Your One Big Break with Clevr Blends’ Hannah Mendoza

Summary

Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan: Your One Big Break with Clevv Blends’ Hannah Mendoza

Host: Roger Coppola
Guest: Hannah Mendoza, Co-Founder of Clevv Blends
Release Date: May 6, 2025

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Introduction and Background

In this inspiring episode of Confessions of a Female Founder, hosted by Roger Coppola, we dive deep into the entrepreneurial journey of Hannah Mendoza, the dynamic co-founder of Clevv Blends. As Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, builds her business with insights from trailblazing women, this conversation with Hannah offers a candid look at the challenges and triumphs of scaling a startup from humble beginnings to a nationally recognized brand.

First Meeting and Investment

Roger reminisces about his first encounter with Hannah during the early days of Clevv Blends. At [01:33], he reflects:

"When I met today's guest, Hannah Mendoza, I saw her vision, and I fully believed in it. More importantly, I believed in her."
— Roger Coppola [01:33]

Hannah recalls her initial apprehension meeting Roger, noting how his belief in her potential outweighed her nervousness about her startup's infancy:

"I remember being in disbelief. We were still very much in the early phase when we met, and I'm grateful you saw the potential in something that was just starting."
— Hannah Mendoza [04:22]

Roger shares the serendipitous nature of his investment, highlighting that Hannah was his first foray into supporting female founders. Their collaboration became a cornerstone for both their professional and personal growth.

Moving to California and Personal Transformation

Hannah's pivotal decision to move to California at 18 marked a transformative period in her life. She discusses the cultural shift and personal growth she experienced:

"Moving to California changed me massively and quickly. I went from smoking Marlboro Reds and casual tequila on weekends in London to embracing a holistic and communal lifestyle."
— Hannah Mendoza [10:25]

This move not only altered her personal life but also ignited her entrepreneurial spirit. Surrounded by a community that valued emotional openness and sustainability, Hannah found the support and inspiration needed to launch Clevv Blends.

Developing Clevv Blends

Clevv Blends originated from Hannah's struggle with anxiety exacerbated by traditional coffee consumption. At [16:29], she explains:

"Drinking coffee activated my anxiety. I started experimenting with alternatives like matcha teas and herbal concoctions, which led to the creation of super lattes infused with adaptogens and mushrooms."
— Hannah Mendoza [16:29]

Roger adds context to the innovative nature of their products:

"These are food trends, much like quinoa years ago, but now they're recognized for their beneficial properties. Clevv Blends was ahead of the curve in this space."
— Roger Coppola [18:01]

The duo's commitment to transforming traditional beverages into health-enhancing alternatives resonated with a growing audience, culminating in a breakthrough when Oprah Winfrey featured their Golden Latte, resulting in a surge of website traffic and national recognition.

Overcoming Challenges in Entrepreneurship

The journey wasn't without obstacles. Hannah shares the emotional toll of entrepreneurship, particularly the sleepless nights and persistent problem-solving:

"As an entrepreneur, you're constantly solving problems and putting out fires. I've learned to give problems space because they often dissipate on their own."
— Hannah Mendoza [25:47]

Roger reflects on similar experiences, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and belief in one's vision:

"The journey has its low moments, but also high moments that validate all the hard work and resilience."
— Roger Coppola [25:13]

Leadership and Vulnerability

A significant portion of their discussion delves into the balance between vulnerability and leadership. Hannah candidly discusses her struggles with emotional openness in professional settings:

"I've had meetings where I started crying because of hormonal changes, and it made me realize the importance of being the fearless leader while also managing my emotions."
— Hannah Mendoza [29:27]

Roger concurs, highlighting the delicate balance leaders must maintain between being authentic and upholding their role:

"As a leader, you can't always show every aspect of your humanity to your team. It's about holding the vision while managing personal emotions privately."
— Roger Coppola [29:57]

Co-Founder Dynamics

Hannah and Roger explore the dynamics between co-founders, especially when navigating traditional gender roles in a predominantly male-run business landscape:

"Raj, my co-founder, plays an intrinsic and critical role in finance and operations. We've made sure not to pedestalize one another, fostering a team-oriented environment where we have each other’s backs."
— Hannah Mendoza [39:23]

Roger adds that maintaining mutual respect and understanding is crucial for a sustainable partnership:

"Power dynamics can strain relationships. We focus on being a united team to support each other through both successes and challenges."
— Roger Coppola [39:41]

Advice for Female Entrepreneurs

Drawing from her experiences, Hannah offers valuable insights for aspiring female founders:

1. Embrace Emotional Cycles:

   "Learn to recognize that your brain goes through waves of obsession and clarity. Giving problems space can lead to new perspectives and solutions."
   — Hannah Mendoza [25:47]

