Podcast appearances and mentions of sarah what

A Syrophoenician woman throws herself at Jesus begging him to heal her daughter only to have Jesus turn to her and say, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." In some of his most critical language, Jesus calls this woman a dog. But, as Luther House of Study's co-director, Sarah Stenson, teaches Adam and I this week, we shouldn't focus on the setup, however dramatic Jesus makes it. We need to focus on the follow through. And what Jesus is actually doing here is drawing a confession out of this woman. She owns her sin. And, through his speaking, he heals her daughter and forgives sin. Here are the questions Adam and Mason discuss with Sarah:- What is a human precept? - What does it mean to be a creature?- How can't I change my heart?Interested in sponsoring an episode of Scripture First? Email Sarah: sstenson@augie.eduSupport the show (https://www.lutherhouseofstudy.org/donate)

On this week's episode we chat to Dhriti Shashikanth, Account Executive at Mindshare London, about starting out in the SEO industry after graduating from university. Where to find Dhriti: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhriti-s-451969166/ --- Episode Sponsor This season is sponsored by NOVOS. NOVOS, the London-based eCommerce SEO agency, has won multiple awards for their SEO campaigns including Best Global SEO Agency of The Year 2 years running. Trusted by over 150 global eCommerce brands including the likes of Bloom & Wild, Patch and Thread, NOVOS provides technical eCommerce SEO expertise with a creative edge by specialising across platforms like Shopify & Magento. They have been named as one of 2021's best workplaces in the UK and with a diverse, gender-balanced team are a culture-first agency. Check them out on thisisnovos.com or follow on Linkedin @thisisnovos Where to find Novos: Website - https://thisisnovos.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/thisisnovos Twitter - https://twitter.com/thisisnovos Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thisisnovos/ --- Episode Transcript Sarah: Hello and a very warm welcome to the Women in Tech SEO podcast, I am Sarah McDowell, SEO Content Executive at Holland and Barrett, and I am your host for today. Joining me on today's show, I have Dhriti Shashikanth, Account Executive at Mindshare London, who is going to be talking to us about starting in SEO as a beginner and graduate from university. So welcome to the show. Dhriti: Hi! Thanks for inviting me. Sarah: Thank you for joining us. How are you doing? I mean, it's Thursday evening, Friday tomorrow. Have you got the Friday vibes going on? Dhriti: 100%. It's been such a long and busy month so far and it's only the 8th. It's been a long, busy one but looking forward to the weekend. Sarah: Well, it sounds like you pretty much deserve this weekend that's coming up then. To kick things off and to start this podcast, can you give our wonderful listeners a brief overview of yourself, what you do tell us a bit about you. Dhriti: Sure. My name is Dhriti and I'm an account executive at Mindshare UK. So, I've been at my current agency for a little bit over four months, just past my probation, which is great and currently living in London. And I'm quite excited that COVID has finished or like sort of finished, but it's lovely to go out and meet people as well. So, I'm enjoying that side of things. Would you like to know anything more? Sarah: I do have some quickfire questions.  [Quick Fire Questions] Sarah: Well, I mean, I'm going to be Googling that after the show. I'm imagining our listeners will be as well. What would you say empowers you to be the brilliant woman that you are today? Dhriti: I think it has to always be my role models. Definitely. I've been around so many strong women in my life. And I would probably say my mother and my grandmother are probably at the highest on that list. And I think my mum is just so hardworking and she's such a strong woman herself that I think it's inspired me to sort of getting to where I am in my career and work as hard as I've been working, so I would say, yes, it's my mother and other inspiring women in my field as well. My previous boss, Becky Simms, and of course, the Directors that I'm working with now in Mindshare as well, 100 per cent. Sarah: What one bit of advice would you give women starting in the industry? Dhriti: From my experience anyway, there seems to be a lot of women working in SEO. And I think it's just reaching out and speaking to people and joining the community and not being afraid to voice their opinions and challenge. I think that's the best way you can learn. So, I would say, yeah, not to be afraid of doing those things. Sarah: It's time to get into the meaty topic of this episode. And at the beginning, I said that we'd be discussing starting in SEO as a beginner and you'll be sort of like sharing your...

Text the word JOURNAL to 202-217-0704 to receive journal prompts & to connect 1:1 with me!! YES, that's my # and it's ME! What's Your Money Frequency? Find Out Now Come say hi over on Instagram   In Today's Episode You Will Learn:   What does abundance mean to Sarah What called Sarah to write her book Beautifully Brave Surrendering and trusting that what needs to come through will come through How to stay present while still going after your dreams How Sarah found the practices, groups and masterminds that work for her What it looks like to shift from what you're supposed to do into what feels right for you  Sarah's brave approach to writing and launching her book Stop falling prey to how others become successful What does a successful book launch look like for Sarah Overcoming limiting beliefs in order to birth your dreams The reality of when the universe gives you an opportunity for growth How you can start putting yourself first Dealing with judgment and how to navigate through it Who is Sarah and what is she stepping into Finding your soul's voice and becoming a mirror to others Start paying attention to what triggers you  What is a huge vision that Sarah is stepping into  How can you start taking action towards your next dream    Shownotes: Today, I got to chat with my soul sister, Sarah Pendrick, all about her new book, Beautifully Brave. In this episode we talk about all things surrendering, trusting, how to find what practices work best, defining success, navigating through judgment, finding your soul's voice, different triggers and so much more. Sarah shares her journey through writing this book, how she overcame limiting beliefs, she shares with us her vision for this book and what she is working on next.    Meet Sarah:Sarah Pendrick is the founder of GirlTalk Network, women empowerment and lifestyle brand, and the creator of GirlTalk Foundation, a 501c3. She is a sought-after mentor, host, author of the new book Beautifully Brave and creator of the women's empowerment and top self-development event GirlTalk Festival. She's been featured on Forbes, NBC, The Doctor's, E!, Entrepreneur and has been called an “Iconic Women Creating A Better World” at the Women Economic Forum. Beautifully Brave by Sarah Pendrick: Get Your Copy Now   Connect with Sarah: Instagram | GirlTalk Network

It's the 125th show, and just like we promised it's chalk full of Ask the Sons questions. We couldn't think of any way better for sharing our multiples of 25s other than fan participation! Mandie__82: Why do people choose to live behind a false mask instead of being their true self? Shygirllistens: Do you share your fantasies with your significant other? Cutemidori: What goes through your minds when you see breasts? KingHill: If you could learn the truth of any one mystery, urban legend, or conspiracy theory. What would it be? Mike_D: What is a missed opportunity that you regret not taking to this day? Coffin_N_Nail: What made you lose your faith in religion? AlphaThing: What is the stupidest reason a stranger was mad at you? SheldonMitchellDesigns: How do y'all do the set up (prepare) for your show? EyeDee_4me: What is something that you wish women knew? SpookyTerrance: What still pisses you off to this day? Sunny_P: What is one question that hated you being asked? Damemequeen: Where is the wildest place that weird stuff happens at? Cyanora: You guys talked about “Starfishing” before, is it really a problem to you both? Mz. Sarah: What says your stupid without saying your stupid? PrincessMarielle: What's your secret to a good night's sleep? Lord of the rings and weed gummy Chris_Alps: Marry, fuck, kill: Italian food, Mexican food, & Chinese food! OutlawDisciple: Who is more dangerous in a fight, a man who stands to lose everything or a man with nothing to lose? Quebeme: During intimacy do you prefer eye contact or closed eyes? Haunting_Adam: If all religions teach peace, why can't they ever achieve peace? Nuclear Chemist: What strange motivation quote do you know? PokeBattle_fan: What has the pandemic taught us? Siberian_Sweetie: What is an unspoken rule that most people follow? MyNameIsT: What should not be normalize in society? AriAfterDark: If society collapsed and had to rebuild based on the books you own, how would it look? Beanboy: What personality trait do you wish everybody had? Megatron 2.0: What is the most horrendous form of torture that you know? Sneeks: You guys were against a black James Bond, what about a female Bond? Carajara: What was the weirdest thing that happened to you while you were home alone? Rebekah_Yolo: What are some things that parents do that spoil the child? NikkoleTimes2: Is asexuality a deal breaker in a relationship? Viper_San: What makes absolutely 0% sense to you?

Sarah: So John, you're an English teacher now. Is that right?John: Yes. I've been an English teacher for six years now.Sarah: Do you always want to be an English teacher?John: Well actually, recently, I've been thinking about changing my job.Sarah: Oh?John: Yes. I have been studying math and science.Sarah: Oh.John: I'm learning a lot more about math these days. I hope in the future I can be a math teacher.Sarah: That sounds interesting.John: Yes, I think so. I think math is important because if we can understand math, we learn new ways to think about problems.Sarah: What age student do you want to teach math to?John: I think I would enjoy teaching junior high school students.Sarah: So you said you're studying math now.John: That's right.Sarah: How do you do it? Do you study online?John: That's exactly right. I study online from various websites and these websites connect you to free online courses from real universities around the world.Sarah: Oh wow.John: Yeah. So I signed up for a free algebra class from a university in the United States.Sarah: Will you get a degree when you finish?John: Well you can. For every course you finish you can get a certificate that says you passed this course. And if you sign up for a series of courses, you can get a certification in a field like math or science.Sarah: Oh really? And it's all online?John: Yeah. And it's not only math or science, you can choose any field you want. I've been thinking of studying Spanish language there and you can study computer programming or history or law.Sarah: Oh, interesting. Maybe I'll try it.John: You should. They have different types of classes. You can study by yourself by watching videos or you can even have an interactive class with a real teacher and you can meet through video chat.Sarah: Wow. Hey, thank you.John: Yeah, you should try this opportunity.Sarah: I will.

Sarah: So John, you told me about the paleo diet and what it is. But why did you decide to eat like that?John: Well, let me tell you. I was feeling sick for a long time.Sarah: Oh, I'm sorry.John: Oh, it's okay now.Thanks though. I started to feel sick three years ago, and then it got worse and worse in my stomach. I had lots of stomach trouble called indigestion, and I didn't know why until I found out that some foods are healthier than others. So that's why I started learning about the paleo diet and eating healthy. I found that we should eat fresh fruits and fresh vegetables and we definitely shouldn't eat fast food. And we shouldn't eat very many snacks either.Sarah: Oh.John: And because I was sick with my stomach trouble, I was also feeling depressed. But I learned that our moods and our emotions can be affected by what we eat.Sarah: Really?John: Yes. I was very surprised to learn that. But it makes sense because our brain chemistry comes from the foods we eat. When we eat healthy foods, we get good chemistry in our body and our brains can function normally, and we can have good moods and good emotions.Sarah: So you feel happier and healthier now that you changed your diet.John: That's true. But changing my diet wasn't enough. Even though I fixed my diet, I still didn't feel 100 percent. So I had to do more research. And I found something else that's very important.I didn't realize before but everyone needs to get enough exercise every week. In fact, it's best if you can exercise 30 minutes every day.Sarah: Everyday?John: Well, of course you can take a day off. Two days off each week is okay. And you don't have to do very difficult exercise. Just riding a bicycle or jogging is enough. But I also found that having a healthy diet and getting enough exercise is still not enough because you need two more important factors.Sarah: What are they?John: One is called stress management. When we feel stressed, our body has a reaction to stress, and it can make you feel sick, and it can put you in a bad mood. So we need to learn ways to manage our stress. So we need to learn how to breathe deeply and relax more. And when we encounter stress, we should learn healthy ways to react and not react in unhealthy ways, such as getting angry or feeling frustrated.Sarah: What's a healthy way to react?John: Well first, you should breathe and relax your body by slowing down. And then you should think calmly and clearly about the best way to handle a problem. So don't just worry about the problem and think about what can go wrong, but think calmly about ways to solve problems.Sarah: Okay.John: But I found the most important factor in feeling healthy was a big surprise to me.Sarah: What was it?John: We need to get enough sleep.Sarah: Oh.John: Everyone knows we should sleep more but very few people sleep enough. Most adults should sleep 8 hours every night. I was only sleeping 5 or 6 hours every night.Sarah: Oh wow.John: Yeah. So sleeping at night is like recharging your battery, right. So do you have a cell phone?Sarah: Sure, of course.John: What do you do when the battery is dead?Sarah: I plug it in.John: Yeah. And you need to leave it plugged in until it has a full charge. Well, not sleeping enough is just like unplugging your phone before it's charged. So it's much better to have a healthy diet and get a regular exercise, learn stress management skills, and most importantly, get enough sleep every night.Sarah: Okay. I'll try hard. Thank you.

