Advice Line with Ariel Kaye of Parachute Home (August 2024)

0:01 Yeah. Yeah. Hey everyone, it's Guy here. So this week we're bringing you an advice line episode from our archive, which we really loved. It's the one with RLK, the founder of Parachute Home, and it was so great to have her back on the show, giving our callers and listeners some advice on growing their businesses. It's a super fun episode with so much to learn. You will really, really get a lot out of this one. So without further ado, Enjoy the show.

0:34 Hello and welcome to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Roz. This is the place where we help try to solve your business challenges. Each week, I'm joined by a legendary founder, a former guest on the show who will attempt with me. To help you. And if you're building something and you need advice, give us a call and you just might be the next guest on the show. Our number is 1-800-433-1298. Send us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and the issues or questions that you'd like help with. You can also send us a voice memo at hibt at id.wondery.com, and make sure to tell us how to reach you, and we'll put all this info in the podcast description. All right.

1:19 Let's get to it. Joining me this week is Ariel K. She's the founder of the Bedding and Home Goods brand Parachute. Arielle, welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for having me. Glad to be back. It's so great having you back. You were first on a show. uh last year in the fall of twenty twenty three. It's an awesome episode obviously telling the story of how you created

1:40 Parachute home and uh and how you were like inspired by these direct to consumer brands like Warby Parker and You of course started the brand in in twenty thirteen. Um, you'd never run a business before. You you had worked in advertising Um, you didn't know much about textiles or manufacturing and now you've got a brand that's like a leader in this kind of affordable luxury. And you got bed sheets and and towels and rugs and pillows, you've done mattresses, you've even open physical stores so Uh it was just an awesome story.

2:10 It was so fun having you on. Thank you. It was great to share. Um before we bring in our callers today to hopefully to help give them advice. Um I want to ask you a couple questions. The first one, uh Ari I want to ask you uh about was just some of the the day to day Or or month to month or year to year decisions that you have to make. Like for example, I know there was a time where you guys experimented with furniture, right? And and I don't think you do furniture much furniture anymore, is that right?

2:37 Correct. So when do you know, like when you you know, introduce a new product or line. How much time do you give it before you decide whether it it's not working or you know

2:49 what is like the time frame you kind of allow for and w when do you know it's time to kind of move on? It's a great question because you know and and it depends, you know, for us, you know, we we introduce new colors, we introduce new categories. Furniture was a unique example of a category that was very different um than our core assortment. Yeah. And so um You know, we we gave it a go for about a year. Um, and we still do sell some bed frames, um, but

3:18 it quickly just became clear that, you know, the supply chain, the logistics, the um white glove delivery that brought strangers into the homes of our customers. I mean, there was a lot going on. And the margin profile. So it just it impacted our business dramatically in a way that Uh you know. We sh could have anticipated probably a bit more, but part of what You know.

3:41 being a founder or running a business is, you know, being comfortable taking some risks and knowing that They might not all land. Yeah, I'm curious about this, right? Because sometimes Like you can't be risk averse if you if you're running a business. You have to accept certain level of risk, but you obviously want to mitigate that risk. And when when something like that happens, you know, we've had I I mean Jim Cook was on the show, uh the founder of Boston Beer Company several times, and you know, sometimes they introduce beers and beverages that just don't work and that just kind of are duds. Um

4:11 And they're b we've had brands that have put in millions of dollars into launching something and it just doesn't work. Um, how do you maintain your risk profile? Like how do you maintain this willingness To be risky. Even when other risks that you took failed, like how do you make sure that you're like you don't become a person or a leader who's like, you know what?

4:31 We cannot do that. We cannot take that risk. Um, you know, we we need to be comfortable. with being uncomfortable and It's part of how you grow. I also think there are times and a place in a business where sticking to what you know best and being really focused on the core and the end to end experience for the customer is super important. And where risk, you know, might it might not be the season for that. Um, and so we've oscillated through different

4:59 moments in the business super bullish on taking a risk and trying something new and getting that feedback. And other times where we you know think to ourselves this is this is a great time to focus on bedding and bath and the products that we know our customers love and you know, spend a little bit more time thinking about how we can Um

5:20 Try new things without Such a big investment. Yeah. Um, Ariel, what do you say we take our first call? Let's do it.

5:28 All right, let's do it. Hello, caller. Welcome to the advice line on how I built this lab. Hey done guy, hey done Ariel. Hi. Hello, hello, hello. Who is this? Tell m tell us your name, uh what where you're calling from and what your uh a little bit about your business. Uh my name is Dane Brown. I'm calling from the uh the Gold Coast, Queensland in Australia. I am the co-founder of a business called King Brown Pomade or Pomade, as you probably say in the US. Uh and we are a men's grooming brand, primarily focusing on hairstyling and most recently moving into hair health.

