Career Advice w/ Mari & Greg: Daily Habits for Business Success

Summary

Pursuit of Wellness: Episode Summary Title: Career Advice w/ Mari & Greg: Daily Habits for Business Success
Release Date: October 31, 2024
Hosts: Mari Llewellyn and Greg
Guest: Greg (Mari’s business partner and co-founder)

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1. Introduction

In this engaging episode of Pursuit of Wellness, host Mari Llewellyn sits down with her co-founder and business partner, Greg, to delve into career advice and the daily habits that contribute to business success. This conversation offers listeners invaluable insights from two entrepreneurs who have successfully navigated the journey from scrappy startups to a thriving business with over 100 team members.

2. Co-Founders’ Journey

Mari and Greg recount their entrepreneurial journey, highlighting their collaboration since college. They co-founded Mari Fitness before transitioning to Bloom Nutrition, showcasing their ability to evolve and scale their business. Initially managing everything themselves from Mari’s house, they now operate with a large, specialized team.

Mari (00:40): "We've been in business together since we left college and have kind of experienced it from the very scrappy early days where we did everything ourselves."

3. Managing Business with a Significant Other

The dynamic of running a business together as a couple presents both blessings and challenges. Initially inseparable during the early stages, they have learned to create a healthy separation between work and personal life as the business expanded.

Greg (04:59): "So for context, for the first four years of working together, we were attached by the hip."

They emphasize the importance of complementary skills and clear ownership of responsibilities to avoid conflicts, fostering a balanced and effective partnership.

4. Business Success Strategies

a. Content Creation

Mari and Greg stress the paramount importance of creating high-quality content to build a community and drive engagement. They liken their company to a media entity, continuously producing content that entertains and informs their audience.

Greg (20:37): "You need to try to be creating as much quality content as possible."

b. Customer Engagement and Retention

Personalized customer interactions have been a cornerstone of their success. By sending free products and handwritten letters, they cultivate loyalty and foster a strong, appreciative customer base.

Mari (21:08): "I think a huge reason why we ever got successful with Bloom was because we were so willing to send free product."

c. Product Focus and Differentiation

Mari highlights her focus on simplicity and quality, avoiding the pitfalls of overextending the product line. This strategic focus allows them to maintain clarity in their branding and product offerings.

Greg (28:34): "And I would just put all of my hours of the day into that, into marketing that one good product."

5. Handling Challenges

a. Dealing with Hate and Negative Feedback

Greg discusses the inevitability of negative feedback and emphasizes the importance of channeling energy into positive endeavors rather than succumbing to negativity.

Greg (35:47): "Use that energy by spreading positivity towards the things that you want to support."

Mari concurs, reinforcing the idea that constructive engagement far outweighs dwelling on criticism.

Mari (36:51): "An athlete won't judge you for working out. A millionaire won't judge you for starting a business."

6. Entrepreneurship Insights

a. Importance of Being Passionate and Focused

Both Mari and Greg advocate for passion-driven entrepreneurship. Greg attributes his success to leveraging his ADHD as a strength, fostering creativity and adaptability in business operations.

Greg (12:00): "Once was like, there always had to be the person at the tribe that had extreme anxiety."

b. Bootstrapping and Starting with Minimal Funds

They share their bootstrapping story, starting with selling PDF workout guides to fund Bloom Nutrition. This grassroots approach underscores the viability of starting small and reinvesting profits to grow organically.

Greg (34:16): "We bootstrapped the whole business."

7. Forecasting Trends

Forecasting industry trends is critical for staying ahead. They recommend using tools like Google Trends to gauge the popularity and trajectory of specific products or categories.

Greg (45:23): "You could go to Google Trends and type in any word, any person, any category and just see how the search volume has changed."

8. Key Partnerships and Achievements

a. Keurig Dr Pepper Distribution Partnership

A significant milestone discussed is their partnership with Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), enabling Bloom Energy to leverage KDP’s extensive distribution network. This collaboration is poised to enhance their market presence significantly.

Greg (37:32): "We have signed an agreement with their distribution network. It’s one of the biggest achievements in our career."

9. Advice for Entrepreneurs

Mari and Greg offer practical advice for budding entrepreneurs:

• Focus on One Great Product: Avoid diluting efforts across multiple products. Instead, perfect one product before expanding.

  Greg (44:13): "I would focus on one good product."

• Leverage Founder’s Story: A compelling founder’s narrative can differentiate a brand in a saturated market.

  Mari (28:57): "Bloom into your best self is like one of our major catchphrases."

• Embrace Creativity in Branding: Drawing inspiration from diverse sectors like cosmetic packaging can set a brand apart visually.

  Greg (28:34): "We went to like Sephora and Ulta and we said, what do cosmetic products look like?"

10. Conclusion

The episode wraps up with reflections on their entrepreneurial journey, emphasizing the blend of passion, strategic focus, and resilient partnership that has driven their success. Mari encourages listeners to apply these insights to their own ventures, fostering a mindset geared towards growth and sustainability.

Greg (50:45): "This was such a treat. Thank you for having me."

Mari invites listeners to continue supporting the show through reviews and subscriptions, ensuring ongoing inspiration and guidance on the path to wellness and business success.

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Key Takeaways:

• Content Is King: Consistently producing high-quality, engaging content builds a loyal community and drives business growth.
• Customer Loyalty Through Personal Touch: Personalized interactions and thoughtful gestures can significantly enhance customer retention.
• Focus and Simplicity: Maintaining a clear focus on one or few high-quality products can prevent brand dilution and foster stronger market presence.
• Leverage Strengths and Partnerships: Utilizing personal strengths and forming strategic partnerships can accelerate business scalability.
• Passion Over Perfection: Passionate dedication and authenticity often outweigh formal education or traditional business training in entrepreneurial success.

For more insights and weekly inspiration, tune in to the next episode of Pursuit of Wellness.

