Podcasts about into the gloss

Hoy en Epic Queen Podcast, te contamos la historia de Emily Weiss y su marca Glossier, que transformó la industria cosmética. Desde su inicio como un simple blog llamado Into The Gloss, hasta convertirse en un imperio valorado en más de mil millones de dólares. ¿Cómo pasó de ser intern en Vogue a fundar una de las marcas de belleza más influyentes del mundo? ¿Qué hizo diferente Glossier y por qué su modelo de negocio fue revolucionario? ¿Y cómo enfrentaron los desafíos que casi los derrumban?

Crown Affair's hair products are in the bathrooms (and kits) of so many people who love and work in the beauty industry. How did that happen? Founder Dianna Cohen is here to explain. She shares lessons she learned working on some of the hottest “millennial” brands of the 2010s (Into The Gloss, Away, Outdoor Voices, Harry's); why marketing isn't the most important part of building a brand; the difference between hair *care* and hair styling; and why she thinks clips, scrunchies, and combs should be as elegant looking as your other accessories. Episode recap: fatmascara.com/blog/dianna-cohenProducts mentioned in this episode: shopmy.us/collections/1359696Sponsor links & discount codes: fatmascara.com/sponsorsPrivate Facebook Group: Fat Mascara Raising a WandTikTok & Instagram: @fatmascara, @jenn_edit, @jessicamatlin + contributors @garrettmunce, @missjuleeSubmit a "Raise A Wand" product recommendation: text us or leave a voicemail at 646-481-8182 or email info@fatmascara.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/fatmascara. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today is an honest book review and deep dive into the trending book, Glossy by Marisa Meltzer. It is a profile piece about Emily Weiss and Glossier. But who is she?  Emily Weiss is the founder of the popular beauty brand, Glossier. She was introduced to the world as a Teen Vogue intern on the MTV show, ‘The Hills', starring Lauren Conrad. She would go on to create the popular beauty blog ‘Into The Gloss' which would be the catalyst for her billion-dollar company, Glossier.  What can we learn from “trendy” beauty brands like Glossier and female founds like Emily Weiss? Let's dive in.  My next book review will be the Britney Spears memoir, ‘The Women in Me'. Let me know what other trending topics and books you want me to cover from a marketing perspective!  TIME STAMPS: Introduction - 0:00  The Glossy Book + Author - 2:20 Emily Weiss - 4:38  “Into the Gloss” - 7:15  Glossier - 12:47 Glossier's Height - 16:26  Celebrity Name Drops - 22:40 Glossier's Mistakes - 26:18  How can Glossier become “cool” again? - 35:10 Follow Coco on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/cocomocoe TikTok: tiktok.com/@cocomocoe YouTube: https://youtube.com/@CocoMocoe?si=x8WFaM-iNp_xOMn_  Join the #AheadOfTheCurve Discord: https://discord.gg/drDBjzVXnp  Thank you for listening to ‘Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe' wherever you find your favorite podcasts! Tune in weekly for deep dives into trending topics, pop culture and celebrity interviews - all from a marketing expert's perspective.  You can buy the book here (Thank you for using link as I get a percentage of the profits from my link): https://amzn.to/3QeJ1JC  For business inquiries, email: cocomocoe@whalartalent.com  

This replay is Emily Weiss, founder of Glossier, who, after build a community on her blog Into The Gloss, saw an opportunity to create a new beauty experience that celebrates and speaks to the customer directly. Founded in 2014, Glossier is a digital-first beauty company with a mission to give voice through beauty and since launching, Glossier has introduced 36 products, opened two permanent stores (NY and LA), raised $186 million in funding, and has welcomed 3 million customers the Glossier community. And that was back in 2019 when we recorded this episode so I'm not sure on those stats now but I'm still loving my 'boy brow' product. Hope you enjoy this conversation.My Substack page, come and say hi: https://thehyphen.substack.com/My books: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/emma-gannonBooks mentioned on Ctrl Alt Delete podcast: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/books-mentioned-on-ctrl-alt-delete-podcastTwitter: Twitter.com/emmagannonInstagram: Instagram.com/emmagannonuk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we explore The Myth of Julia Fox: her hard-partying youth, various artistic endeavors, explicit sex appeal, and attempts at provocation in 2022. We also talk about the fragility of the dream(s) she represents: being young, hot, and reckless in New York; representing a milieu just by being yourself; and turning out just fine (and famous) after following your impulses to the bitter end. Mentioned: "A Retired Dominatrix Goes to Church" Naomi Fry in The New Yorker "Julia's Box: Where the Legend of 'The Fox' All Began" Cat Marnell in PAPER IDEA on Julia's art books "Sex, Blood, and the Ritual of Rebirth: RIP Julia Fox" Jill Di Donato in Huffpost Julia's Into The Gloss interview

This week we explore The Myth of Julia Fox: her hard-partying youth, various artistic endeavors, explicit sex appeal, and attempts at provocation in 2022. We also talk about the fragility of the dream(s) she represents: being young, hot, and reckless in New York; representing a milieu just by being yourself; and turning out just fine (and famous) after following your impulses to the bitter end. Mentioned: ⁠"A Retired Dominatrix Goes to Church"⁠ Naomi Fry in The New Yorker  ⁠ "Julia's Box: Where the Legend of 'The Fox' All Began"⁠ Cat Marnell in PAPER  ⁠IDEA⁠ on Julia's art books ⁠ "Sex, Blood, and the Ritual of Rebirth: RIP Julia Fox"⁠ Jill Di Donato in Huffpost ⁠ Julia's Into The Gloss interview⁠

Tom got his start when Emily Weiss hired him to be the photographer for Into The Gloss. Today we talk about his influences, the best agencies for photographers and and photographers budgets & salaries.  IG: @tomtakesphotoss

Tom got his start when Emily Weiss hired him to be the photographer for Into The Gloss. Today we talk about his influences, the best agencies for photographers and and photographers budgets & salaries.  IG: @tomtakesphotoss

Kim Johnson visits us to talk about all things community, her trajectory and evolution in the space, the changes she witnessed in the last ten years in the industry, and where she sees community heading. She is the Head of Community at Geneva and one of the OGs of community building. Kim started as an editorial intern at Into The Gloss, tasted marketing and advertising for a while, and discovered her passion for community building at Glossier. In this episode, Kim explains how being painfully shy as a kid served her to develop her career many years later, entities' and creators' roles in community building, and why she believes not every brand needs a community. Plus, Kim dissects Geneva; what is it, who is it for, how to use it, which communities are the most successful in the platform, and so much more. This episode is brought to you by Seed - my favorite favorite pre and probiotic company - I've been taking it for years (3+). Use code ACTIVE for 15% off your first month of Seed's DS-01™ Daily Synbiotic https://seed.com/daily-synbiotic?utm_source=active_ingredient&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=15pSome Questions I Ask:How were you as a child, and what personality traits from that time do you think you still have? (4:12)Let's take a step back. What is community? (14:47)What makes a Geneva community successful? (26:54)In This Episode, You Will Learn:The perks of being a quiet introvert (4:44)Some people live for the deal. How Kim got clear on what she didn't want to work with (7:34)The future is almost here. Community building and content creators (15:29)Slow and steady, and watering it over time. The secrets of community building (21:35)What is Geneva? (25:03)The paradox of being lonely and afraid of human interaction at the same time (36:45)Connect with Kim:InstagramLinkedInLet's connect!Active Ingredient InstagramSophie Weill InstagramJoin the Active Ingredient Geneva Community Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of the Friends in Beauty podcast I welcome the Founders of Bolden to the Friends in Beauty guest chair.   Bolden is a skincare line committed to helping shape the global conversation around inclusive beauty standards. It was founded by Chinelo Chidozie & Ndidi Obidoa in 2015 after they saw an unmet need for an affordable, vegan & cruelty-free skincare line backed by science for melanin-rich skin.    Childhood friends turned sisters-in-law, this dynamic duo has grown Bolden into an influencer must-have endorsed by the likes of many, such as beauty guru Jackie Aina and actress Yvonne Orji. Bolden's product range includes their bonafide #CultFavorite SPF 30 Brightening Moisturizer, and a line of ethically sourced shea butter oils from a Burkina Faso women's co-op.    Bolden has been featured in the likes of COSMOPOLITAN, Oprah Magazine, ELLE, ESSENCE, FORBES, Harper's Bazaar, & Women's Health, and has also received coveted Beauty Awards from: Into The Gloss, Women's Health, WWD, & Cosmopolitan, among others.    How cool is that!?   I had such a wonderful time chatting with Chinelo & Ndidi. They were so much fun and we had the opportunity to talk about so much. In this interview they share:   -The story behind how they met, reconnected, and became sister-in-laws (I had to get the tea) -How a vacation in Key West sparked their inspiration for creating Bolden -Why they're customers remain loyal and continue to support the brand -Their thoughts on skin bleaching -Tips for going into business with friends or family -Big news about their upcoming launch in over 1,000 Walmart stores -And so much more   Let's go ahead and jump into this chat with Chinelo & Ndidi, the Founders of Bolden and if you prefer to watch our beautiful faces then tune in on YouTube. Enjoy! Enjoy this episode!   Leave us a 5 star review and share this episode with a friend or 2 or 3. info@friendsinbeauty.com   FRIENDS IN BEAUTY FACEBOOK COMMUNITY www.facebook.com/groups/friendsinbeauty   FOLLOW FRIENDS IN BEAUTY ON IG  www.instagram.com/friendsinbeauty   SUBSCRIBE TO YOUTUBE CHANNEL bit.ly/FIBTube   SEND ME A TEXT! (202) 519-4652   JOIN PATREON TO SUPPORT THE FRIENDS IN BEAUTY PODCAST https://www.patreon.com/friendsinbeauty   ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS OF THE PODCAST https://www.friendsinbeauty.com/fibadrequest   ENROLL IN THE FRIENDS WITH BENEFIT$ CLUB https://friends-with-benefits.teachable.com/p/friends-with-benefits-club Resources Mentioned In This Episode: -Book: Phil Knight - Shoe Dog -Google Sheets -Slack -Airtable -Basecamp   Additional Resources:   -https://www.amazon.com/shop/akuarobinson   -Skillshare - Use this link for 2 months free of the premium plan: https://skl.sh/30t352q   -Shop Mented Cosmetics - https://www.mentedcosmetics.com/?rfsn=1290937.f2481  Use Code “AKUAROBINSON” for 10% of your purchase  Announcements:   We're on Apple Podcasts - www.bit.ly/FIBPodItunes!   Join our Facebook community…   If  you're looking for a community of like minded, ambitious, and supportive #FriendsinBeauty all working to leave our mark on the beauty industry, join us here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsinbeauty Join the Friends in Beauty Mailing List: www.bit.ly/FIBTribe Social Media Info: Bolden (Instagram) - @boldenusa Bolden (Website) - www.boldenusa.com Friends in Beauty (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) - @friendsinbeauty Friends in Beauty (YouTube) - Friends in Beauty https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcYPyO8nAosEmjEE5nza9Zg?view_as=subscriber Akua Robinson (Instagram,Twitter) - @akuarobinson AkuaRobinson (Facebook) - Akua Robinson MUA Akua Robinson (Website) - www.akuarobinson.com

