The Business of Making Money w/ Bea Dixon

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Keep it Positive, Sweetie

Episode: The Business of Making Money w/ Bea Dixon

Host: Crystal Renee Hayslett
Guest: Bea Dixon, Founder of The Honey Pot Company
Date: August 3, 2025

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Overview

In this candid and insightful episode, host Crystal Renee Hayslett welcomes Bea Dixon, visionary founder of The Honey Pot Company, a plant-based feminine care brand. Together, they discuss entrepreneurship, the journey from personal struggle to mega success, breaking stigma around women’s health, staying true to purpose in business, the real story behind selling a Black-owned brand, and practical wisdom on wellness, legacy, and community uplift. The conversation balances business acumen, personal vulnerability, and actionable advice—delivered with honesty, warmth, and plenty of memorable moments.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origins of The Honey Pot Company

• Bea’s Health Struggle and Spiritual Download
  • Bea battled persistent bacterial vaginosis for nearly a year (“I tried everything you can imagine, I tried medicine... I lived on antibiotics for eight months… nothing worked.” – Bea Dixon, 02:25)
  • In a dream, her grandmother gave her a list of ingredients: “She literally handed me a piece of paper, and she told me what I needed was on the paper… I started repeating the ingredients over and over again.” (04:25)
  • With a background in pharmacy, Bea formulated a wash from her grandmother’s recipe. “Within a few days, my symptoms were gone. It was wild.” (05:40)

2. Breaking Down Stigma & Health Myths

• BV Misconceptions & Women’s Health Hygiene
  • Stigma and shame are common with BV; many blame themselves or their partners incorrectly.
  • “It doesn’t mean you’re dirty. It doesn’t mean they’re dirty. It just means the pH isn’t matching up.” (06:42)
  • Hygiene advice: Avoid body or bar soaps for vaginal cleaning, use hands not cloths, and wear cotton underwear for daily use.
  • “Whatever you do on the outside is affecting the inside...” (07:23)
  • Practical daily tips: Wash after sex, change panties after workouts, use wipes if needed, and regularly refresh underwear and washcloths. (08:24–12:14)

3. Building a Business with Family & Purpose

• Founding, Family Dynamics, and Purposeful Growth
  • Started Honey Pot at home, then moved to her brother’s office, then blended both work/life spaces as it grew.
  • Addressing family dynamics in business: “Whether you’re working with family or not, those moments [of challenge] are going to happen... When love is there, it gets back eventually.” (14:36–15:01)
  • Purpose remains spiritual: “Anytime the ancestors gift us with anything… it has to be held with a certain care.” (15:16)
  • Anchored in values: “Our goals are to serve humanity, to serve humans first, to be good to each other.” (15:36; 16:40–17:07)

4. Business Growth, Innovation, and Decision-Making

• Staying True Amid Industry Change
  • Rules of engagement are key: How products are innovated, marketed, and sold is orderly and values-driven.
  • Balancing opportunities and focus: “If you do everything, you’re doing nothing.” (16:14)
• Saying "No" in Business:
  • “If something is thrown at us, it can’t just be about money… it has to be layered, serve the humans we serve, and fit our system.” (18:15, 18:34)
• Product Development Process
  • Meticulous, multi-pronged validation and clinical testing—products go through “gate cards” before hitting shelves.
  • “A million things happen before a product goes on the shelf.” (19:59–21:11)
• Team-Building and Scaling
  • Importance of the right leadership and guidance from strategic partners like VMG, not just capital.
  • “It takes time… patience… and the right team. Rome wasn’t built in a day.” (21:48–22:39)

5. Finance, “Selling Out,” and Black Entrepreneurship

• Transitioning from Employee to Entrepreneur:
  • “You definitely shouldn’t quit your job… until your business can pay you at least 80% of your current salary.” (28:28)
• Managing Wealth and Mindset Shifts
  • Money equals responsibilities and new challenges. “When you’re a multimillionaire, you’re not necessarily touching your money. Your money sits in the market and you borrow against it.” (30:24)
  • Overcoming scarcity mindset while honoring one’s journey from struggle to wealth. (31:27–32:34)
  • Getting financial advice from multiple sources and “forgetting about” the bulk of one’s money—living only off what’s needed. (32:48–34:11)
• Addressing Community Reactions to Business Success
  • Powerful explanation of why selling a business is not “selling out”—especially for Black founders.
    • “No one is investing money in your business to just let it sit there.” (35:52)
    • “Take my color out of your mind… I’m a businessperson like anybody else.” (39:51)
    • “If I was doing this just to do it, that would be a version of enslaving myself… I’m not a slave to what people think about me.” (41:19)
  • Advocates understanding, celebration, and mutual support within the Black community for those who achieve and scale their ventures. (45:03–45:28)

6. Mental Health, Wellness, and Self-Care

• Navigating Stress as a Founder
  • Self-care practices: Orderly home, eating well, exercise, therapy, acupuncture, and red-light therapy.
  • “I just want to be well. And I want to grow old.” (54:00)
  • Being conscious about moderation with substances, company kept, and lifestyle choices.
  • “As you’re taking care of yourself, you’re paying attention to your body… I don’t really have the luxury of being sick. I have things to do.” (54:55)
• Groundedness and Self-Awareness
  • “I am grounded. I’m just out here like everyone else… The only difference maybe is that we’ve experienced a level of success that doesn’t happen every day. But that doesn’t make you immune to anything. It’s just money.” (59:18–60:00)

7. Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

• Top Lessons:
  • “Take care of yourself and keep yourself out of debt. Debt is hard when you’re in business.” (61:39)
  • Don’t spend your own money if you have access to investors, but recognize not everyone is equally positioned for that. (62:13–64:03)
  • “Making sure you take care of your health [is] so important… When you’re not well, building a business is hard enough in itself.” (64:25)
  • Cut out harmful habits—don't “play hard” if it undermines well-being or business focus. (65:16–66:00)

8. Navigating DEI and Retail Landscape

• Impact of DEI Changes & Boycotts
  • Sales are affected by DEI shifts and consumer boycotts, especially at major retailers.
  • Omnichannel strategy (multi-platform sales) is crucial. “If it’s down in one place, it’s probably up in another…” (68:51)
  • Explains retailer economics: “It’s not as profitable as you think to just shop the website or Amazon… getting into Target or Walmart is astronomical.” (69:31–72:10)
  • Boycotts have impact but come with unintended fallout for emerging and Black-owned brands. (72:35–73:55)

9. Legacy, Impact, and New Products

• Long-Term Vision & New Launches
  • Legacy: “I want Honeypot to be here into infinity. I want Honeypot to be a conglomerate brand within itself… whether I’m here with my team running it or not.” (75:48–76:03)
  • Impact: “I want to continue to serve humanity, make products that benefit people’s lives, and help them be proactive with their health.” (75:10)
  • New products: Long liners (cooling and calming), calming pads with adaptogens like ashwagandha and lavender, and growing prebiotic line—all clinically tested and designed for real, daily needs. (76:22–78:09)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Receiving Guidance from Ancestors:

  • “Anytime the ancestors gift us with anything… it has to be held with a certain care.” – Bea Dixon (15:16)

• On Purpose and Business:

  • “If you do everything, you’re doing nothing.” – Bea Dixon (16:14)
  • “I’m a businessperson like anyone else. No one should expect you to do anything because you’re a Black woman…these are constructs that aren’t real.” (39:51–40:04)

• On "Selling Out" vs. Selling Up:

  • “I’m sorry, y’all. Anybody that’s in business, hopefully you’re in it to make money. That’s what business is for… the amount of sacrifice it takes, it should make you rich. That’s the point!” (40:19–41:15)

• On Wellness and Well-Being:

  • “I just want to be well. And I want to grow old.” (54:00)
  • “Take care of yourself and keep yourself out of debt…because debt is hard when you’re in business.” (61:39)

• On Community Support:

  • “Whenever any of us, as Black people, are able to be successful…that should only be good for our culture.” (45:03)

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Key Timestamps

• [02:25] Bea’s personal health journey and the dream that started Honey Pot
• [04:25] Details on ingredients received from her grandmother in the dream
• [06:42] Myths and truths about BV, vaginal pH, and hygiene
• [11:02–12:14] Host shares personal experience adopting Honey Pot’s hygiene recommendations
• [15:16] Importance of ancestral purpose in Honey Pot’s mission
• [19:57] What it takes to bring a product from concept to shelf
• [28:28] Why Bea didn’t quit her job until Honey Pot could pay her salary
• [30:24] How grown wealth is managed and invested
• [35:51–41:47] In-depth, passionate discussion of why “selling out” is a misconception for Black-owned brands
• [54:00] Emphasizing longevity and health as a founder
• [61:39] Top advice for entrepreneurs: self-care and avoiding debt
• [69:31–73:14] Impact of DEI climate and boycotts on business
• [75:48] Bea’s hopes for legacy and impact
• [76:22–78:09] New product launches detailed

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Final Thoughts

This episode offers a masterclass in leading with mission, scaling with integrity, and staying rooted in self and purpose. Bea Dixon’s vulnerability and expertise provide both inspiration and actionable takeaways for entrepreneurs, especially Black women founders. The urgent throughline: “Take care of yourself. Keep it positive, sweetie.”