5:58 Awesome, okay, and what's your question for us today? Uh we are up on our tenth year right now. We are a very well known brand. We've always been a more of a uh a B to B business. Um we have international distribution We but we are self funded and uh right now I'm stock rich And cash poor. So uh I know listen to Ariel's Episode she's done a lot of funning herself, and I'm just wondering

6:22 At this point in our business, should I be looking to get an investment, uh, which we have had offered previously, but not by people in our field, so I didn't feel it was bringing anything to the table, so Yeah, any advice at this stage, ten years on. Would be great. All right, so ten years you started this in twenty thirteen. You're based in

6:40 On the gold coast of Australia. So that's like the tropics of Australia, right? Like you grow mangoes up there. It's it basically is, yes. Yeah. We're we're an hour south of Brisbane. Okay. And right now m you're m you're mainly selling to like salons and barbershops and things like that? That's correct. Yeah, we're pr essentially we're professional supplies. Uh bar shops uh and salons, yes. And you do sell um through your website too. I'm seeing it here, King Brown Pomade you sell on your you can order through the website. We yes, we do that. It's always been a secondary focus for us. We always wanted to try and drive the consumer to the

7:12 the professional and to the stores and and create that that long term partnership. That was a an initiative from day one, but um obviously things have pivoted A lot in the last few years, so we we are definitely trying to drive a bit more of a B to C in uh business model. So So you're not really sold in stores in Australia? Not s not uh fashion or retail stores, just strictly professional supply barbershops, so and salons, yes. Got it. Alright.

7:36 Ariel. Yeah. Questions for for Dane. So you said That you've had

7:42 Um interest by investors in the past, um, but they weren't strategic. Um Tal to me a bit more about that. Did you go down through a process with any potential investors or No, we we didn't. We we had interest uh just some capital investment groups uh here in Australia just Once we did sort of a start asking questions, they didn't actually have any experience or any distribu distribution networks. I mean

8:05 Ideally for a brand like ours I I w I would I would like investments from someone who maybe has some sort of distribution infrastructure already set up or retail network that the brand could obviously be plugged into and then get some growth out of but no, th those investors didn't have those opportunities, so we we we felt it was At that point was not the right time to be s giving away at a slice of the pie.

8:25 That's it. But basically we could be missing out on investment from someone. Yeah, so Um, tell me a little bit about the the general market for these kinds of products in Australia. Uh when we launched the back in uh twenty fourteen, uh the

8:39 There was not really many major competitors, if I'm honest, most of the brands were coming out of the US and being imported. So we saw that that opportunity and we we spent a year developing the brand and and launched the market with With good good success here in Australia and we were lucky to obviously be like many brand at that time on the the rise and rise of the uh Instagram train so we we got international notoriety pretty quickly.

9:00 There's so many brands in the marketplace and We've had multiple new products developed, but we've actually squashed them and and moved into a a a higher price point product category, a different product category category with hair health, just to try and pivot and differentiate our brand from what's in the market now, even though we do have a a a good

9:18 cult following, it's um it's important to evolve and and increase that order value for our brand as well. So we we know that the market is about thirty one percent of men are are are thinning or concerned about it. So Um if they can do whatever they can, we've we've all seen the millions of uh TikToks and and uh Instagram images of guys flying to Turkey to g to rebuild their hairlines. So we're trying to basically get in there early and prevent those having to do that. So yeah, it's a direct to consumer subscription model is really where we we see the the value in that for our brand. I did not know guys were flying to Turkey to get their uh

9:51 Hairline I learn something new every day. Yep. I gotta go on TikTok more. Three friends this week. Oh no have spoken to me about it. Three friends this week who are going to go to Turkey to get their hairline so wow. And so this hair thickening product is a it's is a new line, right? You've got the styling and the pomades and now thickening, and this could be a a game changer, you're hoping it's gonna be a game changer. Quick question for you. Is there a world where I mean your product is very m masculine, you've got a snake on it. I like it. It's cool. King Brown, it's cool. It's it's it's got I mean, this is clearly That's a sniper in Australia, so it's a King Brown is a snake. I got you. Okay. And see I again amazing. Um I think there's a world where hair thickening products could appeal to men and women? Is there is there Are there products out there that are designed for

10:44 I I don't know, is is that a a possibility? Yeah, well if if I'm honest, all most of my research I don't it's very rare that I look at the male market. It's quite juvenile compared to what's happening in female Okay. And that's where the money is. Yeah, exactly right. And that and that's not only with the hair thicking, but also other products we've taken a lot of our inspiration out of uh female products, so

11:04 Yeah, look at we I've so probably half a dozen of these these new release kits to women in the last couple of weeks just uh'cause th they just asked me point blank'cause this Women ask you straight away, they're like, Is that can I use that? And I'm like, Yeah, a hundred percent. Like it's it's got this and this and this and they know the ingredients. Guys go, What's D H D and what what's what's balding and like so I mean I'm I'm I'm thinking you've gotta br rebrand or you've gotta have another Line called Queen Brown.

