Brand Building With Ayesha Curry

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Brand Building With Ayesha Curry"
From the Ground Up
Hosted by Inc. Magazine
Episode Release Date: December 9, 2024

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Introduction

In this captivating episode of From the Ground Up, Inc. Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-at-Large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin engage in an in-depth conversation with Ayesha Curry, the Founder and CEO of Sweet July. Known not only as the wife of NBA superstar Steph Curry but also as a formidable entrepreneur in her own right, Ayesha shares her journey of building multifaceted brands, navigating challenges, and giving back to the community. This episode delves into her strategies for brand building, balancing personal and professional life, and her philanthropic endeavors.

Ayesha Curry’s Entrepreneurial Journey [03:40 – 08:17]

Ayesha Curry’s path to entrepreneurship is rooted in her passion for cooking and hospitality. Starting as a home chef and content creator long before it became a mainstream career option, Ayesha organically transitioned into building her brand without initially aiming for monetary gain.

Notable Quote:
"I was literally just doing what I loved. It was a creative outlet for me, in a way, to have a voice."
— Ayesha Curry [08:28]

Her first significant steps included publishing a cookbook and launching a cooking show on the Food Network. These ventures not only showcased her culinary skills but also laid the foundation for her later business expansions. A pivotal moment in her journey was partnering with renowned chef Michael Mina, who helped her overcome imposter syndrome and recognize her rightful place in the culinary industry.

Building Sweet July: Inspiration and Process [04:06 – 07:35]

Sweet July began as a skincare line, inspired by Ayesha’s personal struggles with skin issues and her Jamaican heritage. Dissatisfied with existing skincare products, she combined her knowledge of food with traditional Jamaican remedies to create effective, natural skincare solutions.

Notable Quote:
"Coming from my food background, I knew that what you can put in your skin, you can put on your skin."
— Ayesha Curry [06:11]

Working closely with chemists, Ayesha infused Jamaican superfoods like papaya, guava, and turmeric into her products, ensuring they were both effective and rooted in her cultural heritage. This meticulous process underscored her commitment to authenticity and quality, distinguishing Sweet July in a competitive market.

Branding and Authenticity [05:34 – 07:57]

Ayesha emphasizes that Sweet July is not merely a celebrity-endorsed brand but a product of five years of dedication and personal investment. She resisted the temptation to white-label products, insisting on maintaining creative control to ensure the brand’s integrity.

Notable Quote:
"White labeling anything is just never gonna fly for me. I'm too creative for that world."
— Ayesha Curry [07:35]

Her approach reflects a deep-seated belief in building brands that genuinely represent her values and heritage, fostering a loyal customer base that resonates with her story and mission.

Balancing Business and Family [10:26 – 11:36]

Managing multiple ventures while raising four children is no small feat. Ayesha shares her strategy of focusing on different aspects of her businesses at various times while ensuring that every venture receives attention daily.

Notable Quote:
"I focus on different things at different times, but always touch everything every single day."
— Ayesha Curry [11:23]

She attributes her ability to juggle responsibilities to a strong support system and effective delegation, allowing her to maintain both her professional and personal life harmoniously.

Company Culture and Team Building [12:27 – 13:51]

Ayesha places immense value on her hiring process, seeking individuals who align with Sweet July’s core values and mission. She believes in surrounding herself with people who possess greater expertise, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment.

Notable Quote:
"I like to surround myself with people who know more than I do. And I think that's always a good thing to do."
— Ayesha Curry [12:38]

Maintaining a small, tight-knit team ensures clear communication and strong relationships, which are crucial for executing her creative vision effectively.

Overcoming Setbacks and Challenges [14:08 – 16:07]

Ayesha candidly discusses her approach to handling setbacks, emphasizing emotional honesty followed by practical problem-solving. She allows herself 24 hours to process negative emotions before moving forward with actionable solutions.

Notable Quote:
"I give myself 24 hours to be angry, be sad, be confused, and then I try to move on."
— Ayesha Curry [14:46]

This method not only preserves her mental well-being but also ensures that challenges do not impede the progress of her businesses or affect her team adversely.

Philanthropy: Eat, Learn, Play Foundation [16:35 – 25:54]

A significant portion of the conversation focuses on Ayesha and Steph Curry’s philanthropic initiative, Eat, Learn, Play, based in Oakland, California. Established in 2019, the foundation aims to enhance the lives of children by building playgrounds, promoting literacy, and providing nutritious meals.

Notable Quote:
"The fire that's lit inside of me is like, how can we make an impact today?"
— Ayesha Curry [20:28]

Collaborating closely with her husband, Ayesha describes a complementary dynamic where she brings creative ideas while Steph focuses on strategic planning and efficiency. Their collective efforts have raised over $75 million, demonstrating their commitment to creating meaningful change in their community.