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Transcript

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Calling all my sweeties to the forefront. I'm your host, Chris Renee Hazel, and this is the Keep It Positive Sweetie show. Whether you're tuning in from your couch, your car, or a quiet moment of peace, I want you to take a deep breath and get ready for a little soul work wrapped in joy. Because today we're not just talking, we're transforming. Let's get into it. And remember, keep it positive, sweetie. She is a visionary behind the Honeypot Company, a feminine care brand rooted in plant based healing, ancestral wisdom, and fearless innovation. What started as a spiritual download became a movement that is now stocked in homes, shelves and hearts across the world. Sweeties, please give a warm welcome to Bia Dixon. Bia, thank you so much for taking time to be with us today.

[Bia Dixon]

No problem. Thanks for having me here.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Of course. I've been trying to get you on. Our schedules have been crazy.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

This has been a crazy year.

[Bia Dixon]

It has, yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Flying by. I feel like it was just January and we're in June.

[Bia Dixon]

I'm like, it's wild. I'm grateful, but it's. It's crazy.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So grateful. Yeah. So for those who don't know, you are the founder and creator of Honeypot.

[Bia Dixon]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I went to a panel at the gathering spot years ago when you first started, and I remember you telling the story about how this idea came to you in a dream. Can you tell us a little more about that?

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And how Honeypot came to be the. The mega business.

[Bia Dixon]

Thank you. Honestly, it's interesting. So I had bacterial vaginosis for almost a year, and I tried everything that you can imagine. I tried medicine. So I basically lived on antibiotics for almost eight months, which is probably part of the reason why I had for almost a year.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

Because I never really gave my body the time to replenish its microbiome. Right. Whether that was my gut, my vagina, everything. So I did that. I lived on flagyl or clindamycin or metronidazole for anybody who's had pv. You know what I'm talking about? I also lived on Google, right. Which is definitely not the place where you should be when your vagina's acting up. And, you know, and I tried everything. I mean, everything. I was talking to people on Google forums, trying to figure out what worked for them. We were all just trading advice on what would work. It was. It was wild. But nothing worked, obviously, because none of the things that I was doing was really sustainable for my body. Until one day my grandmother came to me one morning and basically had Told me that she had been walking with me and seeing me struggle, and she knew what to do. You know, it's funny, I always imagine her being like, let me go help this baby. Right?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

My baby was struggling down because I really.

[Bia Dixon]

I was. Because the BV that I had, you know, because there's all different kind of strains of it. There's different variations of how bad or, you know, how light it can be. Some people don't even know they have bv, Right? The kind that I had.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I mean, I was the person that snuck up the bathroom. Right. I was the person. When I got in the car, you could smell me. Like, that happened to me a couple of times. And it wasn't just me in the car, you know, so it came with a lot of shame, with a lot of stigma, you know, with a lot of embarrassment. You know, I just was. It just wasn't great, you know? And. And so when my grandmother came, she literally handed me a piece of paper, and she told me that what I needed was on the paper and I needed to memorize it. And so I just started repeating the ingredients over and over again. I had no idea what it was gonna be, you know? And then finally she told me to wake up. She's like, yeah, wake up. And so I woke up, and I wrote it down. I went to work that day because I worked at Whole Foods. I bought all the stuff. I went home that night, made myself. So I have a background in pharmacy. I used to work in IV rooms and compounding pharmacies and chemo. I did all kinds of stuff. And so she knew that if she gave me the ingredients, I would be able to figure out the math to figure out to make myself a formula, you know? And it turned out to be a wash. And I started using it right away. And within a few days, my symptoms were gone. It was wild.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's crazy. Wow. What did you think is, like, the most common misconception when it comes to bv? Because a lot of women struggle with this, but there's so many different. Like, people think it's something wrong with them.

[Bia Dixon]

People think it's something wrong with them. People think that something's wrong with their partner that they may be having sex with.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

A lot of relationships can end because of it. And literally, it could just be a chemistry thing, you know, if the person that you're having sex with, whether they're from the opposite sex or not, right?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, especially if they're from the opposite sex. If they're, you know, ph. Is too high. And they're semen, which is normal. The semen is carrying what, life. Right. And so sometimes their PH can be a bit higher. And if your PH was already off and then you had sex, even if all of that didn't come inside of you. Right. Like, even. Even if it's just the chemistry of creep. Right?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes, yes.

[Bia Dixon]

It can still affect you, you know, and so it could just be a chemistry thing. It doesn't mean you're dirty. It doesn't mean they're dirty. It just means that, like, the pHs aren't matching up. You know, I think, you know, another misconception is people not understanding that whatever you're doing on a daily basis is probably throwing you off. Right.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Can you give us some examples of things that throw people off?

[Bia Dixon]

So, like, examples of things that throw people off are using body wash, your everyday body wash. Right. Using things like Braun or soap or.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And I used to use that.

[Bia Dixon]

And it's fine to use it on your body.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But. But it's not made for your vulva or your vagina, right?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Even though you're not putting it inside of you where your vagina is.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

Whatever you do on the outside is affecting the inside. So using soaps, even bar soaps, certain bar soaps, if they have a high pH, then they're probably going to throw you off because, again, the chemistry of that soap isn't made for that part of your body. It's no different than you're not going to use the same thing on your body, on your face.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Nope.

[Bia Dixon]

Right.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I used to.

[Bia Dixon]

When I was young, in college, I.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Literally used to use dial soap every week.

[Bia Dixon]

But you were thugging it out. Right. Like you didn't have any money. That's what you had to do. Now I do. Right?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And so, you know, and even then, I'm sure it was stripping your skin, you know, because the PH of the vulva and the face are actually very. The vagina. Excuse me, and the face are actually very similar.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, wow.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah. And so, you know, so whatever you're doing on a daily basis, pay attention to that. You don't need to use washcloths. You should just use your hand. Just when you're, you know, cleaning inside your lips and everything.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and actually, like, after you have sex, actually getting. Especially if you're a person who's susceptible to any kind of infection, you need to get up, you need to go pee, you need to get in the shower and wash off. Okay. Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Even if you're going to get busy again. Just, you know, you. You have. When you're a person who's prone to infection, you have to be hyper vigilant. The moment you're done working out, you need to be changing your panties, right? Bring in some wipes, cleaning yourself up a little bit, you know, it sounds gross, but after you poo, don't just use toilet paper, babe. You know, teach us. No, I mean, use some wipes if you're in a pinch and all you got is toilet paper. Because that happens sometimes. The moment you get home, clean yourself up. Right? Especially if you're wearing a thong or something like that. You know, these are all. You know, it's a lot of misconceptions. Yeah, Right. But when you think about it, if depending on the type of panties you're wearing, especially if it's a thong and you did go to the bathroom and didn't clean up, that bacteria is just. You understand what I'm saying? So, like, you know, a lot of the issue is overgrowth of bad bacteria. And when the ph is above 4.5, you have just created environment. Because our microbiome, whether it's our gut or our vagina, right? Our microbiome has good and bad, but it's supposed to. And they should be yin and yang. They should be even, right? But the moment the right environment presents itself, they will multiply. And they don't multiply by the tens. They multiply by the millions, by the billions. So you. So that's how quickly an infection can come. So that's why using things like our washes are important, Right. You know, if you're a person who show. Excuse me. If you're a person who's susceptible to infection, taking a shower in the morning, take a shower at night, it may feel like a lot, right? But it's not. You know, when you think of when you've slept all night, you've sweated, you've. Right. You. Maybe you didn't wear panties. Maybe you did. Maybe you're a person who wears full pajamas. You understand what I'm saying?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, no, I do. Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

All those things create environments. And so, you know, it's just important to keep yourself clean, keep yourself dry, you know, you can take care of yourself.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, I use your product. Ever since that panel that you spoke on with Malika, I started using your foam wash. Yeah. And that was the first time I'd heard that we were supposed to wash with our hands and not with our rag. Because as from a kid to an adulthood, you know, My mom did teach us, like, use a different rag for your face and your body, but we were using the same rag for everything. Not thinking that you're especially, like, when you're not washing the rag, using a brand new rag every day, which you should be. Yes, right, Exactly.

