindy Weinstein leverages her deep expertise in both marketing and psychology to reveal how this influence principle can be used to boost sales, win negotiations, spark action, develop community, build customer loyalty, and more.  As a digital marketer and doctor of philosophy in psychology, she brings both practical and academic insights to explain the psychology behind scarcity, why it has such an immense impact on decision-making, and how, used correctly and ethically, it can influence the people who buy your products or services. In these pages, you'll gain a deeper understanding of why and how scarcity works in business, and specifically how different types of scarcity messages―supply-related, demand-related, time-related, or limited edition―affect our brains.  You'll see it in action from multiple perspectives, through case studies, research findings, and eye-opening interviews with current and former executives (from brands that include McDonald's, Harry & David, and 1-800-Flowers), as well as real-life customers' firsthand experiences. For anyone involved in sales and marketing today, The Power of Scarcity is a rare find, combining the best research on the subject as well as hands-on, tactical ways to apply the psychology behind it to knowledgeably harness that power to bolster your business. About the Author: Dr. Mindy Weinstein is the founder and CEO of the digital marketing firm Market MindShift, as well as a keynote speaker, trainer, and digital marketing strategist.  She has trained thousands of professionals from organizations of all sizes, including Facebook and The Weather Channel.  She has a Ph.D. in psychology and is a marketing instructor at Grand Canyon University and the University of Denver, as well as a program leader for The Wharton School and Columbia Business School. Mindy has often appeared in the media, with interviews on Fox, NBC, ABC, and Bloomberg Radio. She has also been quoted in The Huffington Post and The Washington Post amongst others.  And, interesting fact – at home, she uses the principles of scarcity to convince her husband and two boys to take on household chores they wouldn't have otherwise done! Click here for this episode's website page with the links mentioned during the interview... https://www.salesartillery.com/marketing-book-podcast/power-scarcity-mindy-weinstein

Building a brand that stands out from the crowd in today's marketplace is not an easy task. With so many options and pieces of information available, it is difficult to grab the attention of your target audience. But with the right strategy, you can make this process easier.  Building a highly recognized brand can help you attract more potential customers to your business.  Your branding should connect the dots between what you are selling and who you are trying to reach. Making your brand recognized is the first step to success, but how will you achieve that in today's marketplace? This has been the biggest pain point for most brands. In this episode, Gwenne Wilcox talks about her journey as a business coach and how she has helped over 450 companies build their brand.   Snapshot of the Key Points from the Episode: Gwenne shares her background story and talks about how she landed one of her biggest clients by storytelling. She talks about her target audience and how she helps them. She shares a client success story of how she shifted to a 12% sales conversion rate from a 66% bounce rate through brand positioning. The biggest concern with most brands is to sell with high pricing - why they struggle and fail, and how to make the process easy. How the branding shifted post-pandemic. Why personal branding dominating the marketplace post-pandemic. Why niching down your target audience is becoming more crucial for your business now.  What does meaningful connection mean, and how it can help you in brand positioning. Gwenne shares her “Rock-Paper-Scissor” analogy on people's behavior - how it has helped her build a successful brand.   About Gwenne Wilcox - As a Business Mentor and Brand Coach, Gwenne solves immediate business identity and brand strategy challenges for driven CEOs, consultants, and coaches looking to scale to seven figures, soul-heartedly. Using her signature 4-Step EPIC Success Journey framework, she works one-to-one with her clients to elevate their brand positioning and scale. She is also a certified Positive Psychology Coach.  An award-winning global branding expert for over 35 years, Gwenne Wilcox has generated millions in revenue for dozens of Fortune 500 brands like American Express, DeBeers Diamonds, Gianni Versace and Harry & David, including launching the brand for luxury shoe designer Stuart Weitzman.  Gwenne is deeply passionate about helping ambitious female entrepreneurs align their true essence with their core values to build a meaningful legacy brand, soul-heartedly. Utilizing her Positive Psychology training, she coaches clients how to avoid self-sabotage and burnout to live a balanced and purposeful life of their own making.  She has helped hundreds of clients develop and execute effective brand strategies, including evocative brand messaging and compelling visual identities that not only captivate high-paying clients, but also convert into tens of thousands of additional revenue in as little as 10 days.  Her Brand Brainery Academy programs are geared toward up-leveling creative entrepreneurs' and social media managers' service offerings. Gwenne also leads corporate sponsored training seminars and provides brand consultation for accelerator groups supporting entrepreneurial start-ups.  Gwenne offers 1:1, group and immersive one and two-day VIP sessions, as well as done-for-you branding services.    How to Connect with Gwenne Wilcox: Website - https://www.gwennewilcox.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwennewilcox/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/gwennewilcox Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/gwennewilcox/?hl=en   Download her VAMP Positioning Framework for FREE:  https://www.gwennewilcox.com/vamp-framework  Book a Brand Strategy call to explore your options:  https://www.gwennewilcox.com/strategy-call   About the Host: Ann Carden is a highly sought-after Expert Business Growth Consultant, Marketing Strategist, three-time published Author, and a #1 Bestselling Author, and Professional Speaker for small businesses and entrepreneurs.   With more than forty-one years of business experience and coaching and consulting hundreds of coaches, entrepreneur's and owners in more than forty different industries to more success, Ann knows what it takes to succeed in all areas of business. After spending thirteen years in corporate business management, Ann started her journey as an entrepreneur building businesses for herself for twenty-nine years. Her first business started out of financial hardship and Ann was able to propel that business into the international market (before the internet.) After selling that business, she went on to start and build five more businesses to succeed. She has sold those businesses and today has a passion for helping small business owners and entrepreneurs build their success. She has been featured on the affiliates of ABC, NBC, CW, and FOX, among many other media outlets. Her articles have been published on Small Business Trendsetters and Business Innovators Magazine, and she has been a featured guest on multiple podcast shows such as; “Business Innovators Radio” podcast which can be heard at: BusinessInnovatorsRadio.com/Ann-Carden. She was also chosen as one of the top coaches in the world by Six-Figure Coach Magazine. Through the years Ann has educated thousands of professionals through speaking, workshops, seminars, and online platforms as a Speaker.   How to Connect with Ann Carden: Website: https://anncardencoaching.com Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/business-consultant-coach Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/anncarden Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ann-Carden-A-Carden-Inc-110882230558068/ Grab Ann's free Masterclass at www.expertinyou.us

Bret Bero is not a typical politician. He's never run for office before now, and he really seems to care about delivering practical solutions for families and small businesses, which were impacted severely in so many cases by COVID. And specifically, the COVID protocols were often devastating to small businesses. He's longtime business owner himself, a consultant who helps struggling businesses find their mojo again, and find success again, he's faculty at Babson College. He's a husband, a Dad and seems like a pretty cool guy. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Bret Bero, he's running for LT governor. Bret's campaign website Bret's Bio from the Babson website: Bret Bero is a Lecturer in the Management Division of Babson College, where he teaches Strategy, Strategic Problem Solving, Management Consulting, Leading Business Turnarounds, and Disruptive Change and Business Transformation to Undergraduate and Graduate students. He also teaches in the Executive Education programs. Prior to joining the Babson Faculty in August 2016, Mr. Bero was a Managing Director at American Capital, Ltd., were he led middle market private equity portfolio companies in formulating investment strategies, driving operational improvements, enhancing financial performance, and achieving successful exits. He has served as Chairman of two portfolio companies, CEO of five portfolio companies, and on the Board of 12 companies. Mr. Bero has conducted business diligence on over 30 potential acquisitions, including several that resulted in a successful transaction. He developed American Capital's Acquisition Integration toolkit, and the executive transition process operating standard. Mr. Bero has over 18 years of increasing leadership roles in world class consulting firms. He was hired as President of the North America region for DBM, a leading provider of career transition services. As a Partner at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), he developed the Organization Strategy service offering, and was a member of the team that won Andersen Consulting's Kenneth Earnst Strategy Thought Leadership award for work on alliance management. Mr. Bero was a Vice President who led multi-discipline project teams in addressing business transformation, business strategy, and organization change issues for clients in the Diversified Industries/Diversified Services industry group at Gemini Consulting. While with Price Waterhouse, Mr. Bero led engagements addressing portfolio strategy, business turnarounds, organization effectiveness, and financial effectiveness issues. His clients have included firms such as Marriott, Highmark BlueCross/BlueShield of Western PA, Ferguson Enterprises, Bausch & Lomb, National Services Industries, Lanier, General Motors, Tupperware, Harry & David, KeyCorp, IBM, New York Life, and International Thomson. Mr. Bero and a business school classmate acquired ECHO Industries, Inc., a small lot deep draw metal forming manufacturing company, in a leveraged buy-out. The business was sold in 2019. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-krol/support

How to build a company that stands the test of time is the focus of this episode of FMC Fast Chat featuring Jim McCann, Founder and Executive Chairman of 1800-FLOWERS.COM.  Starting with a single floral shop in 1976, McCann built 1800-FLOWERS.COM into a household name, and today the company includes such notable brands as Harry & David, Cheryl's Cookies and Simply Chocolate under its umbrella. McCann talks about how the pandemic impacted operations, changed marketing and drove innovation at 1800FLOWERS.COM and brought his own career full circle. His insights and advice will prove helpful to all businesses, no matter the size. Of course, we couldn't resist throwing in a few signature Fast Chat questions, too, ranging from what he does all day to the pressure he faces when it comes time to send a gift. Take a listen and be in the know in 30(ish) minutes.   BACKGROUND Jim McCann is a successful entrepreneur, business leader, author, media personality and philanthropist whose passion is helping people deliver smiles. From its roots in 1976 as a single flower shop in Manhattan, NY, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM has become the world's largest florist with annual revenues that exceed $2 billion. In the process, McCann changed the way flowers and other gifts are marketed for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and special occasions while helping to expand the definition of retailing and ecommerce, positioning his company to help customers express themselves and connect with the important people in their lives. In addition to being the first company to have its 800-telephone number as its name – a marketing insight that helped solidify the brand in consumer's minds – McCann was a pioneer in ecommerce, being one of the very first to seize upon the enormous reach of the internet as early as 1991. Today, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM is a leading provider of gifts designed to help customers express, celebrate and connect. His company's ecommerce business features an all-star family of brands including: 1-800-FLOWERS.COM®, 1-800-BASKETS.com®, Cheryl's Cookies®, Harry & David®, Shari's Berries®, PersonalizationMall.com®, FruitBouquets.com®, Moose Munch®, The Popcorn Factory®, Wolferman's Bakery®, Stock Yards®, Simply Chocolate®, Vital Choice Seafoods® Alice's Table®, BloomNet®, NapcoSM and DesignPac Gifts, LLC. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. was recognized among the top 5 on the National Retail Federation's 2021 Hot 25 Retailers list, which ranks the nation's fastest-growing retailers. FMC FAST CHAT This is the podcast of the Fair Media Council, advocating for quality news and working to create a media-savvy society. FMC is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National Pear and Cookie Day makes me think of delectable treats to come and from days gone by. What delectable do you yearn for?

