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She Had 18 Million Followers. A Cause She Cared About Turned That Into a Business
00:45:57
A content creator with 18 million followers turned her battle with anxiety into Hugz, a weighted stuffed animal brand that sold out its initial run within 24 hours of launch—with zero paid ads. Founder Lexi Hensler shares how crippling panic attacks in high school led her to discover weighted blankets, and why she set out to create something more portable, accessible, and affordable—donating 10% of every purchase to mental health charities along the way.
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- [00:00]
A
Every mistake we learn from is what we implemented into the success of hugs. So I am so grateful that we were able to kind of make those mistakes early, learn from them.
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B
Lexi Hensler turned her vulnerability into a superpower. After opening up about her own mental health struggles, she launched give hugs in 2022 with a line of weighted stuffed animals to help relieve stress and anxiety. Hugs immediately made waves and has only grown in popularity since. True tripling sales year over year. As a beloved creator with more than 18 million followers, Lexi is helping her community open up and find resources for managing their mental health and wellness.
- [00:36]
A
The more I shared, the more I realized how much I was feeling less alone from it.
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B
She and the team have worked with numerous charities and are working to create a lasting legacy with the Give Hugs family.
- [00:45]
A
What's so cool about hugs is the goal was always for hugs to be bigger than all of us, to be bigger than me.
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B
I'm your host, Serena Smith, and this is Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and scaling a business.
- [00:55]
A
Lexi, thanks for being here today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.
- [00:59]
B
I'm so excited, too. Something that I found so interesting about you is that you managed to build this really massive audience and by being emotionally open in a corner of the Internet that, frankly, doesn't always reward that. What first spurred your decision to be open about your own mental health?
- [01:20]
A
I think growing up for me, no one talked about mental health, and it was so important because looking back and feeling so alone and having so much stigma around something, and honestly, even times feeling like an alien, to me, I was more scared of other people feeling like that than I was of being vulnerable online. And I know it can be so challenging to be vulnerable anywhere, let alone somewhere in such a public setting, but I just. I was so passionate about it. And I think the more I shared, the more I realized how much I was feeling less alone from it. And I knew that must have been impacting others. But, yeah, it really is. What drove me to want to build hugs and build something that actually helps people.
- [02:04]
B
Did you fully understand at the time when you first started opening up the responsibility that would come with that, or was that sort of revealed to you as the audience was coming in?
- [02:18]
A
No, of course not. I had. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I mean, I first started making content when I was 18. I was busing tables. Tables. I was chasing my dreams. I was going to college, trying to juggle everything, trying to figure out who I was. I still am 10 years later. But I just. It's. You know, I think anyone listening to this podcast would understand that feeling of, like, that burning, fiery drive in them that they know they have something to do, they have a mission to accomplish, and they don't care how scary it is, how much it might feel like jumping off a cliff every single day of their life. They. It drives them, and it's what gets them out of bed every day. And for me, it was mental health, and it was helping other little Lexis around the world.
- [03:04]
B
And what did you start to notice in your audience? What did you find that they were coming back to you and commenting on what they were struggling with?
- [03:12]
A
I mean, I think it ranges. We all have so many different struggles and paths and. But I did. I started seeing the comments or the DMs, and I saw it in a way that I wasn't seeing it with anyone else. Especially, you know, five, 10 years ago. People really still weren't talking. I mean, people still aren't, but especially back then. But I felt that I had such a deeper connection with people than others I knew that were making content in the space that would never talk about behind the scenes, what was really going on with them. I think it was very healing for me to be able to know that I was helping someone else. Hearing one person's story, meeting people in person, and getting to, like, literally, like. There was one girl I met when I was traveling. We were, like, crying on a beach together. I, like, have a photo with her in my phone that's, like, favorited, and she was telling me her story. And the fact that my videos actually gave her any ounce of relief was incredible to me. And then to take that opportunity and to turn it into something where I can now give someone something tangible to support them as well through everyday life. Yeah, it's been the most incredible thing I could have ever done.
- [04:25]
B
You know, I think something that comes up for both creators who are trying to build an audience and also founders who are building in public, and so they're creators themselves. It's like, what is the line between sharing and oversharing? You know, and it's, I think, an art as much as it is a science. How have you learned to navigate that? And were there times where you found, ooh, I actually erred on the side of sharing a little bit too much, and I actually have to pull this back, or is there no such thing?