[Bia Dixon]

Every shower. Right. If you're a person who uses washcloths, then you should change your washcloth.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Every day.

[Bia Dixon]

And. And you probably should be at least every year, you know, or if you're a crazy person like me, every six months, changing your washcloths.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. You should be changing your panties at least once a year. Like that means ones that you frequent and wear all. Not the cute ones, not the fly ones when you, like, you know, get dressed up and all the things. But like, you know, the panties you wear on a daily basis. Yes, because we all have those. You should be recycling those. Like. Like. Like that should be happening every six months.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. And these are things that we aren't aware of, we're not taught. Right. And even if you can't do it every six months, at least do it once, you know, once, once a year.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

A good refresh.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Because of that, you know, bacteria, whether you wash it or not, is still present.

[Co-host or Guest]

Mm.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And then it goes like. To even like your detergents. I've heard the detergent.

[Bia Dixon]

Oh, yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And then the fabrics of. Of your underwear.

[Bia Dixon]

Cotton should be what you wear on a daily basis. Again, when you're trying to be cute, be cute, you know, wear your cute little lace, do your thing. But on a daily basis, you should. You should wear cotton panties. You know, our vaginas just aren't set up for all these different types of materials and stuff.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I'm learning so much as, like, having these conversations and even, like Instagram how they'll let you know. Like, even the tampons and the pads, which I love that you use pure cotton. You know, like everything that you. That you put out is good for us down there, you know, and as we get older, like, for me, I'm getting older. I sweat at night, I sweat throughout the day, and I keep those whites on me.

[Bia Dixon]

Yes, Lord.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And they're good for everything. You can use those on your face, your.

[Bia Dixon]

Everywhere, everything.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's why I love. I be using them.

[Bia Dixon]

I know. Thank you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Of course. No, but that is something that you have to keep with you. You know, when you got this idea from your grandmother, you built this with your brother. What was that like working with him and building? Because I know a lot of times family dynamics can be weird when it comes to working. What was it like building this, this, this brand with him?

[Bia Dixon]

It was beautiful.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You started in your apartment. Where do you guys start with this?

[Bia Dixon]

In my, in my house. And then in his office. And then back to back. My house.

[Co-host or Guest]

Wow.

[Bia Dixon]

And then, and then we rented like a loft and then he was moving. Was. Was moving and decided to get an apartment. And then we, we used the loft as our. Where he lived as the office. And then. Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So that's amazing.

[Bia Dixon]

But it was beautiful.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love that. Were there ever any moments where you were like, all right, like, of course. Because I feel like everybody that works with family is always like those little moments where you're like.

[Bia Dixon]

I think whether you're working with family or not, those moments are going to happen.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And normally you spend a lot of time with the people you work with, you know, and so sometimes you're not going to agree.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, sometimes things are going to be hard. Sometimes you're going to go through periods of not talking. So, you know, like, all kinds of things can happen.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, for sure.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But when the love is there, you know, it'll. It'll get back eventually.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Absolutely.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Being that honeypot was it came through a spiritual download. How has your purpose for this brand grown over the years?

[Bia Dixon]

It's always been grounded in that. It still is, you know, because I, you know, I just feel like it has to be anytime, anytime the ancestors gift up to gift us with anything, I think that it has to be held with a certain care or regard, you know, because normally when that happens, there's probably a lot of purpose behind it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Absolutely.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah. You know, and so it, it remains to be the most important part of what we are and who we are.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, our, our goals here are to serve humanity, to serve, Serve humans first, you know, to be good to each other. You know what I mean?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And so, you know, and so it's, it's at the helm of what we.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Do, and that piggybacks off. My next question. Staying in alignment with your. Why in an industry that's constantly shifting, how do you stay focused on this is what we're doing? But it's so many different things happening and shifting. In the beauty industry and in the.

[Bia Dixon]

Wellness industry, we work really hard to stay focused because it's like you said, it's easy because of the industry, and it's just easy to want to do everything, but you can't do everything. If you do everything, you're doing nothing, you know, and so we've worked really hard to, you know, to create rules of engagement for ourselves, for how we operate as a company. Right. We've worked really hard to create rules of engagement for how we innovate products. Right. For how we speak to people, for how we sell things to our retailers, for, you know, and so everything is pretty much done with a lot of order, you know, kind of. Because it just has to be, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Because we do know that we are in an ever changing environment and that doesn't mean that things don't shift and change, because things shift and change all the time.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Absolutely.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, especially when it comes to how we bring products to market. Sometimes we need to pull things up, sometimes we need to push things back, you know, because you have to pay attention to what, to what your customers are telling. You have to pay attention to what's happening in the world. You have. You know what I mean?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Absolutely.

[Bia Dixon]

So, you know, and so things constantly ebb and flow, but I think we really try to keep our finger on the pulse and really have values about us that we don't deviate from, you know, that kind of just sit at the cornerstone of who we are and what we do.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love that when the noise gets loud, because I know it can get loud sometimes and you have to make these big business decisions. How do you stay true to your truth and say no? Because I know, like sometimes when they throw the right dollar amount or it's like, this is an opportunity of time. How do you, like, stay true to your truth and where it, how you say where it started and was founded off of?

[Bia Dixon]

I, I think, look, if something is thrown at us and it makes sense and it can be done.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Then we'll find a way to do it. But if something is thrown at us, it can't just be about money.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, it has to be. It has to be layered. It has to be able to serve the humans we serve. It has to be able. Money is a part of the conversation because it needs to be, especially if we're going to rush something or whatever the situation is. Right. It needs to be able to work operationally. It needs to be able to, you know, to flow through our, through our kind of, through our system of how we innovate and how we bring things to market. You know, there's a whole system like we're working to be two, three years ahead. Right, right. Because when you're constantly kind of hand to mouth, especially when it comes to creating products, especially the way we do it, because we need to clinically test. And we need to, you know, and sometimes we have to, like, choose a different type of test or. You know what I mean? And so it's. So it can be difficult, you know, but I think that it still has to. It still has to check the boxes, though.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

If it doesn't check the boxes, then it doesn't make sense. Then we can't do it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. Exactly. You said something about clinically testing things. I'm really interested to know, like, what is the whole process of going from the kitchen to the lab to the shelves.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Because it seems like it's not.

[Bia Dixon]

A million things happen before a product goes on the shelf.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Hundreds, if not thousands of man hours have gone in. You know, we are validating with customers. We're validating with our retailers. We're validating with data, we're validating with gut. We're validating with team. We're, you know, we're. We're running pilots to make sure that it's going to flow right in production. We're where. Before it even gets there, where we have to do probably multiple iterations of the thing to make sure it has the right feel, it has the right smell, it has the right amount of herbs in it. It has, you know, like, you know, it. We have a whole system for how we even start to vet things. Right. That. That is a multi. That's a multi kind of prong process. You know, like, we have. We have gate cards. And before a product can even get to everything that I just described, it has to go through a gate process.

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, wow.