Transcript

[A]

This is the Pursuit of Wellness podcast and I'm your host, Mari her love, Greg. Welcome back to the show.

[B]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

Greg. I think this is your fourth time.

[B]

I think fourth across. Across almost two years.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I'm seldom on here.

[A]

Well, it's your schedule, not mine. That's I would argue. Actually Pursuit of Wellness is getting pretty booked out at this point. We're booked through January.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

I know.

[B]

I was just explaining this when we head to LA in like three weeks and someone was like, oh, can you like fly back for a day? And I was like, when we go to la, it's so back to back because of your show that like each day has been booked.

[A]

I know.

[B]

For two months.

[A]

I have six interviews in a four day span.

[B]

I think you'll have an IV drip of Bloom Energy then, I guess.

[A]

Yeah, I have. It's just a lot of prep, but all the really big. I mean, I've had some amazing guests in Austin and people have been flying in for the show, which is insane. But there's really big talent in la, so it's a good opportunity for me to sit down with a lot of people. I have a lot of like celebs coming, a lot of big names.

[B]

Like a list.

[A]

In my world.

[B]

Yes, indeed.

[A]

But like in our world of A.

[B]

List is very different than like People magazine. A list.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like we're not at People magazine yet, but like Huberman would be a list. In my world. He is a list.

[B]

Agreed. Yeah, he's real world. A list.

[A]

Wonder if he ever goes to like red carpets. Probably not.

[B]

That would be crazy. If he does, he. If you're listening to this, please show your tattoos. They're freaking sweet. Everyone wants to see them more.

[A]

They're freaking sweet.

[B]

Imagine all the things I want to tell Herman. That's what I decided to tell him.

[A]

Yeah, someone called him Hubberman the other day that I was with.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

I know. So you're back today because we're going to talk business advice and you've been on before to talk about business advice. And I think it was probably one of our most well received conversations because I think people really want to hear from us how we got started. I think we have a pretty relatable story. I mean, maybe there's people listening who don't know, but Greg and I co founded Bloom Nutrition together. Before that we had Mari Fitness, which we did together. We've been in business together since we left college and have kind of experienced it from the very Very scrappy early days where we did everything ourselves. To now where we have 100 plus person team and we work with a much larger company and. Etc. Etc. So I feel like we should dive in and give some advice. Do you have any. Anything to add before we hop in?

[B]

I mean, it's not since college. Since. In the dorm room.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We've had business. I don't know if there was even a formal llc. They were probably. The money was going to our student bank account.

[A]

Well, I remember the first meeting we had with an LLC lawyer in Maranek.

[B]

Was it at a diner?

[A]

I.

[B]

Or was that. It was at their house?

[A]

It was at her house. Her name was Shelly.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. Isn't that funny?

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

Do you have any Bloom news before we hop into our Q A?

[B]

First, I have a question. What do you call our drink?

[A]

Bloom Energy.

[B]

Bloom Energy. You don't say Bloom sparkling energy, right?

[A]

No, no. But like, I like having the word sparkling on there.

[B]

I know. So, but like bloom sparkling energy doesn't roll off.

[A]

I don't think it needs to.

[B]

All right, deal with that said. Yeah, it's not like people think it's flat.

[A]

Right. But from a marketing perspective, like, I think having the word sparkling on there is important.

[B]

So my announcement would only be. We're having some out of stock issues at Target because it's. Because it's selling so well. People like to say, good problem to have. It's very frustrating. As a result, I'm slowly adding flavors to Amazon, so you can find 12 packs of single flavors. And by the time this comes out, there might actually be a variety pack on there. So check out Amazon. It's like you can literally have a variety pack hopefully at your house in like, you know, two days. So.

[A]

Yeah, that's.

[B]

That's a. That's a huge announcement. We've always been exclusive to Target up until this point.

[A]

And when will we be in other retailers?

[B]

For people wondering, I can't give too much detail on that since the competitors may be listening, but January 1st, I.

[A]

Wonder if the competitors do listen.

[B]

That'd be crazy.

[A]

Go away. You're not wanting it. It's not welcome for you.

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

Okay, let's hop into the questions. I haven't read over any of these, which is sometimes how I like to approach this, because then we both have like the element of surprise and we have to give our organic response. So I didn't plan anything ahead. You know what I mean?

[B]

I know what you mean. I wish I knew. I wish I could, like, think about it on the drive over, but, I mean, you.

[A]

I feel like you definitely need an extra minute to think.

[B]

I know, Greg, you have a learning disability. All right, let's roll.

[A]

I didn't mean it that way. Is it hard working with your significant other? Do you guys ever get individual time alone? I'll start. I feel like the way I think about it is it's been the biggest blessing of all time, but it has been really, really challenging, and I don't think there's a lot of people who could handle it. Do you agree?

[B]

So for context, for the first four years of working together, we were attached by the hip. Like, if Mari went to get a coffee with a friend for an hour, it was weird because, like, Mari wasn't right next to me for one hour. For years, you know, we worked out of our house. We didn't socialize much. We were building businesses, and we were constantly together, working together. And for a long period of time, for years, we were the team.

[A]

Also, each of us was doing something essential to the business. So, like, let's say I was doing customer service, and I left for a couple of hours. That was, like, kind of a problem.

[B]

True.

[A]

And, like, you were doing paid marketing or whatever, you would own inventory.

[B]

We have complimentary skills in the sense that they don't really overlap.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So, like, if we both had the same things that we wanted to contribute to Bloom, I'd imagine there'd be more, you know, headbutting. But generally speaking, we know what we own.

[A]

Right. But at the beginning, when we didn't have a team, we had to cover all the bases. So we were probably doing things that we were not expertise in and, like, trying to make it work. And if one of us needed to do something, it kind of set things back. Like, we were very much splitting the responsibilities. Like, we switched off doing customer service. Do you remember that?

[B]

Of course.