Sarah: So John, I heard you've been trying out a new diet. Can you tell me about it?John: Yes. I've been trying the paleo diet.Sarah: What's that?John: Well, this diet is supposed to make you feel better and eat healthier. And the idea is that a lot of the problems we have with health, a lot of modern human health problems, come from the foods we eat. So the idea is that maybe we should eat a diet which is closer to what early humans ate before.Sarah: Early humans ate? Like what did they eat?John: Well, they mostly ate fruits, and berries, and nuts, and meat. They didn't eat grains because grains come from agriculture, from growing plants on purpose.Sarah: Uh-hmm.John: And they didn't eat bread and cake and cookies and crackers.Sarah: It sounds like a hard diet to keep.John: It's a little difficult at first. What you have to realize is that these foods are refined foods. Refined foods are not really natural foods because humans have to do a lot of cooking processes to make these foods.Sarah: Uh-hmm.John: When you want to eat natural, you should eat food just the way it comes like raw vegetables and fresh fruit and meat that isn't processed. So you can't eat hotdogs.Sarah: Okay.John: And sausage.Sarah: Okay.John: But you can have steak…Sarah: It sounds…John: And fish.Sarah: It sounds like an expensive diet.John: Well actually, it turns out that when you eat fresh vegetables and fresh fruits, it can be cheaper. Processed food, refined food, comes in lots of packaging from the store, and sometimes it can be more expensive for convenience. Modern humans eat these processed foods for convenience. You don't have to wash it. You don't have to do the chopping and preparation when you eat refined foods.But when you go on paleo diet, you buy the fruit and you eat it. You buy the vegetables, you have to wash it and chop it and then you eat it. So it's not processed, and it's much healthier for you.Sarah: How do you feel since you started this diet?John: I feel much better actually. When we eat carbohydrates, we can feel tired. Carbohydrates are in processed foods like anything that comes from grains. Like I said, bread, cookies, cake, crackers. They have lots of carbohydrates. And when we eat them, our body has to use lots of energy to digest carbohydrates. It takes away energy which could be used for doing activities. That's why if you eat lots and lots of bread and cake, maybe you feel tired.Sarah: Oh, I see.John: If you just eat fresh vegetables and fruit, you can feel like you have lots of free energy.Sarah: Are there any foods that you miss?John: I think the food I missed the most is pizza. Pizza was my favorite food before. I used to eat pizza three times every week. Now, I rarely eat pizza. Pizza has a crust. The crust is bread, so the crust has lots of carbohydrates. Also, pizza has a lot of processed meats including pepperoni and sausage. Those meats are not very healthy for you. Also, pizza has lots of cheese on it. Cheese is another processed food. So if we cut out pizza from our diet, we can eat healthier and feel like we have more energy.Sarah: Well, that's great. Thanks for telling me about paleo.John: You're welcome.

Sarah: So John, what do you think about tattoos and piercings?John: Oh. Well, I think they're okay. Personally, I have my ears pierced, and I have many tattoos. But in the professional world, different people have different ideas. So I had to make sure all of my tattoos can be covered by a t-shirt, so any person who sees me doesn't know that I have any tattoos.But I personally think tattoos are okay. So if I saw a police officer with many tattoos on her arms and her neck, I wouldn't have a problem with it. What about you?Sarah: Do you think in the future, maybe as you and I grow up, it will become more common to go to the doctor or maybe go to the bank and you see people, and they are professional people, but they have visible tattoos or earrings?I also have a tattoo. So I think they're okay.John: I agree. I think that in the future, it will be more and more commonplace to see people who have visible tattoos and piercings.Of course, right now, people are having more and more visible tattoos that are very small. But maybe in the future, tattoos will be bigger and bigger. I think it's the same with piercings.Nowadays, it's normal to see women and men who have their ears pierced. But it's still not common to see a professional working with their nose pierced or their eyebrows pierced. Maybe in the future that will be common as well.Sarah: I think so. But one thing that I think won't change is professional clothing. I think these days and the future, I think a nice suit, a professional collared shirt, ironed pants – I think those type of clothes are really important for your job or for the type of job if you want a promotion.And I think in the future, we'll see people with really nice professional clothing and then they might have visible tattoos or earrings. I think your clothes show how important your job is to you.John: I see what you're saying. If I was trying to hire a lawyer and I saw two lawyers and both of them had tattoos and their ears pierced, but if one of the lawyers was wearing a suit, even if that person have tattoos and piercings, if they're wearing a suit, I would rather choose that lawyer than someone who had tattoos and piercings who was wearing a t-shirt and shorts.Sarah: Uh-hmm.John: So I agree with you that the clothing is more important for professional image.Sarah: What do you think – these days, some of the computer companies or tech startups, the CEOs are young people and they'll go to work wearing jeans or shorts and a t-shirt. And they like to portray a casual atmosphere through their clothes. What do you think about that?John: Well, in my opinion, the environment at a job, as long as everyone working there is in the same environment, maybe they should be able to choose what kind of professional attire is appropriate inside of that company. But the problem would arise when those workers have to interact with people from another company.So if another company has a dress code where everyone is wearing suits and these two companies have to work together, there might be a problem.Sarah: It's strange that clothes seem like they're so important. The knowledge and the product should be important but I think everyone looks at the clothes and makes a judgment.John: Yeah. It's interesting that we all know the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" but we can't help but do that. Everyone is judging people by what they wear, and that's not going to change.Sarah: I agree.

Sarah: So Adam, we're talking about bucket lists, so things that you would like to do before you die. So what's your number one thing on your bucket list?Adam: Oh, difficult question. Number one, I'd probably have to say, oh, skydiving maybe. I've wanted to do it for a long time. And I went bungee jumping in New Zealand. That was fun but I still have not yet been sky-diving. And jumping out of the plane just sounds like an awesome idea to me.Sarah: What other kind of adventure sports have you done?Adam: This summer, I was – what did I do? Sand boarding in Peru. That was fun. When I was younger I did a lot of snowboarding and skateboarding. And yeah, I really enjoy extreme sports. I ride a motorcycle currently. If I could I'd love to race cars professionally, although I don't know how good I'd be at it. But it just looks like so much fun.Sarah: Yeah. Well, it's never too late to start something you want to do, so you should add that to your bucket list. So tell me what else is on your bucket list?Adam: I really want to write a book. Be the author of a novel. I'm always in the process of writing something down but it never seems to come to complete book type end result. But maybe eventually, all of these little things that I have written down will come into a book form and I can publish it and complete my goal.Sarah: What kind of things do you write? Like what kind of genre or is that kind of all the same or do you write many different styles?Adam: I wrote a lot of different things. One thing that I write is travel stories from my travels abroad or anecdotes that I come across when I'm traveling. Recently, I've been writing jokes. I really enjoy watching stand-up comedy and have got kind of inspired from them to write some stuff down, although I've never really presented it.And I also write, I guess, fantasy stories as well. I have a few short stories but it's been difficult for me to try to put them into book, like a longer version of them. The details are tricky to write down.Sarah: Wow! That's really interesting. Hopefully, one day, we'll be able to read a book written by you.Adam: Yeah. That'd be great.Sarah: Yeah. So tell me what else is on your list?Adam: The other things would be traveling to Europe, which I plan to do hopefully next summer, so I can cross that one off the list. I've always wanted to go to Europe especially Italy and Spain. So I'm excited to get that one done.And I'd also really like to go to Africa and go on a safari and see, you know, lions, tigers in the wild, in their natural habitat. I've also heard that you could see sharks, Great White sharks in South Africa on the coast. I had some friends that went and sat in a cage in the water and had Great White swim by. That sounds like a terrifying and once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm terrified of sharks but it would be quite amazing to see.Sarah: Yeah. I am terrified of sharks as well, so I probably will not be adding that to my bucket list. But yeah, I hope you get to do everything that's on your list there.Adam: Thanks. Me too!

Welcome back to our weekend Cabral HouseCall shows! This is where we answer our community's wellness, weight loss, and anti-aging questions to help people get back on track! Check out today's questions:  Lala: Hi Dr Cabral, I hope you are doing great. I cannot thank you enough for all of these Q&A's that you do. You truly are a superhero! I had my thyroid checked 6 months ago and my TSH and T3 were great but my free T4 was on the lower end. My doctor asked me to retest 3 months later to check if T4 would go up. I recently retested again and nothing has changed. My TSH and T3 are great but my free T4 continues to be low. I don't understand what is going on! I am on my early 20s, exercise regularly, eat a predominantly plant-based diet (mostly organic) take zinc picolinate, full spectrum magnesium, activated multi vitamin, b complex and omega 3 fish oil. I have noticed though that when I don't take my supplements, I do feel tired that day but a part from that no other symptoms. My gut is healthy I believe because I did the candida and bacterial optimizer protocol last year. Any idea what the root cause could be? Would this be something to worry about? I can get very paranoid with these things sometimes and I worry a little bit too much… Mario: Every time I take the daily probiotic by equilibrium my tongue gets a black coating. It’s so weird! From my research it indicates a vata-based imbalance but it’s odd that I only get it when I take the probiotic... do you think that it might be because it’s rebalancing my gut microbiome so it’s like a “die-off” effect? Mario: Hi Dr Cabral. Sorry, I forgot to say in the last question that I didn't get a black coating on the tongue with the Clean Probiotic only the Daily Probiotic. Maybe this information might make a difference in identifying the reason haha! Sarah: What are your thoughts on seamoss? Fiona: Hi Dr Cabral, I hope you and your family are doing good during these difficult times! So, you always say that a lot of people with increased intestinal permeability tend to have a lot of igG food sensitivities. However, this is a reaction to the protein right? What about all of those people that react to a lot of herbs? This wouldn't be a reaction to the protein would it? Thank you so much, Fiona. Tessa: Hi Dr. Cabral-What is the most effective way to help lower triglycerides? I have recently adopted a mostly plant based diet a couple months ago and have lost 10lb. I am still significantly overweight but working on it with diet and exercise and had my gallbladder removed last year for gallstones. My recent bloodwork showed my total cholesterol at 148 with slightly elevated triglycerides. Thanks for your help, I have learned so much from your podcast! Thank you for tuning into today's Cabral HouseCall and be sure to check back tomorrow where we answer more of our community’s questions!  - - - Show Notes & Resources: http://StephenCabral.com/1681 - - - Get Your Question Answered: http://StephenCabral.com/askcabral   - - - Dr. Cabral's New Book, The Rain Barrel Effect https://amzn.to/2H0W7Ge - - - Join the Community & Get Your Questions Answered: http://CabralSupportGroup.com - - -  Dr. Cabral’s Most Popular At-Home Lab Tests: > Complete Minerals & Metals Test (Test for mineral imbalances & heavy metal toxicity) - - - > Complete Candida, Metabolic & Vitamins Test (Test for 75 biomarkers including yeast & bacterial gut overgrowth, as well as vitamin levels) - - - > Complete Stress, Mood & Metabolism Test (Discover your complete thyroid, adrenal, hormone, vitamin D & insulin levels) - - - > Complete Stress, Sleep & Hormones Test (Run your adrenal & hormone levels) - - - > Complete Food Sensitivity Test (Find out your hidden food sensitivities) - - - > Complete Omega-3 & Inflammation Test (Discover your levels of inflammation related to your omega-6 to omega-3 levels) - - - > View all Functional Medicine lab tests (View all Functional Medicine lab tests you can do right at home for you and your family!)

Sarah: So now that there's so much technology to be able to read things, do you still read things the old fashion way like newspapers, magazines, real books?Peter: Right, right. Oh, good question. I think it depends. I've stopped buying magazines and newspapers, definitely. I always access that online because it's so easy and convenient and you can read different newspapers from different countries all over the world and it's really easy to access. So I've stopped buying any of those kinds of things, magazines too. But with books I sometimes ... I sometimes still buy books that I would really like to have and like to keep. I used to collect books but I've stopped doing that too unless I really, really like the book and want it as a keepsake. Yes, and my habits of reading I guess have also changed. I use my phone to access most of the newspapers and magazines or use my iPad to do that. Yeah, it's really convenient. What about you, did you change your reading habits with changes in technology?Sarah: Yes, I definitely did. Not because I wanted to, I still like the aspect of having a real book but because I move so much, and internationally it's just not pratical to bring all your books with you, so much weight.Peter: I agree.Sarah: So I have a Kindle but I found since I got an iTouch that I tend to read all of my books from there because I always have it with me and it's light and it's portable and it holds like so many books.Peter: Yeah, I know, it's so convenient, you can just take everything with you, your whole library.Sarah: It really is.Peter: Yeah. So tell me about the iTouch. I've actually never used one but it seems to me that it's really small. Can you actually read on it and use it easily?Sarah: Yeah, well it's just like the same size as an iPhone but you can change the text size on it so if you wanted the text larger you can.Peter: Okay.Sarah: But it really doesn't bother me if the text is small because I have really good eyesight, so.Peter: Some people swear by the Kindle, so you mentioned that you used one before, why did you stop using that?Sarah: It's a little heavier, a little bigger, a little heavier and so I tend not to carry it with me all the time so therefore I don't always have it with me. If I'm in my apartment I use the Kindle but if I'm out or on the bus or something like that then I'll just use my iTouch.Peter: Yeah because it's very pocket-size really, isn't it?Sarah: Yes, same size as a phone, so very convenient.Peter: How about audiobooks, do you listen to any audiobooks?Sarah: Not really audiobooks but definitely audio, like language series so sort of like audiobooks. So when I'm trying to learn a language I listen to those a lot.Peter: Oh, okay. Yeah, I like listening to audiobooks when I'm driving somewhere especially because they make long journeys go quicker. I guess when I'm traveling on the train or airplane then I like to read and then I often like to read on paper. It's funny, I think with the glare of the screen sometimes makes my eyes really tired when I have to read using my iPhone or tablet or something then. But yeah, most of the time it's fun to take everything along and see what you can read and enjoy different things I guess.Sarah: What's the latest audiobook that you've listened to?Peter: I think I've listened to a series of comedy sketches. That's always funny because it keeps you awake while you're driving. And yeah, it's just a selection of comedy sketches and it's really entertaining. But that's the latest one I've listened to. I think before that I listened to, I think it was some kind of heavy ... some heavy linguistic topic that I was ... some book that I was interested in so yeah. And you?Sarah: I have never tried the audiobook and I'm interested.Peter: You should, it's quite fun. Yeah, yeah.Sarah: Yeah.