Welcome to the first episode of Due Diligence. This season of the podcast is all about "Girlboss downfalls"—AKA the stories of the iconic female-founded brands we know and (used to) love. What are their stories? What were their success strategies? What can we learn from the challenges they eventually faced so publicly? And how can we approach this analysis in a way that's critical, curious, and kind? We're dissecting each company, case by case, in multiple parts so we can dissect them strategically, culturally, and sometimes even politically. This first episode is Part 1 of 3 about a company that has—perhaps more than any other—defined the Girlboss era. We're diving into the full backstory of the Glossier—from Emily Weiss's stint at Teen Vogue and later Vogue Magazine to the Into The Gloss days and, finally, to the spectacular rise of Glossier, a beauty brand that would come to define a category and transform multiple industries spanning beauty, ecommerce, and DTC. To get updates on new episodes of the podcast, join the Substack here. Find Dulma on TikTok here. Tag her with your favorite part of this episode on Instagram here. And stay tuned for the next episode, Part 2, where we are analyzing the playbook Glossier used to become a $1.8B beauty behemoth.

Today's back-to-basics skincare topic is: exfoliation! We're welcoming  "Rihanna-Approved" esthetician Sean Garrette, who knows as much about beauty products as he does your epidermis. Featured in Vogue, Into The Gloss, Allure and InStyle, the New York-based facialist is making the world of skin accessible, inclusive, genderless – and stylish af (just check out his dreamy Instagram feed.)   In this episode, Sean breaks down the exact right way to exfoliate your skin – from the cleansers, toners, tools and tricks you need for your skin type –  at every price point. Plus, we find out the under-the-radar exfoliating ingredient he recommends to his clients most, and the reason he thinks that dry brushing your face isn't a good idea, no matter what the headlines say.   Get social with us and let us know what you think of the episode! Find us on Instagram, Twitter. Join our private Facebook group, or give us a call and leave us a voicemail at 1-844-227-0302.    For any products or links mentioned in this episode, check out our website: https://breakingbeautypodcast.com/episode-recaps/   Thank you to our show partners. When you support them, you support the creation of Breaking Beauty Podcast!    Chanel   Harnessing the revitalizing powers of the Red Camellia flower, CHANEL Research introduces a new generation of sustainably developed skincare: NUMÉRO UN DE CHANEL. Beauty Ahead of Time. Discover the collection at chanel.com.   *Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, all products reviewed are gratis media samples submitted for editorial consideration.*   Hosts: Carlene Higgins and Jill Dunn Theme song, used with permission: Cherry Bomb by Saya
 Produced by Dear Media Studio

Lumost'un 57.  bölümünde konuğumuz, yarattığı komünitenin gücünden sonuna kadar yararlanan, farklılaştırılmış içerik stratejisini kaldıraç olarak kullanan, müşterileri daha tasarım aşamasında sürece dahil eden bir kozmetik markası Glossier.  Son yatırım turunda değerlemesini 1.8 milyar $'a çıkaran, cilt bakımı, makyaj ve koku kategorilerinde kozmetik ürünler sunan Glossier, çok başarılı bir DNVB.  Bölümün ilk kısmında, Emily Weiss'ın hikayesini konuşuyoruz. Vogue'da çalışırken başlattığı Into the Gloss isimli blogun başarısını nelere borçlu olduğunu anlamaya çalışıyoruz. Bölümün ikinci kısmında Glossier ilk yıllarını inceliyoruz. Kendi komünitesini yaratmasının müşteri kazanımı anlamında yarattığı etkilere bakıyoruz. Son kısımda ise şirketin instagram üzerinden büyüme stratejisini konuşup, fiziksel mağaza tarafında büyüme planlarını analiz ederek bölümü bölümü tamamlıyoruz.

I love talking to kind, smart & incredibly-driven women and today's conversation is no exception. I'm so excited to share this beautiful episode with you featuring Carrie Barber - Owner & Creative Director of MAKE Beauty (amongst MANY other things!). Carrie and I chat so openly about re-launching MAKE (during the pandemic), her incredible background (featuring Glossier, Sephora, Violet Grey, Into The Gloss & more), standing out in a crowded space, grief and how complex it is, and so much more. We dive into how tricky grief can be when exploring new relationships and how failure is inevitable in life - and, quite frankly - so much more meaningful than success sometimes. You guys are going to absolutely love this one. Carrie Barber MAKE Beauty (the pre-cleanse fluid is absolutely EVERYTHING) Me, your host :) UNWINEDING Podcast Love u all, see u next week! xx

Ali Weiss is the Chief Marketing Officer of Glossier, Inc. which was founded in 2014 on the belief that beauty isn't built in a boardroom (rather, it happens when you're a part of the process). Glossier began with Into The Gloss, a beauty website devoted to people sharing the products they love—and later transformed into a direct-to-consumer beauty juggernaut with a reported valuation in the billions. Ali has been with Glossier for six years and was promoted to CMO in June 2021.In this episode, Ali shares how her team is involved with their consumers and how they process every piece of feedback. She also talks about how Glossier stays creative—plus, we get a first-hand look at how special this brand is to its consumers.Support our sponsor Deloitte and experience their guidance on resilience for brands in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more at Deloitte.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today's episode we are taking a minute to go behind some of the biggest summer beauty headlines - something we don't often have the opportunity to do here on Breaking Beauty!     Our guests today are Nick Axelrod-Welk and Annie Kreighbaum, the hosts of Eyewitness Beauty podcast - a weekly show where they talk about the biggest stories in the beauty biz each week, with a healthy dose of pop culture in the mix.   Aside from co-hosting their weekly show, Nick and Annie are also brand founders. Nick co-founded luxe body and personal care line Necessaire, after he worked as an editor at legacy media brands like WWD, ELLE before he co-founded Into The Gloss alongside Emily Weiss.    And Annie is a newly-minted brand founder of her body care line called Soft Services - She's also worked at Into the Gloss and Glossier - first as their Editorial Director and then she served as VP of product development.   Tune in as we chat about: Which celeb line is about to pop off? Will the skincare bubble burst? And what's the next frontier in beauty marketing?   And stay tuned to the end for a round of rapid fire round where we get the deets on their best budget beauty SPF, which designer deodorant is actually worth the splurge, which brand is the cheugiest right now in their opinion -- plus the best tip they ever took away from all of the top shelves they profiled during their Into the Gloss days.    And this is a podswap so be sure to catch us over on the Eyewitness Beauty feed this week where we discuss even more product news and play a game called “Paula's Choice”!    And #ICYMI - mic drop - we now have merch!! Check out our #damngood limited edition extremely soft scrunchies in the perfect cotton candy pink. They're made from supremely soft sustainable bamboo terry, they never slip or pull hair, and they come in three sizes: Baby, Just Right and Jumbo (the size of a personal pizza!). Shop now in the Dear Media store.    Get social with us and let us know what you think of the episode! Find us on Instagram, Twitter. Join our private Facebook group

, or give us a call and leave us a voicemail at 1-844-227-0302.    For any products or links mentioned in this episode, check out our blog: www.breakingbeautypodcast.com/blog   Thank you to our show partners. When you support them, you support the creation of Breaking Beauty Podcast!    The Inkey List: If you're confused about skincare or have a question about your skin, or the products you should use, check out #ASKinkey on social, follow @theinkeylist on social media or visit theinkeylist.com to discover the right ingredients for you.   Ana Luisa: We absolutely recommend checking out Ana Luisa at: https://shop.analuisa.com/breakingsun. We love them, their pieces start at $39, and you can get 20% off with their summer sale! #analuisany *Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, all products reviewed are gratis media samples submitted for editorial consideration.*   Hosts: Carlene Higgins and Jill Dunn Theme song, used with permission: Cherry Bomb by Saya
 Produced by Dear Media Studio

Natalie is on the content team at On Deck and was previously the Writing Partner for the On Deck Writer Fellowship. She is a freelance journalist and contributes to New York Magazine's The Strategist, Into The Gloss, Toast Magazine, Freunde Von Freunden, T Magazine, Gather, Allure, and other media outlets. She is a veteran of traditional print media and the fashion industry. ​Natalie holds a profound interest in culinary and olfactive culture, so much of her freelance writing is focused on experiences that indulge the senses and restore our connection with the natural world.She finds the connective tissue between her careers in writing, scent, and visual production to be immersive sensory storytelling. ​She was born and raised in New York City; a scent memory which she describes as sweltering asphalt under the hot summer sun, bodega roses in crisp cellophane, and sawdust co-mingling with smoked fish at the deli counter.​She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn.Natalie and Lyle did a deep dive into: Freelance writing: How did she find her “beat” in scent writing? What tips does she have for navigating the traditional publishing world? ​Creative writing: How does Natalie harness creativity in her writing? What does her writing process look like from idea to finished product? What kind of exercises does she rely on to keep growing as a writer or counter writing resistance? ​Longform writing: How being a curious reader and ‘deconstructing great writing' can improve your own editorial fitness and inform one's own process writing longer pieces. Sensory writing: How can writers of all stripes use sensory writing techniques to punch up their writing?

This week the ladies of BGT are joined by Marjon Carlos, our favorite Auntie! We of course talked all things Real Housewives of New York, text-etiquette, and dating as Black woman and how are expectations change. Marjon Carlos is a journalist, editor, and public speaker, living and working in New York. Her writing has appeared on Vogue.com, NET-A-PORTER.COM, W.com, ELLE.com, Into The Gloss, to name a few, and she regularly hosts her own self-produced advice show via IGTV, “Your Favorite Auntie”. Make sure as always to rate, comment and subscribe! Want even more? Bonus episodes, live events, merch and more of the group chat!! Become a Patron at Patreon.com/blackgirlstexting.com

Introducing Tai Adaya from Habit skin on the vibe. Habit is a skin brand that believes your skin is a number 1 investment and I totally agree with that. Their mission is to prevent anti aging and in that I love that they brought awareness to SPF. Major publications such as Vogue, Into The Gloss, The Zoe Report and vanity fair have all said this product is a MUST have. Follow along at @habitskin https://habitskin.co/products/mister

The incredible Nick Axelrod-Welk (Co-Founder of Nécessaire, Into The Gloss, and Co-Host of Eyewitness Beauty Podcast) is here! The guys take a deep dive into all things products and regimes, then they discuss childhood beauty memories, how Nick got into the skincare business, creating a unisex brand and becoming ubiquitous, Nick's number one marketing tip, ADHD, Murder on Middle Beach, Unorthodox, Jeffrey Epstein, boarding school, Adderall, Nick's new baby Evie, "fancy conversion therapy", the evolution of psychiatry, how Nick met his husband, and OnlyFans! Got questions? Email us at homophiliapod at gmail dot com !