[A]

Yeah. For, like, hours. And then, like, I was running the social media, I was doing the emails. Like, I just. It was a lot. So, yeah, we were side by side for a very long time, which I think was kind of cool because it. I mean, we've really built the business together. So when we look at it now, it's like, oh, we did that. Now I feel like we're at the point where our skill sets are so different. We very rarely. Like, I never see you in the office, really, unless I intentionally walk upstairs, and I'm like, hey, how's your day?

[B]

No, now it's probably the opposite. We need to find Time we put in the calendar, like when we're having dinner together. I mean, it's not on a toxic level, but know have to intentionally spend time together on some level.

[A]

Yeah, but I think it's actually healthy, the separation we have at work.

[B]

I. Yeah, I think it, I think it's been very nice. I think it's what been like maybe in the last two years, especially the last 12 months.

[A]

Also just to give some tea on, like, I think people probably wonder if we like argue at work and like disagree. And I will say we also have very different personalities in that, okay, let's say we want to do a new product. Greg is the person to be like, let's do this crazy idea. Like, let's just try this and come up with something wild and like. And I'm the one that's like, no. Like, I feel like I'm the one that's a bit more cautious and nervous and sort of like maybe a bit more PR friendly and you're kind of like entrepreneur, like, throw it at the wall and see if it sticks vibes. So if we do ever, I, we never, ever disagree on like a. We're in a fight at work, but we're like, I will disagree with you because sometimes I'm like, oh, the team is probably too afraid to say no to you.

[B]

I think as entrepreneurs and especially in the world of social media today, there's so many things that you can say yes to. And one of the things that has been so. That has made Bloom so successful is Mari's ability to say no to the new shiny thing on the ground that you want to pick up. Right. And the reason why Bloom was focused on just greens for 24 months straight. We had 70 people in a building working on just greens is because of how good Mari was at saying no to things. And that in itself, in a world of distraction and a world of, you know, shiny things on the ground. Right. We could have made any supplement and tried to make it work, but Mari was like, that's not something I would take. Why would we make it?

[A]

Yeah. So I'm pretty intense about that. And I just really like, as a consumer, when I see brands doing too much, it's confusing.

[B]

Focus is a hell of a drug.

[A]

People don't want a million things from one brand. You know, my skincare routine is a really big part of my morning and my night. And you guys know I'm so acne prone. I have to be really careful with what I use. And that's why I love clear stem it is the first skincare line that combines three categories anti acne, anti aging clean, which means free of hormone disruptors and pore clogging fillers. I feel like so many skincare brands advertise themselves as clean but they don't actually remove pore clogging fillers or hormone disruptors. I love the founders, Danielle and Kaylee. They have both dealt with acne before as well and I just feel like when someone's had acne themselves you can really trust that they know what they're doing. I have spoken with Danielle and Kaylee so many times. They've been on the show multiple times. They are just such good friends and I super duper love what they're doing at Clear Stem. I also love the fact that they have their acne lab test which is helping thousands of people get to the root cause of their acne through comprehensive lab testing and lifestyle based recommendations. Finding the root cause of your acne is really the first step. Lab testing was such a huge part of my personal journey and finding out I had H Pylori and X, Y and Z and then the cherry on top is using clean skin care. That's going to help you with breakouts and help with anti Aging. Visit clearstemskincare.com and use code POW at checkout for 20 off your first purchase. Again, that's code POW POW for 20 off your first purchase at clear stemskincare.com I feel like creating a sanctuary in your bedroom is such an important part of a good sleep routine. And as we know, a good sleep routine is crucial when it comes to overall health and longevity and vitality. And that's why I love using Cozy Earth bedding. It was named one of Oprah's Favorite Things in 20. Their best selling bamboo sheet set is temperature regulating and incredibly soft. I like to sleep really cold, so I love the fact that the sheets are temperature regulating. They are so soft. They also have other options like their linen, which is an amazing lightweight bed sheet set for summertime. Or if you like to just be a little bit lighter, make every night a five star experience with Cozy Earth's responsibly sourced bamboo viscose bedding. Why settle for less? Discover Cozy Earth's exquisite bedding for the best. They have so many different options from cashmere blends to timeless textures. They've got it all. Cozy Earth provided an exclusive offer for my listeners today for up to 40 off site wide. When you use the Code Pursuit, that's the Code Pursuit. P U R S U I t on cozy earth.com that reminds me of a question I just saw that I really want to ask you. She said, as someone who also has ADHD at Greg, how do you avoid just hopping on new products or business ideas and getting overexcited about tons of different projects at the same time?

[B]

So for context, I have extreme ADHD to the point where, yeah, jokes aside, you know, full blown learning disability cannot, can barely read more than a couple sentences straight. If I do read, it's out loud with a finger and it's normally on a printed sheet of paper because a computer screen is too much for me to even handle with distractions. For context, I surround myself with people who are focused individuals and keep me focused just by, you know, them leading them, leading by example. At the same time, I'm a big fan of the thought that, like, certain disabilities in modern day society are the strengths of individuals as part of their team or as part of their tribe. Once was like, there always had to be the person at the tribe that had extreme anxiety. Since we're calling out people with disabilities, there always had to be. There always had to be the person who was, you know, super constantly looking for stimulus and looking around and, oh, my God, look at that squirrel in the tree. Let's go eat it. You know, I would have been that person.

[A]

You would have been the one that's like, let's keep moving.

[B]

Yeah, I would have been the person in war, like, no problem taking a nap because I'm not anxious at all. And so. So I think, I think you just need to turn those things into a strength and make sure that, as I said, there's people around you with complementary skills where you can embrace that, quote disability and turn it into a strength.

[A]

Love that.

[B]

Cool.

[A]

Yeah, I think your ADHD is like something that makes you a really good entrepreneur and easy to pivot, quick to pivot down to come up with new ideas. You're not afraid of a challenge or of risk. I feel like I was actually talking about this the other day with a friend. For me, with like, my history with BPD and like, whatever, you know, the childhood things I talk about on here, I feel like I'm very empathetic and I read facial expressions and voice tones to a T. So when I have a guest in the chair and I can tell they're uncomfortable or they need like extra enthusiast enthusiasm from me, I can like, give that back to them. Do you know what I mean?