[Bia Dixon]

And that, you know, like, we have to bring it to market or we have to bring the idea up. We have to love it. We have to, you know, we have to lock it. We have to, like, there's so many things that happen. So many things that happen. We have a brand team. Our brand team has to be involved. Our sales team has to be involved. Our ops team has to be involved. Marketing has to be involved. Campaigns have to be built. Like it's wild, you know? Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's crazy. So how did. Like, as an entrepreneur, I'm just fascinated. How do you go about building all those different departments to make this machine run?

[Bia Dixon]

It takes time, you know, it takes time. Time. It takes. It takes money. It takes years.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

It takes having the right. It takes having the right leadership team and the right strategic minds in the right place, you know, because when you have that, when you have the top built, then it's easier to build out through the rest of the organization because you have the right minds that are hiring the right people, you know, but it takes time, you know, I mean, it was the saying Rome wasn't built.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

In the day, right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I mean, we're, we started in 2012. Was this 13 years later.

[Co-host or Guest]

Wow.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, we're just now, in the past couple of years, able to have a brand team and, you know, like, we've always had a sales team and a marketing team and, you know, but we've really built out a beautiful marketing structure that kind of operates like an agency kind of, you know, but again, it just takes time and you have to, you have to, you have to let the time. You kind of have to let it take the time that it's going to take because there's a lot that you need to know before you even get there.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

You know. You know, and so it's, it's. I think it requires a lot of patience.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, but it's really important because that's one of the hardest things Right. About being in business is having the right team.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So important.

[Bia Dixon]

We've always been lucky to find the right people at the right time based on where we were, you know, and when we, when we worked with vmg, which was, you know, our first private equity fund, not our first round of funding, they weren't our first investors, but they really, they really brought a ton of expertise and they were able to really wrap their arms around us. Not that our previous investors couldn't. But VMG just had a. They had, they had an internal headhunting service. They had access to really expensive data. They had, they had the access to the need to the things that we needed that we wouldn't have been able to afford. Right. You, you cannot afford a headhunting service when you're eight or $10 million business. Right. Like it, like you maybe can do it for one or two employees, but it's just hard. It's hard to do, you know?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And when we got with them, that's how big we were, you know, or small. We were rather, you know, big or small. I guess it's relative based on what, what the size of your business is. But for, for in cpg, that's a, that's a pretty small business, you know. Okay. And so because they were able to come in and really help us to build structure around our team and help us to build structure around the way we built the business, help us to build structure around our operations. Because in our type of business, because we sit in all different Parts of the regulatory system through the fda. You know, regulatory is really important, and that really lives in ops, you know, and so I think it's having. It's not necessarily always about you knowing what you need, but having the right people surrounding you that, you know, which they were the. They were the type of investors that it wasn't just about money.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, we were at the stage in our business where, you know, like, we did. We didn't just need money, we needed all the things, because that. That's what it was. We were about to hit scale, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And we did after that, you know, and we were. We were poisoned. We weren't ready for it, but we got ready.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Got ready. And how did you get ready for that? And what did that pressure feel like, knowing that it's here and we're not ready yet?

[Bia Dixon]

It felt wild. But we've always been able to do things we weren't necessarily technically ready for. I think. I think we were ready to do it because if we weren't ready, the opportunity wouldn't have presented itself. But when you looked at the business where we were as a company and, like, the way our team was set up and all that kind of stuff, like, if you were just looking at us, you would be like, oh, y' all aren't ready. You know what I mean?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

In fact, you know, we had talked. We had pitched BMG at first, and they had just. They had told us that it wasn't the right time. And then we got that. We got that commercial with Target, and then it went viral. And then they were like, yep.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You know, we said.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, we said it was time. You know, it's probably time, you know, and it was, you know, because our business tripled that next year. You know, it was wild. So. So, like, even though we weren't ready, we got ready.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And I think. I think when it comes to business, that's the important part, is that, you know that you have the ability to get ready.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

And do whatever it's going to take. And that's hard because not everybody is set up that way.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

They're not. That's so true.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

From the time that you got the ingredients, how fast did you jump on it and take that leap of faith to say, I'm gonna quit my job at Whole Foods and I'm going for this full throttle?

[Bia Dixon]

None of us quit our jobs. We didn't. None of us quit our jobs. I was the first person. Well, Antoine was working full time. Honeypot, Me, Sai, Linda. We all still had our full time work. And by this time I wasn't working at Whole Foods anymore. I was a broker. And then I had gotten a job as an area sales manager for a company called Rhythm Superfoods. And that was actually my last job. I didn't stop working that job until we were seven months into Target.

[Co-host or Guest]

Wow.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

See, I love to hear that because a lot of people think that you.

[Bia Dixon]

Definitely shouldn't quit your job.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Honeypot wouldn't have been able. It couldn't have. I don't believe that you should quit your job until your business can pay you at bare minimum, at least 80% of what your current salary is.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Enough to get by, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I think my salary at the time was, I don't know, 50,000 wasn't a lot of money. I had a job though.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And so unless Honey Pot was going to be able to pay me that, then I couldn't quit my job because, you know, because I needed to eat, I needed to keep a roof. You know, I was in a marriage then. I'm completely out of that marriage now, thank God. But you know, I was doing a lot at that time. You know, if I was to just rely on Honeypot, I would have been, it was already desperate situation. It would have been even more desperate. And that's not really a position you want to put yourself in when you're running a business.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, for sure. So we talk about going from $50,000 a year to millions, and I love talking about financial literacy. What were some of the things that you had to learn fast from going from that much money to millions of dollars? And what were the adjustments that you had to make?

[Bia Dixon]

I'm still adjusting.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I mean, yeah, I can imagine. It's a lot.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah, it is a lot. But I'm grateful, you know, I think, you know, that saying, more money, more problems. I won't say it's more money, more problems, but things present themselves based on where you are in your life.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And you know, and you just have to do what you have to do, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I've had several things present themselves and I've been able to, to handle it and take care of it. But the good thing about when you are a multimillionaire is that you're not necessarily touching your money. Your money sits in the market and you borrow against your money. Right. While your money is growing. And then, and then you, you know, and then you, you, you, you pay your, your, your low interest rate and you just keep it Pushing, you know, and. And then you pay it off as you go. But you don't put yourself in a position where you're. Where you're spending your own cash. Sometimes you might have to dip into it and that. Okay, but I think that that's a positive adjustment. You know, that was something that I had to learn, that I had to wrap my mind around.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

Because, you know, I, you know, I come not from nothing, but, you know, my mom never had money. You know what I'm saying?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

We were homeless when I was a kid. I was homeless when I, you know, at one time, when I moved to Atlanta, you know, for. We were homeless for a couple of months, you know, so I. I'm saying all that to say that, like, I know what it is to have, like, to be at bottom, at zero, you know, and so it makes you value what it is when you have amassed wealth.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

But also what happens when that happens, which is interesting, is you have to work with yourself to not have the mentality of. Of, you know, of when you were rubbing wood and nickels together.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That scarcity mindset.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm. I don't have a scarcity mindset at all. I have a very abundant mindset. But that doesn't mean that every now and again, yeah, some scarcity creeps in or a little bit of fear creeps in, or. Or you forget what you have or how. Or. Or like, you know, I don't necessarily know how to handle all this. Like, it's new to me. Very new.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and so, you know, I'm just. I'm growing as I, you know, just doing my best.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love it. Who are some of the people that you reached out to say, hey, like, I've. I've accrued all this income, and now I need help trying to manage it.

[Bia Dixon]

Well, Sy was able to set us up pretty good with our trust and all the stuff, which I'm grateful for. And then, you know, you just have. You have your wealth advisors around you. You have, you know, you should keep other people around you, other kind of advisors that you can talk to, because you should never distrust what one person is saying. You should always get a couple different opinions.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You should always be taking your portfolio and maybe taking it somewhere else for somebody to look at so they can be like, hey, you know, maybe you should think about it, like, X, Y, and Z. That doesn't mean you have to move it, but you should. You know what I mean? Like, you should. You should keep yourself aware of what's going on. And you also should make sure that the people that are managing your cash value it and appreciate it, because you can take that anywhere, you know?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, but just having the right people around you, I think is important. And one thing that side taught me a long time ago is to kind of forget about my bread. So really, honestly, unless it's a big thing.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

That shit don't even exist.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I just live off of what I make, you know? You know, and so. And if. And if I need something, which normally it has to be a big thing.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And normally that big thing is another asset or something like that. So really I'm just taking one asset and moving it to another asset.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and so that. That's the way I think about it. But that's very rudimentary, you know. But. But, yeah, but thank you for asking.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, no, I'm. I'm telling you, I'm. This is because I'm a growing entrepreneur making a lot more money than I've ever made before. So I love asking these.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And having the community. Community to ask, like, to have access to you, to be able to say, hey, Bia, what did you do and.

