← Living The Red Life
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- [00:00]
A
I lost my dog. I did everything my veterinarian told me to do, from feeding the food to vaccinating her every year to putting the pesticide pill down her throat. $15,000 later, I'm like, there is something wrong with this system. And that was the last time I was putting my health or my beloved animal's health in someone else's hands.
- [00:21]
B
We got 100,000 customers, right over, you know, hundreds of thousands of bottles sold. There's gotta be some strategy there, not just a great product. A great product goes a long way. But you marketing, right? So what are some of the things you're doing to generate thousands of sales a week and a month like that?
- [00:38]
A
I believe my secret to my success is my.
- [00:42]
B
My name is Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, Take the red pill, join me in wonderland and change your life. What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Today we're going to talk about one of my favorite topics. No, it's not red. No, it's not cheese. It's dogs. Angela, welcome to the show.
- [01:07]
A
Thank you for having me.
- [01:09]
B
So I know you feel one of the biggest pet CBD brands in the world, over 100,000 beloved pet owners, vets using your product. You're changing the most important life there is, the life of our dog or animal. So excited for you to be here and talk about how you got this brand to become one of the biggest, best in the world. And over, you know, a quarter of a million bottles sold, if not more at this point. And a lot of fun stuff. So let's dive in. If someone doesn't know who you are, do you mind just giving the audience an intro?
- [01:39]
A
Yeah. I'm Angela Ardolino, and lately I'm the crazy cannabis switch lady, you know, who makes, you know, dogs get better, old dogs get up and walk again or get rid of their tumors or those types of things. So I'm like you. I love dogs. For a lot of people, they are sometimes the only way people experience unconditional love. So I love being able to transform their health naturally, and then at the same time, the pet parent learns about their own health and wellness. So I just think it's a beautiful thing.
- [02:19]
B
Yeah, well, and I'm, you know, excited to have you on. Obviously, you're a client working with us on the marketing side. And in our new TV series where we're telling the whole story and also the controversy, which I'm excited to dive into. You know, I came from a health background. The medical world is a whole industry by itself. And sometimes battling that can be tough. With alternative medicine, I think, you know, dogs and pets is a great starting point for that because it's even harder to penetrate the human side. But I personally, you know, I've had over 20 dogs through my life and seeing the power of natural remedies and alternative remedies. So I'm excited to talk about that. And also how you just built a brand so big so fast in a brand new territory. Right. Because cbd, you know, I remember when it kind of blew up during COVID and I was helping people with it and it was the wild west with Facebook ads and socials. So let's start there maybe. Right. Like, how did you build this brand in this new territory so quickly?
- [03:20]
A
Well, I started in, first of all, the medicine. I cured myself of disease. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, probably from being a crazy entrepreneur and working myself to death. And I didn't want to take the pharmaceutical drugs. I was already living a pretty natural lifestyle. So I was kind of shocked when I was like, how did I get this?
- [03:41]
B
But RA can be pretty bad too. I've had clients back in the health when I was at personal trainer over a decade ago, and it was very bad for their day to day life. Right.
- [03:51]
A
I was very upset that I had been diagnosed.
- [03:54]
B
Most of the medical just alleviate the pain. They don't.
- [03:57]
A
You know, there's no, no, it's another. It's a. First of all, they give the same drugs for all autoimmune diseases and it suppresses the immune system and makes things worse. And then you just get something else and another disease and another.
- [04:10]
B
Well, I remember it because my clients, their immune system was constantly low because of it. Right.
- [04:15]
A
It makes no sense to me. Like, when you really think about it, it made no sense to me. But that's not what sent me on my journey. I lost my dog. I lost one of my first dogs. You know, I waited till I had the yard and the house and, you know, the money to take such good care of this dog. And at age 6, she was dying and I did everything my veterinarian told me to do, from feeding the food to vaccinating her every year to putting the pesticide pill down her throat. So when that happened to her, and, you know, $15,000 later, I'm like, there is something wrong with this system. And that was the last time I was putting my health or my beloved animal's health in someone else's hands. So when I got that diagnosis, and they're like, well, here's Humira. I'm like, no, thank you. Already been linked to lymphoma. I don't want cancer just so that I don't have joint pain anymore. And it's not a cure. It's just a band aid. And there's always a side effect where things get worse and how it's worse for animals is that animals are considered to be property. So if I'm an evil player in the pharmaceutical industry, what a great way to experiment or make a lot of money by releasing a drug. And there's no repercussions. I mean, there are drugs out right now that, like apiquil and cytopoint, who. They have killed so many dogs with strange cancers and issues. And you go to the pamphlet where, you know, it gives you all the precautions. They're there.