2. Create Support Systems:

   "Having unfiltered, supportive conversations with fellow founders can be incredibly cathartic and grounding."
   — Hannah Mendoza [35:37]

3. Balance Vulnerability with Leadership:

   "It's essential to show strength and vision as a leader while managing personal emotions in a way that doesn’t impact your team’s perception."
   — Hannah Mendoza [33:50]

Roger echoes the importance of having reliable support networks and maintaining self-belief despite external pressures:

"Even with a large team, having someone to turn to in moments of self-doubt is crucial for maintaining your leadership role effectively."
— Roger Coppola [34:29]

Future Plans

Looking ahead, Hannah is enthusiastic about expanding Clevv Blends' product line and exploring global markets:

"I love being in the creation process—mixing different blends and iterating on products. We’re gearing up to launch more innovative offerings and expand our reach globally."
— Hannah Mendoza [40:16]

Roger expresses confidence in Hannah’s vision and the brand's potential:

"Watching your business savvy and seeing the intelligent, authentic leader you've become is truly inspiring. I can't wait to see what's next for Clevv Blends."
— Roger Coppola [42:52]

Conclusion

This episode underscores the resilience, authenticity, and collaborative spirit essential for female entrepreneurs navigating the business world. Hannah Mendoza’s journey with Clevv Blends serves as a testament to the power of innovative thinking, supportive partnerships, and the unwavering belief in one's vision. Whether you're an aspiring founder or someone seeking inspiration, Hannah's story offers invaluable lessons on building a brand that aligns with personal values and meets a growing consumer demand for health-conscious products.

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Transcript

[Megan]

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[Hannah Mendoza]

It just started climbing and climbing and climbing and there was 5,000, 10,000 people on our website within a matter of 30 seconds. And I called Roger said, what's going on?

[Roger Coppola]

I'm Megan. This is Confessions of a Female Founder, a show where I chat with female entrepreneurs and friends about the sleeplessness nights, the lessons learned, and the laser focus that got them to where they are today. Business doesn't work unless people believe in you. Your team, your investors, your customers. So much of entrepreneurship is convincing people that your vision is worth their time and their money. And when I think about big milestones for my own business with as ever, I mean Netflix coming on as my business partner, huge. Just having a global powerhouse that believed in me and the site, selling out in the first 45 minutes of launch, everything, every single piece that we had been working on that told me that customers, people believed in me in this vision. That's all you really want As a founder, that becomes your proof point that those late nights and the midnight musings are worth it. And that's how I felt when I met today's guest, Hannah Mendoza. I saw her vision, and I fully believed in it. And more importantly, in her.

[Hannah Mendoza]

You basically saw through the fact that I came to our first meeting practically baref and still believe that I could run a successful company.

[Roger Coppola]

Hannah Mendoza started on her founder journey. Young and ambitious and knowing exactly who she was. She co founded the instant latte business, Clever Blends with Roger Coppola when she was just 28 years old. And shortly after that, well, that's when I met her, and I asked if I could invest in her company. In fact, Hannah was the first person I ever invested in, and I was her very first investor. I am so excited for you to hear how our stories intertwine and what we've learned from each other along the way. Let's get into it. Hi.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Hello.

[Roger Coppola]

So as opposed to starting with just where it all began for you, I want to start with where we first met. Do you remember?

[Hannah Mendoza]

Of course. Of course I remember. I. I mean, it was probably the biggest thing I'd done at that point, coming to a house and meeting with you. I remember being kind of in a disbelief at the situation I was in. It felt like only yesterday that I was, you know, working on our website during the day and working at a pizza restaurant and Oakland at nighttime and doing events on the weekend. And we honestly, we were still actually very much in that very early phase when we met. And I'm really grateful that you were actually able to, you know, see the potential in something that, frankly, at the time was it was still very much in its infancy.

[Roger Coppola]

The funniest thing about it is I had never invested in something before. So I had received a gift basket from my friend Drew. Had I just had my baby or I was pregnant?

[Hannah Mendoza]

I think you were still pregnant. I don't think you'd had Lily yet.

[Roger Coppola]

Yes. So it would have been at the beginning of that year. Yeah. And then months later is when I. Yeah. So you saw me when I was very pregnant. And my friend sent over this gift basket filled with an assortment of products that he thought I would like. No skin in the game. He just said, you know, I know that you are attuned to in, like, ayurvedic things. I know that. Oh, yeah, that would make sense. I know that you're pregnant, and these things might be helpful during this stage of pregnancy. And one of the things within this big basket was this product. And I said, a turmeric latte. You just add water. Okay. And I tried it, and I looked at the back, I said, who is this person? And then I started trying to dig into, like, what is this company? But it's so bizarre, because I had never. I didn't have a portfolio at the time. I didn't have a roster of female founders that I invested in. It was the first and truly organic, all puns intended, experience of looking at something and saying, I want to support this. And I didn't even know you were a female founder at the time. I didn't know who was behind it. And I remember when you came to the house, we were sitting outside, and I just remember you kept shifting your feet in and out of your Birkenstocks, and I thought, oh, my gosh, is this my first investment? And you weren't really pitching me.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I didn't know how to pitch.