[Bia Dixon]

What are you doing? Yeah, maybe you got somebody.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes, exactly. Yes.

[Co-host or Guest]

Y.

[Bia Dixon]

We. We all. Each want to teach one, you know?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Absolutely.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I definitely don't. I. I don't know anything at all. I'm just doing my best, you know?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, you're doing amazing job.

[Bia Dixon]

Thank you.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

When it comes to owning beauty brands, especially in the black space, oftentimes when owners sell, our community says, oh, they sold out instead of selling up. You know, it. It is very much ridiculous. You sold honey pot for 380. $80 million. Mind blowing. Take me to that moment when you inside decided, hey, it's time. Who approached you? How did it. Like, how did it come about?

[Bia Dixon]

So here's the thing you need to know, because we built. Because we. We had several rounds of funding. One of those investors was a venture capital fund. One of those investors was a private equity fund. We have the original investors from the beginning. Right. Nobody is investing money in your business to just let it sit there.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Come on.

[Bia Dixon]

Nobody is. So. So if you invest your money in the stock market, you invest it in the stock market. For what? If you have a 401k, you invested in the 401k for what?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

Because you want it to grow. Yep. So it grows. Hopefully you have investments that have dividends and pay you back.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

Hopefully you have enough Even if you just had a hundred thousand dollars in the market, and if, if, you know, if you had a hundred thousand dollars in the market, easy numbers and, and you're able to get, I don't know, 7% on that. That's $7,000.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. 10% on that. $10,000.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

That's, that's money that you're getting back every year if the market's doing well. Right. So having a business and having an investor is the same exact thing. But the only thing is, is these investors have to wait much longer than putting their money in the market. Yeah, right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

They, they could, they could put their bread in the market and it could just grow. And, and, and, and they can, they don't even have to think about it. They don't have to be involved or. What if a business fails? What if it doesn't? What if there's terrible moments? What if something, anything can happen? Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So when, when I hear that, that statement or even when I, when I've experienced it in past, it makes me a little bit sad because we should be happy because it does not happen every day.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

That, you know, and even what we did, it wasn't a full sale. It was, it was a strategic, it was a partnership with another public private equity fund. Right. But we needed to make our investors that had been along the journey with us since the beginning. We needed to make them whole.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So when it comes to who you know, how did it come about? It had to come about because when you sign with a private equity fund, when they invest money, they need that return on their investment within four to five years. We were coming up on that time.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You never want to be in a position where you signed a contract and it said that you have to wrap it up within four to five years, either IPOing or selling, but nobody, they don't really want you to ipo. They want you to sell because they want to get their money back now. Right. And so you never want to be in a position where they are on you to do the thing. Right. You never want to be in a position where you sign this. It's not your choice. We're going to take you to market. Not that they would have done that, but they could have done that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Absolutely right.

[Bia Dixon]

And we didn't want to put ourselves in that situation. Plus, once your business gets to high numbers in the early nine figures, that's also when it's time. Because you don't want your business to be so big that you can't Find the right partner for the time that you're in business ends. We were lucky that we found a private equity partner in the private equity partner that we did because that gave us the opportunity to have a second bite at the apple. Right. And so, you know, I'm. I'm. I'm giving you details so that we can understand as a community what these things look like.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Because. And that's. They're speaking from ignorance because they don't know.

[Bia Dixon]

You don't understand what it looks like, and that's okay. But when you don't understand, say you don't understand.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

Don't hold founders to a. To a standard that you think is right in your mind, but you have no idea. Nobody's selling out. We're just doing what people in business do.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yep.

[Bia Dixon]

Take my color out of your mind. Take my vagina out of your mind. I'm a businessman like anybody else, Right? Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And you're. You're a business person like anybody else. Right?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yep.

[Bia Dixon]

And. And nobody should expect you to do anything because you're a black woman, that these are constructs that aren't real. Right. So we are doing what we have to do. We're minding our business.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. We're. We're growing our company. I'm sorry, y'. All. Anybody that's in business, hopefully you're in it to make money.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Because that's what business is for.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes. Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. When you look at what it takes to get to even the level of success that we are at now.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

The amount of stress, the amount of time, the amount of energy, the amount of manpower, the amount of money, the amount of investors, the amount of airplanes, the amount of hotels, the amount of. Of of eating out.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

The amount of weight, the. The amount of sacrifice that it takes to do this, it should make you rich. That's the point.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

He said, listen.

[Bia Dixon]

That's the point.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's the point.

[Bia Dixon]

What is the point? I'm supposed to just put myself through slavery and be broke? And be broke? What?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No.

[Bia Dixon]

And I'm not belittling what our ancestors had to go through, but if I was doing this just to do it, that would be a version of enslaving myself. I'm sorry.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Ashley Bl. And I'm not a slave to anything. I'm definitely not a slave to what people think about me when I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. Right. If you decide that you don't want to sell your business, that is your business. But you don't tell me what to do with mine. Right, Right. Because it's none of yours. It's not your business. It's mine.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. If you decide that you want to have a business that's around for the next hundred years that you only own, do that. Yeah, do that. That's. That's beautiful that you want to do that. I want to. I want to build dope things. And this isn't the only dope thing I want to do.

[Co-host or Guest]

Wow. Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. And so. But it's probably the main thing that will help me to amass the wealth that will make it possible for me to do the other things that I dream of doing.

[Co-host or Guest]

Right. Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. So then in those other things, I can just be creative. I don't have to do it trying to be wealthy, because I'm already wealthy.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

And I'm not saying that to flexibility. I'm just saying that because it's true.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It's the truth.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I can just do dope shit with my friends because that's what I want to do. Right. Not because I need this to. I need this to work. I need this to. I don't want to operate like that. Yeah, but if you want to operate like that, do that. I don't want to live in struggle. I like money.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

I like having multiple houses. I like traveling. I like. You understand. Yes. I like beautiful art. I love beautiful clothes. I like somebody cooking me food. I getting my house cleaned every day. What does it take to do that? Money.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Money.

[Bia Dixon]

I like that. I need that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. And I've experienced that. And there's no backseats on that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's so true.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So, you know, but that's what I want for my life, and that's nobody's business but mine.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So nobody should have any say. So. About what I'm deciding to do.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

It's just not cool.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and I. And I feel like we need to do a better job. I met with my best. One of my best friends, her mom is like a meditation coach. And we were talking about. We were talking about meditation, but how there's a lot of things that you need to do before you even get to sit down to the place where you're sitting. There's so many different types of meditations that you need to do before you even sit down to meditate.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You need to. You need to let go of some baggage. You need. You know, like, there's some things that you need to address. You need to understand when you're what are the things you're doing when you're not minding your own business?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Come on.

[Bia Dixon]

Right? What's the. What's the she. What did she say? It was like, emotional something. She was saying how we, like, we're in conversation with somebody, with a friend, and they're telling us how something's wrong and we just want to jump in and fix it. And she's like, that's none of your business. Unless somebody asks you, you should just mind yours. Because you know what? You probably don't even have the emotional bandwidth to do that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And it's so true.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It's so true.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, so when. So I'm not trying to just. I'm not trying to be mean or disrespectful, but I just think whenever any of us, as black people are able to be successful and are able to grow our companies and scale them and make millions of dollars and sell them or IPO them or whatever it is that we're trying to do, that should only be good for our culture.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

That should never be. And sure, whoever you. Whoever goes in to buy it, sure, they may change something. Right. But change is inevitable, you know, it just. It just is.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's so true.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and, you know, and. And so I just think that we need to do a better job as a community, lifting each other up, not. Not putting these expectations on one another.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

That. That we wouldn't put ourselves. We wouldn't hold to ourselves. It's easy to. To hold a mirror, you know, to. To hold a mirror up to somebody else and tell them what you think they should be doing.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It's not easy to look in this.