[B]

Totally. And I was just having a conversation with a few of the moms on our team. This is a little bit of a side tangent. A few of the moms on the team, and they were talking about raising their kids during COVID and dealing with school, dealing with masks, which, you know, no opinion needed on all of that. All I could think about was how important facial expressions are to you, especially as a, you know, a developing youth, and how weird it must have been. Half of, like, my memories of a teacher scolding me was their face.

[A]

I know.

[B]

And I was like, if that teacher couldn't make a face at me, they would have had to, like, verbally call me out. Right. Or, like, whatever the other options would be than a facial expression. And, you know, how we communicate as humans have. Like, they're just so important.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, you know, I'm just. I'm looking at you right now, and I'm seeing how your face is reacting, what I'm saying, and whether you're smiling, frowning, or giving me a look, like, whatever it may be, like, that's how I'm going to kind of, like, move on with what I'm saying or how I'm acting. Like, what a weird thing that must have been for, like, a developing kid being surrounded by people whose faces are covered.

[A]

Yeah. I think it's so important. But I'm overly sensitive to facial expression.

[B]

But that's why I thought.

[A]

Because this is how. This is how Greg listens to a story.

[B]

If I'm looking, like, regardless of how.

[A]

He feels, he's like. And it throws me off. And I'm like, are you mad at me? Like, are you upset? Do you not like my story? It's, like, really annoying. Like, I need you to listen like this. Yeah, that's how I listen.

[B]

Full attention.

[A]

Like, if someone's on the show and they're telling me something about, like, I don't know, like.

[B]

Well, I think this show has made you a really good listener.

[A]

How to Avoid Cancer. I'm like, yeah. Okay. Anyway, let's see. Let's see. Can you share an idea of how you organize your weekly calendar?

[B]

You know, it starts with what do my mornings look like? And what time I need to be in the office? And then depending on what that looks like, let's say I have a big day. Like, I'm looking at Sunday. I'm planning my week, and I know Tuesday's a big day. What I'm currently doing is Tuesday will be my off day from the gym. Right. I can kind of putter that morning, take my time. Maybe I get a bit of extra sleep and I can get into the get into the office like well rested. Well, if I have a later morning or a less intense day, that's a day where I'll try to shove in a big workout. So it starts with my morning then you know, generally speaking I'm pretty much fine with a, with a back to back day. I'd rather cram in as much as I can into a window and then be able to go home at a normal hour than have breaks, be able to go on walks, you know, as long as I like get outside for like maybe a 20 minute window and go on a walk at some point or clear my head. And as long as I have a standing desk and I'm not like cooped up in a chair all day, I can pretty much go back to back, you know, call it nine to five.

[A]

Yeah, I feel like you're home by six usually.

[B]

I try to work on normal household hours lately.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. So for me I feel like it's changed a lot because when we were in la, I was in the office. I mean as long as Greg, I was in back to back all day, sort of. Yeah. Like chained to my desk type of thing. Since moving to Austin, I've been a lot more flexible. I think I just kind of reached a breaking point, honestly with the work life balance of it all. So since moving here, I occasionally work from home. I'm in the office generally three days a week probably if, especially if I have recordings. So it kind of depends on that. And then I will sometimes take afternoons to go horseback ride or go walk the trail or do different things. I have been inspired lately to sort of structure that a bit more because as of right now, I just kind of squeeze things in where they, where I see an opening. But I, you and I were talking about this, I feel like I could say, okay, I want to work every day until 2 or 3pm and then have the rest of the day to do whatever I want to do or like, okay, I work full days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and half days Thursday, Friday. You know what I mean? Like just something a bit more structured. So I'm starting to think about how I want to do that.

[B]

I also as I'm starting to have more meetings and commitments that are in different, like physical places. So like for example, right now I'm touring some office spaces in Austin and sometimes they're in downtown, sometimes they're in the suburbs, whatever it may be. I just don't want to spend so much time in the car, especially if it's like during rush hour and in Traffic, I find it miserable. I'm fine with a 15 minute drive to work, but if I'm like, if my day is inefficiently planned and I have to like go drive all over the place, especially back and forth somewhere, because I have two meetings, you know, very far apart in different areas that I hate. So if it's something where I'm traveling around, then I try to, you know, plan those accordingly as well.

[A]

Yeah, I feel like I drive a lot more than you do.

[B]

Yeah, I don't like it.

[A]

It's not my favorite either, but got to get to the barn, you know. Okay.

[B]

Mario just took her shoes off, by the way.

[A]

I did. My shoes were bothering me. I've had guests come on and take their shoes off.

[B]

You feel you have a lot of barefoot guests?

[A]

I do, yeah. When you first launched the business, what were some day to day activities that really moved the needle? It was just like doing it.

[B]

Yeah. I think trying to make quality content, I think, you know, once you have the product that's inside the bottle that people like, your job is to make content for people to watch and see and be entertained by and want to see more of it. And it creates the community and, and so, so much of your downtime or open work time, once you already have the good product inside of the container or whatever the product is, should be about making as much content as possible. Like, we have so many graphic designers on the team, content creators on the team. Obviously now we work with thousands of influencers. You are a, you have to almost treat your company as a media company. And of course, this is just from the lens of we are a social media brand. Of course there's different ways to get a business done, but all I can speak on is our experience. You need to try to be creating as much quality content as possible.

[A]

I don't know if there is a brand that isn't a social media brand anymore. Like even Aston Martin is doing social media right.

[B]

And they know they have a good car. So now it's time to make as much kick ass content as possible.