Aditi Dash is a Partner at CircleUp and invests in consumer brands like Beyond Meat, nutpods, and Black Medicine. We discuss emigrating from India at age 8, being told to "not sit at the table" while working at Morgan Stanley, taking the advice to "get out of the building" during a surprise FDA visit at La Colombe Coffee, and why hormone health and the convergence of Media x Consumer excite her as an investor.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteListen to our weekly executive insights on Media x Commerce news: Mondays at 2pm PT on Clubhouse via @chriserwinFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com---EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders.Aditi Dash:The FDA showed up at the plant that I was running, and I'd had almost a meltdown, and I was freaking out and was given the advice to, "Hey, you just need to leave. You need to trust that the production manager and the warehouse manager have everything under control, and that the processes that you've put in place by this point are going to work." Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Aditi Dash, a partner at CircleUp. CircleUp is a consumer investor in companies like Beyond Meat, nutpods, Rebel, Black Medicine and more. Aditi was born in India and came to the US with her family at the age of eight. They spent time in Boulder, Colorado, then she went to the East Coast. After undergrad, she joined Morgan Stanley as an investment banker, and in her first week received the shocking advice of, "Never sit at the table."After a couple of years in banking, she went to the buy-side and was a consumer investor at Stripes Group. But while there, she felt disingenuous sitting across the table from founders, realizing that she wanted more operating experience so that she could give better advice. So she went to business school at Harvard, and shortly thereafter joined La Colombe, a coffee manufacturer. She has some pretty crazy stories from there, like when the FDA gave one of her plants a surprise visit, almost caused her a personal meltdown until her team told her to just get out of the building and trust the processes that she's built.Afterwards, Aditi went back to the buy-side and joined CircleUp as a partner. So at the end of our interview, we talk about what investment themes get her excited for 2021, like hormone health as purchase criteria and the convergence of media and direct-to-consumer brands. We also talk about why so many people don't get the basics of business and why Clubhouse is so exhausting. All right. This was a super fun interview with Aditi, I'm pumped to tell you her story, let's get into it. Tell me a little bit about where you grew up. What was your household like? Aditi Dash:Sure. So I grew up in a few different places. I'll start all the way at the beginning. I was born in this town called Dhanbad. It's in India, it's in Eastern India, and it is the coal mining capital of the country. Think West Virginia coal mines, a lot of the coal in India comes from this town, and that is what this town is known for. So I was born there at my grandmother's house, on my maternal grandmother's house, and lived there for a little bit, and then my family moved to Calcutta, which is now known as Kolkata. And that is the first real memory I have of a household. Aditi Dash:I lived in an apartment, two bedroom apartment with my parents. I have a younger brother. It was as far as I can remember full of joy and fun. We were middle class in India, and we were from a small town in a big city. So I guess the reason I'm saying that is that it felt like even just being in Kolkata was a big move for me and my family. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Totally. How old were you when you came over to the US? Aditi Dash:I was eight years old when I came to the US. And we moved to Milpitas in California, which is in the Bay Area. And it's like a tech hub today, it's in the center of Silicon Valley. And my dad was brought here in order to work in the tech industry. Chris Erwin:Was your father working in the technology industry back in India? Aditi Dash:Exactly. He was working in the tech industry back in India. I guess it's the reverse of outsourcing, but the- Chris Erwin:Insourcing. Aditi Dash:They insourced him and then three months later my mom and my brother joined him in California. Again, we had this great apartment in Milpitas. It was a two bedroom apartment that I recently went back to the complex and realized how tiny it was. But it was big in my eyes and my dad worked at Sun Microsystems, my mom was stay-at-home. I had a lot of fun, interesting memories from that point, but it was very community-driven. In that apartment complex, my parents got to know all the other Indians, and we hung out almost every single day if not every week, and it just was a really strong Indian community within that apartment and some of my parents best friends to this day are from there. They still see them on a weekly basis, which is kind of crazy. Chris Erwin:Wow. My mother was born in Italy, and then she migrated to the US. And I think they first landed in Erie, Pennsylvania when she was four years old. And a key part of that was that there was a lot of other local Italian community nearby to help to ease the transition and the logistics, and then just to feel that there was a support network. So did you actually move with whether other family members or other people from your Indian community back in India, when you made this move at age eight? Aditi Dash:No. It was a new community here. I think my dad may have had some friends that he was working with in India that also moved here at the same time, but for me it was a completely new thing. Chris Erwin:Do you remember being really excited or were you scared? What was going through your mind? Aditi Dash:Yes. I was really excited. I had a shirt that I would wear all the time that said baseball on it. I couldn't wait to move here. Just the things that were super exciting once I got here were like carpet. We didn't really have carpet in India, and so it was just I remember being fascinated by it, and volunteering to clean it whenever I could. Chris Erwin:That's a rare thing for a kid at that age, wanting to do chores like clean the carpet. Aditi Dash:Yeah. It felt like an adventure, but I'm sure that my parents telling me something along the lines of "Hey, this is going to be fun," had something to do with that. Chris Erwin:And so I know that you then end up at Brown, but in that interim period, what were you getting into a groove in? Were there certain sports or like now you're a consumer investor, were there any glimpses into your current career back then in your childhood? Aditi Dash:Yeah. A few things. So at the age of 12, we moved to Boulder, Colorado. And so in Colorado, in Boulder is where I really had my formative years, my rebellious years, my years to just figure out who I was. And weirdly enough, Boulder today is a hub for consumer products and for consumer products businesses, especially in the world of food and beverage. And I think that part of the reason that it became a hub is encompassed in some of the glimpses that I saw back then of this desire to live a healthier life, people even back then were very focused on natural ingredients, knowing where products came from, local, and then health and wellness, like running, yoga, skiing, physical activity. There was just a big focus on continuous improvement at least for the body and soul, that I just think that it impacted me in ways that maybe I didn't get, and attracted me to the world of natural foods, natural products, natural living and just consumer in general. Chris Erwin:Okay. It's funny, there's this like big westward migration from India to California, and then it's Boulder, Colorado, and then it's- Aditi Dash:Yeah. It's off to Rhode Island and Brown. Chris Erwin:Okay. And when you went to Brown, what was in your eyes then of what you wanted to do with your life? Aditi Dash:I filled out all my applications that I wanted to be a biomedical engineer, but I had a few different things that I wanted to do. I was interested in potentially doing something more political. I was working at the senator's office in Colorado, when I worked there. I was interested in potentially becoming a doctor, which is what I had always thought I'd want to do. I was really into writing as well, and I'd written my essay to apply to Brown about hamburgers and hot dogs and moving to America. So I wanted to do a little bit of something in writing. But I ended up starting as a engineering major, and I finished as an engineering major, and I studied economics as well. Chris Erwin:Aditi, before we move on from Brown, I just saw that on your LinkedIn that you founded I think a tutor network called BearPaw Tutors. What was that? Aditi Dash:Yes. Two of my best friends from engineering lab and I founded this company called BearPaw Tutors. And it was really fun. But basically, it was a business that would hire tutors from Brown and pay them $1 more than they could make tutoring Brown students, and then go out in the community starting with private schools, and find parents that were looking for SAT tutors for their kids and charge them less than they would have to pay Kaplan. Our costs were really low, because at the time, I think Brown students could make $8 an hour tutoring, and so we'd pay them $10 an hour. And then the parents were paying us like $30 an hour for the tutoring. And so we'd make a pretty good margin on that relationship, and our kind of angle was that we would allow parents to book online, pay online and leave a review online. So it was early in just doing all this online tutoring, and it was local and it was profitable, and it was really, really, really fun. Chris Erwin:Yeah. That's a pretty good spread for a business that kicks off in college, so kudos. Aditi Dash:Yeah. And so my friend Matt, who was the CEO and it was his idea, and he now works at Square. And my friend Tito, who was helping with just kind of building out the basic tech side of things is now an air miner. Chris Erwin:What's an air miner? Aditi Dash:An air miner, his vision is to take CO2 out of the atmosphere and turn it into carbon-based products. Chris Erwin:Is that kind of like carbon capture in a way? Aditi Dash:Yeah, exactly. Carbon capture. Chris Erwin:Got it. Cool. So after Brown, you go to investment banking at Morgan Stanley in New York City, and I think you start in the TMT group and then you go over to healthcare. But I'm curious, why did you want to go to banking in New York? Aditi Dash:I didn't know much about business or finance, but I had so much fun doing this BearPaw Tutors thing, that I was trying to figure out what I should do. And the advice I was given was, "You got to go into banking or consulting, if you like business." And so I started applying to all the consulting and banking firms and was lucky to get an internship at Morgan Stanley. And honestly, I didn't know what I was doing. I did not know what LevFin was, I didn't know what high yield bonds were. I felt like I just walked into this crazy finance party, and I was like, "This is great. I can do this." It was a blast. I had a great time. Chris Erwin:Okay. Yeah. You're definitely not learning like LevFin and LBO models when you're an undergrad. You're learning like trade theory and very abstract concepts. Very different. So you're there, and is the experience what you expected? I think you were there for maybe two to three years. Aditi Dash:The experience was not what I expected. I expected cubicles, but I was placed on a trading floor because that's where the leveraged finance TMT team was, so TVs everywhere, rows and rows of desks and no privacy whatsoever. So not just for me, but for anybody. Incredible learning experience. Whether I liked it or not, I was on like all the calls with important clients, because they were happening right next to me. I sat next to my boss, and I got a lot of responsibilities, I got yelled at. And at some point, and it was just, it was wild in that way. And then I also didn't expect the market to crash and people to lose their shit, because to me it was the first job, and I didn't realize how historical the Lehman bankruptcy was when I first started the gig. So I didn't realize the impact that it was having on individuals across the US. I didn't internalize that. Chris Erwin:It's interesting you say that, because I was also in banking from 2005 to 2010, pre-business school. So I was there during the whole debt crisis and market downturn. And I remember we were working on these really big landmark transactions, our buyers couldn't get the debt to complete them. So the markets fell through, and it was devastating. But I don't think I realized like not until hindsight, because I was kind of in my mid 20s. I don't think I fully acknowledged how severe the situation it was and how difficult it was for so many people. I was just concerned about myself and being like, "Oh, my comp is impacted." And I was like, well, in retrospect, so many people are losing their jobs, these venerable institutions are going away, like this is a really big deal. Do you feel that you felt what was actually happening in that moment or not? Aditi Dash:No. I was too young to feel it, and I don't think I quite got it. And I just hadn't seen enough, and maybe I still haven't seen enough of how the world works. Chris Erwin:Totally. So you mentioned, Aditi, in another chat we had that there was a piece of advice that you got about sitting at the table from an associate. Why don't you talk about that? Aditi Dash:Yeah. So I think this is on one of my first days at Morgan Stanley like post-training, and one of the associates told me, "Never sit at the table." And that was the first thing that he said to me, because we had our start date on a Monday and every Monday started with a Monday morning meeting. And so I showed up and I was told, "Hey, never sit at the table." And as I look back on that, I didn't think it was a huge deal. I was like, "Okay, I'll sit on the sides." But as I think back to that moment, and I think about every individual that has gotten into a job like that, and the first thing they hear is, "Never sit at the table," I get a little bit upset to be honest, because I don't think that's necessarily the message that we want to be sending to people that are starting new jobs. Aditi Dash:I think that we don't have to say, "Hey, sit at the table and say something," it's important to convey respect and know what you know and know what you don't know, but I don't think that just having a consistent never sit at the table messaging leads to confidence or people speaking up. I think you have to break out of that in order to be successful. Chris Erwin:Yeah. I think you also said it sets you up for second guessing yourself. And in life where you can second guess yourself everywhere, but you need confidence. And that if you feel that you have researched the topic, have spoken with credible advisors about something, that's like you have to go forth and trust yourself. Just hearing this story, there's a few layers to it, where it's almost like, "Hey, one, we don't want to hear from you. Don't sit at the table, your voice doesn't matter." But two, also like, "Maybe we don't want you to hear everything that we're saying as well." What a terrible message for someone that's just entering the workforce? Aditi Dash:Yeah. I think it goes both ways. And I think that it's also part of the culture of banking, or it was back then. Chris Erwin:I think you transition from TMT and then into healthcare, but then you make a transition to become part of the growth investment team at Morgan Stanley, and you move west to San Francisco. I think you went to Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. So what was that move about? Aditi Dash:So at the end of three years of banking, most people have to decide if they're going to stay in banking or leave banking. And for me, I liked banking but I had this feeling in the back of my mind that maybe there's something that I could like more. And so I told the banking team, I was in the healthcare group at the time, that I would be leaving. And so they were gracious enough to help make introductions, and it's a whole process where the analyst then starts being able to have time to go on interviews and interviewed at some funds, and tried to find a good gig. Aditi Dash:And then this was an inbound opportunity. It came in through somebody I knew at Morgan Stanley, who said, "Hey, I know you're looking to move to the buy-side, and we're rebuilding our team. It used to be called Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, now it's going to be called Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. We're rebuilding our team, and we need our first associate to join." And so I had wanted to move to California for a little bit. I had lived here as a child, and I had gotten in my head that I didn't like California. But I wanted to just test it out and see if that was actually true or not. Aditi Dash:So I interviewed for the job and thought, "Hey, this is a great way to learn investing." And my future boss gave me this advice that, "Hey, don't change more than two things at once," which I still try to do today. So he said, "If you're changing job and changing city, try not to change company. Or if you're changing company and job, try not to change city, because it's really, really hard to change more than two things at once." And that made a lot of sense to me. So I said, "Yeah. I'm going from banking to investing, and I'm moving cities, it would be good, it makes sense to stay at Morgan Stanley." So I was lucky enough to get that gig and moved out to the Bay Area to work for some incredible people on the investing side. Chris Erwin:Got it. I think clearly, this is the beginning of your buy-side career, because shortly after this, you then go to the Stripes Group, which is back east, which was a buy-side fund focused on tech, consumer and healthcare. And there's probably a point where I assume that at Morgan Stanley kind of you're young associate, learning just how to prepare things for an investment committee, learning from the partners, understanding what the lens is for making the right investments. And then at Stripes Group, it starts to probably be like founder and relationship building and potentially even some deal sourcing. When you go to Stripes, why did you make that move, and how did your role change there? Aditi Dash:I made the move for I would say 75% personal reasons and 25% professional. So I was dating somebody, and this person who is my husband today, lived in New York. Chris Erwin:So it was a good move, it worked out. Aditi Dash:It was a good move so far. Yes. But I thought to myself, "I'm willing to move all the way across the country for a job, and this could be a much bigger impact on my life than any job that I have. So if this feels real, I should be willing to move to the other side of the country to kind of see this through." And he already had a New York gig lined up, so he could move out to California. And he hated California, still kind of does, I think. Chris Erwin:Why did he hate California? Aditi Dash:I don't know. I think that he's very much a East Coaster, so he likes the weather, he doesn't like the taxes. We could get into it. So I told my boss, I was like, "Hey, look. This could be the real thing, so I have to go back to New York to be closer to him." That's why I ended up just putting fillers out and had a recruiting firm contact me about a role at an up and coming fund called Stripes Group. And at the time, I think it was Fund II that they had raised, and my job changed a lot in that it became much more sourcing-based and diligence whenever I wasn't sourcing and bigger deals. So Expansion Capital was doing smaller investments at the time, and Stripes was doing slightly bigger investments. Chris Erwin:And what types of deals were you particularly sourcing? Aditi Dash:Mostly in tech, SAS, consumer and media. Chris Erwin:Was that scary for you? To say like in your younger career, it's kind of like you have a boss to tell you what to do, you go do some analysis, you come back to them. And if you do it with high quality work and you're organized, it's a good look. But now it's like, hey, there's not necessarily a playbook here that I know, you kind of got to figure it out for yourself, how to build these relationships. How did you approach it? Aditi Dash:I don't think it was scary. I think that it was overwhelming and draining at times. I still feel this way. I feel like I have to be on my A game. It's all about building a relationship, connecting with the people. Totally different skill set, trying to be helpful without draining your own time. So I think I kind of approached it as like, hey, I had interest areas that I was covering, so I was looking at some healthcare companies back then and that was a big interest area, so I just made it a point to get to know everybody at the companies that I was trying to target. Aditi Dash:I went to all the healthcare events, I got to know healthcare investors, I got to know hospital people, and just started just representing Stripes at these events, and just going to conferences, going down to Baltimore, to DC, to New Orleans, and just kind of pounding the pavement for lack of a better word. And then making sure I brought that back to the team and kind of said, "Hey, if these are good companies, we should be looking at them, we should be looking into them," and kept iterating things that I was interested in, things I wanted to do. I think it's as much about external sourcing and external relationships, as it is about internal relationships, and that's a skill that I think is important to keep building continuously. Chris Erwin:And we'll get into this question a little bit more when we talk about CircleUp, but what do you think your personal investor brand that you're building back then, what were you trying to be known for that was different from, call it associates or principals that were at other funds relative to you? Aditi Dash:I was trying to be known for one, being thoughtful in my approach and outreach. Two was making connections between people who might be able to help each other or people who might like to know each other. Three as the person that can identify some interesting trends. And so I love being the person that said, "Oh, XYZ reminds me of this, and nobody else has kind of made that connection before." So making unique connections, which I think help people remember me and remember some of the ideas that I have. So connecting sometimes totally disparate things is something that I'd like to be known for. And then back then the other thing was just, I was doing a lot of brand building for Stripes, too. So kind of being known as one of the people that was at Stripes at the time. So if you thought of Stripes, you thought of me. Chris Erwin:I have to ask in terms of identifying trends, hearing what you're saying, a lot of my friends who are current venture capitalists or investors, and particularly when they were younger, like coming right out of business school, everyone thought that those were the most glamorous jobs and most in demand. And they were in very high demand and short supply. But those peers, I've never seen anyone work as hard as them. It's like they had to be everywhere. They were getting up early, they were preparing for investment committee meetings, they were constantly on panels, attending different webinars and conferences. And I was like, "When do you guys sleep? This feels exhausting and wanting to be always available to founders or texting with them or emailing them. This always on mentality." And I don't know if a lot of people see that part of it. It's a very, very difficult role. Aditi Dash:I think you have to have fun while doing it, otherwise it gets draining. Work from home helps. Chris Erwin:But it's clear that you wanted something different or something more after Stripes, and you end up going to business school. Aditi Dash:I felt as myself really disingenuous when I was telling a founder, "Hey, I think you should do this." I don't think every investor needs this, which is operating experience or just some experience and having done a startup. I just was having a really hard time saying with a straight face, "Hey, one of the things that I recommend is X for your SAS business, or Y for your consumer brand, or Z." I felt like that's what I needed to get really good at if I was going to be an investor, actually giving advice that is helpful and actionable to founders when they need it. Aditi Dash:And so I told my boss, I said, "Hey, I don't think I can quite get there yet." And asked if he would write a recommendation letter for me to business school. And not just him but a few other people at Stripes as well. So I applied to HBS and Stanford, because I wanted to take a break from the investing side, explore a few different industries, hopefully make a move over to the operating side, and just get a little bit more experience before I started telling other people what to do. Chris Erwin:So then you head to HBS in 2014, and what is that first set of operating experience that you start to get while you're there? Aditi Dash:There were a couple of things. One was starting a small company and a product management class, so just kind of thinking about that. Another was an internship at Blue Apron, which was the last investment that I completed during my time at Stripes. And three was an entrepreneurship course that I took where we were building a startup idea for the healthcare space. And so just like testing these in real life and in test environments. Chris Erwin:So what did you feel that you learned from that operating experience that was revelatory to you? Aditi Dash:I felt like a lot of people don't get the basics, and that a lot of running a company comes down to some pretty basic things, and along the lines of, do you make more money than you spend, over can you buy something for $20 and sell it for $40? And are you giving the person who's buying your product what they actually want or need? And I just felt like a big disconnect between the investing world and the people who were actually like working in the Blue Apron warehouse, or the Blue Apron fulfillment center. And so I felt like some of those basic questions that a company was trying to solve at the high level, I thought different people couldn't answer them along the company ladder. Aditi Dash:I think that was eye-opening in that, I realized that operating experience isn't necessarily about learning these complicated things that nobody else understands. I realized that operating experience is more about simplifying the mumbo jumbo and the finance terms and the legal ease into basic business principles that really lead somebody to think about, "Hey, is this a good thing for the community, the country, the customer?" Chris Erwin:That's actually a really good point, thinking about how you take the focus of profitability and a sustainable business and good unit economics, translate that to a clear message, but then having that message permeate the ranks. Everyone thinks through every single decision with that lens. I remember, when I joined Big Frame right out of grad school, we had a part-time CFO come in, and his name is Steve Hendry. When he kicked off his work with our team, he said, "I'm empowering everyone on this team, from the CEO down to the support analysts, the producers, the editors. Think like an owner. Think about what business decisions make sense." Now, that was easy for him to do because we were a 25 person team and he could say that in a room. But for a really big company, how do you get that message to everybody? And did you learn any techniques while you were getting these internships of how to do that? Aditi Dash:I actually think it's very basic. I think it comes down to overcommunicating and oversimplifying. I don't think business and finance is and should be complicated. I think that it's important to go out of your way to not say ROAS, like talk about, "Hey, we're spending this much money on marketing, and it needs to generate more sales." So I think it comes down to simplicity and just consistency and overcommunication, but I don't think it's rocket science. I think anyone can do it. And I think I have to get better at it. It's weird, I feel like it's almost easier to overcomplicate something than to simplify it. But I was going to ask you, why did you decide to leave the world of investment banking? Chris Erwin:In my last year and a half that I was there, I was working with a lot of early stage technology and media startups. And we were helping a company, Ingrooves actually, with a capital raise that was based out of San Francisco. I loved working with that team, the founder was Robb McDaniels, shout out to him. I loved working with that team, I loved their energy. They were building something that was disruptive. But it was still early, and they were just grinding it out. And I was like, "Oh, I love this energy. This feels fun. I want to do this." Chris Erwin:In banking, I had just been as an advisor and operating outside the company, and I wanted to see the guts from the inside. And then I was also attracted to the West Coast. I was like a Jersey Shore kid for my entire life, so I wanted to switch up the terrain a bit too, that's why I did it. Aditi Dash:That's cool. Chris Erwin:Closing out that last point. I think you're right, that things can be a lot simpler. And I just heard this on the Shaughnessy podcast, I think he was interviewing a coach at Berkeley, if I remember correctly. And the coach referenced fence posting, where it's that notion of you put the fence post in so you make the point, you communicate something clearly, and then three feet down the line, you put another fence post in. And you just keep repeating the same message until it's drilled into everyone's brains. Can you just be as simple as that? I love that analogy. Chris Erwin:Okay. So you're at HBS for a couple years, and then you're getting this operate experience, and then you decide to transition to La Colombe, a coffee manufacturer afterwards. Was that still part of the same vein of like, "I just want deeper operate experience. This feels right," or was there something else you were thinking about? Aditi Dash:I had gotten interested in the coffee industry when I was at Stripes, and we'd started looking at a number of companies in the space. And I also was fascinated By the coffee supply chain. And so I took a class on just international trade relations and started diving into the coffee supply chain and wrote an interesting paper on it, and started just putting out into the HBS Universe that I really want to work in coffee like, "This seems really cool. I love the product. I think it's a really interesting area." And the Universe presented an opportunity to do so while I was at HBS. So I did this independent study with La Colombe and with Chobani, on potential ways for Chobani and La Colombe to partner with two friends at HBS. Aditi Dash:And Diana, Elizabeth and I worked on this project to help think about ways that Chobani and La Colombe could partner to create new retail concepts. And so just like a consulting project, where we didn't get paid but we got credit for doing the work. And through that process, I got to know the La Colombe team. And then the other thing is just before the project started, my husband was living in Philly, and he was attending Wharton, and I asked him to go to the Wharton career fair. And I heard that the La Colombe team was going to be there. And I asked him to give them my contact information and get theirs so that I could talk to them about a potential opportunity. Chris Erwin:So you're recruiting to Colombe via like a Wharton career fair? Aditi Dash:Yeah. So I said, "Hey, can you please go? And then just drop my name and then get their card so I can email them, so they know who I am." And then that happened right before this project started. So it all kind of came together at the same time. And then I ended up applying for a full-time role, and because of the project they'd already gotten to know me. And so I received an offer in July about two and a half months after graduating from HBS and accepted the offer to start at La Colombe working for the COO. Initially