Not many people trade in both a successful finance career and the chance to get a Harvard diploma for the opportunity to launch a business. But that’s what Sarah Paiji Yoo did. And when she found success and sold her first company, she knew that she could never satisfy that entrepreneurial itch by doing anything but building another company. Sarah went on to co-found a start-up studio and helped launch a number of other companies, including M.Gemi and Rockets of Awesome, but she craved more. Ultimately, she wanted to dig into something that served a deeper purpose.  Today, Sarah is a co-founder of Blueland, a consumer products company on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic packaging. The way Sarah and her team are accomplishing that mission has started with creating a new way to develop and use cleaning products and has included a stop along the way in the Shark Tank, where Mr. Wonderful himself, Kevin O’Leary, bought into the company.  On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, Sarah sheds light on common mistakes that young entrepreneurs make when they are starting out, as well as shares the secrets for avoiding those mistakes. Plus, she explains what the holy grail metric is for judging the health of your company.  3 Takeaways: In the early days when you only have one or two products that consumers buy, it’s easy to keep track of how people get funneled through. As you begin to expand your product offerings, measuring acquisition behavior and retention becomes more important in being able to judge the health of the company and the new products brought to market.  The importance of focusing on product-market fit can’t be overstated. Often, young companies and their founders get caught in the trap of trying to please investors or race to profitability through clever marketing or other shortcuts. The only way to achieve meaningful, sustained success is to know you have product-market fit from the get-go, and then optimizing your strategy from there.   You can still do something even if you don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle. Even though an idea seems simple, there are always going to be complications to work through. Being tenacious and having grit are the keys to being able to see you vision through to completion. 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. This is Stephanie Postles, your host of Up Next in Commerce. Today we have Sarah Paiji Yoo on the show, the co-founder and CEO at Blueland. Sarah, how are you? Sarah: I'm great, how are you, Stephanie? Stephanie: Doing well. And you're calling in from New York, right? Sarah: Yeah. Good, old New York City. Stephanie: Yeah, how's New York life right now? Sarah: New York life, it certainly feels ... It's funny, because I feel like in the beginning, we definitely were the hotspot of coronavirus. But now it feels like one of the safer places to be, given the high immunity. So, it's good. I think it's a little unfortunate that summer now, it's my favorite season in New York, so, it's unfortunate that we're still, for the most part, having to stay at home. But I think we got in our groove and it has definitely given at least my family the opportunity to force ourselves to find other ways to explore nature right outside New York City. Stephanie: So, I'd love to dive a bit into your background before we get into Blueland. Because I read some interesting things about you about having some Ecommerce companies in the past and dropping out of Harvard MBA program and I'd love to hear a bit about your journey of how you got to where you are today. Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. So, I guess if I were to start way back, I started my career actually pretty traditionally in finance and consulting. Certainly early in my career I actually had no aspirations to be an entrepreneur. I always consider myself relatively risk-averve so it is interesting to see how life unfolds. But yeah, I started my career very traditionally after those stints in consulting and finance, which I actually wouldn't trade for the world. I really appreciate the experiences and the skillsets that I picked up and the frameworks it gave me to really think about the world and business. Sarah: But after those stints I decided to go back to Harvard for business school, to really, most of all to be able to have the time to step back and reflect on what it was that I wanted to do next. Because I think my early experiences, if anything, taught me that I wasn't a lifer in terms of professional services, I really wanted to be more in the driver's seat and wanted to be at a company versus advising the company. And so, yeah, I made the decision to go to business school. And when I got to business school it was a really interesting time because there had been, right before I came, a series of female founders that had started very impressive companies, GuildCrew, Birchbox, Rent the Runway, LearnVest, Katrina who started Stitch Fix with just one year ahead of me in business school. Sarah: And that was extremely inspiring for me just to see a set of women who were young and had a very similar background or set of experience as myself and see them so quote, unquote, early in their career, setting out to build their own business. And I decided that given business school ... You can make what you want of business school but it doesn't have to be particularly rigorous. And so, I had more time on my hands than I did previously what I was working in, so I decided to really use that time and try to start a business while I was in business school. And a few months in I ended up starting work on my first startup, which was Snapette, which was a mobile shopping app that helps consumers find products and stores around them. Sarah: I was really excited about everything that I was seeing around smartphones and the mobile space. And this was still pretty early on. So, this was almost 10 years ago, pre Instagram days, if you can imagine a world before Instagram. Stephanie: Tough world to start in. Sarah: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, that's the first business I decided to start while in school. I ended up raising a round of venture capital that summer between my first and what was supposed to be my second year of business school. And so made ... it was actually a very easy decision, to drop out of Harvard and continue to just work on Snapette. And I ended up scaling that business for the next about three and a half years to a small team, about 20 people. And then we ended up selling that business to one of the world's largest stock search engines at the time, called PriceGrabber. Again, almost four years in. And- Stephanie: That's amazing. What was the process like, selling the company? Did you actively go about selling your company or were you approached? Or how did that look? I heard a good quote the other day that companies don't just get acquired, you actually need to actively go and sell your company if you want it to be sold sometimes. Sarah: It's interesting because I've also heard the opposite. Stephanie: Oh, interesting. Sarah: Which I can related to both [inaudible 00:05:48]. I was actually worried with the phrase, but we were lucky in terms of we received an inbound. Stephanie: Oh, nice. Sarah: That tipped us off to, "Oh, this might actually be a good time to sell. And the context of that period was, I started Snapette at a time when Mary Meeker and a lot of these industry experts were saying, "Oh, mobile's going to be the future. People are going to spend more time on their phones than on their desktop," and that seemed inconceivable, the early days as she was saying that. And when we sold, that's when we were seeing about 30% of site traffic, to many of the major sites coming from mobile instead of desktop. So, it still hadn't flipped yet. Sarah: But it definitely felt like it was coming. And so, yeah, we had an inbound from a traditional, online, non-mobile player. And that kick started me to reach out to a few more folks in the space that had a similar profile, because if we were going to engage in these conversations I thought, "Let's run a robust process," because obviously competition can always help drive a better outcome. And so that's what I did. And ended up not really engaging a bank or anything. That's where my former finance experience definitely did come in handy because I did have experience buying and selling companies and so I understood ad a high level what that process looked like. And so, yeah, we were able to quarter back that process in-house and get a few offers and ultimately find an acquirer for our business. Stephanie: That's amazing. So, at that point you got the itch to start another company? You're like, "This is great. I'm going for round two." Sarah: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly. So, initially we had ... Not initially. We had a one year lockup with the parent company. And so our whole team moved over. And it was interesting, I think initially I was extremely excited about the prospect of being part of a much larger organization, that had much higher revenues and much larger budget. And I didn't expect how quickly ... I feel like day one, post-acquisition all of a sudden, the speed at which we were running, everything came to a halt. And all of a sudden my calendar was full of just meetings with lots of people back to back. Sarah: And I think it was hard. I think it was hard going from also this small, mobile startup where Apple would make an announcement about the newest feature and then I would get together with my team and our engineers and really think about like, "Oh, how can we integrate this? How can really use this to push our product forward?" And in a larger organization, completely understandably you have much longer product roadmaps, you need to justify why a change that you want to make is going to add more value to the company than some much larger initiatives that maybe underway. Sarah: And we were dealing with 18 month, plus product roadmaps, which to me at the time felt like, "Oh my god, if I have to wait 18 months to start working on some of these things, I'm going to be dead." So, it was an interesting contrast for me. And so, I certainly, definitely developed that itch to go back out and start something again. And I think also as a first time founder with Snapette, I had made so many mistakes along the way. And I was just dying to do it again but be better the next time around. Stephanie: So, then where did you go after that [crosstalk 00:09:35]? Sarah: Yeah, so after that, it's interesting, because I think ... my career, my life had been so linear til pre Snapette. But I think that startup journey really showed me both the joys and the benefits of just being being open to what life may bring and that really just reaffirming the Steve Jobs quote, "If you can't connect the dots forward, only looking back." And so, at that point I knew I wanted to get back into early stage company building. I wasn't proactively looking for my next business or the next idea, but I ended up reconnecting with a former acquaintance in the Ecomm space, Ben Fischman, who had also sold his startup, Rue La La, which was one of the first flash sale sites here in the U.S. Sarah: And he had sold his company right around the same time I sold Snapette. And he was exploring the idea of raising a fund and to start a series of new businesses. So, it wouldn't be a venture capital fund, but it would be more like a startup studio. And the thesis that we both share was that, at this point it was 2013, we believed that it was still very early innings in terms of direct-to-consumer. So, at that point Warby Parker was our, in way, that preeminent example of direct-to-consumer. But it was our belief that we would continue to see whole categories move direct-to-consumer, and many of which we've seen now come into fruition. I remember at that point thinking about, "Oh, we're going to see everything from shoes to socks to tampons to vitamins, etc. Everything is going to develop a new brand and find more efficient ways to directly reach and communicate with consumers." Sarah: And so, yeah, he was like, "You should come do this with me." And at that point, again, I didn't have a specific idea in mind. I knew that I wanted to be back in the company building stage. I loved the tech and direct-to-consumer space. And so, yeah, I jumped onboard with him and was a founding member and partner of that team. And so, that startup studio was called LAUNCH, or is called LAUNCH, it's still around today. And the goal was to then launch one new business per year, which is what we ended up doing. So, over the next four years we launched M.Gemi in our first year, Rockets of Awesome. M.Gemi is a direct-to-consumer footwear business. And then we launches Rockets of Awesome the second year, which is a direct-to-consumer subscription kids apparel business. And then we launched Follain, which is a clean beauty retailer. And in the last year that I was with LAUNCH, LAUNCH Trade, which is a direct-to-consumer coffee marketplace. Stephanie: Very cool. How did those individual companies do? Sarah: The individual companies have all been doing great. They're still around today, very proud of how far they've come. But it was definitely a crazy time. Certainly in a period where we've seen over funding and collapses, you know many important DTC businesses I think very proud to say that all those businesses are in great shape and still around today. Stephanie: Yeah, that sounds really fun. Chaotic and crazy but fun. Were there any universal truths that you learned? Even though the companies sound very different that you were launching there, was there anything that you found a best practice and then you could apply it to future businesses? Sarah: Yeah, I think the biggest takeaway, probably from launching multiple businesses is just the importance of focus and the importance especially of focus on product market that in early days I think it's very easy, especially when you are venture backed, either with access to capital or with this immense pressure to grow quickly, to grow into the valuations that you may have raised that it can be easy to fall into the trap to shift a lot of your focus to marketing and growing. But ultimately the best marketing is an amazing product or service that drives strong retention, strong word of mouth. Sarah: And any marketing spend that you deploy is going to be so much more efficient and effective if you don't have a leaky bucket. And I think that's one that is certainly harder, especially in this world where we celebrate large fundings and also companies growing very quickly. And I just think there's so much value, especially early days of almost staying smaller so that especially the founders can really focus entirely on product-market fit and making all the tweaks necessary to really optimize the product, service or offering. Stephanie: Yeah, I completely agree about that. How did you all go about finding or knowing when you had product-market fit? Were you like, "This is the one, let's move forward."? Sarah: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's hard to draw that line in the sand, for sure. I think an important metric or area of metrics to look at certainly are around retention and repeat. Because ultimately there is a lot of focus, especially in D2C, on acquisition. And whether it's customer acquisition cost or cost per acquired customer, ultimately, that doesn't give you the full picture. That just tells you that you were able to have a clever ad and maybe you have attracted someone to make that first purchase. But it's certainly a lot cheaper to have your customer purchase again and repeat with you than having to go out into the market and pay for a brand new customer. And so, we've always been extremely focused on the retention metrics as a leading indicator to help the business. Stephanie: Yeah. yeah, that's great. So, then, at what point were you at LAUNCH where you were, once again, "It's time for me to move on, do my own thing again."? Sarah: Yeah. Yeah. So, I had a crazy journey and it was an amazing ride. I learned a ton about launching new business, having to do that back to back. But I think after my fourth year, after the fourth business, I developed a deep seated desire to do something that was a little more personally meaningful. I think for so many years simply the challenge and excitement of bringing a new brand or product to market that had never existed before was enough for me and it was incredibly energizing. And I still love that aspect of it. But at that point I was looking to build something beyond selling more shoes or beauty products. Sarah: And I think that also was heavily influenced by my becoming a new mom around that time. So, it's not coincidence that the number of years I've been working on Blueland is about the same number of years as my son's age. Stephanie: Yeah, it's funny how all of a sudden, same with me, you get interested in what's organic and what's actually natural and- Sarah: Hard to miss it. Stephanie: Yeah, it's something I never paid attention to that much until having kids. Sarah: Yeah, no, exactly, exactly, exactly. And I think you also start questioning how you're spending your time. You have very limited time, and thinking once you have children and a family it highlights more clearly for you the trade offs between work and rest of life. And I think, I was very open to how I would feel on the other side of motherhood. I was very open to maybe I wasn't going to want to work at all. Maybe I was going to be so obsessed with my child that I was going to want to spend every waking moment with him, which would also have been a fine outcome. But interestingly, after having my son, for me, I realized that I still really did love working. I loved my work a lot but I think I just needed to find more meaning in it if it was going to take up so many hours of my day and taking away from my child. Stephanie: Cool. So, then, what was the first step when it came to ... what really led you to creating Blueland? Was there an aha moment, was there something ... Tell me a little bit about what Blueland is maybe first and then how you came up with the idea. Sarah: Yeah. So, Blueland is a consumer products company, we are on a mission to eliminate single use plastic packaging. And we are starting with cleaning products. And so, the first set of products that we launched, when we launched about a year ago were a set of cleaning sprays and hand soap. And what was really unique about our products was that instead of selling you a bottle of liquid, these products are traditionally about 90% water, we've shrunk these products down to these tablets that are about the size of a quarter so that instead of buying a new plastic bottle every time, instead of paying for all this water which you already have at home, you can use one of our beautiful, reusable bottles and simply fill them up with warm water, drop in one of our tablets and it starts to bubble on its own, there's no shaking or stirring or weird chemistry required. And at the end of a few minutes, you have a full bottle of hand soap or cleaning spray. Stephanie: Yeah, that's cool. Sarah: And our cleaning sprays include a multi-surface cleaner, glass and mirror and a bathroom cleaner. Stephanie: Yeah, it remind me of a Alka-Seltzer, where you drop it in and then all of a sudden you have this big big bottle of cleaning solution. Sarah: Exactly, exactly, exactly. And we stared there because we found that it was very intuitive for people even though it was something that had never been done before, it was brand new to market, it was something that people could see and quickly understand like, "Oh, that makes sense. That water and the tablet can make a bottle cleaner." And so, yeah, those are the products we started with. Happy to say last month we released our newest category which is the dish category. So, we launched a dish soap and dishwasher tablets. And in a similar vein, these products were created as part of a reusable, refillable system. So, upfront we sell you a permanent, forever container that you can refill with our refills that come packaged in paper based compostable packaging instead of plastic. Sarah: And so, our dish soap is actually a powder. But it's used very similarly to liquid, to the extent that you just sprinkle it directly onto your sponge, you add water and then you get a nice, rich foam. And yeah, our dishwasher tablets are naked, to the extent that they don't come individually wrapped in that plastic film that you'll find, with most all dishwasher packs. Stephanie: I've never really thought about, "Where does that film go? Does it just go down the drain? Sarah: Yeah. So, it's unfortunate because it- Stephanie: That's sad. Sarah: Yeah, it is sad. It is sad. Because I think the assumption for a lot of people, understandably, is that because it dissolves, that it just goes away. But unfortunately, because it is a synthetic petroleum based plastic film, the plastic molecules do still remain and enter our water systems and majority of it is then ultimately released into the oceans, rivers and anything else. Stephanie: So, when building this company, I read that you had reached out to over 50 manufacturers who all turned you down. And I wanted to hear- Sarah: Oh my goodness. Stephanie: I wanted to hear that story a bit, because I think most people maybe after 10 woudlve been like, "Well, it's not possible." Or, "We can't find how to contain these tablets." Or, "No one knows how to do it." Tell me a bit about what was that process like when starting to build the products out and trying to find people to partner with to make them? Sarah: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I think a big piece of being a entrepreneur, it's not rocket science, it's just being tenacious and having grit and not taking no for an answer and not assuming that because it's never been done, that means that it can't be done. And so, yeah, I think when we initially came up with this idea for Blueland, it was a crazy idea. And we had a lot of questions from people like, "Well, if it's so easy, why hasn't it been done?" And we're like, "Well, somebody has to be the first." Sarah: And so, yeah, initially, the natural place to start was to reach out to manufacturers, because typically, whether it's in the food space or the cleaning space or in the beauty space, a lot of these spaces are fashion. A company usually works with a contract manufacturer to actually make their products. And so, first choice was finding someone with the existing infrastructure that could just make this for us. Not surprising, in retrospect, hindsight's always 20/20, that no one could do this for us. We were reaching out to cleaning products manufacturers who were creating these products as liquids, and they were pretty much telling us how, "We don't know how to deal with solids, like we don't even have tableting machinery. And in fact, many of the ingredients that we buy for our liquid products actually come in liquid form. And so not even sure how we would then transform that into a dry product." Stephanie: But did you have an ingredient list? Were you like, "This is what I want in it?" Because that [crosstalk] seems hard to me of like, how would I make a multi-surface cleaner? Sarah: Exactly, exactly. So, in the beginning it's just this huge chicken or egg problem. So, we reached out to many manufacturers. And at that point it became also just less so in terms of ... we didn't necessarily think we were going to find an end-all, be-all solution with one of these calls but our hope was that we were going to get enough smart people in the space, who had been in the space for decades to talk to us in each of these conversations, we were going to glean a little bit more information. And if they couldn't do it, they would potentially know someone else who could. Whether it was a scientist ... because a lot of these contract manufacturers also work with contractor chemists, et cetera, they might know of an ingredient that they heard of that would be able to help us do this and so it really was just our form of Googling around, when Google could only get us so far on these niche topics that no one had a reason to read up about online. Sarah: But yeah, I think it became apparent through these conversations that someone was going to be able do just do this for us and everyone was recommending that we would need to come to them with a formula. And at that point felt like we hit another wall because my co-founder and I, we didn't have any chemists in our direct network. We had no idea where to even begin. We were both business people. And so, we, after asking our network, not really finding any leads to any reputable chemists, certainly no chemists with a cleaning products background, we just turned to LinkedIn. Stephanie: Ooh. Sarah: That was just a natural place to turn to, to be able to search for experts based on their experiences and at that point ended up going down another, very long rabbit hole of collecting ... We still have that spreadsheet today of hundreds of names of chemists that we found on LinkedIn and wrote up what their background was and ranked them and then just started reaching out to them, just [inaudible] reaching out to them on LinkedIn and just trying to get as many people as we could on the phone with us, like we were doing with the manufacturers. Stephanie: Did you get a good response rate from people or was it slow? Sarah: It was definitely slow. In LinkedIn there's all these limitations of if you're not connected, they may not readily see your message, also turns out a lot of chemists aren't actively checking their LinkedIn or messages. We also were just two random people that were messaging about this crazy idea that most recipients on the other side probably had like, "I don't know how to do what they want to do," or, "This idea seems crazy," or, "Why are they soliciting me for a job? Why would I leave my big company, well paid job to go do this?" Sarah: So yeah, I think suffice to say response rate wasn't great. But to some extent, it also was a numbers game, which is why we did reach