Podcasts about Stonyfield

Send us a textHappy Valentine's Day! We love love! We are happy to welcome Jackie DeJesu Center to the pod to break down the best and worst of the Super Bowl and Valentines Day! The brands are wildin out! We talk about Mountain Dew, Nike, Bud Light, Jesus, Coke, Totinos, Dunkin', Liquid Death, Coca-Cola, Grillos, Skimms, Laneige, Sweethearts, MSCHF, Outback, Stonyfield, Denny's Hormel, White Castle, and more!

Stonyfield co-founder and former CEO Gary Hirshberg joins Guy on the Advice Line where they answer questions from three early-stage founders. Plus, Gary explains how a social mission can be a competitive advantage for a consumer product.First we meet Cate in Oregon, who's trying to figure out the best way for her leather goods company to stop cow hides from going to waste. Then Jamie in Santa Barbara, whose gourmet vegan camping meals are speaking to a customer demographic she wasn't expecting. And Dianna in the Bay Area, who's ready to hire a right hand for her seeded cracker company but isn't sure where to look.Thank you to the founders of Range Revolution, Poe & Co. Folk Foods, and Cult Crackers for being a part of our show.If you'd like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you'd like answered. Send a voice memo to hibt@id.wondery.com or call 1-800-433-1298.And be sure to listen to Stonyfield's founding story as told by Gary on the show in 2017.This episode was produced by Alex Cheng with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by John Isabella. Our audio engineer was Cena Loffredo.You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram and sign up for Guy's free newsletter at guyraz.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dans cet épisode, l'histoire de la marque Les Prés Rient Bio est explorée :L'origine de la marque (00:00:06) L'histoire de la création de la marque Les Prés Rient Bio et son évolution.La collaboration avec Danone (00:01:03) L'association entre Stonyfield et le groupe Danone, et son impact sur la marque.Les 2 Vaches (00:01:58) La création de la marque "Les 2 Vaches" et son positionnement en tant que porte-parole du bio.Le changement de nom (00:04:00) Le passage de Stonyfield France à "Les Prés Rient Bio" en juillet 2017.

Britt Lundgren, Senior Director of Sustainability and Government Affairs at Stonyfield, discusses the company's commitment to addressing climate change and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, transition to renewable energy, and improve packaging sustainability. She also highlights Stonyfield's support for farmers affected by flooding and the positive impact of organic farming on flood resilience. The conversation explores the transition to organic dairy farming, Stonyfield's commitment to B Corp, the value of the B Corp community, and appreciation for the B Corp community.Stonyfield's WebsiteDirigo Collective Website

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 950, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: food science 1: To combat hypothyroidism, iodine was first added in the 1920s to this common seasoning. salt. 2: One theory for why tomatoes were thought to be poisonous--their acidity leached this toxic metal out of pewter plates. lead. 3: 1 serving of this from Stonyfield contains 5 billion units of Lactobacillus rhamnosus bacteria. yogurt. 4: Mustard can act as one of these agents that allow oil and water to stay blended. an emulsifier. 5: From the French for "sour wine", this liquid will go bad over time, so it should be stored in a cool, dark place. vinegar. Round 2. Category: speaking words of wisdom 1: This folk and rock troubadour's gems include the 1965 lyric "He not busy being born is busy dying". (Bob) Dylan. 2: This playwright penned the line "A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory". (Arthur) Miller. 3: In an encyclical he wrote, "Earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most... maltreated of our poor". Pope Francis. 4: Max Ehrmann's much-reprinted "Desiderata" says, "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still" this kind of world. a beautiful world. 5: In 1934 this humorist said, "Every Harvard class should have one Democrat to rescue it from oblivion". Will Rogers. Round 3. Category: the most popular netflix movies 1: Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy in this feel-good film that became the most popular to get from Netflix. The Blind Side. 2: One thing to do before dying is rent this 2007 Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman buddy movie. The Bucket List. 3: The title of this 2010 film refers to planting an idea in someone's subconscious during the dream state. Inception. 4: The popularity of this Coen Brothers film has nothing to do with Javier Bardem's bowl cut as killer Anton Chigurh. No Country for Old Men. 5: Jeff Bridges played the delightfully evil Obadiah Stane in this superhero film. Iron Man. Round 4. Category: a little reading 1: First and last name of E.B. White's adventurous mouse-like boy from a 1945 story. Stuart Little. 2: 4-word rallying mantra repeated by the "Little Engine that Could" to inspire it to persevere. I think I can. 3: "Little Women" detailed the passage from childhood to womanhood of these 4 March sisters. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. 4: The first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's series was "Little House in" this place with more shade than the prairie. the Big Woods. 5: This 1886 Frances Hodgson Burnett novel inspired a fad of dressing young boys in velvet suits. Little Lord Fauntleroy. Round 5. Category: chop wood 1: The History Channel show "Ax Men" centers on guys in this job, and they're OK. lumberjacks. 2: Shel Silverstein poetically waxed that you could hear this mythic logger's axe "ring for a mile and a half". Paul Bunyan. 3: In a quirky 2012 movie, this president chops wood and quite a few vampires. Abraham Lincoln. 4: The Wicked Witch of the East maliciously enchants his axe over his love for a munchkin maiden. the Tin Man. 5: Chopping down a tree starts with making this V-shaped cut; open-faced and Humboldt are 2 styles. a notch. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia! Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/

From reducing methane emissions to implementing recyclable packaging, U.S. dairy is making environmental sustainability a priority. In the latest episode of The Dairy Download, our guests shed light on innovative ways dairy companies are leading on climate action. First up is Britt Lundgren, Senior Director of Sustainability and Government Affairs at Stonyfield Organic. With funding from a USDA's Climate-Smart Commodities grant, Stonyfield is taking steps to reduce emissions and shift to bio-based and recycled packaging. How is the company leveraging supply chain partnerships to meet those goals? What other promising opportunities does Stonyfield see in the next five to 10 years? Lundgren shares her insights.Next, we speak with Chris Adamo, Vice President of Public Affairs and Regenerative Agriculture Policy for Danone North America. Earlier this year, Danone unveiled ambitious plans to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030. How are tools like feed additives and digesters moving the ball forward? How are Danone's producers embracing the movement toward sustainability? Adamo weighs in.  The episode is sponsored by Serac."Serac, your reliable partner for hygienic bottle & cup filling solutions. We listen, adapt & deliver machines for your unique needs. Trust Serac, designed & built in America!”If your company is interested in sponsoring a block of episodes of The Dairy Download, contact IDFA's Melissa Lembke at mlembke@idfa.org.Questions or comments about the show? We want to hear from you. Send a note to dairydownload@idfa.org and your feedback could be included on a future episode.

How do you turn something that you love into a business? Ashton Keefe, Chef, author, and culinary stylist joins the podcast this week. When asked how she turned something she loves doing into a business she says “I was naturally inquisitive and creative which led to a little bit of rule breaking. Throughout my kitchen career, I would see a problem and think, why isn't it being fixed this way? I would have to sit on my hands. And that was challenging me as a sense of efficiency. I kept asking why isn't this being done in the most efficient, creative, and profitable way. These questions and knowing that I would do things differently led me to launch my business.We talk about..Why a Give, Give, Get philosophy is beneficial in lifeThe journey to becoming the author of two successful cook booksWhy she believes “people don't remember what they ate but they do remember how they feel.”How genuine connection, giving as much as you receive, and being in it for the long game, will naturally give you good and consistent PRAshton Keefe is a chef, culinary stylist, and author of two cookbooks with an extensive background in hospitality concepting, design, and launch/operations. She's received recognition from The New York Times, Martha Stewart, and Food & Wine Magazine and is sought as an integral partner and colleague for brands such as Pyrex, Food Network, and Stonyfield. She currently works as the Resident Chef at Cuvaison Winery in Napa and regularly appears on NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, and CNN.

#092: In the second half of our conversation with Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg, we delve deeper into the reasons behind Danone/ Horizon's 2021 contract cancellations with 89 organic dairy farmers in the northeast and what can be done going forward. Gary introduces his new organization, the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership, and explains his hope for its role in convincing consumers and institutions to support local, organic dairy farms more actively.Gary Hirshberg has long been associated with Stonyfield Yogurt, which was founded by Samuel and Louisa Kaymen in 1983. In 2021, in response to Horizon Dairy canceling contracts with 89 organic dairy farmers in the northeast, Gary founded The Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership to focus efforts on keeping these farms in business:https://www.saveorganicfamilyfarms.org/To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:https://www.realorganicproject.org/gary-hirshberg-save-organic-family-farms-episode-ninety-twoThe Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:https://www.realorganicproject.org/farmsWe believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.If you like what you hear and are feeling inspired, we would love for you to join our movement by becoming one of our 1,000  Real Friends:https://www.realorganicproject.org/real-organic-friends/To read our weekly newsletter (which might just be the most forwarded newsletter on the internet!) and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/

#091: Since the early 1980s, Gary Hirshberg has been involved with organic dairy farming, partnering in business with the original Stonyfield Yogurt co-founders, Samuel and Louisa Kaymen. In the first half of our two-part interview, Gary takes us back to those days and explains how Stonyfield worked with and met the needs of small organic farmers in the northeast to create a landscape that desperately needs protecting today.Gary Hirshberg has long been associated with Stonyfield Yogurt, which was founded by Samuel and Louisa Kaymen in 1983. In 2021, in response to Horizon Dairy canceling contracts with 89 organic dairy farmers in the northeast, Gary founded The Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership to focus efforts on keeping these farms in business:https://www.saveorganicfamilyfarms.org/ To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:https://www.realorganicproject.org/gary-hirshberg-northeast-organic-dairy-farming-movement-episode-ninety-oneThe Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:https://www.realorganicproject.org/farmsWe believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.If you like what you hear and are feeling inspired, we would love for you to join our movement by becoming one of our 1,000  Real Friends:https://www.realorganicproject.org/real-organic-friends/To read our weekly newsletter (which might just be the most forwarded newsletter on the internet!) and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/

#272: Should I buy organic dairy foods for my baby? In this episode Britt Lundgren, the Senior Director of Sustainability for Stonyfield Farm chats about the differences between organic and conventional dairy foods. We're chatting through all of the benefits of organic dairy farming and organic dairy foods, from environmental to nutrition, sustainability, profitability and wellbeing of the dairy farmers, and their cows!  

Using her background as an engineer, Linda Lee, CMO of Meals & Beverages at Campbell Soup Company, institutes the Scientific Method in marketing the large portfolio of brands under the Campbell umbrella. Starting in product development at P&G, her career journey led her into marketing at notable companies like P&G, General Mills, Cadbury, Ipsos, and Stonyfield. This episode shares Alan and Linda's discussion of her career journey, how she is modernizing a storied brand and its multiple brands, and why she feels saying yes opens new doors. In this episode, you'll learn: How in-home insights are critical to today's marketing and how it has changed since COVID How to use the Scientific Method in marketing brands How Campbell is driving product innovation and development Key Highlights [00:33] Linda's superpower [01:46] Linda's career journey [09:44] How Linda is modernizing this brand that has stood the test of time [12:04] Linda's starting point with a giant portfolio and customer insights [15:18] Thoughts on the in-home component of marketing [20:34] Driving product innovation and development [23:34] Bringing that innovation to life [27:58] An experience that defines Linda [30:28] Linda's advice for her younger self [30:45] What marketers should be learning more about [35:52] Where Linda feels brands are living now [37:22] The biggest opportunity and threat for marketers today Resources Mentioned: Linda Lee Campbell Soup Company Career stops: P&G, Mondelez, Ipsos, Stonyfield, Chef's Cut Real Jerky, Campbell Soup Company Portfolio of Brands: Campbell's, Pacific Foods, Prego, Pace, Swanson, V8, Chunky Andy Warhol Campbell Soup Cans New York City Pace Commercial Campbell Soup Ad – Made for Real, Real Life (Mom in the supermarket) Chunky Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup Follow the podcast: Listen in iTunes (link: http://apple.co/2dbdAhV) Listen in Google Podcasts (link: http://bit.ly/2Rc2kVa) Listen in Spotify (Link: http://spoti.fi/2mCUGnC) Connect with the Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindalee96/ https://twitter.com/CampbellSoupCo Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart: Twitter Alan B Hart - http://twitter.com/abhart LinkedIn Alan  - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanhart Twitter Marketing Today - http://twitter.com/themktgtoday Facebook Marketing Today - https://www.facebook.com/themktgtoday/ LinkedIn Marketing Today - https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-today-with-alan-hart/ Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/marketingtodaySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jessica is an SEO expert for small businesses. She helps business owners get greater online visibility and higher search engine rankings within their local market. Jessica has over twenty years of experience working with multimillion dollar companies in marketing, business development, sales and influencer marketing, with companies including Pfizer, Walmart, prAna, Stonyfield and BJ's Wholesale. In this episode, we chat with Jessica about the most important considerations for mobile site design in 2022, the importance of mobile site design for SEO, the role of Google My Business for SEO, and much more. Seaside Digital Design & Marketing: https://www.seasidedigitaldesign.com/ Med Rank Interactive: https://medrankinteractive.com/ #healthcaredigitalmarketingpodcast #lamarhull #jessicamorrison #medrankinteractive #seasidedigitalmarketing #seo2022 #webdesign2022

This week, we have conversations with Soumya Nair, global consumer research and insights director at Kerry; Martijn Goedhart, co-founder of OpenDairy; and Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield co-founder and former CEO, on the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership.

Jessica Morrison owner of Seaside Digital Design & Marketing LLCJessica is an SEO expert for local businesses. She helps business owners get greater online visibility and higher search engine rankings within their local market.Jessica has over twenty years of experience working with multimillion-dollar companies in marketing, business development, sales and influencer marketing, with companies including Pfizer, Walmart, prAna, Stonyfield and BJ's Wholesale.https://www.seasidedigitaldesign.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/seasidedigitaldesign/www.instagram.com/seasidedigitaldesignhttps://www.facebook.com/seasidedigitaldesignYour Resource for Success Podcast @ 7 pm EST with your favorite Host Kimberly McLemore and her Special Guest!