working for the COO, working on some new products, figuring out margins and demand planning. And then I transitioned to working for the CEO on new products innovation, and overseeing the pilot production facility. Chris Erwin:How big was the team when you joined? Aditi Dash:It was probably in the office close to 20 people when I joined, and it grew over the two years I was there because they doubled down on CPG distribution. So they created cans, and we were selling them in places like Whole Foods and Walmart and brought on a big sales team to support that. That happened around the time I was joining/right afterwards. Chris Erwin:Got it. You mentioned in our pre-chat that I think a big thing for you there was that you were learning how to launch new product. But you are making these pretty big directional decisions for the company with not a lot of necessarily data and insights. Talk about that. Aditi Dash:So my job was to just take any idea from any part of the company and try to bring it to life working with the team. And a lot of the ideas came from the CEO and founders mind. I mean, he was the kind of guy where he had gotten to where he was by trusting his gut and his gut instincts. And so some of the products he wanted to create didn't even exist yet, and it would just be impossible to get data or market insights on those products. Like there's nowhere I could look to figure out, "Hey, would this kind of product make sense in any way? Would Nitro juice make sense?" We were working on Nitro coffee, but he said, "The world needs Nitro juice." So there's just no way to search for Nitro juice. But you can actually create it and see if it sells, and go from there, which is what we did. Chris Erwin:Got it. Was there any other type of analysis like trying to extrapolate insights from other tangential product launches to kind of fill some of the early data gaps, anything like that? Aditi Dash:Yeah. We used a lot of data from existing product launches just to see hey, like a new can in our store sells this much, and we can kind of think about that. We looked at other products and adjacent or similar categories. At the time, we didn't even have a lot of Nielsen or IRI data, so we took what we could get from wherever. I think now the company probably pays for a lot more data than we did back then. Chris Erwin:You did launch this, remind me, this Nitro product. Aditi Dash:Yes. We launched a Nitro juice, Nitro lemon and Nitro orange juice that we created in the pilot production facility and went through like hundreds of suppliers and thousands of tests and iterations, and started selling it in the cafes and people like at least in the cafes, were obsessed with it. Chris Erwin:Yeah. In terms of getting that initial data upon launch, were you doing just kind of focus groups and surveys or just using the initial sales data? How were you getting that need in information? Aditi Dash:We'd do a little bit of testing and sampling in store. The cool thing about having just a physical space and working out of a cafe all day, is that you have instant access to customers all the time all day. And so we were leveraging those customers to test out new products. And that was like the easiest thing to do. And I think that was really, really great, and I recommend a lot of the brands I talk to today to find a channel or path where they can test that in. So some days, it would literally be, hey, like making the product, and then having the baristas taste it later on. Aditi Dash:I actually ended up leveraging the baristas a lot as well, just because they were part of the company, so we could use them to test different products and they would be able to fill out surveys or be required to fill out surveys, but they were also kind of consumers because of their day-to-day lives and their interaction with consumers help them understand people a lot more. So I think leveraging the baristas was one unique source of at least limited data. And then we would basically test online where the marketing team would post something and see how much engagement it got. And that would inform sometimes product names, sometimes product directions. Aditi Dash:We had the Instagram followers vote on the next flavor. Whatever you could to leverage existing customers in different channels, was important to testing out and gathering early data. And then once we got the process approved for making the juice by the FDA process authority, then we started making just a handful of cans and selling it, adding it to things like cocktails. So it just became part of, "Hey, let's just do this every single day to see how people are responding." Chris Erwin:And in this role, were you managing a team or was your role kind of spread across different groups? Aditi Dash:I had a team that I was managing. It was made up of R&D, pilot production facility, and employees that worked at the plant. Chris Erwin:Was this the first time that you'd actually managed a team, or did you have that responsibility before? Aditi Dash:This was the first time I had managed a team, and I don't know, it might even be the last because investors don't really manage teams. The way that the investor role works, it's not about managing massive teams. But it was a really fun and unique experience. Chris Erwin:Okay. What did you like most about managing the team? Aditi Dash:I like the feeling of being part of a crew, a squad. I like the feeling that, "Hey, if we put our heads together, we could get something done." I like feeling important as a team to the organization. I think it's harder to do that as an individual than it is a team. And I liked being able to see the progress that different types of people were making, where my success was related to small successes of others that you could really see happening. And that was just, it's just a good feeling. Chris Erwin:Well, having other people to celebrate with when there's wins and there's a successful product launch. But also if things go bad, being able to commiserate with others is a nice thing, part of that whole crew dynamic. What did you find to be the hardest thing about managing a team? Aditi Dash:Convincing people that I was on their side, negotiating things like offers and raises, being the middle woman between the CEO, and people who were actually working on the production floor making the product. And so, the vision is so big and it's so amazing, and it's so exciting, but translating it into the day-to-day of like, "Hey, you need to dump these beans into the tin consistently every single day in order to make that vision come true," I think that bridging that gap of vision with execution was challenging. Definitely rewarding, but definitely challenging. Chris Erwin:Yeah. What do you think was your tactic to convince people and get buy-in on what you wanted? Aditi Dash:I tried to do a couple of things, and who knows how well it worked and how much people saw it as like, "Hey, you're pushing me," as opposed to, "You're encouraging me."? But the things that I tried to do, were giving people a glimpse into where the product was going early on, so setting like a product mission as well as that fit into the company mission. And messaging that early on saying, "Hey, this is what we're trying to do." Asking for input from people who were supposed to be giving input early on and saying, "Hey, at X date, I stop taking input just because I have to keep moving forward," setting a stop date for that. Aditi Dash:Just consistent updates on how things were going, figuring out what data points to track, so you could show performance improving, whether it was like pounds of beans processed per day, or number of cans made or number of gallons of concentrate created, figuring out those data points and writing it on a whiteboard in the production floor, so people saw it and saw the trend. I think those things were helpful. Chris Erwin:I agree. I think when teams know what they're working towards, what's the bigger mission, whether it's these really small menial tasks or big tasks, it's all in support of what the whole team is working towards. And when there's transparency and understanding, I think that's a very powerful motivator. I also believe, yeah, and empowering people. Some of the greatest advice I got from my old CEO at Big Frame was, "Hire great people and get out of their way." And I love that. And holding people big. Chris Erwin:Like if you went through the rigmarole to hire great people, then you have to trust them, and know that they're capable of great work. And I think that trust is a key thing that I constantly learn every day with my team, being able to let go. All right. We just came back from a quick break, and Aditi, you were mentioning that you have some war stories from the trenches at La Colombe. Why don't you tell me about those? Aditi Dash:There's a couple of stories that I think stick in my mind as to the highs and lows of La Colombe. One is where the FDA showed up at the plant that I was running. And I personally had almost a meltdown, because the FDA was there to check on the plant and talk to the production manager. And I actually was freaking out and was given the advice to, "Hey, you just need to leave. You need to trust that the production manager and the warehouse manager have everything under control, and that the processes that you've put in place by this point are going to work. So the best thing that you can do is actually leave. They don't want to talk to you, they want to talk to the person who is actually the production and warehouse manager, like actually working on the floor." Aditi Dash:So I let them in, talked to them briefly and just backed away, which was the best thing I could have done and ended up being a really positive review of the plant. They were very impressed with some of the changes we'd made, and ended up being a really positive thing, but helped me realize, "Hey, sometimes you just need to back away and do what needs to get done." Chris Erwin:Yeah. And did you say this was a routine check or a surprise check? Aditi Dash:Surprise. It was a surprise check. Chris Erwin:What were you concerned about going through your head of like, why you were afraid? Aditi Dash:Well, the first thing that I was afraid of was that I wore the wrong thing, because I was worried that food production facilities have specific rules on wearing lab coats inside and hairnets, and I was worried that, "Oh my God. I wore the wrong outfit on FDA day." The second thing I was worried about was that we had turned this plant around. It didn't use to be a production plant, it was just like a warehouse. And so doing food production plant and a warehouse/storage facility, you just have to follow a lot of new rules to make sure everything is in compliance. And so I was worried that we missed something or skipped something. And then I was just worried about the team. I was like, "How are they going to be able to take the FDA through what they need to know," and it was all unnecessary worries. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Going back to that theme of just like trusting the work that you've done that you did it right, and trusting the team like the team's got it. Aditi Dash:Yeah, exactly. The team's got it. The other thing that sticks out is when I think we needed a water heater, we needed hot water for something. We were trying to figure out where to get a hot water, and the folks that we were talking to stuck it out or just quoting really high prices. And this was just needed to heat incoming water from the existing water line, and it wasn't going to be interacting with the water in a negative way. It was just needed to heat the actual water through the pipes. And the quotes that we were getting were so high so it just didn't make sense for the plant. So me and the engineering manager just went to Home Depot, and he bought a water heater for the home to jerry-rig the system until we could get a proper heater installed in place. Chris Erwin:You were deep in the operational weeds, like figuring this out, going to Home Depot, getting the right parts. That's awesome. Aditi Dash:Yeah. Sometimes I was doing that. And the Home Depot there had this incredible sandwich place outside, right outside Home Depot, like a food truck. And it was just the best sandwich in Philly. Chris Erwin:Do you remember? Was it like a Philly cheesesteak type sandwich or what was it? Aditi Dash:No. It was like, you could get different meats sauteed on the grill, just like a street meat kind of cart on a sandwich. So kind of like a Philly cheesesteak, but you could also get like the whole piece of meat with peppers sauteed on it. Chris Erwin:What an added bonus. Yeah. Aditi Dash:Yeah. Chris Erwin:We're about to get to your role at CircleUp, but do you miss getting in the weeds like that with the team and figuring out those really micro ops problems? Aditi Dash:Oh my God, yeah. I do miss it a lot of times. Sometimes I walk into a warehouse or I walk into a Costco and that smell of just being in a warehouse or it's like sight of the racks just brings me back to having to go to a facility every single day. Chris Erwin:Yeah. I just watched a video on YouTube of just people really don't understand how the infrastructure of our world works. And I think this was a big theme that came out of the power grid shut down in Texas of like, "Do you know what a water pump is? Do you know what a sump system is? Do you know how electricity actually gets to your home from the grid?" These are a lot of things like, we're all connected on Zoom and we're on Clubhouse, we take a lot of things for granted. And I think that, that knowledge not only just from a survival perspective but just awareness, is really, really important. Aditi Dash:I don't think people know a lot of those basic things, and it's really sad. And I feel like, I learned a lot of those basic things by not only being in the weeds operationally, but also just by being around people whose job it was to work with their hands to fix things, to build things, to create things. We don't really do that. Most people that I know in my life are on their computers all day, and our hands are not used to actually make, do or create anything other than spreadsheets or PowerPoints. Chris Erwin:I mean, look a very real thing for a lot of the consumer companies that you invest in were their manufacturing product. And if they have something that's impacted on their supply chain or their manufacturing line, that can shut a company down for days. Loss of revenue, major issues, and you need to have expertise to know how to do it, versus living in spreadsheets and numbers. So cool. All right. So let's talk about CircleUp. I think you were at La Colombe for a couple of years, and then you go to CircleUp in 2018. What was the impetus for that transition, and how did you meet the CircleUp team? Aditi Dash:I met the CircleUp team through somebody I used to work with at La Colombe. So a friend from La Colombe, actually the same guy that I had my husband track down at the Wharton career fair. He introduced me to the CircleUp team after he left La Colombe. And so he introduced me to this team at CircleUp who was a new team for the company, and they were responsible for investing a relatively new fund, $125 million venture fund. And he had gotten to know them just through his work in the consumer space and knew that they were hiring for somebody at the partner level, somebody who had some experience on the operation side and on the investing side. And so that's how the connection was made. Aditi Dash:The first conversation was with a woman named Allison who's no longer at CircleUp, but she was also somebody who had worked in investing, got an operating role and then joined CircleUp. So kind of walked me through her path and her process of joining. And she was just like, it was very clear that she was really sharp and excited to be at CircleUp. And I got excited about the opportunity, then flew out to San Francisco to meet the rest of the team. They interviewed me and ended up making me an offer that I decided to take. So it was traditional in a lot of ways, but network-based in some ways. And I think what just excited me about the role was the ability to go back to investing. Aditi Dash:I thought I was going to be in operation side for 10 or 20 years, but I felt like I had a crash course at La Colombe and at Blue Apron. And like I told you, I realized that I didn't need to learn some magical operating secret in order to understand the basics of operation. So I felt like I was ready to go back to the investing side, I missed talking to tons of companies and tons of brands. I missed feeling like I was out of the loop on new trends. And so I was really excited to come back to a world where I got to go back to building relationships, making investments, making money. And so that kind of led to me joining CircleUp. Aditi Dash:Between La Colombe and CircleUp, I tried to start a company actually. I tried to start two companies and both of them were really, really tough. So one was a company that I was working with my friend from HBS on. It was called Be As One Foods. And what we wanted to do was create foods for your insides and outsides, similar to a company like Gold or even something like MUDWTR. We were planning to launch products that had superfoods, adaptogens in powder form that you could use for your insides and outsides. And my friend, Ana lived in Peru, I was in the US, and so we were going to launch this company together, and realized that it's really, really, really hard to be in a long distance relationship with a co-founder. And so we decided to just stop doing Be As One Foods. Aditi Dash:And then the other one that I was trying to start was a company called Dollar Fresh, which I met with several investors on but ended up not pursuing it and joining CircleUp instead. But Dollar Fresh was a concept that was all about getting fresh foods for $1. So imagine like the dollar store version of Sweetgreen, and having very, very simple small portion foods for $1, $3 and $5 flat price points and making the margin work. So I hired a chef, I got the menu done, I scattered a bunch of locations to open up a restaurant. But what convinced me not to do it full-time was actually working at a restaurant on the weekends. And for a while I was at La Colombe, I started working at the salad place on the weekends as a volunteer, and just helping out this one woman salad shop owner in a location that I thought would be really exciting for this business. And it just was way harder than I realized. Chris Erwin:And maybe not as glamorous as you were expecting. Aditi Dash:Not glamorous at all. I mean, I wasn't expecting glamor, but I also wasn't expecting feeling like physical defeat either. And I think that if you own a restaurant, you start a restaurant, there is a lot that goes into physically and emotionally creating this place that other people are eating, that just felt very draining for where I was at that point in my life. Chris Erwin:It's like an instant feedback loop where you can see, are customers liking the food that you're putting on the table, but also you're seeing very quickly do the financials make sense at the end of the day? Aditi Dash:They usually don't. The financials usually don't make sense for a restaurant. Chris Erwin:So it seems that you were scratching an entrepreneurial itch that's there. Do you think that itch has been satiated? Aditi Dash:I think that it's been satiated for now. I can't say it's been satiated forever. There are many, many ideas that I have all the time about interesting things to do. I don't think that's going to go away. I just think that right now I'm adding a lot more value to my life and my community as an investor. And my goal is to help other entrepreneurs for now. Chris Erwin:Got it. Okay. So let's talk about that, and your role at CircleUp. What do you feel that your mandate is there, and what's your personal focus? Aditi Dash:Find and invest in high growth consumer companies. And my focus personally is to look for different spikes in different areas that I find interesting, and build relationships with those companies as early as possible. I'd love to be the first person that somebody asked for advice when they're building a startup that could become a big startup. But I have to balance that with like managing my time accurately. So I try to put out, like just for myself a list of areas that I want to focus on for the year and for the quarter. And that helps me narrow down, "Hey, where do I want to focus my time?" And then the rest of it is kind of like inbound, and I have my list of priority companies and list of priority entrepreneurs that I'm just trying to build relationships with. Chris Erwin:And actually, we're going to talk about your 2021 predictions, which I think are like your key themes of investing for the year. But before that, curious, how do you think that your personal investor brand has changed from when you were at Stripes and when you were at Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital? How has that evolved as you've become more senior? Aditi Dash:I think the biggest change has been a focus more on innovation and new things, and then the second part is trying to be more of the person that is giving advice from a place of, "Hey, I have done investing for a little bit, I have done operating for a little bit, I can give suggestions, as opposed to back then it was much more sourcing for the sake of sourcing rather than building relationships with founders and helping them get an understanding of different problem areas or getting advice. Chris Erwin:Got it. What channels do you think are most effective for you to build your brand, where there's just proliferation, where you can be on Clubhouse, you can be on podcasts like this, you can be writing newsletters or on Medium? What do you think is most effective for you? Aditi Dash:It depends on the day. For community events, it seems like LinkedIn is really good. Clubhouse seems to be getting better, but I'm very drained at the end of every Clubhouse that I've done. So I'm trying to find new energy levels to do that more and do a show and things like that. I think Twitter is really like it works really well. I've met companies on Twitter, I've met founders of service providers. I was looking for a company that is bringing tech to the world of PR, and I just put it out there on Twitter and met this amazing company out of Boston that is creating a marketplace for people who are looking for PR. So just very strong, I think space to build a brand and to do brand and company discovery. Chris Erwin:I have to ask, why do you find Clubhouse exhausting? Aditi Dash:I think Clubhouse feels a little bit like LinkedIn, where it's something that feels like I have to be there because everyone else is there and I have to post there, but it's not something that is a place that I can use like Twitter to have like a two-way conversation. So I think Clubhouse kind of feels like a one-way conversation which can feel exhausting to me because I get energized off of that interaction that I have on something like Twitter. I haven't quite found that on Clubhouse. It feels like when people speak to each other at least in the bigger rooms, it's like panel-type questions. Aditi Dash:It's not as informal as it seems like it was when it first started. Now, it seems very structured, it feels like going to a conference. Like when we used to go to conferences back in the day, I remember feeling at the end of the day, just drained from like, "Oh my gosh, I don't want to hear another lecture, and I don't want to walk by another booth." That same feeling is happening to me at Clubhouse. I'm like, "I don't want to listen to another room." I think that when it initially started and it was more informal, and you could just jump in and out and talk to people and it felt more like a two-way conversation, that was cool. Chris Erwin:I like that. I think like know thyself. I think there's some people that can do this like one-way broadcast talking to hundreds, thousands, millions of people, get really energized by that. But there's also people that it's like that interaction, even if like there's a one-on-one that's three hours versus a 30-minute panel talk, that people are energized by that experience. And I think I relate to that, because I'd much rather have this kind of intimate conversation with you Aditi that, yes, other people can listen in on. But admittedly like, look, my firm we write about all things audio and podcasting all the time. It's one of our specialty areas. Chris Erwin:But admittedly, I haven't spent a lot of time in Clubhouse because I very much believe in focus. I'm focused on podcasting. I'm developing another one, and I like Linkedin and I also post on Twitter. And something else right now, while we're still refining our content brand and identity, it feels too much. And then I feel like it's our content brand then is diluted. But I very much agree, I like the interaction. I think it's very fun and very rewarding. Aditi Dash:Do you ever worry that you're missing the Clubhouse? Not the boat, but the opportunity to be early in building a brand? Because I have heard that people who were early to Twitter or early to Instagram, and now even early to Clubhouse, are the ones that are like they already have hundreds of thousands of followers just because they were first. And it's going to be hard for the next person to do that. Chris Erwin:It's a fair question. But I also think about, "Well, then why don't I have a micro cast yet? Why don't I have X yet? Why don't I have Y yet?" So Clubhouse seems like it's probably a priority relative to the rest, but there's so many different channels that I've just not chosen to go into yet. And so the hardest thing for me that I stand by is I'm saying no to it. I just got other things in the business that I'm focused on that are more important, and that's that. Aditi Dash:Are they more revenue driving? Chris Erwin:Yep. It's revenue driving and there are some marketing things that we're also working on as well. And team building, like I think people are everything, and so we're working on building our team right now and empowering the right people. And that takes my time and focus too. Let's talk a little bit about some of your investing themes, Aditi. So this was I think on one of your first 2021 predictions that I'd love to learn more about, hormone health as purchase criteria. And I think that there was some terminology I was unfamiliar with, but like ensuring that products don't disrupt your endocrine system. Can you talk a little bit more about what that means? Aditi Dash:In the world of personal care products and food, there is a drive towards just products that aren't disrupting your hormone system. So like your endocrine system is basically your hormone system. And if it gets messed with, your hormones can lead to a lot of issues related to hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism. Disclaimer, I'm not a doctor, I don't understand exactly the diseases that come with it, but there has been some data showing that certain chemicals that we surround our lives with, disrupt our endocrine system. And when our endocrine system is disrupted, it can lead to all sorts of issues, especially related to like fertility, hair loss, skin issues, lots of different things. Aditi Dash:So for people who are just becoming pregnant or new moms, they make a big point, and doctors say this too, to avoid certain personal care products that can disrupt your body's natural system. And there are a lot of different things that people are trying to avoid. So in the world of personal care, I think the EU bans 1400 ingredients that cannot be used in personal care, and I think the US bans under 10. And so there are a lot of products in the US that are not banned by the EU and have some data associated with some sort of disruption or issue on your health. Maybe not statistically significant, maybe not done in mass studies over time, but there's some links that have come up. So shoppers are starting to avoid more and more of these chemicals. But there's no umbrella term for it. Aditi Dash:So like, what are you going to go and shop for when you're trying to have products that are healthy and natural? And the words clean, the word natural, those have lost their meaning as some companies have jumped on the bandwagon with, "Hey, we're clean," but clean doesn't really mean anything. I think that people are just going to think more about hormone health. I've seen some companies that allow you to do testing on the hormone side. I have a friend who is a Gen Z and runs a Gen Z marketing and insight agency who I was talking to, and she was saying that many of her friends, if they feel bad or if there's an issue, they end up getting their hormone levels tested. It's becoming a more common test to figure out what could be causing any kind of issues that somebody might be having. So I think that there's going to be something where hormone health is just going to be really important as a purchase criteria for Gen Z. Chris Erwin:That's helpful. Yeah, something that totally was not on my radar. But something that was on my radar that I think that has probably attracted us to, I think we just got to know one another maybe a few months ago, but I think that you look at like the intersection of media and commerce, and a lot of like brands making moves into media. And so you talked about, I saw a prediction about creator platforms will add brands. And I thought this was a really cool one like Patreon or OnlyFans. And I know Vice just went to OnlyFans, and then Rebecca Minkoff just did something on OnlyFans as well for New York Fashion Week. She had like 1500 pieces of collateral that she wanted to give her most engaged fans access to and kind of stir up her Fashion Week moment. I really like that. Chris Erwin:And then two, I like how you said that there's going to be like the next major show that you love, that you're going to watch will be made by brands. And I think that's a really cool one. We've seen a lot of brands start to launch different kinds of media companies, I think of Glossier launching Into The Gloss, Casper launching their Woolly publication, even the Casper Sleep Channel. So I think this is like, it's just started to happen but there's going to be a lot more of it. Any additional insights that you want to add to that? Aditi Dash:First, a couple of shout outs. There are brands that are doing this that I'm super excited about. There's a brand called Fly By Jing, that has incredible Asian-inspired sauces and condiments that's launching via OnlyFans. And there is a brand called Mid-Day Squares, which is filming every single thing they do every single day, and putting out consistent content. And they have an aim to be a media company in addition to a chocolate company. So I'm super excited to see some of this happening. Aditi Dash:And then in terms of additional insight, I just think that our physical and digital worlds are merging, and people's money is going to start going to both physical and digital goods in a combined way. So I'm really excited to see that happening. On the other side of it is spending on digital goods, which is happening already. And then digital companies working in physical goods. I just think it's all going to come together. Chris Erwin:I'm going to add in one of our predictions too that is, I think we've seen a lot of commerce brands acquire or invest in media brands. You saw Hasbro do this with eOne. But I think you're going to start seeing kind of the reverse like MeatEater, a churning investment, they started as a media brand, just bought First Lite over the past year and a half. And then they also bought FWF, and there was another kind of game calling company they just bought too. I think that reverse trend is going to happen more and more. Something to think about for your investing criteria. Aditi Dash:Yeah. And for our acquirers and exit. Chris Erwin:Yeah, exactly. And then I think another one you talked about was I think you said we're going to see more, I'm probably not pronouncing this right, but is it Ibotta? Aditi Dash:Yeah. I think, technically, it's Ibotta, but this is an app that you can use to get discounts on food and beverage products at places like Walmart. So you open up the app, and it gives you discounts and cashback for