- [05:51]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [05:52]
A
And so many veterinarians and pet parents have written in, and FDA goes, just put it on your pamphlet.
- [05:58]
B
Well, I.
- [05:59]
A
You never get that pamphlet.
- [06:00]
B
Yeah, I mean, it's. It's. I even find that fascinating in American medicine. Like, I remember moving to America, and you see that. You know, coming from England, I see these ads on tv, right? And it's like, you know, this beautiful ad can cure these things in the last 20 seconds. Is may kill you in 22 different ways. I would laugh about that. And it's sadly, the same in animals and the same in humans. And so I think what you're doing, you know, is obviously, as an animal lover, it's great to educate the industry, because the sad reality in both the human health space and animal is a lot of it, too, is just absence of education for the consumer. Right. And obviously, CBD has come a long way in human health, but also animal health. So can we just talk quickly to catch the audience that maybe what is some of the products you have and who are they for? You know, how do they help the animal?
- [06:54]
A
Well, all animals have something called the endocannabinoid system. So I basically make hemp adaptogen mushroom products that interact with that system, and that system is the master system. So literally, it helps with everything. So everything from interacting with the 12 pathways of cancer and killing cancer and removing it from the body to interacting with the five pathways of pain and stopping pain, stopping seizures. I've had dogs that didn't walk like Frenchies I have a Frenchie on my logo because they're the ones that have the most problems.
- [07:31]
B
Yeah, Yeah.
- [07:32]
A
A lot of genetic problems because of that.
- [07:35]
B
Very big in America.
- [07:36]
A
Yeah, not so much, I actually think, because there's a lot more rules where you're from, where you're not allowed to have a dog that can't breathe.
- [07:43]
B
America breeds a lot of dogs for fashion. Right.
- [07:46]
A
They're cute and small, and their faces are squished. Well, squished faces. Can't breathe appropriately. So helping those dogs is really. I can't tell you how many we have. But, yeah, we had one case that the dog hadn't walked for four years.
- [08:01]
B
Wow.
- [08:01]
A
And we met his owner, and he was like. I was like, just try it. Just trust. Not gonna work. Literally got home, literally gave him a dropper full. And then he went upstairs to his office and turned around, and the dog had. I mean, of course it was weak, but literally had dragged itself and was, you know, stumbling, walking up, and he was like, what is. And this is what I hear on a regular.
- [08:24]
B
And now you've had thousands.
- [08:25]
A
Oh, yeah. One case after another. And it's often, you know, I've tried other products. It didn't work. Other CBD products, it didn't work. I tried. My dog's on five different medications, and he's still in pain and he's terrible. I gave him one dropper of your stuff, and he's up and he's happy and whatever. And it's because you're interacting with that system and because I'm kind of a perfectionist. And I believe my secret to my success is my intention.
- [08:53]
B
Sure.
- [08:53]
A
And then my intention is to make. I've also educated. I went to the University of Vermont School of Medicine to their inaugural class on the study of cannabis. So I know about the system, how to make the medicine, how to grow the medicine, how to source the seeds. So when I couldn't find a product for my own animals, I became that person.
- [09:16]
B
Well, a lot of the best, you know, as entrepreneurs, 90% of entrepreneurs I work with, at least they're, you know, they're people that saw a problem in the market. Most of the time, they were figuring it out for themselves in some capacity. Right. Like, I got into fitness because I wanted to get into shape and all that. And then I started helping other people. Right. And a lot of the best products, I think, come from either your own, like, Gap in the market or figuring it out, or you have, you know, maybe on a bigger scale, like Elon Musk. You want to solve a world problem, right? Like have a, you know, a different place to live if you're Elon's position or here, like a different alternative path to medicine.