Today's guest, Michelle Farabaugh, has been in the marketing space for over three decades working as a CMO for retail companies such as Harry David and Bevmo. In this episode we talk to Michelle about the CMO's role in digital transformation and how marketing plays an important role in forming roadmap for technical and digital transformation. Michelle shares her in depth knowledge on the subject of Innovation and experience on various projects.

BGBS 064 | Bill Creelman | Spindrift |You Have to Be a Little Hardheaded Bill Creelman is the Founder and CEO of Spindrift Beverage Co., Inc. and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Prior to Spindrift, Bill co-founded Stirrings which sold to Diageo in 2009. Bill grew up on a farm in Western Massachusetts where all the food was unprocessed, seasonal, and fresh. In 2010, he began making his own sparkling beverages to help him kick his soda habit. He wanted something refreshing, with real ingredients he could pronounce and enjoy with his young family. After much trial and error, he achieved this by combining 2 simple ingredients: fresh fruit and triple-filtered sparkling water. He named it Spindrift. Today, Spindrift is made up of over 100 passionate employees dedicated to changing the sparkling beverage industry. Spindrift is leading beverages into a new age of innovation, transparency, and ingredient simplicity by offering a product with no artificial sweeteners, no natural flavorings, and no essences – just sparkling water and real squeezed fruit. Spindrift was named to Inc. Magazine's 500 fasting growing companies, is a two-time recipient of BevNet's Product of the Year and was featured on NPR's How I Built This in 2020. Bill lives outside of Boston with his wife, Harley, and 4 kids. In this episode, you'll learn… Follow what feels right in the moment and push through the challenge. It might just lead you to your dreams. Tips that can make you stand out in a business, like utilizing consumer input as guidance and taking advantage of your packaging as your initial communication point with a consumer The bruises and scars you gain from challenge will become valuable knowledge in the future Resources LinkedIn: Bill Creelman Website: drinkspindrift.com Twitter: @drinkspindrift Instagram: @drinkspindrift TikTok: @drinkspindrift Facebook: @drinkspindrift Pinterest: Spindrift Sparkling Water Quotes [19:53] I just get so much pleasure personally out of working with farmers that are working with their hands and growing something that's delicious, and then we get the opportunity to reimagine it as a sparkling water. There's something about that idea that's really exciting to me. [32:54] I think in a sense, you have to be a little bit hard headed to this business…challenges, just broadly speaking, are an everyday part of what we do. [52:38] (Packaging) is really is the main way you communicate with a consumer, especially early on. You have to have a package that has cuts through the clutter. That immediately speaks to someone that has a shopping cart that's small, and a kid is screaming, and they're on their cell phone, like even in that environment, it needs to speak to them somehow. [59:31] I really think that even though it was a longer journey for me I'm sure than other folks who have done it more efficiently, I think those nicks and bruises and scars along the way ended up being so valuable now to help inform decisions and keep the boat rowing in the right direction. Have a brand problem? We can help. Book your no-obligation, Wildstory Brand Clarity Call now. Learn about our Brand Audit and Strategy process Identify if you need a new logo or just a refresh Determine if your business has a branding problem See examples of our work and get relevant case studies See if branding is holding your business back and can help you get to the next level Book Your Brand Clarity Call TODAY Podcast Transcript Bill Creelman 0:02 I think I was 15 or so and one of the captains I was working with, I was the maid on the on the boat. Their charter fishing boat, told me about this word called spindrift. And it was you know, the weight we are getting pounded by surf coming back from grade point out of the car are headed to the island. And it was a beautiful sunny day, but we were soaking wet and he said, you know what this mist is that is blowing off of the top of these waves. And I didn't get called spindrift and it's referring to sort of the whitewash and the wave is as the wind blows, and it's sheared the top of the wave off it for some reason. I just thought that word was really interesting. Marc Gutman 0:50 Podcasting from Boulder, Colorado, this is the Baby Got Back story Podcast, where 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 Back story. We are talking about sparkling water. Not just any sparkling water, but flavored sparkling water. And hey, you, yeah, you the listener who's a non reviewer, I know who you are. And seriously, what gives? You know that this podcast ain't cheap. But we continue to produce it as a service to you. How about you turn that non reviewer frown upside down and rate and review us over at Apple podcasts or Spotify, Apple and Spotify use these ratings as part of the algorithm that determines ratings on their charts and reviewing is cool. Everyone's doing it. Alright, let's get on with the show. Hear that? Cold, refreshing, sparkling water. Now today we have sparkling water easily accessible at our fingertips. We have all sorts of brands that are producing it non flavored flavored we have spiked sparkling water. We have all sorts of seltzers. But if you think about it, it wasn't always that way. sparkling water is kind of a new thing. And today's guest is Bill Creelman, the founder and CEO of spindrift. Yeah, spindrift that delicious Lee flavored sparkling water with real fruit juice. And he's your hero on today's show. Bill is an entrepreneur and his journey has been anything but straight and easy. Today, spindrift is made up of over 100 passionate employees dedicated to changing the sparkling beverage industry. spindrift is leading beverages into a new age of innovation, transparency and ingredient simplicity by offering a product with no artificial sweeteners, no natural flavorings and no essences. Just sparkling water and real squeezed fruit. spindrift was named Inc magazine's 500 fastest growing companies is a two time recipient of bednets Product of the Year and was featured on one of my favorite podcast the one that this baby got backstory. Whole podcast was based on NPR. Here's how I built this in 2020. Bill lives outside of Boston with his wife, Harley and four kids in this is his story. I'm here with Bill Creelman, the founder and CEO of spindrift bill, welcome. Bill Creelman 4:11 Thanks, Marc. Appreciate the time. Marc Gutman 4:14 Absolutely. And before we get into it, we're going to hear all about Spindrift and how you founded the company. But for those listeners that may not be familiar with this delicious flavored sparkling water, why don't you set it up a little bit and tell people what is Spindrift? Bill Creelman 4:31 So we are we are the alternative challenger brand in a very big category called sparkling water. So, our point of difference, you know, among kind of a big, crowded categories, we offer real ingredients as the base for the flavors so, we go out and gather lemons, oranges, grapefruits, berries, from around the country and literally squeeze them and add them to sparkling water instead of using unnatural flavor, which is really where the category lives today. And the results of this sort of delicious you know, pretty full flavored a little pulpy, colorful alternative to sparkling water. Marc Gutman 5:15 And I don't want to get too far down this part of the story, but you said something that really caught my attention. And you said that we put real food and ingredients in the water because that's so rare. Is that something that is just not happening prior to Spindrift? Bill Creelman 5:32 It really is like, strictly from an ingredient perspective. It does not exist other than our brands. So you know, it, it seems like, it's almost an absurd statement to make, like, how could that be true? So yeah, the category is really developed off of the back of the natural flavors, natural flavors, we don't really know quite what these things are, there are 3000 ingredients that are regulated outside of the FDA, they could originate with a fruit they may not, you know, you really don't know as a consumer. So we just kind of left that conversation, where it was and, and went with a product that we recognize, you know, fruit has color and has a little pub. And that's where we're kind of happy. You know, and that's really our big point of difference in this space. Marc Gutman 6:25 I'm sure we'll get into this further. But it just blows my mind that this is something that we're not all already experiencing or hadn't experienced prior to Spindrift. And so we'll talk about that. But as you know, you were a young kid. And as you were, you know, getting going probably around the ripe age of nine or something like that, did you think that you would be in the sparkling beverage category, as it were, was that something you had always dreamed of? Bill Creelman 6:53 I not specifically that. I mean, I I was I was lucky enough to be exposed to food. at a really young age, both kind of where food came from i was i was grew up in a farming environment at Western Massachusetts. And then I was lucky enough to also go out to the Cayman Islands, to to where I got to see, you know, fish and lobsters and oysters, so, and then I just, I love food. I had a little kid, I was always the one that ordered the weird thing on the menu that no one else wanted to try. So I think this is a story of like, just really being lucky enough to take something I enjoy doing on the weekends and turn it into, into into a job during the week. And so Marc Gutman 7:43 When you were that age, and did you grow up on a working farm, or do you have…? Bill Creelman 7:47 No, it was just like a 30 acre farm, Leicester mass that was had a garden and we had a bunch of animals. So it was not Yeah, we did not do any commercial farming. But, you know, we grew a lot of stuff. And that was sort of the mentality of the town. That actually still is, you know, kind of that way out there. And that had a big impact on me for sure. I mean, you know, we, we, we definitely, I feel like I took some of that sensibility with with me. Marc Gutman 8:17 So it was that your dream as a kid? Were you? Did you want to be a chef or involved in food? Or was there something else that was catching your attention at that point? Bill Creelman 8:26 Yeah, I think I mean, the great thing about food and why, if you go to like a Food Show, you'll see lots of people with family recipes, that it's incredibly stressful. And it's fun, you know, generally you're making something sharing it with, with friends. And so I think all of that is interesting to me. And it really still is interesting, you know, I love what I love the design side of this space, I love the recipe development side. You know, the selling of it is really interesting to me like just to propose something to to a retailer or a restaurant that they may not have tried. So it's not a whole bunch of things I would say for me, and I knew I was interested in definitely doing something on my own. I was not my dad worked in, in kind of big CBD or for small sports, kind of Western Mass for a number of years. And he really was kind of pushed me to try to do something on my own. And, and so that that was nice to have that sort of backing throughout. Marc Gutman 9:36 That's interesting. Why did your dad push you to? You know, based on his experience, why did he think hey, it'd be way better if bill were doing something on his own versus working at Spalding after me. Bill Creelman 9:47 Yeah. You know, I think he loved it. I know he loved his time there. I think it had to do with some of the macro climate he was seeing just Recognizing the big brands, the idea, he went to college and work for a big brand that everyone knew that idea was starting to fade away, I think he, he himself was introduced to some entrepreneurs, young people that had started things, and to see their excitement, and it wasn't an excitement that he necessarily thought existed in kind of a bigger, more established business. And, you know, I guess, for all those reasons, he was just say he and my mom were both, like, incredibly supportive. I mean, literally, even some of the failed businesses early on. So, yeah, I think that I mean, that is that is so important, you know, because it's, I know, it's not always the case, you know, there's often pressure to go do something more conventional. And I didn't have any of that, you know, as far as they were concerned, we could kind of do whatever we wanted. And that, you know, if you made money, or if you, you know, you obviously needed to support your family and sort of remain buoyant, but there was no pressure to do anything conventional to call it. Marc Gutman 11:10 Yeah. And so when I was that the narrative and the message as you were going through high school, and if so, what was your play? What was your plan for after high school? Did you go to college? Or were you like, I'm going to go start a business right away? Bill Creelman 11:21 So I jumped in with both feet pretty early. I mean, I started tinkering around with sort of starting my own thing, if you want to call it Pat, from, you know, super early, so you know, we we've worked a food stand at a craft fair. And in our town starting at, you know, eight 910. We tried to, you know, we started handing out business cards to just sort of do odd jobs, like early teens, and, and then tried to start like a little sort of painting business, in high school. And then eventually, I got into the fishing business, I was amazed. And I got my captain's license to run my own boat when I was, you know, kind of 20 or 21. It just like, you know, silly, silly ideas along the way that, that were fun and interesting, all centered around food, usually food or drinks for. So I don't know, I don't, I had done enough. By the time I got to college that I knew that it was interesting to me. And there was absolutely no history of success at all. At this point. It was much more defined by failure, for sure, but it was really fun and challenging. And that's not really I think, was what I was excited about continuing. After, after, after school. Marc Gutman 12:55 Yeah. And you had mentioned, as you were talking about some of those businesses, you said we who were you building those businesses with? Bill Creelman 13:04 Well, I either friends or my brother, who also was interested in this sort of stuff. So the painting business, he was trying to eat a couple years older, and he was trying to get off the ground. And so I kind of tagged along, you know, yeah, yeah, a little like, an 18 hole golf, you know, shack through jack that he was running with a friend and I jumped in on that. I mean, it was it, we were just always conspiring to try to figure out sort of ways to do fun foods, things that I've done, not always food, but just businesses, with the idea that wouldn't it be interesting if this idea that we have was also appealing to other people besides us? And that was, that was really the level of complexity that in lead that Marc Gutman 13:57 For sure, for sure. And even that, to me is a little bit interesting, because as we know, really one of the keys to successful businesses solving a problem that people have, but I remember that when I was young and starting business, I didn't care about problems. You know, like, that was my problem. My problem was I wanted some money, or I wanted a business. I wanted to do something cool. So was there some of that in there where you really you had at that age, like seeing some like, Oh, wait, there's a gap here and I'm gonna solve it. Bill Creelman 14:24 Yeah, definitely not at that level of sophistication. No, really, more was like, I want to, you know, I need to have any money in order to fuel my car and maybe live on you know, independently, you know, we get I started living on our own I think I was 15 when I started limping away in the summers and he was 17. And so you know, all of that takes place resources and, and there was just there was a very brightly lit line between You know, the need to find all of this, and then, you know having to be, kind of come up with a solve on your own, you know, there wasn't, there was never this thought that someone else was gonna swoop in and fund it on our behalf. And so that's, that's, you know, that's really where a lot of that, that thinking started. Marc Gutman 15:24 And so maybe I missed it I apologize if you said this, did you end up from there going to school? Or did you get right into? Bill Creelman 15:32 No, I didn't know I went, I went to high school in western Massachusetts. And then I went to college in Washington DC. And literally the day after I graduated from Georgetown, I turned my captain's test and went out and began trying to get a captain's got my cat's license began running running a boat. But but but what actually an important part of sort of chapter in this was while I was at Georgetown, I took an entrepreneurship class. This was why an entrepreneurship really was not part of any university to speak of, or at least, it wasn't something that was on my radar, to Georgetown had had a kind of program that they offered is just kind of a one class program you could opt into, and the the only assignment for the class was to write a business plan. And you you, you work the entire semester handed in, and whatever your grade was on that, on that paper was your grade for the semester, and that that was an incredible, really neat moment for me, because I hadn't realized that you could, you know, organize yourself that way around, you know, writing down an idea and putting the structure to aid and then building a p&l in and building a team and then margin and all the things that, you know, normal business could have, prior to that it was just more, you know, kind of, you know, yellow legal pad and sort of working as we want and hoping for the best. So it was actually it was that that idea for my business plan was Nantucket. vocalists there was a it was a it was, it was really the idea of using snow foods from from Nantucket Island and offering it around to consumers who couldn't get a permit to Nantucket, it's to be hard to get to, you know, in the offseason and, and that that was not an idea I pursued