[Roger Coppola]

No. But also, I wasn't asking for a pitch. I came to you. Do you remember? I said to you, I was like, I was watching a lot of Shark Tank at the time, and I said, this is not Shark Tank. Think of this as Dolphin Tank. Yes, these are very friendly. These are very friendly waters. It's all gonna be good.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I just have to say, you reminded me of the Birkenstock moment. My first thought was, what on earth was I thinking? I think I wore Birkenstocks in, like a.

[Roger Coppola]

A linen.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Jumping out a linen jumpsuit in the morning and being like, well, this is the least wrinkled thing that I have, but this is going to be very impressive. So you basically saw through the fact that I came to our first meeting practically barefoot and still believe that I could run a successful company.

[Roger Coppola]

By the way, I wear burks at home. I think it's a really smart choice. There was no shame in your game. I was just struck by the fact that you were so comfortable in who you were, and yet, at the same time, this was new for both of us. It was so new. So I wanted to make sure it's a sound investment because I'm putting real capital towards it. And at the same time, you're looking at it, I imagine, through the lens of. But this is my baby that I've created, and do I want to give any of it away? And do I need this? And what do I actually want? So let's start at where it began, right? Of you making these super lattes. What went into a super latte? Why they were so super, but the why behind it, and even where you were selling them so people can understand where it started and where you are now.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I mean, all this really started with me moving to California, which was the biggest and most transformative decision of my life.

[Roger Coppola]

From.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I grew up just outside of London. I never really found my people there. I had a bit of a rough time in high school. I was, I was a strange child.

[Roger Coppola]

Wait, what do you mean by strange child? Why do you think you were strange or you were called strange?

[Hannah Mendoza]

I wasn't very good at picking up on societal norms and conforming to them in a way that made it easier to fit in. I was very, very quirky. And I think it's hard when you're a teenager, when you're a young child to have that before people value those traits in people. I was so close to fitting in and then I would just say something really bizarre or do something strange and then you kind of go back to the bottom of the social ladder.

[Roger Coppola]

So you're having this experience in school, you're feeling like maybe you don't necessarily fit in, but at the same time as I. You were entrepreneurial then.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Yes.

[Roger Coppola]

Even at 7 or 8. What were you doing at that time?

[Hannah Mendoza]

Oh my gosh, I had so many schemes. The, the first one, which I is. Couldn't be further from what I'm doing now is I would buy cookies from Costco and I would buy whipped cream and I would, this was all for charity, but I would set up a table at lunchtime and resell these cookies from Costco with whipped cream on top of them for a, you know, for a bit of a margin. And then that changed as I was getting, you know, older. That changed to. I set up a smoothie bar at school. Probably one of the most God awful smoothies in retrospect. So yes, it was, it was in me from a young age. And the decision to move was, was one of the best I've ever made.

[Roger Coppola]

That was at 17, 18.

[Hannah Mendoza]

18.

[Roger Coppola]

Why California?

[Hannah Mendoza]

Well, I'd never actually really been here. I, I had no friends, no family here. But I had watched I think maybe one or two episodes of the OC at the time and that was absolutely enough to take me over the edge. It was honestly completely on a whim. It was that kind of, you know, 18 year old decision that I'm actually very grateful. You know, your brain hemispheres aren't completely fused yet at that age. And if I tell you when my plane touched down in lax, I listened to Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus in my headphones.

[Roger Coppola]

Oh my Gosh. And see when my plane would touch down at LAX and I was going back and forth when I was filming in Toronto for a long time I. I didn't have that soundtrack in my head. I would always hear Joni Mitchell, California coming home every single time in my head. And I would just go, I'm home. Okay, so you come here, you're 18, you get here. California Dreamin party in the USA.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Yes. It changed me very, in a very massive way very, very quickly when I got here. I mean I'd never been on a single hike, I'd never pitched a tent. I was frankly, I was smoking Marlboro Reds and would casually put back a bottle of tequila on the weekend. That was just when I was in London we clubbing when I was 14. It was just a very, very different lifestyle. And I thought that was. I thought that was it.

[Roger Coppola]

This is, this is a. Hannah. I do not know.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I know. Well, I've never told you this.

[Roger Coppola]

I can't even. I can't even. Yes, because I'm your investor. You're like, I'm not going to talk to you about all my.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Well, I'm going to open with that.