out to so many people. And we were able to get a good number of people also just to get on the phone with us. And there definitely were a set of folks that we're so thankful to that were inspired by our mission and the audacity of at least the vision, and were willing to chat to see if they could be helpful. And that is ultimately also how we found our incredible head of R&D, Syed, it was through LinkedIn. Sarah: He was formerly at method, which is one of the world's largest non-toxic cleaning products companies. And prior to that, he had the perfect background because prior to cleaning products he was actually working in nutritional supplements. So, vitamins. So, he also had that hard, tabled-like form factor experience. Stephanie: That's amazing. So, how many tablets are you selling today? And how much plastic is it removing from the environment if someone chooses that versus a normal alternative? Sarah: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. For us today, I forget the latest numbers. But we've sold tablets in the millions- Stephanie: Wow. Sarah: ... at this point, which is exciting because that means that our impact has also certainly been in the millions of plastic bottles eliminated. I think people are always surprised to hear that five billion plastic cleaning bottles are discarded each year, because there is so much focus on the water bottles and the coffee cups and the straws. Rightly so, because those numbers are even larger. But people are always surprised to hear how much of ian impact you can do by also just swapping out your cleaning products to a reusable solution. Stephanie: Yeah, yeah. That's amazing. Nice work. So, I'm guessing there has to be some kind of convincing and education factor that had to go on because a lot of customers at first, they all worry about maybe the anti-microbial factor and everyone's probably ... at least when I think about it I'm like, "Just throw some Lysol on it or bleach or something, that'll clean up anything." How do you go about convincing people that your product has the same benefits and even though it's natural, it'll still work? What does that education piece look like? Sarah: Yeah. So, that education piece is obviously so important and has become even more important during this period of time and COVID where people are very focused at keeping germs, bacterias and viruses at bay. We received, especially in March and April, that was the number one question that we were getting, especially around hand soap, actually. Where people were asking if our hand soap was antibacterial, whether our hand soap would kill COVID. And there we were very direct with the answer that ultimately, no, our hand soap is not antibacterial, it's not disinfecting, we cannot make the claim that it kills COVID. But it was an educational moment for us because at that point we could start the conversation with consumers that also are rooted in many studies that suggest that antibacterial soaps might actually be doing more harm than good, as well as if you look at the FDA, they've made official statements that say, "Regular, non-antibacterial soap is effective for the removal of bacteria and viruses," and that hand washing with plain, non-antibacterial soap is a great way to prevent the contraction and spread of illnesses. Sarah: And so, I think most people that hear that get it, and it will even link them to the FDA site on proper hand washing techniques and just to just reassure people this, "By no means are we looking to mislead or brainwash," but that it's just more the education of, you know, many times I think there's this perception you need a certain set of ingredients to get a certain job done. But- Stephanie: It's part of the marketing behind that too, for people who do have the antimicrobial stuff in it, they're pushing it so hard, "You need this," when I've read the same research about you actually don't really need that and you can still have very clean hands afterwards. Sarah: Yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly, exactly. And so, it's been nice. It's been a nice period where we can also provide that education, because we are staunch supporters of non-toxic formulations. And so, any opportunity that we have to speak more to the efficacy of non-toxic products as well is always, we think, a good thing, not just for us but for the broader industry and for people on the planet. Stephanie: Yeah. So, how do you get people to find you? I'm thinking, if I'm going to the grocery store, that's maybe where I'll pick up a cleaning product when I run out or something. Are you in retail or were you planning on going into retail before COVID or are you staying strictly B to C? Or how are you thinking about that? Because it seems like it'd be hard to bring people over to buying online when maybe they've never thought to do that unless it's through maybe Amazon Prime or something, I don't know. Sarah: Yeah, yeah. No, it's definitely one of the larger areas of friction that we recognize. To the extent that it's interesting when you think about it from a direct-to-consumer perspective or context because I definitely went into this eyes wide open, as to this is a category that's going to be harder to convince people to go to a separate, online destination to buy the products. Because in my past, I've been in shoes, I've been in apparel, I've been in beauty, and for all of those, especially something like shoes or swimwear, I would argue it's easier to convince someone for a one-off special purchase, like glasses, to go to a separate destination. Sarah: But to your point, with the cleaning products, this is a product that even early surveys have found that over 80% of people would prefer to just purchase these either in brick and mortar stores or just as part of the shopping that they're doing regularly anyways, whether it's weekly or biweekly grocery shopping, whether it's all on Amazon or at their local Target or Walmart. And I think that because of that, retail will definitely have to be an important part of our future. At the moment we are still a most all direct-to-consumer business. We have a handful of retailers that we sell through but still pretty minimal like we're with Goop or with West Elm, we're with Nordstrom. But I think- Stephanie: Those are some pretty good names. Sarah: Yeah. Those are definitely great names, but those are more I think we still view brand enhancing names and not necessarily the place where people are going to every week to traditionally buy these products. But I think it all comes back to focus and we also always knew that direct-to-consumer was going to be an important component of launching the brand. I think there's so many benefits, especially from a brand building and story telling perspective and explaining the mission and as a new brand to market just explaining who we are. And it's certainly an efficient enough channel to be able to get to early adopters and a set of consumers. But we do believe that if we are going to truly maximize our environmental impact and reach as many households as we can, then absolutely, we do need to, at one point, go into retail, physical retail and traditional retail. Stephanie: Cool, so, how do you get in front of the early adopters that you just mentioned? What kind of digital channels are you exploring? How are you doing your marketing? How are you finding customers and bringing them back? Sarah: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Instagram has been an invaluable channel for us, especially on the organic side. I think we've had great success there. So, we've been live for probably just about a year now, we have over 170,000 followers on Instagram, all of it organic. We haven't really done any paid influence or promotion or anything. And I think it's really helped that because our mission is so integrated into our product offering, we are a mission driven company but that could mean different things for different companies. And for some companies that means it's a donation that they're making or a philanthropy in addition to whatever their core product or service is. And for us, our mission is just 100% integrated into the products that we sell. And that's given us the ability to, on social speak across a range of topics and speak more broadly about climate change and plastic pollution and tips on how we can each do our part. Sarah: And it's been so exciting to see how much that's resonated with the community on instagram and how quickly we've grown and it certainly is one of our largest channels. So, it's exciting to see that organic is something that that can work for a direct-to-consumer brand. Stephanie: Yeah, especially if you have that. Sustainability is a hot topic right now and like you said, if you're able to lean into those groups and people and tags and stuff, that opens up a whole new market where maybe other DTC companies who are just trying to sell their product and create brand new content, very different. So, it seems like that'd be a very helpful way to get new customers and access to an audience that maybe you wouldn't get access to otherwise if you weren't building a sustainable product. Sarah: Definitely, definitely, definitely. And it's also been a really great amplifier for word of mouth. I think we're fortunate that we have a product that people feel more inclined to share. So, everyday we get hundreds of people story-ing our products and their unboxings. And I think that's being driven by two things. One is just the mission I think that gives people a real reason or additional reason to want to share our product with their friends, because also saving the planet is something that we have to do together and they understand that the more they can raise awareness for things that help this planet, to their friends and community, the better place we'll all be in. But also, our products are very visual and experiential. The process of making the solutions, dropping the tablet, showing the tablets dissolved. Sarah: I was very worried, before we launched Blueland that that would be one of the largest hurdles to our success because undoubtedly it is more work for a consumer than just going out and picking up a bottle of solution. But I think it's hugely benefited us, especially in a world with video, Instagram stories, et cetera. Stephanie: So, when you're thinking of the health of Blueland, as you're building it, what kind of metrics are you looking at? Specifically maybe around your website and how to know if you're really doing well? Sarah: Yeah, it's definitely starting to get a lot more complicated now that we have so many more products. I think early days it was a lot simpler ... I would say early days it was a lot more straightforward given ... I think over 90% of our new customers were coming in through the same kit. They were all purchasing our four piece kit. And because it that initial basket was pretty uniform, it was much easier to track those cohorts over time and understand both acquisition behavior and success as well as retention behavior and success. I think now, as we look at our business, there's a lot more granularity. We've layered in more fragrances, we have at this point I think six different kit permutations that you could opt into. Sarah: There isn't a clear kit that all new customers opt into. We also have many people that are adding refill packs now to their kits and their first purchase, which changes the way we have to think about repeat curves and retention because a customer, if they're loading up a dozen multi-surface cleaning tablets in their first purchase, that's actually a great thing for business. It drives higher AOP, it's certainly also better for the environment because we're only shipping that package to them once and they may not need another package from us for a year, at least on the multi-surface cleaner side. But as you can imagine, we then need to look at our data in a much more nuanced way and cut in so many more different ways to really understand what is happening. But yeah, largely we are very focused on customer acquisition cost, the conversion on our site at every part of the funnel and then repeat basket size based on original basket size and channel. Stephanie: Yeah, that makes sense. So, is there any best practices when all of a sudden you have a lot more data to work with and you're trying to actually see trends and parse out the noise. Is there anything that ... I'm assuming with your finance background, you're probably already very good at data. I also have a finance background and how long I had to be in sheets and looking at numbers all day was crazy. But, you do learn how to actually parse through large data sets. Like, what are some best practices that you say worked when it came to expanding your product catalog and actually trying to find trends and things to pay attention to? Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. I think the main thing is making sure that you're being thoughtful about the tests that you set up and setting them up in a way where the data will be valuable and also just taking into account what you're in or how much volume you're getting and so not trying to test too much all at one time. Because I think, and I bring up testing because sometimes it's hard to look at just the organic data that you're getting and make a determination as to what the value drivers are. So, for example, a question that we're trying to solve at the moment is that, are there better kits for people to start on? Do we have a preference as to, is the customer going to be more likely to stay with this? Is the customer more valuable if they buy into kit one very kit four? Sarah: And it's hard to look at the data that you have without setting up a clean test because there maybe other factors that have driven certain consumers to a kit one versus a kit four, that would then make their retention characteristics different. So, to do a very clean test, you would want ideally place randomize and drop off a set of consumers to either kit one or kit four and then see if those two cohorts perform differently over time. Sarah: But it's just making sure that we're being really thoughtful with the test, making sure that there's not other confounding variables that we're introducing, like for example making sure we're using the same ad creative to drop people off on kit one versus kit four, taking into account, again, how much traffic we expect to drive, how quickly that test will wrap up. Because certainly you could think, "Well, we're going to do this test for kit one through seven and do seven kits that we're landing on." But it may also just take forever to get any type of answer of statistical significance if we're dividing up our volume in that way. Sarah: Yeah, so things like that. But certainly something that we're thinking a lot about and is certainly far from straightforward. Stephanie: Yeah, tough problems to solve but I'm sure very informative and helpful for the future. So, I know we don't have too much longer but I did want to ask, we've been on a Shark Tank kick lately, we've been a couple of companies who've been on Shark Tank before you as well, and I wanted to hear- Sarah: Awesome. Stephanie: ... very high level, doesn't have to be a really long story, but how the experience was for you and how you dealt with the increase demand and your inventory and everything that came after being on the show? Sarah: Yeah, yeah, yeah. What a wild experience. It's always actually been facetious, half serious dream of mine to go on shark tank. So, it was really exciting. I think we over prepared every step of the way, which was right in terms of I don't say that negatively. But everything from leading up into the pitch, to making sure that we were ready from a site perspective. Our team still says today that we've never been so prepared for anything outside of Shark Tank. Stephanie: That's amazing. Sarah: So, it's something that we always point to, even with our new product launches or other things that we're trying to do. Because especially in startup world, you're rushing, it's never ... And we always point to, "Look how well Shark Tank went, because we spent the time, we were organized, we put the time in and it definitely pays off." Stephanie: What kind of things did you prepare? If you were to look back and say, "These two things were the best things that we did to prepare? Or what were some of the levers there that you were working on? Sarah: Yeah, yeah, definitely. So, I think before filming on that side, it really was all hands on deck, full team for that week leading up to our Shark Tank filming we pretty much focused on Shark Tank. Especially Syed, our head of R&D and myself were going to go into the tank. But even the rest of the team, we were required probably at least twice a day, for about an hour and a half each, so about three hours a day, whole team would be on just grilling us every which way, with the hardest questions they could throw, with the most inappropriate questions they could throw at us. Stephanie: That's fun. Sarah: It's fun. And it was, in the beginning it definitely was incredibly embarrassing because it was so hard. You're just like ... But after that, it really did prepare us for anything that could come our way in the tank. So, that was great. Including lots of, they just threw lots of mental math at us, which if anything, I don't know if they got us better at mental math that it got me better controlling my facial expression when I didn't know something. Stephanie: Yeah, or just delaying the response so long they forget what they asked, maybe? Sarah: Exactly, exactly, exactly. So, that was very valuable. And then from a site perspective, we really did everything we could possibly do to make sure that the site didn't come down. We spoke with a lot of other companies who had aired on Shark Tank to get their tips for what to do, and that was really helpful. Like the guys at Plated had a landing page ready. Because their site did go down. And so, they were very thankful that they did have a landing page ready to capture email addresses. And they were able to capture a ton of email addresses that way and then email the people when they were back up and running. So, we did that. Someone, another company had a really great idea to swap out all the videos or gifs we had running through the site. So, anything that was heavy that takes up a lot of speed or memory and just pairing back to replace all the videos on our site with images. Again, just to lighten up the site as much as we can. Stephanie: Cool. Yeah, that definitely seems like some good due diligence. And you guys ended up getting a deal, right? Sarah: Yeah. We ended up getting a deal with Kevin O'Leary, who has been fantastic and really supportive and shockingly accessible. Stephanie: I was going to ask that, do you actually get time with him and is he actually helpful? Sarah: Yeah, yeah. We get a lot of- Stephanie: Give me all the gossip. Sarah: Yeah. We get a lot. Early days, I was like, "Is this too much time? I have other things to do." But we probably speak by phone or text once every two weeks or so. And definitely- Stephanie: Wow. Sarah: Yeah, yeah, and [crosstalk 00:52:50]- Stephanie: That's way more than I actually thought. Sarah: Yeah. Yeah, in early stage I feel like I was talking to him multiple times a week, especially right coming off of Shark Tank when we had a lot of opportunities and he brought us onto QVC the week after Shark Tank aired. Stephanie: Oh, nice. Sarah: We've done multiple press interviews on TV together. It's been great. It's been really great. Stephanie: That's really cool. Yeah, thanks for sharing that story. So, now we're running out of time. Is there anything you wanted to cover before we jump into a quick lightning round? Sarah: No. I think we covered a lot of ground. Stephanie: All right. Cool, well, let's jump into the lightning round brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud, this is where I will ask you a question and you have a minute or less to answer with whatever comes to mind. Sarah: Okay, great. Stephanie: Are you ready, Sarah? Sarah: Yes, let's do it. Stephanie: All right. I'm going to start with the hardest question first because you've been in the industry for a while and I feel like you'll have a good answer to this, what one thing will the ... Oh, let me rephrase that. What one thing will have the biggest impact on Ecommerce in the next year? Sarah: Ooh, in the next year. Oh, that one's harder. In the next year ... I would say packaging. It's a non-traditional answer. But I do feel like we're seeing the tides are shifting. I've just started to receive my first set of Amazon packages that for once are coming in paper based envelopes instead of plastic based envelopes. And I think that's going to send a great signal to the industry of, "We need to be a lot more thoughtful about with all this Ecommerce comes an incredible amount of packaging waste and consumers are becoming so much more knowledgeable and mindful about the waste that they're creating." And I think we'll start demanding this stuff of companies. Stephanie: Love that answer. What's up next on your reading list? Sarah: What's up next on my reading list? So, I've been incredibly inspired by the Black Lives movement, Black Lives Matter movement. And so, I have picked up a ton of books in that process. And my next one actually, by my bed right now is White Rage. Stephanie: Nice. And have you started it yet? Sarah: I have not started it yet. Stephanie: Cool, we'll have to circle back and let me know what you think of it. Sarah: Yes. Stephanie: If you were to build another company, which I feel like you will probably be doing in your lifetime, what would that next company be? Sarah: Oh, geez. That's so hard, that's so hard. that's so hard because I love the company I'm building at the moment. I always tell my co-founder that I don't think I'd want to sell this business because I don't know what I would work on next. It's just an incredible mix of product development, science and really doing things that I believe will make a huge difference in the world, as well as just educating people in areas outside of our products, which has been incredibly gratifying, just being able to talk about ... Email's probably a couple times a month and certainly social posts multiple times a week where we're just talking about things that have nothing to do with our products but just ways that you could cut out single use plastic from your day to day life. I do think that if I do move on past Blueland, it certainly is going to be something around the space as well in terms of where- Stephanie: Sustainability. Sarah: Sustainability, exactly, sustainability and climate change. Stephanie: Cool. It would seem sad to throw away all the knowledge. I've heard that quite often where a lot of times founders will just get eager to move onto the next thing and they don't always properly value all the knowledge they built up either from their current company they're at or what industry they're in. And so, yeah, that seems great. Sarah: Totally. Stephanie: What's up next on your Netflix queue? Sarah: So, next up on our Netflix queue is season two of The Politician. I know I'm a few weeks late, but I've actually heard that ... my husband and I loved season one and we heard season two there's actually a lot of focus on plastic pollution and there's actually a character who's really leading the charge on eliminating plastic from her and other day to day lifestyles, so, it'll be interesting to see their spin on that. Stephanie: Yeah. No, that sounds cool. Yeah, there's also a series, I don't know if you've heard of it, it's with Zac Efron, which at first I was like, "No, how is he going to do a series on big problems and sustainability and things like that?" It's actually quite interesting. They ... Sarah: Oh. Stephanie: I'm trying to think what it's called. Maybe producer, Hilary can look that up for me and put it in our notes here. But yeah, he went through, first he visited Iceland and was showing there all of the renewable energy that they generate for Iceland. And then episode two was talking about water and it went into France's water system and how they purify it in a much better way than a lot of places in the U.S. do it, so, another one to just put on your radar. But I don't know the name of it, I just know Zac Efron's hosting it. Sarah: No, that's great. I haven't seen him in anything since High School Musical so I'm actually- Stephanie: I know. Sarah: ... excited to see him all grown up. Stephanie: I know, when I saw him on there I was a little bit confused. I was like, "Wait, what?" And then I was like, "Okay, yeah. You're doing a good job. This is cool." Oh, let's see, Hillary put it in there. Down to Earth with Zac Efron. Pretty good one, very interesting. Sarah: Great. Great, great, great. I'm going to add that to my queue. Stephanie: All right. And then the last one that I've recently started asking, what is the number one tool or app or technology that you use day to day that's most helpful to you or that you either learn the most from or that you loved the most? Sarah: Yeah. It's got to be Instagram. I wish I had a more creative answer but ... Stephanie: No, I love Instagram. Sarah: ... I learn so much from others and from incredible resources and I think most recently I think the Black Lives Matter movement has been an eyeopening one for me in so many ways and I think in so many ways that we're trying to even as a company make sure that we are sustaining that moment, but really have been grateful for that platform as a source of education. Stephanie: Yeah, yeah, completely agree. All right, Sarah, well, it's been so much fun talking to you about this. Where can people find out more about you and Blueland? Sarah: Yeah, so, people can check out our products and learn more about our products at blueland.com. You can also follow us along @blueland. And I also post lifestyle tips frequently to my personal account, @spaiji. That's S-P-A-I-J-I. Stephanie: Awesome. Well, thanks so much for coming on the show and we will definitely be following along in your journey. Sarah: Amazing. Thank you so much for having me.  