Future Plans and Growth [25:03 – 26:48]

Looking ahead, Ayesha outlines her plans to expand Sweet July by opening new cafe locations, continuing to publish books that honor her Jamaican heritage, and nurturing emerging authors through her publishing partnership with Xando. Her dedication to growth is balanced with a desire to remain hands-on, ensuring that each new venture maintains the brand’s core values and quality.

Notable Quote:
"We have several books that we're publishing this year through our partnership with Xando. We're really excited about that and to lift young and new authors to the forefront of the publishing world."
— Ayesha Curry [26:08]

This holistic approach to business development underscores her unwavering commitment to authenticity, cultural heritage, and community impact.

Conclusion

Ayesha Curry’s journey is a testament to the power of passion, authenticity, and strategic community engagement in building successful, multifaceted brands. From overcoming personal challenges to fostering a supportive team culture and making significant philanthropic contributions, Ayesha exemplifies the qualities of a resilient and visionary entrepreneur. Her story offers invaluable insights for aspiring founders aiming to create impactful and enduring businesses.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "I was literally just doing what I loved. It was a creative outlet for me, in a way, to have a voice."
  — Ayesha Curry [08:28]

• "Coming from my food background, I knew that what you can put in your skin, you can put on your skin."
  — Ayesha Curry [06:11]

• "White labeling anything is just never gonna fly for me. I'm too creative for that world."
  — Ayesha Curry [07:35]

• "I focus on different things at different times, but always touch everything every single day."
  — Ayesha Curry [11:23]

• "I like to surround myself with people who know more than I do. And I think that's always a good thing to do."
  — Ayesha Curry [12:38]

• "I give myself 24 hours to be angry, be sad, be confused, and then I try to move on."
  — Ayesha Curry [14:46]

• "The fire that's lit inside of me is like, how can we make an impact today?"
  — Ayesha Curry [20:28]

• "We have several books that we're publishing this year through our partnership with Xando. We're really excited about that and to lift young and new authors to the forefront of the publishing world."
  — Ayesha Curry [26:08]

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This episode serves as an inspiring blueprint for entrepreneurs aiming to build brands that are not only commercially successful but also deeply rooted in personal passion and communal responsibility.

Transcript

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[Diana Ransom]

Christine Diana.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Do you have a good story from playing sports as a kid? Yes.

[Diana Ransom]

No.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Do you have a story?

[Diana Ransom]

I mean, I was the kid in gym class who wore big bottle glasses and was just constantly ducking from the ball and yet still getting hit in the face.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh no.

[Diana Ransom]

I would like. I remember I got spiked with a volleyball in the face once and it shattered my glasses like smashed into my face.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Did you ever break your nose?

[Diana Ransom]

No. Thank goodness.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

I'm pretty sure I got hit in the face with a basketball once and I'm pretty sure I broke my nose.

[Ayesha Curry]

God.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Nothing ever came of it. Cause I didn't actually do anything about it. And so I have a little.

[Diana Ransom]

Your nose is gorgeous.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

I have a little crick there.

[Diana Ransom]

Huh? What was it? Character building. I could have done without that whole gym thing though.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah, I can imagine having your glasses broken while wearing them must be pretty scary, especially for a kid. This is from the ground up. I'm Inc. Executive Editor Diana Ransom.

[Diana Ransom]

And I'm Editor at Large Christine Ligorio Chavkin. Today's episode Brand Building with Ayesha Curry. So, Diana, I recently spoke with Aisha Curry. Are you familiar with her?

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Not that much. I mean, I know she is.

[Diana Ransom]

She's obviously a celebrity.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

And the wife of Steph Curry.

[Diana Ransom]

Yes, this is true. Now she would. She would say that she is not a celebrity. But I mean, I guess you and I probably would disagree with that fact. Aisha is.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

She's fairly famous.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, she's the Founder and CEO of Sweet July, which is a culinary and lifestyle brand. It also has skincare and a restaurant.

[Ayesha Curry]

Wow.

[Diana Ransom]

Yes, a restaurant too. Lot. Yes, a cafe and restaurant. She really celebrates women and BIPOC creators and has built all of these brands through kind of honoring her own Jamaican family heritage. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, it's great. So I spoke with her on the main stage at the Inc 5000, and then afterward, we went into the podcasting booth, where we kind of dug a little bit deeper on some of the topics that we spoke about on the main stage. And that is what this interview I'm bringing you is from.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

And I also heard that she has four children. I'm curious how she juggles it all.