[Roger Coppola]

Yeah, yeah, please. You're going to get captail for you investors. Sure. I mean of course you weren't going to tell me that. So you get on the other side of the pond, you come out here, you meet a whole different vibe and energy around you and you start hiking and you start seeing the world through a different len. Then what happens?

[Hannah Mendoza]

I mean, within a year of being here, I'd moved into a house of 11 women who all had their armpit hair intact. The house was strewn with these kombucha scobies growing from jars and we were doing plant meditations. We're making herbal tinctures. I started surfing and like my idea of a big night out after a year in California was a potluck that ended in a sing along. Like it was. No one wore makeup. Everyone worshiped nature and God. You know, it's such a trope. But it did, it did change my life. And I felt what it felt like to actually feel good in my body and my mind. And I'm sure, you know, it can be a little eye rolling, but I did feel like a different person as an agnostic atheist. You know, we're all desperately searching for meaning and in that community that I found, I'd never experienced what community felt like and it was, you know, it was, it was transformational for me.

[Roger Coppola]

That's beautiful. And grounding it sounds like. Yeah.

[Megan]

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[Roger Coppola]

But so then how do you come from an environment that feels so, dare I say, hippie, dippy, relaxed, super non entrepreneurial? Yes, non commercially minded. Just about being together, community, healing of the earth into translating that and somehow combining it to that same impulse that has always been that spark inside of you to turn it into something that's more business minded. How does that happen?

[Hannah Mendoza]

Well, I was still very ambitious Loaded word, as we know. But I was, I always have been. And even through the, you know, the more kind of earthy phase. I started my first kind of proper job while I was still in college. It was at a regenerative agriculture based superfood company. So again, could it be any more stereotypical? But it was hard work. I was their first employee and, you know, the, the role was, hey, grow the company. I also started drinking coffee when I was there. I've always had a more anxious disposition and I actually think it can be a superpower when used correctly. But I started drinking coffee to kind of deal with the additional load of having a proper job. And it made me feel awful. I activated my anxiety and every day was this kind of coin toss, whether I felt like a superhuman or I was questioning everything in my life. And I hated the variability. And that's where I started experimenting with alternatives. So matcha teas. I'd make these ridiculous 10 ingredient potions with herbs and superfoods and mushrooms that I was learning about at this job. And at the same time, Raj, who's my now co founder, was going through a really hard time after he lost his mum unexpectedly to cancer. And that obviously had a huge impact on everything in his life. And I started making him these reishi cappuccinos as a coffee alternative, which is this mushroom that's really calming for the nervous system.

[Roger Coppola]

Well, and also, Hannah, I'll just jump in because I think a lot of people when they hear mushroom rooms, yes. They go, okay, she's talking about being hippie dippy and grounded in all these things. And if you aren't familiar with adaptogens, you can go to this place of, oh, it's feeling a little psychedelic and super woo woo, and that. But what we're talking about is in some ways food trends, which you were ahead of the curve on because. Yeah, I was thinking about it and maybe 10, 15 years ago is when people didn't know how to pronounce quinoa and they were saying kanoa. So there are these items and ingredients that have been part of our natural ecosystem and dietary system for a long time, whether acknowledged or not that somehow you say mushrooms and now people have a connotation attached to it. But it's really just a food trend that I believe you were far ahead of in terms of saying, hold on. These have properties that can in some way make you feel differently and in a really safe way. During my pregnancies I had an ayurvedic doctor and so much of it was about seeing food as medicine. And so when you're talking about Raj's experience of going through grief and much of the western ideology of just writing a prescription for someone, I think what I loved about our first sit down was you saying, I just sort of thought there might be another way to help whatever emotions were coming up or help soothe the nervous system, and science backs it up.

[Hannah Mendoza]

And that, for me, was important because I'm realizing I'm coming in with a certain relationship to these ingredients, but most people are not. And to be able to say to someone, you know, this is our lived experience, that these ingredients are very powerful. But also, please look at this study where we're showing there's a, you know, 35% drop in serum cortisol levels in someone's blood after taking ashwagandha. That's like, that's incredible. There's pharmaceuticals that can't do that. It's like, so. So I started also diving into that and feeling like, yeah, we are on the brink of something here, becoming more in the cultural zeitgeist. And I want to be part of, you know, disseminating that because it feels like a perfect antidote to the increasingly high stress world that we're in.

[Roger Coppola]

And then once you saw his experience of it, you guys decided to do what?

[Hannah Mendoza]

I mean, what we did with that was we designed this crazy coffee shop menu where we would take these traditional coffee shop drinks, but we would infuse them with all these different beneficial ingredients.

[Roger Coppola]

And sell them where?

[Hannah Mendoza]

Well, at the time, you know, we didn't have a budget to open a coffee shop.

[Roger Coppola]

Yeah.