- [09:54]
A
Right.
- [09:54]
B
For the dog. So, so important. And I would love to talk, you know, obviously this is a business entrepreneur show where a lot of us are marketers, business owners. So I'd love to talk about the tactical side too, because obviously listening, you're passionate. You know, a newish market emerged, right? You went all in. But let's now cut. We got 100,000 customers, right? Over, you know, hundreds of thousands of bottles sold. There's got to be some strategy there, not just a great product. A great product goes a long way, but you still need marketing.
- [10:27]
A
Right?
- [10:27]
B
So what are some of the things you're doing to generate thousands of sales a week and a month like that?
- [10:33]
A
Education. Education. The one of the first things we did is go on tour.
- [10:38]
B
Okay.
- [10:39]
A
So I'm the graduate, I'm the formulator now. I know how the system works. So we went on a tour with my two, you know, right and left hand, and they're both educated to go educate as many veterinarians who would. Anybody who would have us. And then Covid hit, yeah. Which was pretty good because we're doing grassroots outlets. We went to California where cannabis has been legal for longer and literally documenting everything at the same time. Found vets who were using cannabis medicine. So we could video them and go, the next time someone goes, well, my vet says it'll kill them. We'll go, nope, look right here. This vet has been using it for the past five years. So then Covid hit well, I imagine came in and started videoing to pause.
- [11:23]
B
I imagine the vet side's a big piece, right? Because it's adding that level of authority almost. Right. It's great when the product owner says it's dry, but everyone says that, right? So, like having that third party validation, like, how have you, you know, if someone's listening and they have maybe a supplement or a product where they want to get someone to endorse it. How did you go about that?
- [11:45]
A
Wasn't easy.
- [11:46]
B
Okay.
- [11:47]
A
Now, honestly, the only ones that we really do it with are the ones that are really using the medicine on a daily basis. They've educated themselves, they know how to use it. And then they. They tell about a case or a pet parent tells us about, you know, that they used it. How'd you find out? And then we reach out to the vet. But it is hard because a lot of want to Be paid. And, you know, we're like, don't you want to know how this medicine works?
- [12:10]
B
Create partnerships, joint venture deals with any.
- [12:13]
A
We tried to. We tried to, but not. Didn't work so much. I mean, you still battled a lot with what their education is, and they're not taught anything about it.
- [12:24]
B
Well, it's the same with doctors. Right? Like, I've worked with a lot of doctors, and you have the small percent that like, go on and do their own research and they continue to learn. And then you have 95% that are like, locked into what tech.
- [12:36]
A
There is nothing on cannabis or cbd. So it was like, that's what I thought. I thought I'd be like, you know, welcomed by the herbalist and the homeopaths. But no, I was even competition to them because it's the queen. It's the queen. Cannabis is the queen medicine. It helps so many things. The system is named after that plant. So, yeah, I was kind of alone at first. I was welcomed and, oh, cool, you know, here she is. And then all of a sudden, I became a threat. You know, three things can replace hemp and mushrooms and an adaptogen like ashwagandha. Astragalus root is a game changer. I saw the research, I read the research, where when you put them together, they become more powerful and synergistic. I literally remember going, I wish I could have a product, but what am I going to make? Everything's been made. And now I'm like, nobody makes stuff right. And all I do is make it right. You know, source the seed, you know, grow it in the right conditions, how it's supposed to grow, harvest it when it's supposed to profit isn't my intention and end goal. Making real bioavailable natural medicine is.
- [13:49]
B
Yeah.
- [13:49]
A
Because then when people use my product one time, they come back. And that's why our retention is unbelievable.
- [13:56]
B
Well, let's talk about that because, yeah, I know you're, you know, on the stats side. I won't share your exact figures, but I know you have a high lifetime value, a high average order value. You have lots of repeat customers. So can we talk a little about the strategies you have in place to. Let's start with acquiring the customer. I know that you spend thousands on ads, and there's a few kind of key ads that work for you. Do you want to take everyone through what they are?