- [04:53]
A
Oh, no, absolutely. I am, by definition, an oversharer. I am a very transparent person to a fault. It's something that is just really, part of my moral compass is just being honest and open, but it has definitely gotten me into trouble in the past, which is funny because you wouldn't necessarily think that being honest could be a bad thing. But, you know, people can take things out of context. Everyone's going to run with their own thought process. And so I think more than anything, I didn't care so much about getting myself into hot water as I did about learning to start to protect my peace. Because I've always been someone that's cared so deeply for others, and I've had to learn in my adulthood how to care for myself right back with that same compassion. And so kind of just finding the balance. It's like when I got engaged, was like, immediately about to just like, post the engagement video online, and then my fiance was like, hey, if you want to do that, that's awesome. I will support whatever you want. But, like, maybe take a second and think, like, is that something I want to share with the whole wide world or is that something that might feel good just to have for me? So I'm really glad he stopped me and literally why I'm marrying him, as we have incredible moments like that where we check in on each other. And I decided not to post the video. I decided that was something really personal that I wanted just for us and our family. And instead I told the I showed a couple photos. But yeah, you can find that balance and you're constantly learning and navigating it, but just finding what doesn't feel like completely giving yourself away and still honoring some of those private moments for yourself.
- [06:27]
B
Yeah, it sounds like it's not even necessarily always a binary of do I share it versus Don't I share it? But to what extent do I share it? What pieces do I share and what pieces do I retain for me?
- [06:38]
A
Yeah, I think so.
- [06:40]
B
Gif Hugs is also fascinating in that it really does not feel like the typical creator launching a product play. What was it that inspired it and what was important to you to do differently?
- [06:55]
A
Yeah, I think Give Hugs is never going to feel like a typical creator brand because it's not in every single way, shape and form. From the fact that we don't pick things and designs out of a catalog. We design everything ourselves. We'll go over as many iterations as it takes to get something right, every step of creating it originally and the intention behind everything we've done. You know, when I first had this idea, I reached out to someone who was my very good friend, who I trusted with my life, and my finances because he literally has been my finance guy for years. But I reached out to him and he had done some business ventures before. He's very entrepreneurial. I was like, hey, what do you think of this idea? Kind of thinking he'd be like, oh that's cute. But he really liked it and he was really excited about it and passionate about it too. So we brought in another founder, there's three of us. And then we eventually brought in a partner who was also a good friend. And the funny thing is like we're family, like we're all friends with each other, we do annual Disney trips together. But finding people that were just as passionate about this mission as I was was so important. So even just that foundation of like who's running the company, you know, we didn't bring in outside funding, we self funded. We didn't want anyone to be able to ever compromise our integrity. And what we wanted to do on this mission. I think there are just like, and I'm sure we'll dive into even more examples today. But just every single thing about what we do comes from a place of love, intention and mission driven.
- [08:34]
B
I think it's so interesting that like from jump you knew I don't want my integrity to be compromised in any way. I know that I want to bring other people in who are as bought into the mission as I am and in a real authentic way. Do you feel like to some degree your experience as a creator and your success there there helped give you some of those indicators in terms of like the things to watch out for? Were there hard one lessons from being a creator that allowed you to start give hugs a little bit differently?
- [09:07]
A
I think absolutely. I mean I definitely went through a lot being such a young kid coming out to Los Angeles, trying to make a name for myself, working with people whether it was other creators or managers, just anyone in the industry and really experiencing that everyone has different priorities, everyone has different hearts and paths. And when you find those like minded people that just are so I'm trying to think of another adjective for like integrity. But you know, they just like they're, they're good people. You really want to hold on tight to them. They walk the walk. They walk the walk. They talk. That's what they walk. And they walk what they talk. And I don't think I ever fully knew what I was doing and I still don't always. But that you know, drive inside of me to make something better and how fortunate I was to know some people that I could trust with something so Important to me. I think, like, part of it was just luck.
- [10:14]
B
So how did the idea come to you?