[Hannah Mendoza]

So we hand welded this bar, put it in the back of a van, and drove all around the country. We even drove down to Guatemala as we went to different countries and just popped up and would serve these crazy drinks to people who, like you said, asked us, why are you putting mushrooms in my coffee? And people fell in love with the way the drinks made them feel, and they wanted to make them at home, which was basically impossible unless you had an erewhon style pantry and, you know, an hour of free time each morning, which. Who has that? And that was when we realized, okay, people really want this. And this is a completely unrealistic ritual. So, Raj, challenge me if you can make the drinks we're serving in this bar that people are loving into. You know, a powder format, an instant drink, which is the least sexy product, most antiquated product of all time, with the same quality as the bar. Let's put this out there in the world. Let's let's build something.

[Roger Coppola]

It was so, as you say, infancy stage. It was so new, and yet somehow it had gotten into my hands. And I said, I think there's something here. And I think as just people in general, and certainly as women, sometimes you don't get the opportunity to trust your gut. But when you do, I just kept. I kept thinking about it all, and I said, I just really think she's onto something that I believe in. And then from there, I'll be honest with you, I went, okay, well, now I have a big responsibility. Oh, my gosh, I want this to succeed, but I also want to. In the same way that you authentically showed up, I wanted to authentically share it. So fortunate that some of the people that I wanted to share it with are ones that also have reach, reach, reach. And I remember calling you and saying, look, I just want to share it with my neighbor, my wonderful neighbor, Ms. Oprah Winfrey. And it was a turmeric latte that I loved the most at the moment, the golden latte. And it was around the winter holidays, so it was cold outside, and you just wanted to feel warm and cozy. And this drink, it felt that way. And I remembered sending it to several friends and neighbors into her. And then I don't. I don't remember the video that she ended up making.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I remember the video. I can describe it to you.

[Roger Coppola]

Tell me.

[Hannah Mendoza]

She was in her kitchen.

[Roger Coppola]

In her actual kitchen.

[Hannah Mendoza]

In her actual kitchen. And there was this basket with matcha and I think a chai and a golden milk, a turmeric matcha super latte and with a chai super latte and.

[Roger Coppola]

My new favorite golden super latte.

[Hannah Mendoza]

She was wearing this white shirt, and she live made a turmeric latte. And I was just looking at her shirt and saying, oh, my God, I hope it doesn't spill all over her. And she made one live and took a sip and just was the most organic, wonderful reaction where she just said, it's delicious. Happy holidays. I think I fell on the floor. I think I fell on the floor. And you know what? I was. God, I was live editing our website when this happened. I was in there, you should never do this. I was in there tinkering again with stuff live. And there's a little count of how many people are on your website. It's like, oh, three people are looking at your website. Which for me at the time, I was like, gosh, who are these three people? Wow. And then it just started climbing and climbing and climbing. And there was 5,000, 10,000 people on our website within a matter of 30 seconds. And I called Roger. I said, what's going on? And I see the tag. I see the Instagram tag. Oprah tagged you in a post. And I just. I did. I fell off my chair. And Raj, at the time, was in a commercial kitchen, and he was sweeping our. After we were making all the product ourselves, he had a hairnet on, and we FaceTimed each other, and he's got his little hairnet on, and we were.

[Roger Coppola]

Just screaming because we all loved it. And then it was, how do we make it creamier? We could do it with oat milk instead of with water. And then I went through that whole phase, do you remember, where I couldn't have oats or oat milk? So you made me my own special version. I did little mason jar concoctions of it, which I loved so much. But, yeah, I think it was interesting because that timing, again, in terms of authenticity and being organic, I sent that from the spirit of wanting to share it with people that I knew would enjoy it. And I didn't know at the time what the submissions were like for Oprah's Favorite Things. No one would think about that. No one thinks about Long Lead Press and even that terminology. Long Lead Press, meaning there's some publications where two or three weeks later, there's a cover, and then there are some where it's Long Lead if it's a huge publication, and that will take three to four months to put everything together, and then you get that story. So all those submissions are summertime submissions to be able to be forecasting for what they know will be loved and enjoyed and appreciated during the holiday season. So interestingly, even. Even that year, you weren't on the list. But then the next two years, you.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Were every founder's dream. Every founder's dream to be on ofrah's Favorite Things list. It's. I'll remember it till the end of my days.

[Roger Coppola]

Oh, my gosh.

[Hannah Mendoza]

It was just.

[Roger Coppola]

And I remember just going, oh, my gosh, thank you. She's like, oh, my. I just love it. Do you need replenishment? What do you. You sent her a thank you note. It was so sweet. And I've learned so much having invested in you and other companies and watching their trajectory, to then start building my own thing, have my own partners, have other people that I have at the table that I have to make sure I'm not just doing right by me, but doing right by them, watching the evolution of it, and to understand that Everything is evolving that's going to have moments that feel like a sucker punch.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I mean, I, I remember even calling you in in May of last year and we chatted and I was having a bit of a wobbly moment and you said to me, well, what did you expect? This is part of it. This is part of the journey.