Mark Ciolek and Sarah Cruser are physical therapists involved in health promotion and the investigators in the PT Health Study (https://www.pthealthstudy.org/). PT Health Study takes wearable devices (i.e. FitBit) and connect those with health care providers like physical therapists. Data collected includes step count, quality of sleep, heart rate variability, resting heart rate, stress, and recovery PT Health Study incorporates this data by educating their participants on prevention of future chronic diseases. For the future, Sarah hopes for improvement in wearable technology to provide a simple way for older adults to use wearables for health prevention. PT Health Study goal is to provide the whole community with information to decrease risk and improve health by using wearables. QUOTES This is scalable to be used by PTs across the country and really impact the health of a whole population.” – SARAH “The future is now.” – MARK “It looks like rain, maybe you should throw an umbrella in your bag.” – SARAH “We are providing nudges and guidance that are pre-scope of practice.” – SARAH “Sometimes they do get wet and that’s ok because we can also still hand them a towel.” – SARAH “We need to find a way to better connect with our communities in a real way that starts to engage around the idea of health.” – MARK PARTING SHOT “This is an opportunity to drastically change the way we approach not only health and wellness but care in general.” – SARAH “What are you doing to take a little bit more of the pie?” – MARK 

Mark Ciolek and Sarah Cruser are physical therapists involved in health promotion and the investigators in the PT Health Study (https://www.pthealthstudy.org/). PT Health Study takes wearable devices (i.e. FitBit) and connect those with health care providers like physical therapists. Data collected includes step count, quality of sleep, heart rate variability, resting heart rate, stress, and recovery PT Health Study incorporates this data by educating their participants on prevention of future chronic diseases. For the future, Sarah hopes for improvement in wearable technology to provide a simple way for older adults to use wearables for health prevention. PT Health Study goal is to provide the whole community with information to decrease risk and improve health by using wearables. QUOTES This is scalable to be used by PTs across the country and really impact the health of a whole population.” – SARAH “The future is now.” – MARK “It looks like rain, maybe you should throw an umbrella in your bag.” – SARAH “We are providing nudges and guidance that are pre-scope of practice.” – SARAH “Sometimes they do get wet and that’s ok because we can also still hand them a towel.” – SARAH “We need to find a way to better connect with our communities in a real way that starts to engage around the idea of health.” – MARK PARTING SHOT “This is an opportunity to drastically change the way we approach not only health and wellness but care in general.” – SARAH “What are you doing to take a little bit more of the pie?” – MARK