- [10:16]
A
Yeah, I. I've dealt with panic attacks pretty, pretty seriously a lot of my adolescence, as well as just other mental health struggles. And I found that weighted blankets were such an incredible tool for me to use, but I felt there was a lot of problems with them. I was like, I don't even like carrying this from room to room, so I can't really take it anywhere else. It's a little too heavy. I'm hot, I'm uncomfortable. I'm like, I like the idea, but I think it could be done better. And at the time, there weren't really any weighted stuffed animals on the market. And you know, you're doing something right when they just keep popping up left and right from drop shippers now. So we're definitely, you know, we have something. But back. Back when we first founded, there wasn't really anything like it on the market yet. And I was wondering why it worked. I was like, is this a placebo? What's happening? So I dove into the science behind it and the fact that it is actually deep pressure stimulation, which is going to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which is your rest and digest state. And so to help have something that can bring you into that state that can actually naturally produce serotonin, dopamine, melatonin, all of those incredible things that we also are also deficient in nowadays. I was just really excited to be able to create something more portable and more cute than a weighted blanket and then even something that you can have like an emotional attachment to. You know, something with like a cute personality and a name and a character. And yeah, when we dove into the design and development process, I think it got even more exciting from there, finding out how much we could do with them.
- [11:55]
B
I am a huge proponent of weighted blankets as well. I am not a great sleeper and had tried everything under the sun. And my husband got me a weighted blanket one year for Christmas. And he said that he, like, watched me regardless, progress into like a baby. Basically. The moment I put it on me, like, it just like, the weight was so remarkable and it. And it transformed my ability to sleep. The science behind it is so real. But of course, then you become attached to it, right? And you're traveling or something. I remember my mom being like, are you going to bring your weighted blanket? I was like, it's 28 pounds. Like, no, there's. There's no portability factor. And hotels haven't exactly rolled out the ability to like have a weighted blanket brought to your room yet. Although one hotel, if you're listening, addition, you should be doing that for sure. But I mean, there's also something to be said for the size of a blanket that's enveloping your entire body versus a smaller stuffed animal. How did you figure out how to get the physical and psychological benefits of something that was so much tinier?
- [13:00]
A
Yeah, I think we played around a lot with that Goldilocks weight. What is it? What's that weight that could help as many people as possible. And we did find that four pounds was really kind of that sweet spot for people. And then even just through that development using, we found a non toxic glass bead was just the highest quality and best for user experience. A lot of other companies were using flaxseed or rice. They would start smelling really, really bad, especially every time you microwave them. And then there is actually a lot of cases of mold and maggots.
- [13:35]
B
Oh my God.
- [13:36]
A
Growing. I wish I was kidding, but you know that that is not a therapeutic experience. So we're like, no, we're gonna do this better. We're gonna do this right. We want these to last for people. We want this to be the stuffed animal that you pull out in 50 years, you know, for like your grandkids. That looks all like, you know, looks all loved on. Yeah, I think it just comes back to like intentionality with everything we do is we test it out. The different weights. We slept with them, we played with them, we roughed around with them. I literally have a video on our page of running over some of them with a car and just trying to like rip them to shreds and literally just durability test them. So yeah, we, we dove in deep with the whole development process and you
- [14:19]
B
said you didn't bring in a design team, you didn't bring in some like outside developmental team. You did this all in house with your co founders, which is pretty remarkable. You weren't outsourcing any of it. How did you come to the conclusion about this Goldilocks weight that you were speaking to? Were you also like gleaning insights from your community to get there?
- [14:44]
A
Yeah, I think at the time we hadn't even told anyone, you know, our plans that Hugs was the name anything back then. We just had a merch line that the three of us did together called Lexi Llama and it was also mental health themed. So like be kind hoodies. Your amazing llama hats. Learned a lot through that business that helped us with Hugs but that was when we first tested out a weighted Llama and we did an in person event with people where we could really get that in person feedback. Like, what do you think of the weight? What do you think of the design? Is this something you're even interested in? Are we the only ones interested in this? I think that in person feedback also is just one of the most important things you could ever have as a founder. I think also on this point of, like, not bringing in a design team and not bringing this outside funding, I think that's so important for anyone listening that I think a lot of times we have this idea and we're like, how do we make this happen? And you think you need all of these things, all these resources, all these professional people, and you really don't like if you have a good idea. It's just about execution. It's just about getting started. You would be surprised. You know, even if you're, like, interested in content creation, like, you don't need to buy some fancy camera. Like, just your. Your phone camera will do just fine. But it's more about just getting started. I love the quote that, like, entrepreneurship is jumping off a cliff and building a parachute on the way down. But you just have to take those first steps.
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B
You mentioned that you had a business before Give hugs that you had done Lexi Lama Prior. What did that experience teach you about what not to do with give hugs?
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A
Oh, so many things. What do we have time for? Let's see.
- [16:34]
B
Give it to us.