Every organization and business needs to be visible if they want to attain long-term success. But getting that traction can be difficult, especially early on. How can you increase your online presence? We spoke with Jessica Morrison, an SEO expert for small businesses. She offers her advice on our new podcast, including the three-step approach that will help lift up your organization's visibility. Jessica Morrison is an SEO expert for small businesses. She helps business owners get greater online visibility and higher search engine rankings within their local market. Jessica has over twenty years of experience working with multimillion dollar companies in marketing, business development, sales, and influencer marketing, with companies including Pfizer, Walmart, prAna, Stonyfield, and BJ's Wholesale.We kick off our discussion with the winding path that led to Jessica becoming an SEO expert. As she explains, although she studied Spanish literature in college, she ended up working in pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, Jessica also started a WordPress lifestyle blog, and that was her fast track to gaining hands-on experience with SEO. She learned the skills that helped propel her website's visibility. Now, she uses that background to help other small businesses with their online presence.Why does increasing online visibility require a three-step approach? What are those three steps? Jessica describes how SEO works, including the pillars of information it pulls from. What can make SEO daunting is just how many elements impact your score. Jessica breaks it down here, helping us navigate the three main items you need to focus on.  https://vimeo.com/599366108 From there, we dive into some of the more nitty-gritty details of SEO. First, how can someone optimize their website to help rank higher on search engines? Indeed, getting your website to appear on the first page of Google is the goal, but it takes time and effort to get it there. How can you optimize your SEO - the right way - to improve your visibility?What about social media? Most small businesses will (and should!) have at least one social media account, whether that's LinkedIn or Instagram or anything else. Why is social media so important for your SEO? How can you ensure your content is being shared far and wide across the social platforms?Another common question regarding SEO is how often you should be working on it. Is this something you need to do daily? Maybe just weekly or monthly? Jessica shares her advice, and trust us, keeping up on it will do wonders for your online presence. Not only that, you'll see how manageable SEO truly is, even for a small business. To learn more about Jessica Morrison, visit her official website here. You can also follow her on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to keep up with all her latest updates.Support the show (https://p2q.link/donate)

Today is Wednesday, July 21, and we're looking at Chobani vs. Stonyfield.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mike Fata’s entrepreneurial journey began when he dropped out of high school. It culminated in the $419 million acquisition of the company he co-founded, global hemp foods producer Manitoba Harvest. Reflecting on his remarkable ascent, Fata mentions one regret: that he didn’t “dream bigger.” Launched in 1998, Manitoba Harvest, which is best known for its popular Hemp Hearts brand, has played a critical role in education about and mainstream adoption of hemp, beginning in its home market of Canada and later in the United States. Seventeen years after the company’s debut, Fata guided a majority sale of Manitoba Harvest at an enterprise value of $132 million. He helped lead a second sale of the company four years later when it was acquired by Canadian cannabis company Tilray for the aforementioned $419 million. Two nine-figure exits… not bad for someone who left school at age 13.  In the following interview, Fata spoke about how educating himself about nutrition and healthy living led him to hemp, overcoming government-led and generational disinformation about the crop, why he laments not seeing greater potential for the company early into its development and where he drew inspiration for confidence as a CEO. Show notes:  0:48: Interview: Mike Fata, Founder, Manitoba Harvest -- Taste Radio editor Ray Latif sat down with Fata and discussed the entrepreneur’s mentorship of brand founders on social media app Clubhouse, his path from bullied teen to health and hemp guru, the Canadian government’s role in the creation and launch of Manitoba Harvest and how the DEA stunted the company’s foray into the U.S. Fata also spoke about how people and organizations in the natural foods community helped him become a better leader, why he describes himself as “a born entrepreneur but a made CEO,” what Whole Foods taught him about team building, the retail partners that helped educate mainstream consumers about hemp and the importance of humility when bringing leaders to help scale the company. Later, he discussed his involvement as an investor in several fast growing food brands and how he advises entrepreneurs when it comes to navigating a crowded and competitive market for natural foods. Brands in this episode: Manitoba Harvest, Dr. Bronner’s, Stonyfield, Love Good Fats, OM Mushroom

In this episode Stonyfield Organic’s Director of Sustainability Innovation, Lisa Drake, hopped on a call to answer all my questions about Stonyfield, their journey to B Corp certification and all the incredible work they are doing for people and planet. From their #PlayFree initiative to being on the frontline of lowering carbon emissions through soil sequestration with OpenTEAM, Stonyfield is responsibly different. Support the show (http://responsiblydifferent.com)

EP 082 - Jessica, the founder of Seaside Digital Design, is a web designer and brand strategist for Executive and Leadership Coaches. She helps coaches attract their ideal clients and repel the ones who aren't a great fit. She has over twenty years of experience working with multimillion dollar companies in marketing, business development, sales and influencer marketing, with companies including Pfizer, Walmart, prAna, Stonyfield and BJ's Wholesale. Jessica discusses her non-linear journey into entrepreneurship, and how she’s made several transitions in her life and career. We bond over our love of the beach and share lessons learned and real discussions around women in business.   Topics Discussed: Give us an overview of your corporate career. How did you get your business started? What kind of influencer content did you create? What were the first tasks you outsourced? What are your clients struggling with the most? What is the advantage to hiring a marketing and branding professional? How did you let go of the outcome and potential clients to niche down to your ideal client? How did you identify red flags? What are some lessons learned? What’s your piece of advice for your listeners? Website: https://www.facebook.com/seasidedigitaldesign Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seasidedigitaldesign/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/seasidedigitaldesign/    Join the networking group for aspiring female dropouts! The Dropout Social Network. This group is specifically designed to build a community and support system for ladies as they pursue their dropout journey.   Lauren works 1:1 with new and aspiring females dropouts who are ready to take charge of their life and start a business, so that they can make decisions from options and opportunities vs feeling stuck in their job. For more information, visit the website

Lisa is multi-talented as an artist, graphic designer, fashion designer, and writer. Always the entrepreneur, she has multiple creative businesses. Over the past 15 years, Lisa’s branding and graphic design firm, The Brand Goddess, has helped businesses both large and small find their distinct voice in the marketplace. From refocusing Stonyfield yogurt to Rocky Lalvani, host of the podcast The Richer Soul, Lisa has helped people and their businesses succeed. Lisa recently started Good Gangsta, an urban fashion brand promoting being positive and doing good. Her current best-selling item is a Ruth Bader Ginsburg Justice t-shirt with a portion of each purchase being donated to the ACLU. A woman of diverse talents and interests, Lisa’s mantra is, “I get paid to be me.” On any given day, she is creating—whether its branding, painting, writing or apparel and product design. Lisa explains, , “My life today is choosing to help people by doing the things I love and monetizing what I do best. “ Lisa lives with the joy of discovering what is it she loves and how she can use that interest to do good in the world.

Lisa is multi-talented as an artist, graphic designer, fashion designer, and writer. Always the entrepreneur, she has multiple creative businesses. Over the past 15 years, Lisa’s branding and graphic design firm, The Brand Goddess, has helped businesses both large and small find their distinct voice in the marketplace. From refocusing Stonyfield yogurt to Rocky Lalvani, host of the podcast The Richer Soul, Lisa has helped people and their businesses succeed. Lisa recently started Good Gangsta, an urban fashion brand promoting being positive and doing good. Her current best-selling item is a Ruth Bader Ginsburg Justice t-shirt with a portion of each purchase being donated to the ACLU. A woman of diverse talents and interests, Lisa’s mantra is, “I get paid to be me.” On any given day, she is creating—whether its branding, painting, writing or apparel and product design. Lisa explains, , “My life today is choosing to help people by doing the things I love and monetizing what I do best. “ Lisa lives with the joy of discovering what is it she loves and how she can use that interest to do good in the world.

Pour ce replay, nous sommes avec Christophe Audouin, le directeur général de Les 2 Vaches, filiale bio du Groupe Danone. Cétait un plaisir de découvrir les visions et la raison d'être de l'entreprise qui nous a beaucoup inspiré.Dans ce podcast passionnant, nous parlons : intrapreneuriat, relation startup et corporate (Danone), agriculture biologique, engagement pour une alimentation plus responsable, certification B. Corp et nous évoquons les nouveaux enjeux sociétaux : l’accompagnement des éleveurs, le bien-être animal, l’alternative aux produits laitiers...

Stonyfield Chairman and Co-Founder Gary Hirshberg joins Aaron to discuss the organic yogurt company he helped build in 1983 and the company’s role as a pioneer in planet-friendly business practices. Aaron and Gary explore how Gary was inspired to enact positive change amidst an era of geographical, environmental and industrial shifts, the false myth that earth is a subsidiary, the importance of accessible organic foods for everyone, and how the now-infamous yogurt from Lily Bell the Cow started it all. Tune into this episode to learn how this company pioneered the organic foods moo-vement, and learn more at stonyfield.com. Production Credits: Aaron Kwittken, Jeff Maldonado, Dara Cothran, Lindsay Hand, Katrina Waelchli, Meg Ruocco, Julia Brougher, Parker Jenkins, and Mathew Passy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

L’homme qui créé des yaourts avec une conscience !Nous sommes aujourd’hui avec Christophe Audouin, directeur général des « Prés Rient Bio », propriétaire des marques « Les 2 Vaches » et « Faire Bien » (groupe Danone). La Rencontre avec Christophe Audouin :Nous suivions Christophe depuis longtemps sur les réseaux sociaux, LinkedIn notamment. Son engagement pour une alimentation plus responsable nous a toujours particulièrement marqué. Nous étions curieux de connaître les dessous de la marque « Les 2 Vaches » et souhaitions comprendre l’origine de ce projet très singulier d’intrapreneuriat au sein du groupe Danone. Bref, nous rêvions de le rencontrer. Et, grâce à « Business of Bouffe », c’est chose faite !Dans cet épisode, enregistré dans les bureaux de Danone à Saint-Ouen, nous revenons sur le parcours de Christophe, et notamment sur l’aventure « Les 2 Vaches  ».Pourquoi la bouffe ?Christophe le reconnaît : il n’est pas forcement un grand épicurien. Pourtant, il entre dans l’univers Food dès l’enfance. Ses grands-parents, puis ses parents tenaient une crèmerie à Grenoble (ils vendaient d’ailleurs déjà le fameux « Petit Suisse », produit iconique du groupe Danone).Christophe est tombé dans le yaourt très jeune. C’est donc assez naturellement qu’il démarre sa carrière dans la branche Ultra Frais du groupe Danone. Il nous raconte qu’il a été marqué dans sa jeunesse par les valeurs du groupe et notamment par le discours en 1972 à Marseille d’Antoine Riboud (le PDG de l’époque) : « la responsabilité des entreprises ne peut plus s’arrêter au seuil des usines ». Il pose ainsi, selon lui, les fondations de la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (RSE).Vous découvrirez dans le podcast pourquoi, après 10 ans dans différents postes commerciaux, marketing et Supply Chain dans le groupe Danone, Christophe rejoint « Stonyfield France », qui deviendra l’entité intrapreneuriale et responsable du groupe, à l’origine des marques engagées « Les 2 Vaches » et « Faire Bien ».Parlons Business !Le projet des 2 Vaches s’inspire de l’aventure Stonyflied Farm, le n°3 des vendeurs de yaourts aux US, qui a la particularité de vendre uniquement des yaourts biologiques ! Christophe nous apprend, que dans les années 2000, chose surprenante, le marché bio est beaucoup plus mature aux US qu’en France !Stonyfield Farm a été créée dans les années 1980 par Gary Hirshberg, un enseignant agricole engagé et visionnaire qui voulait contribuer modestement à changer le modèle agroalimentaire et apporter des solutions concrètes pour régler la crise sociale et environnementale.En 2001, Danone rachète Stonyfield, et Frank Riboud, le PDG de l’époque, veut installer un modèle équivalent en Europe, s’inspirant des méthodes et de l’engagement indiscutable de Gary Hirshberg. Pour cela, tout doit être abordé différemment. Il se s’agit pas de lancer une nouvelle marque. Il faut travailler plus en profondeur et s’organiser différemment, comme une entreprise dans l’entreprise. C’est ainsi que « Les 2 Vaches » naissent chez Danone, comme un projet intrapreneurial à part, avec une raison d’être et un engagement très fort. Pour changer les choses et avoir de l’impact, cette organisation doit être agile et autonome, tout en s’assurant du soutient permanent du groupe car le rapport au temps, à la finance et aux retours sur investissement doivent être différent.Vous découvrirez dans le podcast comment Stonyfield France, devenu « Les Prés Rient Bio » a réussi à s’organiser pour créer des marques réellement engagées « Les 2 Vaches » puis « Faire Bien » qui accompagnent et soutiennent les éleveurs bio.Vous découvrirez également que l’engagement des Prés Rient Bio s’étend aujourd’hui au-delà de la filière d’approvisionnement. La société a d’ailleurs récemment été certifiée B. Corp et a ajouté dans ses statuts sociaux sa raison d’être, à savoir :« Contribuer à résoudre la crise sociale et environnementale, et inspirer les autres »Cette raison d’être, qui a été voté par le seul et unique actionnaire : Danone, joue un rôle très important dans les grands arbitrages stratégiques et permet régulièrement de dépasser les critères économiques pour prendre des décisions responsables et durables.Les 2 Vaches en chiffres :1983 : Création de Stonyfield Farm aux US2001 : Rachat de Stonyfied Farm par Danone2006 : Création « Des 2 Vaches » par Stonyfield France2017 : « Stonyfield France » devient « les Pré Rient Bio »Aujourd’hui, Les 2 Vaches = 45 éleveurs bio partenairesMarché des yaourts bio en France : 300M€, soit 7% du marché global des yaourtsChiffre d’affaires Les 2 Vaches (sell-out estimé 2019) : 60 M€Croissance moyenne annuelle : environ +20% par anAu dessus de la croissance du marchéPlus forte croissance du groupe DanoneLes « Prés Rient Bio » est une entreprise profitable depuis 2012Les enjeux pour la suite ?Selon Christophe Audouin, le chantier est encore considérable. Il y’a encore beaucoup de choses à faire et les enjeux sont multiples. La priorité est de continuer à investir dans la filière et soutenir l’attractivité du métier d’éleveur. Dans les année à venir, il va falloir aller plus loin et s’attaquer en profondeur aux enjeux sociétaux, comme les rendements laitiers, la relève des agriculteurs qui partent en retraite ou encore le bien-être animal.En parallèle, il va falloir éduquer le consommateur afin qu’il remette de la valeur dans son alimentation et consomme mieux, pour sa santé et pour l’environnement.« À l’avenir, il va falloir acheter moins de produits laitiers, mais des produits laitiers de meilleure qualité. »Vous découvrirez dans le podcast comment Christophe Aundouin envisage de répondre à ces défis majeurs au sujet de notre alimentation, tout en préservant l’accessibilité des produits. Il faut, selon lui, pourvoir proposer des produits de grande qualité au plus grand nombre et ne surtout pas réserver ces produits à une élite.Nous avons aussi parlé de:Day by dayEpicerie KilogrammeMichel et AugustinL’épisode avec Edouard Morhange (Epicery) et notamment l’inspiration de la cuisine de sa grand mère qui lui a fait prendre conscience de l’importance de cusiner soit-même, et notamment des produits frais.Les Mères de LyonPour contacter Cristophe Audouin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophe-audouin-99714bb/Plus d’infos sur Les 2 Vaches :https://www.les2vaches.com/

This week’s Dairy Dialog podcast has four guests on a variety of dairy-related subjects.

