Podcasts about Marine layer

We discuss some of the mixed reviews we've heard about Jalen Milroe's potential. Then, we discuss Salk's shift in viewpoint on strikeouts and how the evolution of the game has impacted it. Plus, we call Lyle's Marine Layer partner, TJ Mathewson to discuss whether he feels Lyle sold him out when the threw out the first pitch at the Aqua Sox game or not.

Jon-Mark "JM" Craddock is the CEO of La Matera, a premium direct-to-consumer brand elevating craftsmanship and authenticity in a market crowded by fast fashion. With hands-on expertise in brand building, supply chain management, and Ecommerce growth, JM draws on his experience at high-growth brands like Chubbies, Marine Layer, and Tuckernuck to scale La Matera while preserving its artisanal roots.Driven by the belief that lasting brands are built on quality and meaningful customer connections, JM has led La Matera through a new chapter of growth, refining its identity, strengthening its supply chain, and balancing digital expansion with a commitment to craftsmanship. Under his leadership, La Matera continues to deliver timeless products that honor tradition while thriving in a modern DTC landscape.In This Conversation We Discuss:[00:42] Intro[01:09] Building networks through unexpected paths[04:37] Finding hidden value in early teams[05:18] Building momentum with new platforms[06:50] Learning supply chain under real pressure[09:35] Choosing brands with personal connection[12:15] Episode Sponsors: Electric Eye, Snowball & Portless[16:18] Balancing trust and strategy with sellers[17:48] Answering every deal email immediately[18:40] Backing deals with personal guarantees[20:29] Buying businesses to create opportunities[21:39] Rebuilding brand soul through founder voice[25:20] Tapping networks to solve real problems[27:20] Choosing tenacity over easy winsResources:Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on YoutubeCollection of meticulously handcrafted leather belts and accessories lamaterashop.com/Follow Jon-Mark Craddock linkedin.com/in/jonmarkcraddockSchedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connectDrive revenue through affiliates & referrals socialsnowball.io/honestRevolutionize your inventory and fulfillment process portless.com/If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Corinne is the Head of Retail, VP at Marine Layer. She's previously held executive and leadership roles at Drybar, AEO, Gap, and Old Navy. 

We are back on a very eventful Tuesday! First, the Mariners beat the Astros on Monday night thanks to some more late-game heroics from Jorge Polanco. What went well in the win, and what still needs improving? Also, Brady talks about the situation Dan Wilson found himself in in the 8th inning and discusses how it underscores the biggest flaws with the team.Then, what's the latest on Victor Robles, George Kirby, Matt Brash and Troy Taylor? And then we speak to TJ and Lyle from the Marine Layer Podcast about how they got their start, how they've grown and more.Also: Thursday's episode will feature Buster Olney of ESPN and Friday will feature Cal Raleigh's dad, Todd Raleigh! 

Episode 159 February 27, 2025 On the Needles 1:27 ALL KNITTING LINKS GO TO RAVELRY UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.  Please visit our Instagram page @craftcookreadrepeat for non-Rav photos and info     Baby hat, doodle knit directory by Jamie Lomax, Lemonade Shop simple sock in Dunks– DONE!!   Bankhead hat by Susie Gorlay, Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok in Midnight Sea–DONE!!   Succulents 2025 Blanket CAL by Mallory Krall, Hue Loco DK in Terrarium   Llama llama duck by Adrienne Fong, C W D: Handcrafted Products for the Mind, Body & Soul BFL Alpaca Nylon Sock in Sutro Baths   Filoli Cowl by Ksenia Naidyon, AVFKW Floating in Current and Marine Layer (70% Alpaca, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere goat), AVFKW Wild Bloom in Quartz and Rain Cloud (41% Alpaca, 35% Silk, 13% Merino, 10% Yak)-- DONE!!     On the Easel 10:15 Half-way of the Secret 100-Day!    Klaus Mäkelä & Yuja Wang | Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major   On the Table 18:28   Julia Turshen signing with Nina LaCour   Mustard ponzu chicken and broccoli from Ali Slagle substack   Boyfriend salmon from Justine Cooks   Smitten Kitchen Marsala Meatballs    A diy potato & leek crostada with hasty pie crust   On the Nightstand 29:15 We are now a Bookshop.org affiliate!  You can visit our shop to find books we've talked about or click on the links below.  The books are supplied by local independent bookstores and a percentage goes to us at no cost to you!   The Secret Hours by Mick Herron (audio) Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (audio) All Fours by Miranda July The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins   The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight

Episode 158 February 13,  2025 On the Needles 1:56 ALL KNITTING LINKS GO TO RAVELRY UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.  Please visit our Instagram page @craftcookreadrepeat for non-Rav photos and info   Hoodola by Laura Nelkin, Lady Dye Yarns DK in Notorious, Yarn Love Amy March DK in Beneath the Waves– DONE!!   Succulents 2025 Blanket CAL by Mallory Krall, Hue Loco DK in Echevaria– DONE!!   January Colorwork Cuff Club by Summer Lee, Lemonade Shop Simple Sock in Dunks– DONE!! February Colorwork Cuff Club by Summer Lee, Fibernymph Dyeworks Bounce in Love Bug and others– DONE!!   Baby hat, doodle knit directory by Jamie Lomax, Lemonade Shop simple sock in Dunks   Llama llama duck by Adrienne Fong, C W D: Handcrafted Products for the Mind, Body & Soul BFL Alpaca Nylon Sock in Sutro Baths   Filoli Cowl by Ksenia Naidyon, AVFKW Floating in Current and Marine Layer (70% Alpaca, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere goat), AVFKW Wild Bloom in Quartz and Rain Cloud (41% Alpaca, 35% Silk, 13% Merino, 10% Yak)     Cortney's knitting: Pressed Flower Pullover by Amy Christoffers in Neighborhood Fiber Studio DK Ramblewood and Suri Loft Mondawmin (which is burgundy and hot pink).  (Wintery Knitting!)   On the Easel 18:18 Secret 100 Day Project, flip through coming soon Finished one Winter sketchbook, a Pith sketchbook. “Blue Series” drawings Florals, plus a field trip to the new SF Flower Market On the Table 22:57 First recipe test for America's Test kitchen!   Sesame-feta meatballs with burst tomatoes Shallot, egg, bread,FETA BRINE, cumin, lamb Meatballs, shallot, cherry tomato, feta cubes   chicken thighs + fries - by Julia Turshen Yogurt marinade chicken thighs yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, garlic, za'atar ½ for marinade, ½ for drizzle   Real Texas Nachos Recipe   Valentine Care Packages “Winter” tacos with shrimp and slaw from A Dish for All Seasons Bionaturae Sourdough Fusilli On the Nightstand 37:31 We are now a Bookshop.org affiliate!  You can visit our shop to find books we've talked about or click on the links below.  The books are supplied by local independent bookstores and a percentage goes to us at no cost to you! Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten (audio). Sword Crossed by Freya Marke A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid  The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey  Onyx storm by Rebecca Yarros Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis  How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis The Pairing by Casey McQuiston  Flower Philosophy by Anna Potter A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

Salk is joined by Lyle Goldstein and TJ Matthewson of the Marine Layer Podcast to talk about a little about their podcast and read some glowing reviews, they talk about the Seahawks offensive coordinator search, former Mariners reliever Paul Sewald signing with the Guardians, and more in Need to Know, then Daniel Jeremiah has an interesting idea for the Seahawks new offensive coordinator.

Sophie Vershbow is a freelance journalist who writes a lot about books, reading, and the publishing industry. You might have seen her article about celebrity book ghost writers and about DNFing without guilt.We talk about her experience with social media strategy for authors and publishers, and with writing about publishing. We also discuss how much book publicity has changed, so stay tuned for extremely good advice for managing social media for book publicity.Then, naturally, we turn to reality tv and shopping!We have SO MANY LINKS. Get ready!You can find Sophie Vershbow at her website, on Instagram – and don't forget her dog, Simon!We also discussed:SBTB: When do you DNF a Book and Why, inspired by Sophie's article belowSophie in The Atlantic: When Is It Okay to Not Finish a Book?Sophie in New York Magazine: Who's Really Writing Celebrity Novels?Sophie in Esquire: The Murky Path To Becoming a New York Times Best SellerAll of Sophie's bylines in EsquireSophie in Esquire: Behind the Scenes of Barack Obama's Reading ListsSophie's favorite piece that she's written: The Cousin I Never KnewShopping links!Off FifthNordstrom RackSezaneGapEverlaneCosMarine LayerStaudReformationBeni – browser extension that searches second hand platforms for items on screenRakuten – cash back for shopping through their platform (Affiliate link gets you $30 bonus when you spend $30) Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophie Vershbow is a freelance journalist who writes a lot about books, reading, and the publishing industry. You might have seen her article about celebrity book ghost writers and about DNFing without guilt.We talk about her experience with social media strategy for authors and publishers, and with writing about publishing. We also discuss how much book publicity has changed, so stay tuned for extremely good advice for managing social media for book publicity.Then, naturally, we turn to reality tv and shopping!We have SO MANY LINKS. Get ready!You can find Sophie Vershbow at her website, on Instagram – and don't forget her dog, Simon!We also discussed:SBTB: When do you DNF a Book and Why, inspired by Sophie's article belowSophie in The Atlantic: When Is It Okay to Not Finish a Book?Sophie in New York Magazine: Who's Really Writing Celebrity Novels?Sophie in Esquire: The Murky Path To Becoming a New York Times Best SellerAll of Sophie's bylines in EsquireSophie in Esquire: Behind the Scenes of Barack Obama's Reading ListsSophie's favorite piece that she's written: The Cousin I Never KnewShopping links!Off FifthNordstrom RackSezaneGapEverlaneCosMarine LayerStaudReformationBeni – browser extension that searches second hand platforms for items on screenRakuten – cash back for shopping through their platform (Affiliate link gets you $30 bonus when you spend $30) Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aaron Hartman is a writer, musician and podcaster based in Portland, Oregon. He is a founding member and bass player of Northwest indie legends Old Time Relijun, electro dance-rock pioneers IQU and releases music under the moniker Marine Layer. His newest endeavor, La Jolla Babylon-The Making Of A Suburban Punk, (out 10.18 via Ruinous Media) is a poignant and hilarious podcast where Aaron shares stories about his stormy youth growing up punk in a conservative beach town with his Millennial sister, actor, writer and comedian Katie Hartman. In this episode, Joe and Aaron get to the bottom of their first meeting and how Olympia's music scene's eventual acceptance of Joe led to the two playing together in the Replikants. Aaron shares how the struggle to publish his fictionalized memoir led to his new podcast, why he asked his sister Katie to join him and why it's a platform for he and Katie to celebrate their closeness and rapport. The two quip about changing the narrative with their longtime friend Sara Lund and Aaron shares an outrageous story about sperm donation and how his older sister wrote a play inspired by the experience. Marine Layer

This week's episode starts off with Jason  "Puck" Puckett, former KJR host,  expressing his frustration at seeing Ryan Divish's, Seattle Times,  name and face everywhere while he was on vacation. They discuss the Marine Layer podcast and the Locked On Mariners podcast, with Puck jokingly threatening to come after them.  The conversation then shifts to their recent experiences in Montana, including a visit to the Bulldog Saloon. They discuss the collapse of the Seattle Mariners and the firing of manager Scott Servais. They criticize the ownership group for their handling of the situation and their lack of common sense. They also discuss the lack of communication and transparency from the organization. The conversation revolves around the recent managerial change in the Seattle Mariners organization and the lack of transparency and accountability from the front office. The hosts discuss the decision to hire Scott Servais as the full-time manager and the confusion surrounding his status. They express their frustration with the organization's handling of the situation and their disappointment in the lack of a press conference or in-person announcement. They also touch on the ownership group's influence on decision-making and the financial challenges the team may face in the future. The conversation covers various topics related to the Seattle Mariners and their future prospects. They discuss the team's financial situation, potential trades, and the challenges they face in building a competitive roster. They also touch on the team's identity and the difficulties they have in attracting top talent. Rundown00:00 Puck assaults Ryan for stepping out on him with every podcast in the world! 04:46 The Bulldog Saloon Experience...Montana bar done right 09:38 The Collapse of the Seattle Mariners15:23 Criticism of the Ownership Group19:10 Lack of Communication and Transparency23:18 Lack of Transparency and Accountability26:45 Confusion Surrounding Scott Servais' Status35:31 Influence of the Ownership Group43:08 Financial Challenges and Potential Impact49:29 Navigating Financial Challenges52:27 Struggle to Attract Top Talent56:09 Inconsistent Identity and Roster Construction

Ken Pilot interviews Mike Natenshon, Founder of Marine Layer, for this episode of The Retail Pilot Podcast.Mike Natenshon started Marine Layer the day after his girlfriend threw away his favorite shirt. In the ensuing 10 years, Marine Layer has grown into a complete California-inspired lifestyle brand delivering new favorite shirts to wherever their customers are. Although considered 'digital first' Marine Layer operates 50 stores and two 1969 VW buses nationwide.SummaryMarineLayer is a retail brand that started as an online t-shirt company and later expanded to brick-and-mortar stores. The company focuses on creating high-quality, comfortable clothing for men and women. They have a balanced distribution model, with 60% of sales coming from retail stores, 40% from direct-to-consumer online sales, and a small percentage from wholesale.MarineLayer has been able to maintain profitability and grow steadily by taking a measured approach to expansion and focusing on building a strong brand. They have plans to continue growing all three distribution channels and are considering international expansion in the future.Marine Layer is a brand that focuses on creating comfortable and casual clothing for both men and women. The stores are designed to feel like a room in your home, with a familiar and intimate atmosphere.The company has a program called Respun, which is an upcycling initiative that collects old t-shirts and finds new uses for them. They offer customers a recycling bag and a credit towards future purchases.In terms of marketing, Marine Layer uses paid social media advertising on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, as well as catalogs. They have also explored connected TV advertising but found it to be expensive and not as targeted as other channels.In terms of technology, Marine Layer has invested in Endless Isle, which allows them to share inventory across channels and provide a seamless customer experience. They are also exploring the use of AI for customer analytics and predictive product merchandising.As a leader, Mike is focused on protecting the company's culture and maintaining a fun and collaborative work environment. Marine Layer operates on a hybrid work model, with employees working three days in the office and two days remotely. Mike's favorite Marine Layer item is a t-shirt that he has worn for the births of both of his daughters.TakeawaysMarineLayer started as an online t-shirt company and later expanded to brick-and-mortar stores.They have a balanced distribution model, with 60% of sales from retail stores, 40% from online sales, and a small percentage from wholesale.The company focuses on creating high-quality, comfortable clothing for men and women.MarineLayer has been able to maintain profitability and grow steadily by taking a measured approach to expansion and focusing on building a strong brand.They have plans to continue growing all three distribution channels and are considering international expansion in the future. Marine Layer focuses on creating comfortable and casual clothing for both men and women.The stores are designed to feel like a room in your home, with a familiar and intimate atmosphere.Respun is Marine Layer's upcycling program that collects old t-shirts and finds new uses for them.Marine Layer uses paid social media advertising and catalogs for marketing.They have invested in technology like Endless Isle for seamless inventory management and are exploring the use of AI for customer analytics.Mike is focused on protecting the company's culture and maintaining a fun and collaborative work environment.Marine Layer operates on a hybrid work model, with employees working three days in the office and two days remotely.