About My Guest: Julie Parker gets the complexities of Lyme and counseling. Too many times, Lyme patients have been told their symptoms are imaginary. They've been referred to multiple specialists, had more tests run than they can count, and are told to seek psychiatric help because nothing is really wrong physically. Then, when a Lyme diagnosis is made, family and friends don't understand the disease or why treatment can make you feel worse before you get better. You can end up isolated and with minimal support. Julie Parker understands what you're going through.  Not only is she Lyme Literate (trained to help those with Lyme and other chronic illnesses), but she and family members have Lyme disease and personally know the trials of diagnosis and treatment.  Key Takeaways: Getting a diagnosis of Lyme disease is at first a relief, because you get some validation that you aren’t crazy. (2:00) Very quickly you begin to understand the reality that treating Lyme disease is a HUGE monster of a task. The treatment process with Lyme is often a miserable and expensive process. The complexities of treating Lyme will completely change the way you view mental health. It will change everything about your practice. What I had been taught in grad school about the body and brain connection was completely different than what my patients were saying.  In grad school, we were taught that the brain is very powerful and can manifest physical symptoms, as a result of psychological conditions. Now when a client comes to see me with an acute and chronic mental health condition, I’m looking for an organic cause behind what’s happening.  What is your brain causing your body to do=old style of counseling? Now I think what is happening in your body, that is impacting your mental health?  Throw in the ridiculous aspects that come with Lyme disease-like extreme anxiety, isolation, debilitating fatigue, and the overwhelmingness of finding good treatment.  The organic and the psychological are inextricably intertwined.  Mainstream therapists routinely fail to realize that the psychological is being “driven” by something organic in the body like an underlying infection. (This isn’t something that most people get)  As a Lyme patient, you come to realize the intimate connections between body, mind, and spirit. But you aren’t treated as a whole person within our medical system or our mental health system. Especially when no one knows what is wrong. Or the people in your life don’t know how to support you. Therefore we are often only dealing with a fraction of what is going on within the body. Two realities play out as you try to find answers. One is that the majority of your symptoms are blamed on psychological problems like anxiety or depression. The other is that you are passed from physician to physician without effective psychological support.  Chronic pain isn’t just a symptom, it can also be a syndrome. (9:00) I had lived with extreme and chronic pain for years before discovering the fact that “pain clinics” even existed. -Sarah (10:00) There is a disconnect between getting medical, emotional and psychological care. The people who can find the tiniest reason to hold onto HOPE. Sometimes you need someone to Hope-For-You.  Mindset: HOPE + Proactive Action (13:00) There is some kind of emotional freedom in coming to the place where you are ok with not surviving.  There is also a sense of freedom in choosing to FIGHT for other people when you are ok with dying.  Caregiver burnout is a very real thing.  Caregivers can feel guilty about taking time for themselves or that time simply doesn’t exist. (17:00) Teens and adult children who are disabled and living at home because of their illness can feel stalled out in life. It is important to talk about what has been lost, the immense grief and helps them to focus on something they “can” do. The spiral of hopelessness can be fueled by other patients who are sick and miserable. You can’t get stuck within the trauma and negativity on social media.  Emotional and physical energy is at a premium, use what you have consciously. (21:00) “Be spiritually grounded. Know your beliefs and live them. We are hardwired to be engaged in spiritual life.” It is normal to question your thoughts and beliefs when everything is going wrong. When people are working toward being spiritually grounded in their beliefs, it changes their focus.  Religiosity is different than being spiritually grounded. We can go through different emotions (some of which are beneficial) but that is different from digging down and evaluating your beliefs, thoughts, and actions. You can find HOPE in honestly and consciously trying to evaluate where you are at and why. Become aware of what your limiting thoughts and beliefs are. Question them, dig in, is that belief pushing you towards your goals? If not, time for a rewrite.  Our spiritual beliefs are often connected to the big “WHY” of what we are doing and who we are doing it for. Why am I doing anything? Is it for me? For a kid or friend?  Find a practitioner, coach therapist or treatment program that you can buy into. (27:00) Buy in and then implement. The people that I see who are getting better and staying better for longer are using a combination of allopathic and naturopathic medicine. This combination. Knowing what feeds you spiritually, emotionally and physically will empower you to keep moving in the direction of rejuvenation, or eating a boxed cheesecake in the parking lot. (31:00)  Ex. Brainless TV, a walk, fishing, reading, playing a game on your phone. Selfcare is about what feeds you.  “The illness intrudes on so many aspects of life, that most people can never comprehend, and then those challenging aspects compound.”-Sarah (32:00) PANS/Pandas-When you have kids with both the medical and the psychological issues. Normalizing the struggles they are going through so they know they are not the only ones dealing with this. Explaining the symptoms and validating what they are feeling and experiencing can give them a place that is safe to talk about symptoms. “That’s not the real version of you.” -Julie Parker “It was healing for me to be around other patients that had Lyme because I knew it wasn’t all in my head. They also had atrophied muscles and lost cognitive function in the middle of a story. I was no longer alone in the mystery of dysfunction.”-Sarah What is normal? If you have been sick for a long time “sick is normal.”  Local support groups serve as a way to be around other people who look like you.  Lyme Literate Therapist-A safe place for Lyme-families. “This is what normal people do.”- Sarah (Trying to relearn what it means to have fun, be social, live and not just exist).  When you have spent years trying to stay alive, you forget how to live, how to laugh and how to love.” -Sarah Guilt and terror are a normal part of the learn to “live” process-It isn’t about regaining a sense of normalcy. Living differently often consists of setting new boundaries so that you can continue to heal.(52:00) As a patient, we have to ask. What is living going to look like for me?  You have to be deliberate in choosing to live...do whatever works, whatever feels good, whatever builds you up or brings you life. (57:00) “Without boundaries, you can’t heal. I think. I don’t know. But that’s how it’s been for me.” -Sarah Make deliberate decisions to move towards health. Because there are no easy answers. (1:00) In learning how to live-I’m going to do a thing that feels weird but is normal-ish. What will be different in treating Lyme in the year 2040? Kris Newby’s book BITTEN.  It is an acknowledgment that not only the disease exists. It’s that exists and requires a lot of practitioners and that it is very complicated. We were taught to look at mental health backward.  Advocacy Wellness-how to live a normal life and be able to speak up for those who cannot. (1:06) “We started Lyme Voice because we wanted to stop the needless suffering. But it is hard to be an advocate in this broken and dysfunctional community of people who are coming together based on trauma.” “We don’t have to agree on what the answers are. There is no one right way to heal. No two patients are alike.”-Julie Parker “We are all sick. We all need help. Be deliberate. Set boundaries. Choose what is helpful.” -Julie Parker Holy SHIT...it is so much harder than what the “average person” is dealing with. -Sarah Can you help me work out a decision tree?  We are all aliens trying to figure out how to get back to healing. “The common thread in chronic illnesses is that we all need to be heard.” Definitions: PANDAS is an acronym for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infection. Children with PANDAS may exhibit a variety of emotional and behavioral symptoms and have multiple physical and psychiatric diagnoses. See www.pandasnetwork.org for a starting point to learn about this diagnosis. Please note that the diagnostic criteria are changing and children are NOT required to have a rapid onset of symptoms in order to have PANDAS.  PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) is similar to PANDAS but caused by other factors and resulting in behavioral changes. Look here for more information.   Lyme disease is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria and is often missed by medical providers due to faulty medical testing and inaccurate knowledge of symptom presentation. Left untreated or inadequately treated, Lyme can become chronic and evolve into a total-body illness that debilitates.  Resources Mentioned: Melanie Thurnstrum, The Pain Chronicles Kris Newby, Bitten (The secret history of Lyme disease and biological weapons) Connect With My Guest: Meet The Counseling Associates LLC Team...Call us at 901-497-6827 or visit the "Contact" page to send us an email. We'll respond quickly to answer your questions, set up appointments, and help you find the counselor and services that best meet your needs. Link:https://www.counselingassociatesllc.com/our-team Links Kangen Water- http://www.lymewater.com/ Envita Medical –Envita Medical Lyme Voice Facebook  The Lyme Voice Podcast- Lymevoice.com Lyme Documentary-Disappearing From Society, Life with chronic Lyme in 14 minutes…Documentary Little Bite, BIG TROUBLE, available on Amazon –Children’s book about Lyme disease Organic coffee!  https://www.ovaldogs.com Tick Warriors “Insect Repellent”  https://tickwarriors.com/ Organic coffee!  https://www.ovaldogs.com Medical billing services MedicalBillGurus.com    

We enjoyed answering questions from our Frugal Friends Community Group on Facebook. Here are some of the questions we answered:Jennifer: What's your 'why' behind being frugalDevin: Why y'all so cute?Melissa: Do you breakup with a hairstylist, photographer, etc., for the sake of frugality? Yolanda: What is something you consciously pay “more” for, and why?Virginia: How do you find the balance that works for you between paying off debt and enjoying life at the same time?Sarah: How do you deal with the “mental” part of being frugal/getting out of debt when things get tough or seem impossible?Kathryn: How to not get too obsessed with finances?Lauren: Do you have your favorite #dfcommunity people who you recommend others to follow and use as inspiration/advice?Jocelyn: Most embarrassing un-frugal things or services you are willing to pay for that you are slightly afraid to admit publicly on a frugal podcast!?Sarah: What are your best tips for avoiding feelings of deprivation while getting out of debt?Amarilys: What was your favorite least expensive place to travel? Or type of travel (i.e. Cruise vs road trip)?THANKS everyone for your amazing questions! You all made us think a little harder about this frugal life we have chosen!See you next week!

