The Exchanges

Q Like weren't, were there ever? So if you're talking to a young founder and they're like, I'm too nervous to start. I'm anxious. Nobody's going to like me. What if they make fun of me on the internet? What do you tell somebody to get over that?

A Get over it. I'm honestly, I'll be like, do you want to win? Do you want to be successful? Do you want people to learn about your brand? Then who cares? Like who cares? Like you've already taken this big step to be an entrepreneur and put everything on the line for something that you love. And all that I'm asking you to do is spend two minutes and film a TikTok, like get over yourself. And like, if you don't want to do it, I get that. Some people are scared. Hire someone. It's literally a resume now or a job description to hire someone to run your TikTok. And it's okay. I always tell people it's okay if you freak out and you're like, I don't want them to be the face of my brand. It's okay. Like, The internet moves really quick. If that person decides to move on or you want to promote them, they move into another position and someone else, like the internet doesn't care.

AI assessment note: “Get over it. I'm honestly, I'll be like, do you want to win?”

Q Buddy system. I like it. Do you think that you can become a really successful billion-dollar CEO and still have all the same friends, do all the same things you did previously, have work-life balance? Is that possible?

A No. You know, and I think people need to hear that, and I think people also need to hear, it's okay if you're a workaholic if you love it. There's, I think women get that a lot too is like, well, why don't you want to be home more and do all this and like have a spa day and do those things? It's like, because I would rather be at work and that's okay. It's when it's burnt out, you don't like it and you don't love it. You should take a break and you should take care of yourself. That's not what I'm saying, but there's this stigma of you should have balance, but like, I don't want balance. I thrive in chaos. I'm obsessed without balance. Right. And so, and that's okay. And I don't think a lot of people talk about that. It's as long as you're mentally okay. I'm not saying don't take care of yourself. I don't know. Do you, how do you act with, with that type of thing?

AI assessment note: “No. You know, and I think people need to hear that”

Q Everybody says that, that it's about the founder, but then you try to explain it. Like, how can you tell if a founder is going to make it or not?

A So most founders don't like being told what to do, right? They're doing things different. They're, they're paving their own path. And so when you go to a founder where I've been in their shoes and I'm not here to like take your money, I genuinely have a little bit of more sympathy for that. And I can relate to a founder that has vision, but is willing to take help because there's nothing worse than trying to work with someone that thinks they know everything. Like even in business, you don't hire an employee like that. That kind of a person's annoying. A lot of founders have big egos. I had a big ego when I first started and had to learn how to work with people and in the same sandbox. And so for me, when I'm talking to someone, I'll do a little bit of a test. Sometimes I'll be like, Hey, for your packaging, it's so cute. I love it. But would you be willing to change it? And I tried to see the reaction, even if I don't want to change it. And some people will be like, Wait, I spent so much money. I worked so hard. And they start like backtracking on why they don't want to change it versus I could be open to that discussion, you know, and they're like open, but you also don't want a founder that just is willy nilly and will change. So you almost like, it's like a gut feeling to a little bit.

AI assessment note: “when I'm talking to someone, I'll do a little bit of a test.”

Q they think that sounds scammy, like how could you get other people's money? What do you mean? Two, it's like, oh, that's only for rich people. Three, it's like, well, I don't know that I could do it because I've never given somebody money, so how could somebody else? It's all these first wallet problems. How do you pitch someone to get them to give you your money, their money?

A You know, I think it's a few things. You actually have to have a business plan. A lot of people do not want to invest in an idea. And you have to also know where that money is going. There's nothing more that irks me when someone says, I want you to invest in my brand. I'm like, what are you going to use it for? And they can't answer that question. You know, look, I'm open to all sorts of things. I've had people say, I want to clean up my cap table. I want to invest it in marketing and people and headcount, uh, POs coming in. Look, there's not necessarily a wrong answer. You just kind of need to know. And then once you, like, dig in, you want to do your DD on the, on the due diligence, but, like, you actually have to, like, know what you're talking about, know the numbers, and that was a big thing going on, being a shark this time that I learned. There's a lot of entrepreneurs that came in, and they didn't know where their money was, and I'm like, you're gonna go on a national TV show and not know where the 700,000 dollars lives on your P&L. Like, know your stuff, and if you don't know it, hire someone, do a fractional, like, Be scrappy. Figure it out. And, and I think if you can do that, and you can sell, then comes the dream. Sell the dream, but you kind of have to, unfortunately, have a business plan.

AI assessment note: “You actually have to have a business plan. A lot of people do not want”

Q Yeah. So what does that sound like? So afterwards, if you feel like you've been disrespected and you want to circle around and have a conversation to fix that, what do you say?

A I mean, you're literally be real. Tell them how you feel, you know, in a respectful, kind, calm thing, right? Like, Hey, you literally shot down my idea in front of the entire team. I would really appreciate if you didn't do that because Half of the stuff that we're doing in this brainstorm, for example, is throwing crazy ideas out, and that's part of this process, and you doing that undermined me in front of the team. It also, you can see it on people's faces when they don't see your value, like the teammates. Like, I've had people say stuff, and you can sign it, see them, like, like, it's uncomfortable, and so, hey, like, let's just, you know, work on that, and like, how do you feel about it, right? Like, hear their side of it, too. So, I think people don't like conflict. They don't like talking about things. And honestly, if you're going to be a good leader and a business man or woman, you have to be able to hit conflict as it happens, not two weeks later because it manifests.

AI assessment note: “Hey, you literally shot down my idea in front of the entire team.”

Q Almost like, where, where did you learn that from? Like, why did you start doing that?

A You know, we were just forced to really do things differently with, with, within COVID. And I don't know. I just, I love people. I, I have like a good heart too with it. And, um, you just got to like reward the people that are working so hard for you. I don't know how to explain it. And then I will say the brand piece of it. It just kind of like came as we went. Um, we weren't afraid to listen to our consumer and change and, you know, always work on it. A lot of people think like, well, I figured that out three years ago. Like we're doing like brand work every three months and we're keeping the core of who we are. Um, we do a lot of it internally. Um, Stevie, who I talked earlier about with Rohan secondhand person, she's incredible and brand been working with brands. Like, so we bring in a lot of expertise. We have a great in-house Quote unquote agency with like designers, art directors and stuff like that. So it's just an ongoing process. And I wouldn't even say it's like all me. It's like, it's just poppy.

AI assessment note: “we were just forced to really do things differently with, with, within COVID.”