We are back on a Tuesday after the Mariners went 4-2 over the most recent homestand. We talk about the style of play under Dan Wilson and why you have no choice but to be encouraged by it.Then, Brady has been a defender of Jerry Dipoto but how did he feel after reading the Danny O'Neil story in the Tacoma News Tribune? Furthermore, Brady still doesn't think it's Dipoto's fault that Scott Servais found out he was being fired online.Then, Danny O'Neil joins us to talk about his article, his thoughts on Jerry and more. And we react to the terrifying Ryan Divish comments on the "Marine Layer" podcast.

TJ & Lyle (from the Marine Layer podcast) fill in for Brock and Salk. They discuss last nights game and what the Mariners need to do going forward // NTK // What's the worst case scenario for the Mariners before the trade deadline // Blue 88: There is a chance that a Seattle U Redhawk starts the All-Star game. Is Paul Skenes a top 5 pitcher? Is Aarron Judge going to break his record again?

Guest: Shannon Drayer stops by // NTK // CALLERS // RANKED: TJ & Lyle rank the Marine Layer's baseball commandments

A listener asked what is the marine layer? This Podcast answers that question including how it dissipates, revealing sunshine.

Baran Ziegler and Steve Dveris in the CWC studio. We have two guests from the 2024 Healdsburg WFE - Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience – on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Dan has brought a cellar wine for tasting, a Sauvignon Blanc that Steve calls "spectacular." It's a 2018 Benziger Estate Paradiso de Maria. Dan has been holding it for five years. Steve Dveris is back, to describe the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience. And Baran Ziegler is here, he has Valkyrie Selections and Marine Layer Wines. The 2024 Healdsburg WFE is a four-day event, between May 16-19, 2024. It is the favorite wine event on the calendar for many people who have attended. This is its third annual edition. There are still  tickets available for the big tasting event on May 18 featuring 125 wineries and 30 chefs, plus beverages galore. Wine Enthusiast magazine voted the HWFE as one of the 10 best wine events in the country. That's a great achievement for the event which is only on its third annual edition. Baran worked in wine retail in college and has been in the industry for 25 years. His company Valkyrie Selections is an importer of wines from Spain and France. His first company was Banshee wines, which he started 20 years ago. Marine Layer is the name of his current winery. The weather in the western part of Sonoma County has a strong marine influence, which makes the area perfect for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Marine Layer tasting room is in downtown Healdsburg. Click the logo to visit Davis Bynum Wines. Valkyrie Selections Among the wines that Valkyrie Selections imports is an English producer of sparkling wine. On the southern coast, the chalky soils are the same soil formation present across the Channel in Champagne, France. Climate change has warmed England by 5-6 degrees which is enough to allow grapes to grow. 20-30 years ago it wasn't possible. Valkyrie Selections imports 212 wines from 42 growers in Spain. They sell almost 500 wines, as a company. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Rodney Strong for info on the 2024 Summer Concert series. Most of their wine is sold direct to consumer on their website. In the future, some store distribution is a goal. They have a 3000-square-foot tasting room.

Our Mariner Content Creator Spotlight series continues as Ty sits down with Lyle Goldstein and TJ Mathewson from the Marine Layer Podcast.Ask us questions!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelNew customers, join today and you'll get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our Mariner Content Creator Spotlight series continues as Ty sits down with Lyle Goldstein and TJ Mathewson from the Marine Layer Podcast. Ask us questions! Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! eBay Motors With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuel New customers, join today and you'll get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

T.J. Mathewson and Lyle Goldstein are the creators of The Marine Layer Podcast, offering incredible content in the form of longform podcast that cover either the current happenings of the Mariners or an array of interviews with notable names in the Mariners space. In this episode, we dive into their time at ASU, being at Hole 16 of The Waste Management Open in 2020, the challenges of content creation, and more. =========================== Follow T.J. and Lyle on all platforms! YouTube: @marinelayerpod Instagram: @marinelayerpod TikTok: @marinelayerpod Apple/Spotify: Marine Layer Podcast Find Us Everywhere: https://Linktr.ee/MarineLayerPod

Thank you sponsors!  Marine Layer https://www.marinelayer.com/sesh15 Mindbloom https://mindbloom.com/sesh  Skims https://skims.com/  Uncommon Goods https://uncommongoods.com/sesh  Time Stamps 0:00 - Hi friends!  3:03 - Janelle & Charlie's adventures 17:14 - Colleen is back 46:30 - Lady tries to pee on the plane 54:23 - Matt Rife's Netflix Special NCMEC x Kendall Rae Donation link: https://give.missingkids.org/kendallrae  The Sesh Merch: thesesh.shop   Listen on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3fjR2s1 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3go1X5s Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/3fCx7H3  Topic request form: https://forms.gle/yTyFVRcEkpktU6Q87     Spicy + CSI Submission form: https://forms.gle/EKXkE2j1hxoMmyma8 Check out our other podcasts! Lights Out https://bit.ly/3n3Gaoe Planet Sleep https://linktr.ee/planetsleep Mile Higher Podcast https://bit.ly/3uDwZ2Y  Kendall's CBD Brand, Higher Love Wellness: https://higherlovewellness.com/   Follow us on social media @the_seshpodcast  TikTok: https://bit.ly/3r3k9I2  IG: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr TW: https://bit.ly/2XH4C2A Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/milehigherhomies   Kendall: @kendallraeonyt IG: https://bit.ly/3gIQPjI   TW: https://bit.ly/2XLsLFn   YT: https://bit.ly/3abKWsS   TikTok: https://bit.ly/3JxPJFx    Janelle: @janelle_fields_ YoutTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3JNOBx8   IG: https://bit.ly/2DyP1eE   TW: https://bit.ly/2DrboD1   TikTok: https://bit.ly/3BrWBkO     Karelly: @karell.y IG: https://bit.ly/2TcxnoD   TW: https://bit.ly/3f9ngcN  Kositas by Karelly- kositas.co    Sydney: @syd_b93    IG: https://bit.ly/3LR0zHY  TikTok: https://bit.ly/3OL4aJU  Podcast sponsor inquires: adops@audioboom.com    Music By: Mile Higher Boys YT: https://bit.ly/3fJrDZ8 IG: https://bit.ly/3kDle5s    Send Us Mail & Art  8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J # 233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112   Welcome to The Sesh Podcast hosted by cousins and best friends, Kendall & Janelle! Kendall is a YouTube content creator focusing on True Crime and raising awareness for missing persons cases, and Janelle is a mental health professional with a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Our show is focused on a variety of topics including current events, pop culture, commentary, and a little true crime. Come hang out with us every Wednesday!

Prue Leith [Great British Baking Show, Great American Baking Show] joins Olivia, Rob and Rachel to talk about whether she gets sick of all the food she eats on the show, the ‘Baking Show' recruitment process, and Prue's favorite foods. They also discuss why they shoot ‘Baking Show' in a tent, the difference between bakers and cooks, and whether Paul's blue eyes and dark tan are “real”.Broad Ideas is supported by Factor. Head to factormeals.com/ideas50 and use code ideas50 to get 50% off.Broad Ideas is supported by Marine Layer. Find your new favorite fits and get 15% off at marinelayer.com/IDEAS15.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Prue Leith [Great British Baking Show, Great American Baking Show] joins Olivia, Rob and Rachel to talk about whether she gets sick of all the food she eats on the show, the ‘Baking Show' recruitment process, and Prue's favorite foods. They also discuss why they shoot ‘Baking Show' in a tent, the difference between bakers and cooks, and whether Paul's blue eyes and dark tan are “real”. Broad Ideas is supported by Factor. Head to factormeals.com/ideas50 and use code ideas50 to get 50% off. Broad Ideas is supported by Marine Layer. Find your new favorite fits and get 15% off at marinelayer.com/IDEAS15.

Salk asks Brady to share his thoughts on the Charissa Thompson story about her making up sideline reports and how problematic that is for the broadcast/journalism profession before Salk is joined by TJ Mathewson from 1240 Joe Radio & the Marine Layer Podcast to discuss the OSU vs UW game and a quick Mariners conversation. 

We welcome HOF actor Josh Brolin onto the set of HVW and dive deep into his past working with Tony himself and his journey starting from the bottom to where he is at now. Wonderful Pistachios will be your new go to snack. Check out https://WonderfulPistachios.com Find your new favorite fits and get 15% off @marinelayer with promo code WOLF15 at https://marinelayer.com. The perfect tee can be hard to find. Look no further than Marine Layer. For a Limited Time Get 15% off with the code WOLF15 at https://marinelayer.com. Saving your closet one shirt at a time. #marinelayerpod Head to http://tryfum.com/WOLF to save an additional 10% off your order today. CHECK OUT Nomad AT https://nomadgoods.com/hawkwolf. Be sure to use code WOLF to save 10% on your first order.  Go to https://trueclassictees.com/WOLF and save up to 50% off site wide during their November holiday sale! Listen to Hawk vs Wolf Spotify -- https://spoti.fi/3YmTQer Apple -- https://apple.co/3KYh3Rk Follow on Social Tony Hawk  https://instagram.com/tonyhawk  https://instagram.com/skateparkproject https://twitter.com/tonyhawk Jason Ellis  https://instagram.com/wolfmate https://twitter.com/ellismate Hawk vs Wolf is produced and shot by @malka_media . MALKA is a creative studio leveraging the instincts of a creative agency but built on the backbone of an agile production company. We are the makers. We don't just dream it, we create it; because we know how. This is content at the speed of culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We welcome HOF actor Josh Brolin onto the set of HVW and dive deep into his past working with Tony himself and his journey starting from the bottom to where he is at now. Wonderful Pistachios will be your new go to snack. Check out https://WonderfulPistachios.com Find your new favorite fits and get 15% off @marinelayer with promo code WOLF15 at https://marinelayer.com. The perfect tee can be hard to find. Look no further than Marine Layer. For a Limited Time Get 15% off with the code WOLF15 at https://marinelayer.com. Saving your closet one shirt at a time. #marinelayerpod Head to http://tryfum.com/WOLF to save an additional 10% off your order today. CHECK OUT Nomad AT https://nomadgoods.com/hawkwolf. Be sure to use code WOLF to save 10% on your first order.  Go to https://trueclassictees.com/WOLF and save up to 50% off site wide during their November holiday sale! Listen to Hawk vs Wolf Spotify -- https://spoti.fi/3YmTQer Apple -- https://apple.co/3KYh3Rk Follow on Social Tony Hawk  https://instagram.com/tonyhawk  https://instagram.com/skateparkproject https://twitter.com/tonyhawk Jason Ellis  https://instagram.com/wolfmate https://twitter.com/ellismate Hawk vs Wolf is produced and shot by @malka_media . MALKA is a creative studio leveraging the instincts of a creative agency but built on the backbone of an agile production company. We are the makers. We don't just dream it, we create it; because we know how. This is content at the speed of culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After one Lisa Gilroy TYSO appearance, she has already become a Goblin favorite. Give a listen as she takes her shoes off for a second time. Also, if you're confused with the voices during the commercials, check it out on YouTube -- it's hilarious. No joke, these MARINE LAYER pants are some of Rick's new fav. They look like fancy corduroy pants, but they have an elastic waist with a sweatpants-like feel. For a Limited Time Get 15% off with the code [TYSO15] at https://www.marinelayer.com. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/takeyourshoesoff

Today we are joined by a stand up comedy legend, Paul Virzi. Paul headlines comedy clubs across North America and hosts two weekly podcasts, “The Virzi Effect,” and “Anything Better?” co-hosted with Bill Burr, on the All Things Comedy network. Paul has performed throughout Europe and in America's most iconic venues including, Madison Square Garden, The Chicago Theatre and Carnegie Hall.  Paul's NEW Special:https://www.netflix.com/title/81605956 Find out more about Paul:https://paulvirzi.com/ Grab some NEW dank merch here:https://shop.chadandjt.com/ Come see us on Tour!Tickets on http://www.chadandjt.com Call us, leave a 60 sec voicemail with your issue or question: 323-418-2019or write in to chadgoesdeeppodccast(at)gmail.com(Start with where you're from and name for best possible advice) Check out the reddit for some dank convo: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChadGoesDeep/ Episode Sponsored by: Marine Layer Clothing:  Find your new favorite fits and get 15% off Marine Layer with promo code GOINGDEEP15 at https://www.marinelayer.com/#marinelayerpod

Ad free: https://bit.ly/3P2rJjd Follow our TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insanelychillpod Follow our IG: https://www.instagram.com/insanelychillpod Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Nap49nNc5mBCByTQXaQom Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/insanely-chill-w-cody-ko/id1189852741 Produced by @Kenny_Murphy & @TinyMeatGang   Chapters 00:00 Brooke Averick brought Kelsey a birthday gift!  2:18 Beautiful Kelsey and Beautiful Brooke  3:35 Teacher Nightmares  9:30 Subscribe to @bncmap !  11:38 AG1  12:50 BlueChew  14:14 our parents drank while pregnant  16:00 Knitting Chickens  19:40 Kelsey's Birthday Party!  24:50 How Brooke met one of her favorite actors... 39:24 Manscaped 41:18 Marine Layer  43:37 Funny Girl  48:06 Guess that Celebrity Baby 56:55 Brooke's Dating Life 1:02:08 Checking in on Jeremy Fragrance 1:05:20 Our Halloween costumes  1:06:38 Brooke gives Kelsey her birthday gift! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Special guest Lyle from the Marine Layer Podcast joins the show to discuss their Luis Robert Jr. trade proposal. White Sox going after Salvador Perez and Whit Merrifield? Cubs early trade rumors include Pete Alonso and Juan Soto??? Postseason predictions. New segment: Vanderpump Rules breakdown from Zo. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pinwheels-and-ivy/support

On this episode of the Absolutely Not Podcast- Heather is back from a trip in frigid cold California with a sweaty undercarriage and anxiety to boot! Mercury must be in retrograde because technology is failing us and the voicemails on the Absolutely Not line were insane! One woman is getting scammed on a wedding registry while another is getting pranked by members of One Direction!Episode Sponsors:If you want to take ownership of your health, try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D and 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase at DrinkAG1.com/ABSOLUTELYControl Body Odor ANYWHERE with @lumedeoderant and get $5 off your Starter Pack (that's over 40% off) with promo code ABSOLUTELY at lumedeoderant.com/a/ABSOLUTELY! #lumepodRight now, BÉIS (base) is offering our listeners 15% off your first purchase by visiting BEISTRAVEL.com/absolutelyProduced by Dear Media

For years it felt like everyone was moving away from email marketing and newsletter and onto social media. However, with changes to platforms and algorithms, email has seen a resurgence this past year. Creators are flocking to platforms, like Substack, where they can own their audience and curate their message. The only trouble is, how do you actually get your subscribers to navigate with you and engage? Our first guest of Season 6 is Lia Haberman, the mind behind the email newsletter sensation, ICYMI. In this episode, she shares her tips to craft a newsletter that not only gets opened, but actually supports your business goals and builds your brand. Subscribe to Arcade's Newsletter, SCAN

Instructor Matt Keane found himself over the marine layer with a failed engine and an electrical system on the discovery flight he was conducting. Find out how he managed the emergency.