- [16:35]
A
And I am so, so grateful that we did Lexi Llama first. We knew nothing. Diving in. And we were all so honest with each other about the fact that we knew nothing. We were just figuring out as we went. Honestly, the most memorable experience with this is we were like, we're gonna do a Christmas sweater and we're gonna promise Christmas deliveries, and we're gonna release all these like, a week before Christmas. So those were like, three mistakes in a row. We literally were. And you have to pack all your orders. I think it's so important to understand every part of your business before you ever think of, like, hiring out for those jobs. And so we're packing thousands of these orders. And we opened up worldwide as a small business. We had. We had no clue how much that was going to cost us. So we're doing this international shipping. We're realizing, like, a few days before we're not going to be able to get some of these Christmas deliveries out. We felt horrible about it. So all of us, days before Christmas are at my Apartment packing thousands of orders, and I am hand signing thousands of Christmas cards, telling people how much we appreciate them, how sorry we are that this isn't making it before Christmas, and just like begging for their forgiveness, basically. I think another lesson we learned is we started out with so many different skus. We did eight, I think, right off the bat. And we didn't just do, you know, one of each. It wasn't just one hat. We were like, okay, well, if we're gonna have a pink hat, we should also have a tan hat. You know, we should have, like, different options for people. But I think it was just we bit off more than we could chew with that. Whereas with hugs, we really took our time. We started out with three, and one of the three was the llama that people had already been introduced to with Lexi Llama and kind of met and ve, and we just really built slowly. And then every mistake we learned from is what we implemented into the success of hugs. So I am so grateful that we were able to kind of make those mistakes early, learn from them. But mistakes are important. You know, that is where growth happens.
- [18:37]
B
Right. I think we as human beings sometimes like to see a shiny story, and we like to assume that everyone just was an overnight success, but it's always paved with mistakes. And the mistakes have so much power and value in them if you can actually learn from them. And it sounds like, though you maybe didn't even realize it at the time, what you were doing was like establishing early product market fit for the stuffed animal because you had the one stuffed animal skew. Right?
- [19:07]
A
Yeah, absolutely. I know we. We were so lucky to get to do an in person event because, you know, that can be so costly to do, but we did it in the most. I mean, honestly, everything we did with Lexi Llama and hugs has been done in just like such, like, I don't want to use the word scrappy, but like kind of a scrappy way. Like, even to this day, sometimes one of my co founders and I, Rohan, will just go do the photo shoot. The two of us, like, we'll go all model, he'll take the photos, he'll edit the photos, we'll set everything up, get the props ourselves and just knock it out. And sometimes I think that's almost even why some of our ads do so well, is we'll find, like, the ones the two of us took will perform almost better more oftentimes than the ones we tired out this whole professional team for. It's just, you know, we have a vision, we understand the business more than anyone. And again, that, like, brings back to the point that you don't need this crazy funding and money and experience to create something meaningful.
- [20:08]
B
Are there places where, you know, three, four years in, you have found that outsourcing makes the most sense?
- [20:17]
A
Yeah, I mean, distribution was something that we had to set up pretty early on because we were getting so many orders. Fortunately, we have one person contracted to help with like, brand partnership pop ups because, you know, that really is a full time position. But other than that, we all take it on ourselves. We all have full time jobs, but we're still somehow doing full time jobs for hugs, working on finding that balance. We're really fortunate to be in a position where we all, like, support each other where needed, step in where needed. I was taking care of my mom as she battled cancer last year. I had a bunch of health stuff hit me too. And being able to have people that I trusted that I could lean on, you know, is such. I know how rare and special that is because I know there's a lot of situations where people are like, oh, I'm gonna get shoved out of my business. I'm risking it all by, like taking on, you know, something more important that's in front of me right now. So, yeah, I definitely don't take that for granted, but it definitely comes back to like, the foundation of who I chose to start this journey with.
- [21:24]
B
Make those decisions very carefully. Right.
- [21:28]
A
Yeah. You have.
- [21:32]
B
You're one of four co founders. Right. Which is a lot. You. You hear of solo founder stories or sometimes there's one co founder four in the mix is. Is a party for sure. And I've heard you also say that none of you really have titles or like really firm division of labor. Is that true?