but it was the foundation of my first business that was called Nantucket harvest. And that that was really where that was when I formalized and created analyse and got a business partner. And it really went into the food business formally for the first time. Marc Gutman 17:51 And then that's making the connection why you then went and got your captain's license. And, and yeah, during that chapter, and that's like crazy to me, by the way, like, like what, you know, I when I was in college, I certainly wasn't thinking like, what kind of fancy foods do people want? Or, you know, or like, how do I bring like food to me, that was just not the way I was thinking. And so I'm super, like, impressed and just amazed that this was at the front of your, the front of your thought and your insight, but also like, how did you think that you could do this? Bill Creelman 18:26 I think it was just sort of foolish competence, honestly, because ultimately the business was was not all that successful. Hey, it was it was super exciting and fun. And we eventually turned that business into a different business that was successful. But I was I think I just didn't know enough to realize that I was about to take on a bunch of risks and challenges that we ultimately had. But honestly, like that same energy that I mentioned earlier, I had a pet a dog, I just loved working with the business. The idea of the business was after the smokehouse and harvest became working with local purveyors from from the island of Nantucket. But even more broadly, we brought in other islands, the arches vineyard and then Cape Cod. And we just loved working with these incredible products, you know, smokers propane and scallops and a local an ice cream manufacturer and, and, and so, honestly, even if we weren't trying to figure out how to make it into a business, I just the idea of working with them was what was really interesting and that I think that is there's a thread between Nantucket harvest and Spindrift. It's it's still that same way like you know, I just get so much pleasure personally out of working with you know, farmers They're working with their hands and growing something that's delicious and, and then we get the opportunity to re reimagine it as a sparkling water. Like, you know that that's just, there's something about that idea. That's really exciting to me. And it's, you know, and and so that was a harvest was the first time I got to really experience that. Marc Gutman 20:20 And so what happened with Nantucket harvest? Like, why did that not take off what was hard about it? Bill Creelman 20:25 So this is right when the internet was starting not to date myself, but it actually worked really well for sort of two months of the year. So October, November, into the beginning part of December, people were buying holiday, thanksgiving and holiday food items to give us gifts or for themselves. The problem was 10 months of the year, when people just in general, and I'd say this is even true somewhat today, like they just don't purchase those types of products that way around. And so there's some people that have cracked that, you know, Harry David has done a great job and there are others, he didn't have the courage to sort of so. So we just, we would do really well for the holidays. And then in a business spread sort of tail off that the good part about it, though, was we were learning like crazy. And we were meeting all these interesting people and one of the people we ended up putting into our harvest sort of a storm and had a really successful wholesale business, he was making dry rubs, grilling, without the salt and sugar really kind of a progressive product for its time called the anti offshore seasonings and that offshore is what we shortened it to and he became our business partner. So we sort of supplemented our revenue and and spread out some of our her risk and build some efficiencies by adding his product to our to our assortment and offered a year round. And that's where we first began working with Whole Foods and and we can sit down on a number of other retailers that have become you know, great relationships for us. Long term. Marc Gutman 22:15 So then what what became of that business so you're you're you've got as it's working out for you and the seasonality of the fishing business and bringing those those purveyors together. And then it sounds like the Nantucket offshore the seasoning business that's really propping things up. But but maybe, maybe, maybe maybe not as much as I interpret it. But like so what, what happens with that with that business. Bill Creelman 22:38 So as I as I feel like the theme on your show, and just in what I've experienced in my career, you end up at the decision point, it's stuck, you know, somewhere, you can't do everything well, and now we have a name for we call it simplified amplify. So we we eventually got to a point where we couldn't operate both successively, and eventually just stopped producing Nantucket, harvest catalogs and sort of, you know, purchasing those wares, and focus our time entirely on Antarctica offshore. The other thing that happened that we had missed is, you know, apart, lock in, and I think but also part that we were well positioned is we came out with a line of cocktail products, it was basically an add on to the crust, the rubs, for grilling, we added rimming sugars, so the sugars that go around the rim of a cocktail glass, but it was just as cocktails are starting to become popular again in the early 2000s. So they sort of Carrie Bradshaw Sex in the City like cosmos, you know, that that time in our lives, and suddenly cocktails were everywhere. And it was also at the same time to premium spirits are starting to become popular in the US. This is, you know, the advent of kind of great use and Chopin is had a one and absolute and all of these great really high quality spirits did not have a mixer to go with them. He was so all of us interested in cocktails great liquor products, but no mixers and so we we ended up chasing what was started as just to rimming sugar became a whole line of cocktail products called stirrings and stirring this was was really for, you know, four or five years was really kind of whatever this third generation of Nantucket harvests and we really put a lot of time and energy into and we ultimately sold that business to diazo. You know, cut In the mid 2000s, Marc Gutman 25:02 Well, I love that you forever have like, made me think of that time in history as the Sex in the City Cosmo. But the and we'll talk about that eggs in just a second. I'm assuming it was a good one. But kind of back to that, that decision point where the why in the road and you had a dream? You know, and you're, you know, you've put a lot of energy into it your fishing boat captain? And was that a hard decision to make to split off and let and talk at harvest go? Bill Creelman 25:30 It really was I think, you know, later on in my life. The other institutions I think are are clear at that time it was it was really driven by two things. One is we were we were heavily leveraged financially, I mean, I had not really drawn a salary in 10 years, any kind of anything meaningful was sort of living off of my, my wife's salary and huge amounts of debt, we had had a number of manufacturing issues. So I would love to say it was like a choice that it was much more of a survival mode, like how do we how do we all keep this going to live to tell. And really, when you looked at a very kind of unbiased view of the p&l of these different businesses, it became pretty clear that the most sensible, reliable choice was going to be in this whole sales, in essence decisions specifically, you know, continuing to focus on on the cocktail products. I think, you know, you, I guess what I would say is like, you make those decisions, in part because you think they're the right decisions for the business, but the consumer also makes those decisions ultimately, for you. And two cocktail products were purchased, really, outperforming anything else we were doing, we had people calling left and right retailers and consumers saying like, Hey, we, we think this is really neat, would you you know, would you be willing to sell them? Here, there and really, so the consumer spoke I think loudest, and then the business, you know, from a very cold and calculated point of view, you know, the the sort of, we knew enough by them to say, we want to be in a business that's less risky and more predictable. Then Then the other business models that we're playing around with at the time. Marc Gutman 27:35 Yeah and I can imagine you said was 10 years, you mentioned that, you know, you're pretty much living off your, your wife's income from her job. I mean, let's talk about that for a second, which she said she liked, you know, go bill go or she like, when are you going to, like, stop chasing this fishing thing? Bill Creelman 27:52 That's actually a much more interesting interview than this interview. No, she, her point of view is crazy. Really. And, and probably not certainly represented. I mean, you know, this was pretty compelling entrepreneurs, I know that it's true for all partners. But it was exhausting, frankly, I mean, just, you know, to have constantly be running out of money constantly, you know, sort of setting a timeline, and then not meeting it for whatever, you know, they won't and next year thing, you know, things will be easier or less challenge. less challenging. You know, that's, that is, that is not a fun way to spend your 20s and early 30s. And so, I mean, you know, I don't know if this is oversharing. But you know, I remember when I when I purchased her wedding ring, you know, I had to purchase it on a credit card, I think it was sort of like 40% interest rate, because my credit was so horrible. So, you know, what, when we were eventually married and began sort of sharing finances, she she got to see the bills coming in at a 40%. Essentially, what, what, who would ever sign up for this? And it was, you know, so the, I think, I think it was it was really hard. And, you know, I am I'm incredibly grateful. You know, I think part of it was fun and exciting and interesting and different. But, you know, at the very core of me, you have to have someone that's willing to go on that journey with you. I mean, there's just, it is not for everyone to have that amount of it's really the uncertainty. I think it's so hard, just not really knowing on a day to day basis for planning purposes and, you know, life planning, financial planning, you know, family plan, like you just you really, really are not ever totally Sure, you know, we know what will happen next. And so, yeah, I'm incredibly lucky and grateful. And that's Marc Gutman 30:17 A common question I get all the time is Marc, can you help me with our brand? Yes, we help companies solve branding problems. And the first step would be to schedule a no obligation brand clarity call, we'll link to that in the show notes, or head over to wildstory.com and send us an email, we'll get you booked right away. So whether you're just getting started with a new business, or whether you've done some work and need a refresh, or whether you're a brand that's high performing, and wants to stay there, we can help. After you book, your brand clarity call, you'll learn about our brand audit and strategy process, we'll identify if you need a new logo, or just a refresh, will determine if your business has a branding problem. And you'll see examples of our work and get relevant case studies. We'll also see if branding is holding your business back and can help you get to the next level. So what are you waiting for, build the brand you've always dreamed of. Again, we'll link to that in the show notes, or head over to wildstory.com and send us an email. Now back to the show. So why didn't you quit? You know, prior to that, that sale to DOJ or like why like, like 10 years of like uncertainty not knowing, like, grind in and out, like, why didn't you quit? Bill Creelman 31:43 We had seen. So when we started years, I don't know, let's do five or six years in, as we made this decision to pivot to cocktails, and move away from the male or business and move away from the rubs in focus just from cocktails, I think there was enough now, there that we felt we had to kind of see it through to the end. I mean, ultimately, we were sort of proven right and wrong to a certain extent. I mean, cocktails were very popular for a period of time. And then actually, in the late 2000s, when the economy turned it actually kind of went the other way. And so it was a great lesson, just in our business where food and trends around what people like for a while and then don't like, you know, that is that is that is a something we are very acutely aware of and are constantly metod, you know, kind of mindful of, but I think I just said to your question more directly, like I think it was, we felt there was enough there. And I think I think in a sense, you have to be a little bit hard headed to this business. There's there's going to be reasons, you know, daily that, you know, this does not make any sense or you hear no are not interested or, you know, sorry, is not the right time. I mean, that's all you hear her for the early stage of these businesses, from retailers, from, from bankers, from lenders from, you know, investors. So, like challenges, just broadly speaking, are an everyday part of what we do. And so it didn't feel insurmountable to continue to power through, we ended up you know, we ended up getting approached in it kind of as an investor not to purchase a business with this with a liquor company and that diazo and so that that also helped us believe like, okay, we're not the only one to think this is an interesting idea. There actually are other people that see this is the same opportunity. And so that certainly was a brief some energy into the room too. Marc Gutman 34:10 Was that you know, sale to diazo was that like a huge win, like, were you like, Oh my gosh, like, Bill Creelman 34:17 Yeah, no, it wasn't I mean, it's funny. I so, so no, the economy definitely impacted that outcome. And, and model is fine, you know, and exciting to have gone through that. I think it was actually, you know, when you sell these businesses and sell from very hard, you know, your your team ends up sort of going in different directions and you develop such relationship with these brands, they start to become part of you. And you know, I I knew that and I'm even you know, we talked about it just always as a business that you really want to be part of the startups for the product. For the journey, because when you actually get to the experts, you know, it's usually a law firm at two in the morning on a Tuesday and no one. Not even quite sure. Did you close? Did you not know what happened? Now? What do we do? And it's, it's really challenging, usually. And so, so yeah, in terms of it was, it was it was important to do it, and we're grateful to them. And you know, but I'd say, looking back on it now with the benefit of, you know, I think it was much more about the learning things and, and making sure that it needs to be move forward that there were, you know, that we, we built the business in a way that was an evolved version of that experience. Marc Gutman 35:54 So after that, kind of weird, awkward Tuesday, and they told you, you may or may not have closed, and, you know, would you do, like, Well, you know, you had been investing sounds like close to 10 years of your life into something every day. And then what? Bill Creelman 36:14 Yeah, so we, I, I actually, I was interested in the sparkline space for, kind of, towards the end of my time and started and we had a line of trade URLs and tonic waters that we had come out with. And, and we've seen some kind of anecdotal evidence that that was an area that was interesting and exciting to consumers, we didn't really pursue it all that much. But it was a learning and then I imagined in my mind that I was gonna have this nice long break and clear my head and then really start thinking about it. And I think actually in a good way, I ended up jumping in and, and kind of starting almost right away thinking about sort of in and in part two was a subject that Tiago is actually bringing up a fair amount, you know, they, for the liquor brand they miss, I think it's something like seven out of 10 drinks are made with a mixer. So they were thinking about soda and soda going away, which is really a lot of the narrative at the ended 2000s and concerns around sugar and health and what will happen if there's no more shimmer of soda. And I kind of jumped into that, and out of the big guy coaching her, because I mentioned I grown up, you know, on a farm in western Massachusetts, and was really interested in food, you know, I was like cooking a lot and, and really realizing more than ever, like, interested in health and wellness and ingredients and how ingredients are processed or not processed. I'd also spent some time living abroad at that point. So with the partnership with the audio, I spent two years of London and the Europe they were actually quite far ahead in terms of unprocessed ingredients. So you know, things that we think about pasteurized cheeses, or unpasteurized or milk pasteurized or not pasteurized. My experience in Europe was that a lot of the things that we really process in the US are significantly less processed over the UK and in Europe generally. So I came back with all of that and started looking at the sparkling space and, and really, I would say like, almost right away, within a month or two realize that is a huge category of sparkling beverages. There were there were really no products that met anything close to the standard of kind of real or unprocessed or that that I was now used to, you know, you see eating, cooking with and that, you know, that's that's a really fun moment when you kind of realize that because I had enough information about the packaged food world by them to know you know how to do it or some of it anyway. And in here you had a category that's enormous and sparkling beverages. And so I didn't then take any time off. I jumped in with both feet and almost like within a month or two of working, finishing my commitment, Stirling's I became working on spinner full time just myself. Marc Gutman 39:46 Yeah, and so let's kind of like reset the stage here a little bit because I think that everyone listening to this has gone through this. Call it sparkling or seltzer revolution, right, like now having flavored water of some sort sparkling