Kevin Ann Jordan@tailoredstylist has been helping women get dressed since age three, starting with her younger sister. Growing up in a remote mountain town in California, she didn't have a lot of exposure to the fashion world but she loved the bi-annual school clothing shopping trips and reading fashion magazines. Kevin has always wanted to help people, and after a corporate career in the healthcare industry, she realized that she could help women on an individual level through styling. Starting at Stitch Fix, Kevin was trained as a virtual stylist and later started her own business, cultivating a roster of clients around the world from Sydney to New York to Vancouver.Always practical, Kevin disliked the amount of waste created by the fashion industry, including the amount of low quality clothing piling up in women's closets. With a mantra of quality over quantity, Kevin began to discover the sustainable fashion movement. Starting in her own closet, Kevin learned just how bad our clothing, and consumerist culture is for the planet, its people and animals.Today, Kevin makes it her mission to help the planet one closet at a time through her one-on-one work with clients, as well as the Sustainable Style Club she launched in 2022. Kevin is spreading the message about buying less, recycling more, curating mindful, beautiful closets and wearing clothes that make us feel great, without compromising the planet.She's my guest this week and shares a million good ideas about how to think about what you're wearing and how it impacts the environment starting with understanding your style manifesto, to buying less, re-imagining your clothes and how to recycle them. Her work is truly quite transformative, and I am excited to share this conversation with you.Here are some of the resources and companies Kevin talked about on the show today: Good On You app and website Goodonyou.eco, ForDays - takeback bag, Marine Layer, Smartwool, Nisolo Everlane,Outerknown,Madewell, Eileen Fisher and Patagonia.Today's show was engineered by Ian Seda from Radiokingston.org.Our show music is from Shana Falana!Feel free to email me, say hello: she@iwantwhatshehas.org** Please: SUBSCRIBE to the pod and leave a REVIEW wherever you are listening, it helps other users FIND IThttp://iwantwhatshehas.org/podcastITUNES | SPOTIFY | STITCHERITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-want-what-she-has/id1451648361?mt=2SPOTIFY:https://open.spotify.com/show/77pmJwS2q9vTywz7Uhiyff?si=G2eYCjLjT3KltgdfA6XXCASTITCHER: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/she-wants/i-want-what-she-has?refid=stpr'Follow:INSTAGRAM * https://www.instagram.com/iwantwhatshehaspodcast/FACEBOOK * https://www.facebook.com/iwantwhatshehaspodcastTWITTER * https://twitter.com/wantwhatshehas

thanks to anya, sophia, téa, audrey, and both scarletts for your advice on trends for this episode

Adam is the COO of Marine Layer, a San Francisco-based apparel brand.  www.marinelayer.com

Almost two billion dollars were poured into Tennessee’s economy, all because we spent time outside in 2020. When the Nashville Predators allow fans into Bridgestone Arena, what will be the policies and how many fans will make it in? And how much would you pay for a pair of jeans in Nashville?Become a subscriber! Visit us at https://www.patreon.com/nashvilledailyTEXT US: 615-392-1358Today's Sponsor: Screened ThreadsUse the Code "NashvilleDaily" for 10% off online and in-storehttps://screenedthreads.com/Nash NewsNashville COVID-19 Responsehttps://www.asafenashville.org/Tennessee State Park Impact https://www.tn.gov/environment/news/2021/1/12/tennessee-state-parks-have--1-84-billion-economic-impact-in-2020.html#:~:text=Tennessee%20State%20Parks%20Have%20%241.84%20Billion%20Economic%20Impact%20in%202020,-Tuesday%2C%20January%2012&text=Tennessee%20State%20Parks%20had%20an,Department%20of%20Environment%20and%20Conservation.Smashville Safe Plan https://www.newschannel5.com/sports/smashville-safe-plan-in-place-to-bring-preds-fans-back-to-bridgestone-arenaTour Around Nashville: Shopping in 12 SouthImogene + Williehttps://imogeneandwillie.com/Twice Daily https://twicedaily.com/Summer Classics https://summerclassics.com/sc-stores/Draper James https://draperjames.com/Minor Jewelry https://www.minorjewelry.com/Marine Layer https://www.marinelayer.com/Local Artist Feature - Mercy ShineThat's Where You'll Find Mehttps://open.spotify.com/artist/1rIvB4ShPeTMsz9XANDOhl?si=CLAf0a24SV6OLL3-P-KK5whttps://www.mercyshine.com/Nashville Daily Artist of the Day Playlisthttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/51eNcUWPg7qtj8KECrbuwx?si=nEfxeOgmTv6rFUyhVUJY9AFollow us @ XPLR NASHWebsite -  https://nashvilledailypodcast.com/YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/xplrnashInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/xplr.nash/Twiter - https://twitter.com/xplr_nashNASHVILLE & XPLR MERCH - http://bit.ly/nashville_merchMedia and other inquiries please email hello@xplr.lifeArtists can submit songs to be featured here https://forms.gle/mtkxUCFds7g9e2466