[Bia Dixon]

But it's not easy to look in it, you know?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And I just. I just want us to do better, you know, because I.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Sure.

[Bia Dixon]

Listen, because let me tell you something. I'm not. I don't sell out. That's not what I do.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I'm true to myself. I'm sure. You know, I'm true to myself. I'm true to my ancestors. I'm a good person. I'm good to people. Sometimes I'm too good. You know what I mean? And I know that about myself. So there's nothing that anybody can say to me that's going to make me think different.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

But it is something. When millions of people are putting their energy in your direction, we need to be more responsible with that, because that's not very kind.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Come on. That's real.

[Bia Dixon]

We need to do better about this. Cancel culture Stuff we need to do better about it. Because when all these lies are spread and this big, massive game of telephone is happening, there is a person at the other end of that. And you should treat people how you want to be treated, man. And you should also treat them the way that they want to be treated. And nobody wants millions of people, millions and millions of people talking about them and their business and their company and what they're doing, and they sold it and they did this and, you know, or all the other lies that can spin out of that. Nobody. Nobody wants that. Yeah, Right. I'm an empath. I'm an intuitive. I can feel all that stuff, and it just doesn't feel good.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah. I was gonna ask you, how does it make you feel?

[Bia Dixon]

It just feels. It feels. I don't. It just feels weird.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, like. Like it. It's like you don't even know why you're feeling the way you're feeling kind of feeling, you know?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and then not only that, it's hard for the people who have to. Who sit in. So who. Who sit in our social media, who have to sight. Who have to siphon through these terrible, terrible, terrible words and, And, And. And people just being mean for no reason. What we. What we will allow ourselves to do in a group is wild.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and so I. I would just ask. And that's why every time, you know, we've had any viral moment or anything like that, we're always told by pr, you know, you should just be quiet and not saying.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's what I've been taught to.

[Bia Dixon]

But, but those days are dead, man. Because. Because social media is alive.

[Co-host or Guest]

It is.

[Bia Dixon]

And if you don't get out and say something. Right. You have to be careful about what you say. You shouldn't. You shouldn't feed into it. Yeah, but you should. You, you know, but speaking your truth, you know, I think is important and not speaking it because you expect something in return. Right. But I think you actually saying what's real is important, you know, because you don't want people just coming up with their own narrative. Some people may not care, but I care because what we do is important. The business we're in is we make products for people's vaginas. That matters. Yes, that matters. And the energy that is so into these products matter. So my team cannot be their vibration can't be low, because people have heard a lie and are doing all kinds of wild things on the Internet and saying all kinds of wild things on social media. At least what we can do is say our piece and then we can leave it.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know. You know, because it's just important and it's hard. You know, this work is hard to do, especially when you're doing it with care.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and love and like, when you're really putting good energy into it.

[Co-host or Guest]

For real.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, so that when these, so that when people use these products. I'm not trying to be super esoteric because not everybody believes in the things I believe in. They don't have to when they use these products. These products are healing for that reason. Not just for the ingredients that are in the bottle, but, but because of all the things that surrounded it, that went into it, you know, so, you know, not, not to. I'm sorry for the tangent.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, this is. No, people need to hear that.

[Bia Dixon]

It's real.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, it's so true. You talked about the stress, the weight of carrying all this, and I want to get into that because I'm also big on mental health. And just hearing you talk, it's almost like a therapy session. Like you're letting it all out. And I want to know, as you're going through these emotions and trying to carry all this weight, what do you do for you?

[Bia Dixon]

I do a lot of stuff. You know, I, I, I have to have a lot of order in my house, which we're going through renovations right now, so that's hard, but it's working out. Eating well is really important. Drinking water. You and I both are like fanatics about not drinking out of plastic.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

I stay on top of it with my health. I work out multiple times per week. I, you know, I, I go to the chiropractor.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I. Oh, I got to do better about that.

[Bia Dixon]

Acupuncture. I have, I had a therapist, but I kind of go in and out of having a therapist just because, like, I feel like there's seasons in my life where I need it, and then there's seasons in my life where I don't want to be. I do different types of therapies, like oxygen therapy. I do when I can. Red light therapy.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Love red light therapy.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I got out of practice of, like, sitting down and being quiet just because things were really busy.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah. I just kind of would get to it, but I'm now working on change, creating whatever my practice is now. Not going back to what it was, but wherever, you know, Right now. Yeah, I'm in a, I'm in a really beautiful relationship. I spend time with my family. When I can. I have a beautiful dog. 0. Spend a lot of time with her, you know. Spend a lot of time with my amazing team.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah. You know, and, you know, I'm just. I'm just. I just do stuff.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I just. I just try to take care of myself.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, go to bed, take baths.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Listen, going to bed, that is so big because we're not, as entrepreneurs, our brain is always going. We're creative thinkers. Sometimes it's hard to shut this thing off, you know? Yeah. So getting that rest. Last week we were going, going, going. I've been filming, and this left eye would not stop twitching. Finally, it stopped because I took a few days just to sleep. Like, didn't get out. Just literally slept and ate and that was it.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And I was like. My body was like, this is what we need. I needed that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I stopped drinking a ton.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, me too. I let go of hard liquor. That helped me a lot.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

That doesn't mean I don't drink, but it's literally, like, maybe a couple times a month.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Moderation is good.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I agree.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I don't. I don't really. I don't smoke the green anymore. Like, I don't do any of that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I just. I want to be well.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

And I want to grow old.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Was there something in your life that sparked those moments where you like, I don't want to drink anymore. I don't want to smoke anymore.

[Bia Dixon]

I think some of those things just kind of happen naturally. I've never been a great drinker. Like, I'm always the person where it's like, a cute drink. Like, that looks cute.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I'll try it. And I never finish it. I think just as my wellness journey has kind of intensified.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and it's also like the company I keep, you know?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I feel like you are who you hang with.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Absolutely.

[Bia Dixon]

So the company I keep also doesn't do a lot of those things. You know what I'm saying? And so, you know, I. I just think as you're taking care of yourself.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You're paying attention to your body and how it feels and when. When something doesn't feel right. Like, I don't really have the luxury of being sick. I have things to do.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

And so, you know, so, like, it's like, I can go to. I can go out or I can go to bed. I'm probably going to go to bed, you know, and then a couple times a month or something, I'LL go out.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But, you know, but I. But, you know, another thing that I love, sitting down and watching tv.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What are your favorite shows?

[Bia Dixon]

It's, like, one of my favorite pastimes because it's, like, brainless, you know? Yes. Godfather of Harlem is so good.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And this new season.

[Bia Dixon]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love that show.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes. So good.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So good.

[Bia Dixon]

I love where it's going because they really set it up to be able to continue to have season.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I. I like British detective shows.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So good. The writing on those shows is so good. Yes, it's so good.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So, like, I don't know. I just, you know, I just. I like to. I just like to chill, man.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Are you a binger? Do you like shows where you can just sit there and watch episode after episode after episode?

[Bia Dixon]

It depends. If it's a weekend.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Bia Dixon]

I might binge.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

If you have time.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But, like, during the week, we try to be responsive.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And then we've. We've been like, me and my partner, we've been, like, keeping our phone out of the bedroom. That's new.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay. So I can. Right. So do you wake up to, like. Do you rush? Like, when you. The moment you wake up, are you like, okay, I gotta get. I gotta get to the phone? Or do you take a moment, look at the time.

[Bia Dixon]

Because our dog, she's not technically a puppy. Cause she's like eight months old, but she's still a puppy. She's still a baby. You know, and so she wakes up early sometimes a couple times a night. And so, you know, so I might find myself, like, checking the time.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But I'm getting more used to it. And actually, we have a house phone.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You are probably one of the only people in the world. I'm joking. Not in the world. But, like, no, honestly, very few people still have a house phone.

[Bia Dixon]

We have a house phone. And there's, like. There's a way you can do it just with the Internet.