Dianna is a master marketer and the founder of Crown Affair, a modern beauty brand on a mission to make haircare an everyday ritual. Before starting Crown Affair, she had an extremely impressive career in marketing and partnerships working in-house at some of the most covetable companies including Into The Gloss, Spring, and Away. She eventually launched her first business, Levitate, a brand strategy and marketing consulting company where she worked with some of the top direct-to-consumer brands including, Harry’s/Flamingo, Outdoor Voices, Yumi, Buck Mason, The Wing, and more. After running her agency 2 years, she decided she was ready to transition from building other people’s brands to finally launching her own and she launched Crown Affair, a direct to consumer hair care brand with the goal of helping people feel their best with their natural hair. On this episode we talk about Dianna’s many career transitions, how she fell into starting a consulting agency, at what point she realized she was ready to build her own brand and fold her agency, why a business coach was extremely valuable in helping her identify her active ingredient, the importance of maintaining relationships with past co-workers, fundraising, and why rituals are so important in setting the tone for our lives. 

My guest today is the wonderful Emily Weiss, founder of Glossier, who, after cultivating a passionate community on her website Into The Gloss, saw an opportunity to create a new beauty experience that celebrates and speaks to the customer directly. Founded in 2014, Glossier is a digital-first beauty company with a mission to give voice through beauty. Glossier has a "skin first, makeup second" philosophy, Glossier creates modern essentials (skincare, makeup fragrance, body) that intuitive, easy-to-use, and don't hide or cover you up. Since launching, Glossier has introduced 36 products, opened two permanent stores (NY and LA), brought temporary retail to over 6 cities, raised $186 million in venture capital funding, and has welcomed 3 million customers the Glossier community. I recently popped into the NYC flagship store which averages 50K visitors per month and it was buzzing. They have also this year brought temporary retail to Miami, Seattle, Boston, and Austin. Most recently, they've opened Glossier London, on 13 Floral Street in Covent Garden - definitely go and check it out and top on your Boy Brow and Milk Jelly Cleanser!It was a really highlight having Emily on the podcast, hope you enjoy this conversation and her insights! If you did please leave a rating or a review - thanks! x See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Learn about the origin story behind the $1.2 billion brand that's reshaping the beauty and skincare landscape. We go through the early days of Glossier's founder Emily Weiss, how she started Into The Gloss, how she launched Glossier from Into The Gloss, and what Glossier is doing differently that's changing an industry. Twitter - @brandoriginsfm Email - chris@partizan.ph This episode is made possible by Brandbaker and Allday Customer Support