[Roger Coppola]

Yeah, and that's the thing. I mean, the journey is going to have its low moments, of course, but it's also going to have its high moments. And that's a testament of your hard work, but also your ability to be nimble. So in the last five years, what have been real learns for you that would help another female entrepreneur as she's going through her process of building? What are those points that you can think of in your own entrepreneurial journey that you would want to share with someone else who's trying to figure it out? And I'm going to take notes because I might need some of them too.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Yeah, there's so many. One of the first insights that took me too long to learn, I think that I wish someone had clued me into was I used to take my thoughts and the things that came up in my brain very seriously. And what I mean by that is, with building something comes extreme emotion at extreme frequency. It's erratic. You'll wake up in the night, you'll be obsessing about a problem and it's all you can think about for days and it consumes you. And then what I found is out of nowhere, you can wake up with a completely new perspective. It fades in importance, and although nothing tangible has changed, it dissipates. And learning the waves and the cycles and learning to give problems space because mostly as an entrepreneur, you're solving problems, you're putting out fires. And I've learned to have this attitude of, oh, I'm having a little breakdown about something today, I wonder how it's going to feel tomorrow, as opposed to this feels like a problem. Let me pull out all the stops to try and fix it. And gosh, especially nighttime thoughts. I don't know if you've experienced this.

[Roger Coppola]

I mean, one day I just need to write an entire thing called 3am Musings. The things that I wake up and write down at 3 o'clock in the morning.

[Hannah Mendoza]

But it feels like this kind of cerebral off gassing that's disguised as insight. I, I used to stay awake and I would be up at three and I thought these thoughts are revelatory. And then I'd write them down and the next day I'D look at it and say, what a load of rubbish. Because. And I think just knowing that your brain is going to go through these cycles of, you know, obsessing about things and then giving them space to, for them to process subconsciously often is where the insights come in the shower. If you take yourself for a walk. That's been such a huge help to not take my brain so seriously because you're putting it under a lot of stress. And so it's not always, it's not always going to react in a way that's logical.

[Roger Coppola]

Well, and I think too, you've had a soundboard.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Yes.

[Roger Coppola]

For someone who's doing this solo, I think the thoughts can feel debilitating or you can overreact to them because you don't have someone to bounce it back with. Not only do you have Raj, but outside of that, though, your team is small. It's small and mighty. And even though there's been evolution even in the team as a startup in those five years, what do you have? Seven, eight full time people now? And so I think it's interesting to look at how you've been able to have that own self reflection on what keeps you up in the middle of the night. Just as a founder individually, but then how do you translate that as a leader?

[Hannah Mendoza]

I've never had a problem being vulnerable as, as a person, at least not since I moved to California and was just kind of surrounded by, you know, a lot more emotional openness than I had grown up with. And I do want to admit I've really had to play with the boundaries and how much I do lean into vulnerability and sharing with the team. It's a messy process. Stoicism is so much simpler, it's so much easier, but it's not the way, especially as female leaders. This is a superpower. But learning when to turn it on and off and by how much is a messy process. I've been in meetings where I was feeling hormonal and one of our team was leaving and I just started crying in the meeting and then I watched everyone else look a bit freaked out and I thought, ooh, that was a bit much. Maybe just turn it down a little bit.

[Roger Coppola]

You're like, but I'm human, but I'm a leader and I'm the role model so I can't be fully human in this moment. I need to restrain it and keep that humanness for home. And I think it's a really interesting construct of how you navigate what is best for your business and what is best for you as an individual and that even though in hiring you might be drawn to someone because as an individual you love that person, it might not be the right fit for what your business needs.

[Hannah Mendoza]

And sometimes if you're drawn to someone because you're quite similar, that actually very much might not be what your business needs because we need to diversify skill set and perspective and so having a bunch of people around you that think like you can actually be a bit of a trap.

[Roger Coppola]

Yeah.

[Megan]

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[Roger Coppola]

I don't know how you do business in a way that's purely clinical. I can't do that. It's emotional to build something and it's your baby. So you know for you what has been the biggest takeaway when you think about friendships in business or boundaries in business and how you manage both outside of those moments where if you do cry in a meeting, do you address it with them after and say, I'm Sorry. As your boss, I realize I want to keep a line. Or do you just give yourself grace in those moments and say, I'm human and let's see what happens tomorrow?