Brands large and small are all fighting the same battle of customer acquisition. How you reach customers, and how much that effort costs, is in constant flux, which is why Nik Sharma is a big fan of constantly running micro experiments. Nik is the CEO of Sharma Brands, a company that remains one of the best-kept secrets among the DTC community and which helps brands scale into the tens of millions. On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, Nik takes us behind the scenes of what that scaling process looks like, including his strategies around customer acquisition. Nik explains how important constant testing is, and he shares some micro-experiments he recommends running regularly. Plus, he tells us why reading every review and every comment associated with your brand is the best leaping-off point for your creative process. Main Takeaways:Please Rate And Review: Reviews really do matter, and you should look at every single one to have a better understanding of what customers are saying, what they see as the value props and what isn’t working. You can then work backward with that information and create content that matches what your customers want. Mo Money, Same Problems: Regardless of how big a company gets, the main problem any brand faces is that of customer acquisition. Bigger brands can throw more money toward getting their message to customers, but ultimately it’s about getting the right content to the right people.The Mom Test: Your website experience needs to be seamless and frictionless that even the most technically challenged, or busy, can make it through without issue. It also needs to deliver the message that you want to send right up front. No one is going to search for the thing you want them to see, so put it front and center.For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.---Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce---Transcript:Stephanie:Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Up Next In Commerce. This is your host, Stephanie Postles, co-founder at mission.org. Today, we're hanging out with Nik Sharma, the CEO of Sharma Brands. Nik, welcome to the show.Nik:Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.Stephanie:Yeah. Me, too. If we had video on, I would be trying to look at your whiteboard that you had on with probably 1,000 notes on it.Nik:All the secrets. It's got all the secrets.Stephanie:Yeah. What kind of secrets are on that board? I was really trying to zoom in like what's going on back there?Nik:It's got all the goals for the week, starting with nine hours of sleep, all the way to-Stephanie:That's a good goal.Nik:... how we plan to combat Facebook and Apple's big fight that's going to start January 15th.Stephanie:Oh, tell me a little bit about the big fight. I'm obviously not up to date on that. What's going on?Nik:Yeah. So basically in the new iOS update, Apple is going to give pretty much everybody multiple opportunities to block tracking. And so it's really going to hurt attribution for a lot of these ad platforms, especially for small business ad platforms like Facebook ads, Snapchat, et cetera. And so we're basically starting to think through how we combat that going into the new year because a lot of the businesses we work with, they're either brands that are just starting. And obviously, those are small businesses, but there's also some mid-sized businesses doing anywhere from 200 to 800 million in revenue, but they're also going to be just as effective. And so we're trying to think through how we go about combating that going into the New Year, basically making sure that there's not a ton of drop-off as it relates to the client.Stephanie:Yeah, I didn't realize this was happening so soon. I was paying attention a bit to the taking away cookies and tracking and all that kind of stuff. I didn't realize the iOS update was happening January 15th. So what are you guys thinking? What's your strategy? What are you advising your brands to do? I know I just jumped right into it, but this is really interesting.Nik:Yeah. Well, as of right now, it's a little bit up in the air. We have a few ideas going of how to combat it. But to be honest, there's not a ton of information out that we have to work with. We're trying to work with multiple different ad tech partners to understand how they view the impact happening. But at the same time, we're trying to think through how do we basically start creating our first party audience ads much faster than running ads when we need them, so whether that's by creating what I would call a prospecting CRM versus just a customer-centric CRM post-purchase, or trying to think through how do we still drive lower funnel conversion and attribute those sales properly, even though they might not be last click purchases. Yeah, it's a big cluster of unknowns right now.Stephanie:Yeah, that's tricky. I also wonder to what extent will a user maybe turn that feature off and then start to realize maybe how helpful that feature was when it comes to showcasing you the information that you want to see, or maybe ads that actually are helpful because I think right now, a lot of times people are like, "Oh, I want privacy and I want this and I want that"? But if you were to turn off a lot of the features that you're talking about, then you wouldn't really get the customized experience that people will do oftentimes appreciate in Google and other places. They wonder what that would look like.Nik:Yeah. Most of the people I've talked to have basically said a similar thing that they like the personalization and whatnot that comes with it. But there is definitely a pretty big group of people who would rather prefer that they never get targeted with an ad. Unfortunately, that's the threat to a lot of the small business advertisers out there.Stephanie:Yep, interesting. Well, when you guys have a little more insight into that, I'll just bring you back in here, how you guys are approaching it and what happens in January 15th.Nik:Yeah, definitely. Definitely.Stephanie:Cool. Give me a little background on Sharma Brands. I was seeing that you guys work with a lot of brands, some of which we've actually had on the show before, which is really cool to see. We've had [inaudible] and I think I saw two others. But tell me a bit about what is Sharma Brands and what do you guys do for the brands that you work with?Nik:Sharma Brands is like the secret of the internet. We don't really talk about it much publicly. But basically, what we do is we work with brands that are either just launching or have just launched. We either guide them through the launch or we pick them up right after launch. We work with brands that are midsize, brands that are doing really well and ideally want to do better, or we work with brands that are pretty big retail businesses that want to get their ecommerce business set up and on track. And so we come in and handle everything from strategy to execution, to implementation. A lot of it is testing, a lot of it is focused on creative and messaging and offer testing merchandising. We also do everything all the way to producing national TV spots, satellite radio, like basically helping brands venture out from the more traditional just Facebook ads or building a website.Stephanie:Got it. What inspired you to create Sharma Brands? I saw you had a lot of roles. You were the head of D2C for a couple of companies. I think you worked at Hint. Is that what led you to creating Sharma Brands, or tell me a little bit about that journey?Nik:Yeah. I've always had a knack for wanting to work on multiple brands, which is probably why Sharma Brands works. But separate from that, I don't know if we are even the perfect solution. I don't think we aren't because we don't really do everything. But there's not really a proper growth partner for a lot of these brands. There are media agencies, there's media companies, there are creative agencies, there are product development agencies, but there's really not many when it comes to true growth and helping them in things like scaling, going from 1 million to 10 million or 10 million to 60 million. And so we created this little niche where we help brands do just that. We try to stay on for no longer than six months per project. Our goal is to basically get in and do just an insane amount of testing so that by the time we leave, that brand knows exactly what's going to scale and what's not going to scale.Stephanie:Interesting. What kind of testing do you mean? What do you do throughout those six months to figure that out?Nik:It can be anything from copy, creative, landing pages, long form content. When I say creative, there's a whole variety of creative. There's the things like... We might test UGC, we might test influencers, we might test studio stuff, we might test just a whole variety of different types of content. We do the same thing when it comes to page experiences, so whether they're landing pages, whether they're listicles, articles, partnerships with companies like Morning Brew.Nik:And then of course, the last piece of it is the merchandising, so everything from offers and pricing to products, to what gets people in the door, what's the best product to sell them after that. And subsequent to that, how do we optimize for brands that are high consumption? How do we focus on subscription? How do we keep customer lifetime value high? How do we bring back repeat purchase rate without having to spend money to reacquire that customer? The goal is to figure an overwhelming majority of those types of things out so that by the time we're done, there's a very clear playbook that they can operate on for the next few months or a few years.Stephanie:Yep. I'm assuming that when you were working at Hint and other places, you started seeing similar things that were working and weren't working. Can you tell me a bit about what it was like working at those companies, or maybe you started uncovering a few universal truths around D2C?Nik:Yeah, working at Hint was great. It was a lot of fun. We grew really fast, which led us to a lot of challenges that we were able to overcome. But it gave me a lot of insight into the challenges that a lot of the brands face. Obviously, I think customer acquisition is one of the biggest things that brands don't necessarily understand or distribution, which is, I think, one thing we're really good at. But then after that, after you get to a point where you're able to acquire 1,000 customers a day sustainably and at reasonable prices, then how do you take those customers and service them further? How do you come up with products that feed those customers after what they've already bought if it's not a high consumption product? How do you think through unique partnerships that attract eyeballs that then give you the opportunity to sell those customers onto your brand? There's so many things. Basically, it all stems down to distribution. Good brands are really good at product and brand building. But then the idea of then getting that in front of other people is where the tough part comes in.Stephanie:And so how do you approach customer acquisition now, where maybe it was different than prior to 2020 because it feels like there's so many new companies in the space? Maybe not all of which will be here in a couple of years. There's a lot of companies. I think more businesses launched in 2020 than in 2019 and prior years. So how do you approach trying to compete and get the eyeballs and find new customers for your brands in a pretty competitive market right now?Nik:To be honest, we don't really take competitive brands into account. What we try to do is just be really innovative with the way that we message and get in front of people. For example, something as simple as like Judy, which is emergency kit you know, being able to really hone in on understanding whether it be by surveys or by looking at what types of messaging has better click through rates and conversion rates, understanding the types of messaging that people are reacting to, and then going really deep on it, all the way to coming up with funky partnership ideas like putting Poo-Pourri and Judy together because both brands service emergency situations.Stephanie:That's a really good partnership.Nik:Yeah, no, it's great. It's really just about like how do we stay ahead of competition? Most brands today probably run a very similar playbook of like, "Let's create some... text some images, put some ads up and run them to our homepage." We put that on steroids. We're testing maybe 17 different versions of creative or testing 7 different versions of landing pages or homepages or sites that they're leading to along with 37 different audiences that we're going after to understand which type of messaging converts better with which audiences.Stephanie:That's great. So how do you think about creating all those different types of messaging? How do you stay creative? I know when I'm thinking through ad copy, even for our company, once I create one or two or three, then I'm like, "That's all I got. I'm out." How do you guys stay creative and create like, what'd you say, 17 different landing pages? I mean, like a lot.Nik:Well, I have a team that's insanely creative, so that helps.Stephanie:That's helpful.Nik:But outside of that, I think one thing we do, which is honestly something anybody can do, is we try to look at every single review. So if we work with a brand, we try to read every single review and we will literally use a whiteboard and make a tally of the different value props and how many times they're mentioned and then use that to basically work backwards and understand messaging. So things like that to things like looking at comments on ads, to customer service emails and messages, to how are other people tweeting about it, how are other people taking press about a brand and then tweeting about the press or talking about that specific article. So we try to take in a variety of things. And then if all else fails, have a little glass of whiskey and take an approach with some fresh eyes.Stephanie:That's good. When it comes to large brands and small brands, we've been going through some of these challenges, but are the challenges the same for both big and small, or do you see completely different challenges depending on the size of the brand?Nik:I think that a lot of the challenges on the macro side are the same, but on the micro... On the macro side, for example, customer acquisition, right? A company that's doing 800 million versus a company that's just launched, both are going to be focused on how do we acquire customers smarter, better, faster, cheaper with higher lifetime value? But on the micro side, it's a little different because a company that's doing even 50 million in revenue has a lot more awareness to play off of. They have a lot more scale to go leverage things like partnerships with other brands, they have budgets to go to places like The Skimm and Morning Brew and other places like that versus a company that's just starting.Nik:They still have the same problem with customer acquisition, but they need to figure out even if they raised a little bit of money or if they did it, they need to figure out, "Okay, what is the fastest way for us to get 100 customers and then 1,000 customers and then 10,000 customers and then 50,000 customers." And obviously every time you hit that milestone, it gets easier and easier, but it's still the same. That's the challenge of how do you get in front of as many eyeballs as possible and also relevant eyeballs. You don't want to get in front of just eyeballs that are not going to convert for you.Stephanie:Yep. Are there any tools that you use to stay on top of maybe trends or what people are searching for, or even staying on top of like different kinds of audiences to reach and how to reach them in new ways, like new things you're doing maybe this year that you weren't utilizing in the past?Nik:One thing that we have started doing a lot more this year versus years in the past is really not taking creative too seriously. So, for example, like running memes as ads insanely outperforms things like really beautiful $30,000 photo shoots, or the way like... Do you use TikTok?Stephanie:Yes, I do. I love TikTok.Nik:I'm addicted to TikTok.Nik:With TikTok, I think if you look at the way TikTok has impacted culture or pop culture, I should say this year, it's pretty fascinating. Like when Instagram was big and there were Instagram models or even you could even say like... yeah, you could probably say even like big YouTubers, they don't really make news or make headlines, nor do they get, for example, flown out to fashion shows internationally to come walk in a runway. But TikTok has just completely taken 2020. And whether it's like TikTok is being flown out to Rome for fashion week or it's the fact that all of Snapchat discovers tabloid garbage is all influencers, there's something about TikTok that resonates really well with the masses.Nik:And so one thing we've been doing is testing, not only just testing TikTok's style videos, but also even the way... If you look in the comments of TikTok, I think the comment section is where the memes of tomorrow, or the memes of next month live. And so we've been [crosstalk] doing a lot of things where we test those. Those have been having really interesting results too. Just really like, again-Stephanie:All right, so give me some examples.Nik:... just a bunch of testing and fun stuff. My favorite is the... For example, if you were like this podcast is the perfect podcast for ecommerce operators, you would put the word operators in between the sparkles emoji, or just like random silly things that you see on TikTok. Yeah. It's hard to explain, but it just works so well.Stephanie:No, yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah. Well, tell me some of the most interesting comments that you've seen on TikTok that you've turned into memes.Nik:Well, the sparkles one is probably the easiest. Let's see. Outside of that, the eye mouth eye I think is hilarious. What else? What else? The concept of like it's the blank for me. There's just so many little inside jokes on TikTok that becomes so... Not only relevant on the outside world, but also people see it and they relate to it because they think they're the only ones that know about it because TikTok is such a one-to-one thing, you know?Stephanie:Yep, yeah. And then when you were talking about creating TikTok style ads, I'm assuming you're saying that you're creating an ad like you would create a video on TikTok and then you're actually putting it on other channels and platforms. Is that what you meant by that?Nik:Yeah.Stephanie:Yep. I was just thinking about that actually a couple of days ago. My head of growth is like, "Oh, can you create some audio ads and video ads and all this to help promote the shows or whatever?" And I was like, "Well, what's the easiest way for me to do that?" Honestly, creating it on TikTok, even if it's an unlisted video-Nik:Oh, 100%.Stephanie:Yeah, so much easier than trying to do anything else.Nik:The best ads in ecommerce are ones that do not look like billboards on the street. That's where a lot of brands go wrong is that when it comes to ads, they try to create this unique experience or this look that doesn't resonate with the common person. It's like no wonder they don't work because they look like if you see an ad, there's no chance you're going to sit there and be like, "Oh, an ad, let me watch this whole ad." All your ads have to feel like they're not ads. They have to feel like content that somebody maybe not wants to watch or needs to watch, but something that's intriguing enough where they're going to watch the first little bit, and then it's your job as the brand to hook them to watch the rest of it.Stephanie:Yep. Yeah, I love that. The other thing, now that we're talking about influencers and spreading things, I heard that your fridge is famous. You tell me a bit more about this because when I heard that, I'm like, "Isn't Nik an influencer? Why is his fridge famous and you're known for your fridge?" So give me the deets on this.Nik:Yeah, the fridge racks up impressions. That's for sure.Stephanie:Why? What is up with your fridge? Is it a fancy one?Nik:I'm just trying to look up real quick how many impressions the last one got. But no, it's funny because obviously I worked at Hint and I've worked with a bunch of different beverage brands. Yeah. So the last tweet about my fridge has 151,000 impressions.Stephanie:Why? What'd you say?Nik:It's nothing special. It's just the fact that a lot of people know me as a beverage marketer or beverage person. I'm just looking at this tweet from September 14th and my fridge has Taika, has Empathy Wines, it has Jock Coffee, it has Dose, which is like a new wellness shot, it has JuneShine, which is hard kombucha, it's got Sanzo, it's got OLIPOP, Red Bull, Orgain protein elements, which is a adaptogens beverage, and then a bunch of Hint Water.Stephanie:Close to D2C fridge. You're stacking it up.Nik:It's basically a D2C fridge. Yeah. And then depending on when you open it, you might see different drinks. There's another picture of the fridge I'm looking at. It's all RISE cold brew. It's got Lemon Perfect and it's got Cha Cha Matcha's ice tea lemonades.Stephanie:Interesting, interesting. And then so how are people engaging with this? How did it even start of you posted this picture and realizing people like to see what you were trying out, or what you were investing in, or what made them excited?Nik:Well, it started because a friend of mine, David Perell, basically posted a picture of my fridge, I want to say when I first moved to New York last year, or I think he might've done it when I lived in San Francisco. But then he posted about it and how like my fridge is basically a vending machine. And then all these beverage companies started responding. And then whenever I tweet about my fridge, I just get a flood of packages over the next 10 days from different beverage brands that want to be included in the next round of the fridge.Stephanie:That's really funny. But I also feel like it's helpful to see how to share things that get shared, that go viral because the best way to advise brands and other people is by doing it yourself.Nik:100%. That's always been the thesis behind any kind of public account that I have. Whether it's my community number, whether it's my email newsletter, whether it's my Twitter account, everything that I try to do is like, "Okay, I'm basically just testing it so that we can hopefully do this on a brand and it makes a big impact because maybe it's something that they haven't done before or just people in general haven't done before."Stephanie:Yep, yeah. That's very, very cool. So when you're working with all these brands, one thing that we've been discussing here at Mission lately is just about all these new users who are now online, a new demographic group is online shopping. They're getting used to it, they're going to be here probably for the long haul now that they have maybe ordered groceries or gone on Amazon for the first time. How are you working with your brands to ensure that their messaging and their interaction and that they may be personalizing things in a way that also connects with this new demographic of shoppers that weren't here prior to 2020?Nik:So basically, how should brands prepare for-Stephanie:Yeah, having like an older generation now who are ready to shop. And I'm sure the messaging or the way that brands are personalizing is usually towards millennials or 18 to 35 or 18 to 40. Everyone seems to focus on that same two generations, but the older generation are the ones that have the money. They're the ones who are ready to spend. They just haven't brought it really online until recently. But it seems like a lot of things have to change for it to also work well with them.Nik:Yeah. I think tactically, there's different things you can do, whether it's the channels that you choose to advertise on. So whether that's shifting budget out of Facebook and onto platforms like TV and satellite radio and connected TV even, or it's... One thing that I've found at a previous brand I worked with was that the creative we would put out that has, let's say, models or talent that looks like they're in their late 20s, early 30s is what resonated best with the audience groups over 45.Stephanie:Oh, interesting.Nik:So it might just even be something as simple as a shift in your creative to reach [crosstalk 00:27:11].Stephanie:Yeah. I wonder why that would be the case.Nik:Everybody aspires to be better looking or younger or smoother skin or whatever it may be. And that might be a reason. I think another way though too is thinking through just the ease of how something as simple like your website functions. How easy is it for somebody to come in and shop? I always send landing pages or websites to my mom. She'll look through it and be like, "This is confusing," or she'll be like, "This is perfect. It was one click and I was in the cart." And so we always go for the ladder as the goal. But the other thing too is like... One thing I always say is you got to treat your customers like Kim Kardashian on the red carpet and you're her assistant, right? The brand is the assistant. So you can't expect your customer, you can't expect them to go browse around your site and learn about your brand and learn why they need your brand, or how your brand is going to make their life better, or the deal that they might be able to get, or the coupon.Nik:There's so many brands that they clearly offer coupons when you Google, for example, like... I don't know. If you Google like... we'll say Jetblack because they're not a business. If you Google Jetblack coupon, there's probably 17 coupon sites that have a 10% or a 20% off coupon. But what you do is you now create an opportunity for somebody to leave the experience of checking out to go find that coupon. There's a good chance to just get distracted and never come back versus something as simple as like... Basically, what I'm trying to say is you want to create everything or you want to put everything in one simple experience so that somebody who has no time, somebody who has no patience, somebody you could assume they don't have the knowledge of how to navigate a site can basically come to your site and get what they need and they know why they're getting it and just create something really easy to use.Stephanie:Yep, yeah. I think frictionless shopping is the way of the future. The one thing about coupons though, I feel like they're just dangerous. Like you said, you leave the site... I know I used to back in the day, go through all these coupon codes and then I'd really get annoyed because none of them are working, all of them were expired. And yeah, it's still feels like there's room even on a website to be like, "You will never find coupons outside of our website. So don't try. Don't go looking around, don't go testing like 1,000 different codes. You'll find nothing. It's only here."Nik:Totally. The other thing too is like then you have companies like Honey, the browser extension, which are basically fraud companies, in my opinion, or scammy companies. And if you don't create something of an offer for let's say you run a... let's just say a beverage brand called Three Stars, and somebody comes to the Three Stars' site and they want to buy a variety pack because they're a new customer and they want to try the flavors. When they get to the checkout and they see, "Oh, there is no discount. Oh, but Honey says..." The Honey thing pops up and you click it because you're hopeful that there's a discount. Even if Honey generates no discount, Honey is going to refresh the page and now that becomes a 10% affiliate cut. The brand is paying the Honey without them even realizing it. The customer is not getting any value out of it. But because you didn't create the opportunity for them to check out without having to use Honey, you're now going to end up paying Honey 10% if they have it installed.Stephanie:Interesting. I hadn't realized that's how it [crosstalk 00:31:03].Nik:Yeah. Honey is a really scammy business. It's really scammy for brands.Stephanie:Oh, geez.Nik:I hate Honey with a passion.Stephanie:Oh my goodness. I actually think we had someone from Honey the long time ago before our commerce show was even live in the world. We had, I think, their COO on one of our other shows, Mission Daily. So if anyone's interested, go check out [inaudible 00:31:24].Nik:Yeah. It's a genius business model for them. Basically without showing the customer or without really showing the brand, they're just ripping 10% off of every purchase. And if you're selling like a $400 emergency kit, that's 40 bucks that they're making for everybody who just has an extension installed, but it's-Stephanie:And the brands can't control that, or they can't say-Nik:No, they can now. When I saw it, I went to them and said, "You guys, you're basically just taking credit for everything you're not driving." And they're like, "Oh, well, it's just the way that Honey works. We drive a lot of traffic." And I'm like, "No, you don't." So then we just shut them off. They just don't get paid now, even though they can still be used.Stephanie:Oh, interesting. So when thinking about outside of coupons, but more ways to connect with different users, what do you think about catalogs? Because we had a good discussion, I think, many episodes ago with one of the execs at Marine Layer, and she was talking about how great catalogs work for them. I haven't heard many people talk about it. So it seems like there's still an opportunity there though with so many people now working from home. I know I get excited about mail that's actually fun to look at and helpful. So how do you advise your brands on connecting with an audience through catalogs or paper mail?Nik:Personally, I'm a fan. I think it's a sign of luxury when I get a catalog, whether it's from a company like Buck Mason or Todd Snyder or [inaudible 00:33:06], like it's definitely a sign of luxury. The catalogs themselves are printed on very nice and chic paper. I think it just adds to the overall experience of being a customer at those brands. At the same time, if you're a brand that's just starting and you don't have the capital means to do it, I think there's ways you can create digital catalogs for fairly cheap and have them be digital experiences.Stephanie:Yep. When you have a catalog, I've heard some brands optimize for experience and fun and more of like a branding play versus others are focused on send them back to the website, get the conversion. How do you think about optimizing a catalog to work well?Nik:Well, I think it's two ways. One, you got to feature products that I think people want. So if your spring collection is 250 pieces of clothing or 250 different SKUs, maybe you feature the 27 that people really want. But then secondly, I think from a messaging standpoint, it's got to really make you salivate when you're going through it. That was [crosstalk 00:34:36].Stephanie:Like Trader Joe's catalog.Nik:Yeah. That was one of my favorite things about... Do you remember SkyMall?Stephanie:Yeah, yup.Nik:SkyMall just made you want to buy everything in that magazine because everything was like, "Oh, a random flashlight for under my desk chair. Sure. That now seems like something I totally need."Stephanie:Yep, yep, I agree. I just saw something in a catalog that I actually ended up buying. It's a... What is it? A candle lighter, but it's not like a big flame thing. It's operated by battery. It has this really long stick on the end and it's intense, it's awesome. Everyone should check it out. We'll link it up in our show notes. But I bought that from a catalog because it was showing it going inside a really deep candle. I was convinced. And it's amazing.Nik:Yeah, no, totally. It's all about like building... You want to build a use case for somebody to go tell their friends why they bought what they bought from you. That's like the best way to market.Stephanie:I think you also have to have good paper quality though.Nik:100%.Stephanie:I hate the catalogs that come with just like icky, thin paper, and it's just 1,000 pages and I'm like, "It doesn't feel curated. Just every thing is here. I don't even know how to look through this in a way that makes sense for me," versus the ones that are just 10 pages. It's what you want to look at, or just the best thing that feels like it's personalized, even though it's probably not. I'm okay with that as long as it feels high quality.Nik:Totally.Stephanie:Let's jump over to a little bit higher level ecommerce question of where do you guys think ecommerce as a whole and D2C is headed over the next couple of years? What are you preparing for right now, or what big thing?Nik:Well, I think that ecommerce, as a whole, is going... There's been a ton of innovation this past year and the year prior, both on the side of operations, things like understanding you can't blow cash on acquiring customers, all the way to understanding how to optimize shipping costs or manufacturing costs or even using tools like Settle, which let you basically hack your cash flow. I think, to be honest, over the next year or two, it's just going to be a lot of growth in the category across many different categories that maybe thought they weren't going to be ecommerce. Everything from sitting at a restaurant and now... Obviously, we see QR codes everywhere, at least in major cities, at restaurants for scanning and getting the menu.Nik:I think we're going to see that you're going to start paying your bill through Apple Pay after you order your meal, all the way to things like better experiences with packaging and unboxing or just how you learn about a brand for the first time after you buy it. But I think there's also going to be a rise in things like marketplaces. There's a company that I just joined called The Fascination. And basically, the entire idea behind The Fascination is to take a lot of these cream of the crop direct to consumer CPG brands that are independently trying to acquire the same customer and basically put them together, create content around it, and create shoppable content.Nik:So, for example, if you have a daughter who's moving to... I don't even know if people are going to be going to college next year. But let's say she's going to college next year, and it's like the ultimate list of things you need for your dorm, it's got your mattress topper, it's got your pillows, your comforter, it's got your desk lamp, it's got organizers. You would be able to basically shop all of this in one page with one checkout through The Fascination. And on the back end, all these brands are getting orders basically pushed into their order queues. The Fascination basically just takes a tiny cut, like an affiliate. But the brands own the customer, they own the relationship with their customers, they have the ability to remarket to those customers. And The Fascination acts as a front of acquiring the customer and now selling maybe eight things at once.Stephanie:Oh, that sounds really cool. I think that's much needed with so many new brands popping up right now too. It just feels like sometimes I don't even know who to trust and who's actually got their back end filled out. Is this just the landing page that they're testing out to see if people actually want a product that they haven't even developed yet? So it seems like it's needed to have a trusting source like that to say, "These are some of the best brands and we've verified them and you've got customer service here and we're reputable and blah, blah, blah."Nik:Yeah. And that's another thing too is there are a lot of sketchy brands that have launched because the barrier to entry is so low. What The Fascination is trying to do is basically the same way you have like a kosher sticker on food items or a gluten-free sticker that's very universally known. I think they're going to basically try to do the same thing, but for four brands.Stephanie:That's awesome. Yeah. I will have to check that company out, maybe bring them on the show. Sounds like [crosstalk 00:42:39].Nik:Yeah, yeah. They would be a great one to bring on.Stephanie:Yep. The other trend I'm excited to watch this next year is last mile and see how that evolves, especially with the food delivery companies and the DoorDash and Grubhubs of the world starting to actually just work with local retailers to fulfill last mile deliveries. And I think that whole industry is about to have a big evolution. So that'll be an interesting one to watch.Nik:Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I mean companies like Ohi or even FastAF, they're doing some pretty awesome things when it comes to last mile delivery.Stephanie:Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep, yeah. I agree. All right. Well, let's move over to the lightning round. The lightning round is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. This is where I'm going to ask you a question and you have a minute or less to answer. Are you ready, Nik?Nik:I'm ready.Stephanie:All right. What's up next on your reading list?Nik:Ooh, I would say the book Supermaker by Jaime Schmidt.Stephanie:Oh, that's a good one. Yep, sounds good. What is your favorite business book that you refer back to?Nik:Atomic Habits.Stephanie:And you're on it. You're like, "Are you top of mind? I got this great." Sounds great. What topic or trend do you not understand today that you wish you did?Nik:Bitcoin.Stephanie:I've had a couple of people say that. What's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for you.Nik:The nicest thing anybody's ever done for me is-Stephanie:I had to stump you. You were too on it. You were too lightning.Nik:Yeah, that's a good question. Honestly, my favorite is when just people just reach out randomly and say, "Hey, how's your day?"Stephanie:You like that? Sometimes I'm like-Nik:I love it.Stephanie:... "What do you want? Get to the point."Nik:Yeah. Well, sometimes you can tell when people have a reason for asking. But when a genuine friend just texts you out of the blue and just says, "Hey, how's your day going?" It's always nice to know.Stephanie:Yep, yep. Okay, a friend. I thought you meant just like a random Twitter person.Nik:Oh, no, no, no.Stephanie:I'll get messages on Twitter like-Nik:No, no, no, a good friend.Stephanie:... "Hi, how are you?" I'm like, "What? Who are you? Why are you asking me how I am?" That's weird. Ah, 2020. What's up next in your travel destinations when you can travel again? Where do you want to go?Nik:I want to go to Jamaica actually with a friend of mine, Chris Hall, and a few of his friends. He's got a pretty good setup there in Jamaica for quick trips out there. So I'm looking forward to hopefully in February maybe go there for a few days and just unplug from work.Stephanie:Oh, that sounds fun. Chris, bring me out there as well. That'd be great. What's up next on your Netflix queue?Nik:Ooh, actually there was... I forget the name of the comedian, Andrew Schulz maybe. He just launched a stand up. I saw it yesterday and I added it to my list. So that's next up on my queue.Stephanie:Oh, that sounds good. I'll have to check it out. If you like it, I'll check it out. What are you most excited about to add to your fridge next?Nik:Ooh, that's a good question. There's a beverage that we are launching called Barcode in-Stephanie:Barcode.Nik:... Q1 next year. It's with the former head trainer of the New York Knicks, who's also a big celebrity trainer, as well as with Kyle Kuzma, who's a championship Lakers player. It's basically a healthier version of Gatorade and it tastes incredible and it's got everything. It's like everything he would prescribe or give to his athletes, but bottled up in one drink.Stephanie:Oh, that sounds good because I do like Gatorade. But then when I'm drinking, I'm like, "I know this isn't good for me."Nik:It's horrible for you.Stephanie:Yeah, it is delightful though.Nik:It is.Stephanie:All right. And then the last one, if you were to have a podcast, what would it be about and who would your first guest be?Nik:I've actually been thinking about this recently. It would probably be about the struggles of commerce that people go through. So it would only be focused on problems people have had in their business, not the successes and not focused on people who've successfully exited. It is strictly focused on people who have, for example, not figured out how something works or how they're going to get through something. I don't know why, but I always keep thinking my first guest is going to be Paul, who's the founder of Prose, which is a haircare brand.Stephanie:Okay. I think that sounds great. I love stories like that, where people can actually learn something and because there's so many... Any media article is always like, "Oh, here's the end result. And now, they're a billion dollar company. Oh, and they exited, Oh, they got acquired." It's like, well, what actually happened where they failed because I don't want to fail too and I know they have some kind of knowledge of things that I could avoid, that's why I love biographies and stuff because you can read it and essentially accelerate your knowledge through that person's life and hopefully avoid some of the pitfalls they went through.Nik:Totally. And not only that, but also then for all the people listening who might be starting a business, or might be getting themselves into a position where they're not really sure what to do, it almost becomes an encyclopedia where, "Oh, Paul had no clue where to get you pumps at low MOQs for his shampoo bottles. How did he figure out what they were and where he could find them and not get ripped off?"Stephanie:Yep, yep, yeah, or I always love the stories when people are going overseas to find manufacturers and hearing things that they encounter. I forget what brand we were talking to on the show where they... I went into one of the warehouses and they were selling apparel and they were like... and all of the employees were smoking and all the stuff smelled like smoke. It's like I would have never realized that unless I actually went over there and was doing an audit before moving forward with one of them.Nik:Yeah, totally.Stephanie:Very cool. Well, Nik, thanks so much for coming on the show and sharing all your knowledge. Where can people find out more about you and Sharma Brands?Nik:The easiest is my website, which is just nsharma.co, or the second easiest which I read every tweet, every message is my Twitter @mrsharma.Stephanie:Awesome. Yeah, just go to Nik and say, "Hi, how are you?"Nik:Exactly.Stephanie:All right. Thanks so much, Nik.Nik:Thank you.