[A]

Yeah, I agree on the content. I also think something that really moved the needle at the beginning was us repeatedly reaching out to people and sending out tons of free products and connecting like with Mari Fitness at the beginning with the PDF guides, sort of like chatting with people, giving advice and tips on their journey. Remember, like really connecting with the community, commenting on their posts, like being really, really active with your customers, I think really moves the needle.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, customer retention is one of the Most important statistics that you're trying to keep in your business, like someone who comes back, keeping a customer within your brand. And if you can make sure that you're giving each one of those customers a special touch, whether that's personally checking in on them or sending them a surprise package in the mail, that is, you know, so powerful to create that loyal consumer base. Currently, how we're doing that on a slightly larger scale that I think a smaller brand could. Could copy, is anyone, almost anyone who creates a TikTok video. Actually, a large amount of the people who create a TikTok video or Instagram video just organically reviewing the product. And I haven't even announced that we're doing this. I don't think. I don't think anyone even realizes we're doing this. Our team will reach out to them, or Mari will reach out to them, or I will reach out to them and say, hey, I'm so glad you just bought this product at Target and like it. I'm talking specifically the energy drink. Can we please just send you a box of a couple other cans? And they're like, the response we get is not, yeah, sure, here's my address. The response we get is like such a thankful, grateful, you know, enthusiastic. Who gets a message like that, can I send you some free awesome shit? Right? And so if you can reach out to a consumer who already made a positive video about your brand, already likes the product, maybe has no idea what Bloom is. Maybe she just bought Bloom or he or she just bought Bloom for the first time in Target because they saw a new energy drink there. We reach out to them, hey, loved your video. Can we just send you some cans? And so that's how we've been handling that lately. And, you know, we'll try to send out 20, 30, couple hundred, whatever it is, packages every week. And sometimes they come with a handwritten letter from Mari. And that, like, special touch is. I don't know, I think it will pay off. And even if it doesn't pay off, it's awesome that we can engage with the community like that.

[A]

Well, I was going to say, I think something I notice about new business owners is they're afraid to send out too much free product or any free product because they feel like it's bad financially. But I feel like a huge reason why we ever got successful with Bloom was because we were so willing to send free product.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, look at, look at the Red Bulls of the world. There's a phrase called cans and hands, which is just like if you know you have a good product, you then need people to go try that product and you need to go somewhere and hand out your product and if they try it and they like it, they will go buy it. And so therefore all of those free gifts are just, you know, written down as a marketing expense.

[A]

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[B]

I think people love to say, oh, I cannot make a product in that category because it's saturated. I love saturated. You know, our, our top performing product ever was greens, which was not a saturated space at all. We were one of the first, you know, real selling, real moving, really great green tasting and great performing greens product on the market. And as a result it was very difficult to like spread awareness and education about why you need a greens and superfoods powder in your normal routine. Now we are selling an energy drink. Billions of people in the world drink energy drinks every day. Everyone knows what an energy drink is. It is also the most saturated space that I could even think of that we would consider going into. And it seems to be, I don't want to use the word easier but I don't need to tell anyone what this product is. You know, they'll see what's different about our formula and why it's, it's such a kick ass product. But they're people already drink caffeine in some form, whether it's tea, coffee, energy drink, a caffeine pill, whatever. And I just need to, they, they know that and they know it's great and they're going to see this product and see how it's a different formula and how it tastes great and how it's so convenient. And then the cherry on top, which I encourage every entrepreneur to take advantage of is the founder element. Right? You're trying to introduce a product in the market if you don't have a face of that brand in our case obviously was Mari, still is and always was. Who's a trustworthy, you know, person who could communicate that product and why you should trust this product, then you're just another Coca Cola. Which obviously Google is a great business, but like, you know, they wouldn't probably be a great business today because no one would know what it is. You know, I'm trying to say.

[A]

Mm, yeah, I think the founder story is a huge differentiator. I also feel like Bloom and honestly, like, I feel like it's been this way from the beginning, I think because of how creative forward I am. But we've always had a very creative approach to the brand. Like when I was designing the labels at the beginning, I remember I drew out the pattern that I wanted on the labels.

[B]

Well, not only that, we didn't go to the supplement aisles and say, what do other supplements look like? We, if anything, we went to like Sephora and Ulta and we said, what do cosmetic products like? Because those have the coolest packaging. So you can differentiate with just your packaging. And don't take inspiration from what's currently in that sector. Take it from a sector that your consumers already buying things out. So we were making a product for, at the time, the Gen Z female. And so where are Gen Z females swiping their credit card the most? Probably Ulta and Sephora.

[A]

Right. But I, I just the. The conception of Bloom, which I think is important to talk about because these people are at the beginning, most likely I drew the logo absolutely. So like, this doesn't have to be. You don't have to hire a huge agency and make it a whole to do. Like, if you are a creative person and you love branding, like, pull from your inspiration. Like the name Bloom happened because my transformation and we wanted a word that represented the transformation and transformation for other people. So Bloom into your best self is like one of our major catchphrases. And then just in terms of like design and creativity, that was something that was important for me from the beginning. I'm a designer merchandising major. I love art, I love creativity, I love, like marketing, I love colors, I love labels. So, like, we instilled that from the beginning. And every single person we've hired since, like, from the first creative director we have had, I said this is really important to our brand. Like, every campaign needs to be colorful, fun. Like, we are an approachable, friendly supplement company. That's why we created Bloom was because I wanted that. All of the supplements on the market in 2017 were very intense and intimidating. And the point was for us to be feminine, fun, colorful, approachable, and that has to remain the core value of the brand. So every time we Do a new campaign. It's like, how can we make this one even more fun? You know?

[B]

Totally.

[A]

So, yeah, that's really important to us. I like this question for you. Do you feel like you have to be good at school in order to be a successful entrepreneur?