11:30 Seriously. Yeah, there you go. Like squeen brown, where you've got that product there too, or a slightly d you know differentiated version of it. Because that's an issue that men and women face, thinning hair, right? And so that's one thing. The the the question I have, because I know you you've come to us with a very specific question about money. I mean how how I guess the question is first of all, how badly do you need the cash? G the capital. Uh our business model i is the stock service program. So we we funnel every dollar we get back into stock. If I don't have stock then my business is not uh It's not doing its job. So we are sitting on a stockpile of of of

12:05 But empty tins and then and filled stock. Uh and Look, I just know with money for marketing or an even point of sale in store, if I'd put a had a chunk of change I could put into that, it would probably help me penetrate the market and get the message. What a fast stuff. So that's kind of

12:21 where I keep looking at the capital investment thing. We've sort of exhausted a lot of our resources with with bank finance and different things and and they they're not offering Like I said, I'm I would love um someone who come in and just help me go to that level. Well, what I was thinking when you said before that you had had p investors um express interest in investing is you know, you could take capital that's less strategic and hire someone who is incredible at distribution and hire two or three people to to fill those roles that could help you, whether it's on the marketing front, thinking about D2C, how to get to

12:55 consumers, you know, how to create the content. You know, there's so much education, it sounds like, in terms of the thickening product and it seems like a great product for for social media and you know, bite size creation, um I would say With the ten years under your belt and and a lot of data and proof of concept and a brand that seems to be beloved both in Australia and um beyond, you have a story to tell. Dane, I mean I I I also wonder about um like what's the market opportun what's the market size in Australia. I mean you mentioned that you've got distribution partners and you're you've got some overseas sales. I mean I I Australia is is a is a significant economy, right? Um I think the population is what, thirty million? Tw twenty five million. Twenty five million, okay. So

13:40 I mean, do you have do you feel like you need for this business to to grow scale and and succeed, it has to you have to have a A a distribution channel outside of Australia as well, a significant one. No, I d I don't I to be honest, the business could be very like It could double, triple even within the Australian market quite easily, um just given the opportunity but it

13:59 outside like the fact that we've diversified and gone outside just s styling. It was something we've identified there's huge opportunity. So No, it's I don't necessarily need to grow the business internationally to to to get the exponential growth. It's just market penetration and I suppose partnering up with the whether that be pharmacy or that be retail partners, I mean there's there's opportunity but I can I can now go on.

14:22 Attack those markets. Well and I think what's interesting with this new product that you have um and focusing that on D2C. It's gonna bring people to your site and they're gonna see the the assortment. And I think creating different bundles and creating different opportunities for subscription and just getting people into your life cycle and into a regular purchasing pattern, which is the upside of products that run out. Um, you know, could really help create opportunity throughout the entire

14:51 Product set. Yeah. Dane, what is your daily um hair regimen? Just quick give me your quick regimen. Um to be honest it's I'm I I own the hair company, I've got to put a bit of effort into it. So it's um it's probably a bit more than the average guy. A bit of blow drying, a bit of uh pre styling and then uh finishing finishing up with I've gotta represent. I have to.

15:12 Yeah, you gotta represent. Yeah, absolutely gotta represent. Awesome. Um the brand is called King Brown Pomade, uh, Dane Brown. In Queensland, Australia. Thanks so much for calling in, man. Thanks for listening to the show. Alright, really appreciate you, guys. Thank you so much. And good luck.

15:27 Um Yeah, I mean I'm like I'm looking at U R E L And I know that your hair care regimen is much, much more complex and time consuming than mine.

15:40 Right. Like like you you have to I mean,'cause my wife ha she gets her hair blown out every c you know, like because she's long hair. Yeah. And and uh and so it's just something that I just I'm like I need a haircut, you know, like I I get a haircut every couple weeks and then that's it. And I just like Brought out a shower and then I'm d I just Put some stuff and I'm done. My hair is a big part of my identity. I mean it's it's truly you know long I have long thick hair and You cannot use pomade in your hair. No. That would not be a good thing. No, it wouldn't work. But I do think that there's a lot of interesting stuff happening in the hair market, and I actually believe that that's a category that investors are very excited about. Um you know, beauty has been such a big

16:25 category and I think that the hair world is is is really um getting a lot of attention right now. Yeah. Alright RL, we're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back, another caller, another question, and another round of advice.

16:39 Skyra, stick around, you're listening to the advice line on how I built this lab. Welcome back to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Rise. And uh let's go ahead and take another call. Caller, hello, are you on the line? Hi Guy and Arielle, thank you so much for having me.

17:13 Hello, welcome. Please tell tell us your name, where you're calling from, and uh a little bit about your business. So my name is Deanna Blasi Deandino. I'm calling from Wall Township, New Jersey. I am the founder of the Mindset Tapestry, which is an innovative emotional health tool for children that really builds on a positive mindset, increases self-esteem, and it's all done through affirmations, mirror talk, and caregiver support. Cool. And what's your question for us today? So I launched seven months ago and Everything I had went into the inventory for this business.

17:49 Now I'm realising I'm I have a product that I really need to educate consumers on, and I don't have the funds. For the marketing piece. And so my question is How am I going to be scrappy in getting press for specifically holiday? Cause I think that's a huge opportunity for my business to get on gift guides.

18:11 If I don't have the funds to hire a PR agency. Yep. Okay, cool. We'll get to your question in a moment. A bunch of questions for you. So this is a so mindset tapestry These are products for to help develop um sort of positive mental health, um uh I guess social emotional learning skills for kids and it's through

18:34 these like daily affirmation practices. So tell me what pro what are the products? Like describe them for me. So I have one core product called the Mindset Tapestry. And what that is, is really a wall hanging. Um it hang it can hang in the child's bedroom. on your pantry door. It's a pe it's a fabric like with like pockets or Yeah, so it has a mirror on the top and the child could look at themselves and recite those affirmations. Oh is a mirror on its Okay, I got you. So the kid looks in the mirror And s and what are the affirmation are there is there like a guide with affirmations, like suggested affirmations? So there's a pull down flap. Okay. So the child rips one off every day, sticks it to the mirror. They're on like uh Velcro or something? Yeah. Okay. Okay. And what are they and what like yeah, what what kind of affirmations? So I am strong, I am confident, I am resilient, I am safe, I have thirty of them.

19:26 Um all developmentally appropriate for children age two plus, really. Yeah. Um, and then there's A card pack that correlates to each affirmation tag. So there's a visual that I drew all the illustrations and then on the back It gives the parents like

19:44 Empowerment and education on like how to talk to their kids about what that means. And some activities that they can do to kind of instill those affirmations in their child's life. And tell me, Deanna, how did how did this start?'Cause I guess you I guess you've started this a year ago or so. Like where did this idea come from? I'm a former special education teacher. I taught through the pandemic. Actually, all the while having my two babies, so

20:10 really changed my perspective on really how early we start mental health practices. Cause I saw these children dealing with anxiety, depression at really young ages and Um And then that kind of got even more serious as I had my second son and one and two a really bad debilitating Postpartum depression.

20:32 And one of the techniques that pulled me out of that. Was me learning how to rewire my brain. And looking in the mirror and talking to myself. So That's when the light bulb went off and I said

20:45 Why aren't we doing this for kids? Like why aren't there tools Why aren't schools doing this? Like why are we not teaching such a simple thing to these children. So that's really what was the inspiration behind all of this. obviously and and just uh j I think we all would all agree that we were, you know, like postpartum depression and and certain types of depression can be serious and and and sort of chemically driven and

21:12 Um and affirmations or meditation and or exercise alone d don't don't always help. But for many, many people They can be transformational. And and here's the thing. A there are gonna be people who hear this and I'm sure you've come across this too, Deanna, who are like, Oh, that's all hokey and that's all nonsense. But the thing is is that affirmations I've come around on this. They really do work and I'm you know, I'm about to hit fifty, so it's taking me a while, but like

21:39 There a and also things like m just meditation. They do really work. There is a physical like physiological like like exercise. They really do work. And so it's interesting that you know to to take this approach. Basically to get kids to say I am strong.

21:56 Uh to look in the mirror just to say that every day. Um I mean th the th this is like goes back to like Zig Ziggler, like these guys, you know, had or or the power the the the the power of positive thinking, Norman Vincent Peel, like all these people who had these like tapes in the s fifties and sixties that were basically saying, you know, repeat an affirmation or mantra. Right. So there's something to that. Um Are you all

22:20 Questions for Deanna? Well, I just think it's amazing what you've created and as a mom of two young kids, um who is constantly thinking about the social emotional development of their children and just how to support them and how to give them the tools. I think that there is such an opportunity for this product and and I think that it's incredible what you've created. So

22:43 Uh not a question, but a comment. Um You know, I I have some ideas. I'm not sure we're ready to dive in. I'll take one. Yeah, we are. Uh. About how to get how to get this into gift guides and press places. And and and Ariel, you did this early on. Like you got to the right editors.

23:01 With your products which prove to be transformational for the business. My first job out of college was in PR and I really do believe in the power of press. And I think that you're early on enough in this journey where you haven't had this big launch moment in the press. And I think you know, just this Um the whole mom influencer world is has exploded over the past few years. I think especially throughout Covid, as as moms were struggling with how to take care of their children and to support through a really challenging time. You know, I I hear you that, you know, budget is very tight and that there's not a lot of opportunity to invest. Um, I do think that there's a few things that you can do, especially

23:42 quickly in order to take advantage of this holiday season, um, which editors are s are s already starting to work on. You know, I think there are freelancers who will Um work on a fee. her placement deal so you don't have to pay them um most of those people have come from agencies and have really strong relationships. And so that's one route. I do think that for gift guides in specific, affiliate is sort of king these days. You know, a lot of these publications are

24:13 are leveraging the affiliate commissions in order to just as like a bear requirement for for inclusion. And so there are affiliate programs and networks. There's one called Share a Sale that you can partner with and then you work with a sub affiliate network, like a skim links. Okay and you can set commissions and then pitch different publishers through Those platforms. Oh amazing. And that

24:43 doesn't require a lot of upfront investment and during the holidays people generally set a higher commission because it's so competitive. But that's really, you know, how many publishers are making real money. So you know, a fifteen percent or even a twenty percent commission really puts you on their radar. But for s gift guides, which I agree is such an em like could be such a huge visibility moment for you. Um I think it's a

25:10 It's a really great opportunity and one that you should Dig into. Thank you so much. Thank you, that's incredible. I also think that you

25:19 We'll be surprised at how many people will respond to you if you reach out to them. I I I know that as you say, Ariel, you know, mommy bl bloggers and influencers are huge. I have a kids podcast that I do and we've for years have worked with different influencers to get the word out about Wow in the world. Um I I think that you'd be surprised and and delighted at how many people will respond to you. Especially the ones that are focused on social emotional learning and so

25:47 I would just start cold reaching out to some of them to see if they're interested in just getting one. I mean I I think that you're gonna the investment you're gonna have to make is giving some away. Yeah. So people I do a lot of that. I will be honest about that. I that's kind of what I've You know, that's the leverage I have is inventory and Sometimes it is a little bit painful to just be shipping it out all the time, but yeah, I have gotten a lot of great user generated content and people posting about it and really like

26:18 following me on social media, but I don't maybe I'm impatient. I'm just not seeing The traction. That I expected like midway through My first year and I think

26:31 You know I've just huge vision and I just want to make such a big impact. And I'm like, am I gonna get there? Like I feel like I'm snailing there. One of the other ideas that came to me is, you know, have you tried reaching out to other brands to do whether it's a co marketing giveaway or put

26:52 You know, uh Flyer with a discount code and Boxes, other kind of developmentally Focused. Toys. I can think of quite a few of them. Yeah.

27:03 Not everyone is on board for that, but a lot of people are excited to surprise and delight their customers and create some sort of added value and Um that can be an effective strategy is just like a a note card with a a discount code. A lot of those happen before the holidays because people are looking to build their email list and giveaways are are usually a effective way to do that. So trying to tap into other giveaways or reach out to brands and say, Are you doing a giveaway? I'd love to be part of it. No, that's a great idea. And I I just actually did one this week for back to school with Oh great.

27:38 A bunch of different similarly aligned brands and it It was very successful and I think it's something I definitely want to continue to do um because I definitely see the value there. You could do one every month. I mean, you know, I think at some point you could, you know, the it you might want to dial it back to quarterly, but yeah, you know, there was a period of time where we tried to do those every month because it was the quickest and easiest way for us to grow our um follower count, whether it was on social media or our email list.

28:07 Yeah, that's great advice. Thank you. Dan, I'm looking at your website and I see that you've got you've got an affiliate program and you've got this thing called educational partnerships, but What could be interesting to to do here is to kind of make it easy for parents and grandparents to gift these to classrooms because this is something that you you right, I mean it's something that would be You can imagine I'm just drawing just kinda spitballing, but like a Montessori c school, for example, like A lot of ki and a lot of k sort of kindergarten, first grade classrooms

28:37 You can imagine this just hanging in that room. And so uh is there a is there a way to to create a gift a gifting like You know gift this to your kids classroom or to a school or whatever. I actually love that idea so much and it's something I never thought of, so I'm so happy you just said it. Awesome. Um I am in some schools, but I'm a former teacher and like the success I've had in getting into schools is all through people I know. Cause I'll call call anyone. Like I have no shame. I'll do it. But I'm having trouble getting into schools where people don't know me. Um

29:11 But that's a really amazing and crafty way to get into schools if the parents and grandparents value. Here teacher Decorate your classroom. I love that. I also love the idea of reaching out to you know, whether it's occupational therapists or baby groups. I was part of a baby group for both of my kids and

29:33 Weather again it's you know, by offering a discount code or some sort of incentive for those groups. But um, you know, there's baby groups everywhere, you know. Yes. And you could even focus on just a few specific markets and see how they convert. I mean there's Facebook groups, there's Lesserves, I mean, there's so many

29:52 Mommy. Like twenty twenty four, it's like so much. It's like you don't even know like where to start. Which is it's a good problem to have. Um But it it's a lot. It's oversaturated.

30:04 It is, but that's a captivative audience and I think if you're providing a a real product that's gonna help you connect with your child or you know just help them through a challenging moment or give them tools that are gonna be beneficial. I mean we'll pay anything for that, you know, as a mom you'll you're Willing to do anything to

30:24 To help your kid have those tools to succeed. I'm always fascinated by how few people do this,'cause I get pitched, you can't imagine how much stuff I get. I mean, I don't even read it, right? I have multiple This is my official pitch right now. So so I don't even see them because it just becomes a blur. There's just it's thousands of them a week. Um, but what's surprising is when I do kind of dive into them Ninety nine percent of them are not relevant to what we do and how I built this.

30:53 It's like hey Um my client um you know just wrote a book about uh how to how to get the most out of your uh Bitcoin investment. And I'm like, great. Never. And so I'm I I think that that

31:11 somebody like you, especially given that you you know, you don't have the cash to work with a a PR app Do something simple. Go buy a bunch of magazines. Buy all the magazines that you like and all the places that have gift guides. and just read them and look at the bylines and just try and find out Who is writing about like kids Stuff.

31:32 Right who's like who is the reporter? You'll be surprised when you target somebody and you say, I know that you work on this and I follow your writing. And I'd love for you to take a look at this when you when you respect them enough to say I've been following what you do and I'm targeting you specifically because I like what you do, you'd be surprised how many of them will respond. Yeah, no, that's great advice. And I've I've done a lot of Cold reaching out on LinkedIn. But when you say it like that, maybe I've been

32:01 Framing it the wrong way. I also think on on DM and on Instagram, I mean I've had collaborations come to fruition based on someone reaching out to me. on Instagram and I got really excited about the opportunity and it manifested into an actual collaboration that, you know, was out in the world.

32:19 Can I ask you a question about that? Yeah. 'Cause I I've I think about that often and I'm I'm always sliding into the DMs, but when it comes to other brands that are like a a lot more established than I am, like I'm a little insecure about like when they see my social following or They just going to

32:39 Not Take me seriously because of the amount of followers I have? Or do you actually, as a founder of like a big brand and company, sometimes look more into like what the product is and the integrity of it. Yeah, I mean I think you know there's

32:56 There's a time and a place for both. You know, there's there are moments where we say, Hey, we need to find someone and a partner with someone that has a huge distribution because that's what we need. And there are other times where we're, you know, let's curate stuff that we really love that we know other customers are gonna love and that are in line with our values. And I would say it's a range. But it definitely doesn't hurt to ask and um you know I would try to shake off any kind of insecurity around, you know, your follower account and and really focus on the value that you've created with this product. Um, and leverage your testimonials too, you know, I think people love to hear those stories. I mean, reach out to your customers and

33:35 Ask if we'll make a video for you that you can share. You know, I think there's a lot of opportunity. Um And just getting those Those stories out. Mm.

33:45 Right. No, thank you so much. Awesome. Um The product is called the Mindset Tapestry Deanna Dandino. Uh, thanks so much for calling in. Good luck.

33:55 Thank you so much. Thank you. Awesome. Do you ever do that? I mean this is a little personal question. But do you ever do affirmations? Yeah, no, I t yes, I do. And I I do them with my kids too. I mean I it's part of um our bedtime routine, you know, and I

34:11 Um You know, my daughter and I do them together. You know, when she's yeah, when she's having a a tough moment, you know, we look at each other, we m you know, we both say, you know, we're strong. Like you know, we say it together, we you know, that I think it's I think it's really powerful. Um like manifesting and you know visualizing and it's real repeating um these mantras can really transform. I mean I have a gratitude journal practice. It's you know quite similar to an affirmation practice and

34:40 Um I find even a few Find yourself affirming the same things every day, you know, at some point it really starts to seep in and become part of your identity and who you are. It it's actually amazing how something as simple as expressing gratitude is so effective.

34:59 When I'm feeling just like frustrated or mad. I'm just like and I and and oftentimes my wife and she's like Hey. Can you stop and just think about all of the things that you have in your life, your kids and me and

35:12 And I'm like and I stop and I do it and I'm like, wow. Yeah. You're right. Like you're right, none of that matters. Like this thing is is is just a distraction. I don't know why I'm all tied up in knots about it. We ca it's so crazy and I know there are people and I've talked to people and like you know, the I the it's uh it's eye roll y stuff, but I'm like, Hey, roll your eyes all you want. Let us do the gratitude practice and and watch. 'Cause it's actually really powerful. It works. I try to write three things that I'm grateful for and three things that I love about myself. And some days

35:44 you know, I I I can't think of a single thing, so I just write whatever I wrote the night before, but I find that's you know, ending my day with that moment. Um, it takes thirty seconds, you know, it's it's such a short practice, but one that if you do it with consistency it really can completely transform your spirit, I think. Yeah. Alright, we're gonna take another quick break, but we'll be right back, we'll talk to another founder working to take their business to the next level. That's after the break. I'm Guy Roz, and you're listening to the Advice Line.

36:15 right here on how I built this lab. Welcome back to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Roz. Alright, let's bring in our last caller. Hello caller. Welcome to the Advice Line. You are on with me and with RLK. Hey y'all, how you doing? Hello, hello, welcome. Please um introduce yourself, tell us where you're calling from and uh just uh very briefly about your business.

36:50 My name is Megan and I'm calling from 30A. It's in the Panhandle of Florida. My business is Palm Folly and it's a hard seltzer craft brewery. Got it. Okay, and what's your question for us today? So I hate my question, but I hate it'cause I have to ask it. Um I'd really love y'all's advice on being a female business owner and just some of the bias that exists in the world towards

37:14 Female founders and especially my area that's super male dominated. Got it. Okay, we'll get your question in a moment. So let's talk about your products first. So this is a Hard seltzer. That's what you're making. Yes, but it's not like anything else.

37:27 On the market. It's super unique. Tell me about it. Yeah, it's sort of Beer adjacent, but better for you. Almost like an American fruit beer, but gluten free and truly a hard seltzer. Um, we brew with fruit pureees instead of a grain. like a beer would have, but it's brewed in a process almost identical to beer. So the idea has been to kinda take what's existed in the hard seltzer market, which is largely soda water and vodka or a cheap alcohol. Yeah or malt based. And flavoring. Yeah, and flavoring extracts. And just kind of usher it into A craft.

38:01 Rude. market. Sort of what happened in beer about, you know, fourteen years ago or more, where all we had were these domestic beers and then the craft market kind of exploded. That's awesome. How did you get into this into this business? Well Lived in Port Collins, Colorado, for about six years and just love The brewing industry. Fort Collins home of fat tire and some great beers, yeah.

38:25 New Belgium is just my idol love and obsess over them. Um, and so I just love that brewing is Often collaborative. Breweries are family friendly spaces, they're positive, they're happy, it's not a bar environment, you know. So when we moved down here about three years ago, I just

38:45 was looking at what my next twenty years was gonna be. You know, my kids are getting older and Wanted to have my own business and so I decided it was gonna be a brewery. Um And when I started looking at beer styles, you know, I eat gluten free and I and I try to not, you know, make myself blow to you know, we're on the beach, it's a beach community, so I was like, What could we do that's a better free beverage? And so often people here are reaching for the hard seltzer for that, lower calorie, lower carbs, all those things, but they're just not Great products, a lot of them. Yeah. So

39:16 It just all kind of pivoted from Bring beer to bring seltzer. And you mentioned you said we, is it it is it you and uh presumably somebody else who's part of the we, are you running the business on your own or with somebody else? It is the royal we of me. Uh You know, I so often say that. No, it's really me, I'm kind of a

39:38 I'm a one woman show, um, but I do have a head brewer. Who's my right hand man and then I do everything else. So you have just to be clear, you already ha you have like a a restaurant or or a bar already in Florida that you run? A brewery. Okay. Yeah. And uh and and and do you sell the Hard seltzer there. We do. So we're

40:00 On draft at about sixty restaurant locations. Um here in the Panhandle and in a couple locations in Alabama around Fairhope. Um Ultimately scale B. fantastic and fun and it'd be really cool to be a national brand, but that's It's it's so complicated.

40:18 And so you are and I and w w just before we get to your question,'cause it's about Navigating bias, right, and especially in this industry as a as a woman you know, brewer, um, you are looking for capital. That's you're you're looking to to raise money right now? Yeah, so here's this is where the caveat comes.

40:37 And I mean I've probably sat down and met with I'm I'll be conservative and say ten different people about investing, and every single investor has been. A man. You know, I've tried to get bank loans, especially at the beginning. I was trying to get an SBA loan to get this off the ground, and then just construction loans. Every interaction is with a male, you know, and

41:00 I just I didn't ever really foresee a problem until one day I was talking to my husband on the phone and I was like had just talked to another investor and I was like, I just don't know. Um That this is gonna be a

41:12 come to closure and he was like, you know, maybe you just need me to field the calls and you tell me what you want said in all of this. And I he was like I just wondering if it's they're talking to A woman and not a man. And I it never really crossed my mind, and I literally had to hang up the phone with him. It made me so frustrated and upset. Um, and I'm dying to hear your perspective on that.

41:39 Uh I've got a lot of things to say. Yeah. It might be my part of the country I live in too. I mean it's it's the south. And then Also, I see all these groups of we're in a very entrepreneurial community. There's almost no um national chains that exist here and I see all these collaborative business meetings happening, you know, on the golf course or all these different things, you know, it's It is a bit of a man's world and um I'll just pause there. I'm dying to hear what you have to say, Ariel.

42:07 Well, I mean look, less than two percent of funding goes to women. So that's just a fact and we can all agree that that's what is happening in the industry and has continued to happen. I think that You are a female entrepreneur. And that's not gonna change and what you're building it sounds Amazing. It sounds like a product that I'd love to drink and um something that is innovative in the space. Um And I think the opportunity is that you are a woman because this is a male dominated space.

42:38 And Despite women being drinkers, you know, a lot of the marketing and a lot of the positioning goes to men. And so I think that you actually Що факт you are A woman.

42:53 And your consumer You know, that's that you can understand this audience and the opportunity so authentically. Um I think that's like that's part of your superpower.

43:07 you know, many of the people that are in those boardrooms and making decisions on how to market alcoholic products like they don't have that intuitive sense of of how to speak to a customer like us. And that should be part of how you communicate to investors. Um you know, you can tell the story of your product better than anyone else. And the fact that you are at the helm in leading this. Yeah, I I agree. I mean I I it seems like um uh uh we we you mentioned you you grew you were spent time in Fort Collins and I

43:37 Keep thinking about Kim Jordan, who founded New Belgium and she was on our show a few years ago and an amazing founder and and and uh sold that business. Um, and a great brand. But yeah, I mean I think that the statistics are clear. I mean uh the this is an industry, whether it's beer or wine. I'm in I I'm right now I'm in Sonoma County, California, dominated by uh by man. Um Uh that being said, I mean i i it it sounds like you have had a lot of traction with the product.

44:05 And I have um despite the challenges that you will face and that you have faced I you know, at the end of the day, the product is gonna speak for itself. Yeah. Like like what you make and what you offer Is is gonna is g that's gonna win the day.

44:22 I a hundred percent agree, you know. having that product to show investors and you know having people come to your tap room and try the product there. Um, I think that again like the marketing opportunity And this category which You know, seems to be exploding right now.

44:40 Um There's just so much potential. Hm. Yeah. I I I'm I'm curious, Ariel, I uh and this I think hopefully will be useful for me again You know, when you started this brand

44:51 You know, we're talking now more than ten years ago. You were inexperienced, you were younger and I I remember when we talked when you're on the show You express the you had some You know, days where you would kinda show up to pitch meetings and try to be something that you know a and when you

45:10 We're kind of uh more aggressive and assertive, you found that people responded to to you differently Now, you know, ten ten, eleven years into the into the br brand, you are the leader. You're a CEO, you're respected, and so With that comes confidence. Right. How long do you feel it took you?

45:28 I mean it's a ever evolving journey, but I do think that, you know, as you have more product market fit, the brand starts to speak for itself. So you become the voice of the brand, but you're using numbers, you're using data points, you're using anecdotes, you're able to speak to the opportunity in such a different way than when you're just getting off the ground. You know, you have, even though it's it's still new, you have two and a half, three years of of a product that has become popular within your community, you know, a place that is a gathering center, you know. So I think having that passion for what you're building mixed with the real

46:07 information that this is a product that people want and that would have great appeal on the shelves and you know, just is gonna require some capital to take it from point A to point B. Um is a story that people want to hear about. And I think, you know, you're looking for the right partner. So for someone who's going to understand, you know, I think for me that was also a great way to weed out people that I w didn't want to work with. And you know, you mentioned that too, that some of these people that have talked to you about potential investments you wouldn't want to work with anyway. Um, and that's a really Great.

46:38 bit of information. And so, you know, if someone is hung up on the fact that you're a woman, I mean It's not their journey. Like they don't get to benefit from this ride. Totally. It it just it feels like a very different journey for women and

46:53 Um I feel like I shouldn't have been blindsided by that, but somehow I just thought maybe I wouldn't ever have to face that and uh it's really been surprising. It is. And I think also the like the sooner that you can let it go. Um you know, the better. Because you're right, you know, there's a lot of

47:13 Golf course, you know. Bro. chats and, you know, deals done in that way and you know, so be it. That's not going away. But You're You've created a product that people love. And so that's that's so much more than most people can say.

47:29 And what you've been able to do in a short amount of time is is really impressive. And so I think that Um Just focusing on that and putting your blinders up to the rest is

47:41 The best. possible path forward. Indeed. I agree. Uh Megan Easterhouse, the brand is called Palm Folly. Uh thanks so much for calling in the advice line and good luck. Thanks, Sha. Such a privilege.

47:53 All right. Ariel, I'm wondering when you um If you were to go back to you in twenty thirteen now. And and and and give her advice. And and not advice like hey, it's gonna be okay, I've got a crystal ball, you're gonna be fine. But more like hey, you know Just focus on this. What what would you have said to yourself?

48:12 Oh. a great question. I mean I I think that for me looking back um Just always being true to who we were at our core. I think it's just you're so There's so many bright shiny objects. Um, you know, and we talked about testing earlier in our conversation, you know, testing is important, trying new things, not being too risk-averse, but also just always coming back to that core and never losing sight. Uh

48:38 who you are at your core and why people fall in love with the brand to begin with, you know? And I think that we've done a pretty good job at that, but there are instances and moments that I'm like, oh You know, we could have just We could have done that better. Um and so I think just like really, really

48:53 Going back to those mantras and those, you know, affirmations, like who are you as a brand? Um And making sure that that is your North Star. From now until forever. Amazing. RLK, founder of Parachute Home, thanks so much for coming back onto the show and for for coming onto the advice line.

49:11 This was so fun. Thank you. And by the way, if you haven't heard Arielle's original How I Built This Episode, you should go back and check it out. You can find a link to it in the podcast description and Here's one of my favorite moments from that interview.

49:26 I went with my pitch deck, I went with some pillowcases, I had like a Mary Poppins box of fabrics. I I mean I was I felt like a traveling saleswoman. And what would you say in the pitch, basically w what you're describing to me now? Yeah, I would say you spend a third of your life in bed. There is no brand in this category. I'm gonna start with sheets, but I'm gonna build a massive brand. We're gonna be a billion dollar business, and there is no one doing this. This is like this is special. And no one wanted to give me money.

49:57 Than so much for listening to the show this week. Please make sure to check out my newsletter. You can sign up for it for free at guyroz.com or on Substack. Each week it's packed with tons of insights from entrepreneurs and my own observations and experiences, interviewing some of the greatest entrepreneurs ever. And if you're working on a business and you'd like to be on this show, send us a one-minute message that tells us about your business, the issues, or questions you'd like help with. and hopefully we can help you with them and make sure to tell us how to reach you. You can send us a voice memo at HIBT at ID.wonder.com or call us at one eight hundred-433-252.

50:39 One two nine eight. and leave a message there, and we'll put all this in the podcast description as well. This episode was produced by Carla Esteves with music composed by Ramtina Rablui. It was edited by John Isabella. Our audio engineer was Cina Lafredo. Our production staff also includes Alex Chung, Casey Herman, Chris Massini, Elaine Coates, JC Howard, Catherine Cypher.

51:03 Carrie Thompson, Eva Grant, and Sam Paulson. I'm Guy Raz, and you've been listening to the advice line. On how I built this lab.

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