This week’s Dairy Dialog podcast has four guests on a variety of dairy-related subjects.

It’s commonplace these days to see household and personal care products that are designed to be better for you and less harmful to the environment. But not too long ago, those items were few and far between, marketed by just a handful of brands -- one of which was Seventh Generation, a mail order business co-founded by Jeffrey Hollender. Launched in 1988, the company gradually evolved into a pioneering retail brand known for social responsibility and sustainable practices. In 2016, consumer products conglomerate Unilever purchased Seventh Generation for an estimated $700 million.  Despite an acrimonious split with the company in 2010, Hollender eventually returned as a board member in 2017. He’s also currently the CEO and co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), an advocacy group that represents the interests of socially responsible companies and an adjunct professor of sustainability and social entrepreneurship at NYU’s Stern Business School, as well as a member of the board at Greenpeace.  In the following interview, Hollender spoke about the ASBC’s mission, his initial foray into entrepreneurship, the genesis of Seventh Generation and how the company eventually grew into its own. He also explained why he embraced the nickname “Chief Inspired Protagonist” and what he believes were the reasons behind his ouster. Later, he discussed the ways in which he supports socially responsible companies and progressive causes and why he urges brand owners to confront the reality that their products may be “less bad” rather than truly good. Show notes:  3:16: Interview: Jeffrey Hollender, Co-Founder, Seventh Generation -- Hollender spoke with Taste Radio editor Ray Latif for an expansive conversation about his business career, which began with producing audio educational courses. He also explained why his mission in life is “to fundamentally alter the negative trajectory that our world is on” and how his work with the American Sustainable Business Council fits into that goal. Later, he discussed the creation of Seventh Generation, how he educated himself about the business of consumer products, his rift with co-founder Alan Newman and what sparked a turning point for the brand. Later, he spoke about why he stepped down as CEO and why he was unhappy with his replacement, and urged entrepreneurs to be extremely careful about their investment partners. Finally, he discussed how he evaluates opportunities to invest in early-stage companies, such as organic energy shot brand Kafina. Brands in this episode: Seventh Generation, Ben & Jerry’s, Stonyfield, Patagonia, Lego, Organic Valley, Magic Hat, Sustain Natural, Kafina Energy

On this week’s episode, we are joined by Kristina and Mairead of Stonyfield! Stonyfield is an organic yogurt producer that has a very strong grasp on the modern age of marketing.  Both Kristina and Mairead have an understanding on the ideas of marketing and promoting a business on social media. Some of the topics we cover this week are:Choosing the right influencers to partner withHow some influencers can provide more value than others (how to recognize this)How a company like Stonyfield has adapted to the modern marketing waysThe various ways to apply their stories into your business or future plansIf you have any topic ideas for the future, let us know on Instagram or the comment section on YouTube! Enjoyed this episode? Leave a review and send it to your best friend. Stay tuned for weekly episodes filled with practical tips, amazing conversations and incredible guests!  Support Stonyfield!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stonyfield/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stonyfieldStonyfield Podcast: https://www.npr.org/2017/11/13/551875796/stonyfield-yogurt-gary-hirshberg Follow us! Irie Lemon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irie.lemon/ Follow Liz of The Lemon BowlInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelemonbowl/Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelemonbowl/ Follow Vince of Irie KitchenInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/vinnymcintosh/Twitter: https://twitter.com/vincent_irie Helpful Links:Law of Attraction (book): https://www.amazon.com/Ley-Atraccion-Conceptos-Basicos-Ensenanzas/dp/1401917526Life Coach School Podcast: https://thelifecoachschool.com/Personality Hacker Podcast: https://personalityhacker.com/category/podcast/

It's that time of year again; back to school! If you have little lunches to pack you'll be happy to know we've got you covered. Everything from quick and easy things to make and prepare for packed lunches, to some kid-approved already prepared foods. Tune in and get packin'! General guideline; aim for three food groups, with at least one being a fruit or vegetable. Resources/Show Notes National School Lunch Fact Sheet Gina's favorite bentos (easily stackable so you can pack several lunches at once and then store in fridge. Also very easy to clean) Nicole's Favorite Rubbermaid containers Gina's favorite food thermos Sally's Favorite Lunch Packing Gear (Real Mom Nutrition) Didn't I Just Feed You Podcast (great episode about packing lunches)   Favorite lunch products RX nut butters  (when you have a kid who barely eats, but loves nut butter, you buy the ones with extra protein!) Stonyfield yogurts and tubes Sunbutter (Creamy) Fruit Strips (these are my kid's favorite!) Belvita Biscuits Wheat Thins (kids tend to like these...have you noticed? And they are 100% whole grain) Applesauce (preferably unsweetened.  Add cinnamon for flavor!) Delmonte fruit cups (preferably no sugar added) Chobani Flips (Paige doesn't love yogurt, but she will eat these!) Fruit by the Foot (I know, crazy right?  But these babies are good and only around 10g sugar!  I (Gina) pack these or another sweet snack in Paige's lunch on Fridays) Kacookies (a more nutrient dense cookie!) Mott's Fruit Snacks (again only 10 g sugar. Often times less than even those "healthier organic" brands!) Nutri-Grain Kids Snacks (we would consider this a "dessert with benefits", since it's sweet but comes with whole grains and some fortification!) Nature Valley  (Gina's favorite new products. Seriously yum.  Another "dessert with benefits". Only 8 g of sugar and also 3 g fiber and 5 g protein)   Favorite lunch simple "recipes" or non-product ideas Apples and Caramel or Nut Butter Pepperoni and Crackers Salads; Italian salad (have them add the dressing and shake it at school! Croutons and cheese are fun additions), Grain Salad (cooked quinoa with feta, dill, tomatoes, cucumbers and a little olive oil and salt) Edamame and corn salad with a hint of lime or salt (or both) (Hint: put the edamame and corn into their lunch frozen, it will be thawed by lunch, especially if it stays out of the fridge until they eat!) String Cheese with Cherry Tomatoes Almond Butter and Jelly Sandwiches Thermos food; soup (pack some crackers with it), pasta with sauce and meatballs (or just sauce with ground meat or turkey added), leftovers Leftovers (leftover pizza is Paige's favorite packed lunch. Of course!) Nicole's 10th Annual Chili Contest - Enter by 9/1/19!!

In this episode, we’re joined by Rizal Hamdallah, the Global Chief Innovation Officer of Ocean Spray, for a discussion about how companies of all sizes can use innovation to positively impact the food system. Hamdallah recently arrived at Ocean Spray from Tyson Foods, where he served as managing director of the company’s Innovation Lab, an incubation unit designed to rapidly bring new and potentially disruptive products to market. In his current role, he’s focused on a similar mission: helping the farmer-owned cooperative develop new, health-focused products.  As part of our conversation, Hamdallah explained why he’s bullish about the future of personalized nutrition, how the company attempts to “develop and deliver innovative products that consumers didn't even know they needed,” why he views Ocean Spray’s size as a key advantage over smaller companies, and why he’s critical of how some brands are promoting sustainability. Show notes: 1:16: Livin’ That New-Age Life -- The hosts sipped and snacked their way through a dozen new food and beverage products sent to the office over the past week, including CBD-infused coconut water and coffee, cheese-dusted granola, and chocolate-covered chickpeas. Later on, Mike remarked on the number of new hydration-focused powders coming to market. 15:33: Rizal Hamdallah, Global Chief Innovation Officer, Ocean Spray -- In an interview recorded at Ocean Spray’s new Boston office, Hamdallah spoke with Taste Radio editor Ray Latif about his new role with the company, why he views Boston as a key hub for the food and beverage industry, how he defines “innovation” and the elements of an innovative concept. He also explained why companies need to incorporate the “self-centered” mentality of modern consumers into their innovation strategy, why leaders have to “walk the walk,” and why testing and learning must include constant iteration. Finally, he offered his take on a few major food trends, including plant-based formulations, reduced sugar and sustainability. Brands in this episode: C-WTR, Good Day, Nix and Kix, Seven Teas, Moti, Health-Ade Kombucha, Coco To Go, Bumble and Butter, Smartfood, Stonyfield, lil'gourmets, Lebby Snacks, Biena, Whoppers, Gatorade, BodyArmor, Skratch Labs, Superieur Electrolytes, Cure Hydration, Benni, SoS Hydration, Liquid I.V., Barnacle Foods, Ocean Spray, Tyson Foods

This week's Episode of the Between Meals Podcast was created in partnership with MegaFood®. I'm proud to work with brands who care about the health of their consumers and the planet. As always, all opinions are my own.    When it comes to climate change, to combat the catastrophic impact on the health of the earth and humans, it starts from the ground up.  Literally -- we are talking about SOIL! While farming and herbicides may not seem like a conversation that is relevant to most of you, I urge you to stick around. We need to be looking at how we are feeding our soil, so it can continue to feed us. Just like the human body has the microbiome of the gut, the soil has its own microbiome and without a healthy microbiome, the rest of the organism - the earth - it cannot thrive! In this episode of the Between Meals Podcast I am joined by Sara Newmark, VP of Social Impact at MegaFood. We are chatting about regenerative agriculture and the impact it has on climate change and the environment, our health and why you should care. Additionally, I have shared on the website in the past, about the impacts of glyphosate on the health of our body and the health of our soil and we touch on the efforts being made to ban the use of glyphosate, what you can look for and all the many ways you can get involved both in supporting regenerative agriculture and banning glyphosate.   In this Episode We Discuss: What regenerative agriculture is and why it matters. How is agriculture and farming related to climate change? How will regenerative agriculture improve soil health? What will happen if nothing is done to improve the health of our soil What are the impacts this can have on the environment and our health? The most common regenerative agriculture practices. How regenerative agriculture can help companies meet sustainability goals. Pending legislation supporting regenerative farming practices. What is the Healthy Farm Standard? What are some of the things MegaFood is doing to support regenerative agriculture? MegaFood's efforts to ban the use of glyphosate and how this initiative relates to regenerative agriculture  How can you get involved in the regenerative agriculture movement and in banning the use of glyphosate in your food and so much more!!!   More about MegaFood's Commitment to Social Impact Initiatives: MegaFood is B-Corp certified, which enables the company to make progress in solving the needs of a world in nutritional crisis. While MegaFood has always aligned with the social impact standards, with the formal B-Corp Certification in 2017, MegaFood has also implemented the following strategic social impact initiatives:   Revised corporate bylaws to include social, environmental and economic diligence, ensuring the company stays on course, regardless of short-term and/or financial factors.   Established its Healthy Farm Standard program, aimed at improving our agricultural system by building carbon-rich soil and increasing the nutrient density of food. This new open standard will help farmers track and improve outcomes and help reach shared goals to ultimately support the health of our soil and build thriving communities.   Began development of a global verification standard for food grown in a regenerative way in partnership with The Carbon Underground and Green America, that results in improved soil health, improved human health, and a reduction of the threat from climate change. This work builds upon the Regenerative Agriculture Initiative that has over 150 companies, organizations and scientists as signatories.    Became the first supplement brand to obtain glyphosate residue free (GRF) certification for its entire line of products. The certification was granted by The Detox Project, an independent research and certification organization, after MegaFood submitted its products to an independent, third-party laboratory for testing and was found to have met The Detox Project's stringent standards. More recently, the brand has partnered with Environmental Working Group (EWG) and several additional food and nutrition brands, including Ben & Jerry's and Stonyfield, to petition the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the use of glyphosate as a desiccant before harvest. With this petition MegaFood aims to raise awareness of the potentially unsafe levels of glyphosate residue found in our foods today.    Integrated social impact as a crucial role in company-wide performance evaluations.    Additional Resources:   http://tasty-yummies.com/what-is-glyphosate/   You can learn more about Megafood's social impact work and efforts to ban glyphosate: https://www.megafood.com/category/activism/glyphosate-free-what-about-food.html   Learn more about MegaFood's farm partners: https://www.megafood.com/meet-our-farmers/friends-of-megafood.html Learn more about the petition to ban Glyphosate:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/megafood-seeks-ban-on-use-of-glyphosate-as-a-desiccant-through-epa-petition-300722355.html   To read and learn more about the Healthy Farm Standard:https://www.megafood.com/healthy-farm-standard.html    