water. Now we have alcoholic seltzers. But really that's exploded in the last like, I don't know, this is called five years or something like that. Prior to that this stuff wasn't really on anybody's radar. So like, what did this look like? What did the sparkling category look like to you? And what was this like, insight where you're like, Hello? Bill Creelman 40:31 It was, you that is a perfect way to paint that picture. Because it wasn't on anyone's radar, including ours, honestly. I mean, we, while we jumped into it was both seed starting kind of back end of 2009. And I see we meaning myself, and then thinking about it with, you know, sort of liquid a sort of the liquid kind of development, you know, ingredients, folks that I started to work with, there was no obvious path. In fact, I think the most popular opinion was that sparkling beverages, were going to go away that you were going to have just left the assumption, just because so divided, I was really starting to disappear. So the thing people couldn't solve for was caffeine, you know, a lot of soda consumption is based around caffeine and, and having it at a time when you're looking for a little bit of a left. And in order to replace that, you know, the thought was, okay, well, maybe it's energy drinks, or maybe it's iced coffee. So it was this incredible challenge, and just the head scratching challenge. And it wasn't just, it wasn't just at the product development level, it really what's happening at the retail level. And that that's really where Matt, in the consumer level anticipated the retail for a minute, you know, is a big problem when a product, like a category like soda starts to shrink for retail, and I mean, they, you know, it just is such a big volume driver for them, it takes up so much space in the store. And so one of the fun things that started happening was we started to have conversations with people at the retail level. And they they were raising a lot of the same questions and wanting to engage in a conversation about how you solve it, you know, what, what's coming next. And those relationships became invaluable for us. The consumer actually, I think already kind of got it could be looking back when you when you think about when you look at some of those early products and and and what was happening with the regional brands around the country. So you got to remember, we flavored sparkling water, there were there were regional brands or Super Regional brands, exclusively there were there really were no national brands in the beginning. And then there were two international brands and Perrier and San Pellegrino. And that was it, like, you had polar you had a cry in the center of the country. And, you know, mountain valley spring water, you know, you had these sort of strong topo, Chico, these strong regional brands, and then a couple of international. And I think if you were in those markets, at the time, even when we were starting, you probably saw the beginning of that sparkling water, really kind of uptake we didn't. So we read, we actually started with more of a soda profile. So we thought the better. But what was going to solve the soda problem with a better soda with a with a soda that had cleaner ingredients that was you know, better for you. So it's more about whole ingredient approach as opposed, but it had some sugar in it. And actually even our early versions had natural flavors. It was really once we got into a we are two years in 2012. We started in 2010 that we began making the unsweetened version of wheat we were a refrigerated brand for four and a half, five years. And really more soda I would say oriented is here again we we sort of as we began to make the product and then the consumer began to really now voiced their concerns around ingredients and sweeteners. And we also figured out the production side of the business that's really where we we jumped in with both feet and actually once again, I guess, retired the soda line so we actually got out completely even though it was actually quite a good business and we decided we wanted to sort of go all in on sparkling water, you know, kind of 2020 1516 that's that's when you know that's when we really begin to focus our all of our energy around This is space. We're now in today. Marc Gutman 45:04 And in Where did the name come from? And as you answer that, it might also lead us to you mentioned Hey, like, I started this by myself, shortly thereafter leaving, you know, your your commitment after the acquisition. So where did the name come from? And then what did the growth of the company look like? Like when did it go from, you know, Bill plus somebody? Bill Creelman 45:30 The name originated from from my days working out on the fishing boat. So I was, I think I was 15 or so. And one of the Catherine's I was working with, I was the maid on the boat where a charter fishing boat, told me about this word called spindrift. And it was, you know, the way we were getting pounded by surf coming back from grade point out to the far end of the island. And it was a beautiful sunny day, but we were soaking wet. And he said, you know what this is mist is that is blowing off the top of these ways. And I didn't and he said, Well, it's called spindrift. And it's, it's referring to sort of the whitewash and the wave as, as the wind loads, and it sheared the top of the wave off. And there's some reason I just thought that word was really interesting. I don't know why exactly, it just I thought spin and drift are two kind of fun fun words. And I know why exactly it stopped. But someone was fast forward to when I was thinking of a name for the sparkling water lying in bed, you know, freshing and, and sort of laid in lovely in this sort of thing. I came back to that word, as far as the growth did it for a while, just bought myself for a couple of years. And then it brought on a woman who who was amazing what she did and had it had done an amazing job pioneering other brands. And I had worked with her it's turnings. And she helped me on the west coast. And so we kind of went at it kind of, on either side of the country. And, and then as we started to get more traction, we brought on an operation person and customer service and began to kind of build up the team more formally. And that is, you know, I guess I'd be remiss if I didn't pause there and say like, the team is really, you know, when you're when you're going up against Coke and Pepsi and the National huge multinational like day one, we realized right away that we had to have a strategy that was different than everyone else, like we were not going to win just going right down the middle of the grocery store. For neither these are these businesses are impenetrable if you take that approach. And so really, like, what what what we did is we sort of held hands together and said, like, we're gonna come up with a way to try to outsmart or out you know, kind of flank the competition go places that they would not think to go or can't go because of their consumer or their customer advantage, whatever that was, and, and we still we started, actually in food service. So we, we really grew up in our brand really got traction early on, in places like sweet green and Panera and chopped and these other, there were a whole, there's a whole class of food service accounts there, we're starting to redefine what it meant to have a salad and a sandwich. At the same time, we are trying to redefine what it meant to have a sparkling beverage. And we really partnered on this challenge of redefining this whole experience of consuming, you know, Lunchables really are just having a meal what that meant from an ingredient standpoint. So in that in that same thing happened with some of our retailers like Trader Joe's and target and Whole Foods and independent retailers like they also that we had a special value for them that cannot be met by some of the bigger guys, the categories like they really got really read and they got, who we were, why we are different and that our brand is meant more to them, or at least was interesting enough that they were willing to give a shot. And that and that that was a really important. Those were really important moments for us. Marc Gutman 49:40 Yeah, and especially where you're sitting in your position. Now that all sounds pretty awesome and great, but I can only imagine that you're sitting around conceiving a new business, you're like we're gonna go into a category that no one really knows. We're gonna go Oh, by the way, part of that category is competing with The biggest brands in the world. And we're going to evangelize that. Like, let's go team. And then I'm sure that had to be super terrifying at times. And how did you know that it was actually going to work? Like at what moment? Because I have to imagine there were times you're like, I don't even know if this is going to even pull this off. Bill Creelman 50:21 Yeah, I think you're always in the recesses of your mind. And I think it's actually healthy to always be saying, like, we've got to keep, you know, we should never sort of rest on our laurels. So I would say we are, we still have that kind of mentality as a group. Even today, I think, I guess, you know, in 2016, we, we cut and moved pretty directly into into the canned format, we had been in glass for a little while we got into the APAC, which is our current configuration, if you see it's in a retail store today, and we were lucky enough to begin working with, you know, some some local and more national retailers that has sort of put us into the stats now like really for firmly. And one retailer Trader Joe's, I would say just because it's a branded product, I didn't share that, but they, you know, they really are incredibly, you know, gracious with us in terms of in terms of, you know, putting it putting our product out into the world and just without any real, you know, Porsche or any any big advertising campaigns, and they go, Well, how is it gonna sell like, it's on the show, our people interested or not, and in a product really was really well received. And I think that was probably a moment for us where we said, okay, I think even when we step away from the brand for a minute, not they're pushing like crazy are sampling or convincing people to have to buy it, you know, every moment of the day, there seems to be some organic excitement about this proposition that isn't just, you know, fleeting. And that, and that was certainly really important. Marc Gutman 52:23 And you mentioned packaging, and that you've gone through different packaging iterations, like how important they like, and that there's some shelf space and how Yeah, there's competition there. Like how important is do you think packaging is to the success of your brand? Bill Creelman 52:37 It's, it's super important. In terms of, you know, it really is the main way you communicate with a consumer, especially early on, you know, you have to have a package that has cuts through the clutter that immediately speaks to someone that has, you know, a shopping cart that's small, and a kid is screaming, and they're on their cell phone, like even in that environment, it needs to speak to them somehow. And so, I think, what was a big struggle for us in sort of a proof point in a lot of ways, but but more for God's sake, that there wasn't even really commonly understood language for this category. You know, some people in the northeast, seltzer, some people call it sparkling water, some people call it carbonated, dominated ingredient in the carbon. There was there was no, there was no commonly used vernacular, which is, which is exactly what you want. And in some ways, because it means the category is still maturing, but another way is presented challenges. And I would say the same as with the design aesthetic, you know, it wasn't as obvious to us. You know, because we have real ingredients, we have a couple of calories. We look at the packaging, every other brand in the category. There's zeros all over the front of their pack. Because there is no calorific value to a natural flavor. There's just just, there's just a flavor and so we had to figure out how to walk that fine line between making sure was really clear we are sparkling water. So we needed to sit in the right place in the store but also that actually a couple of calories were proof point that it's got lemons and oranges. Wow. And so that you can imagine the hours and hours of time just thinking about that delicate balance of being recognizable as a sparkling water but also being you know, pretty radically different than you know we have a little color No one's ever seen color and sparkling water. What's it doing in this perfectly water aisle? No one's ever you know, they just there was so much that was different about our product that had not been tested before. It was quite It was quite scary and but also So we started a loop of face to face with our consumer that we've now we have about 550,000 kind of drifters, which is what we call our community. And they we really wanted to hear from them. Like, tell us what you think. And we really think about that as our true north. Now, you know, whenever we launch a product, we sort of talk to them, we run a by them, we get their input. And they also, I think, feel very comfortable with, with sharing their point of view on things like packaging, and what what does it look like? And even with the recent launch of spinner spike, you know, we sort of did all of that kind of with their consumer input, even actually even retailer input, you know, along the way, because I found that that kind of collaboration sets you up much more for success than for going off into a room somewhere and just designing it and debuting and say, here it is, you know, you, you take a lot of the risk equation out of it. Marc Gutman 56:08 So what's your favorite flavor of Spindrift? And you know, you can't say it's like kids, and you can't pick one or anything like that, because it's sparkling water. Bill Creelman 56:17 On my line. I drink a lot. I drink, I average, six a day, something like that. And so I actually started with strawberry and pineapple kind of the breakfast, these sort of flavors. And then I always have a blackberry with lunch. I have a lemon with an espresso at two o'clock. I'm sort of a creature of habit. And then I sprinkled in half and a half along the way. So I have favorite flavors at certain times of the day. I would say more than an absolute favorite. Genuinely. Marc Gutman 56:51 Fair enough. I'll accept that. That's a great answer. I like that. And so what does the future look like for Spindrift as we're sitting here and looking forward with? Where are you taking Spindrift? And what are you most excited about? Bill Creelman 57:04 I think sparkling water is only just beginning. I think it is going to be it already is. But I think 2025 we think it will be the most important subcategory of beverage in our lifetimes. You know, it's projected now to be somewhere between 25 and $30 billion. But I started the business we're hoping against like three or four. And I'm including spikes in traditional flavored and all the versions of sparkling water. And so that from that point of view is only kind of 2% household penetration as a brand today, we we think there's only kind of up from here. So as a business, we're really preparing ourselves for that kind of growth and thinking about, you know, the the ultimate challenge that you have, as a startup, which is like how do you maintain the culture and kind of the energy and the creativity and compassion, with the backdrop of a bigger business and need systems and all the kind of normalization that you have to have structure Do you have to have as you grow? So I am We are thrilled, we're feel so fortunate to be a disposition as a brand, if you're really optimistic that, that we can really be, you know, one of the brands that sort of leads the way in terms of what the future of beverage will look like, I think it will be very different than the way it used to be when we all sat around and had big two liters of soda in the middle of our table, you know, with every meal. So we're excited for that. Marc Gutman 58:45 You think back to that young bill, who was hustling around Western Mass and trying to start businesses and at farmer's market and doing this and that. If you saw you today, what do you think he'd say? Bill Creelman 58:58 I think he would say you're a little crazy, just, you know, the time commitment and, and, you know, the sort of the resources and just anguish required. But I also think, in many ways, they you know, it's been it will be a worthwhile investment. You know, I think it's similar to the advice that I'm often asked sort of about by young entrepreneurs, you know, what does all this mean? How do we afford I think, I really think that even though there was a longer journey for me than I'm sure than other folks who have gotten more efficiently I think there was those next bruises and scars along the way ended up being so valuable, you know, now to help inform decisions and tend to you know, keep keep the boat running the state in the right direction. Marc Gutman 1:00:04 That is Bill Creelman of Spindrift. It always amazes me how overnight successes take 20 years to build. Also how previous businesses roles and experiences, often ladder up and connect dots to the next great business. One thing that stood out to me was Bill's comment about how important it is to stand out from the crowd to get the consumers attention in the midst of everything else they have going on. I also thought it genius to not just be thinking about what does my customer drink? But what do they eat? When they drink? What do they eat for lunch? Hmm. salads and light sandwiches. A brand should be there to finding those complimentary and adjacent brands are so important, yet overlooked by many businesses. Start thinking about the entire customer. And you might find an insight that will help you end up being sold at Panera Whole Foods and Trader Joe's as well. A big thank you to Bill Creelman in the entire spindrift team, keep sparkling. We will link to all things Bill Creelman and spindrift in the show notes. If you know of a guest who should appear on our show, please drop me a line at podcast at wildstory.com. Our best guests like Bill come from referrals from past guests and our listeners. 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 see you'll never miss an episode a lot big stories and I cannot lie to you other storytellers can't deny. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