In this digitally-native world, it might be surprising to learn that an old-school marketing tool is actually one of the most effective customer acquisition and retention tools.  On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, Renee Lopes Halvorsen, the VP of Marketing & Ecommerce at Marine Layer, joined us to dive deep into the merits of catalog marketing. Renee cut her teeth in the marketing, eCommerce and omnichannel world at the Gap and Athleta. Now she is guiding the team at Marine Layer using a data-driven and blended approach to marketing that has led to profitable customer acquisition, high lifetime customer value and retention, and a fully engaged customer base that is coming to stores with more buying intent than ever. How is she doing it? Find out on this episode. 3 Takeaways: Long-term vision is key: You can spend a lot of time and money on the “cheap thrills” of marketing promotions, but those customers will never repeat buy. Instead, focus on retention and getting those high-value customers.  Catalog Crazy: There are certain page and product count requirements that will determine whether or not a catalog is the right tool for a company. When those numbers are met, though, there are few better avenues to tell your brand story and drive conversions… and it may even perform in ways that an Instagram ad never could The cost to acquire customers: There is a high amount of risk involved when you acquire customers at a loss. You can predict customer behavior pretty accurately in the short term, but predicting long-term trends and purchasing is much more difficult. Therefore, it may not benefit you to model out a one-or two-year strategy toward profitability when it comes to customer acquisition.   For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length. --- Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce --- Transcript: Stephanie: Welcome everybody to Up Next in Commerce, the number one show for all things eCommerce. This is your host, Stephanie Postles. And today, we're chatting with Renee Lopes Halvorsen, the VP of Marketing and Ecommerce at Marine Layer. Renee, welcome to the show. Renee: Hey, Stephanie, how's it going? Stephanie: It's going well. Yeah, excited to have you on. Renee: Yeah. I'm excited to be here too. This is my first podcast, but I'm an avid podcast consumer. So, I'm excited about this. Stephanie: Oh, we are very eager to have your first. So, I saw that you have a very interesting background of working at some good name brands, and I was hoping we could start there where you tell me a little bit about some of the previous work that you've done, and what brought you to Marine Layer? Renee: So, I've been at Marine Layer now for about five years. But about before that, I spent eight years at Gap Inc. I graduated college and like a lot of my peers, thought it would be a good idea to get into investment banking. But then about a year and a half of that, I was like, "What am I doing with my life? This is exhausting, and I'm not particularly interested." Renee: I think I was working on a petrochemical deal at one point. So, I wanted to join a company I was excited about and I found Gap. They were hiring in San Francisco. And Gap is amazing because I think they give you a lot of opportunity at the entry level to move around in the organization. So, I feel like I really got a rad retail background experience in all things. Renee: I started in real estate finance, and then I was able to join a corporate strategy team, where we were really looking at international expansion opportunities for Gap Inc and acquisition opportunities. And then, after about a year and a half of that, Gap Inc had just acquired Athleta brand. And I was a female athlete in college, always a huge advocate of women in sports. Renee: So, really wanted to join their team in whatever capacity I could get my way into the organization. And they were hiring in marketing strategy, which was ended up being perfect for me. Because I think I have a real passion for business analytics. But then, I also love just consumer trends, and consumer behavior, and just how those things roll up on a macro level. Renee: So, I joined the marketing strategy team. It was initially brought in to really look at a lot of the ways that Athleta was spending their marketing spend, and inform if they were overspending. I think Gap was particularly concerned about how much I thought it was spending on their catalog. So, they wanted more of an objective strategy team to look at that investment, and prove out that it was really driving incremental demand. Renee: And it ended up just being like the most incredible experience. I spent close to five years there, and started looking at the efficiency of catalogs to drive incremental demand. It ended up being when digital marketing was really taking off as an acquisition channel, and retention channel. So, spent a lot of time also weigh out what's a stronger growth tool catalog, or digital marketing. Renee: I was there and they're opening up a lot of their stores. So, I was thinking a lot about omni channel, customer health. So, love that job. And I think after spending a little while, it's like, "Gosh, I want to take all this newfound knowledge, and apply it to somewhere that's in a younger growth stage." And ended up meeting the CEO of Marine Layer, we hit off. Renee: He told me that he really wanted to start a catalog, and I was like, "Gosh, I think I'm probably one of the youngest people in our industry that knows a lot about catalog." Stephanie: Yeah. I haven't actually heard that term in any of the interviews referencing at catalog. Renee: Oh, yeah, it's funny. It's like an offline way to really do customer look alike modeling. I think people think of it as super old school. But when I look at what's happening, like on Facebook, or within digital marketing generally, it's the same things that the catalog industry has been doing for 30 years. Stephanie: How interesting. Renee: Yeah. It's just like using customer LTV assumptions to inform how much you're willing to spend to acquire a buyer. That's the core principle that I think has been a part of catalog investing for 30 years. And I think now, that's a huge part, that's the biggest part of a digital marketing acquisition too. Stephanie: Okay, cool. So, what learnings did you take from Gap, especially around the catalog versus digital marketing, and bring to Marine Layer? Renee: I think my biggest takeaway was actually the importance of not being promotional. And the importance of being really focused on long-term customer health. Renee: It was like a stark contrast for me, I think working in the Gap, Banana Republic world, and then shifting over to the Athleta world where they had super, super high percentage of their transactions happening at full price. But I just think getting into a discount space, it's a super slippery slope. Renee: And I think it was so exciting to watch within the Athleta environment that you might have to spend a little bit more on marketing, spend more on brand, but what you end up driving is really high rates of retention. I think it makes your business a lot more predictable, and healthy in the long term. So, it's super high level, it's focusing on long term brand health versus finding those cheap thrills with little promotions here or there. Stephanie: Yeah. When you joined Marine Layer, did you have to shift your thinking because I'm thinking the people who are at Gap or the consumers of Gap are maybe different than Athleta versus Marine Layer? Have you seen different buying profiles, and ways to connect with that audience, and get people to buy full price? Renee: So, Athleta and Marine Layer actually were more similar, but definitely Athleta and the other brands, I think are super different. The AOVs are pretty similar for Athleta and Marine Layer. I think the other category tends to be a really big driver of retention. So, it's known in our industry that if you are a bottoms-focused purveyor that you generally have a higher retention rate. Renee: I think that's what it benefits from being a bottoms-focused activewear brand. So, the retention rate is a little higher than what I was expecting coming into Marine Layer. Stephanie: How did you shift, yeah, when the consumer is may be different. Marine Layer and Athleta, you're saying are similar. Versus Gap, maybe they are used to sales and things like that. How do you shift your strategies and your learnings that you took from those two brands to Marine Layer? Renee: Yeah, okay. Absolutely. So, I think it's really around how you focus on measurement of your marketing channels. I think when you're focusing on discounting, it's pretty easy to focus on what was the comp over last week, or how many units have been moved through? But I think when you're focusing on long-term premium brands, you're really focusing on was it incremental? Renee: Could I have gotten more in the long term if I'd done it differently? What was the impact to customer LTV? What's the quality of customer that I'm bringing into my brand? I guess a big difference is that for Marine Layer, we won't do a lot of promotions in the acquisition stage. Because it's been proven for us that if you bring in a customer, or a lower price point item, or a lower overall transaction, or just a bigger discount. Renee: Those buyers won't repeat buy from you. So, basically, you've wasted that unit in selling to them on their first transaction on a buyer that's not going to be a big part of our brand a year from now. So, it definitely changes the marketing channels that you're looking at, and also changes the way that you measure them. Stephanie: That's a really good point about not showcasing maybe, like here's our discount $3 item, and then wondering like, "Oh, hey, why didn't they come back and repeat buyer, or where'd they go?" That's a really good point. Renee: Yeah. And even more recently, we've been having a lot of internal conversations on whether or not we should be selling our cloth face coverings in digital acquisition tools. So, you're probably seeing there had been a lot of brands out there that are including them in the way that they're trying to bring in customers to their brand. Our face coverings as a company are very reasonably priced. Renee: We're doing them more as a service than a real growth driver for our business. So, I think if we put them on our paid social channels, and use them to acquire buyers, I'm sure it would get a lot of acquisitions. But I just don't know how healthy those acquisitions are a year from now. I don't know if they're going to be buying from us in 2021 and 2022. Stephanie: Yeah. That long term vision. So, well, maybe before I keep having you dive deeper and deeper, it'd be good to have you tell people who don't know what is Marine Layer and what is your role? What is your day-to-day at Marine Layer? Renee: Yeah, absolutely. I get so excited talking about marketing. It's easy to forget the high-level stuff. Stephanie: Oh, me too. I was great after 1,000 more questions in the week. I'm like, "Oh, wait, we probably should talk about the brand first so everyone knows what you do." Renee: Totally. So, I'm the VP of Marketing and Ecommerce for Marine Layer. I joined the company five years ago as our Director of Ecommerce because Marine Layer was actually, it's a DTC emerging DTC brand, but grew at store base faster than it grew its Ecommerce business. When I joined in 2015, we had 10 stores. Now, we have 45. Renee: And really, our online channel was considered something to help with replenishment for people that were acquired in store, and then they wanted to buy it again online. So, I think that's where my role started. Over time, we just started building out these new marketing channels to drive online growth separate from the retail channel. Renee: So, my responsibility started to include more and more marketing functions. And then, more recently, I've started also leading our creative and brand teams, which I really, really loved doing because I think there's so much value in finding good tension between big brand ideas, and then long-term health of brand, and near-term sales goals. Renee: I guess zooming out again, Marine Layer is a casual clothing apparel brand. We are based in San Francisco. Our company was founded in 2010 because our CEO, his girlfriend threw out his favorite shirt, and he set out to recreate that incredibly soft, broken in shirt. And he did that. So, it was really founded on the best ever men's t shirts. Our shirts are just absolutely absurdly soft when you touch them. They make a wreath- Stephanie: Yes. I can vouch for that. Renee: That's awesome. And then, he started expanding the assortment for men's beyond t-shirts. And then, I want to say a few years later than that, he started expanding into women's shirts. It's definitely more of a tops focused business than bottoms. Although now, we have some really strong business in women's bottoms in particular. Renee: But now, it's a full assortment of California casual. We really focus on making everything comfortable, soft. We want it to be your favorite. We talked about the importance of it being like a top of the stack t-shirt, the go-to item that you go for. You're looking for it when it's coming out of the dryer because you want to wear it even though you have other ones in your closet. Renee: So, there's a lot of intention, and love, and care that goes into every single item of clothing that we make, whether it's a dress, or a t-shirt, or outerwear. It's really just around creating timeless, emotional, comfortable pieces. Stephanie: That's great. So, how do you convey that messaging on your website about how soft the fabric is? What techniques do you use? Especially, since you just got into helping tell the brand story, and the product stories, and all that. What are you finding works when it comes to talking about something that ultimately, it'd be nice to touch before you buy it? But if you can't do that, how are you conveying that message? Renee: So, lots of little ways. I'd also just definitely say that this is something we're always working on improving as the technology changes a little bit online. I think for us, it's communicating that our stuff is special, and that it has a fun, emotional connection to your stuff. It's not just any old t-shirt. We want you to feel like our brand is maybe an old friend of yours, or it's a comfortable place to be. Renee: So, it's in every single tiny touch point. The models that we use, how we style them, the copy that we write for our shirts, it's not going to be just like a bunch of bullet points with the fiber makeup of the shirt. It's going to be describing what you could put in the pocket, or where we used to wear this shirt, or what it was inspired by. Our model notes I think will be like so and so is a size medium, and 5'10", but he also plays in a band on the weekends. It's really. I think- Stephanie: That's right. Renee: And bringing the product to life in a way that feels unexpected, but then at the same time, just familiar and fun. Stephanie: I love that. Renee: Yeah. I think we'd like to play with more ways to test video on our site to really convey softness. And then, the other thing I would just say is that I think our store experience is a really big part of our brand experience. And I do think it's what makes our site so successful. Our best customers, this is true everywhere, but are the customers that shop online, and in store. Renee: And I think it's because those customers have the benefit of touching our stuff, interacting with like, are extremely friendly, and mellow store associates, and they understand what's special about it, even without the context of the site. And yeah, and then I'd also just add that it's another reason why I love catalog marketing. Renee: Because it just gives us more space to express the fun of our brand, and show off our lifestyle beyond just what you see in a flatter online experience. We love just shooting and fun inspirational locations. Our copy, I think is so funny and on point. I always love when I read the first draft of catalogs coming through that they can just make me smile. So, yeah, it's a multitouch approach to really bring that softness to life, even if you're not in store. Stephanie: That's great. Yeah. I definitely am in the same camp that if copy makes me smile. Renee: Yeah. Shopping should be fun. I think that's a big part of what guides our store experience and our site experience. We don't want to over iterate on it. We don't need to be the most innovative provider out there. We just want it to be fun, and make you smile where we can, just bring a little bit more joy into your life. Not in a cheesy way, but just an honest, approachable, fun way. Stephanie: Yep. Yeah. I think Trader Joe's does a really good job too with the pamphlets they send out. Renee: Totally. Stephanie: And I've either read them, but they have really good copy in them. And you also learn something, and you're smiling throughout it, and you're like, "Oh, I want to buy that bag of plantain chips also." Renee: Yeah. And I think it makes a lasting impression. When you're thinking about where you're going to go shopping, you're like, "Gosh, I guess I'll go to Trader Joe's." We think really intentionally about our promotions that way too. We don't want to do a sale and have it just be a sale. The lead story can't just be 70% off, although we would never go that deep, or even 20% off. Renee: There has to be a story behind it. Is it a funny story about a dad joke if it's a father's day story, or is it like, "Oh my gosh, my favorite promotions we ever did was when there was a blackout in San Francisco." Probably like, I think we all woke up that day, and nobody had any power. And we all came into the office, terrible shower situations, looking terrible. Renee: And we're like, "Let's just do a blackout sale, a sale until the lights come back on." And I think there's a shared experience that you have with your customer. And it makes your content just more memorable and honestly, I think people are more likely to participate with a smile on their face. Stephanie: Yeah, yeah, I completely agree. So, we mentioned catalogs earlier, but I want to dive a little bit deeper, because like I said, you're the first one who's come on the show who's really mentioned it, and talked about this. And I'd love to hear about how you think about brands, should they or should they not have a catalog? How do you measure performance, and how do you think about that as one of your acquisition or marketing channels? Renee: Yeah. Great, I love talking about catalog, so we can do this all day. I think it's a real great way to drive the story of a brand lifestyle. So, I feel like that lets you know right off the bat. It's not just a product, if we're just talking about a couple of skews that we're building on top of, then I think it's hard to pull together a catalog. Renee: But if you have an assortment of over 100 items, and there's a lifestyle component that you're trying to celebrate, then I feel like there might be good space for you to test into a catalog. I think it can also seem super intimidating from a cost standpoint, but there's ways to pull together photoshoots in a super scrappy way. Renee: Gosh, I think the first catalog Marine Layer I ever sent out, we use models that were good friends of the brand, and we shot locally, I think in the woods outside of Calistoga. So, it doesn't- Stephanie: Great. Renee: Yeah. When I was at Athleta, the budgets that we had for catalog content were much, much bigger than the type of stuff that we do for Marine Layer. Although, we have definitely professionalized our setup a little bit more. So, I don't think the creative cost needs to be super big. It's more about making sure that you have the breadth of assortment to support a catalog. Renee: And I think in order to send something meaty out there that's really going to drive results, you want to send out at least a 44-page catalog. So, that's where I'm getting to, like you probably want about 100 different styles that you want to market in there. So, yeah, we started mailing catalogs in 2015. And our books are about 44 pages. Renee: And now, our assortment has grown, and so as our catalog page counts, and also our catalog meal frequency, and I think what's really powerful about them is, again, just making that lasting impression on a customer about who you are, and what you stand for, and the breadth of assortment that you make. I think people really knew Marine Layer as a t-shirt brand and the catalog, especially for online buyers. Renee: And even now, people that maybe buy their first product off of Instagram or something like that, and it's just one item. It just shows them how much more we do, and what we're excited about. I think- Stephanie: That's great. Renee: They're also very easy to overlook, as I'm sure once people start sniffing around at the cost per piece, and the CPAs associated with catalogs, they're not cheap. But what I found at Athleta, and definitely at Marine Layer is that people that you bring into the brand on catalog tend to be a lot more productive in the long run. So, they're much, much healthier buyers than somebody that we may be acquire through an Instagram ad. Stephanie: Very cool. So, what is the average CPA to expect if someone were to start a catalog, and how do you track that incrementality, and ROI on that? Renee: It's going to vary for so many different reasons, but gosh, I feel like anywhere between a $70 CPA to $100 CPA would make a lot of sense. I feel like people are always so fascinated by how you do catalog tracking. I always get questions like do you just track all the orders that come in through the phone? Stephanie: Oh, my gosh, I wasn't going to ask that. I'm interested in tracking, but I wasn't like, "Are you talking to people on the phone?" Renee: No, no, no. No one is calling in to place orders. A couple of people do per season, but it's not like you're getting tons and tons of people calling in to place orders. It's more about like you're in the catalog match back process. So, you will know who you mailed your catalog to. And then, you can use third party providers to help you understand with all of the orders that were placed in the last two to four weeks when the catalog got in home. Renee: How many of them matched back to somebody who received a catalog? And then, I think beyond that, once you start mailing a little bit, people can start to ask, well did these people place an order because they received a catalog, or because I launched this new collection? And then, I think you can start to holdout testing to see for the folks that mailed a catalog versus didn't mail a catalog, how powerful was the catalog for driving new demand? Renee: So, all those things are things that you can do to measure performance. But in my experience, I think and in talking to other industry professionals, usually the first time you mail a catalog, you feel it. Your business was operating at a certain level for the last four weeks, and then all of a sudden, it's operating a different level for the next couple of weeks. So, that's good. Stephanie: Are you mailing catalogs to only current customers, or are you also doing people who've never bought before? Renee: So, we do a mix, and we do to new customers, and to existing buyers. As an existing buyer, I think it's a really good retention tool. And it was exciting, we've been measuring CLV for a while now. It's like you see the CLV of our brand for the average customers brought into our company. And then, when that catalog started getting mailed in June 2015, it just moves up, and then it starts at a new baseline. Renee: So, I definitely feel like it shifts our retention of our buyers. And then, we also do it for customer acquisition. So, we work with data co-ops, where we can rent names. So, we never actually take possession of those names. I don't know who I'm mailing, but I just know that I'm mailing customers that look like my customers. Stephanie: Very cool. Yeah, that's great. When it comes to performance, if a lot of people come in, and they have their digital marketing hat on, and you're talking about catalogs, how should someone level set expectations for here's the type of performance and ROI you can expect with catalogs versus digital marketing? How do you level set that? Renee: Yeah. I think we look at the CPA-LTV ratio. So, over a three-month time period, or a six-month time period, or a year. So, even though your CPAs are going to be higher for your catalog and for your digital acquisition business, I would expect that your LTVs will be a lot higher too. So, for us, the ratio ends up working out the same, or in a lot of years, sometimes even the ratio is a little higher for catalog. Stephanie: Got it. Renee: The complexity of catalog too that I just want to throw out there is definitely less nimble, which is, I think, frustrating for a lot of new age DTC folks. You have to send your catalog, create it about a month in advance, and you can't always control exactly when it gets in home. If there's a tornado, then the post office is going to mail it to certain post offices across the country. Renee: And so, I