Healthy Travel Tips: Be prepared- always have food and water with you so that you aren't quick to make a bad choice. Some of Julie’s favorite foods to travel with are salads, saving the plastic containers that your lettuce comes in or put your salad in a gallon ziplock bag. Remember to keep your salad dressing separate so that your lettuce doesn't get wilted. The small disposable condiment containers can be found near the sandwich bags or aluminum foil. For protein, wild caught tuna is great (Wild Planet or Safe Catch are good brands), leftover chicken works well also.  For a plant-based protein, consider chickpeas, lentils, quinoa, or hemp seeds. Keeping a small bottle of olive oil in your purse and asking for fresh lemon at a restaurant makes a good healthy salad dressing :) Using those to condiment containers are a great way to store snacks like nut butter and mixed nuts. Fruit that does not require refrigeration such as apples, oranges, peaches or bananas is another great traveling snack. Veggies like mini carrots and peppers are good to snack on with hummus or guacamole. Crackers are good to eat as well with your salad, hummus or guacamole. Julie's homemade trail mix: raisins or dried cranberries, mixed nuts, and chocolate chips.  If you are taking a cooler, freeze some yogurt pops, such as Stonyfield. Julie also recommends Siggis brand for a traditional dairy yogurt and Kite Hill for dairy free alternative. Make sure that you also have water bottles in the cooler too. If you are going on a long road trip and you are trying to make good choices, consider putting your snacks out of arms reach so that you are not just snacking to snack. For hotel travel, Julie takes a small cooler and uses the hotel's mini-fridge and free ice. As far as the continental breakfast, boiled eggs with some Everything But The Bagel seasoning (carry with you) sprinkled on top with hot sauce are a fav. Yogurt and fruit from the breakfast bar is also another good option. For air travel, make sure that you have a stainless steel water bottle and your favorite essential oils to stay hydrated.   Favorite Brands   Crackers/Chips: Mary’s Gone Crackers Simple Mills Farm Crackers Siete Tortilla Chips   Mixed Nuts: Back to Nature Trader Joes   Great Fruits to travel with: Apple Banana Orange   Veggies for snacking with hummus or guac: Carrots Cucumbers Peppers   Guacamole: Wholly guacamole (single serve containers)   Bars: RX bars (chocolate sea salt are delish) Lara Bars Epic   Popcorn: Angie’s or Skinny Pop or kettle corn   Nut butters (Almond is a fav): Trader Joes Santa Cruz Rx Butter   Yogurt: Siggis Kite Hill   Things to keep in your purse: Small bottle of olive oil Everything But the Bagel seasoning   Chocolate Energy Bites recipe: http://www.anaturalshift.com/energy-bites/   Connect with us→ via social media: Facebook: www.facebook.com/anaturalshift Instagram: www.instagram.com/anaturalshift/ Follow Julie-->www.instagram.com/julieanndavey/ Follow Kari--> www.instagram.com/karicoody/   On the web: www.anaturalshift.com   Check out our FREE goodies for you! ebooks: https://anaturalshift.com/free-e-books/ Printables: https://anaturalshift.com/free-printables/   Links to listen:

Sometimes new foods aren't so foreign just packaged in a new way. Something to try....freezing those tubes of yogurt makes an excellent after school snack or low sugar dessert for you or your kiddos. We love the organic Stonyfield brand.  These even can go into a lunch box as they should defrost by lunch time. Also a great trick if they are expiring....freezing them will give you more time. Come see us on Instagram www.instagram.com/theguudcompany 

Gary Hirshberg, co-founder and Chief Organic Optimist at Stonyfield Organic, started his business with seven cows and funding from a group of Catholic nuns. Today, Stonyfield is one of the nation’s leading yogurt brands, with a commitment to healthier people, healthier business, and healthier planet. If you haven’t caught on from Gary’s title, organic is central to Stonyfield’s history, purpose, and market leadership. It’s not a buzzword—Stonyfield product is currently produced by thousands of organic cows, 200,000+ acres of organic fields, and hundreds of family farmers. Gary joined Purpose 360 to share his company’s history of social activism and how Stonyfield stuck to its values, mission, and culture (get it?!) through two sales and a rapidly-shifting consumer marketplace. Our favorite insights include: Be a supply chain champion: Many purpose-at-the-center companies integrate purpose in every aspect of operations. A fraction of those integrate purpose into their entire supply chain (and, not all companies have the capacity or control to do so). Stonyfield’s success is attributable in large part to the company’s extensive investment in supporting an organic supply chain—key to that is equipping small family farms with the resources they need to thrive. Look for unexpected, but authentic issues: Stonyfield’s support of organic farming and small farmers will never change. But today, the company supports a somewhat unexpected—but logical—social issue: the use of harmful chemicals on community playing fields. The StonyFIELDS #PlayFree Initiative aims to help communities across the U.S. convert playing fields to organic fields. Let your product do the talking: Literally. Stonyfield had limited-to-no advertising budget early on. Instead, Stonyfield used its packaging to tell the company’s story. Lids—the most visible part of the package—educated consumers not just about the company, but about social issues the company supported, from climate change to solar energy. Resources + links Stonyfield Company History StonyFIELDS #PlayFree Gary’s book: Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World

Sonja Overhiser is a dreamer and a doer, and author of the cookbook Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the “best vegetarian cookbooks” by Epicurious. A professional writer and recipe developer, her vegetable forward recipes are inspired by seasonal produce and adventures traveling the globe everywhere from Mexico to the Mediterranean. Fueled by her passion for connecting people with recipes and information on how to learn to cook, she and her husband Alex founded the popular food blog A Couple Cooks, where they advocate for a healthy approach to cooking, celebrate creativity and connection, and champion the power of gatherings to bring us together. Sonja also hosts the A Couple Cooks Podcast, featuring interviews with leading authors, chefs, entrepreneurs, and food personalities. Sonja has developed recipes and acted as on screen host for videos for a long list of national brands including ALDI, Stonyfield, and Kroger. Featured everywhere from the TODAY Show to Oprah to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time. Sonja is passionate about community, unity, and empowering women entrepreneurs. She speaks at events empowering women in business and is co-founder of Indy Women in Food, an organization to support women working in the food industry in Indianapolis. You’ll find her also geeking out about mentorship, creativity, sustainability, food access, and social justice. Mama to an adventurous and food loving toddler Larson, Sonja lives in Indianapolis with her husband Alex. Her obsessions include craft coffee, farmer’s markets, B Corps, rosé, the Mediterranean, good conversation, and making the world a better place. Her favorite phrase is, "Pitch me your good idea, and let’s make it happen."

Mentioned in the episode: https://votesaveamerica.com/ballot Information on how your representatives have voted on the environment from the EWG (Environmental Working Group) President's Cancer Panel - evidence that pesticides are leading to increased cancer diagnoses (from 2010) I've talked about it many times before, but my trip to Sonoma earlier this year with Stonyfield Organic was truly life-changing. While I had a sense of the importance of organic food and the organic movement, I wasn't fully aware of the impact it actually had. To be honest, I hadn't interacted with the farmers, learned about how their practices differ and really the art that is organic food until this trip. Once Pandora's Box had been opened, it was hard to go back. One of the things that made this trip so phenomenal was getting to share it with Stonyfield's co-founder Gary Hirshberg. When it comes to yogurt and organics, he might be the most knowledgable person in the room. He's also incredibly inspiration so getting to hear his story in person left a profound impact on me. As I'm sure many of you know, we have a very important election coming up next week. There are many hot-button issues from healthcare to women's rights to immigration and while I wish I could dedicate an episode of the show to each, it just wasn't a possibility. But when it comes to the environment, I knew exactly who to ask to join me on the show in discussing the impact of this election on our planet. In addition to co-founding Stonyfield, Gary is also the founder of Just Label It, a coalition of voices in the organics space lobbying government for increased transparency in food labeling. Clearly, he's a busy man so I'm honored and excited to have him on the show today. Here are a few things we talked about in today's episode: How Gary got started in organics in the 1970s What led Gary to found Stonyfield and how it has evolved The benefits of choosing organic - for the planet and your body What is glyphosate and how is it affecting our bodies and the planet Why organic can absolutely feed the world The lack of government support for organics and why this matters How to vote with your dollar but also with your vote Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else! http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you! Follow Gary + Stonyfield:  Website: https://www.stonyfield.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stonyfield/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stonyfield 