[B]

I don't know if school taught me a single thing about what I currently do at Bloom Nutrition. I am, you know, I think that school is obviously meant to be a peanut butter spread, you know, even layout of what the average person or average youth in America is supposed to, you know, learn from. And therefore there's massive outliers all over the place because it has to be like this median line. When I went to business school, I signed up for entrepreneurship classes and every class was about raising money. We never raised money. Yeah, right. We, we, we, we bootstrapped the whole business. And I was like. And I was kind of heartbroken entering and then leaving these classes because I was like, no. Business is about making a fucking awesome product and business is about, you know, communicating this product to the world and then they're going to love it and buy it. I don't want to go raise money. I don't know, you know, that, that's scary. I don't know anything about interest rates or loans or any of these things. If I make a good product, it will scale as a business. And so I think that there's this, like, the way that business. And just for context now, you know, we do business with publicly traded, cured Dr. Peppers. We do business with Walmart and Target and the biggest. And Amazon, obviously the biggest businesses in the world. I didn't need to learn any of these. I didn't need to take any, any business classes to be able to build Bloom with you.

[A]

So I also think.

[B]

Because that kind of what the question was.

[A]

I mean, she said, do you need to be good at school? I think, oh, no.

[B]

I graduated with a 2 4. Yeah, we were building businesses in school, so I couldn't really, you know, prioritize classes or grades. I just needed to pass so that mama was happy.

[A]

Yeah, neither of us were very good at school. I was telling my friends last night that I sats. I, I think I aced English writing, and then I've completely failed math and science.

[B]

But that's so silly, right? Because, like, you don't need to be good at both.

[A]

Yeah. So you need to be great at one. Yeah. Greg and I were not good at school and we're doing pretty fine, I would say. And I know people who are great at school and like, haven't done great in the real world.

[B]

One of, like, the characteristics that we find with people who are really academically driven is the rule followers. And to disrupt a category, you quite literally need to break the rules. And if somebody is too obsessed with following rules, they are generally very poor entrepreneurs. Generally some of the best entrepreneurs come out of Harvard, obviously, or Ivy League schools. But yeah, I think that you need to be a rule breaker. And generally an academic person is a rule follower. And that concerns me in the entrepreneurship field.

[A]

Also, just to comment on the raising money topic you brought up, don't you feel like right now is such an ideal time? Like, okay, so for context, and I think you guys know this, but Greg and I, like, raised our own money by selling PDF workout guides. You know, like, but how did that.

[B]

That was a business in itself. So we started our first business with no money.

[A]

But I think right now is the easiest time to sell something on the Internet. So, like, let's say you want to have a skin tallow brand. Okay. The first step would maybe be putting together a PDF guide about skincare or a course or something you can sell on your TikTok or your Instagram. That has very little overhead. It's not even a real physical product. It's something that you can.

[B]

Your overhead is time.

[A]

Right.

[B]

They call it sweat equity.

[A]

Right. And talk about it and make content and gather a community and get the trust and get the following and have a story and talk about your skin and get vulnerable. Sell that item and then use the capital you make from that to put into the product. Like, I, I mean, anyone who knows me is probably laughing right now because my biggest thing is, like, make a PDF guide. Like, there is. Everyone has something to add. Like, I have a friend who's super into horses, has her own, you know, horses at her house. She knows everything about horse nutrition and horse medic. I'm like, make a horse guide. I would buy it for $5, make it, and then put that money into the next thing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So the barrier to entry, I feel like, is really low. And there's no need to be obsessed about raising money when you can just do it for yourself.

[B]

Yeah, we were. We would have never been able to start an energy drink company with no money. But we were able to sell PDF guides and then we were able to make powdered supplements, and then we were seven years later, we were able to make an energy drink.

[A]

Yeah. Thank God for PDFs. Okay, please talk about how you deal with hate. Love you both from Croatia.

[B]

Yeah, I Can't read it, so it doesn't matter, period. No. You know, I was talking to someone about this this morning. I think people love to give feedback about every little thing that we do because of the following that obviously Mari has. And lately I've just been like, so then why don't you do something different? Why don't you. If you have an issue with an element of a product that we're making, why don't you make the product that you think is perfect? You know what I mean? I think Mari and I have always been give. You have such limited energy. Give that. Use that energy by spreading positivity towards the things that you want to support. Don't spend that energy giving it to, using it negatively towards things that you don't like. And so I think that if you spread positivity towards the thing that you do want, which I think falls in the same categories, like leading by example, you know, that's. That's far more effective than hate. And so, yeah, I've always just seen hate as like, that person has too much time on their hands.

[A]

I mean, yeah, that's probably accurate. Can I read you the quote I posted last night?

[B]

And unlike your story, hit me.

[A]

An athlete won't judge you for working out. A millionaire won't judge you for starting a business. A musician won't judge you for trying to sing a song. It's always the people going nowhere that have something to say, period. What do you think of that quote?

[B]

Is there a person who said it?

[A]

Oh, no, just.

[B]

Just the world threw that one out there.

[A]

I already liked it, though.

[B]

Well, whoever deserves credit there, let us know. That was. That was a good one.

[A]

Did you like it?

[B]

Yeah, of course.

[A]

Okay. You had no reactions?

[B]

No, it's nice. It's nice. I mean, like a large thought can be communicated with. With. With a few words, right?

[A]

Can you explain more about the KDP partnership? Is it an acquisition or just a partnership?

[B]

Now, KDP doesn't own any percentage of Bloom Nutrition or Bloom Energy. They actually don't even currently make Bloom Energy the partnership that was announced yesterday on their earnings call, which was crazy, that the CEO of Keurig Dr. Pepper, in a, you know, short form announcement about everything big happening at Keurig Dr. Pepper took the time in his announcement publicly on LinkedIn or digitally, to say that Bloom Nutrition is now part of their distribution network. Crazy. There are pretty much three large distribution networks. Probably won't be a surprise to anyone. It's Coca Cola, pepsi and Keurig Dr. Pepper. Our bloom energy will be on curing Dr. Pepper trucks. In January 2025. We have signed an agreement with their distribution network. It's called a DSD network, Direct store delivery. And so cure doct Pepper employees, truck drivers will be entering targets and Walmarts or whatever stores we may be going into in January to literally take our cans and put them on the shelves. And it's far more efficient entirely than shipping boxes or pallets of this product to Walmart and then Walmart employees put them on the shelves. So any large scale beverage is generally part of a DSD network. And it's very competitive and difficult to get, you know, into partnership with one of these networks. And the fact that we were able to do it with only three months of data at Target is, I mean, it's essentially unheard of in this space. It's. It's one of the biggest achievements in, in, in our career or in Bloom's life.