This month’s guest is Scott Henderson. Scott joined National Drug Endangered Children (DEC) as Executive Director on February 24, 2020. Scott is excited about National DEC’s opportunities to continue to grow and expand impacts. Scott says, “We have opportunities to not only hear a need; we have an opportunity to do something tangible to meet that need.” Join us to learn how DEC is meeting those needs and how you can be part of this important work. More Information: https://www.nationaldec.org/ http://www.kansas-dec.org/ Prevention in Media This month’s Prevention in Media is Oprah’s Interview with Megan Markle and Harry David, Duke of Sussex. Megan Markle shared the mental health struggles she experienced after marrying Prince Harry, during pregnancy, and after giving birth. Coalition Spotlight: This month’s Coalition Spotlight is Thrive Allen County. Their mission is to “Mobilize and empower the community to reduce substance use disorder through education, prevention, and action.” To learn more about the Coalition Spotlight and Thrive Allen County, please go to the KPC Website at kansaspreventioncollaborative.org

Ashley Logan is the Founder and CEO at Yakkety Yak, a full-service purpose-driven content marketing agency that provides blog writing, social media marketing, video production, and website design and development for brands and organizations that want to make the world a better place.  Ashley says that the agency's “sweet spot” is content creation and storytelling. She believes alignment with the greater good and “giving back” are two things that are necessary for changing the world. “You have to be purpose-driven,” Ashley says. “You have to stand for something.” A writer from age 5, Ashley graduated with an undergraduate degree in creative writing and landed a job selling for a private label candy manufacturer. She was  “a creative person trapped in a corporate world.” As she traveled around “slinging candy,” Ashley saw that widely different companies used the same words talk about themselves in the “digital space.” She decided she wanted a “bigger ticket” career and moved to commercial real estate.  To appease her creative drive, Ashley volunteered and created content for nonprofit organizations. Social media platforms were just starting to rise. She wondered, “How could you turn those social media engines into a marketing machine?” In 2012, Ashley finally understood that she needed to combine all of her “passions for business, storytelling, content, and nonprofit work.” She went back to school to pursue a master's degree in Journalism in a program renowned for teaching people how to write for target audiences.  Ashley officially launched Yakkety Yak in 2014 and took clients as they came . . . until she realized she could no longer tell stories and work hard for jerks. The agency now maintains a focus on content and storytelling for a far more restricted clientele:  Organizations that “do good” (nonprofits),  Have, as a component of their organization, the intention of “giving back” (perhaps a part of the company raises funds to donate to non-profits), or  Are amenable to adding a “do good” component to their organization (Yakkety Yak works with these organizations that do not yet have a purpose-driven mindset to help them define and build that “piece” into their company culture).  Ashley thinks it is important for its clients to inform people of their “contributions to the greater good” by “putting it out there in your story, putting it on your website, weaving it into your social media, holding your teams accountable, and shouting it from the rooftops.” She thinks high quality video will become an increasingly more powerful marketing vehicle. Ashley is working with a designer to “revamp” Yakkety Yak's office space with improved ventilation and flexible seating and intends to “open the doors” after Memorial Day. Ashley sees “the new office” as a safe place where “people can come and work if they want to escape” and gradually get people back together with flexible hours and a combination of in-person and remote work. She misses the “vibration” that comes from having a “team all together” but also notes that COVID has done wonders for work-life balance. Ashley is best reached on the agency's website at yakketyyak.com, where visitors can find links to all of the agency's social channels. Transcript Follows: ROB: Welcome to the Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Kischuk, and I'm excited to be joined today by Ashley Logan. Ashley is the Founder and CEO at Yakkety Yak based in Chicago, Illinois. Welcome to the show, Ashley. ASHLEY: Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me here. ROB: Absolutely. Why don't you start off by telling us about Yakkety Yak and what makes the firm unique? ASHLEY: Yakkety Yak is a full-service content marketing agency based in Chicago. We do everything from blog writing, social media marketing, video production, website design and development – basically any mechanism to help our clients tell their stories, we work with them. I guess what makes us unique is that we focus on working with brands and businesses that care about doing good. We're a totally purpose-driven agency working with brands and businesses that want to make the world a little bit better. ROB: What does that look like when we actually get down to a client? What does a client look like who has this purpose-driven focus? Are there maybe some examples you can share of how they're getting out in the world? ASHLEY: Absolutely. That can be nonprofit organizations, of course. They fall into that category. We work with many patient-facing organizations like the American Migraine Foundation, the American Brain Foundation, and other brands in that category. But purpose-driven doesn't have to be nonprofit; it can be an organization whose culture focuses on giving back. They have volunteer events where they donate proceeds to a nonprofit organization. Ultimately, that alignment with a greater good is our sweet spot because one, it helps with storytelling, but also, in this day and age, giving back is such an important part of changing the world, making it a little better. ROB: Finding that sort of specialization and alignment can sometimes be a journey. How did you come to focus on that as a specialty? ASHLEY: That's such a great question. When I founded the agency back in 2014, we didn't have the luxury of selecting the types of clients that we worked with. I'm sure you've heard this a lot with your guests. We worked with some people that we probably didn't want to work with. Ultimately it came down to that if we're going to tell stories and work hard, we don't want to work with jerks. [laughs] So we didn't. We stopped working with jerks, and that's it in a nutshell. Is that terrible? ROB: No. I mean, who wants to work with jerks? I don't know anybody who says they do. I haven't heard that strategy yet. I'd be fascinated if we have somebody listening who has a strategy built around working with jerks and charging a premium for it. I'm here for that conversation. ASHLEY: [laughs] I love it. So that's really what it came down to. We also help businesses who don't have a purpose-driven mindset to build that into their company culture. Maybe they came to us and wanted to think about “How do we put our story out there in a way that has more employee retention, that we can attract more visibility from our clients?” We always say you've got to be purpose-driven. You've got to stand for something. So, we've also helped coach our clients into getting into this space, too. ROB: What does that transformation look like? Maybe an example of where a company was starting. The purpose is usually there, much like your own firm; you just have to find your way to it. ASHLEY: That's exactly it. Just setting the intention, putting it out there in your story, putting it on your website, weaving it into your social media, and holding your teams accountable too, and just shouting it from the rooftops. That's especially applicable to clients of ours that aren't necessarily nonprofits but are doing something to give back – make sure that their employees know about the work they're doing at an executive level and then down to a grassroots level. A little bit less in COVID time but coordinating fundraising events or teambuilding events around giving back. ROB: It sounds like it would almost pull you towards being involved in – if an organization didn't have core values, you might not even be working on marketing. You might be working almost on their internals before they get to the externals. Do you end up getting pulled in that deep? ASHLEY: Sometimes, yes, we do. But I think that primarily our sweet spot is in the content creation and the storytelling. That's where we really like to be. Certainly, we will help clients define their brand strategy, and that includes core values and messaging. But we definitely like to focus on the story element. ROB: Understood. You talked about not having as much of a focus when you started, but let's even go a little bit further behind that. What led you to have the sort of audacity to create your own job and create some other jobs along the way? How did you get into that lane? ASHLEY: I love that word. I love the word “audacious.” Let's see, I've been a writer for my whole life, ever since I was in kindergarten, I think. I won a Young Authors contest for a short story I wrote called “Crystal Met the Ogre.” I still have it. Kind of funny. But I've been a writer my whole life, and I loved to tell people stories, but I also had a knack for business and trying to create processes and connect people. After I finished my undergrad at University of Tennessee – I was a creative writing major; I worked at the school paper – I ended up in a sales position. I wasn't expecting that I was going to be in sales, but also that I was going to like it so much. I started off working for a candy manufacturer based in Chicago. It was a great experience. I was 22, had half the country as my territory, was flying all over, slinging candy. But I wanted a little bit more of a high-volume sale, and I moved into commercial real estate. Through that experience, I was a creative person trapped in a corporate world and interacting with people at the C level. What I found was that all of these brands and businesses didn't know how to talk about themselves. They were all innovative. Every single one of them called themselves “innovative.” All of them called themselves “streamlined.” I realized it was a problem that in this digital space, people didn't have the words to differentiate themselves from one another. You could close your eyes and hear across multiple industries and see people using the same exact words to describe themselves, with no differentiation. So that was an observation. In the meantime, I was volunteering for nonprofit organizations in Chicago and helping them with content creation. This was that sweet spot when social media was just starting to go from being that you needed a .edu email address to that anyone could sign up for Facebook at this time. How do you turn those social media engines into a marketing machine? I cut my teeth on that through nonprofit work and ultimately decided that I was onto something and needed to combine all of my passions for business, storytelling, content, and nonprofit work. So I left my career in commercial real estate and went back to school to earn a master's in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. They have a great program for writing for a target audience. I simultaneously founded Yakkety Yak, and the rest is sort of history. ROB: That's a great upscaling moment on the writing there. I like that. I wonder a little bit – I'm just going to pull on a thread here that's a little random, but we'll see where it goes – if you don't mind me asking, what was the candy? Who were you selling to, and what made it desirable for them to buy this candy? ASHLEY: [laughs] It was a private label contract manufacturing. That's what we pitched. I worked with Cost Plus World Market and Harry & David, and we were doing premium toffees. We would produce it for them under their own private label brand. Coming from Chicago, we'd make the candy and then it would be in like a Harry & David package, for example. They also did those really beautiful Christmas candies, ribbon candies. That was it. No chocolates and no gummies, but pretty much everything else. It was cool. There was a factory. The CEO of the company gave me my first job out of school, tolerated me, trained me in sales. He actually passed away a couple of years ago, and he just made such a positive impact in my life, giving me this opportunity. It was pretty cool getting to walk through the candy factory and make friends with the factory workers and be part of creating something from end to end. ROB: That's very cool. Those are typically, in my reckoning, pretty high end, nice candies. It's a creative process. It's not what it sounds like at first when you say sales. I think we all sometimes miss doing tangible work, something you can put your hands on and something you can see sitting on a shelf. ASHLEY: Yeah, it was cool. And it was fun. It was my first experience in business. We would go to these candy conferences, and I was the youngest by far. I was the only female, interacting at Happy Hour with the good ol' boys who'd been in the business for 40 years. It was fun. It taught me a lot about how to defend myself. It taught me a lot about how to keep composure as a woman in business and overcome challenges. That experience grew me really well for commercial real estate, which was a little bit more of a cutthroat type of industry. ROB: Right. You went from a boys' club to a mean boys' club. ASHLEY: [laughs] I did. ROB: Even trickier. Maybe a little bit gentler in a more creative space. But I think what's interesting is the through line is, as we all know as an agency owner, you are selling, but it sounds like a common thing across your sales experience is you're really helping people get what they want – which is much easier than trying to convince them they need something they're not aware of. ASHLEY: I think so, yeah. ROB: Very interesting. Ashley, as you reflect on – you said 2014 was the starting of Yakkety Yak? ASHLEY: I have two dates. 