- [14:22]
A
Yeah. I think what was important is that I'm my customer.
- [14:25]
B
Yeah.
- [14:26]
A
So I knew that, you know, I had tried these things and they didn't work. So speaking to me, me and to, to the ones that, that they've tried everything and it didn't work. And then being able to show proof, yeah, that was the first things. When I went, started talking to holistic veterinarians, they go, this is who I am, this is what I do. What do you want? They're like, well, how do you use the medicine? Give us case studies. So it's like, all right, went back to my rescue and took every, you know, animal with every problem. Every age had some partnerships with vets that would call me up and go, all right, I got another one. Let's see what you can do. And every time I would be able to detox them, wean them off their pharmaceuticals, feed them a real fresh diet of real food, and then treat them with hemp mushrooms and adaptogens and always be able to bring them back to homeostasis. A lot of times I'd be treating lymphoma and their Cushing's disease would go away. Or, you know, gosh, when I was treating her seizures and her dementia reversed. So I was just like, oh my gosh, this is awesome. This is easy. So what was cool is that I had multiple cases and pictures. So I got to start with my cases, prove it to the veterinarians, get it into their hands, get into the influencers or the practitioners that are, you know, doing why?
- [15:44]
B
And I think that's so important if, you know, if you're listening. Like the pictures paint a thousand words. Right. So I know, you know, when we sit down on our kind of coaching sessions and go through your ad manager, for example, three things that stick out for me is tons of before and after photos. Right. And obviously with ad compliance, you have to be careful about those. But you have some great visuals of lump sizes. All of those things, customer stories. Right. Like the, you know, every pet owner knows how precious their dog is. Right? Their pet. So the, the testimonial side and the customer story is so important. And then I think the third one is, what we talked a little about is education.
- [16:23]
A
Right?
- [16:23]
B
Right. Like especially in a newer market where the customers may be less educated, you have a percent that are educated that are looking for the product, but you have a massive percent of uneducated buyers that need to learn and have a.
- [16:36]
A
Vet that's telling them THC is going to kill their dog.
- [16:39]
B
Well, most doctors, what I've learned, health wise doctors or vets or whoever, they don't know enough about it. They just say they just like fob it off Right. Because they don't want to say, I don't really know. So they'll generally say, oh, no, I don't think it's well researched. But let's talk about the education. What are tactical ways for the marketing side? How do you educate? Like content influencers, blogs, like, can you talk?
- [17:03]
A
Creating a guide, how to pick a product, how to use the product. Dosing. Dosing was the biggest question and basically non stop education. So literally have an education director was my third big hire. And teaching him and then literally having him pump out content at the same time, training stores, customers, veterinarians, you name it, as many people as we could get the education to. Because when you're in something like this and it's brand new, you're going to have people who come in who are bad players, who make a CBD isolate or something like that, which is actually dangerous or proven dangerous. And then that research and comes out, then everybody goes, no. Causes liver damage. And you're like, no, no, no, no. A full spectrum hemp extract, not cbd.
- [17:51]
B
Got it, got it, got it.
- [17:52]
A
So.
- [17:55]
B
I know you're doing video education.
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A
Video. Yeah. Anyone who will have us, you know, in the retail side, you know, there's different. There's. I don't know what they are, organizations or apps that we go in and educate them. Lots of free education.
- [18:10]
B
Okay, great.
- [18:10]
A
Literally traveling around. I've been on tour since I've started two years ago. I did get invited. The biggest holistic veterinarian, has a huge following, invited me to go on tour with her because of course she uses all the products herself and they work. And it's great when you get someone like that and they try your product and it works because then they're like, oh, yeah, come here, I want to talk to you.
- [18:33]
B
Well, you only need a few of those big.
- [18:35]
A
Well, there are only a few and everyone else is threatened by you. But yeah, it is. Yeah, it was weird. It got very lonely and weird. And I thought the holistic community would like, you know, let me in. Which they did.
- [18:47]
B
Yeah.