[Diana Ransom]

Yes, I was too. It is a lot. And she's also getting back into publishing books that also honor her heritage and into producing and acting once again. So. Oh, my God, it's a lot. But I start off our conversation by asking her to go back in time and tell us what inspired Sweet.

[Ayesha Curry]

I've worked in restaurants. I'm in hospitality. I do television. I've had a cookware line. Like, by far, this has been the most tumultuous, down to the nitty gritty experience of my life.

[Diana Ransom]

A lot of entrepreneurs, like, have this kind of saying, this moment of staring into the abyss or eating glass. Like, was there a moment where you were just like, I don't know if this is gonna work. I should just give up on this skincare thing?

[Ayesha Curry]

Yes. When I found myself at home in my kitchen with a ph tester during the pandemic, trying to make sure that I could, like. Cause we couldn't get into the lab and, like, trying to make sure that, like, product samples were the right ph. And I was like, I'll do it. I was like, what am I actually doing right now? Like, I don't know. In short, don't know. So there I was like, oh, my God, is this gonna happen? But I know everybody during the pandemic was like, is this going to happen? And a lot of people, unfortunately, had worst experiences. And so you take the good with the bad.

[Diana Ransom]

You take your amateur chemistry.

[Ayesha Curry]

Exactly.

[Diana Ransom]

And your products made on your kitchen table and.

[Ayesha Curry]

Exactly.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's. That's. It's amazing, though, like, the additional skills that. Right. You have to add to your life to make the things happen. Yeah.

[Ayesha Curry]

So fun.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the challenge of it. Please tell me the inspiration behind Sweet July.

[Ayesha Curry]

Sweet July originally started as skin, so that is the first thing that we unlocked under the Sweet July branch. Yeah. And I wanted to formulate Sweet July Skin because my skin was awful. You know, it's a continuous journey for me, and it's something that I struggled with since I was a teenager. And I still hadn't found anything, like, on the market that was working. I tried even, you know, prescription medications. And when you're in the midst of having children and all of that, it's just not a fun game to play.

[Diana Ransom]

You feel like there's ingredients that are off the table for you. You feel like nothing is made just for you.

[Ayesha Curry]

Yeah, yeah. And coming from my food background, I knew that what you can put in your skin, you can put on your skin, vice versa. And I have this Jamaican background. My mom's Jamaican, my grandma's Jamaican, I'm Jamaican and grew up hearing about all these remedies from the island that could help. And so we started working with a chemist and a formulator to figure out how to make those things work together with using ingredients that we knew were effective and infusing them with these beautiful Jamaican superfoods. And so Sweet Joliet skin was born there and then. Nice.

[Diana Ransom]

What are some of the superfoods?

[Ayesha Curry]

So we use things like papaya, guava, we even use, some people say lychee. But the seed and the skin can be ground into a super fine powder that's non abrasive. And so in our cleanser, we have like a very gentle exfoliant in there that's made only from that. Oh, neat.

[Diana Ransom]

And so those are like antioxidant rich.

[Ayesha Curry]

Exactly. Vitamin C rich, Antioxidant rich. We use a lot of turmeric, which is anti inflammatory and brightening. But then we also mix that with things that we know are effective, like glycolic and. Aha. And retinol. Yeah. And so I think we've created.

[Diana Ransom]

So what you're saying is you are not a celebrity who just, like, white labeled a product and slapped their name on it?

[Ayesha Curry]

No, no, no.

[Diana Ransom]

This is five years in the making. And you just launched Sweet July Skin not that long ago.

[Ayesha Curry]

A year ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It took a long time. Like, short answer is no. 1, because I've never considered myself a celebrity. But two, because white labeling anything is just never gonna fly for me. I'm like, too creative for that world.

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[Ayesha Curry]

Can't do it.

[Diana Ransom]

You know, you started your career as a chef, as a home chef, as a. I don't know if we called it content creation factor. Yeah. Amazing. We didn't really say content creator back 15 years ago.

[Ayesha Curry]

No, it wasn't. It wasn't a thing. Yeah, it wasn't a thing.

[Diana Ransom]

And Steph was, like, coming out of Davidson, you were blogging, you were YouTubing. Right. And, like, did you see a vision for the future at that point? Like, what did you see as your future?

[Ayesha Curry]

No, I was literally just doing what I loved. And back. Back in those days, I didn't even see it as a way to find, like, monetary gain. Huh. It was a creative outlet for me, in a way, to have a voice. And so it truly and organically stemmed from there. And it took other people to be like, hey, this is a career. And I'm like, oh, okay, well, let's do this.

[Diana Ransom]

That's.

[Ayesha Curry]

And once I say yes to something, like, I'm not backing down. So we went full speed ahead.