think what can be frustrating is that you can try to get it right in the catalog creative, and then when the catalog gets in home, maybe you're sold out of a certain item, or you didn't get something, you have to presell something because it's not actually available when you thought it was going to be available. Renee: All those little things that are hard, like those bigger moving pieces, they can really impact catalog performance. And I think with digital marketing, you can be just like super nimble. If the item is not in stock, you just don't market that item. Pros and cons to both. Stephanie: Yeah. That makes sense. So, in our research, I saw that customer lifetime value is your number one metric. And I was wondering, are you willing to acquire customers at a lost? And if so, how much are you willing to take on? Renee: So, we don't acquire customers at a loss. We focus on being profitable upon acquisition, or I'm sorry, being profitable upon acquisition, or zero to positive dollars coming in on the first transaction. That's changed over the last couple of years. I think in some years, we've let it get up to about a zero to six-month profitability time window. Renee: So, we expect to be back in black, six months after customers are acquired, I'm not an advocate for one year to two-year time periods. I just think there's too much risk involved. I have a pretty good idea what's going to happen in the next six months, and customers can be pretty predictable. But to focus on those longer time horizons, I don't know. Renee: That's just never really been my appetite for risk, or my company's appetite for risk. But I really feel like that decision is just a super specific decision made for every company based on where they are in their growth stage, and what access to capital they have. I think it's changed For Marine Layer. Renee: And I think it's fun for me now that we're focusing on being profitable on acquisition or better because I can take those dollars that we're getting at the first acquisition, and I can invest them in new tools, or I can invest them in improving our brand. And so, it feels like a healthier ecosystem for us to operate in. Stephanie: Yep. Yeah. I completely agree. It seems like a better approach, especially with everything that's going on right now. Renee: Oh, my gosh, I know. Stephanie: It's hard to predict going to happen next month, which makes me want to ask the question, how are you guys moving forward in this COVID environment? You were mentioning retail locations before, what's changing, and what are some things that you're doing differently going forward? Renee: Yeah, gosh. It's so funny because recently as a leadership team, we were looking back at our goals for the beginning of the year, and asked to rethink those, given that everything's changed. And the one that stood out to me that makes me laugh now is I had some goals around doing bigger campaign marketing planning. We're a really scrappy organization. Renee: And sometimes in January of this year, I thought we were almost too good at whipping things into shape last minute, and reworking copy, or reworking direction of campaign really close to the finish line, to the point where it inhibited our ability to tell bigger stories across more marketing channels. But now, I'm like, "Oh, my goodness, it's an awesome value and strength to have to be really, really nimble." Renee: Our big change for us during COVID is that we're really reviewing all of our emails, really close to when they get sent. We're not trying to create content on a Monday and send it on a Thursday. We might create a first draft or something on a Monday, but we'll keep reviewing it and make sure that the voice, and tone, and products that we're featuring all mix in up until a few hours before final send time. Renee: So, we're definitely just reviewing content, and we're also talking to our customers more frequently. I think in March, when everything was changing so quickly, and also our business was seeing a lot more softness, as I think COVID was becoming a huge, huge, huge reality. And the change was we were experiencing it personally, and our customers were experiencing it. Renee: There were moments when it just felt like you were paralyzed into not wanting to do anything, not wanting to send an email because you weren't sure what to say, or not wanting to post on social because you didn't know what to say. Stephanie: Yeah. I saw so many articles about that too, like how should your brand discuss COVID, and it's tricky because you can get in trouble for anything these days, and it feels hard to take a risk on any messaging, or yeah, move forward at all. Renee: Oh, totally. And I feel like I even had conversations with my CEO about pulling entire catalog mailings, and just like these very, very huge changes that weren't just about the next couple of weeks, but longer-term stuff too. And what I think worked for my company is to just not stop, to keep moving in the dark room. There's that metaphor when the lights go off, and you just stop. Renee: And we just didn't do that. We forced ourselves to write the really hard email copy. And I think we used to have like me and my copywriter, and my CEO review copy. And instead, we invited the larger group to really help us think through what felt right. And that really helped. We started emailing more frequently. Renee: So, rather than sending emails two to three times a week, we started emailing four to five times a week. Just because it felt like rather than sending these huge, big, long stories, we could just tell these smaller-point-in-time stories, and just keep our finger on the pulse more often. And that seemed to really work for our customer. Renee: And then, I also think we just force ourselves to try new ideas that we've never tried before, and make them work. We ended up shooting a catalog entirely in studio because we couldn't get outside. And it actually is one of my favorite catalogs we've ever created. So, it got- Stephanie: Oh, that's great. Renee: ... May of this year. And I feel like it just forced our creative team to just think differently about everything we were doing. And it was really raw and vulnerable. But it's really awesome, and you see that it yields great content. And then, I'm also really proud for my company to speak up around Black Lives Matter. I think, as a company, we've definitely made it known that we're more of a progressive organization. Renee: But I think never made such a bold statement around an issue that we are passionate about. And I honestly think that going through March, and just learning how to be honest, and real with each other, and connecting with our customers in the way that we did, it really made us feel more empowered that we should be making bold statements across our platform about things that we believe in. Renee: Especially, when it has to do with human rights. And so, it really helped us guide how we responded to the Black Lives Matter movement in organic, social, and email, and just what we've been doing as a brand. Stephanie: Yeah. That's great. I like the idea of leaning into it not being scared to publish things. And just that we agree with that method of doing thing. So, are there any brands that you watched? Oh, go ahead. Renee: Oh, as I said, the other thing that I think we do now that we weren't doing beforehand is, well, one, we use Slack all the time, which I love Slack. It's funny to me that we are late to the game on that one. But the other thing I was going to say is that we actually have team meetings every single morning, and I feel like we over invite. Renee: When you're in the office, I feel like we have a tendency to try to limit meeting attendance because sometimes meetings just explode. And then, you feel like they are becoming unproductive. And I feel like we've been taking the opposite approach during COVID. We have a 30-minute meeting with my entire team. And that includes customer service, to eCommerce channel managers, to somebody on our brand creative team, and our copywriter. Renee: And it just helps to just connect really quickly in the beginning of the day, and make sure that everybody has the same information starting point for what's happening. I'm sure that there's a lot of people that don't need to be there, but I think it's replicating that like water cooler environment, or that you're walking, and making eye contact with somebody, or catching somebody in the bathroom. That's made a big difference too. Stephanie: Do you think that you all will continue doing larger meetings like that? Because I agree, having people onboard so you're not having to retell things, or having one person tell another person, tell another person, and the message is completely off. Do you think you're going to continue doing things like that even after when we can return to offices? Renee: I hope so. I'm going to force them to have a meeting every morning when we get in. I think there is something really nice. I think we've actually come together. We support each other more. I also think like role clarity has solidified itself in a really strong way. And I think there's not land grabbing around projects. Renee: Everyone is just super clear around who's doing what, and there is no like, "Oh, I wish I was working on that, or I wish I could contribute to that." It feels like there's more support across team members to get projects done. Stephanie: Yeah, very cool. So, earlier, we were talking about acquiring customers, and you mentioned that you had a scrappy marketing team, or your marketing efforts are scrappy. And I wanted to dive into that a bit about how you're acquiring your customers, and what channels you're finding the most success in, and what that looks like behind the scenes? Renee: Sure. So, like team structure, or more just channels that we're using or both? Stephanie: Yeah. I'd say channels, or marketing campaigns that are doing well, or how you think about setting that up to drive conversions, and new customers, and all that. Renee: Yeah. The last couple of months have been a weird time for everything. But I actually think for us, it's actually meant not really focusing on new channels. I'm starting to do that a little bit more now. Poke my head up, and think about what I want to test, and do in 2021. But for us, it's really been just focusing on things that we're already good at, and just being really, really thoughtful about brand creative. Renee: So, the channels that have been most successful are paid social, Facebook, and Instagram, and catalog continues to be really successful for us. Usually, retail is an awesome channel for us to introduce ourselves to a lot of people. But our stores were closed for three months. So, obviously, that had a big impact on our business. But yeah, so those channels have been working for us. Renee: And then, we have a pretty scrappy team. We do all of our own in-house creative, which again, I think has been really helpful, and iterative, and making sure that we feel all of our content is on brand. Yeah. Stephanie: All right, cool. For the retail stores closing, are all of them opening back up, or is it making you rethink your retail strategy at all, or what's your plans going forward with that? Renee: Yeah. I think, gosh, it changes every couple of days. I want to say 90% of our stores are opened. I think some of the stores in New York might still be closed, and I'm not sure when this air, so that might be different then. But for the most part, our stores are back open. We've been seeing that buyers are coming in, and even though our traffic is down, that buyers are coming in with a lot of intent. Renee: And we're seeing much higher basket sizes, and much higher conversion. So, overall, I think positively encouraged by what we're seeing in our retail channel around customer engagement through the pandemic. But I think what's been really exciting, and maybe that's the wrong word. I feel like nothing is really exciting. But when stores closed, I was nervous about how much we would lose the engagement from those buyers. Renee: Buyers that tend to participate in your retail channel, they do that for a reason. They're people that really like to touch the stuff before they buy it. And so, I wasn't really sure what to expect from those buyers in shifting their purchases to online, and how much, I call it retail migration, we would see. But for the most part, it's been a lot higher than what I was expecting. Renee: So, I feel good that our higher contact strategy that we've had in the web channel, or the web marketing tools has helped us engage with all of our buyers, even if they're traditionally retail buyers. Stephanie: Got it. Did you have different marketing strategies to keep those retail buyers engaged, and reaching out to them more, maybe not through email offerings, but direct mail or something like that? Renee: Not really. We talked about it a few times. But then I feel like, it's hard to create so many different creative iterations. I think we just came from like, "Hey, it's one customer out there. So, who are we talking to? We're talking to all these people." And I think what we've been talking about hasn't really been channel specific. It's more like Zeitgeist specific to everything that's happening in the world. So, I think that's worked for us. Stephanie: Cool. So, the one thing I was reading a bit about was something called the Re-Spun program. I was hoping you could talk a little bit about that because I was trying to think about how that model works, and the operating cost behind it, and all of that, and I was hoping you could touch on that a bit? Renee: Sure, I would love to. Re-Spun is a program that Marine Layer launched in November 2018, where we actually recycle old customer t-shirts into new tees and sweatshirts. And what's cool about it is that we take any old shirt that our customers had, does not need to be a Marine Layer shirt. We give customers $5 per shirt of Marine Layer credit. Renee: And then, we'd take their old shirts, we'd break them down to pulpy fiber, and re-spin them into upcycled cotton. And we also blend that upcycled cotton with a little bit of recycled poly, and then use that new thread to make new shirts, and new sweatshirts that are still absurdly soft Marine Layer caliber product. But it's actually being made from 100% either upcycled or recycled materials. Renee: It's a cool program because I think it does a lot of things. One, it defers shirts from landfills. So, we've actually collected, this number is probably a little old Knox. It's from January of this year, but over 170,000 shirts from our customers. Stephanie: Oh, wow. Renee: I think it's fun that we get to reward them, and give them Marine Layer credit. But I also think it really solves a problem for a lot of people out there. If you go back to why Marine Layer was founded, it was because our CEO did not want to get rid of his old favorite shirt. He wanted to keep wearing it, and he loved it so much. And I think there really is an emotional attachment to your clothing. Renee: That's what we try to do in every single piece that we create. And when you have an emotional attachment to something, it feels very sad to throw it away, or give it to Goodwill, and not really know what's happening to it. So, I think when we introduced this program, we were honestly blown away by the interest in donating old shirts. Renee: And we've actually had a lot of fun even going through them because we processed them at our headquarters. But some of them are old sorority fun run shirts, but some of them are like, there's really incredible stories behind the shirt. Renee: We've even reached out to some customers and shared that on our Instagram. We also did a contest just sharing the funniest shirt that we've received through this program. So, it's a nice way to connect with our customers, and understand more about what their stories are behind their clothes. And then- Stephanie: That's really fun. Renee: Yeah. And then, lastly, because I know this is an ecommerce-driven podcast. In some ways, we think about Re-Spun like our loyalty program. So, it's our way of rewarding customers for sharing our values, and creating clothing in a more responsible way. Renee: I think overall, just the response to the program, that's been just so awesome. Renee: We're just trying to expand it in a much bigger way. So, I'm looking for ways to include recycled materials, not just in this small assortment of Re-Spun tees, and sweatshirts, but how do we include recycled materials in everything that we're making. So, it's been fun to focus on this value of making clothing more sustainably, and using more recycled materials, and applying it to our whole brand. Stephanie: Yeah. That's amazing. So, to take a little step back into the world of eCommerce a bit more, and building actual websites, and all that stuff. What tools do you love using right now, or are you testing out, and you see them really working well with either not just customer acquisition, but conversions, or website performance? Anything in the nitty gritty that you're like, "This is really working well for us?" Renee: I feel like it's nothing. Stephanie: Feel free to go into the weeds. Renee: Yeah, I know. I'm trying to think. I feel like it's nothing particularly new. Well, if we've been having more fun with email flows lately, and looking at the frequency at which we're sending those, because it does seem that there's just an overall appetite to hear from Marine Layer more often. So, we were not sending our abandoned cart emails until two days after. Renee: But now I think we've moved that up to a few hours later, trying to monitor and see what happens there. I think because we are sending emails more frequently too, looking for more ways to segment our email file so that we can tell, again, more specific messages to certain audiences. And yeah, I think it's not really been not a lot of new in the last couple of months, it's mostly been focused on looking what we're doing, and seeing what we can make better. Stephanie: Yeah. What content are you sending if you're sending emails more frequently? I'm guessing it can't just be more product emails, or just the abandoned cart ones. I'm sure you're sending some content that's keeping the subscriber happy and engaged. How do you think about that when you're sending more emails? Renee: Yeah. Some of it is just as simple as segmenting by product gender. So, focusing on sending men's focused emails to people that tend to buy men's product, and women's focus emails to women's product buyers. But then, I also think a lot of branded messages. I think one thing that I love that Marine Layer does, that I didn't see happening as much out there is sometimes, we just send emails with no performance expectations against them. Renee: We send a really fun email, fun might be the funny adjective for it, but in March, where we just profiled what our employees were wearing while they were working from home, and- Stephanie: That's fun. Renee: Yeah. It wasn't even product that we are currently selling. We tried to focus on Marine Layer products, but our employees tend to have stuff from two or three years ago. So, we more just wanted to tell a story of being comfortable, and trying to find ease, and optimism wherever you are. Yeah. We also send that email usually around Father's Day or Mother's Day where we just like, "Oh, I love the Mother's Day on this year actually." We all sent in images of Facetiming with our moms. Stephanie: Oh, that's cute. Renee: And just talked about like, "We miss you, mom, we love you." And then, I think the Father's Day when we did this year was just around taking vintage images of all of our super cool dad styles, and sharing them on our email, and through our Instagram. So, yeah, I think we've had more creative license, just send emails that are just fun, and emotional, and make us feel happy rather than feeling like they're performance driven. Stephanie: Yeah, I love that. That's really fun, and I will be signing up just to see those emails [inaudible 00:47:30]. Stephanie: All right, cool. So, the lightning round is where I'll ask a question, and you have a minute or less to answer, tan-tan-tan. Renee: Yes, I'm ready. Stephanie: So, this one I'm asking for our producer [Hilary] because she put it on the list. We heard you're a Bachelor fan. So, who's favorite bachelor or bachelorette? Renee: Oh, my God, that's so funny. I love Kaitlyn Bristowe. I just love Kaitlyn Bristowe. Stephanie: She is the best. Renee: Yeah. I feel like she ushered in a new era of Bachelor viewers, and I love The Bachelor. But then I also really love this funny podcast called Here To Make Friends. And it's like a feminist take on The Bachelor, and they rank episodes of things where feminist fails, and it's fun. I used to have a lot of roommates, and we would all watch it together. And then I got married, and I didn't have anyone else that would watch the show with me. So, now, I got to resort to podcasts. Stephanie: I love that. Well, then that's a good transition to what's your favorite podcast that you're listening to? Renee: Ooh, that's a really hard question. So, top of my head, I would say Radiolab and Fresh Air. Those are easy answers. But Fresh Air in particular, I love Terry Gross. I just think she asks such thoughtful questions. And I'm always surprised by the content that comes out of her interviews. And some of my favorite ones are with unexpected guests. If anyone hasn't listened to the Jay-Z interview with Terry Gross, go and find it. I think it's from 2013. It's so funny. It's so good. Stephanie: Oh, that sounds good. I have to check that one out. Renee: Yeah. Stephanie: What is your favorite learning tool or resource that you leverage along the way when it comes to running either marketing, or eCommerce, or something like that, where you're like, I constantly think about this book, or this article, or this person? Who do you look to, or what do you look to? Renee: Definitely my time Athleta. I would say it's more just the incredible coaches that I had at Athleta, and leaders that I had there that were just incredibly passionate about customer analytics, and customer health as a driver of long-term business health. I could list off folks, but Scott Key was our CEO. He's incredible. Renee: Mike O'Reilly was our leadership for marketing and eCommerce. And Irene Wong, my boss at the time, just a really, really powerful, thoughtful team that cared so much about the success of Athleta, and wanted to just try looking at a new way. They still inspire me all the time. Stephanie: That's amazing. What's up next on your Netflix queue? Renee: Ooh, this is embarrassing, but I'm going to say it anyways. How adorable is Baby-Sitters Club? Is anybody else watching that? Stephanie: I have not watched that yet, but I will have to check it out. I'm down to watch that. Not embarrassing at all. Renee: Okay, good. I have a three-year-old little girl, and I watched Baby-Sitters Club, and it just gave me a little spark of optimism that maybe the world is going to be okay if there's more 13-year-olds in the world that act like the Baby-Sitters Club. So, I'll throw that out there, and then also, Expecting Amy. We're two episodes in, and that's pretty good. Stephanie: Yep. Yeah. That's funny, too. What app do you have in your phone that you enjoy the most? Renee: This is going to be boring, but probably Google Analytics and Instagram. Stephanie: That's all right. Hey, those are not boring. I love Google Analytics and Instagram. Of course, is great. Renee: Yeah. I have to hand it to Google Analytics. Their app is very functional. I like that you can do different comparison periods real time stuff, it's helpful. Stephanie: Yeah. No, I completely agree. And then, the last one, if you were to create a Netflix original, what would it be about? Renee: Fun question. I have thought about this. Stephanie: Oh, wow. Okay. Renee: Well, I guess I feel I would like for there to be more stories about female professionals, and especially about female professionals that are comfortable being feminine and vulnerable, like Brene Brown take on what it's like to be in a workforce now. And I feel like there're podcasts that I think have done that really well that inspire me a lot. Renee: But I'd like to see that story told more. And I'm sick of stories about working mothers that are balancing their work life and their home. That's too complicated and too much to unpack there. But there is a lot to tell about just this new era of vulnerable women in the workforce. And I think a lot of them are moms, and I am very inspired by that. Stephanie: Yeah. I would definitely watch that. Renee, it's been such a fun interview. I loved how deep we get into a lot of things. And we will definitely have to have you back for round two. Where can people find out more about you and Marine Layer? Renee: marinelayer.com. So, that's a pretty straightforward one, and then definitely come and visit our stores. And for me, I don't know, send me a DM on Instagram. I'm @renielo, or you can send me an email at renee@marinelayer.com. Stephanie: Cool. It's been a blast. Yeah. Thanks for coming on the show. Renee: Okay. Thanks. It was great talking to you, too.  