[Co-host or Guest]

Okay.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah. Oh, yes. Look it up.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Because you know how, like, on different, like, forms you have to fill out, they ask you the home. Fun. I'm like, yeah, cell phone is the same as my home phone.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But, yeah, I think. I think having the house phone helps. So, like, if it's really an emergency.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

But the people who need to get to you can.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah, man. But it's, you know, that's so good. Yeah. Because it's not really good sleeping with all that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's what I'm hearing.

[Co-host or Guest]

Mf. Yep.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And I was mine Was literally, like, right at my nightstand, like, probably this far from my head.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And they say it's not good.

[Bia Dixon]

And the Bluetooth and. And all that stuff. It's just not really great.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I'm finding out the wireless routers aren't good, and I've got those all over the house. I'm like, lord have mercy. Everything is killing us.

[Bia Dixon]

Yes. Because our bodies aren't set up for all of this.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Our bodies aren't set up for all this. 5G and all, you know, it's just not set up for that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So it's. You know, so I just. Being cognizant of that, I don't wear the. The. The electric ones.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Earbuds.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You do the cord ones.

[Bia Dixon]

I'm old school with it.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

It's. It's not easy, but it's not.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I recently bought one with the cord.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And my friends make fun of me. And I was telling a friend of mine, Brenda, she was like, do you have the cord earbuds in? I said, yeah. And I was like, because they're really bad for you. And she was like, oh, my gosh. And then, like, a week later, she's like, I got them.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah. I mean, we need to be cognizant. Like. Like, you know, it's. People are just starting to become aware.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

Your phone needs to be. What was it?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Like, a certain amount of, like, five. Something away from your body. And it's in the phone. Like, it's in the bylaws of your phone. But people never knew that it was there. Telling us, don't have this, like, so close.

[Bia Dixon]

Imagine if your phone shouldn't be that. And then we got these earpieces, like, penetrating our brain.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, let me stop there, because I don't want nobody coming after me.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. You know, we love all cellular providers.

[Bia Dixon]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

But, yeah, that is funny. How do you, in these moments, stay grounded? Like, with. With everything that you have going on? I know you do the. Your rich. You know what I'm saying? You have your. Your rituals, but, like, even with, like, your family and friends, like, I want.

[Bia Dixon]

To be grounded, man.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I want to be.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I am grounded. I mean, I'm just out here like everybody else, you know?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, for sure.

[Bia Dixon]

Honestly, like. Like, I'm a human being like everybody else. I'm having an experience like everybody else.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I'm. I'm. I have problems like everybody else. There's no. There's nothing about my lived experience that's different than anybody else. I've. You know, the only difference maybe is that we've been able to experience a level of success. Success that doesn't happen every day.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But that doesn't make you immune to anything. It's just money, you know?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And I. I think people put. Put money on such a pedestal. Money is it. It provides you, you know, with. With resources. It provides you options.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But it doesn't stop life from happening. It doesn't make things less hard, you know.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, it is not.

[Bia Dixon]

I shouldn't say it doesn't make things less hard because it can make things less hard, but things will still be hard whether you have a lot or a little. You know, you are not like a.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Lot of people feel like once you make it, it gets easier. Like we talked about that. More money problems. But it really does. Like, it's. It gets heavier.

[Bia Dixon]

Like what is making it, you know, it's.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Honestly, everybody defines that differently.

[Bia Dixon]

Everybody is relative.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and. And, you know, and. And I'm not going to sit here and say that I. That I haven't accomplished what I want to accomplish. What I wanted to accomplish.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But I have so many more things that I want to accomplish. You know, there is no such thing as a level. There is no, you know, there is, you know, this invisible table that people want to sit around like, you know, it. It. I'm not saying it. That it doesn't exist, but it's not for real.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know. You know, so I. I think that just keeps me grounded because I'm on the ground. I'm on the ground like everybody else, you know?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What is one piece of advice that you wish you had have known when you started off building this brand that you're like, if. If you could pass it on to another young woman or. Or man that's trying to get their business off the ground, what would you tell them?

[Bia Dixon]

I would say, take care of yourself and keep yourself out of debt.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Because debt is hard when you're in business.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, I was.

[Bia Dixon]

Where were we?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I just had a dinner immigrade. And she was talking about the importance of, like, when you're building, don't spend all your money. There's people who want to support you and spend theirs. How do you feel about that when you're building?

[Bia Dixon]

Don't spend your own money. Yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that. I mean, you know, Emma. Emma has. Emma has the right circle for that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

She does.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So I think that statement is relative, you know, yeah. She is brilliant for the way that she built herself, the way she built her people, the way she built the illest businesses that she's built.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, she. She is a genius when it comes to knowing how to go to people to spend their money.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Not everybody has that. Genius.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, so I. So I think if you're a person who has that, do that. And if you're a person who doesn't have that and you have the capability to learn how to do that. Yes, do that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and there's some people, you know, that, that, that may not work, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Because you, you have to. You have to have a gift for.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I, I mean, my friend John. John Craig, he's. He's gifted with that, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So gifted with that. I'm not, I'm not particularly gifted with same.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

I'm just being honest, you know, and I. Me and SA have raised a ton of money. I'm gifted with that. But I'm not necessarily, necessarily gifted at spending somebody else's money if it's not like an investment into the business.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. Yeah, for sure.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah. So I. I applaud it. I think it's great.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I really do.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

There's a way to stay out of debt, for sure.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah, it is, it is, it is. But. And I guess I'm just saying the debt thing, because when you're growing and building, you really need to, you know, you just, you. You need to make sure that you can take care of your household.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, for sure. Because when you're not well, like when, when you're in a desperate situation, it can like, make you're also building a business, which is also a desperate situation within itself. Right. And that's hard enough even within itself. So you just want to make sure that you're being responsible with what you have. And so that's why not just quitting your job and keep, you know, keeping your job, running your business until your business can take care of, you know, or. Or until you can raise the money or whatever the situation is.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

So I think that. I also think making sure you take care of your health.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So important. So important.

[Bia Dixon]

And your weight and your fitness and keep the extracurricular activity, activities to. To. To a minimum, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

That. That's also something that's, you know, some people live by the work hard, play hard. But play hard comes back to bite you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It does, it does.

[Bia Dixon]

So, you know, work hard, take care of yourself, you know, yeah. Play every now and again.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know that. But that's, that's, that's my mantra for myself.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And I feel like that also helps keep your focus sharp.

[Bia Dixon]

It does.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You know, it kind of weeds out the distraction, too.

[Bia Dixon]

It does. It does. Because when you, when you out every night, you run in, you know, you smoking, you drinking, you, you, you know, some people you sniffing whatever you're doing.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You're not thinking with your right mind.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You can't be.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You're not.

[Bia Dixon]

You just can't be. You know, so if you've got, if you have issues with any of those things, what with. Whether it's a pill or whatever. The thing is, I would say if wanting to be successful, get a handle on that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You know, so true.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

Talk to somebody. Get some help. Take some medicine.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Do whatever you need to do, you know, because it can. Because the other thing is you don't want to get successful and not be happy.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And sometimes you can come, like, if you're already doing those things, you can end up becoming dependent on those things.

[Bia Dixon]

Because then you can afford more.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yep.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. So, you know, I'm not here to tell anybody what to do, but, you know, you're asking my opinion.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

For sure.

[Bia Dixon]

Those are, those are things that I think. Because it's happening more and more these days. Yep. And I. And, and especially in our community.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And there's a reason for that. That. And we need to be thinking about what we're going to do when we're 65. We need to be thinking about how are we going to retire. Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You don't. You're not going to get there by living a soft life.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, so, you know, or, or, or just being out outside.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Doing. Doing any and everything. You know, so I, I just think it's really important that you care for yourself.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And really look at all the things you're doing. Because if you want to, if, you know, you can, plenty of people have reached success doing all kinds of stuff.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So let's be clear about that. But a lot, a lot of those people are leaving this place.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Whether it's by their own hand or not. And so that's also something that we need to look at.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, for sure. As a community.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and, and, and why. Why try to achieve success? And you're not happy? You're not really enjoying it.

[Co-host or Guest]

No.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And that's the point.

[Bia Dixon]

What's the point?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

It's silly.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It. It really is. It really is. How have the recent changes in DEI impacted your business? We know that there's so many stores. You're, you're everywhere, you know, and I want, I'm asking this because I also want to let our audience know how can we support, how can we make sure that we champion you? Absolutely.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Because I know it, it's impacting everyone.