You never know who you're going to get into a Lyft with at a conference. Lucky for me, it was Gabrielle Blair from the blog, Design Mom, and founder of the Alt Summit Conference. Listening to her, I learned so much about how to be a super successful creative entrepreneur. Gabby was one of the first design-focused bloggers, and she paired that with being a mother to six kids. In our conversation, we talk about how she started her blog and grew it, how she and her family started the Alt Summit Conference for other creative entrepreneurs. We even go deep and talk about Gabby's battle with depression, how so much of what we both do as bloggers isn't exactly "real," and how we both deal with comparing ourselves to others. Gabby is such a down-to-earth, honest, kind person, you will love our wide-ranging conversation! Resources: Design Mom Alt Summit Darlybird Dooce Apartment Therapy Design Sponge Oh Happy Day Say Yes Freshly Picked Solly Baby Tubby Todd Emily Henderson Kinfolk Books MiloTree Transcript: How to Be a Super Successful Creative Entrepreneur with Gabrielle Blair Host: [00:00:03] Welcome to The Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian: [00:00:10] Hey everyone. Welcome back to the show today. I am excited to bring on my friend, Gabrielle Blair. Now Gabrielle and I really we just met in a Lyft on the way back from the airport to the Mom 2.0 Conference Jillian: [00:00:30] But I have known you from afar. You are the brains and the creativity behind both Design Mom, which is a blog that you've had since you started in 2006. Gabrielle: [00:00:44] Yes. Jillian: [00:00:44] And you're also the founder of a conference that I've been dying to go to called Alt Summit, which is a conference for creative entrepreneurs and influencers and you have such a beautiful blog. So Gabrielle, welcome to the show. Gabrielle: [00:01:00] I am so glad to be here. Thank you for the invitation. Jillian: [00:01:03] And it was so serendipitous that we were waiting in line and you said screw this, we're taking a Lyft, and we got in the Lyft with a random group of people and you paid for the Lyft, which was so generous. And I said to you, would you be on my podcast? Gabrielle: [00:01:18] And I said yes. Jillian: [00:01:19] And you said yes. So will you, because I don't know your story. I've known you. But I don't know your story so you tell me from the beginning, how you started this and one other thing we have to talk about in this is that you have six children. Gabrielle: [00:01:34] This is true. I have six kids, but they're not all toddlers anymore. So whatever you're picturing, it's probably not what you're thinking. Gabrielle: [00:01:44] I'm happy to share my story. You bet. So Design Mom was started in 2006. This is 12 years ago this month, July and I had just had Baby Number Five two months before, and I worked and lived in New York. Gabrielle: [00:02:02] I worked in the city as an art director at an advertising agency. And I loved my job, but after babies, once we were getting so many kids at home, I knew I needed a break where I could do sort of like an extended maternity leave, where I can maybe work at home, do some freelance that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:02:19] And I also knew by this time having had lots of babies that I go crazy if I don't have something creative to do after the baby's born. It's just sort of classic postpartum depression, you know you get overwhelmed. And if I had something to engage my brain that was creative and exciting, I could avoid some of that. Dealing with depression as a blogger Gabrielle: [00:02:37] Which is great. And I'm very open about having dealt with depression and dealing with depression daily, so you can read about that on Design Mom if you ever want to. But we won't talk about that right now. Gabrielle: [00:02:52] So blogs were around, but were still pretty new and most of the blogs I read were essay blogs and I really loved them. But I attempted to write an essay on a blog post once, and just went, Oh yeah I'm not good at this. Gabrielle: [00:03:06] This is not, you know, I had barely done any writing at that point in my life, and was really just a designer. That was where my focus was, on graphic design and art direction. Early design blogs Gabrielle: [00:03:15] But then I found Design Sponge and Oh Joy. And they were both design blogs that are still around, but they were very new. And you'll remember this is before any kind of social media, it was just blogs. And so a blog post might be what would be like a pin now, where it would be cute shoes. I love the cat pattern or you know what I mean. Like just something so simple. And that would be a blog post on a design blog. [00:03:41] Like a product image and a statement or it could be so short and you might do this multiple times a day. Because again it's like an Instagram or a pin or or a status update. Gabrielle: [00:03:54] So I saw that and went, Oh well that I can probably handle, it's very visual, very minimal writing and I can fit that in if I'm in the middle of a night nursing the baby or whatever. I just have a few minutes it doesn't have to be like an intensive eight hour block of work time. So I called it Design Mom. Gabrielle: [00:04:17] And at the time again I'm in New York, and I was 31, and here I just had my fifth baby. But most of my peers were just getting married or having their first baby. Jillian: [00:04:29] Wow. How old were you when you had your first baby? Gabrielle: [00:04:32] I was 23. Jillian: [00:04:33] Wow. Being an early pro at motherhood Gabrielle: [00:04:34] So for my peers in New York, as they're just having their first one like I am a total pro. Right? You know, they're having their first and I just had number five so they're asking me for advice as a mom, but also you know, it's New York you want to be a cool mom. So they're asking me like where did you find cute cute toddler shoes? And do you throw a first birthday party? Who's invited? The kid doesn't really have friends yet. Gabrielle: [00:05:00] Anyway that just stuff like that. I'm getting asked advice or do you use a sling or do you you know, use a carrier pack and which brand and what was the best looking option. What about diaper bags and just everything you know maternity clothes all of it. Gabrielle: [00:05:13] So I was getting asked questions by friends, my neighbors, my co-workers, naturally and I thought well I could cover that on a blog and talk about parenting but kind of through this design lens. Design Mom and the tagline from the beginning was the intersection of design and motherhood. Gabrielle: [00:05:31] And this is what I'm going to cover and that's what I did. That's what I've covered it was just ideas I had, or again I'd find some great deal on something or a new product that was cool or whatever it might be, and talk about it. And I would post three times a day and that was the average sometimes more and it took off. So this was even before Google Analytics this is I mean 2006 was a whole different world. Jillian: [00:05:57] And this was the time where, tell me if this is how you did it, but you would have your favorite blogs and you check them every day. Gabrielle: [00:06:04] Oh yeah. Because again, no social media. This was amazing. So I didn't have Google Analytics but there was a product called Track-See, a little software that you could put on your blog and it would count how many followers or who was coming. Gabrielle: [00:06:21] It was revelatory for me because my blog post might get five or six comments. Usually people I knew in real life, neighbors or co-workers or family members. But I put Track See on and I could see,oh there are a hundred and fifty people that came to my blog today and I don't know any of them, you know you would just have their IP address. And maybe their city and I would go, whoa what in the world. I was just amazing. Gabrielle: [00:06:49] So so it was trying to figure out, well how can I get them to speak out more and you know like how could I get them to sort of acknowledge their presence. How do I do that you know? Because I think it's amazing that these many people are reading. It just blew my mind. Of course now I have much bigger traffic. But at the time that was a big deal to see that there were over 100 people reading. The first blog giveaway started with Design Mom Gabrielle: [00:07:12] So I said, well what if I did giveaway and I've been credited for inventing the first blog giveaway. I don't know if you can even track that down. But I thought I need to give them an excuse to comment. So what if there's a prize and you can say anything you want and you just have a comment to win? Gabrielle: [00:07:31] So my one of my husband's friends from high school, I knew she had started a cool little shop called Darlybird. And I reached out to her and said, Hey would you be up for offering a prize and it will be comment to win and it's just this idea I have, and then you know you'll ship the prize to the winner and we'll just randomly pick someone you know pick a number kind of thing and let's just try it. Gabrielle: [00:07:57] And she's like, sure. How about a pair of earrings and a bracelet, or you know she came up with a prize. So I did it and I had the instructions that said OK we're going to try something new. Comment. You can say anything you want, I even gave sample comments so you know to help them out. Jillian: [00:08:15] Wow. Gabrielle: [00:08:16] Like, Wow this is cute. Or you can say, Neato! or I want to win! You know you're basically just really simple because I knew there was a few barriers for that. You know, people weren't used to commenting that wasn't a thing. And then there was a little captcha. And that the first time you see it you're like What is this?  You know that feels like an extra hurdle. Gabrielle: [00:08:35] And then of course it's intimidating to know you your words are just out there and your name might be associated with them, so I let them know. Oh you can. You can leave anonymous comment. You just need to have a real email address so I could contact you. But no one can see your email address. Gabrielle: [00:08:48] I'm kind of training them right. Teaching them how honesty works. And it was amazing so not all 100 plus readers commented but like 70 did. Jillian: [00:08:59] Wow. Gabrielle: [00:09:00] And I'm getting calls from all these people in real life that read my blog, you know neighbors are going. Who are these people? Where do they come from? Because of course they hadn't seen the stats from that. Jillian: [00:09:14] So they said this was just like a personal blog. Jillian: [00:09:17] Right. So they just thought OK so they're reading and the couple you know the few people commenting or reading, my sister's friends from church, friends in the neighborhood, you know things like that. Gabrielle: [00:09:28] And so they could not have been more shocked and I wasn't shocked because I knew I had seen the stats, but I still was shocked in that I didn't think 70 would, I thought I would maybe get 20 or something like that. Gabrielle: [00:09:40] So it was very exciting and immediately like the same day I got emails from must have been 10 or 15 different bloggers saying hey can I copy this? Can I copy and paste instructions? Can I do this because it was so effective. It's great way to sort of train people how to comment on a blog. Gabrielle: [00:09:59] And then of course it took off, and now it's just ubiquitous and of course are sort of obnoxious at this point. But it was a big deal at the time and I remember also having to explain to people. Every time there's a giveaway does that mean I get the prize. It goes directly to you, I usually don't even see it in person. Gabrielle: [00:10:20] Because they are already troubled with the idea that like I'm getting spoiled somehow by these I don't know. Anyway it was interesting. It's so intimate so personal, they don't like the idea that someone's making money from blogging at the time. Jillian: [00:10:38] Then how did you start monetizing online? Design Mom starting to monetize her blog Gabrielle: [00:10:41] OK so once I could see that there was traffic, once this giveaway thing took off. I was like, oh there's something here. No one was really monetizing their blog outside of display ads. I remember Heather Armstrong, Dooce had display ads and that was really kind of how you did it that, was it. Gabrielle: [00:11:01] And so but I felt like there was something there and I didn't have like an ad network to do to do display ads although within the next couple of years I got one but at first I just didn't even know how that worked or or how to how to go about that. Gabrielle: [00:11:15] So I started doing sponsorships right away just for trades. So one of the earliest ones I did is we were moving from New York, and we're moving to Colorado. And I approached I pitched moving companies. Moving moving across country is a big thing. Gabrielle: [00:11:35] And I approached moving companies and said I'm going to take these pictures on this blog post, you know gave them examples, showed them that some of that sample giveaways and just other stats I had at the time and said do you want to do a trade? Gabrielle: [00:11:50] I'll write about you, showcase the whole thing will do X number of blog posts. You know when we arrived, the unpacking all of this stuff make sure we're showing your trucks and let's trade. And Mayflowers said yes. So which was great because it is very very visual trucks so it worked really well. The green and yellow and they're really distinctive and for photography and stuff it was wonderful. Gabrielle: [00:12:18] This is pre-social media too. So blog content is really what the sponsor's getting. Then once I had that once I had built some of those trades I could actually start asking for money instead of trade. Gabrielle: [00:14:45] Trades are great, especially if you need it, but they don't buy groceries unless you're writing for grocery stores. I still I mean, I'm 12 years in, I'm established, I do this full time. I have plenty of paid sponsorships but I will still approach companies for a trade. If it's something that I need and I can get a great value out of that I'm totally fine with that. Jillian: [00:15:08] So give me an example of a trade that you recently did. How to approach brands about a trade as a blogger Gabrielle: [00:15:14] Sure, so I'm working on one right now for my boys' bedroom. My oldest son is getting home from two years abroad in Colombia. We haven't seen him for two years. He's been on a mission and he's getting home. Gabrielle: [00:15:27] We're redoing the boys' bedroom because while he's been gone it's been sort of half guestroom. It's just been in transition. So we're going OK he's getting home, he's older now. He probably won't even live in this room very long, but I want him to have a space when he gets home that feels like his own. You know just feel like he's got a spot. Gabrielle: [00:15:45] So I approached Room and Board, who I've worked with before and said, "Hey how about how about the social media package and blog package?" And I basically will price out OK I'm going to give you X number of post and X number of Facebook and X number of Instagram and I value that X number of dollars and then they'll trade for that amount of credit. Gabrielle: [00:16:08] And then I can use that to buy furniture and if I still have credit left over I could use it to buy additional product although usually I max it out. You know for the room, and it really gets decked out and have a good time. Jillian: [00:16:19] Got it. Gabrielle: [00:16:21] So that works great for me. I know I'm going to need to spend that money. It's great content. I know I can't buy groceries with it but that's fine. I can do other sponsorships for grocery money. Jillian: [00:16:32] So how often are you doing sponsored posts now? Gabrielle: [00:16:37] Oh it all depends. I feel like I aim for two to three a month right now seems to be a good amount. Jillian: [00:16:44] OK. And do you use a team of people to help you? Or are you the one taking the photographs? Hiring people to help with sponsored blog posts Gabrielle: [00:16:55] Yes and no. So I have had big teams in the past. I've had big teams of contributors and now I'm pretty barebones right now because I've shifted a lot of energy to Alt Summit. Gabrielle: [00:17:08] But basically what I have is I hire photographers, like I have a shoot for Room and Board tomorrow in store and I'll hire a photographer for that. Gabrielle: [00:17:16] So I have several local photographers here in the Bay Area that I know I can reach out to for basically a half day shoot, you know, come for two or three hours maybe up to four to shoot something at my house, or somewhere else other things I'd totally shoot myself. Gabrielle: [00:17:30] Often I'll shoot a shot recently for Stonyfield, my own kids. I'll shoot books myself. I shoot lots myself because I do things so last minute and that's just a function of a full life. I'm not trying to be a jerk about it, but it's just a function of how full my life is right now. Gabrielle: [00:17:51] It's hard to hire out somethings like there are definitely posts where I think, Oh I definitely should have hired someone to do this and I didn't do it in time and now I've got to do it. You know what I mean. I didn't. Because where I can do something the day of or the night before, I can't really ask that of someone I'm hiring. Gabrielle: [00:18:09] So I do have a great food contributor Lindsay Rose Johnson. She's been with me for years and years and years. If I do have a food post and I give her enough time she's amazing it's not like she needs months, but I don't want to ask her the day of. So she's amazing. Gabrielle: [00:18:25] If I have a craft project Amy Christie is a longtime contributor for me, and she's great at shooting. If I have an idea for a DIY but I don't have time to execute it myself, she's fantastic. Gabrielle: [00:18:36] What I'm trying to do I put out a call for an editor. I got amazing applications and then haven't actually had time to hire someone. Gabrielle: [00:18:47] My hope is that I will hire someone that can really help maintain daily content where I can check in with like when I have like a longer form post that I really want to discuss. Gabrielle: [00:19:03] Because Design Mom has transformed. Now it's almost all long form, it's one post a day. You know that kind of thing. But there are some things where it would be no problem to get a contributor. Gabrielle: [00:19:13] Like if I'm doing a shopping post or it might be a roundup of things I've found online that other articles that kind of thing where I really could get help. And then when it's something where it needs to be my voice like we're discussing a social issue or a parenting issue that I can really get in and write that. Gabrielle: [00:19:32] So I'm hoping to build my team up again in a way that I can keep Design Mom vibrant but also concentrate a lot of time on Alt Summit. Jillian: [00:19:41] So I have to stop you. You do one long form blog post a day? Gabrielle: [00:19:51] That's a little bit of an exaggeration. So, long form compared to when I used to do three posts a day? Yes. Because my three posts a day were you know two or three paragraphs and a photo. Or it might even be one paragraph and a photo. Gabrielle: [00:20:07] And now, a longer form might be it's 1,000 words or 3000 words and tons of photos or only one photo and a long essay. They are definitely longer form. If I can do one of those a week that's terrific. Gabrielle: [00:20:21] A Home Tour I usually do on Tuesdays and I do have a man named Josh Bingham. He's been editor of those for a while and it's been great. So he can help with that. And really what he does is you know compile it and put it online so then I can edit it from there you know. Jillian: [00:20:40] Wow. Yeah I mean I was on your blog today looking at your content and I didn't realize that you were posting every day! Getting comfortable writing as a blogger Gabrielle: [00:20:48] Yeah. And then I don't know if we count a shopping post, like I get pretty verbose at this point I'm like where I went from not being able to write an essay when I started in 2006. I mean I have a bestselling book now. I write a ton. Gabrielle: [00:21:02] So writing, I'm not very fast in it but I am comfortable writing now. I did one on a recent blog post is on four picture books. It's pretty minimal writing. So I just took more time to do the photos and the writing. Gabrielle: [00:21:20] And then my Friday links. I don't know that we call that long form, they do take a ton of research it's basically me collecting links throughout the week that I think are compelling that I want to share with readers and I'll do some introductory. Jillian: [00:21:35] We have to discuss this. What does your work schedule look like? Especially how many kids do you have at home? Because I know a couple of them are grown, too. Gabrielle: [00:21:45] Well this summer I have five at home. So yes my oldest is on this mission in Columbia as I mentioned. My second just spent her freshman year at Berkeley, which is just across town so she was in the dorms but not too far and she's been home for the summer. Gabrielle: [00:22:01] She's working full time so I don't see a ton of her right now but she is around. So really it's just the four, a high schooler two middle schoolers and a third grader. Jillian: [00:22:14] OK. So could you explain what your life looks like. What life looks like as a blogger with six kids Gabrielle: [00:22:19] Sure. I mean it's pretty crazy but I want to start with, my husband and I both came from big families where both of us are one of eight. Jillian: [00:22:30] OK. Gabrielle: [00:22:31] Number 5 in line and number 7 in line in his in his family, so we were used to an element of chaos. It just was normal to us and we knew we wanted a big family. Gabrielle: [00:22:40] So for sure our days would be too chaotic for a lot of people, which I totally understand and I'm not advocating that anyone else needs to do this but but it's also kind of normal for us. Gabrielle: [00:22:51] So a day that might stress someone else out, might seem like pretty normal at our house. Gabrielle: [00:22:58] So in the summer it's going to be different than the school year obviously. Last week was pretty crazy. Three of the girls were doing this skateboarding camp and then they went directly to swim team and then they had play rehearsal. Gabrielle: [00:23:14] But the play ended this week is going to be much more casual we have it's a much easier week but the kids are all old enough now they really can take care of themselves. They need rides but they don't need babysitters. Gabrielle: [00:23:28] So they can get up. They can work on an activity. They might climb our trees, we have these pretty epic trees where you have to put on climbing gear. Gabrielle: [00:23:39] They might bake, they really love baking. They might put on a play or make a movie someday if they're in the mood to be creative, or they might try and sneak in as much screen time as they can and just watch YouTube videos. Gabrielle: [00:23:52] You know typical summer day stuff they I don't really have to like take time to feed them lunch you know. Dinner yes, we'll all gather for dinner. But they can kind of take care of themselves. Jillian: [00:24:03] But are you working? Are you working between carpool? Or are you saying guys, I am working. Gabrielle: [00:24:09] Well my husband and I both work at home. Jillian: [00:24:13] OK. Is he your partner? Does he do Alt Summit stuff? Gabrielle: [00:24:16] He is not. He is part of a startup called Teacher.co and he is super busy in that and they're about to do an ICO. And he has a jam packed schedule. Gabrielle: [00:24:29] Over the years he has, you know, like we had a series of videos called All Of Us. That we did for scripts. We did like 40 episodes and he was a producer for those so he has worked with me before but really he has his own things. Which is awesome. He's does amazing stuff. Jillian: [00:24:45] Ok but do you like kick your kids out and go guys go to work? Gabrielle: [00:24:48] Yeah, totally so the kids know, I'm sitting with my laptop I've got to get worked on and they know that. But my workday gets interrupted a lot to drive. They're going to get picked up. Oh we got to do these errands. Gabrielle: [00:25:01] So my workday never really looks like I start working at 9:00 I end up 5 with a lunch break. That's not a thing. It's going to be I'm going to work from 8 to 10. But then I know we have to go run these two errands and then from 11 I have a phone call and then you know at 1:00 o'clock I'll get two more hours on the computer. Gabrielle: [00:25:20] But then after that, I've got something with the kids or something and then you know at 7:00, I can work again for a few more hours. Yeah I mean it might look like that. Jillian: [00:25:28] Wow. Gabrielle: [00:25:29] So I have my list of things I need to get done. I usually make that you know I'll update that in the morning. I'll find out my priorities at the top, the things that have to get done that day right. Gabrielle: [00:25:44] Those go at the top and then I tackle as much as I can. But I have to build a lot of flexibility in my days because it's real life going on, so yes you work hours but you also got to get the kids to the ortho appointment. Jillian: [00:25:56] Totally! And then there's food poisoning that takes the whole house. Gabrielle: [00:26:03] Right and then we're just out of groceries and we just have to go to the store. And there are tools I know out there, we just had a package from Amazon Prime Pantry. Have you ever tried that? Jillian: [00:26:17] Yes. Gabrielle: [00:26:17] You know that was delivered yesterday so there are some things I can do to try to use these services and I'm sure I could be better at that especially here in the Bay Area where all these startups began. So you can kind of access them before they even expand it to the rest of the country. Gabrielle: [00:26:32] But really, I feel like we do a lot of this just we don't use tools that we just go, OK we just go to the grocery store. What is the Alt Summit Conference? Jillian: [00:26:41] So can we talk about Alt Summit? Which is a conference that I have always wanted to go to. It seems like it is just so beautiful and cool. Gabrielle: [00:26:53] It is. Jillian: [00:26:54] And so you started this. So you said to yourself I'm going to start a conference? Gabrielle: [00:27:00] Well pretty much. So basically what happened was again, it's early blogging we were in 2009. So I've been blogging for a few years. My sister is a blogger. Her name is Jordan Ferney. Her blog is Oh Happy Day. Jillian: [00:27:14] Oh I love her. Gabrielle: [00:27:15] Yes, she's amazing. And my sister-in-law, married to my brother Jared, is also a blogger from Say Yes, Liz Stanley. So we had this blogger family and we were all on a family trip, and we were again since 2009. I guess it actually would have been 2008 because the first conference happened in January of 2009. Gabrielle: [00:27:36] So in 2008 we were talking and talking about conferences, and I started to go to a couple I've been to BlogHer and then helped start Mom 2.0 that first year, although I'm not an organizer now but just helped out that first year. Gabrielle: [00:27:53] Laura Maiz who is one of the key organizers, she also owns a part of Alt Summit, she is a longtime business partner of mine. So anyway that's the connection there. Gabrielle: [00:28:02] But I'm talking with my siblings we're all talking about these conferences, and I said well I've been to these conferences. It's awesome but they're really focused on writers or maybe kind of moms. Gabrielle: [00:28:14] A lot of the design blogs I was reading like Apartment Therapy or as I mentioned Design Sponge, Oh Joy. All these blogs I was reading in 2006 you know they're not at these conferences. The design blogs are not there and they're not really geared to design blogs. Gabrielle: [00:28:30] And so and like Jordan, who didn't have kids at the time, and Liz, who didn't have kids at the time, why would they have gone to Mom 2.0 Summit. And even BlogHer, they didn't really know any of those bloggers. It wasn't quite the right fit for them. Gabrielle: [00:28:44] So we were saying well, what if we did a conference for the blogs we read. You know these design blogs because I overlap both worlds with the name Design Mom I get to be a mom blogger and design blogger. Gabrielle: [00:28:56] But they were just strictly in the design blogging thing and this is before we were really even saying lifestyle blogs. So my sister Sarah who is not a blogger, but is awesome at organizing things said, yeah let's do a conference. I can be the event or the event planner or the organizer. And you guys can handle the speakers and content. Gabrielle: [00:29:19] Liz and Jordan didn't necessarily want to be involved in that, but I totally did. So Sarah and I really started this conference where I handled all the content, the speakers the programming. And she did the planning and it was and great. It was awesome. Jillian: [00:29:36] The thing about the conference is it's so true. They sell out immediately. Gabrielle: [00:29:41] They really do. It's like a two hour thing. Although I have to tell you this year we expanded for the first time in a big way. We've always kept these very small and it's kind of been obnoxious. Gabrielle: [00:29:54] I mean it's awesome to sell out, but then we get just these you know sob stories that people they really want to get there, and they didn't happen to be available in that two hour mark. They were in a meeting or whatever the tickets are gone. Gabrielle: [00:30:04] And we knew it was a problem and we'd try and open more. You know it was it was just a struggle. So we're really excited because I think I've solved that. I mean we'll see. We'll see how this year goes. Gabrielle: [00:30:17] But I had this flash of insight at some point as we were looking at locations and saying are we going to stay in Palm Springs, is time to move? Gabrielle: [00:30:27] And all the really cool hotels in Palm Springs the ones that I really love, The Park at Palm Springs and the Ace Hotel and Saguaro, they're amazing and they're memorable and you just love being there. Jillian: [00:30:38] Yes. Gabrielle: [00:30:39] They're not really big enough for a conference Jillian: [00:30:42] No. Gabrielle: [00:30:42] In fact Alt Summit was at the Saguaro the last two years. And we knew we were too big, and as we do surveys basically people would say, you guys this was awesome but this hotel is not big enough. Gabrielle: [00:30:52] I mean like we know but if we move to another hotel. It's just they become so generic so fast. Jillian: [00:30:58] Yeah. Gabrielle: [00:30:59] So you're at a Ritz Carlton or a fancy Hilton or whatever, it's just a big hotel with you know regular ballroom spaces they are split into classrooms. And then you compare those to these special properties in Palm Springs. Jillian: [00:31:13] And by the way we just have to say for people who don't know. Palm Springs is like a mid century fantasy like it is a designer's dream place. I mean my husband and I just drive around and look at the architecture. Yes. So I understand why you do it in Palm Springs. Gabrielle: [00:31:33] And we've all you know we did it had a big fancy hotel in Salt Lake for many years. We loved it. It was gorgeous. You know a five star hotel. Amazing. It's not like we're opposed to that, but we know having done it at these more distinctive spaces that it makes a big difference. Gabrielle: [00:31:47] And our social shares when we move to the Saguaro which is this Rainbow Hotel, our social shares went up by 30 percent. Well because it's basically the most Instagramable spot on the planet right now. Gabrielle: [00:32:00] And anyway so I was trying to figure out what to do because if we wanted to get a hotel, as I said it's really hard to find a hotel that has big meeting spaces but that is still