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A
And now they need me to. They want me to shut the hell up.
- [18:50]
B
When you start selling hundreds of thousands of bottles, it changes, right?
- [18:55]
A
I don't have to see your ad again. Oh, my God. I saw you again over here and.
- [18:58]
B
I'm like, yeah, so, so what? What else, marketing wise? Like, one thing I want to talk about that I know is you're doing a great job of is increasing average order value. You know, you free 4x what the customer pays. What are some ways you're doing that. Obviously you have a lot of products. Are there any tactics and stuff you're doing?
- [19:16]
A
I also have a podcast.
- [19:17]
B
Yeah.
- [19:18]
A
So I'm constantly bringing on the veterinarian who's going to tell me what they didn't learn in. In school and then tell me how they use, you know, medicine, my medicine. A lot of the times. Gosh, constantly. Now it' customers and having them basically do it. We had a campaign called A Hundred Thousand Pet Parents can't be Wrong. And it's just one pet parent after another, you know, going, you know, this is my dog. Showing the dog, telling the story. And then, because it really is like one dropper full sometimes literally can take change a dog's life. So.
- [19:50]
B
And that led to. You have a massive subscription. Right. Thousands of customers on repeat billing.
- [19:55]
A
Yeah.
- [19:55]
B
So how did you build that side of the subscription?
- [19:58]
A
Being able to offer them, hey, you want free shipping?
- [20:00]
B
That's just for checkout.
- [20:01]
A
Yeah.
- [20:02]
B
So it's like a club or like they get special.
- [20:06]
A
It's more. They get specials and free shipping, that type of thing. We do have Facebook groups. Big Facebook groups. That's more kind of like a club. I'm now considering doing maybe something, you know, with me with a following. Because now we've got so many holistic practitioners and nutritionists who are learning what the veterinarians aren't learning. You know, I thought the first time a pet parent walked into the vet office and they did the checkup for the dog that had the cancer, had the, you know, hemangiosarcoma, had a tumor on their spleen and it went down 10 centimeters, that they'd go, whoa, what you do? And they'd go, oh, I'm taking this and this. And then I thought my phone would be ringing.
- [20:48]
B
Yeah. Yeah. But I think also doctors and vets somewhat in that offense a little is they're also scared of losing their right, you know, stuff or either the.
- [20:59]
A
Oh, yeah, like, that's California. We're scared to even talk about it. And I'm like, are you kidding? There's also freedom of speech if you think it's a good, good thing.
- [21:09]
B
Yeah. But I mean, a lot of, like you walk into a pet store, pet, and the, you know, even what they sell is all the crappy pet food and crappy products. Right. So, yeah, I think we're in a bottle. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [21:22]
A
You know, and I wasn't. I didn't do anything. I was supposed to. I didn't put it in a box. I'm like, that's a waste. I'm not doing that. Okay, well, you can't be on Amazon. Okay, well, then I'm not going to be on Amazon. Yeah, we're on Amazon. Yeah.
- [21:33]
B
Yeah. Over time, you kind of.
- [21:34]
A
Exactly.
- [21:34]
B
And I know another big step for you now is, you know, you've already become so dominant in this industry, but maybe expanding into retail and building out that side. So any other, you know, we've covered a lot already. Just as we come to a wrap today, any other big breakthroughs in marketing or business that you want to share with the audience that you've had along the way? Like, I know the community has been big. The education you've emphasized, I know you running a lot on the ad side and maybe let's touch on that. So you're running Facebook ads, whatever ad platforms and socials.
- [22:06]
A
Well, we're CBD company, so we're restricted on a lot of things. So just about anything that will have us, we will do it.
- [22:14]
B
And you're spending thousands a day on those platforms. And you've got the podcast as well.
- [22:19]
A
That's right.
- [22:20]
B
And socials, organic SEO.
- [22:22]
A
I mean, we SEO pumping out blogs. We have our team, you know, team of writers that are pumping out dogs. We have vet techs that work for us.
- [22:31]
B
What about influencers? Doing much with influencers?