- [21:53]
A
Yes. I mean, we have, I guess, like a division of labor. Because what's really cool about all of us is between the four of us, there really isn't a job that one of us hasn't done. So we each have kind of a different area of expertise. Obviously, I'm more on social strategy, marketing. Larry and I do design together. But we all have something we bring to the table, which is why we've been fortunate enough to not need to outsource much of the work. But yeah, I mean, we technically will have like a leader and a role and a task, but there's always a support listed with that person. It's like, who's gonna own the role? But who's there supporting them and catching them and leaning in where needed, which I think is Also rare. I never worked in a corporate situation. I've only ever worked in restaurants and at theaters. So this was. So I was like, oh, is this just like how every company does it? This is awesome. And then my co founders that have all been in corporate or like, no, no, no. This is rare.
- [22:53]
B
But you know what, it makes sense to me to hear you say that you've worked in theaters and restaurants. Like, I always think, like, filmmaking and making art and hospitality have a lot in common with each other in terms of how they function. And also, there's this deep camaraderie, familial aspect of maybe there is some degree of hierarchy, but the feeling is like, we're actually just all in this together.
- [23:22]
A
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, like, once a year, which it's. It's starting to need to be. Twice a year is when we'll do like a whole in person planning retreat. And we call it a retreat. It's really like a boot camp where, you know, we're like, lock ourselves in a room and just be like, let's plan out the whole year. What can we improve on? Let's like really deep dive. But then we'll do team bonding. We'll go to Disney. You know, we'll kind of celebrate some wins for each other. But we really, you know, we are a family. And I'm glad that they all see it that way as well. Like, you know, their wives are coming to my bachelorette party. Like, I'm so close with all of them. I'm like, totally wish I could adopt one of my partner's daughters. She's like my favorite. My favorite person. But yeah, we really have. We have built something special together. And I know that Hugs would be nothing without each and every one of us.
- [24:17]
B
And you've managed to be bootstrapped this entire time, right?
- [24:20]
A
Yep.
- [24:22]
B
So can you tell me, can you take me inside a little bit of how you've managed to maintain that Runway? I mean, initially, was it that you all had other jobs and you were. You were all putting some money into the business and then at some point did it start to sustain itself? Take me on the trajectory.
- [24:38]
A
Yeah. So with Lexi Lama, we made a lot of mistakes, but we did still make a profit. And that profit was kind of what we rolled into founding Hugs and some of our own money. But again, we were in a great position where we already had a built in audience. We were able to be direct to consumer right off the bat. We didn't have to play the retail game, the percentage game. We were able to profit pretty quickly. And we decided that none of us would take a salary, none of us would take any money out of the company for years. We were just going to keep it flowing. And if that doesn't tell you how much we believe in what we're doing, you know, but yeah, I'm really glad that we did it this way. It was important to us to do it this way and we'll see what happens in the future. But as of right now, it's worked really well for us.
- [25:28]
B
Is there some blue sky scenario where at least some of you, if not all of you, get to be all in on this?
- [25:36]
A
Yeah. One of our co founders, Larry, just came on full time, which is really, really cool. He left a job that he loved because we're in a position where we're like, you know, we really do need one of us technically full time on this, not just like working crazy hours on this. He was in a position where he was willing and able to do it and we loved that he could do that. And we didn't have to bring someone in from the outside because like, who's gonna do that position better than one of the co founders?
- [26:04]
B
You know, in the beginning you were very much leveraging your audience to drive awareness and sales, which makes all the sense in the world. But I think the jig is kind of up with creator led brands in so many ways. Right. Like the days of the assumption that if you are a creator with a following that somebody's going to buy your product, it's kind of over. Like we're seeing that. That's just like not always the case. It requires some other kind of special sauce. What do you think it was that had this immediately resonating with your audience and getting them from not just the this resonates piece of it, but to the actual sale, you know, I think
- [26:42]
A
it comes back to that vulnerability and that connection with your audience. I mean, you could have the most viral videos in the world, but if these people don't know anything about you and your story and your mission, why are they going to buy what you're selling if you haven't even ever opened up, you know, and not only shared your highlights, I think sometimes there's even more power and showing and sharing your downfalls in life. I think that's like really where a connection is made with people. And I've seen other creators in a similar position and stage of life as me that when they came out with their merch line, they weren't really able to sell that much. And, you know, they kind of asked me why and I was like, well, if you look at your content, like, is there a single moment that you've actually sat down and like, really tried to connect with your audience, or do you kind of just keep this veil of like a show going for them? So I think really showing my journey with people being so vulnerable and making that trust with them is huge. And also working to not break that trust. You know, partnering with brands that make sense for me. And then when we built hugs, the intentionality of every wear that we, we only work with brands that align with us and where things make sense with us. You know, choosing to partner with a charitable organization that we've met people firsthand, we've met the kids in the program, we've flown out, we've gone to the mental health summit with them. You know, what makes sense to like, do things right, to keep that trust with your audience. And what's so cool about hugs is the goal was always for hugs to be bigger than all of us, to be bigger than me. And it is. And I think it's so awesome that people now will go on hugs and they know Lexi the stuffed animal girl, but they don't know who Lexi Hensler is. You know, I love that so much. And we started with, you know, the Lexi Hensler audience shout out to them, thank you so much. But what's cool is when, you know, all the content we create on hugs and everything we do there, you know, it's like having that founder presence, like sharing the behind the scenes of like, when a bunch of our stuffed animals fell off a semi truck and got ran over. Sharing the time that we had stuff get stolen from us and we're just like making an honest video about it and we're like, oh, guess this happened. All of those moments that we continue to just build a relationship with our audience. I think that's like a big part of just why we are where we are today.