really special and that doesn't feel sort of run of the mill. Gabrielle: [00:32:13] And we could transfer to something like, oh let's have like more of a warehouse feel on a pier or something. Jillian: [00:32:19] Right. Gabrielle: [00:32:19] But then it's not a one day conference, it's a month at a conference and people want to congregate at a hotel where they can hang out. So we know this and we were really stuck on where to have this. Gabrielle: [00:32:33] And then I thought well what if it was at all the coolest hotels in Palm Springs. None of them have a big enough room for you for everybody. But what if there was enough classes going on simultaneously at different locations where there's enough room for more people. But we still have this small feel, small classes and these really cool spaces. [00:32:57] So I'm really excited. We've expanded. We're going to have three times as many people, we're going to have 2,000 people there. We'll have four locations. And then because of these multiple locations, we looked to South by Southwest. And I've been to South by Southwest multiple times. And I look to see kind of learn what I could from them. Gabrielle: [00:33:19] Part of what they do is they actually do a nine day program. Ours will only be six. But the point is that you have more time to move around these locations and to fill your schedule instead of just like pack into classes and kind of get overwhelmed and and not feel like you got to do everything you want to do. Gabrielle: [00:33:36] We could spread this out and give people more time. Because that's some of the feedback we've gotten. They love the content but they want to see every class and they can't because they're you know several going on at the same time and even when we've repeated and we have tried things like that they just want more. Gabrielle: [00:33:55] And so we're hoping this provides that we know six days is a long time, and we know that some people will only come for part of it which of course is no problem. And they'll it'll be worth their while however long they can come. But we're really excited about this. Gabrielle: [00:34:09] And we did contract with one very big space where we can do like massive keynotes or things like that but otherwise everyone will get to go to whatever class they want to at whatever location, and we'll have shuttles going. We're hoping to do some kind of like electric scooters and let people get to know the city as they drive around and get access to all the cool spots in town. Jillian: [00:34:40] What month is it? Is it in February? When do you do it Gabrielle: [00:34:43] Well it's actually March. So it's been in January for now eight years. Jillian: [00:34:51] OK. Gabrielle: [00:34:52] Well sorry, seven years than two years in February, and this year we're moving to March simply for logistics. It was the week that all of the properties we wanted were available the same time. What type of blogger is Alt Summit best for? Jillian: [00:35:03] Got it. And by the way there'll be a link in the show notes if you want to check it out. And if you were to say who the perfect person or different types of people who would get the most out of the summit, who are these people? Gabrielle: [00:35:18] So these are typically women it tends to be about ninety five percent women. So it's women. And these are people that are drawn to creative careers. Gabrielle: [00:35:28] Originally it was aimed at bloggers. But again as social media has changed, it really expanded. So all of a sudden Etsy shop owners wanted to come and and they were welcome, we did content for them and then people who are making their careers on Instagram or Pinterest, you know they were there in fact Pinterest. The the Web site launched at Alt Summit. Jillian: [00:35:48] I knew that! Yes. Ben Silbermann talked. Pinterest was launched at Alt Summit Gabrielle: [00:35:51] Yes. Well and I can tell you a segue just a brief thing about Ben. First he came just as an attendee. Jillian: [00:35:59] Yes. Gabrielle: [00:35:59] One of our early years and he was just kind of, you know, he's not like a crazy loud guy, he's just really nice. You know seems kind of like an introvert you know and he would just be approaching people quietly and say hey, I have this thing. Check it out. And it was very visual obviously it's Pinterest and so Alt Summit was all these visual bloggers. Jillian: [00:36:22] Right. Gabrielle: [00:36:23] And and so they would try it out and loved it because it is such a useful tool if you're a visual person and you know the idea of being able to have a pinboard, with all the things you love is so right up any visual person's alley. And so people loved it. Gabrielle: [00:36:37] And the next year he came back he was on a panel, and then the next year he was the keynote because Pinterest had exploded. Jillian: [00:36:46] OK so if you are in design or if you are an influencer or if you are an Etsy shop owner. Gabrielle: [00:36:55] Right. So I want to say creative entrepreneurs. So if you are trying to run a business and you tend to the visual or creative. So like some really beautiful baby product companies have come. Gabrielle: [00:37:10] I'm thinking of like Freshly Picked, they do moccasins and diaper bags and things like that. You know she came to Alt Summit many many years, learned her social media here learned a lot of her business skills there and has built a massive company. And I certainly can't credit all them for that. but that the type of person that comes. Gabrielle: [00:37:27] Solly Baby who does wraps as well as Tubby Todd. All these women come to Alt Summit. Those are baby products but I'm just saying they all require lots of visuals, they're all required a lot of creativity. They're going for like beautiful lifestyle kind of things. That's a great fit. Gabrielle: [00:37:43] Jessica Alba came when she was just launching Honest Company. It was such a great fit. And any of the cleaning companies that are really cool and visual if you think of Method or Mrs. Meyers they love to come to Alt Summit. You know it's this very design appreciative crowd. Alt Summit is for creative entrepreneurs Gabrielle: [00:38:01] So you might not be a designer yourself, but if you're like, yeah, but I love reading Emily Henderson's blog or I love reading Apartment Therapy, or whatever it might be, You're going to love this. Gabrielle: [00:38:13] It's people building their businesses but they're trying to build a creative business. So that means we're talking about how do you do photography and we have modeling classes. A lot of these people have to be in photos right you know. So it's and then you know how do you present yourself so there might be fashion. How do you do your makeup. Gabrielle: [00:38:30] All of this stuff ends up overlapping with creative entrepreneurs especially these days where you have to be everything right. You are the marketing team, you are the model. Jillian: [00:38:40] Yes. You are the editor, you are the voice. Gabrielle: [00:38:45] So we're teaching classes on how to do all this content creation how to photograph, how to write, how to do all that but also specific marketing things, like here's how to start an email list and here's what you should be accomplishing with your newsletter and that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:39:02] And then it might be OK. Well what about Instagram Facebook. You know maybe it's on Facebook content but then another one on Facebook ads and how to run those. Gabrielle: [00:39:12] And then of course a lot of these people have written books and they've gotten their book contracts by coming to Alt Summit. We often have publishers there, pretty much every year and they're often taking pitches. Gabrielle: [00:39:28] So like the Kinfolk Magazine, I brought my publisher there, Artisan Books, to Alt Summit and they met the Kinfolk team and ended up publishing Kinfolk recipe books. I want to say the big you know coffee table huge volumes. Gabrielle: [00:39:49] And I can give a million examples of those so if you're someone is thinking a book and it might be a novel but it's more likely like a coffee table book or you know that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:40:01] Darcy Miller who is the editor of Martha Stewart Weddings for you know the entire run basically of the magazine comes because she's launching her new creative career as a crafter and you know everyone comes. It's amazing. Gabrielle: [00:40:14] So we'll have fashion people there, and we'll have YouTubers there and we'll have Etsy shop owners, tons of crafters, often Joanne's comes in as as a sponsor and we'll just even have classes where you can just craft your heart out. The balance between Design Mom and Alt Summit Jillian: [00:40:28] That's amazing. Now, how much of your life is spent doing Design Mom and how much is spent doing Alt Summit? Gabrielle: [00:40:37] Well Alt Summit is such a seasonal thing that it's it's probably ends up being 50/50 but it doesn't it doesn't feel like that because the Alt Summit stuff ramps up as I get closer. Gabrielle: [00:40:46] So like for right after Alt Summit, I'll have a few months where I'm barely doing Alt Summit. The conference is over there's sort of that dead period where we're doing it a little bit of marketing and some follow up and that kind of thing. But mostly I can semi-ignore my inbox there. Gabrielle: [00:41:03] But then the closer we get, the more I have to do Alt Summit until I'm at a point where I'm barely functioning on Design Mom, I'm sure the readers are furious. Gabrielle: [00:41:17] Or I've hired friends to give me content for the week. You know like guest post, things like that because I just have to disappear. Gabrielle: [00:41:25] The issue is this year with this expansion of Alt Summit, which again I'm so excited about, I think about it all the time it's going to be amazing. I have even less time for Design Mom and it is a really tricky thing. Gabrielle: [00:41:41] Design Mom's comment sections are amazing the community there is so good, so vibrant, so interesting and I don't want to give it up, it's like personally super fulfilling for me. And also I think it's important. It's one of the only place on the Internet where you can discuss some of these hard things and not have fights break out in the middle of the comments you know. It's a really special place. Gabrielle: [00:42:04] So it's my biggest challenge this year is going to be figuring out how do I maintain Alt Summit in a way that feels authentic and that readers are happy with, but be able to devote a lot of time to it. Gabrielle: [00:42:15] And I think the biggest issue I have and it's always been true is to do sort of that background infrastructure stuff. How do you fit that in? It's almost like you have to shut down the blog for a couple of weeks to do some of the background stuff you know like to say to do your hiring and to get people trained, how do I fit that in with my normal daily schedule of posting working on Alt Summit taking calls with clients, things like that, I don't know. Gabrielle: [00:42:41] I've never been able to figure that out. Do you know what I mean? Jillian: [00:42:46] I do. And I guess one thing that I would love just to speak to you briefly is, you are visual and you are a designer and you make beautiful things and we kind of touched on this previously. Jillian: [00:42:59] Before we we started recording we were talking about podcasting because you're starting a podcast, and we just were talking about it and we were talking about this idea of my philosophy with podcasting is to press record and just let it happen. Jillian: [00:43:15] And if you know, kids come in or dogs bark or whatever, I'm going to leave it in because this is life and life is messy. How do you reconcile the fact that you've got six kids and as you're describing your day, no day seems like it's like the next day, and yet there's something beautiful to what you do. How to balance the mess and the beauty as a blogger Jillian: [00:43:34] And I would say my days are messy but it doesn't look that beautiful. And when I think of Alt Summit, I think it's so beautiful it's almost intimidatingly beautiful. How do you balance the mess and the beauty? Jillian: [00:43:48] Because I think a lot of influencers struggle with the fact that they go onto Instagram and everybody's life looks more beautiful than the next. And we all say well underneath it, it's probably not like that, but how would you speak to that? Gabrielle: [00:44:04] Yeah, I mean I've spoken to that quite a bit over the years and I don't know that I have a great answer, but I'll tell you give you some thoughts. Gabrielle: [00:44:14] You know, we do as just as consumers of content because yes, I Instagram but I also read Instagram right. I follow people and as consumers of content, we do love vulnerability and honesty and authenticity. But I feel like only to a certain degree. Gabrielle: [00:44:37] I think people think, no I want the real thing, the unvarnished and I don't believe that's true because I've tried it over the years. Again I'm in this 12 years, I've tried this kind of thing and I've seen other people try it and people want the vulnerability but they want a little bit controlled. Jillian: [00:44:57] Or packaged with a pretty bow. Gabrielle: [00:45:00] You don't mind seeing the laundry but you don't want to actually see the dirty underwear. Like it's like, I don't mind seeing there's a cute little basket that has laundry in it that needs to be done or a big pile on the couch but there's pretty filtered light or whatever. Gabrielle: [00:45:14] But I don't actually need a close up of your dirty laundry like no one wants that. And of course not, that's disgusting but that's true. Like I mentioned earlier, I write about depression, and I do and it's a real and very real it's part of my life but I rarely write about it or even mention it when I'm in the depths of despair. Writing about depression as a blogger Jillian: [00:45:36] Yep I get that. Gabrielle: [00:45:37] I'll write about it after, it when I feel like I've gotten things under control and been able to resolve it and think about it and can reflect on it carefully, and then I'll write about it and talk about this is what helped and this is what didn't help, and you know and be able to be helpful about it. Gabrielle: [00:45:52] If I just told you every time I was super depressed, it's just too depressing for everyone else. You know it's just awful. Gabrielle: [00:46:02] So I can write about it and they appreciate it and I can give them helpful things and I can acknowledge that this is real, and they don't need to be afraid of it, and they can fight it. And all these things and I don't need to have shame around it but they really only want to hear that when I'm through it. Jillian: [00:46:17] And you're on the other side with a little bit of a bow on you. Gabrielle: [00:46:20] A little bit. And now now that's not always totally true. It depends on the platform and you know that kind of thing because if this is just my friends on Facebook on my personal Facebook page and I was you know in the depths of despair and just said Hey guys I need a little love. Help me out. Well you know like that's no problem. And I can really be in the depths of despair but I don't feel like I could do that on Design Mom. I mean maybe a tiny bit but not really. Gabrielle: [00:46:49] So it is real and messy behind the scenes and I don't think people really want to see it as much as they claim that they do. And so yes you can be vulnerable and honest and authentic in all these things. But I mean I get on Instagram I have different needs on different platforms right. Gabrielle: [00:47:07] Like on Twitter, I'm mostly just looking for news stories. I feel like I get the headlines fastest there versus even going to news apps you know. So I like news headlines and I like just funny, like people are funny responses and it's makes me laugh. Gabrielle: [00:47:25] On Facebook I use it more as a personal thing, so it's going to be like someone's birthday or it's you know someone had a baby or that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:47:38] And then on Instagram, I'm looking for pretty pictures and inspiration. Jillian: [00:47:42] Right. Gabrielle: [00:47:43] So content I make. Of course I try to use pretty pictures, but the things that get the best response is when I'm discussing sometimes heavy things like again social issues or politics or that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:47:55] But me as a consumer, I'm just looking for pretty pictures and other people are too, and I know if they don't follow me, I totally get it because they might just be like, No I'm just looking for pictures of parties or pictures of vacations or whatever that might be right. And that's totally fine, you can get whatever you want out of those things. But if I'm if I'm on Instagram, I just want pretty and someone is showing me their dirty laundry. I'm going to be like, no. Dealing with jealousy as a blogger? Jillian: [00:48:22] OK. Do you ever have that thing where you see somebody who does beautiful things and do you ever get that pang of jealousy or I wish I had done that. Gabrielle: [00:48:37] 100 percent. I don't know how to do that beyond human nature right. This is just how it is. Jillian: [00:48:44] But again I just have to say you are Design Mom, you created Alt Summit. I want to hear you too feel that way? Gabrielle: [00:48:51] For sure. So for me it's so I'll see something and I'll go. It might be business related right. I'll see. Like even the podcast. I'm working on this podcast but I've been trying to, I knew I needed to do this a year ago. I'd already gotten feedback about this and then had it confirmed again earlier this year. Gabrielle: [00:49:11] But again I've known this for a long time and so I'll see someone announce a podcast, or do something and think, I'm so behind, you know like that kind of stuff will kill me. Gabrielle: [00:49:20] Or if I see someone just doing something really smart on Instagram and I'm just a slacker on Instagram, and I'll feel like business guilt, like I know I could have a bigger following, and that would be better for me but also for sponsors and it's better for the business in general. Gabrielle: [00:49:35] But I'm not doing it and I'll feel that sort of business owner guilt, you know which I think if you a business owner you know what that is because there's always your list is never done. There's always something. Gabrielle: [00:49:44] Oh I should be optimized for SEO in these ten steps that I'm not doing, I'm only doing three of the steps, you know or whatever it might be, or I was doing a newsletter every month and then I had to take a break. Gabrielle: [00:49:56] And I'm feeling guilty because I see someone else's cute newsletter come out and I think I know I could get help with this and hire it out and get this done and why have I done that? So I definitely feel that kind of thing from a business perspective. Jillian: [00:50:08] And how about like somebody is launching a line of party supplies for Target? Gabrielle: [00:50:14] Why can't I have that? Why haven't I worked with Target before. Am I not good enough? And you start questioning yourself, should I be pitching is that where I should be spending my time? Gabrielle: [00:50:22] And then again business questions on like, is that how to make money, or is it better to sponsor posts or should I be doing some subscription service somewhere? You know where they get a box? Or you know trying to figure out those questions because you are trying to build a business and provide for your family. Gabrielle: [00:50:38] Yeah those kind of things can drive me crazy. And then you have the personal stuff, like you see someone, maybe I've had a day where like I've just really been glued to the computer. I had a bunch of deadlines had to get stuff done and I get on Instagram and someone's made cookies with their kids, and I'm like, I'm like the worst mom. My kids have been have been on YouTube all day. Gabrielle: [00:51:04] I haven't even talked to them, you know, I don't even remember even saying words to them this morning. I got right on my computer. And you just feel like a jerk you know. Gabrielle: [00:51:13] I mean that's just I don't know what to say. But I think everyone's going to fill that and I definitely take social media breaks and I'm not supposed to as a business owner. Jillian: [00:51:27] As an influencer, I know I do the same. By the way, I do the same. Take a break from social media as a blogger Gabrielle: [00:51:29] But I have to I think it's just kind of kills me sometimes so I'll take breaks, the easiest one for me to not take breaks from is Twitter because I don't follow anyone like that where it like. It's not really visual and I'm not following any of my business peers or really influencers. Gabrielle: [00:51:48] It's like again, I'm there for news or different things so I'm fine to get on Twitter and never throws me off like that. But Instagram can kill me. Oh my gosh or I'll see someone on vacation. Jillian: [00:52:00] Well for me on Facebook seeing people on vacation and I don't know why, because I go on vacation. But something about here's our family in Rome kills me. Gabrielle: [00:52:11] Yes. Or if I see a couple and I think when's the last time I took a vacation just with me and Ben Blair you know, where we got to get away. And I'm sure we should do that and keep our marriage healthy you know. I don't know how to avoid that. Gabrielle: [00:52:27] I know Facebook is a trigger for some people definitely Instagram is mine. Jillian: [00:52:30] Facebook is mine. Gabrielle: [00:52:32] Yeah. Jillian: [00:52:36] Well I have to say, I so appreciate your honesty about this because I have to tell you that I've been a writer forever, I was a writer in Hollywood for a lot of years so the written word is very comfortable to me. Jillian: [00:52:52] But visually, really I've always felt inadequate. And so to hear you say that you too have these feelings is so comforting and you are the brains behind Alt Summit, which I have always wanted to go to, but also feel like I don't know, I'd feel like a poser. Gabrielle: [00:53:12] No you would love it! Why we fake things as a blogger Jillian: [00:53:14] I say this to my daughter all the time. We'll be doing a sponsored post, and I'll be shooting something for Instagram and it will be a lava cake. There was this lava cake I had to make. Guess what? It got stuck, ultimately it didn't flow out so you know what. I faked it. Jillian: [00:53:35] I had some floaty stuff and I put the cake on top of it and I said to my daughter come in here, I want to show you this. This is fake and I want you to know that it's going to look good and it's going to look as if this stuff oozed out beautifully and that it totally worked. And this is fake. And I wanted to be a teaching moment. Why. Gabrielle: [00:53:58] Did she get it? Jillian: [00:53:59] She totally got it. And by the way, that post is up on Catch My Party and it doesn't say that I faked this. Gabrielle: [00:54:05] Well I don't blame you. I mean look, that's anyone who shot a photo ever of anything must understand that right outside the frame is chaos and mess. That's just the reality. Gabrielle: [00:54:18] And that was true long before blogs. I worked in New York I was in art direction. We do shoots for magazines, we do shoots for, you know all editorial and all kinds of stuff, and it's just a chaotic mess outside the frame period. It has nothing to do with being an influencer. That's just the nature of creation and photography. Gabrielle: [00:54:38] It's art. Think you have a beautiful piece of art on the wall at a museum. But to create that the mess that the artist made in their studio, was going to be nuts is going to be insane. And so that's that's how it is. Gabrielle: [00:54:51] So if you're if you're going to be someone who creates content and as a business person or an artist or just a creative, there's going to be a mess. Gabrielle: [00:55:01] And if you are a reader or consumer of social media or blogs or whatever it might be and you don't understand that this is pretend, it's every bit as pretend as the magazines you used to read. And that was the thing. Then you're there you're not being fair, you're not coming to this as a fair participant because no one has ever said this is my life all the time. Jillian: [00:55:33] So yes and I would say that for my daughter who is impressionable at 11. These are important teaching moments. Gabrielle: [00:55:42] For sure and for sure my kids know all of that because they're part of the shoots often. And so they know. All right everyone pretend we like each other. Jillian: [00:55:50] Exactly the number of times I've told my daughter to smile with gritted teeth, look like you like the pudding. Gabrielle: [00:56:03] And you know my kids just finished a play. They were in a play this week and they were three performances. It's the same thing. I had nothing to do with the play, had nothing to do with me. It was a big production. It was you know lots of adults they were kind of this children's chorus. Gabrielle: [00:56:17] And and you were at these rehearsals and it's a mess, and it's everything is behind schedule and blah blah blah. Like this is creativity. This is what it looks like. And they have to get on stage and pretend to be in a good mood even though the rehearsal went two hours too long and they're tired. And you know what I mean, like and they should have been in bed. Gabrielle: [00:56:38] This is not just blogging it's not just Instagram. This has always been the thing and it always will be as far as I can tell. I don't know how else to do it. It's the same with any creative endeavor, if you're a writer. You have these horrible messy drafts. Red ink everywhere and then you end up with this beautiful book. Jillian: [00:56:58] Totally I would say this. This thing which is I was a screenwriter, and I would finish a project. And it would be done and it would be and it would be great. Jillian: [00:57:09] And then I would start a new project and it would suck at the beginning and I would think to myself every single time, I lost it. I don't know I don't do this anymore because I was at the beginning. Gabrielle: [00:57:23] Yeah. Jillian: [00:57:24] And I'd forgotten. Gabrielle: [00:57:26] You are someone that's going to consume any content anywhere that was created as a creative endeavor, and whether again it's a fashion show or writing or a movie or whatever it was an enormous mess caused you know in order to create this thing. Jillian: [00:57:44] Right. And I bet you sucked at the beginning. Gabrielle: [00:57:45] And I'm sure the beginning, the first drop was awful and the first you know try the first photo was awful, and you know what. This is how it is if you're going to consume this stuff and pretend that's not true. Gabrielle: [00:57:56] That somehow, this book came into being perfectly. Or this movie came into being on the first take or whatever it is, I can't do anything to help you. You're living in a different world than I am if that's the case. Gabrielle: [00:58:13] But that said, and I understand that the feelings of jealousy or inadequacy are totally real. And they were real before Instagram. Gabrielle: [00:58:33] You know that or at work because it's the same reasons you didn't get the promotion or you didn't get picked for this project or whatever it might be. The feelings of inadequacy, the comparison, the all of that. That's not a new thing that has been with us forever. And I assume will be with us forever. Gabrielle: [00:58:51] And if you need to take a break from social media, take a break. It will be there when you get back you know it'll be waiting for you. Jillian: [00:58:59] I agree. All right. So Gabrielle this is terrific. How can people reach out to you see what you're doing, all of that? Gabrielle: [00:59:07] You bet. So the blog is still my favorite spot because I own it. And the algorithms can't change it. So yeah you can always go to DesignMom.com to see the latest, I post there very frequently and I'm pretty decent at responding to comments so feel free to check in with me there. Gabrielle: [00:59:23] I'm also on Facebook at Design Mom Blog, is my page on Instagram I'm Design Mom on Pinterest. I'm Design Mom I'm active on all of them. But if you want to see it first it's usually on the blog. Buying a ticket to Alt Summit Jillian: [00:59:34] OK and if they want to learn about Alt Sumit, are tickets on sale now? Gabrielle: [00:59:40] They are on sale now and prices are going to go up and up. So if you want them, now is the time to get them. The handles are all Alt Summit on all social. Gabrielle: [00:59:52] But the web address is actually altitudesummit.com which was the original name so it was originally Altitude Design Summit and then we're going to start calling it Alt Summit which is much easier to say. Gabrielle: [01:00:02] But yes, so tickets are on sale if you've ever been before. There is an alumni discount available because we know this was kind of a leap in price if you weren't used to it. Gabrielle: [01:00:13] But even for everywhere else this is the best price you're going to get, whether you've been there or not. Right now the best prices the best price you're going to get. It's going to start going up per month. Gabrielle: [01:00:23] Again modeling that on South by Southwest, seeing how other longer conferences do that. So this is definitely a learning year for us. But I just was on the call this morning about some content programming and it's really going to be epic. Gabrielle: [01:00:39] With Alt Summit, the goal has been to amplify women's voices and kind of what they're doing, the projects they're working on, and bringing attention to what they're doing which is still my goal. Gabrielle: [01:00:50] And this is going to allow us to not just focus on cool things entrepreneurs are doing, and cool things brands are doing, but you know what are cool films women are making, and what are cool bands and cool music women are making, and you know if you're if you're a woman and you're doing something really interesting, maybe it's a nonprofit maybe you're a writer. I want you there I want you there telling your story. Gabrielle: [01:01:14] Getting to know people and you can build your business or also just again amplify your message, amplify whatever it is you've created. So I'm really excited. It's going to be epic. Jillian: [01:01:25] Oh Gabrielle, thank you so much for being on the show. Gabrielle: [01:01:29] Thank you so much for having me. What a treat to talk to you. Please share The Blogger Genius Podcast with your friends Jillian: [01:01:32] If you are liking The Blogger Genius Podcast, then please subscribe. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, really anywhere you get your podcasts, and please share it with your friends. Jillian: [01:01:45] If you have a blogger friend or an entrepreneur friend that you think would like it. Please get the word out, and if there are guests you'd like be to have just email me at Jillian@MiloTree.com. I would love to hear from you. So thanks for supporting the show. How to grow your authentic Instagram followers fast and free with MiloTree Jillian: [00:36:00] Are you trying to grow your social media followers and email subscribers? Well if you've got two minutes I've got a product for you. It's MiloTree. Jillian: [00:36:09] MiloTree is a smart pop up slider that you install on your site and it pops up and asks visitors to follow you on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube Pinterest, or subscribe to your list. Jillian: [00:36:24] It takes two minutes to install. We offer a WordPress plugin or a simple line of code and it's Google friendly on mobile and desktop. Jillian: [00:36:34] So we know where your traffic is coming from. We show Google-friendly pop-up on desktop and a smaller Google-friendly pop up on mobile. Check it out. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