- [22:34]
A
A few, but never have. We haven't done too much on influencers. I came from the. Your dog. I want you something to be wrong with your dog so that I can send you something that you tried and it works and then you become an influencer. So it was a little difficult, especially in the pet.
- [22:49]
B
Yeah. It's not just like a box of chocolates where anyone can eat it. Right. There's got to be a reason behind.
- [22:54]
A
Your dog already has to be experiencing joint pain or have cancer. And. And that's a big ask too, for them to try something new and whatever. So it's more of that. They reach out to us and hopefully we can establish the educate.
- [23:07]
B
You know, that's why the education is so key, because most people don't even realize it's an option. Right. The dog has cancer. The vet goes, take these pills, maybe.
- [23:16]
A
The tumor, you know, and that's not okay with me. That's not okay. I want more than anything to know that you do have options. And then what's great, here's my website where I have one case after another after another, and I tell you exactly what I did and I show you all the pictures, even if they're gross and looking. So you Know who else does that? You know who else has an expert? You know, who's.
- [23:37]
B
Yeah, you've really gone above, and that's why the brand's grown so big. And I think that's a great lesson. If you're listening, like, you've gone beyond the direct response, just ads, landing page, shopify, store. Like, you've really built a real brand, a real community. You're doing all these challenges, the educations, the tools, the podcasts, the spending the time at the grassroots, and that's why you have a brand for many years. So, last couple of questions for you as an entrepreneur, I always ask everyone, like, we talked about the wins, the big, you know, amazing things. What's one of the biggest losses or challenges in business that you came through and come out the other side?
- [24:14]
A
Hush.
- [24:14]
B
Losses or difficult moments. Right.
- [24:17]
A
Whether it was, well, I remember, you know, being a woman ain't easy. Yeah, I remember. Right. You know, learning to write a business plan. Knew exactly what I wanted to do. Went to the SBA. 25.
- [24:31]
B
Yeah.
- [24:32]
A
Go to the SBA to get a loan. I'm sitting with the counselor. He goes, I just want to let you know this is one of the best business plans we've ever seen. Send. I sent it. I made copies. I sent it to everybody to show them what a good example is. It's incredible. But can I ask you something? What's a pretty little lady like yourself want to do this? Why don't you get married and start a family?
- [24:51]
B
Wow.
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A
Like, yeah. Crazy so. But still, like, I'm still so damn naive. Like, I. It still blows my mind how naive I am, but I feel like a lot of people are, and a lot of people. That's why I love what you're doing, because a lot of people think you're going to do incredible things. You know, I've put cancer into remission, stop seizures, got dogs to walk again. Where is everybody going to come celebrate and invite me? No, you have to be.
- [25:23]
B
Yeah. That's the thing I always remind. I'm like, you have the best product in the world if no one sees it and never help people.
- [25:30]
A
Right. And nobody's going to be able to talk about it or prove it or whatever.
- [25:34]
B
Yeah. I think we all get into business thinking great product is just going to sell.
- [25:38]
A
But it's like that damn movie, build it and they will come. No, they don't. Yeah. They don't constantly tell them in their face.
- [25:44]
B
Yeah. And once you build the product, you have to literally just become a marketer, because that's your main job as CEO is to now just get it to the world, right? Like that's how. And I failed for many years until I realized that. And then when I realized that, I got 100,000 people on my fitness programs and changed thousand tens of thousands of lives.
- [26:04]
A
Right?
- [26:04]
B
It's a great, great reminder to finish. So, so let's leave that last quick question. If someone wants to find you, maybe try the product. Maybe they have a friend relative with a pet that could use it. Where can they buy it?
- [26:17]
A
You bet. Angelaartolino.com is my website if you want to be education, see my protocol and things like that. But my product is cbddog health.com and myco dog.com are my mushroom and adaptogens and my podcast is your natural dog.
- [26:33]
B
Love it. Love it. There you go guys. That's a wrap. Fascinating episode. Hopefully some great takeaways and learning how to push through in this whole new industry with everything almost against you. But. But you've done it and you keep doing it. So congrats. And guys, keep crushing it. Take care of your pets. I'll see you soon.