[Diana Ransom]

Full speed ahead. And what was the first step there? Was it the cookbook or was it the show?

[Ayesha Curry]

It was the cookbook and then the show. So I took. I started making videos on YouTube. So it started as a website, and then I transitioned to making videos. Cause people were like, you're telling me how to do it, but can you show me how to do it? And so I shifted to that and then went on the Food Network Journey. And within that same time, the cookbook launched. But I'd been working on it for quite some time. And then the rest is kind of history. It's crazy. And then I met my business partner and mentor, Michael Mina, who I've gone into the hospitality business with and who's been my. He helped me lessen my imposter syndrome from a culinary perspective because I was so hard on myself that I didn't go to formal culinary school. I did culinary programs and things along the way, but never went to formal culinary school. And he was like, you're in the best school here that you could be in. You're learning every day. That's all that matters. And so he really, like, instilled in me that I belonged in that industry. And I'm, like, forever grateful to him.

[Diana Ransom]

Well, and I imagine he probably brought you some appreciation, too, for the fact that you grew up in this multicultural household with all these different influences and ingredients and parents who were cooking. And then you took those recipes and made something great out of it. You made this cookbook.

[Ayesha Curry]

I took those recipes and I made something out of it. And ironically, like, that's how he runs MENA Group as well. Like, it's such a collaborative effort. Like, everybody from front of House to back of house can contribute and speak to what they know and the culture that they come from. And they kind of fuse things together. Especially at our restaurant, International Smoke, we like fuse things together in that way. And so nothing is off limits. And I think it just creates for this beautiful family setting.

[Diana Ransom]

I love that. And I think that is how people want to eat and enjoy food these days. Right, Fantastic. So today, you know, we were talking about your. When you started 15 years ago today, Sweet July has skincare line storefronts, E commerce, and you've worked on the restaurants, it has publishing. You're the author of two bestselling cookbooks. Tell me, how do you balance your life? How do you get this all done?

[Ayesha Curry]

So I think I focus on different things at different times, but always touch everything every single day. And as long as I do that, I feel good about it. There's constant.

[Diana Ransom]

Well, you've kind of got to check in with everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ayesha Curry]

Everything, everyone. But I think the hiring process is so important. So when we started to do this, we made sure that we hired like, like minded individuals who could see the same goals and wanted to achieve the same goals as us and had the same ethos. And I think that that helps a lot too because I don't have to stress every day that somebody's going to F something up. You know, you trust. It's like, yeah, yeah, there's a lot of trust there. And then sometimes, you know, with that insurmountable amount of trust comes very depressing downfalls. Some days, right, where you learn that, like, nope, actually somebody doesn't have the same. And then. But you fix it and it's okay. And so like, I choose to believe that people are inherently good and I like to fall on that trust and it works out more times than it doesn't. And that's okay.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah. So when you're building your team, like, are there traits you look for? Is it more like a vibe? Are there certain questions that you love to ask to really get down to the essence of who someone is?

[Ayesha Curry]

Yeah, I like to start with the core values, even outside of whatever the job description is. And then I work my way back from there. So. But you have to be, you have to be smarter than me. And I like to like surround myself with people who know more than I do. And I think that's always a good thing to do. But you've heard it. Everybody listening has heard that time and time again. It's a true statement.

[Diana Ransom]

Sure. But like, culturally, I think that folks have. I Have a difficult time hiring for someone who is going to kind of have the right motives in terms of their organization. Right.

[Ayesha Curry]

And sometimes it's trial and error, too. Right. Like, you're not going to get it right on the first hire, and that's okay. It's not okay, but it's okay.

[Brex Ad]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ayesha Curry]

Again, I think when those values and the mission, the core mission, are aligned, you're in a sweet spot. And so we just try to get that right. And I'm usually typically happy there. And we also keep the team very small and tight as well. There's not a lot of people, like, we're very small, and I like it that way because then I'm able to speak to everybody and have a relationship with everybody and the communication doesn't get jumbled. And I like it that way.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, yeah. So as a small business owner, though, like you and owning a multifaceted enterprise. Right. Can you. Do you want it to get bigger? Like, can you imagine the growth and then how to manage that?

[Ayesha Curry]

I do. I do. Yeah. I do want it to get bigger. Otherwise, what am I doing? Right.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah.

[Ayesha Curry]

So that is the goal and the dream. Whether that means partnering with somebody, whether that means being acquired and staying on creatively, I don't. I don't know what the future holds, but I definitely do want to grow. But I can never see myself not touching everything. Yeah, I'm a bit of a control freak. And so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Diana Ransom]

So how do you. How do you deal with the setback? Like, when something happens that is not right with you or does not sit right with you or some employee fails you, not. Well, how do you.