[A]

Was your business a dream or did it accidentally happen? How to overcome fear and take risks.

[B]

So I'll answer that first. The original plan was Mari would start Mari Fitness. I would kind of help.

[A]

Let's talk about that first. Because that wasn't like an. It wasn't a dream at all. I was not interested in business or entrepreneurship at all. I always.

[B]

Neither of us were.

[A]

Well, you went to entrepreneurship school.

[B]

I tried it and I was like, this is weird. You know, we were just selling so we.

[A]

Can I start, please? So you guys know the story, but I went through a massive weight loss journey, lost 90 pounds, completely changed my life, became obsessed with health, nutrition, fitness. It became my whole life. I learned everything I could about it and it was just such a big passion of mine. And I had this before and after that I'd made to show Greg, like no intention of sharing it publicly. And he was like, oh my gosh, you should really post that. Like, you should be so proud. I was proud. I felt like I looked jacked in that after photo. I remember that day so clearly. Like, that I did that collageable before and after collageable, ended up posting it and just had a ton of organic feedback and reposts and DMS and follows and I mean, I had a very normal Instagram account. Like, I basically didn't post for like.

[B]

So at that stage you had not even thought of like, dare I say, monetizing?

[A]

No. You. I don't think that way.

[B]

No. Neither of us did. I'm just asking the question.

[A]

No. And when we were getting all these questions and thoughts and interest, we were Just getting so much organic feedback. It was this kind of, this realization of, like, oh, wow. I don't think anyone on Instagram is really posting the way I'm posting, because I was coming at it from such a candid angle. I was like, yeah, I, I lost weight. Like, I was in a really bad place in my life. This is what I did. I feel like it's kind of like the secret to happiness. Like, I feel like I'm on a better path. And I was sharing with these women how I did it, and they were like, oh, can you make this into some sort of, like, physical thing? Like, what we, what workouts did you follow? What nutrition did you follow? And that's how we made the PDF.

[B]

Well, you were also like, this may look like a physical transformation to you, but that's not, even, dare I say, half of it. There was this massive, you know, mental transformation that, yeah, happened at the same time. And that's what you were able to communicate once they clicked the physical picture.

[A]

Right. So I think that moment for me, I was like, oh, I really, really enjoy communicating and connecting with people. Like, that's such a skill set for me. And for Greg, I think it was just this, like, light bulb moment where you went full entrepreneur mode and you were like, oh, my gosh, like, let's freaking go.

[B]

I, I, you know what I get excited about is, like, I always say this, like, build it and they will come. I just want to do big things. I never looked. I never see a dollar sign. So I was like, this could be big. I don't know what that means, but this could be big. And that was all I needed to get up in the morning.

[A]

Yeah, you were amped.

[B]

I was like, this could be big. I don't know what the fuck that means. I don't know if you're going to be, you know, a new, new TV show host. I don't know what's the show where they, like, Biggest Loser host or, like, I don't know what this could.

[A]

They wanted me to do that.

[B]

I know that's crazy.

[A]

I was like, I'm good.

[B]

I don't know what this could become, but it's going to be big. And that's all that I needed.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. And it just was this moment of, like, we have nothing else to lose. I mean, as we told you guys, like, neither of us were good students, bad grades, didn't have great job process.

[B]

I couldn't even keep an internship. I was getting fired.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I would have fired you, too, honestly.

[B]

Why?

[A]

Just, like, the vibes were off for you.

[B]

You think this is what I was like as an intern?

[A]

You working for someone else just does not make any sense.

[B]

No. Someone put a control on my thermostat this morning at the office. Someone. It's about to be a problem.

[A]

Greg is the epitome of an entrepreneur. Like, will not be told what to do. No, but, like, I guess if you want to say it happened by accident, but I feel like it was kind of fate, honestly. I think we're doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing. But one thing you said was you weren't focused on the dollar sign. Remember how we used to keep the Shopify notifications on? So, guys, if you have a Shopify store, which we love Shopify, by the way, shout out. Shopify changed our lives. If you keep those notifications on, every time you make a sale, it goes ding ding, goes cha ching, cha ching, cha Ching. Want to hear something funny? The Jasper founder who was here the other day, the air purifier had his Shopify on. And when we were done with the interview, he turned. He, like, started hearing it, and I was like, don't tell me you have your Shopify notifications on.

[B]

He was like, yeah, that's awesome.

[A]

But his product is, like, I think $2,000 or something. So, like, it. You know, it wasn't as frequent as that, but it got to a point where it was like, cha ching, cha ching, cha ching, cha Ching. And we were like, oh, my gosh, we're gonna do it.

[B]

We're gonna make it awesome.

[A]

Okay, I hope that answered the question. I don't even remember what the original question was. Greg, if you had to go back and start from zero, what's the number one thing you'd focus on?

[B]

I would focus on one good product.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then one good, good, good product, and then creating content around it.

[A]

Slay. Yeah. I feel like we kind of tried a bunch of things before we got to greens.

[B]

So if I had a Tallow skincare line, I'd create one skin product instead of multiple versions. I wouldn't have a whole line of cosmetics and hand creams and foot creams and face creams. There'd be one Tallow product.

[A]

Yeah, agreed.

[B]

And I would just put all of my hours of the day into that, into marketing that one good product.

[A]

We keep bringing up skin tallow because there was a girl at the Harvard Business Talk. I did. Who came up to us afterwards, and she has a Tallow brand.