2012 is when I founded the agency and I went back to school, and I had a few very small clients at the time. But 2014 is when I hired my first employee and Yakkety Yak became my full-time job. So I use that as my real date. ROB: Got it. Over the course of that 7+ year time, what are some things you've learned that you might do differently if you were starting from scratch? ASHLEY: That's a great question. My journey has been really interesting. I built the agency from scratch. I had no outside investors. I'm pretty risk positive; I'm comfortable in a space of jumping and leaping to the next level. It doesn't make me nervous. I don't spend a lot of time dwelling on mistakes made because I do believe that every experience leads you to the next, and you've got to build upon it and take with you the tidbits that help make you stronger. For example, looking at my career trajectory, the candy business, while I knew it wasn't my life's passion, that sales experience helped take me to the next level. Any adversity that I faced in commercial real estate, I took that with me to become a founder and CEO and be gutsy as hell. But one thing that stands out for what I would do differently is I think in the area of hiring. I have worn every hat in the agency, and I wish that I'd had more help sooner because that would've helped me scale faster. I haven't mentioned this part yet, but I've got three really little kids – and a COVID baby. It would've been great – when my second son was born, it was 2018; I was 38 weeks pregnant, and I had an employee resign, which meant that I was not going to get any maternity leave. I had my baby on a Tuesday and I was back to work on Monday. If I had built a deeper bench, then I would've been able to have a little bit more balance early on. ROB: What do you think it was that prevented you from building up that team? ASHLEY: I think when you're an agency starting out and you're competing in a market like Chicago – we have some major players here. I'm going up against, from a benefits standpoint, a salary standpoint, and a credibility standpoint, some powerhouses. It took a little bit of time to earn some credibility and name recognition. People, I will say, do remember the name Yakkety Yak, so I am proud of that. Recruiting top talent takes time and building up a team and building that referral network where people say “Hey, that's a place where I really want to be and where I want to work.” ROB: Got it. What were your first couple of hires when you went from a team of one to a team of more? ASHLEY: Oh gosh, one of my first hires was – and he's still one of my favorite employees; he moved back to California and is doing some really great things right now – a graphic designer. I had the way with the words, and I was bringing in the business but also doing a lot of the content creation, and Curtis was doing the graphic design elements. And then support from a writing standpoint, so I eventually started to be able to outsource that and build a team. I shouldn't say outsource; I mean delegate. That's the word I mean. And finally, 2018 was a breakthrough year for me where I finally was able to build – we had more than 15 people. Now we're a team of 20. It's great to have such amazing talent at the agency now. I wish that I had done that sooner. But when you're bootstrapping your own business, it's kind of part of the deal, I think. ROB: Congratulations on that growth. You mentioned a COVID baby, so I'm sort of expecting, by your story, that maybe you did get some maternity leave this time around? ASHLEY: [laughs] I didn't. Well, lesson learned from the second child, but we were in crisis – not crisis, but I didn't think that it would be good for me to have no visibility to my team when we're all suddenly working remotely and in the middle of a global pandemic. So, I made sure to still be around for internal purposes, but I did remove myself from some client-facing work for a period of time. I had my baby Memorial Day weekend, and by Labor Day my clients were seeing me on the regular again. ROB: Got it. I can definitely see a case for visibility to a team in a time where everybody's in uncharted territory. ASHLEY: Sure. ROB: Where are you and your team in terms of office? Did you have an office, do you have an office? Are you going to have an office? Are you keeping the same geographic footprint moving forward? How are you thinking about physical space in the context of Yakkety Yak? ASHLEY: That's such a great question and something that's so relevant right now. We have this awesome office in a loft building right near the train station, Union Station in Chicago, and it's great. I love the space. It's got that brick and timber feel, lots of natural light, open area. But we jammed a lot of people into that space. I'm currently working with a designer, Lauren Ashley Allan. She's a really awesome up-and-coming designer. We're revamping and rethinking our space so that it is comfortable for people when we return to work. Flexible seating options is what we're focusing on, in addition to little booths so that people who are a little more conscious or want more privacy can work in a confined space that has ventilation. The goal is that we're not going to mandate that the team come back to work, but we are going to open our doors after Memorial Day, and I'll be there and give people a place that they can come and work if they want to escape and gradually start getting people back together. I think what I've been noticing is I miss the vibration, like the good vibes that come from having a team all together. So, we're putting some thought and intention into how we're designing the space, and we'll move forward from there with some flexible hours, combination of remote work and in-person. ROB: Right, but you're probably not going to have folks moving to Portugal and being fully remote, that you could think of? ASHLEY: I don't think so. [laughs] ROB: [laughs] It sounds like you're being very intentional about your space, which is compelling, and it sounds like even within the office environment, you're really differentiating that work environment. Knowing Chicago, knowing where you are, you have a benefit of accessibility and transit and that urban lifestyle for those who choose it. And obviously, in Chicago, you can get into the city from very, very far out on a train if you want. And then not knowing the specific block you're on or whatever, during normal times, there's probably a good vibe, good places to grab lunch together, grab Happy Hour together. It's not just some nameless office park. ASHLEY: Right, exactly. That camaraderie is just important. I really felt for people – especially those who are in there, mid to late twenties, single, living by themselves, and stuck at home during COVID. That's a lot for people. I think that we've got a lot of healing to do as a country when it comes to finally starting to emerge back into everyday life. I want to be there and I want to create a safe space for my team to come in and get work done and feel welcome and safe and so we can continue doing the excellent work that we've been doing and build off of that energy. ROB: That sounds excellent. How's your team thinking about that? I know everybody's all over the spectrum, at least from people I know. Some people would be in a closet together tomorrow and some people are waiting until they get a shot or even longer. What's the range of what you're seeing? ASHLEY: A range, you're exactly right. I'm giving people space to make the decisions on their own for now. We continue to check in on it. I've said that in 2021, at this point, we're probably not going to do a mandate to go back to work. But we will open the doors and encourage people to come in if they want to. The beauty of the transition that's taken place from a remote workforce standpoint is that now we see that we can work remotely, that if you've got to coach your kid's softball team in the afternoon, you can work from home, and that's going to be fine. We're going to be able to connect, and no one's going to miss anything. I think this has done wonders for the work-life balance, and I hope at least at Yakkety Yak, that's a trend we're going to really continue to let permeate our office culture. ROB: I love the intentionality of it. I'm a little bit jealous. I'm a little bit more of a “ready, fire, aim” sort of person. Over the course of the past year, the last four people we've hired have all been remote, and we're going to figure it out later. I'm hoping that late fall/early winter, we'll get together and visit one of our team who lives down in Chile. It's completely different. Walking away from the office and loading the furniture into our basement kind of made it real, you know? ASHLEY: How did that feel for you? ROB: I am very comfortable with the change. The thing I don't like in my basement is there's no people there. There's fresh air and light. It's a little rustic, shall we say. I do miss the getting together, but if part of it means that instead of being in the office and doing little things, we get to do something more pronounced like spending a week in Chile and getting some different gatherings, I'm interested in it. It's a change of pace for sure. Ashley, when you think about the future of Yakkety Yak, the future of marketing and how you're working with businesses that give back, what are you excited about in the future that's coming up? ASHLEY: I couldn't be more excited about video. We are doing some really, really, really incredible work when it comes to especially the patient space, telling people's stories about how they've been impacted by various health conditions, diseases, disorders. I love using video as a mechanism for storytelling, regardless of the target audience. There are so many cool things now with TikTok and how to use visual elements to show a progression, and people are doing that every day in their homes as amateurs, and how that's going to translate to professional level videos I think is something that is so cool and something you're going to see exploding in marketing space over the next 18 months. ROB: One thing I wonder about, if you have an opinion on it, is when I think about audio and the way it's going, I see a lot more attention going into the sound on versus sound off experience and accommodating people who might be muted. What direction do you see that going? Are we going towards where every video's going to adapt, or are we going to where we're assuming that so many people have some sort of Bluetooth headset in that they're going to have audio on? How is that trending? ASHLEY: That's a really great question. I'm going to answer it in two parts. One, I think that the pandemic has shown everyone the importance of quality A/V, like when you can't hear someone on Zoom or there's a delay in a recording when you're watching things virtually. I think that high quality video and audio is something that's more of a priority than it's ever been. With that said, I think it depends on the platform. We wouldn't necessarily, for a virtual fundraiser or virtual event, have all of the text scrolling at the bottom of the experience, but when it comes to ads and what's happening when people are scrolling through Instagram, I think it's absolutely vital to have the words there because people are scrolling through Instagram in their beds at night when they're not necessarily wearing headphones and they don't want to wake up their partner, or they have babies that they're feeding and don't want to scare the babies. That's my personal experience, but I think it applies across a multitude of scenarios. And people are multitasking, too. They might have one window open or be on a conference call or a Zoom call and scrolling through Instagram. You can't have that dependence on the audio in those scenarios.  So, when it comes to social media, the text is vital. When it comes to other experiences where you're holding people's attention for a little bit longer, then I think you're okay without it.  ROB: Very, very interesting. Thank you for illuminating the topic. Ashley, when people want to find and connect with you and with Yakkety Yak, where should they go to find you? ASHLEY: Our website is the best spot to find us because you've got links there to all of our social media channels. You can find us at yakketyyak.com. The spelling isn't necessarily intuitive. ROB: How did you choose the spelling of Yakkety Yak? ASHLEY: [laughs] I don't know. I think it was probably the domain that was available at the time. But it was important that we were Y-A-K and not Y-A-C-K, so we went from there. ROB: Perfect. Ashley, thank you so much for joining the podcast and sharing your experience. I definitely wish you the best as you get that revamped office up and humming and get everybody back working together in person. ASHLEY: Thanks, Rob. I really appreciate your time today. This was fun. ROB: Thank you so much, Ashley. Bye. Thank you for listening. The Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast is presented by Converge. Converge helps digital marketing agencies and brands automate their reporting so they can be more profitable, accurate, and responsive. To learn more about how Converge can automate your marketing reporting, email info@convergehq.com, or visit us on the web at convergehq.com.