- [29:21]
B
Could you feel when that transition was happening, from when it was going from, okay, this is like a Lexi fronted brand to just like, this is a brand that stands on its own, Man,
- [29:32]
A
I don't even know if I fully felt or realized it. I think again, it's the in person events where I see it more and more, because online sometimes I feel like it's easy to feel really separated from something. You know, you're like, are those numbers real? Is this just my mom making a bunch of fake accounts and commenting on my stuff? Like, you know, it's easy to not like really even celebrate your wins as much because it's like, how do you even process that big of a number sometimes, you know? But the in person events where people are coming and there's people there for me, but there's more people that are just like, oh, I've heard of hugs. I've always wanted to try them out. I'm so glad I can like see them in person or people that have bought them in the past and they're like telling us their stories with them. Like one of my favorite stories is this sweet woman had a toddler who would not stop crying through the night and just having these like horrible nightmares every single night waking up. It was just heartbreaking to hear and I'm sure even more heartbreaking for a mom witnessing it, not knowing how to support because nothing she was doing seemed to like do the trick until she ended up giving her daughter hugs. And just that like weighted warm comfort was enough to like finally get her to sleep through the night and feel safe enough. So yeah, those in person moments, those stories, I think that's where I really started to realize like that hugs has grown more than I even realized it has.
- [31:00]
B
It's gotta feel amazing too, to have been able to get a sense of your impact from a content perspective for so many years, right? You're seeing the impact that your storytelling and your vulnerability is having on people. But then to be able to take it to the next step, step and offer people a tangible product that isn't tied to them watching you on a screen that they can utilize in their lives, like to me feels like it must be a different level of gratification.
- [31:31]
A
No, it absolutely is. And I don't think I fully absorb it all the time just how special that is. You know, we're a plushie with a purpose and we're a mission driven brand. And I think success has just been a byproduct of the mission that we're on. And I really do believe that people that start out to create a business with intentionality behind it and passion behind it versus just like a, oh, here's a gap in a market, this makes sense. And you don't have to say that that doesn't also work, but I do think more often than not, it's the people that are really passionate about what they're doing and they fully, wholeheartedly believe in it. I always think those brands are going to win out in the end.
- [32:15]
B
At the same time, I think as a company scales, it can become harder in moments to maintain that Integrity and deep commitment to quality and intentionality in your North Star. Are there times where that has been tested?
- [32:33]
A
I don't think it's been tested. I think there's obviously been moments where we have to have the conversations about our growth strategy, different things as the world is changing, how we're going to change to adapt and survive. And, you know, we are, at the end of the day, a business. Like, if I didn't have my partners, like, I probably wouldn't have made any money because I just be giving this way for free. Like, I. Like I need someone to tell me that we have to charge people. And, you know, we have set ourselves up in a way where we can donate a lot of hugs per month. You know, we have our charity partnerships every month as well for like an actual percentage donation from profits. But, you know, we do want to continue to be able to grow this business and succeed so that we can impact more people and we can get hugs in the hands of everyone that possibly needs it. And I think oftentimes the people that need the most might be the people that can't get it at the time. So that is why, like, we're actively staying involved with, you know, donating to crisis intervention, domestic violence shelters, hospitals, trying to get in where we're, where we're needed. And even just, you know, when we See emails or DMs come across where someone is, like, going through something, just like sending them one. And I'm fortunate that we've built the business in the way that we have that flexibility to do that, because that was always one of our goals as well. Yeah.
- [34:03]
B
Can you tell me a little bit more about the charity and philanthropy part of your business?