Welcome to the premiere episode of Brands on Brands on Brands, where marketing expert and coach Brandon Birkmeyer chats with other experts in his field about the ins and outs of their industry and what can be done to engage more with customers as society and technology evolve. Mark Schaefer has been generous enough to grace this show with his presence for its inaugural episode. Mark  is a marketing strategy consultant, keynote speaker, and author of Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins. You can read about his thoughts on the profession on the blog {Grow}, or even hear about them on the podcast he hosts, The Marketing Companion. In this episode, Mark explains how you can make your brand more human and engaging, discusses what you should be doing to forge connections with your customers, and speculates on how we’ll need to adapt branding for the next generation. The Finer Details of This Episode:  What inspired Mark to write his newest book and how all of his writing fits into a singular overarching narrative. Why he’s concerned marketing agencies haven’t evolved enough with the times. How Mark’s grandfather inspired him to forge a career in marketing. The benefits of working to find a groove with customers rather vs. trying to change them. A few lessons that marketers and entrepreneurs can take away from Mark’s book right this instant. Is branding or selling more important for a business in the long term? Why Mark respects Glossier founder Emily Weiss and what he thinks other marketers can learn from her. Quotes:  “With this power shift, the whole world of marketing has now moved over to our customers.”  “Our company cultures have not kept up with the pulse of popular culture and our consumers.”  “I think the best storytelling will make the customer the hero.”  “I’ve built a platform where people believe in me, they trust me and they listen to me. That’s a great opportunity to create some good in the world.”   Mentions: Chris Savage, Wistia, Giant Spoon, Seth Godin, Michael Preysman, Everlane, Chris Strub, Social Media Marketing World, Glossier, Emily Weiss, Into The Gloss, Bonobos, Yeti, Jet Blue, Taco Bell   Guest Links: Website: www.businessesgrow.com Book: Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Business Wins Podcast: The Marketing Companion Blog: {Grow} Twitter: @MarkWSchaefer Facebook: www.facebook.com/mark.schaefer3   Brandon's Links: Visit Brandon’s website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community And please leave a rating and review on iTunes! Check out this episode!