This episode's FREE download Your brand's selling story is the cornerstone of all effective business building strategies. Learn How To Get Your Brand On The Shelf and What Retailers REALLY Want.  This Is Your Roadmap To Success.  CLICK HERE TO GAIN INSTANT ACCESS TO MY FREE TURNKEY SALES STORY STRATEGIES COURSE Community is at the heart of natural. Working together toward a common purpose is what drives us. Our stories need to educate and inspire consumers to vote with their dollars - helping brands get on retailer’s shelves and into the hands of more shoppers. Today's story is about inspiration and education. I have the privilege of interviewing Gary Hirshberg, one of the leading thought leaders in our industry. Gary shares with us the story about how he and his partner started Stonyfield Yogurt. The struggles that they had and how their dedication, and attention to detail, turned it into one of the leading brands in the category. Gary shares how his commitment to his friends, family, shareholders, employees, the community that he serves and the farmers that support him, helped him remain true to his passion. His dream was to develop a healthy yogurt brand and more importantly to prove that organic farming was sustainable. This was an opportunity for organic farms to prove themselves, to be a viable solution, to help solve many of the food problems that we have today.  We discussed the need for education. The opportunity for brands to help educate consumers and retailers about the sustainability and the viability of organic. We talked about how consumers vote with their dollars and why it's imperative that we speak up and stand up for those farmers that are committed to organic, that are committed to giving back to our healthy way of life and are committed to healthy sustainable farming practices. Gary also talked about how entrepreneurs are pathological optimists and he emphasizes that if you don't ask, you don't get. This mantra helped Gary continually do whatever it took to succeed and to find ways to persevere when everything was going against him. I want to thank Gary for openly sharing his story and his inspiration to help young healthy organic brands get their start and to stay focused on their core mission and to guard and protect their values. Never compromising or giving into adversity, which causes so many brands to cut corners. Here's Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield  Download the show notes:  brandsecretsandstrategies.com/session42