We explore being comfortable in the skin you're in at all ages and phases of life. We also talk about Oprah's interview with Meghan Markle and Harry David interview and celebrate some pioneering women musical in our Black Excellence segment. Check out Black Excellence on our YouTube Channel!

In Episode 6 of Sweet Bytes with Sandra, your host, Dr. Sandra Colton-Medici, discusses the following topics: Sandra's Top 5 Tips to Stay On-Trend in Business Listener Call-In, "What funnel platform should I use?" Interview with Integrated Marketing Expert, Reggie Casagrande (smc2000STUDIO) Sandra's experience performing post-pregnancy with her daughter Giulia in a workout video for new moms and their babies Extrabyte featuring music from Leena Punks as well as Dessert pizza-ish, really Cinnabon delivered by Harry & David, and a chance to win a $25 e-gift Certificate to Harry & David (**Harry & David and Cinnabon are not affiliated with this contest).   Episode Sponsor: Team 3XT Try Studio3XT today FREE for 7 days! You can customize the style, time, and type of workouts you want to achieve your goals! Go to team3xt.com Episode Partner: KIND Take 15% off a single purchase with code SANDRA at KINDsnacks.com through 12/31/20. Valid only on kindsnacks.com. Discount will not be applied to subscription orders. Excludes wholesale orders. Cannot be combined with other offers or promotions. In-stock product only. While supplies last. Offer is non-transferable, has no cash value and cannot be applied to previous purchases or the purchase of gift cards. Limit of one use of promotional code per customer. Void where prohibited by law. To redeem, use code SANDRA in your Shopping Cart. Terms of offer are subject to change. Offer begins on 12/1/2020 at 12:01AM EST and ends on 12/31/2020 at 11:59PM PST. SPECIAL HOLIDAY ANNOUNCEMENT: Save 50% on Sandra's program Course Sweetener by Enrolling between Thanksgiving 2020 to Christmas 2020 to join for only $230. Click this LINK --> Course Sweetener Affiliate Mentions/Links: Webinarninja Audible - Get your FREE Trial by visiting this URL: www.AudibleTrial.com/SweetBytesWithSandra Mentioned in Episode 5: mc2000STUDIO, Pantone, TechCrunch.com, Moz.com, Course Sweetener, WebinarNinja, Audible, Team3XT, Harry & David, and Cinnabon. Have a Listener Question? Call & Leave a Voicemail: (410) 216-5059 You can also email the podcast at: info@sandracoltonmedici.com Subscribe, Share, Comment, & Rate: If you enjoyed this episode and found it helpful, please subscribe so that you receive notifications for each new episode. Please share it with a friend and tag me on your Instagram/Facebook or LinkedIn story so I can give you a shout out! Rate the podcast and leave your feedback in the comments section of the podcast page as well. Have a Show Topic Suggestion? Send to: info@sandracoltonmedici.com *In the subject line only write: SBWS Show Topic Suggestion Purchase Sandra's book, Passion P.I.P.E.L.I.N.E.: Amazon - Print Amazon - Kindle Apple - iBooks   Follow Sandra on Social Media: Instagram: @SweetBytesWithSandra Instagram: @DrSandraColtonMedici Facebook: @SweetBytesWithSandra Facebook: @Shop.SandraColtonMedici Facebook: @SandraColtonMedici Facebook: @DrSandraColtonMedici YouTube: @SandraColtonMedici Pinterest: @SandraColton Twitter: @SandraColton   Join the SBWS Private Facebook Community **Password: Satisfy Your Entrepreneurial Sweet Tooth Read the Sweet Bytes with Sandra SHOW NOTES Want Sandra's Show Look? Sandra's SBWS Style Credits: Headphones: Bose Hairstyling: Hai + Beyond the Zone Top: DEPT Heels: Nine West Eyes: MAC + L'Oréal Paris Cheek: MAC Petal Power Lip: MAC Ruby Woo Foundation: Nars Sheer Glow   Theme music by Astrotunes.