This week, I have the joy of chatting with Randi Bergman - an award-winning freelance fashion writer (Teen Vogue, The Cut, Interview Magazine, Into The Gloss), digital strategy pro, Globe and Mail Style columnist and host of the AMAZING Capsule 98 - -a fashion podcast and hit Instagram account dedicated to 90s nostalgia -- and the time capsule Randi created in 1998 at the age of 13. Before going Freelance, Randi was the executive digital editor of FASHION magazine (she lead the integration of digital and editorial strategy). For those of you who don’t know, Fashion is one of Canada’s last standing fashion magazines -- I always pick up a copy when I’m in town. This week, we’ll be chatting about how Randi got her start, what it’s like to freelance (she works in the Canadian fashion business), and why she loves 90s fashion so much.   Recommended media:  Nobody Cares - Anne T. Donahue  Canadian brands mentioned:  Mackage, Joe Fresh, Pink Tartan, Club Monaco Follow Randi:  @capsule98 , @randibergman  Capsule 98 Podcast  Randi Bergman's website   To keep up-to-date with everything Fashion Originators: For podcast updates - www.fashionoriginators.com  For Instagram fun - www.instagram.com/fashionoriginatorspodcast For Facebook updates - www.facebook.com/fashionoriginators Thank you so much for listening! If you enjoyed the show, it would mean the world to me if you wrote a review on Apple Podcasts! The more reviews there are, the easier it is for others to find and enjoy the show too.