[Ayesha Curry]

No, honestly, I'm not. I can't lie. I'm not well. But give myself 24 hours to be angry, be sad, be confused, and then I try to move on. But I'm never going to suppress. It's not my thing. I'm going to, like, let it out and feel my feelings and then move on. I think it's the best thing for me mentally. And then I try to always take a step outside of myself to see why the setback happened and then how we can fix it. And so I guess that's a logical approach. Yeah. So illogical. 24 hours with a logical future.

[Diana Ransom]

I love it. I love it.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Hold on.

[Stephen Marsh]

Your husband do a lot.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

You just touched on something with Aisha that's neat about how she handles stressful situations.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, absolutely. I think we could hear in her answer that she might have been recalling some kind of incident or mishap that took place. But as she told me earlier on stage, she is kind of a fiery person and she definitely would have a big response to something going amiss with the business, I can tell. But she manages to take a step back so that her own emotions can. She can handle them herself and not kind of damage the team or let anyone else really feel affected by them.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah, that's great for probably all entrepreneurs, frankly. I mean, you know, when it's your baby. So, yeah, it's not easy and it's.

[Diana Ransom]

Just good to, like, be able to recognize that in yourself. Right. That you need a moment.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah.

[Diana Ransom]

So she also said that she really does focus on that team having the right people around her and hiring people who can kind of stand on their own. She is the kind of creative visionary leader and, you know, she knows that she needs the right people around her to execute. That's cool.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So what did you talk about with her next?

[Diana Ransom]

I asked her about her charity, which is based in Oakland, California. It's called Eat, Learn, Play, and she started it with her husband, Steph Curry in 2019. So during the COVID 19 pandemic, they really began to focus on building playgrounds at Oakland schools, doing literacy education and meals. And they have raised more than $75 million and pledged to put that toward, you know, again, more playgrounds, more literacy in Oakland. And it's their. It's their town, it's their hometown. It shows they really care about the schools there.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

That's great. I mean, the world could use more playgrounds.

[Diana Ransom]

That's right. And I ask Aisha what she's learned working together with her husband on that project. After a quick break.

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[Diana Ransom]

You and your husband also run the Eat Learn Play organization in Oakland. You have given and raised just a ton of money, I think more than $75 million. Am I right? Or pledged to help literacy in Oakland build playgrounds. How is working together with him on that? And like what have you learned from working with each other?

[Ayesha Curry]

It's incredible working with each other. Like he leans on me, I lean on him and in very different ways for each of us. And so I feel like I lend like the creative big idea. We've got to do this element to Elearn Play and Stefan is like let's take a look at the numbers. How can we do this in the most efficient, impactful way? And then we meet in the middle and I think it works beautifully. And again we surround ourselves with an incredible team. Our CEO Chris Helfridge is just incredible. He's an incredible mind, has the most pure for philanthropy. It runs deep within the roots of his family and he couldn't be a more perfect person to help us execute what we're doing. And none of it would honestly be happening without him. We have like amazing sponsors and partners that have come along with us for this journey and are in it for the long haul. And that's always a beautiful thing. It means you're doing good work because nobody's going to want to put their big company on the line for Somebody they think is not. So it's been really good, but I think we're so small, we're so new. There's so much work to be done. And so when I wake up in the morning, the fire that's lit inside of me is like, how can we make an impact today? And what new idea can we come up with to help make that happen? And so I approach from that standpoint.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah. Do your kids have an impact too, in that area? Do they have any input that they give you?

[Ayesha Curry]

Not yet. We kind of run a lot of the books that we donate by them just to make sure that the kids are interested in what they're reading. Because that's also a very important part of unlocking Joy of Reading is subject matter and them being interested. Or else you just feel like you're reading a textbook, and kids don't want to do that. But ironically, like my son, who's 6 canon, he's going to go and do his first. This will be his first time since he was a baby. Like, I used to bring him in the baby carrier and stuff on our days, but he's going to go on his own and go help paint murals at one of the playgrounds that we're doing. And I just like little things like that. So we're slowly starting to, like, incorporate them into the ecosystem so that they can have a spirit of giving inside of them and understand how important it is to be a part of their community.

[Diana Ransom]

I think that's amazing. And I do think that a lot of other founders are wondering, especially if they've had successful businesses like, how do I give back in a meaningful way? How do I make this what I want to do? Work with my business? Maybe they don't even know how they want to give back. What advice would you have for folks who are looking to start either a charitable arm of their business or a foundation and do the right thing?