Season’s greetings, Succotashians! I’m your every-other-weekly co-host Marc Hershon and I know it’s a little early to be making with the Christmas cheer but this is likely the last time I’ll be speaking to you until after Christmas and New Year’s – my fellow co-host Tyson Saner and I will be taking a little holiday break after next week – so I figured I better make with the Yuletide wishes while I can. Speaking of Mr. Saner, if you missed his most recent installment, that would be Succotash Shut-In, Episode 232, featuring clips from comedy soundcasts Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie, Puppet Tears: Puppetry Shop Talk, and Good For You. It’s not to late to enjoy it: It’s available from our homesite, SuccotashShow.com, as well as Google and Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, Laughable, and even on YouTube. Normally I’d haul in a Santa’s sack full of season snippets for you on a show this close to Ex-mas but I’m unwrapping something different for you. If our normal fare is like a Whitman’s Sampler of soundcasts, then this is more like a Harry & David’s delivery – it’s a fresh chat! So fresh that, until I recorded this episode’s conversation with our guest last week, she and I had never met or even spoken before, even though we’ve been working together for the past couple of years. Becca James is my guest this episode. She’s a freelance writer who has a major focus on soundcasts – or “podcasts” as she still refers to them (and I will be, too, during this interview but just to make her feel comfortable.) She and I are fellow soundcasts reviewers for This Week in Comedy Podcasts (there’s that word again!) over on Vulture.com. She does a lot more written coverage than I, and she writes about comedy, and music, and a variety of subjects. She was a writer then editor at the AV Club a while back. And we cover how she got into it, what she likes about the gig, and we’ll talk about why she’s never seriously considered starting up her own soundcast. Another big thank you to YOU for dropping by, popping us in your earholes, and enjoying the show. At least, I hope you enjoyed the show. If that’s true, then keep the good feelings going all the way over to Apple Podcasts and give us a pile o’ stars and a tasty little review. Even a couple of lines will do nicely, thanks. I’ll get out of here with a reminder that Tyson will be here next week with Epi234, then we’re off for a few weeks until after the New Year and I will return with Epi325 on Tuesday, January 16th, of 2021. Until then, I want to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season, with a reminder to stay safe, socially distance, wash your hands and – until you get that Coronavirus vaccine in you, stop touching people! And you don’t have to touch them to give them the gift of cheer this year, which is to simply pass the Succotash! ‑ Marc Hershon

This week’s episode is sponsored by Harry & David, an American-based premium food and gift producer and retailer that has been helping loved ones stay connected across the miles since 1934. We’re joined by Micaela to discuss how Harry & David has successfully cultivated an online community through engagement, authenticity, and providing value. We also talk about fun and unique ways to stay connected with friends and family during a Pandemic.  In this episode you’ll learn:How to stay connected with loved ones during a PandemicWays to foster a highly engaged online communityAdapting and jumping into digital trendsWorking smarter, not harderThe importance of interaction and authenticity Connect with Harry & David on Instagram or Facebook Connect with Irie Lemon on Instagram or Facebook Connect with Liz of The Lemon Bowl on Instagram or Facebook Connect with Vince of Irie Kitchen on Instagram or Twitter  If you have any topic ideas for the future, let us know on Instagram or the comment section on YouTube! Enjoyed this episode? Leave a review and send it to your best friend. Stay tuned for weekly episodes filled with practical tips, amazing conversations and incredible guests!

Fauci Says Americans "Don't Believe Science And They Don't Believe Authority" Sarah from Dallas, TX needs advice after she offended people at work. She asks about speaking up and when and when not to. Daniel from Missouri remarks about trusting God. Trump Speaks on Why He Hired Former National Security Advisor John Bolton Darren from Indianapolis, IN answers the biblical question. --- Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland 'has moved in' with Megan and Harry… David from Canada remarks on BLM and their communist ties. George from Arizona BLM is evil and how the bible supports Jesse Kyle from Elliot, ME remarks on the state of the country.

Ps Harry shares a message about King David and the mercy that he showed to Mephibosheth, based on the passage in 2 Samuel 9.

On today's Satellite Sisters, Lian tells us about her Secret Santa shopping, Liz has health tips on vitamins and supplements and we both talk about The Crown. Plus Cyber Monday recap, new travel trends and crafting, a warning about a supposed beauty trend and The Crown on Netflix. First up, Julie is off today at a policy forum on the subject of North Korea.  For reelz! Check it out. Liz does some Cyber Monday shopping at Julie's favorite purveyor of holiday treats: Harry & David. Plus she shares a story in the L A Times about holiday scams to watch out for: online rackets and work from home offers you should avoid. Lian's got a hot travel trend.  Check out this story on Travel and CRAFTING! And a cultural trend: Breaking opera news! Read all about it. Plus a beauty trend that Lian is not too sure would look good on any of us. Check out Ombre Lips from Real Simple.  Jane Brody is the longtime well-respected personal health columnist at the New York Times.  Last week she ran this story on Which Supplements, If Any, May Be Worth Your Money.  Liz and Lian each share their approach in this area.  If you have not watched The Crown on Netflix, Liz and Lian recommend it for its very insightful storytelling about the pressures on a young Queen Elizabeth when she first was crowned.     

Julie announces that this is her first day of pie-free living in quite a while. Julie & Liz award Satellite Sister of the Week to longtime listener and facebook friend Leslie Maxfield for sharing her excitement about the launch of Mars-bound Curiosity with us.  Leslie was at the Kennedy Space Center for the big event. In other news, Julie bonds with an air marshal, Liz has an issue with Harry & David, and the Satellite Sisters export both Diane Keaton's haircut and Chico's to Kyrgyzstan. Plus, we remember our mother Edna Dolan's strategy of resting non-working appliances.  We also want to remind you of some Satellite Sisters sponsors who have special offers for listeners to you might fund useful during your holiday gift shopping: Harry's: Use www.harrys.com and the promo code sisters at checkout Glossier:  Use www.glossier.com and the promo code sisters at checkout Away Luggage:  Go to www.awaytravel.com/sisters and use promo code sisters at checkout Eloquii fashions: Go to www.eloquii.com/sisters and use promo code sisters at checkout Primary kids clothing: Use www.primary.com/sisters Thanks, Satellite Sisters. And thanks for supporting the sponsors who support us. 

When Chris McCann President and Chief Executive Officer of 1-800 FLOWERS.COM was sitting in the F8 keynote with Mark Zuckerberg, he had no idea Zuckerberg would be including 1-800 Flowers in the presentation. The reason 1-800 Flowers was everywhere in the press is the announcement of the chatbot release. 1-800 Flowers has always been on the brink of technology innovation. They were the first to allow customers to call them to make an order for delivery in the early 80s. They were the first retail company to have an ecommerce presence on the web in 1992 when they partnered with AOL. Now they are one of the first to take advantage of the Facebook chatbot release. Facebook will now allow businesses to deliver automated customer support, ecommerce guidance, content, and interactive experiences. 1-800 Flowers uses a few different technologies to run its large ecommerce operation that includes brands such as Harry & David and seven more.   In this podcast you will learn: Understand the process of launching the Facebook chatbot for 1-800 Flowers.   How 1-800 Flowers ensures the quality of suggestions delivered by the chatbot Learn about 1-800 Flowers customer service strategy    

Session 68 of DPB is a special edition and something new for us as well as you. The great people at the Trillium Automotive Dealers Association (TADA) which is based out of Ontario invited team DPB to their amazing one day power session for dealers in Toronto called “Canadian Digital Dealer”.  Our friend Brent Wees who was the events MC got us hooked up with TADA and we got together to do something new for all of us over at DPB. We did this session live at Canadian Digital Dealer and we were able to get exclusive interviews with some of the elite speaker list and you can hear it all hear at DPB. Big shout out to our new friends at TADA for making us seem so welcome. Great work guys! Here is a quick preview of the speakers we sat down with. Alan H Byrd from SCI Market View: Alan Byrd is the President & Chief Executive Leader of SCI Market View, who specializes in automotive lead management. Alan brings some super powerful insight when it comes to many aspects of a dealership and its digital strategy. He brings a lot of experience to the table and was a great interview. Christi Olson of ISEM Consulting: Prior to founding iSEM Consulting, she was the Director of Search at Point It, one of the Pacific Northwest's largest independent search marketing agencies. Christi has worked at both large enterprise clients and small start-ups including Expedia, Harry & David, Pointmarc, Decide.com and Microsoft. Christi recently broke out onto her own and started her own agency but she is the former head of  search for Microsoft. Christi delivers some super valuable insights when it comes to your paid ads strategy and she is for real a true expert. That is just a preview of the content you will get in this super fun 2 part series. Check Out TADA Get connected with the insanely awesome people at TADA and make sure if you are a Canadian listener you think about attending the next one. TADA Website You Know The Drill, Now It's Your Turn The whole team at DPB can not thank you enough for all the support and love you have been giving us. Whether you loved it, hated it, want more of it, or want something different , we want to hear your voice. Sound off below with your thoughts, opinions, suggestions, questions, etc. and lets keep this conversation going. See you next time ;) Have You Checked Out Michael Cirillo's Best Selling Book "Don't Wait Dominate?  Get Michael's book here. Connect With Team DPB Connect with The Dealer Playbook on Twitter here. Check out Michael Cirillo's blog here. Check out Robert Wiesman's blog here. Connect with Michael Cirillo on Twitter here. Connect with Robert Wiesman on Twitter here.    

Lian is back from the Tour de Oregon. A review of the two week road trip, plus other ramblings on audio books, 4th of July, Harry & David, the joys of good beds and Jury Duty Limbo. 

Julie & Liz award Satellite Sister of the Week to longtime listener and facebook friend Leslie Maxfield for sharing her excitement about the launch of Mars-bound Curiosity with us.  Leslie, who works at Cal Tech, was at the Kennedy Space Center for the big event. In other news, Julie bonds with an air marshal, Liz has an issue with Harry & David, and the Satellite Sisters export both Diane Keaton's haircut and Chico's to Kyrgyzstan.