Glossier, known for its line of understated makeup products and a cult-following of millennial Instagrammers, is getting colorful with the launch of its first spin-off brand, Glossier Play. The company — led by founder and chief executive officer Emily Weiss, who built the nearly $400 million business from a makeup blog called Into The Gloss — has raised a total of $92 million in venture capital funding from top-tier consumer investors Forerunner Ventures, Index Ventures and IVP.

In 2010, while working as a fashion assistant at Vogue, Emily Weiss started a beauty blog called Into The Gloss. She quickly attracted a following of devoted readers hooked on the blog's intimate snapshots of style makers' beauty routines. Within a few years, Emily realized her readers were hungry for a new beauty brand, one that listened to them directly, and understood their lives. Without any prior business experience, she won over investors and found the perfect chemist to create Glossier, a line of beauty and skincare products with a focus on simplicity. Today, just four years after launch, Glossier is valued at an estimated $400 million. Recorded live in New York City.

10 years ago when green beauty was not really a thing, natural beauty products just started to surface, and luxury handmade beauty lines were nowhere to be found, Fran was experimenting in her basement with ingredients from health food stores - Not for anyone else, but to combat with her own skin problems.A few years later when she was bouncing back and forth between high-end retail and wholesale with no self- fulfillment, Fran had a now-or-never moment and decided to give this beauty line a try. With her curiosity at heart and spectacular sensibility, her namesake skincare line F. Miller has since gained recognition in many major publications such as Vogue, The File, Into The Gloss, and Monocle just to name a few. Outside of publications, F. Miller has been spotted on many IT girls' bathroom counters and top shelves.Fran is set out to bridge the gap between luxury and natural skincare and to redefine what handmade beauty products can mean. She is not just selling bottles of skincare products, but rather marrying all the things she is personally interested into one and expressing that through her beauty line.Inside Fran's house where the old seamlessly mingles with the new, we chat about her high school crush, humble beginnings, and the next moves for F.Miller.Photography: Vai Yu LawConnect with us on Instagram and Spotify. Leave us a review/comment on Apple Podcast.For a chance to be included in the next episode, share your questions, comments or stories by recording something with your phone and send the MP3 file to hey@dearseekers.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So I had an idea to create a beauty podcast. I still might. I wanted to call it Vermilion. I spent a weekend setting up all new social media accounts for my beauty-to-be podcast and felt exhausted with a whole new set of logins (of which I have many). My friend Ryan (who I get all my creative advice from) said why don’t you just fold it into Head Ovary Heels? You already have an audience and everything set up. He was right.The idea I had with a beauty podcast was to create an audio version of all the incredible beauty websites that exist and the stories told on them, like Into The Gloss, Beauticate and The File. I love the details of women’s lives. I love how beauty digs into those quotidian nooks and crannies.I should note, from conceptualising a beauty-themed podcast to delivering it - I’ve discovered some really great podcasts that cover similar territory that you should definitely check out like Fat Mascara and At Home With.Thank you so much to all of the guests. The women (and one man) who gave their time, honesty and approached the podcast with the most generous spirit. I’m forever grateful.✨Music: Ghost Hands by Cal Folger Day⚡️Thank you to our Season 4 sponsor In Good CoYour besties mean better buys. Download the app today. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

HEY. Welcome back! We’re so happy to have you here.We’re going just a liiiiiiittle bit rogue this week and changing things up. Yeeeep, we’re interviewing former Bachelor star Jen Hawke - also known as Australia’s favourite reality TV villain - about the power of the producer. Can a reality TV producer create a villain, we ask her, or do they need something to actually play with in order to craft their character?PLUS, fashion blogger Gary Pepper Girl published the intricate details of her wedding prep on Into The Gloss and wowee do we have some thoughts and feelings to unpack. If you’re interested in checking out some of the articles we pointed to in the show, you can here:Amanda Sherker on the 7 Ways The Beauty Industry Convinced Women That They Weren't Good Enough for The Huffington Post.Jia Tolentino on The Year That Skin Care Became a Coping Mechanism for The New Yorker.Caitlin Fitzsimmons on how much Australians really spend on their weddings for the Sydney Morning Herald.You're so welcome to join the conversation in our Facebook group! Otherwise, you can find us on Twitter, follow Michelle on Instagram here, Zara on Instagram here or get in touch at shamelessthepodcast@gmail.com.And before we go: We're a tiny, little independent podcast who rely on your reviews for others to find us. If you have the time, we'd love it if you could leave us a review and we promise we will pay you back. One day. Maybe. Somehow.This episode was produced by Zara McDonald with royalty free music from Bensound.

HEY. Welcome back! We’re so happy to have you here.We’re going just a liiiiiiittle bit rogue this week and changing things up. Yeeeep, we’re interviewing former Bachelor star Jen Hawke - also known as Australia’s favourite reality TV villain - about the power of the producer. Can a reality TV producer create a villain, we ask her, or do they need something to actually play with in order to craft their character?PLUS, fashion blogger Gary Pepper Girl published the intricate details of her wedding prep on Into The Gloss and wowee do we have some thoughts and feelings to unpack. If you’re interested in checking out some of the articles we pointed to in the show, you can here:Amanda Sherker on the 7 Ways The Beauty Industry Convinced Women That They Weren't Good Enough for The Huffington Post.Jia Tolentino on The Year That Skin Care Became a Coping Mechanism for The New Yorker.Caitlin Fitzsimmons on how much Australians really spend on their weddings for the Sydney Morning Herald.You're so welcome to join the conversation in our Facebook group! Otherwise, you can find us on Twitter, follow Michelle on Instagram here, Zara on Instagram here or get in touch at shamelessthepodcast@gmail.com.And before we go: We're a tiny, little independent podcast who rely on your reviews for others to find us. If you have the time, we'd love it if you could leave us a review and we promise we will pay you back. One day. Maybe. Somehow.This episode was produced by Zara McDonald with royalty free music from Bensound.

She lives in Brooklyn, has the most enviable, effortless hair, and works at Glossier; is that not the dream? Claire Knebl is the Senior Manager of Brand and Campaign Strategy for the cult beauty brand. But before everyone was Instagramming the brand's balms and snapping instances of "Glossier pink" in the wild, Knebl was an OG at the company's online publication, "Into The Gloss." Seeing the company grow from 12 people to over 70 has given this young insider a wealth of experience and knowledge. Knebl sat down with us for this episode of #CFofficehours to chat about her vigorous internship strategy, growing the team, and 'bringing Glossier to life.

She’s already had every girl's dream job in New York City—and we got to talk to her about it on this episode of #CFofficehours! Mackenzie Wagoner sat down to chat about rising up the fashion food chain, from pitching daily features at PopSugar, being apart of the OG team at Into The Gloss, and topping her resume off with the shiny spot as senior beauty writer at Vogue.com. Mackenzie’s overwhelming intellect had us spinning in our chairs, and we're so excited for her next steps. Find out why she recently stepped down from her dream job at Vogue, her career advice, and so much more in this episode of #CFofficehours.

Emily Weiss had no cosmetics industry experience when she founded Glossier, a beauty brand for the Instagram generation. What she did have: reams of insider info on what women actually wear -- and want -- out of skincare and makeup thanks to her popular blog Into The Gloss. In Glossier's first year in business, she raised over $10 million in funding. "It wasn't easy," said Weiss. Here's how she's using the Internet to build better beauty products.

Get to know the woman behind Glossier and Into The Gloss. Founder Emily Weiss talks to Oh Boy host Jay Buim about the business skills she culled while working in the magazine industry, what being a Vogue stylist's assistant taught her, how she learned to be good collaborator, why Ikea may actually strengthen your relationships (at least the work ones) and of course, where the whole idea of Into The Gloss -- and later Glossier -- started. Want more Emily? @emilywweiss Want more Jay? @beardwizard Edited by Jay Buim Produced by Kate Barnett