[Ayesha Curry]

So one thing that was really important to us because a lot of times, and especially when you, you know, with Stefan playing basketball and being quite notable, what you get with that is people saying, like, well, what am I donating my money to? And so something that was very important for us was to make sure that we were covering our overhead costs. Yeah. And so we cover 100% of our overhead costs so that people.

[Diana Ransom]

So donors are not giving to staffing fees, that kind of thing. They're giving to the actual work.

[Ayesha Curry]

They're giving to the actual causes. And that's something that we're very proud of and that we've pledged to do. And I think that that really helps when starting it, and it helps keep your business clean as well, because, you know, you see people getting in trouble all of the time, and it's really sad and upsetting, and it's just nobody wants to be in that situation. And so for us, covering all of our overhead was a step in the right direction for making sure that our that Eat, Learn, Play successful and that Eat, learn, Play can continue to have impact throughout the community.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, absolutely. So sort of set it. So set up the business fundamentals first.

[Ayesha Curry]

Yeah, set up the fundamentals.

[Diana Ransom]

Finding that focus. Like, for you guys, it was Oakland schools, right? You, like, knew right away, like, this is the area we want to have impact in.

[Ayesha Curry]

Y We became adults there in Oakland. We started our family there, and it's our adoptive home, truly. And so we started to realize very early on, like, the disparities within the community and how much a lot of people needed. And so there was never a question that we were gonna start there. It was, how are we gonna start there? And what is it that we want to accomplish? And so I'd been working with no Get Hungry for years before we started. And so nutrition was an extremely important part of what I wanted to do.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, it was literally the work you were doing already in cooking.

[Ayesha Curry]

And then for him, obviously, he's in sports, and the statistics are there of how important that time is for kids for their development, for their mental state.

[Diana Ransom]

Like being outdoors on a playground, getting that time outside, playing sports. Yeah.

[Ayesha Curry]

And then we looked at the school system and the education and what the statistics were there, and that was extremely depressing. We knew we wanted to attack all those things. It was just like, how. And so, again, Chris Helfridge and our board and everybody helped us. No, we can do all of these things, actually. And actually, these are the three fundamental pillars of making sure that a child has, one, a great childhood, but two, a successful and fruitful life going forward. And so it was very. It's, like, very straightforward, but it's extremely necessary.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah, yeah. So to you, it sort of presented itself as this outpouring of your areas of passions in terms of childhood development. That's so great. Wonderful. Before we go, let me ask you, what's next? What's next for Sweet July?

[Ayesha Curry]

So what's next? We opened up our first formal cafe location in Santa Monica at the new Regent Hotel.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah. Congratulations.

[Ayesha Curry]

Thank you. And so that's very exciting. And then we have several books that we're publishing this year through our partnership with Xando. And so we're really excited about that and to lift young and new authors to the forefront of the publishing world.

[Diana Ransom]

Yeah. And it's a Jamaican story. The first one.

[Ayesha Curry]

The first one. Honeysuckle and Bone, Trisha Tobias. It's an eerie, haunted, twisted story about a girl who goes to Jamaica, and the house that they're encountering is haunted.

[Diana Ransom]

Oh, I love it.

[Ayesha Curry]

It's great fun.

[Diana Ransom]

So yet another of the three threads of your heritage coming through in all your projects. I love it. I love it. Well, thank you so much, Aisha, for being here today.

[Ayesha Curry]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Diana Ransom]

What I loved about Aisha's story is that it all began with her passion for cooking. And then once she branched out into other businesses, they each honored her heritage. Her Sweet July Shop focuses on selling women and bipoc individual made goods. Her publishing company is publishing a Jamaican ghost story. And today she focuses on giving back to the community that embraced her family over a decade ago. Yes, she's known in certain circles as being Steph Curry's wife, but Aisha does not see herself as a celebrity. She sees herself as a founder on a mission. And that mission is still growing. That's all for this episode of from the Ground Up.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast platform of choice. Also, if you like this episode or have suggestions of what topics you'd like to hear about, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or reach out to us on Inc's social channels, LinkedIn, BlueSky, or Instagram.

[Diana Ransom]

From the Ground up is produced by Maryam Kiparowice and Avery Miles, editing by Blake Odom. Mix and sound design by Nicholas Torres. Our executive producer is Josh Christensen. Thank you for listening and we will see you next week.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Aisha, do you remember that song? Aisha, Aisha, so glad to meet you. Oh, do you remember that? Do you know that song? Aisha, you are a girl that I never had and I want to get to know you.

[Diana Ransom]

Ask Tasha if he does. Sing it again. Sing it again.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Aisha, you are the girl that never had and I want to get to know you better.

[Diana Ransom]

Nobody knows this song. Tasha doesn't know either.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Aisha, Aisha.

[Diana Ransom]

You don't know this song.