- [34:07]
A
Yeah, that was a decision from day one of what we were building is we were like, we're always going to be doing a donation. We're going to be involved, and we're not just going to pick a random charity, because I don't know about you, but growing up, I was always like, where is this money going? I was like, well, like, you know, so we have worked with five incredible different organizations, and we more recently kind of made a more formal partnership with one. And that was the one I was referencing, that we went and flew out and spent time with them. And the kids that have come up in the organization got to play tennis with them. I suck at tennis. The Inspiring Children's Foundation. They're incredible. But we really wanted to find someone that we could align with and partner with and be as active as we possibly could with Them. That was always such an important part for us. We, you know, we like, wanted to actively be making an impact in every avenue that we possibly could.
- [35:10]
B
You have built your audience and now this product, not just on selling a thing, but because you're like, genuine. It's of kind clear. It come. You come by it very honestly. You're holding space for people and it's deeply personal for you. How do you scale that into the millions without it ever veering into becoming performative or even just like diluted, you know, where you're like, I've spun this tale so many times.
- [35:39]
A
Do.
- [35:40]
B
Am I fully embodied in what I'm saying anymore?
- [35:43]
A
Yeah, absolutely. I think that's where it comes down to there's four of us that trust each other and push each other, and we care so much about what we're doing, and we care so much about each other that we're never gonna let that slip. We're always having hard conversations with each other. You know, if we change something in the business, it's not done lightly. It's not a one person decision. It's all of us sitting, testing each other in a room in person. Oftentimes, like, you know, one of our partners lives in Texas and he'll fly out and we'll have these conversations and we'll be like, what makes sense until we can finally get to the best decision. And I think having four people's brains come together in that way. And, you know, growth doesn't happen from like, people pleasing and yes, men, growth happens and success happens from having people that care enough about you to have the hard conversations and to be like, hey, I don't agree with that, or hey, this doesn't align. This doesn't make sense. And I think there's a lot of opportunities that happen when you're building a business that are very exciting. You know, it's like, oh, you know, we've had celebrities reach out and want, you know, equity and partnership in the brand, or we've had other brands reach out that wanted to do a collab with us. And like, yeah, maybe if you look at it surface level, it'd be really cool, exciting, maybe you should do it. But it doesn't make sense for hugs. It doesn't align with our mission, with what we're trying to build and what we're doing. And that's something that has also been a part of. I think just every one of our individual lives and careers and successes is, you know, I've had opportunities for my career that would have furthered my career, but that was against my moral compass. And so I never, you know, thought about doing it. But constantly having hard conversations. No one person is running this show. It's a team of four people that passionately care about what we're doing.
- [37:40]
B
How do you navigate those moments of misalignment between you and your co founders? Is it like a jury situation? You all sit in the room until you agree, or does somebody have veto power? Ultimately, you know, it's tough when there's four.
- [37:58]
A
No, it's true. It's funny because I think sometimes, because four is an even number, sometimes I feel like me and Larry will kind of be on the same side where we'll be like, oh, yeah, we should just give everything away for free. And then Rohan's, like, running the numbers. He's like, we can't afford to do that, though. And then show, I feel like, is kind of sometimes the dad presence where he's like, everyone has such a wonderful point, and I think what we really want to do is this. But we all have, like, so many great ideas, thinking years in the future of what we want to build. And I think, like, staying aligned on that North Star, and we'll. Even when we have retreats, we'll write, like, our North Star on a whiteboard, and we'll be like, does this make sense? Does this bring us back here? Does this get hugs where we want it to be in the next five, ten years? Does this make sense for customer experience? You know, I mean, even just, like, the way we've built our packaging and our birth certificates and everything we do, like, it really does come back to all of these conversations that we have and making sure that it does align with the North Star of our mission.
- [39:07]
B
And what is your North Star?
- [39:09]
A
We have a few at this point. I think right now, our North Star is just impact in the hands of where it's needed. And I think, for me, like, one of the North Stars of the business has been like, helping little Lexis along the way and making sure that they're never forgotten.
- [39:25]
B
Beautiful. You launched in 2022. It's 2026 now. Where is hugs headed?
- [39:31]
A
Oh, I think we're on the same trajectory of trying to make an impact where we can, trying to reach as many people as possible. Continuing to, I think, heal and create meaning out of the pain that I had growing up. I think that's a big part of it for me is just continuing down that path. I don't know. I think we have a lot of exciting stuff coming up. We've grown a lot with more SKU launches per month, more formal partnerships with an incredible organization trying to do more events, more activations pop up in person. Yeah, I think we're on a really exciting journey right now and I'm excited to see where we continue to head in the next couple years.