[Bia Dixon]

Yeah, it is.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, it is.

[Bia Dixon]

It definitely impacted us. Traffic is definitely down at that retailer, you know, which impacts everybody.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, so in that particular space, sales are down, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

It's starting to improve.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Bia Dixon]

Which is great.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Because we have an omnichannel business. We are in a really great position.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Bia Dixon]

Because we're not reliant normally when, when something like this happens, if it's down in one place, it's probably up in another place.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

Because people are just leaving that place and going to the other place, still.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Getting what they like.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, exactly.

[Bia Dixon]

And so, you know, so that, that gives us the ability to be successful and make up for it.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, this DEI stuff is hard because it's for people who aren't, who don't have an omnichannel strategy. It's difficult.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, but that's why you have to have an omnichannel strategy and, and not reliant on just one thing.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

People, people will say, you know, why can't I just go to your website? Going to the website's cute, but websites aren't as profitable as you think. Yes, you make more money. You may make your full margin site, but what it, what it costs for somebody to pick and pack and box and tape and do all that. Right. You've lost a lot of that margin that you, that, that, that you so called just made. Right, Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So, you know, and even, even Amazon, Amazon is, is, is an incredible, it's a huge part of our business.

[Co-host or Guest]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

It's a huge part of everybody's business. But also those FBA fees are on another level. Right. So it may seem like you're making more money through those channels, but when you look at, when you take a step back and look at the profitability of that, you have to look at the whole thing. And that whole thing paints a picture. So it affects businesses in a huge way, but it goes back to some of the things we were talking about earlier. People's lack of understanding.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, so, you know, I'm not here. I can't tell people what to do with their money or where they should go and shop. That's none of my business. All that I'm saying is, is that when, when, when, when we decide to do what we did, you know, or to just, just stop shopping somewhere, how it affects the businesses that you may have shopped there, you know, it deeply affects them.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And a lot of those businesses are newer businesses or just getting started, you know, and, and, and, and the retailers look at those sales, right? They're looking, are you meeting your dollars per store per week? Are you, are you hitting your velocities that you need to hit? Right. They're giving grace because they know what's going on.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, but there's also only so long that they can do that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Absolutely.

[Bia Dixon]

Right. And so can, it can deeply affect that. And then how that affects that brand growing is if you didn't do good in that one retailer, when you go normally, the other retailers are basing how you did based off of how you did with, with, with that one. Right. And so just so people know, that's what, that's what can happen when, when we decide that we're gonna boycott. When we, when we decide that we want to boycott, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and it's not just as easy as, like, I'll just shop on their website or I'll buy them on Amazon. It's much deeper than that. Because what it takes to get into a retailer like Target or Walmart or anywhere else is astronomical. It is astronomical. You have to work with the manufacturer because it's really hard to do that on your own. Some people do it, but it's really hard to do it. You have to raise money. You don't get paid for like 90 to 120 days, depending on in the beginning. You know, you're not getting a purchase order where they're going to pay you right away. They don't pay you before it goes into their store. Right. Like, that's not how that works. You know, and so, and then, because you've probably amassed some sort of debt or you've raised money or whatever trying to prep for that. You don't even realize, especially if you're new to retail, mass market retail, you don't even know, okay, when am I going to have to go back and order more product again?

[Co-host or Guest]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You know?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And then, and every time you do that, that costs tens of thousands of dollars. So like, and if you haven't gotten paid from the retailer yet, maybe you were able to raise enough money to get it started. And I'm projecting, because that's what happened with us, but that Happens. So, like, boycotting is a really big thing to do. I understand the point. And it is driving the point. Believe me. It's working.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Bia Dixon]

It's driving the point. They're getting themselves together, you know, because I'm sure nobody thought it was going to get to where it is.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No.

[Bia Dixon]

Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

But here we are. So it did work.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

So I do commend us for that. At the same time, I'm not trying to talk out of both sides of my mouth.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I understand.

[Bia Dixon]

But just from a business point of view, it's hard, you know, it's really hard. Even though I get it.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

Sometimes, unless you, unless you, you, you mess with somebody's money, they're not going to understand, you know, and so I think it was necessary. Right. But I also know that it's hard, you know? You know, and so it's, you know.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I. Yeah, yeah, no, I get it. In closing, I want to ask you about the legacy that you want to continue to build and the impact that you want to leave on our community.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, as far as impact, I just, I deeply believe in making staples things that people need every single day. You know, and I believe in it so much because I'm crazy enough to think that I. Or we can do it really well.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

And it turns out we can.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

We can.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

And so, you know, like, So I guess the impact that I want to make is that I, I think I was brought to this planet for that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And I want to just continue to do that, you know, and continue to serve humanity in that way and make products that actually benefit people's lives and make them better and help them to be proactive with their health and things like that. That, yeah. And as far as the legacy, I don't know, man. You know, I, I, I want Honey Pot to be here into infinity.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, I want Honey Pot to be a conglomerate brand within itself.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and whether I'm, whether I'm here with my team running it or not, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Bia Dixon]

And so, you know, I, you know, I, I'm grateful to do it, and, and I'm grateful for all the success that we've had and all the support that we've been given and to everybody that's gotten us to where we are, to my brother, I'm, you know, I'm grateful to all of it.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love that. Now you have some new products that you guys have launched.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Let's get into it so they can know what to look out for. You have the, the New panty liners or pads.

[Bia Dixon]

Yes, yes. So we have our long liners that, that are in cooling and also are in calming. Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So you want a little tingle. You can get the tingle if you want it calm.

[Bia Dixon]

Exactly, exactly. The. We have our calming pads, which are absolutely beautiful, that are infused with ashwagandha, lavender, lemon balm. So they're not gonna. You know how the cooling pads, you get like a, it's like kind of like a peppermint patty with the, with, with the calming. You're not necessarily getting, you're not, you're not getting any kind of a sensory. In the same way you would get with the cooling.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, but studies, clinical studies, the clinical trials on this were insane, really. Like 80%, 90%, like. And those are numbers that are astounding from a clinical trial, you know, but they were literally clinically tested and proven to be able to ease irritation on the skin.

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, wow.

[Bia Dixon]

You know, and then they have those beautiful adaptogens. You know, ashwagandha is an adaptogen, great for stress, you know, but there it's just infused with really, really, really beautiful herbs. And then the prebiotic isn't really new.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Bia Dixon]

But kind of new. It's been around for two years now.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay. Because I don't see it. I don't see it often. I see the mild and the.

[Bia Dixon]

It's growing.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Bia Dixon]

So we, I, I believe we launched it early last year. And then, you know, and so this is its second year. And normally when you launch something, you know, like, it takes time for it to grow and build, but it's beautiful.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Bia Dixon]

It's my favorite.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, I can't wait to try it.

[Bia Dixon]

Oh, my God, it's so good.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Awesome.

[Co-host or Guest]

I cannot wait.

[Bia Dixon]

So. Yeah. Thank you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah. Some of my favorites are the foam wash. I use that. I use your wipes. And then after my cycle, I like to use the boric acid suppositories just to clear it on out of there.

[Bia Dixon]

I love it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes. Thank you so much, Bia. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with you. You've impacted me. You've inspired me, and I appreciate you taking the time to sit with me.

[Bia Dixon]

Thank you.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Bia Dixon]

This is good.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So good. Oh, my goodness, girl. All right, y', all, let's get into the vid. Today I am wearing a yellow jock moose polo. I'm wearing black jock mousse Bermuda shorts and leopard print patent leather cheetah pumps by Dolce and Gabbana. And my signature jewelry earrings of Bibletega Veneta and my signature rings and Van Cleef bracelet. Listen. Today was a reminder that we need to listen to our intuition, trust the guidance of our ancestors, and. And we will find our purpose. Huge thank you to Bia Dixon for joining us and sharing her energy, her light, and her story. Whether you're building something from scratch or just trying to pour back into yourself, I hope today you find the room to breathe, to reflect and choose peace. Until next time, keep it positive. Sweetie.

[Bia Dixon]

Sam.