Spoiler alert: it's flexibility! Why you need it, how to develop it, and how to encourage your congregation toward it - plus an ear toward the Holy Spirit's leading. Click on the player to listen to the conversation, or scroll down to read the transcript. Our Reads of the Week If you purchase through some of the following links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Thank you for supporting Called! Gossip - Rocky Supinger The Color of Life: A Journey Toward Love and Racial Justice - Cara Meredith About Called - At the Intersection of Life and Ministry For 50 years between them, Pastor Bill Smutz and musician Sarah Bereza have survived and thrived in churches big and small, urban and rural, good and not so good. With generous hearts and healthy boundaries, they share practical advice for church staff about working smart, cutting out the bs, and embracing the good in ministry. New episodes on 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. Check out all the Called podcast episodes here, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Transcription of Called Ep. 8: The One Thing You REALLY Need in Ministry (That You Didn't Learn in School) Sarah: Welcome to Called, a podcast where we explore the intersection of ministry and the rest of our lives as church workers. Bill: I'm Bill Smutz. Sarah: And I'm Sarah Bereza. Bill: Join us on the first and third Tuesdays as we talk about cutting out the bs in our lives and embracing all that is good. Sarah: Between the two of us, we have ministered in churches for over 50 years, and we haven't burnt out yet. Bill: It's been close, but we're not there yet. I have pastored primarily Presbyterian congregations, urban, rural, big, small, and and for the last four or five years I have been doing interim transitional work in United Church of Christ congregations. Sarah: And I have been a church musician all over the denominational spectrum - Mainline, Evangelical, Catholic. Basically if they hire organists, I have probably worked for them. That One Thing They Didn't Teach You? Sarah Learned It in Middle School Sarah: Today we are talking about the one thing you need in ministry that they didn't teach in school. You never took a class on this. You probably didn't even hear professors talk about this in seminary or grad school. But you have to have this, or you going to be miserable. So let's see if you can guess what this is. We're going to start out with a story. Sarah: I was 11 years old, almost 12, and the lead pianist at my little Baptist church moved away and at nearly 12, I was the next person in line. And so for the next six years I was the lead pianist in a Baptist congregation where that meant, I was like the main lead musician for the church. Sarah: And I played for three services a week, and the choir, and most of the solos and the prelude and postlude, all that. Not always , cause there were other musical people in the church, but I was the person. And what that means is that I was the person who got hymns that morning right before the service started. And I was the person who a visiting evangelist would call up during the middle of the sermon. "Hey Sarah, come accompany me while I sing this hymn." I was that person as a middle school, high school student. Sarah: And you know what, as I look back on those six years at that little Baptist church, I think that was the best training I could have had. I mean, yeah, I had great music lessons, I had good teachers, all that good stuff. But that insistence on turning on a dime, of suddenly in the midst of a service, "Oh, here's the hymn that the Holy Spirit has led me to sing for our altar call." That kind of stuff. Like, go right now. Do it now. Sarah: What is it that we're talking about? Flexibility. Flexibility is where it's at for church workers. Bill: Anybody in a ministry setting knows that or is suffering because they don't. Why You (and Your Church) Needs to Practice Flexi...

Jane just saw Wicked and has channeled that inspiration into a bold eye look. Sarah dealt with an unwelcome visitor this week is ready to learn some more about science. It's Episode 4, and we're ready to appease ALL the senses today. Jane discusses the science of ASMR and discovers how little education you need to lead a movement. Sarah unlocks the secrets of Ancient Egypt - spoiler alert, it's bold eyeshadow. Does ASMR affect Sarah? What eyeshadow color is best for Jane? You'll find out! Like what you're hearing? Subscribe, like us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and consider donating to us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ykwibwpodcast

Episode 364 with Ezra, Greg, Jeff, Sarah What should we tell people that are asking if they are saved? Are […]

Episode 364 with Ezra, Greg, Jeff, Sarah What should we tell people that are asking if they are saved? Are […]

Panel: Divya Sasidharan Charles Max Wood Joe Eames John Papa Chris Fritz Erik Hanchett Special Guest: Sarah Drasner In this episode, the panel talks with Sarah Drasner, and John Papa is my boss! Sarah talks about the Vue alongside the panel. She goes into her many passions, and talks about how education and being a teacher is something that is quite important for her. Check out today’s episode to hear all of these topics, plus more! Show Topics: 1:42 – Chuck: Let’s talk about your February article, Sarah! 1:57 – Sarah: Sure! I have a great relationship with SMASHING magazine. They reached out to me and we started talking, because they noticed that people had questions about... It probably was one of my most popular articles. People were ready to graduate from jQuery. 3:36 – Panelist: I have gotten a lot of great feedback from people on this article, too. 4:00 – Sarah: it is a baseline. If they have heard about Vue and don’t’ know where to go from there. 4:15 – Panelist: It’s a great way to introduce yourself to people who don’t know you. 4:30 – Sarah continues the conversation. jQuery for a while was the “cheese stands alone” for a long time. 5:39 – Panelist chimes in. 6:15 – Like a long-term support system. 6:46 – Chuck: I am usually writing apps for myself. Lots of To Do Apps. 7:18 – Chuck I wonder how much I can run off of jQuery? 7:37 – Sarah: jQuery to Vue? I mean personally think that it’s much more obtainable. The improvements are great. I feel like I am more in-control when I use Vue. I tell people to try a project for a certain amount of time. I can tell you that how much I like the frameworks, but you have to try it. 9:34 – Panelist: Less code in Vue. 9:59 – Chuck: I do like the fact that... 10:14 – Panelist: you have to be disciplined. I am not always disciplined if I want to be honest. Where should I put a state that depends on another state? 10:42 – Sarah to Chris – Your style guide is helpful, Chris. If you really don’t mind in a certain framework, look at what people suggest based on their experience. Then you are not making those decisions for yourself, but you can see what works for others. 11:33 – Panelist: The style guides help them feel more confident for the people that he has talked to. They made more comfortable to feel more vulnerable. 12:13 – Sarah: That’s why I made those snippets for VS code. If it gives me a template then those little pieces of helpers can help keep your code more attainable. To make sure that the code review is on the up-and-up. 13:05 – Panelist: I do love those snippets. It does help me not to worry about missing certain things. I use the snippets for Live Demos. The feedback is that they don’t want to use Vue, but the snippets make it look really cool. 13:47 – Panelist: Many people don’t know this, but... 14:05 – Chuck: I know people are fans of jQuery...why do you hate jQuery? 14:26 – Sarah: I got some negative feedback and positive feedback. A debate started actually within these conversations. It happened around me, actually. What people know vs. what people don’t know. It was an interesting discussion, too. 15:26 – Panelist: Vue has this easy drop and save tag. Sarah, in your opinion... 15:58 – Sarah: Scotch IO has great articles out there. There are tons of writers out there. Actually, because there is nice ramp-up, that does help with adaption; just all together. That has had a lot to do with it, in addition through word-of-mouth. Whether if they, do or don’t, know how to use framework. 17:35 – Panelist: One number one thing they don’t’ like about Angular is that 99.9% time is that they are struggling with setup, bill process, when to set up different flags. It’s actually using the tool. 18:35 – Sarah: I wasn’t looking out to switch to Vue. At first, I was thinking: “Do I really have to try this out...? Why do I have to learn this, too?” I actually fell in love with it during the process. You can see this “falling in-love” on my Twitter. That for me has been one of the best experiences for me. Programs: Babble, Sass. This I would have to install one-by-one. To note that the developer’s experience is pretty important. 20:15 – Panelist: To have something there can create some anxiety for them. Even if they don’t need to know what those folders are can create anxiety. 20:59 – Sarah continues this conversation with her insights and comments. 22:00 – Panelist asks Sarah a question. 22:12 – Sarah Drasner: It really varies depending on the users’ experience. 23:17 – Panelist: If you are happy doing what you are doing – keep it. Don’t change. 23:32 – Sarah: The company dictates a lot of things for you. Lots of people don’t get to decide. If you are working with one giant build, then maybe... 24:27 – Panelist talks about a Vue template, and other topics. 25:16 – Sarah: Code Pen. 26:05 – Code Pen continues to be the topic of this conversation. 27:43 – Digital Ocean’s Advertisement. 27:21 – Chris to Sarah: You get people super excited about Vue because your demos are the BEST demonstrations.  30:30 – Fidget Spinner. 31:16 – Are you into animation? 31:28 – Sarah mentions: Smashing Magazine. Sarah’s dream job was to be in computer animation. She went to college and didn’t want to draw every frame. I can’t keep doing this. Eventually this led to we development. Full circle, I am back to what I originally fell in-love with. Coding is one of my favorite things. In animation anything can happen! In real-life you are limited, but with animation you can let your mind go wild. You can do anything. That is exciting for me. The web has so many different capabilities. 34:19 – Can you talk about your background as an educator? 34:28 – Sarah Drasner: I was a professor in the Greek Islands. I think teaching gives me so much joy. Especially for me to see the light in your student’s eyes. I think learning is really hard, so making that process easier for people is a goal of mine. I want to make materials easier for them to comprehend a certain topic or the material-at-hand. At first, I thought JavaScript was hard. Connecting the dots for people is worth it to me. It’s scaling my understanding. It’s moving things through the community – scale that knowledge. 36:43 – Creating resources for students that they never had. People, I am sure, are grateful for that. 37:19 – Sarah: t’s a really valuable thing to share this with one another. You can be a little bit selfish and when you have to teach a concept to a student this material will be embedded into you easier/better because you have to explain it. 38:12 – Sarah: What does the H Stand for? This article came up, because I had to answer someone’s question. Writing an article really solidifies your knowledge! 39:02 – Where do you like to teach? 39:07 – Sarah: Frontend Masters is one of them. It continues afterwards. 40:35 – Sarah: I still like making online content, the feedback you get in-person is very wonderful. 41:13 – Panelist adds comments. 41:47 – Sarah continues the conversation and talks about a specific conference. She talks about Nigeria and Nigerians. 43:06 – Sarah: It’s actually a huge venue. We rented a media company to help with stable Internet and web access. Just making sure that everything will be stable. It’s a real conference; it’s just free to them. It’s in a couple of days. I am feeling like that it’s a lot of stuff, but I know it will be valuable. We are looking for sponsorships!! It’s a great cause and totally engaging. 44:22 – Are you guys ready for your talks? 46:42 – Sarah: Her talk is going to be one of the best talks there. It can be quite political, but she doesn’t do that. What changes for the developer? It is quite masterful. She is doing a repeat performance. 47:16 – Panelist: I try... 47:24 – Sarah Drasner: I will be talking, too. 48:28 – Dumb jokes. 48:50 – Sarah: I feel that jokes don’t translate well across different countries. You have to find something more universal. I pick things that are universal to the human experience. 49:40 – Sarah: I guess in the introduction, I say who I am and then I bring Clippy on the stage... In addition, sometimes, TERRIBLE jokes go a long way! To show that you are actually human! 51:36 – A Wiki later... 51:48 – I put the bad jokes into the delivery. People need something to lighten the mood. 52:21 – Clippy and Microsoft Bob. 52:32 – E-Book Code Badges! 53:12 – Picks! Links: JavaScript Ruby on Rails Angular Digital Ocean Code Badge Notion Vue Sarah Drasner’s Article Sarah Drasner’s Twitter Sarah Drasner’s Website Sarah Drasner’s GitHub Sarah Drasner’s LinkedIn Sarah Drasner’s CSS-Tricks Sarah Drasner’s Medium Sponsors: Kendo UI Digital Ocean Code Badge Cache Fly Picks: Divya Sasidharan Article - Build a State Management Article - Where Vim Came From? Chris Fritz Dev Tools – Routing Tab and others Open Collective Sarah Drasner My friend’s speech / coworker, Ozcon Conference in Kenya the following year! Erik Hanchett Fidget Spinner Coder.Com Charles Max Wood Code Badge Notion.So