If you are ready to hit the beach, head to Virginia Beach, where there is something for everyone. This week we chat with Brianna Simmons, from The Casual Travelist, about her hometown of Virginia Beach and all it has to offer families. ON THE PODCAST 00:30 - Talking with Kim and Tamara about the beach 06:20 - Tamara’s upcoming trip 12:20 - Talking with Brianna 14:25 - How Virginia is doing with Covid-19 15:57 - Different sections of the beach 18:06 - Hotel vs. Beach House 19:45 - Activities 22:29 - Favorite Restaurants 24:40 - When to go 25:36 - Where Brianna wants to go next 26:48 - Brianna’s Favorite Travel Gear 28:20 - Coming up Next ABOUT BRIANNA SIMMONS Brianna Simmons is a travel blogger at the Casual Travelist where she balances her love for travel with a full time career as a physical therapist. Whether you’re getting away for 2 days or 2 weeks she aims to show you how to make the most of your vacation days. Follow Brianna on Facebook and Instagram. TIPS FOR VISITING VIRGINIA BEACH Virginia Beach has a beach experience for just about everyone. The main area is a resort area, which has a three-mile long boardwalk, making it a very family-friendly place to visit. During the summer they usually have music acts and a lot of other activities going on. This is also the area where you can find most of the hotels. If you are looking for a place quiet, you can always visit the Chesapeake Bay area, which is great and has calmer waters. Sandbridge is another area that is relaxing, located at the very northern tip on the Outer Banks. Depending on how long you are staying and where, renting a beach house is a great way to vacation at Virginia Beach. Going to the beach may be the main reason why you are visiting the area but there are definitely some other activities that you can do on your trip. For instance there is a really great Aquarium that also offers dolphin wildlife cruises during the summer months. They also offer whale watching cruises during the winter months. If you want to stay outdoors there are some different state parks you can explore and even camp if you are feeling adventurous. In Chesapeake Bay there is First Landing State Park that has some great wooded or water trails and also offers some camping areas. Around Sandbridge there is False Cape State Park, but you will have to hike or bike there since you can not drive to the park. Holiday weekends are usually very busy. Make sure to check the weather when you are planning your trip, as the days get closer you want to prepare yourself if it ends up being rainy. Being that the beach is on the East Coast you want to keep in mind the chance of hurricanes. FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR Brianna loves to wear her comfortable clothes, which includes a pair of leggings from American Giant paired with a Marine Layer t-shirt. As another layer she loves to wear her Daisy Wrap from Eddie Bauer that goes with everything. MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST Where to Eat in Virginia Beach Beach Packing List - Stuffed Suitcase Hilton Garden Inn - Virginia Beach The Cavalier Hotel Virginia Aquarium  Commune Restaurant Bay Local Eatery Lolly’s Creamery Casual Foodist FOLLOW US AND SPREAD THE WORD! If you liked this show, please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play and leave us a review! Have a question or comment? Send us an email at podcast@vacationmavens.com. You can also follow our travels on Stuffed Suitcase and We3Travel, or follow the Vacation Mavens on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening!