[Hannah Mendoza]

As I said, I do feel like I had a period where I was leaning. I was leaning more into vulnerability as a superpower, but with no filter than I. Than I think was wise. And I got the reflection from Raj, bless him. He was like, I, you know, I know you're trying to be real with the team, but. And I. And I really, it was a little hard to take in the moment, but I did really appreciate that perspective because what I found is by knowing that I did have to play the role of the cheerleader to a certain degree. You're also talking yourself into that attitude. And your job as CEO is cheerleader. It's to hold the vision. It's to, of course, be real and soft about the challenges on the way there. But being tasked with showing up with vision, with drive, and with kind of unfaltering conviction in what you're building, even if there are moments where you feel like you'll fake it till you make it with that changes your internal landscape. And so I've loved the transition from I need to share with my team, you know, all the spectrum of emotions that I'm feeling to. For my sake and for their sake, I am going to be the fearless leader at the front. And it's been helpful for me, too.

[Roger Coppola]

Well, and that you're able to, I think, for all of us, for. Because that's not sustainable. You can't be that all the time for everyone. Right? So even for me, as I look at everything that I'm working on building with the team, and it's a very large team, get on the calls and have the meetings and same thing, cheerleader. But I had a moment last week where I thought, oh, my gosh, who can I ladder up to? I made a phone call. I said, is this gonna work? Like, is this actually gonna work? But I had that self doubt. You can't bring self doubt to your team. That's junior to you. They have to believe in, as you said, what you're creating and the vision and how you hold the line. But you still have to be able to have someone you can go to to be human and say, I don't know, can you just tell me that this makes sense? And thankfully, my partner said, are you joking? We're so energized. This is amazing. But I did, I got into that same headspace that any of Us can. Because some might look at it and say, at least for me, it will have so much exposure. Whatever I put out in the world will have so much attention. I go, yeah. And there's a flip side to that coin, which we know. It's a microscope that a lot of people don't have to experience.

[Hannah Mendoza]

This feels very minor in the face of all of these things, but one of the more helpful strategies that I found for having a place where you can be real as a counterbalance to needing to be, you know, the fearless leader. It's a very kind of feminine strategy. But having a completely unhinged text thread with other people who are doing similar things. I have founder friends, other women who are at similar stages with their business. Becca from Fish Wife is, is a very close friend of mine and we.

[Roger Coppola]

Oh my gosh, I love their products.

[Hannah Mendoza]

They're amazing.

[Roger Coppola]

Great branding. Beautiful.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Great branding. She's wonderful.

[Roger Coppola]

No one's ever. Sorry, just like, as a sidebar, no one has ever made an a canned anchovy or sardine look cool. It's beautiful. Who does that?

[Hannah Mendoza]

It's very impressive to me.

[Roger Coppola]

Please tell her that I'm a big fan.

[Hannah Mendoza]

It's. It's. What she's done is amazing. But we have a text thread where all caps, you know, partial sentences, three week delays in replying are completely accepted. Because sometimes you get off a call and you just, you just need to write an all caps text to someone that says, what on earth is going on? Yeah, and you need to ramble or you need to send a five minute voice note. And having that kind of, that expression in an appropriate way has been very cathartic.

[Roger Coppola]

Yes. The safety of stream of consciousness with someone who understands it's a different version of the same thing that they are going through or that they remember having gone through. But that's part of that sisterhood. And that understanding of, okay, every day is not gonna be the same and some days are gonna be harder to show up as your best and shiniest self. Maybe on that day something really PA happen in your real life, but for your team, that's not how you show up. You can't even.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I mean, when you think about also being a female leader and you think about building something around the schedule of hormones on a monthly basis, biological clock, and even kind of on a daily basis, I find I'm very utopian until 3pm and then like I'm a complete nihilist from 3pm until bedtime. So I just, I just organize my schedule around that. But you don't always get to choose. Or what if you have an incredibly important meeting at, you know, a time of the month where you have raging PMS and you just have to push through. And I think even as a woman, it's very amplified in terms of, you know, we are cyclical beings in a way that men are not.

[Roger Coppola]

I do think it's a really good point that you raise about women as cyclical beings in a way that I don't know if men are or are not. But for you, for our experience as we're talking about it, it feels very specific to being a woman. And yet here you are with a male CL co founder, Roger Coppola. I mean, Raj is. He's way more behind the scenes than you are. How do you think that feels for him? Cause it's a really different experience of what I think most males experience in the business world, where you are more the face and the forward facing piece of Clevver. But Raj has been with you from the beginning.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Yes.

[Roger Coppola]

And again, part of that origin story of even what you created these drinks for in his grief process and what you were going through. What do you think it's felt like for him to see you the one being forward facing and in more of the limelight, though he is still very much a part of, in a huge way, the in and out of the company every day.