Panel: Divya Sasidharan Charles Max Wood Joe Eames John Papa Chris Fritz Erik Hanchett Special Guest: Sarah Drasner In this episode, the panel talks with Sarah Drasner, and John Papa is my boss! Sarah talks about the Vue alongside the panel. She goes into her many passions, and talks about how education and being a teacher is something that is quite important for her. Check out today’s episode to hear all of these topics, plus more! Show Topics: 1:42 – Chuck: Let’s talk about your February article, Sarah! 1:57 – Sarah: Sure! I have a great relationship with SMASHING magazine. They reached out to me and we started talking, because they noticed that people had questions about... It probably was one of my most popular articles. People were ready to graduate from jQuery. 3:36 – Panelist: I have gotten a lot of great feedback from people on this article, too. 4:00 – Sarah: it is a baseline. If they have heard about Vue and don’t’ know where to go from there. 4:15 – Panelist: It’s a great way to introduce yourself to people who don’t know you. 4:30 – Sarah continues the conversation. jQuery for a while was the “cheese stands alone” for a long time. 5:39 – Panelist chimes in. 6:15 – Like a long-term support system. 6:46 – Chuck: I am usually writing apps for myself. Lots of To Do Apps. 7:18 – Chuck I wonder how much I can run off of jQuery? 7:37 – Sarah: jQuery to Vue? I mean personally think that it’s much more obtainable. The improvements are great. I feel like I am more in-control when I use Vue. I tell people to try a project for a certain amount of time. I can tell you that how much I like the frameworks, but you have to try it. 9:34 – Panelist: Less code in Vue. 9:59 – Chuck: I do like the fact that... 10:14 – Panelist: you have to be disciplined. I am not always disciplined if I want to be honest. Where should I put a state that depends on another state? 10:42 – Sarah to Chris – Your style guide is helpful, Chris. If you really don’t mind in a certain framework, look at what people suggest based on their experience. Then you are not making those decisions for yourself, but you can see what works for others. 11:33 – Panelist: The style guides help them feel more confident for the people that he has talked to. They made more comfortable to feel more vulnerable. 12:13 – Sarah: That’s why I made those snippets for VS code. If it gives me a template then those little pieces of helpers can help keep your code more attainable. To make sure that the code review is on the up-and-up. 13:05 – Panelist: I do love those snippets. It does help me not to worry about missing certain things. I use the snippets for Live Demos. The feedback is that they don’t want to use Vue, but the snippets make it look really cool. 13:47 – Panelist: Many people don’t know this, but... 14:05 – Chuck: I know people are fans of jQuery...why do you hate jQuery? 14:26 – Sarah: I got some negative feedback and positive feedback. A debate started actually within these conversations. It happened around me, actually. What people know vs. what people don’t know. It was an interesting discussion, too. 15:26 – Panelist: Vue has this easy drop and save tag. Sarah, in your opinion... 15:58 – Sarah: Scotch IO has great articles out there. There are tons of writers out there. Actually, because there is nice ramp-up, that does help with adaption; just all together. That has had a lot to do with it, in addition through word-of-mouth. Whether if they, do or don’t, know how to use framework. 17:35 – Panelist: One number one thing they don’t’ like about Angular is that 99.9% time is that they are struggling with setup, bill process, when to set up different flags. It’s actually using the tool. 18:35 – Sarah: I wasn’t looking out to switch to Vue. At first, I was thinking: “Do I really have to try this out...? Why do I have to learn this, too?” I actually fell in love with it during the process. You can see this “falling in-love” on my Twitter. That for me has been one of the best experiences for me. Programs: Babble, Sass. This I would have to install one-by-one. To note that the developer’s experience is pretty important. 20:15 – Panelist: To have something there can create some anxiety for them. Even if they don’t need to know what those folders are can create anxiety. 20:59 – Sarah continues this conversation with her insights and comments. 22:00 – Panelist asks Sarah a question. 22:12 – Sarah Drasner: It really varies depending on the users’ experience. 23:17 – Panelist: If you are happy doing what you are doing – keep it. Don’t change. 23:32 – Sarah: The company dictates a lot of things for you. Lots of people don’t get to decide. If you are working with one giant build, then maybe... 24:27 – Panelist talks about a Vue template, and other topics. 25:16 – Sarah: Code Pen. 26:05 – Code Pen continues to be the topic of this conversation. 27:43 – Digital Ocean’s Advertisement. 27:21 – Chris to Sarah: You get people super excited about Vue because your demos are the BEST demonstrations.  30:30 – Fidget Spinner. 31:16 – Are you into animation? 31:28 – Sarah mentions: Smashing Magazine. Sarah’s dream job was to be in computer animation. She went to college and didn’t want to draw every frame. I can’t keep doing this. Eventually this led to we development. Full circle, I am back to what I originally fell in-love with. Coding is one of my favorite things. In animation anything can happen! In real-life you are limited, but with animation you can let your mind go wild. You can do anything. That is exciting for me. The web has so many different capabilities. 34:19 – Can you talk about your background as an educator? 34:28 – Sarah Drasner: I was a professor in the Greek Islands. I think teaching gives me so much joy. Especially for me to see the light in your student’s eyes. I think learning is really hard, so making that process easier for people is a goal of mine. I want to make materials easier for them to comprehend a certain topic or the material-at-hand. At first, I thought JavaScript was hard. Connecting the dots for people is worth it to me. It’s scaling my understanding. It’s moving things through the community – scale that knowledge. 36:43 – Creating resources for students that they never had. People, I am sure, are grateful for that. 37:19 – Sarah: t’s a really valuable thing to share this with one another. You can be a little bit selfish and when you have to teach a concept to a student this material will be embedded into you easier/better because you have to explain it. 38:12 – Sarah: What does the H Stand for? This article came up, because I had to answer someone’s question. Writing an article really solidifies your knowledge! 39:02 – Where do you like to teach? 39:07 – Sarah: Frontend Masters is one of them. It continues afterwards. 40:35 – Sarah: I still like making online content, the feedback you get in-person is very wonderful. 41:13 – Panelist adds comments. 41:47 – Sarah continues the conversation and talks about a specific conference. She talks about Nigeria and Nigerians. 43:06 – Sarah: It’s actually a huge venue. We rented a media company to help with stable Internet and web access. Just making sure that everything will be stable. It’s a real conference; it’s just free to them. It’s in a couple of days. I am feeling like that it’s a lot of stuff, but I know it will be valuable. We are looking for sponsorships!! It’s a great cause and totally engaging. 44:22 – Are you guys ready for your talks? 46:42 – Sarah: Her talk is going to be one of the best talks there. It can be quite political, but she doesn’t do that. What changes for the developer? It is quite masterful. She is doing a repeat performance. 47:16 – Panelist: I try... 47:24 – Sarah Drasner: I will be talking, too. 48:28 – Dumb jokes. 48:50 – Sarah: I feel that jokes don’t translate well across different countries. You have to find something more universal. I pick things that are universal to the human experience. 49:40 – Sarah: I guess in the introduction, I say who I am and then I bring Clippy on the stage... In addition, sometimes, TERRIBLE jokes go a long way! To show that you are actually human! 51:36 – A Wiki later... 51:48 – I put the bad jokes into the delivery. People need something to lighten the mood. 52:21 – Clippy and Microsoft Bob. 52:32 – E-Book Code Badges! 53:12 – Picks! Links: JavaScript Ruby on Rails Angular Digital Ocean Code Badge Notion Vue Sarah Drasner’s Article Sarah Drasner’s Twitter Sarah Drasner’s Website Sarah Drasner’s GitHub Sarah Drasner’s LinkedIn Sarah Drasner’s CSS-Tricks Sarah Drasner’s Medium Sponsors: Kendo UI Digital Ocean Code Badge Cache Fly Picks: Divya Sasidharan Article - Build a State Management Article - Where Vim Came From? Chris Fritz Dev Tools – Routing Tab and others Open Collective Sarah Drasner My friend’s speech / coworker, Ozcon Conference in Kenya the following year! Erik Hanchett Fidget Spinner Coder.Com Charles Max Wood Code Badge Notion.So

Erin Weidemann sits down with me across our virtual kitchen table. Sometimes I meet people and its like we could be real life friends if we only lived in the same area. I felt that way about Erin. She is the co-founder and creator of Bible Belles which is a publishing company whose mission is to help girls discover real beauty, God's love, and their purpose through the female heroes of the Bible. She’s also the host of the Heroes For Her Podcast which highlights positive role models for girls today. In this conversation, we talk about how she ended up going from a middle school teacher to running a company; why she chose to create products for young girls to help them talk about beauty and identity; how to move girls from self-doubt to purpose; raising girls in the current culture climate and how we tend to put God in a box with what He could do through us. So much goodness covered in a short period.  Bible Belle's book series: HANNAH, ESTHER, ABIGAIL, RUTH, DEBORAH - 10% discount on an order from Bible Belles if you use discount code SARAH What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation  on Instagram or Twitter or you can send me an email here.  Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

Question from Sarah: What makes a brand successful? Thank you for the question, Sarah. A brand is not what a lot of people think. A brand is not the logo and the tagline. Actually, a logo has a small impact on a brand. There are several things that make up a brand. I'll tell you the most important things in branding, in no particular order: Consistency: A CEO of a company I used to work for, always told us he wanted to be the next Starbucks or the next McDonalds. (It's funny because we were not in the food industry, we were a service provider in the Oil and Gas Industry) But, he used to say that in order to do so we need to be consistent. For example, he could be in -40C temperature in Canada one day, and the next day in Hawai, or Brasil and every time he walked into Starbucks anywhere in the world he knew what the smell would be like, the look and exactly what the coffee would taste like. So being consistent is one of the top ones   Purpose: This may be the top branding tip - Why do you do what you do? Who do you do it for? Whats the real reason behind it? And, is there a cause or movement people can join by having your product. Customer support: This one should be a no-brainer, but many entrepreneurs will have zero support, no guarantees, and even worse is not caring. It is very important that customer support doesn't sleep or take a vacation, and response time should be always in less than 24 hours. Loyalty: You need to develop some sort of loyalty program with your customers. Discounts and giveaways are one way to start a loyalty "cult" Some brands give you the sense of belonging Be Different/ Unique: The easiest way to stand out is if you are or have something unique. If you have a vision, product or service that is different than everything else, you are already creating a special brand.    

OH MY GOD THE OSCARS ARE IN LESS THAN A WEEK!!! Do we even care anymore? Ehh, SORTA--which is why we're only devoting 2/3 of the episode to this Sunday's big night. To help out, we have Vanity Fair film critic and award show expert Richard Lawson in to talk about the biggest Wholebrity nominees. Will Timothee Chalamet ever be a Them? What about Tiffany Haddish? Would Saoirse Ronan be a Them already if her name were Sarah? What the hell is a "boutique Who"? Find out the answer to all these questions--plus an update on Emily Ratajkowski's new husband and the latest talent Rita Ora has shared with the world (changing clothes on a plane)--in today's episode.

Murph and Hawk take a pleasant steam in the Phillip Jeffries' teapot to preview Part 16: Who the hell is Judy?? Who the hell is mother? What the fuck is inhabiting Sarah? What does the Jumping Man have to do with this? Is Bob still in Mr. C or what? Will Dougie Coop be rushed to Twin Peaks in a Las Vegas ambulance? Will Freddy crush Billy with his green iron fist? And Is Dickie Horne finally destined to be Robin to Mr C's evil Batman?

Today's #TotalWellnessTuesday Cabral House Call is here! Sarah: What's the first thing I should do for my Hashimoto's? Kelley M: Should I give my kids milk? Larry: To be safe should I stop taking all calcium supplements? I hope you enjoy today's community Q&A! - - - Show Notes: See all the Show Notes, Links & Recommendations at: http://stephencabral.com/cabral-concept-077   - - - * (APRIL) Listener Only Thank You Offer! * For the month of April (limited-quantity), I'd like to offer you $20 Off the 14, or 21-Day Partner & Group Dr. Cabral Detox! (You can also do all 14 or 21-days yourself to maximize wellness & weight loss!) As a thank you for tuning in to the Cabral Concept I wanted to share with you the #1 system my private clients in Boston, and now all over the US, are using to lose weight, decrease bloating, improve digestion, eliminate skin issues, and increase their energy all day long. It’s called the Dr. Cabral Detox and without going into the details right now, simply go to DrCabralDetox.com. Enter Promo Code at Checkout: april20 http://DrCabralDetox.com   - - - Get Your Questioned Answered! I answer 15 questions a week from our community and I'd love to answer yours on an upcoming show: http://StephenCabral.com/askcabral   - - -    

Dr. Sarah Boston is a veterinary surgical oncologist at the University of Florida. That’s a cancer surgeon for animals. She’s also the author of Lucky Dog, a non-fiction book where she discusses some of her cancer patients and her own experience as a cancer survivor. Dr. Sarah Boston shares so much of her story, from her work as a cancer surgeon, to her own journey with thyroid cancer, and her own personal perspectives on healthcare in both Canada and the United States. She also gives her thoughts on work-life balance, email, Twitter, and pet insurance!! Thank you for an education, Dr. Sarah. Trivia about Dr. Sarah: What is the largest animal Dr. Sarah Boston has ever operated on? A horse. What is the smallest animal Dr. Sarah Boston has ever operated on? A bat. Resources Dr Sarah Boston’s website https://drsarahboston.com/ Her Twitter feed Dr. Boston’s book, Lucky Dog, on Amazon University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine – Go Gators! Dr Sarah Boston’s publisher – House of Anansi Dr Andy Roark’s blog http://www.drandyroark.com/ Thanks again to Dr Sarah Boston!   All of Pawprint's music is composed by Luke Gartner-Brereton. Luke is a musician based in Australia, and he composes a wide variety of songs and musical loops http://vanillagroovestudios.com http://soundcloud.com/luke-gartnerbrereton If you want to learn more about Nancy and Harold, go to our About Us page at http://thisispawprint.com/about or listen to our introductory podcast episode, "Fifty Puppies and a Podcast." http://thisispawprint.com/000 Pawprint (or Paw Print) is a weekly podcast dedicated to animal rescue, adoption, and the heroes who make it happen. Volunteer, adopt, or foster a dog, cat, rabbit, or other wonderful pet through your local shelter, humane society, SPCA, pound, and animal control. Increase protection, welfare, and rights.  

Matt Barfield answers a question submitted by Sarah: What practical, day-to-day steps can a young person take to prepare for a ministry in missions?