- [40:22]
B
It feels like you almost can't be a founder in the CPG world these days and not also be what feels like a full time creator. And then there's somebody like you who fully has your creator side of your life and then also the content creation side of hugs. How are you navigating all of that? And do you have any advice for entrepreneurs in terms of making content in a way that feels sustainable while you invariably have all these other things to do?
- [40:56]
A
Absolutely. I think, you know, social media is a free tool. I think it's one of the best tools you can have in the business. It definitely drove a lot of growth in sales for us right off the bat and, you know, figuring out what's that formula of what's going to translate well with your customers and build such a strong connection with your audience. I know social media can be a bit scary and trying to figure it out, but if and when you're ready to make that investment and either you spending the time to start to like really understand social strategy or bringing someone on your team that can do that for you, I think is an incredible investment. And I think, you know, we do it a lot different than other brands and businesses will do with their social media. And I hope that comes through, is that we're not just a billboard for what we're selling. We're trying to actually give something back to our consumer, whether it's a funny video or tools and resources to help them get through moments of stress and pain. Whatever it is that we're posting, we are trying to actively give back, not just be like, here's our product, please buy it.
- [42:05]
B
Does your identity as a creator, as Lexi Hensler feel different from your content creation bucket when it comes to hugs, or is it sort of all one amorphous thing at this point?
- [42:18]
A
I think it's an ecosystem, you know, they're not. I would never think of them as like competitors, which some people might, you know, be like, oh, well, like, how do you decide what to post where and like make sure that one of them, you know, isn't like lower, like doing worse than the other. But I think of it as just this like, beautiful ecosystem of, you know, my page is still mine to share all of my life. But I do start sharing more about behind the scenes with the business and being a female founder, trying to encourage other entrepreneurs out there that you can do this and you don't need all the tools and money in the world to make something happen. And then, you know, hugs is obviously a bit more hugs focused than just Lexi focused and talking more about mental health, opening up more about even just my struggles, more behind the scenes of the business there and just trying to create an active ecosystem of where they work together and everything just kind of flows well and makes sense and aligns
- [43:19]
B
and I mean, all these years in, how's your mental health today?
- [43:24]
A
You know, mental health is definitely a journey. I don't think it's ever like something you're not going to have setbacks on. Definitely what I went through last year with my mom and my health and everything, it, it's been hard. And even just that mission of we're caring so much about everyone else's health, but are we checking on our mental health when we're like working crazy hours and taking on too much and we are still having full time jobs that we can't just like forget about? So I think it's, you know, it's a journey and I am glad that, you know, I have people that will support me in that and we support each other when needed. But yeah, I mean, I'm actively working on improving my mental health right now and trying to take it more seriously.
- [44:10]
B
What does that look like? Are there things that are non negotiables for you?
- [44:13]
A
Yeah, I mean we were talking before we started. I think my morning routine has become a non negotiable. Like I'm gonna make a healthy breakfast, I'm gonna talk to my fiance. Like we usually cook together. I need to move my body a few times a week, which can be really hard with autoimmune stuff going on. But even if it's just a simple walk, it does help a lot. And then ironically, I've been spending a lot more time offline. I feel a lot happier when I'm spending less time doom scrolling on social media, getting outside with my pups, reading a book. So I've definitely implemented some practices that I've noticed have, have really, really helped me. And then having my tools, whether it's my hugs, holding ice, you know, whatever it is that can help me get through those hard moments or provide me any ounce of relief in a day, even if it's like 5, 10%, I think all those percentages add up to a whole lot of help.
- [45:07]
B
Lexi, thank you so much for being here and sharing your life and your journey with us.
- [45:13]
A
Thank you so much for having me. You were such an incredible host. This is an absolute dream come true for me. I love Shopify so much. Thank you. Thank you.
- [45:22]
B
Oh my God. Thank you so much. Our show is produced by Shuang, Esther Shan and Alicia Clark. Our engineers are Miku Beitlam and Matt Schwartz. Rachel Reich is our senior Content Lead and I'm your host, Serena Smith. For more Shopify masters, hit that follow button. We drop every Tuesday and Thursday. Plus be sure to follow and subscribe to our YouTube channel so you can catch our video interviews. Until next time. Thanks for listening. Sam.