Gary Hirshberg is a pioneer in developing a national market for an organic commodity, milk. His company began producing yogurt in 1985, after being a farming school for a few years. What is the future of organic dairy, and how did they achieve the immense success that has made the company a national bestseller. What can current dairy farmers learn from Stonyfield. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast

Gary Hirshberg is a pioneer in developing a national market for an organic commodity, milk. His company began producing yogurt in 1985, after being a farming school for a few years. What is the future of organic dairy, and how did they achieve the immense success that has made the company a national bestseller. What can current dairy farmers learn from Stonyfield. What Doesn't Kill You is powered by Simplecast

Laura Clark of Whole Food Nanny is a busy mom of 3 crazy cute kids, and wife to Mr. Clark. Whole Food Nanny is dedicated to helping families make healthy eating part of their lives. She focuses on eating less processed foods - especially sugar - and a lot more whole foods. (I have to admit I need help with this!) Listen Now On the Podcast 1:15 - Eating Healthy as a Mompreneur 7:16 - Getting More Energy 12:20 - Simple Substitutes for Sugar 14:28 - Final Thoughts on Healthy Eating 16:40 - Custom Diet Recommendations for Me 19:50 - Turning A Passion for Healthy Eating Into A Business 27:24 - Course Idea to Creation 31:08 - Making Sales 32:40 - Laura’s Adorable Mom Moment Eating Healthy as a Mompreneur Before asking Laura how she started and grew her business, I wanted us all to benefit from her knowledge around healthy eating. So many moms struggle with making healthy eating part of our daily lives, particularly getting our children to enjoy healthy eating! What tips does Laura have for busy moms to get and stay healthy? #1 Get away from packaged items at grocery store! One of the biggest ways moms can set themselves up for health is to eat mostly whole foods, instead of processed. How? Ditch packaged items - it’s that simple, and that hard! Over the years, Laura’s family has found ways to seamlessly incorporate this choice into their diet - keep reading to learn how. And to give a quick definition, whole foods are foods that come from the Earth, are nutrient dense, and make our bodies work as they should. Foods with artificial colors and flavors disrupt our natural processes, and can sap our health and energy and are largely why we have so many health issues occurring today. #2 Swap the Quick and Easy for the Whole and Healthy Keep it simple. If you want a snack, grab an apple or banana. Grabbing a piece of fruit is just as simple opening a snack from the pantry. Not only will you feel fuller from the whole food, but you’ll get nutrients to help you and your kids feel good inside. (Now that Holden is older, I can just give him a whole apple! It even tastes better to him than cutting into slices. It’s such a simple thing: but just eat the whole apple!) Cook in bulk. Believe it or not, Laura hates to cook! She loves giving her family healthy food, but she’s ALL about not spending an entire day in the kitchen. One thing she does is always cook in bulk. So if she makes a batch of muffins, she will make more to add to lunches or use for snacks after school. (Make Laura’s Banana Blueberry Muffins! Soups are a quick and easy dinner. It’s simple to put the leftovers in mason jars and freeze them for lunches another day. Laura’s family loves soup and I love that these dinner ideas aren’t gourmet, but they taste good and don’t take all day to make. #3 Get your kids involved with meal prep. Learning to cook teaches our kiddos basic life skills, not to mention saves you time! Feel free to give your children age appropriate ways to help: setting the table, helping with dishes, or cutting the carrots. Really, we often just lack creativity or knowledge to make things simpler in the kitchen. This is where places like Laura’s site come in handy! There are so many great ideas and recipes at WholeFoodNannycom. Getting More Energy What mom business owner DOESN’T need more energy!? The number one culprit of our lack of energy is sugar. Really! But what sugar are we talking about, exactly? Added sugar. Not sugar straight from the cane, or the sugar found in fruit and dairy. What we’re talking about is any sugar added, either by you or a factory. When you start cutting back on sugar, you’ll really notice how much better you feel. You might feel worse at first, because you’re going through sugar withdrawals. (Eeek! How bad is that!?) 90% of all processed foods include added sugar. And added sugar, well, adds up quickly! Being a busy mom can make us tired already but believe it or not, over consuming sugar is making us even MORE tired. Not to mention we might be parenting unnecessarily badly-behaving kids who have eaten too much sugar. Simple Substitutes for Sugar What could we use instead of added sugar in our foods? Laura had several ideas for us. Honey (or something like it, agave nectar) Natural sweeteners like bananas. Cutting the amount of sugar called for in half. (Instead of 1 cup, use ½ a cup!) Changing your palette by eating less sugar. As you cut sugar out, you’ll begin to taste even small amounts of sweetener really easily. Final Thoughts on Healthy Eating It’s easy to automatically think of brownies or chocolate or sugar cereal when we mention cutting out sugar. But the reality is that there is sugar added into 90% of the processed foods in our grocery stores! That’s right, sugar isn’t even primarily found in desserts Everyday items like flavored yogurts, spaghetti sauces, and crackers all have added sugars. Even inconspicuous items like breakfast drinks and protein shake powders are sugar culprits! It may not seem like much, but when you consume it all day long, it adds up fast. Laura says most diets we could consider to be “healthy” have quadruple the amount of recommended sugar because they’re full of processed foods with added sugar. Laura provides an unprocessed grocery list you can use even at mainstream grocery stores, and that list is a great place to start--no weird items--at Get Eating Clean. Custom Diet Recommendations for Me Okay, so when Laura said yogurt often has added sugar, I had to press! I love yogurt, but I usually choose the flavored kinds. What would be a good alternative for me? Laura pointed to Stonyfield brand as the most natural brand-- but make sure to get their plain kind as even a vanilla will have added sugar to bring the flavor. And Laura recommends full fat yogurt, as it is less process than low fat. You can always check the ingredient list and nutrition facts to get the scoop on sugar levels in food. But let’s be real, I may feel a little sad because plain yogurt wouldn’t taste great at the start, how could I change it up? Laura had great ideas! Add in maple syrup Make a berry puree sauce from frozen berries Use fresh berries to sweeten the yogurt The big idea here is that YOU are the one in charge of how much sugar and what type of sugar you’re putting into your food. Turning A Passion for Healthy Eating Into A Business Laura was getting more and more into working out and started listening to podcasts while she did. (Great idea, Laura!) She really loved Chalene Johnson’s Courageous Confidence Club, and it got her thinking maybe she could start a business too. Like so many other SAHMs, Laura believes that moms need something for themselves. For example, before starting her business, Laura taught Zumba classes. And Whole Food Nanny was a project she thought she would really enjoy, and could make some money from at the same time. The Clark family’s journey to whole foods started with Laura’s 7-year-old daughter. For an intense two-year period, Laura studied health and nutrition in an attempt to treat her daughter’s symptoms: asthma, ear infections, and debilitating food allergies. As she researched, she found her daughter had a diet problem because, as she learned, food will always affect our bodies, either now or later. Laura’s family decided to make small changes and those changes really started to add up. Laura wanted other moms to see the difference that sustainable changes, not crazy extreme diets, can truly make. We love her heart to help other real moms! Course Idea to Creation Much like her approach to whole foods, Laura’s approach to course creation is refreshingly simple. She started by sharing this transformative information on Periscope (a live video social network), and this try at her beta course was very successful! She had a link in her bio to PayPal (so smart!) and was blown away by the response. Next, Laura upgraded to a full website, and created a course on reducing sugar intake. First, she outlined her course modules, then she filled out the content. She first sent it out as an ecourse, and once again the response validated the idea. This fuller paid course does offer more hold handing to help people understand which foods benefit them and how students can practically implement those diet changes. Once again, Laura outlined her content, wrote it, and recorded her modules. First she did her recording from her manuscript, then created her slides, and then purchased a place to house the course. As we all know, there is a ton of trial and error with a business!! She got some helpful feedback from her initial students and has currently pulled off her course for editing, but it’ll be back soon. Making Sales Initially Laura took payments via a Paypal link on her Periscope bio. Is that still an effective way to make sales? Laura says, for sure, her best tool for making sales has been live video. It’s great to have a way to connect with people directly and sale your product. (Definitely! Periscope isn’t where I hang out, but I love Facebook Live and live Webinars are an incredible way to build a following!) Laura’s Adorable Mom Moment One Sunday Laura styled her hair differently for church, but felt really self-conscious about it all morning! Coming home, she asked her daughter if her hair looked good that day. Her daughter replied, “No mom, it looks terrible. In fact, you should have asked me before church!” Kids are SO brutally honest! Connect with Laura Site: Whole Food Nan

On The Menu - Oreo talk is back as Mario and Bill discuss the new Watermelon flavored Oreos.  They also talk about the most recent interesting flavors Nabisco has released in their cookie sandwiches. They also chat briefly about the Food Holidays for the coming week including National Onion Ring Day, National Tapioca Day, and more. They are then joined over the phone by special guests Kristina Drociak, Amy Vanharen, and Laura Stanton from Stonyfield Farm to discuss organic yogurt, milk, ice cream, and the new #WakeUpWIthStonyfield social media campaign! For more about Stonyfield and their organic products please visit Stonyfield.com!

On The Menu - Oreo talk is back as Mario and Bill discuss the new Watermelon flavored Oreos.  They also talk about the most recent interesting flavors Nabisco has released in their cookie sandwiches. They also chat briefly about the Food Holidays for the coming week including National Onion Ring Day, National Tapioca Day, and more. They are then joined over the phone by special guests Kristina Drociak, Amy Vanharen, and Laura Stanton from Stonyfield Farm to discuss organic yogurt, milk, ice cream, and the new #WakeUpWIthStonyfield social media campaign! For more about Stonyfield and their organic products please visit Stonyfield.com!

On The Menu - Oreo talk is back as Mario and Bill discuss the new Watermelon flavored Oreos.  They also talk about the most recent interesting flavors Nabisco has released in their cookie sandwiches. They also chat briefly about the Food Holidays for the coming week including National Onion Ring Day, National Tapioca Day, and more. They are then joined over the phone by special guests Kristina Drociak, Amy Vanharen, and Laura Stanton from Stonyfield Farm to discuss organic yogurt, milk, ice cream, and the new #WakeUpWIthStonyfield social media campaign! For more about Stonyfield and their organic products please visit Stonyfield.com!

Sherwin's first hours impersonating Artur Barrel-Bain include sleeplessness, a silent new companion, and the request that he begin to make a study of a certain someone he'd rather hoped to forget.