[B]

It's a really cool category. I Love the products. You know, I think that's the future is truly complete. All natural cosmetics.

[A]

I haven't put tallow on my face because I have very sensitive skin.

[B]

I use tallow soap, Tallow skincare, Tallow moisturizer.

[A]

You're not acne prone though.

[B]

No.

[A]

How do you confidently forecast trends in the industry as a leader rather than a lagger?

[B]

You know, I, I think if it was that easy then it would be, you know, obvious what products to pick. I think that if you're on social media you can kind of like we just said we see tallow trending but there is a simple tool that's kind of fun is Google Trends. So you could go to Google Trends and type in any word, any person, any category and just see how the search volume has changed in the last week, in the last five hours, in the last five years, whatever range of time you want. And you can kind of see, you know, if you were to look up in our world, for example, collagen, like how the collagen, you know, sector has kind of trended over the last five years.

[A]

I'm sure colostrum is shooting up right now. Hormone health is shooting up right now.

[B]

Probably I haven't checked.

[A]

Yeah, I know hormone health, yeah, I'm sure that's become such a. Women's health in general has become tampons. Yeah, huge discussion. I think that's a great way of doing it. I also just think like in my example if you're really passionate about the topic, like for me health and nutrition is like a huge passion of mine. If you're very interested in it and you're selling within that category, like I feel like I sit here and I hear about things months, maybe years earlier than the general population. So I kind of have it in my head, you know what I mean?

[B]

No, I think first and foremost it doesn't matter what's trending, it matters what you're passionate about.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

If you're going to spend most of your day working on this, you need to be passionate about it. But I'll say that the greens product had no signs of trending upward when we started it. So this isn't a rule, it's, you.

[A]

Know, it's, you can make it trend upward.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. That's the power of social media today. Right?

[A]

This is cool. Just joined the family business of 21 plus years and trying to make ripples. Any advice for a corp girl?

[B]

I mean I think you're obviously on social media asking this question right now. I'm just Imagining like a family business reality TV content. I know that sounds hysterical. Especially if there's like, you know, out of touch, older generations in the picture that could have like funny.

[A]

Can I tell you?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I've been seeing on TikTok young people in their family business trying to help the family business like get social media presence and they're having their like 70 year old dads say trendy things. So like there's this one meat company in Wyoming and they have the dad being like this really slaps and then like the next scene he's like saying something else, you know what I'm saying?

[B]

I saw something similar. I saw, you know, the daughter handed the dad the phone to film the local gym that he owns.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he's like, you know, 60, but he's obsessed with this gym. And the video is pov, the daughter filming the dad filming all over the gym and he's so excited. Filming how great this gym is and everyone working out. And then she plays the video that he filmed and it was on selfie mode the whole time. And so it's just a zoom in of his face. Really excited. Filming all over the gym and it's like, you know, obviously making fun of the fact that they don't know how to work iPhones. These old people.

[A]

Yeah, they're kind of like making fun of them but it helps the content go viral at this point.

[B]

This video is so viral.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

This local small town gym.

[A]

No, it's the best. I really love seeing that. Tell Greg we need Bloom energy drinks cold at Target somewhere. I need one ASAP.

[B]

So that's a huge part of this Cure Dr. Pepper. A partnership is that Cure Dr. Pepper has refrigerators. Some of those are theirs in Target and so we will be going into their refrigerators. That will probably be at like the end of Q1.

[A]

Before you had testimonials, how did you sell your product? I mean you were the testimony, I was the testimonial. Like I had the story, I was using the products, they were helping me. I was talking about it like you as the founder are your best testimonial always.

[B]

Yeah. If you didn't have a test subject like Mari, then I guess you could just reach out to some micro influencers and be like, would you mind trying this out for six months?

[A]

Yeah. And give us feedback. Do you think it's a benefit to have both male and female energy in the business?

[B]

I've never thought about it. I don't have like a lot of like thoughts on gender. What do you Think I don't. I never.

[A]

I think that you bring a level of, like, masculinity and testosterone to the way you, like, hype up the team and sort of like the aggressive negotiating and the. Just the vibe you bring to meetings is very different to mine. I feel like I'm like, I connect with the buyers. I'm smiley. I remember their names. I remember their daughter's name. Like, we just have a different energy that we bring. Like, I feel like they want to chat with me on a friend level and they're, like, scared of you a little bit, which is kind of a good thing, maybe.

[B]

No, I mean, some of this. Most crazy savages that we work with are women.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, some of the ones that raise their voice at me the soonest are. I've been yelled at mostly by women in this business.

[A]

Great.

[B]

Won't name any names, but.

[A]

No, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying. Yeah, for us, that's. I feel like the different energy we bring. And I think it.

[B]

I think you're just a traditionally feminine person, maybe, but. Yeah, no, I think. I think. Sure.

[A]

Anything else you want to add?

[B]

No. This was such a treat. Thank you for having me. This is so nice that you just have the studio right here in the headquarters and we can just hop in and out.

[A]

No, it's so nice. Thank you so much for coming on, guys. Let us know what you thought of the episode. Let us know if you want to bring Greg back. Would love to hear your reviews and feedback. Don't forget to follow and subscribe if you're listening on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, whatever it may be. Leave some stars if you enjoyed it. Greg, thank you so much for coming on.

[B]

This is great. Thank you.

[A]

Thanks for joining us on the Pursuit of Wellness podcast to support this show. Please rate and review and share with your loved ones. If you want to be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast or video player. You can sign up for my newsletter to receive my [e-mail] it will be linked in the show notes. This is a Wellness Loud production produced by Drake Peterson, Fiona Attucks and Kelly Kyle. This show is edited by Mike Fry and our video is recorded by Luis Vargas. You can also watch the full video of each episode on our YouTube channel at Mari Fitness. Love you POW girls and power boys. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and does not constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor or health team.