[Glenfiddich Ad]

Hi, listeners. I'm Blake Odom, producer of from the Ground Up. Today we have a special segment brought to you by Inc in collaboration with our partners at Glenfiddich single malt Scotch Whiskey. This year at the INK 5000 gala, Glen Fiddick presented the inaugural Legacy Award to Stephen Marsh Founder of Smarsh. This award recognizes a trailblazer, an individual who has graced the INK 5000 lists multiple times, embodying the spirit of innovation, boldness and a relentless drive to defy the ordinary. Much like Glenfiddich, a brand that has pushed the boundaries of excellence throughout its 130 year history to become the world's most awarded single malt scotch whiskey, Stephen Marsh exemplifies the courage and brilliance it takes to redefine industries and elevate the game. Inc. Editor in chief Mike Hoffman spoke with Stephen Marsh about his remarkable journey, the legacy he has built, and the honor of being the first recipient of this award presented by Glen Fiddick. Here's that captivating conversation. Enjoy and be inspired.

[Mike Hoffman]

Hi, I'm Mike Hoffman, editor in chief of inc. And I'm delighted to be here today with Steve Marsh, the founder of Smarsh, a multi time Inc. 5000 honoree and the recipient of the inaugural Inc. 5000 Legacy AW Award presented by Glenn Fiddick. So, Steve, thanks so much for joining me.

[Stephen Marsh]

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here, Mike.

[Mike Hoffman]

Oh yeah, this is great. So let me get this straight. You've been on the Inc. 5000 list 17 times so far?

[Stephen Marsh]

I think that's correct. I think 17 times.

[Mike Hoffman]

We double checked it. So you've been on the list 17 times. And how many years has the company been in business?

[Stephen Marsh]

Since 2001, so about 23, I guess.

[Mike Hoffman]

So you've been on the list more than you've not been on the list in the 23 years of your corporate life?

[Stephen Marsh]

I think once we finally made the revenue threshold, we made the list and have been on it since.

[Mike Hoffman]

Well, congratulations. It's amazing to make the Inc. 5000. It's amazing to make the Inc. 5000 a couple of times. And to make it 17 times puts you in really rare error. Only a few companies have made it more than 15 times. Congratulations. Now, you started the company in 2001, is that right?

[Stephen Marsh]

That's right.

[Mike Hoffman]

Your name is Steve Marsh and the name of the company is Smarsh. Do I have it right that your original email address had something to do with the ultimate name of the company?

[Stephen Marsh]

I incorporated to do consulting work, never thinking that the business name would see the light of day. It was just incorporated as Smarsh Inc. Because Marsh was taken by the large insurance company, so we couldn't use that. My friends at the time that, you know, my coworkers had all called me Smarsh because that was like my email handle. So I said, hey, let's just go with that. The domain name was available and many years later, with a larger marketing department and more resources available to us, more domain names available to us, we still decided to keep the name Smarsh. But that should serve as proof that it never had intention of building this business into anything.

[Mike Hoffman]

So who was your first client?

[Stephen Marsh]

My first client was a small brokerage out of Boston, Massachusetts and a friend of mine had worked there and had told me about this need to archive communications for regulatory compliance. And I knew virtually nothing. I mean I knew absolutely nothing about that. I knew that I needed to make some money to pay rent and that I had some technology skills. So I set out to actually help them implement a solution that I thought I would source from another vendor and quickly found that there weren't other vendors out there doing this, at least to service the small and mid sized companies. The business at that point pivoted from being a consulting business to being the archiving and communications intelligence business that it's become today.

[Mike Hoffman]

When you started on the hockey stick like trajectory of growth, what was the sort of first moment, if you remember, where you kind of knew, oh, this is not just a consulting business, this is a real business, a technology business, and actually it's a fast growth technology business.

[Stephen Marsh]

One moment that comes to mind, mind is we had a large competitor in an adjacent space. They weren't archiving the way we were. They did data backup or something and they made an offer to buy the company really in our first year of effort in trying to sell the archiving service. And it was hard as a founder to turn down, I think it was like a million dollars. But it was complicated but we passed on it. That was a great decision. But that really validated for me that we had built something that was at least perceived to be of value to someone else. And of course making the Inc. 5000 list for the first time after applying earlier that year and not being able to apply the year prior to that because we didn't meet the, we weren't big enough, we didn't meet the revenue thresholds anyway, when we made that list, that was fantastic validation for all the hard work that we had done. It gave us a sense of credibility when we would go out to our customers by being able to put the Inc. 5000 recipient logo on our emails and on our website. And that actually helped us grow to the next level.

[Mike Hoffman]

Beyond that, you at some point took growth capital, private equity, is that right?