Home to Whole Foods, Publix, Marine Layer, The Thompson Hotel, and so many more, 12 South and The Gulch - two Nashville neighborhoods separated by less than 2 miles - have quickly become the hottest draws in town. Rents in the neighborhoods have doubled or even tripled in under 5 years! What's driving the growth? LocateAI is a leader in retail real estate analytics and created the industry's first AI-powered retail real estate brokerage. Our data science team uses 180,000 variables to build predictive analytics and market strategy maps for our clients, who rely on this objective data to make optimal real estate expansion decisions. LocateAI provides this data at no cost to retailers – learn more at https://www.locate.ai.

A conversation with Dane reynolds in regards to Marine Layer productions, FORMER, Chapter 11.tv, and his journey through surfing to this point.

Evans & Mondy return to tackle surfing's big topics with typical unflinching bravery. The show features an update from Alex Botelho's recovery as well as a first hand account of Taz Knight's worst ever Mullaghmore wipeout. In mellower wave news, Mondy gets paid to shred The Wave, but won't say how much. Topics up for debate include the rumoured return of Marine Layer, the Fight For The Bight, more dolphin deaths in Biscay and the pain of unrequited love. The Social Media Police return to consider celebrity wedding/funeral branded content, while the quiz sees Evans' life & times of Damien Hardman take on Mondy's Nazaré. Running time: 50m Running order: 0m32: Intro & news 7m20: That's Good 19m05: That's Bad 25m: A word from the Editor Luke Gartside 26m50: Taz Knight's Mully Wipeout 31m 15: Social Media Police 38m30s: The Quiz - Harman vs Naz Get in touch with the show via Twitter: @wavelengthmag editor@wavlengthmag.com Supported by www.FourFiveCBD.co.uk www.wavelengthmag.com

Andrew Graham of Marine Layer talks about the apparel supplier’s T-shirt recycling initiative and how its commitment to creating the softest, most sustainable shirts out there.

The Problem: You don’t need to post. (Recorded on Monday, May 13, 2019.) This episode of Roderick on the Line is brought to you by: Squarespace. Free trial plus 10% off your first purchase with the special offer code, “SUPERTRAIN.” Marine Layer: Clothes that make it easy to get dressed in the morning. Get 15% off your first order with code “SUPERTRAIN.”

Marine Layer, a retail phenomenon founded in 2009 and known for their absurdly soft shirts, now has a custom projects division led by Andrew Graham, Director of Custom Projects. Today, Andrew discusses the story behind Marine Layer and the creation of a unique fabric blend, marketing strategies they use, and much more!

Hey! Get off your damn phone! It’s rude! Oh, you’re using it to listen to this podcast? Ahhh, that’s fine then. Actually, pop out those headphones, let’s all take a listen! In this brave new world there are new rules about etiquette and we’re here to teach them to you. We also cover headphone/AirPods etiquette since we’re on the cutting edge. Make sure you stay tuned until the very end to hear the result of a dramatic bet between Tim and Tom around who uses their phone more. The results might shock you!Our sponsor this week is Marine Layer, makers of the softest clothes you’ve ever felt in your whole dang life. For 15% off your first order, visit marinelayer.com and enter offer code GUIDE at checkout!

The Problem: There’s no Aloha medal. (Photo: John Scalzi) This episode of Roderick on the Line is brought to you by: Marine Layer: Clothes that make it easy to get dressed in the morning. Get 15% off your first order with code “SUPERTRAIN.” Squarespace. Free trial plus 10% off your first purchase with the special offer code, “SUPERTRAIN.”

The Problem: The local guy knows. This episode of Roderick on the Line is brought to you by: Marine Layer: Clothes that make it easy to get dressed in the morning. Get 15% off your first order with code “SUPERTRAIN.” Squarespace. Free trial plus 10% off your first purchase with the special offer code, “SUPERTRAIN.”

How to build your brand: discover 3 brilliant branding strategies the casual-clothes company Marine Layer uses that you should try on for size. This episode will show you how to weave personality into your business and sell more without being pushy. https://www.marieforleo.com/2016/05/branding-strategies/ You don’t have to hide who you really are to have a professional, successful business. @MarieForleo

Decoding Westworld is a weekly podcast recapping the HBO original series Westworld. In this episode, Joanna and David discuss the season finale of the second season, "The Passenger."  Be sure to check out Joanna's recap of this episode and Chris Evangelista's recap of the episode. Also, see the Washington Post article that features us! Thanks for listening to this season of Decoding Westworld. Have your own crackpot theory?  Want to leave us feedback in general? Get in touch with us at decodingwestworld(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks! This episode is sponsored by Marine Layer. For 15 percent off your first order, visit marinelayer.com and enter "decoding" at check-out. This episode is also sponsored by Mink Eyes and Tenebrae by Max McBride. Find these books at your local bookstore and Amazon and at www.max2themax.com.

Fast Fashion Diversity, Investment Clothing, Retail Hackers Welcome to another episode of Pop Fashion! This week, we’re catching up on the Hudson’s Bay credit card breach and Trump’s Twitter complaints about Amazon. Marine Layer opened Airbnbs above their stores, and fast-fashion stores like H&M and Zara are finally hiring people to focus on diversity. Comme des Garcons is launching a new online brand this summer, and we debate the merits of shopping for investment pieces. Come hang out! Pop Fashion Links Website: www.popfashionpodcast.com Instagram: @popfashionpodcast Twitter: @JustPopFashion Lisa’s Links Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisatella Website: www.lisarowan.com Kaarin’s Links Twitter: www.twitter.com/truetostyle Website: www.truetostyle.com

Mike Natenshon, Adam Lynch, and Jenna discuss the evolution of Marine Layer from Mike trying to recreate the comfort of his favorite college t-shirt to the company's expansion into 33 profitable stores. Mike and Adam reflect on memories from the early days, including purchasing their 1969 VW van as their delivery truck, hand-delivering orders to Levi's, and improvising when they received an order of sweatshirts without any neck holes. We then chat about their experiential retail philosophy, Marine Layer's dual store and AirBnB locations in Chicago and New Orleans (opening in February), and the future of fashion and hospitality merging. Mike and Adam also take us behind the scenes at their team meetings to share some of Marine Layer's key values, such as questioning assumptions to achieve your best possible outcome, the importance of being empathetic when sharing feedback, and balancing optimizing for the future while focusing on the present. 

In today's episode of Surf News, David and Scott catch up on the incredible event that was first jewel of the Triple Crown, Kelly Slater's announcement about being a brand ambassador, electrified shark nets, Davo's DUI, and Dane Reynold's retiring Marine Layer. Plenty of hard facts and a bit of gossip, right now on Surf Splendor. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s episode of Surf News, David and Scott catch up on the incredible event that was first jewel of the Triple Crown, Kelly Slater’s announcement about being a brand ambassador, electrified shark nets, Davo’s DUI, and Dane Reynold’s retiring Marine Layer. Plenty of hard facts and a bit of gossip, right now on Surf … Continue reading "062 – Surf News, November 18, 2014" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices