In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason is joined by Mady Maio, host of the popular business and lifestyle podcast Okay Sis and co-founder of the travel recommendation app Camber. Jason and Mady talk about mental health for founders and entrepreneurs: why it’s so important and what all of us can do to make sure we use our well-being to show up for the projects we love and ourselves every day.   

Jason and Mady start their conversation by talking about the particular challenges that face female founders and entrepreneurs, and why preparing mentally and emotionally is crucial to balance and success. Mady shares what self-care looks like (NOT bubble baths) for her and how this plays into her definition of success. In the second half of the episode, she and Jason talk about Camber app, what it has to offer, and how Mady has navigated her relationship with her co-founder through inventing, building, and finding investors for this project.   

Topics Discussed:   

- Female founders / female entrepreneurs 

- Mental health in business and entrepreneurship 

- Building an emotionally supportive professional network 

- The most common hardship facing female entrepreneurs 

- The emotional side of business 

- Designing practical, impactful self-care routines  

- How hustle culture prevents us from showing up at our best 

- Camber App 

- Expectations for founders in 2022 

- Working with a co-founder and loving it   

Okay Sis podcast: https://linktr.ee/okaysis 

Mady’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/madyrosemaio?lang=en 

Mady’s TikTok: @madymaio  

 ➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co 🍍

Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI 

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Brightland might be the first sustainably sourced DTC olive oil company to exist, and it has achieved cult-status for its freshness, its colorful and beautifully designed bottles, and its personal touch. All of this is thanks to Brightland’s founder, Aishwarya Iyer, who joins us this week to share her story, and some tips for finding your own success story.

It often seems like crossing the distance between an idea and its execution is impossible, especially when you have a product in mind but no clue where to start. In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason wants to find out from Aishwarya Iyer how she went from corporate communications to founding Brightland, the much-heralded sustainably sourced California olive oil company. Aishwarya eschewed the typical marketing tricks used by DTC founders and chose to lean into her skill set. She focused on what she could do, and on how she could educate herself in areas where she needed to learn making every step of the production process into something personal and meaningful.

Topics Discussed:

-The difference between product affinity and brand affinity, and why it matters for your marketing strategy

-How Aishwarya Iyer got the idea for Brightland

-Her thought process in telling the story of Brightland

-Why she began with PR and Communications instead of branding

-How Aishwarya Iyer legitimized her product even without a background in food

-Using your superpowers as your marketing compass

-The preparation that went into creating Brightland’s supply chain: olive education, establishing relationships with farmers, creating packaging

-How packaging and shipping are intertwined, and how to prepare for common pitfalls

-How to use DTC’s major communication advantage when you experience delays

-What makes a cult favorite?

-How Brightland takes their customers on the journey with them, and why that is so valuable.

-Aishwarya Iyer’s if she could do it all over again advice to herself as a young entrepreneur

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter:  http://news.bbclass.co

Brightland: https://brightland.co/

Aishwarya’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/aishwarya228

Aishwarya’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aishwarya-iyer-44112a19a

Steven and Jordan Neman started House of Léon as a DTC business that only the brave would attempt: furniture. Massive, bulky, made to order, and expensive, how could they apply DTC building blocks to something so far outside of the box? In this episode, Jason talks with Steven about how they got started and what they are learning along the way.

Jason and Steven begin by talking about what went into founding House of Léon and how they were able to work around the standard furniture manufacturing conventions that guarantee that almost everyone is paying the same prices for mostly identical pieces, no matter the branding. Instead Steven and his brother Jordan began by designing one-of-a-kind pieces and then found someone who would make them to order, always putting their vision first. Of course, the brand has only existed since 2021, so there have been lots of learning along the way - Jason and Steven get into what it takes to manage inventory when it is so large in size, how to manage it by doing market research ahead of time, and what Jason wishes he had learned when he was at the beginning of his founders journey.

Topics Discussed:

• Jason’s 56 page deck for ecommerce founders
• What changes for companies based on the size of what they sell - from tiny false eyelashes to sectional sofas
• House of Léon’s founder story
• How House of Léon was able to upended manufacturing’s hold on furniture pricing
• How House of Léon stands out: quality materials and excellent design
• How to avoid making products your customers don’t want
• Listening to your customers to make production choices
• Different inventory problems: overstock and stockout
• Different inventory solutions: conservative ordering and demand prediction
• Jason’s take on hiring early in the business life cycle

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter:  http://news.bbclass.co

Steven’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-neman-93625488/

House of Leon instagram: https://www.instagram.com/houseofleon/

Matt Mullenax founded Huron because he saw a void in the men’s grooming industry and tested this hypothesis by launching a dummy brand before pouring all of his capital into developing real inventory. He and Jason run through how this testing worked, and dive into the topic of capital efficiency - a solid business concept in the age of rampant branding.

In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason invites Matt Mullenax to outline his business mindset in a variety of ways: what it means to truly be a leader and to grow a team, how Matt detected and leveraged a disconnect between high-end and chain store skin care products for the male population, and why carefully watching the two metrics of gross margin and profitability will outlast any waves of hyper growth, virality, and branding trends. Jason shares stories from his own business and breaks down how Matt’s theories can be applied to time usage and social media marketing.

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter:  http://news.bbclass.co

Matt’s Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-mullenax-4b4b086

Matt’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattmullenax

Barry Hott is a growth consultant with more than a decade of experience guiding brands through advertising and strategy on every social platform. After working with a who’s who of Fortune 500 companies and viral DTC brands like Harry’s and Keeps, he has branched out on his own as an Austin-based consultant. In this episode Jason picks his brain about how to get paid social to pull people into caring about your brand.

In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason and Barry Hott talk about why Barry is still excited about making ads even after the social media landscape has changed so much. He  believes that meeting customers where they are is the #1 principal behind successful advertising no matter the medium. He and Jason talk about structuring a business to make sure this is always possible even when technology or trends change. Then they shift to Barry’s theory of getting around the brain’s ad-blockers by creating content that places attention and engagement above branding.

Topics Discussed:

-Differences between creating ads for startups and for Fortune 500 companies

-The challenge of shifting messages between platforms

-Why internal dev is not always the best for your marketing plan

-What every business owner should factor into their 10 year plan

-How to get people to care about your brand

-What it takes to break through the noise

-Making people feel something or getting them to want to solve a problem

-Differences between DTC twitter and mega-advertising twitter

-Stunt cars

Barry’s LinkedIn: ​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/binghott/

Barry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/binghott

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter:  http://news.bbclass.co

By the time Gefen Skolnick finished college she had already dipped her toes into the world of venture capital, and was well on her way to a tech career in Silicon Valley. But in 2021 she put down the laptop, founded Couplet Coffee, and became an immediately successful CPG entrepreneur. A year later, Couplet is wildly successful in both online DTC and on retail shelves and Gefen is exploring what it means to grow a business intelligently and intentionally, all while having fun and enjoying great coffee.

In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason picks Gefen Skolnick’s brain about why she founded Couplet, how she broke into the saturated coffee market, why package design and inclusivity go hand-in-hand, breaking into wholesale, and tips for founders who are looking for creative ways to self-fund. The most important takeaway from this wide-ranging interview is that Gefen figured out early on how to think in ways that work for her business. She asks a lot of questions, gathers tons of information, and then makes decisions for what works best for her bottom line. Listen ahead for inspiration and new perspectives on marketing, sales, growth, and more.

 Topics Discussed:

-Couplet Coffee’s founding story

-Breaking into the saturated world of specialty coffee

-How Gefen decided what kind of product she wanted to sell

-The open space Gefen saw in the coffee market and how she filled it

-Why packaging design is half the battle in some markets

-How taking her time and asking questions influenced Gefen’s business plan

-The way Gefen approaches growth - in advertising  budgets, sales, and seeking funding

-How wholesale can stabilize revenue

-Intelligent growth

Gefen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gefenskolnick

Gefen's Twitter: https://twitter.com/chiefgayofficer

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter:  http://news.bbclass.co

Alicia Reisinger started Wax Buffalo Soy Candles out of her home and grew her business to be both a hub of community in her brick and mortar flagship store as well as a thriving DTC online business. In her seven years as a business owner, Alicia has defined her company through her willingness to be vulnerable and to share her story each step of the way, and it has paid off emotionally and financially. Here, she shares her story with Jason, talks about her community building approach and gets deep into 21st century content strategy.

Jason invited Alicia Reisinger onto Ecommerce Building Blocks to showcase an entrepreneur who is both a working mom, and who didn’t use the typical steps that many Ecommerce founders use to get their product out into the world. Alicia started extremely local, and still uses her local community as a foundation for her entire business. Having this home base allowed Wax Buffalo to grow at a slow and steady pace. This episode covers the intangible factors that go into how entrepreneurs scale their business, and Alicia’s journey as a storyteller, mom, and business founder. With a surprise detour to Google’s content strategy pyramid, Alicia and Jason conclude their conversation with Alicia sharing her most important lesson as a business owner.

Topics Discussed 

-Wax Buffalo’s founding ethos and story from spending 100 on candle supplies to millions in revenue

-The toxic history of candles

-Why founders should think about the life they want when making business decisions

-Building a strong business foundation by growing slowly

-What it took for Wax Buffalo to build their community

-Is vulnerability a good content strategy?

-Jason’s TikTok 101 for businesses who haven’t joined yet

-The 3H approach to content

-Wax Buffalo’s middle path approach to making big decisions and long-term plans

Wax Buffalo: https://www.instagram.com/waxbuffalo/?hl=en

Alicia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-reisinger/

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter:  http://news.bbclass.co

This bonus episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks is  a great place to start if you want  to see what you can learn from the show. Jason has selected these clips from some of our favorite summer interviews. Listen ahead for aha moments that will apply to operators, product developers, and marketers and use these foundational segments as units that will help you build to your next level.

Topics Discussed:

-Inventory Management

-ROI simplified

-CTA’s for your audience on TikTok

-learning how to ask your customers to do something

-educating your customers so they know what your product is worth

-how inclusive marketing inspires people to pay more for your product (and to be loyal)

-understanding how customers prioritize their spending

-summer 2022 marketing and operations

This episode features clips from:

Episode 21: Optimizing ROI with Dynamic Inventory Management  feat. Adii Pienaar from Cogsy

Episode 23: How Brands Can Go Viral on TikTok feat. JT Barnett 

Episode 19: Going Viral with Mission Driven Branding feat. Lindsay McCormick  

Episode 24: Building a Loyal Community feat. Emily Miethner 

➡️ Building Blocks website: https://www.bbclass.co/

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter:  http://news.bbclass.co