[Hannah Mendoza]

I know with all my certainty that having that I guess maybe switch in traditional role if we are even thinking about the statistics surrounding, you know, 90% of Fortune 500 companies are run by men. I know that he feels like having a female leader is an appropriate step forward for creating the world we want to see in business. And he has been so gracious about playing the role that he plays, which is intrinsic and critical. I couldn't do this without him. And we also have got to both play to our strengths. He is very entrenched in finance and operations. It's not my world. And I think that he also has frankly loved being in a company of basically all women.

[Roger Coppola]

Well, and also you've watched the success of it together. Right. So you can celebrate it behind the scenes. Even if you're the one forward facing, that's being celebrated. And I wonder what that's like for female business partners. And one woman is getting more of the accolades than the other, even if their skill sets are in different places. Yeah.

[Hannah Mendoza]

And a lot of co founders don't stay together. You know, we also know the statistics around that, that it can be a very strained relationship. And I think Power dynamic is a large part of what can tear people apart. Something Raj and I have had to be really careful around is making sure that we're not pedestalizing one person over the other and that we feel like a team and we have each other's backs. And I think that would be the same for any co founders.

[Roger Coppola]

Yeah, I think you're right. So what's next for you and what's next for clever?

[Hannah Mendoza]

Well, I am just loving being in the creation process right now. I, I run all of our product development. We do that in house. That's my area. Mixing up different blends, tasting them, 100 different iterations. And, you know, that's my, that's my happy place. And so there's going to be a lot more, more fun, innovative products that we're going to be bringing out.

[Roger Coppola]

We've also talked about global expansion too, which I know, again with food products and consumables, it's different because restrictions in different places, but the appetite for your product in so many different global territories is immense. And you look at it now and I think the bigger question then becomes, you know, again, some of the women that I talk to, they've IPO'd, they have sold, they don't wanna sell. I've always looked at your company. I remember us having a really candid conversation at the beginning is, what is your intention? What is your goal? Do you want to grow this? To one day sell this? Is this something we want to sell to a Starbucks or a Nestle and see it and share it in an even broader way? And I share that because there was a company that I fell in love with, a GI company, and I thought, this is going to be the next big gear. Clarified butter. This is the thing. I had to have so much of it when I was pregnant. This is all around the same time. And then years later, I get in touch with this founder and it is very, very apparent that she doesn't have a dream of growing into something larger and being on the shelves of Whole Foods or a Target or anything else. And in her authenticity, I was able to genuinely go, I see and respect that so much. And selling at Farmer's Market and having a small business is more than enough. That's incredible if that's what's aligned for you. And I think the difference was even in your sort of relaxed manner, it was still very, very evident that you have aspirations to grow a business. And I think watching your business savvy has been so inspiring to me because you can be the girl in A linen jumpsuit in Birkenstocks who still is so freaking smart. So I look at you and what you're creating and go, oh my gosh, I know what's gonna happen with this business and I can't wait to see what she's gonna build next.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Thank you.

[Roger Coppola]

Because it's just the beginning.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Well, it's. I mean, it's so lovely also to, to relive the crazy story of the last five years because it's been such a testament to women supporting women in such a real way. And I felt kind of the wind beneath my wings from you and all the other incredible women that you've helped bring around me every day and, and on the hard days especially, well, you.

[Roger Coppola]

Know, I'm, I'm just grateful that you let me. You let me come in and support you because it's reciprocal. So bravo, Hannah.

[Hannah Mendoza]

Thank you. Thanks for making that so enjoyable and so easeful. It truly did feel just like a fun chat.

[Roger Coppola]

Next week we're talking to a founder who took something so ordinary and turned it into a multi million dollar business. So then I'm like, okay, they're buying their own scrubs. Why are they buying bad scrubs?

[Megan]

Right?

[Roger Coppola]

It's like, okay, they're spending money on their own pocket, right? Their hard earned money. Let's give them something that's better than anything that's out there. Can you guess who it is? I feel really confident this one will inspire you to look at what's around you and see what you can build to. I'll see you next week.

[Megan]

Confessions of a Female Founder is a production of Lemonada Media created and hosted by Megan. Our producers are Catherine Barnes and Oha Lopez. Kristen Lepore is our senior supervising producer. Executive producers are Stephanie Whittles, Wax, Jessica Cordova Kramer and Megan. Mix and sound design are by Johnny Vincevans. Rachel Neal is our VP of new content and production and Steve Nelson is our SVP of weekly content and production. You can help others find our show by leaving us a rating and writing a review. There's more. Confessions of a Female Founder with Lemonada Premium subscribers get exclusive access to bonus content when you subscribe in Apple Podcasts. You can also listen ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you next week.

[Roger Coppola]

Hannah Banana.

[Megan]

We hope you enjoyed Confessions of a Female Founder with Megan. If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do so is by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more incredible listeners like you discover the series. Thank you.