[Stephen Marsh]

We did. It wasn't until 2007 first investors were minority investors in 2007. And ironically, the point at which they became interested was a point at which we no longer needed money. And I think many founders probably go through this. When you're trying to raise money, it's a lot harder than when you don't need it. When you don't need it, everybody seems to come out of the woodwork, and then they try to convince you why you should take money. I think that was a key moment where we realized we needed to significantly upgrade our technology infrastructure if we wanted to win bigger and bigger customers. We were making incremental changes every year. You know, the rip and replace that you hear technology companies go through, where every six months or so, we were taking out old equipment, replacing it with new, bigger, and better equipment. And that really just wasn't scalable. It was becoming a distraction to have to keep going through those projects every six months or so. By raising capital, we were able to get off that hamster wheel, and we were also able to start making some acquisitions became a part of life from that moment forward.

[Mike Hoffman]

What did you learn about business ownership and business leadership Going through the process.

[Stephen Marsh]

Of acquisitions, you know, we gained access to people who had operated at the level beyond where we were, which is a pattern, you know, we'll see occur over and over in our business. But there were smarter people who had more experience in a variety of areas, and they presented some of the reasons why we would want to do some acquisitions. They also educated me and the rest of my team on, you know, how to do them. But it taught me that there are a variety of ways to help grow the business. You probably don't want to grow your business just doing acquisitions, Although that does create value for a lot of companies. But for us, it was a combination of organic growth through innovation and product development and serving our customers with different products and services and making some of these acquisitions to bring in new technology, to bring in additional competitors, to bring in more expertise than we otherwise would possess. And today that that trend continues. You know, we're trying to bring in more AI expertise. For example, we might look to do an acquisition there.

[Mike Hoffman]

Can I ask, where are you guys at revenue now?

[Stephen Marsh]

We are about 500 million.

[Mike Hoffman]

And what's the fastest growth part of the company right now?

[Stephen Marsh]

There's a lot of focus on leveraging the data that we have stored on behalf of our customers. So if you think about the initial use, case for those that don't know, is that we help customers by storing their electronic communications so that they can meet regulatory requirements. You have to have this stuff, you have to be able to produce it. That's kind of the baseline service, but. But what we've found is that over the years, you start to amass more and more really valuable information on behalf of our customers. So we have years and years worth of emails, text messages, zoom calls, whatever it may be. In a world where artificial intelligence is taking over and people are trying to find ways to harness the value of data, we're sitting on what we think is one of the biggest goldmines out there in terms of data. It's employee communications that were captured initially for a different reason, but now can be turned into sales opportunities, customer service opportunities, new product ideas. I think we're seeing a lot of growth.

[Mike Hoffman]

So an archive can become a large language model.

[Stephen Marsh]

Yeah.

[Mike Hoffman]

So this is obviously the Inc. 5000 Legacy Award brought to you by Glenn Fiddick. As you think about the legacy of the company and your legacy as a founder, what do you still hope for? What is your idea of what the legacy you want to leave is?

[Stephen Marsh]

We have a very unique culture. I think one that reflects what I wanted to create many, many years ago. I want it to be an organization that hopefully my kids one day look back on and say, wow, you know, dad must have built something pretty interesting here. It's still around, it's still relevant. Our customers still find value in what we're doing. I just want to see it reach its maximum potential. Not every company, even, you know, not every company that is started or that I'm involved in or that I invest in has the same opportunity to persist through time. Some companies are better as a short term product that maybe gets sold to someone else and they integrate the technology. Some technologies have a shorter lifespan where maybe it's two to three years and then you have to move on. This is a business that I believe truly has the opportunity to exist for many, many years and to be relevant by just listening to customers and adapting and finding or addressing use cases that we found many years ago.

[Mike Hoffman]

Steve Marsh, the founder of Smarsh, a half billion dollar company founded in a Brooklyn apartment that's been on the Inc. 5000 list 17 times. Thanks so much for joining us today.

[Stephen Marsh]

No, thanks for having me.

[Mike Hoffman]

And before I let you go, we have these glasses of Glenn Fiddick. Here you are the inaugural recipient of the Inc. 5000 Legacy Award presented by Glen Fiddick. So let's cheers to your success.

[Stephen Marsh]

Cheers.

[Glenfiddich Ad]

Congratulations again to Stephen Marsh. And I couldn't end this episode without getting a little taste of Glenn Fiddick myself. And since I got a bottle right here. Cheers to you listeners with Glen Fiddick, the world's most awarded single malt Scotch whiskey. Drink responsibly. Glen Fiddick single malt Scotch Whiskey is copyrighted 2024 and imported by William Grant and Sons, Inc. New York, New York.