Speaker 1: Ye, how many things are different since we met, since
Speaker 1: before the pandemic, how my life has changed, and how
Speaker 1: a lot of people's life and how things that you
Speaker 1: didn't realize were so important are really the important things. Right.
Speaker 1: It's not just your career, and it's not just you know,
Speaker 1: how you show up at work. It's just it's really
Speaker 1: the words that come out of your mouth and how
Speaker 1: you live your life. So you've heard me talk about
Speaker 1: my athletic greens that now they call a g One
Speaker 1: and I'm obsessed with it. I know you've talked about
Speaker 1: it a lot. I'm excited to try it. I've never
Speaker 1: tried it. I'm a big green juicer about i haven't
Speaker 1: tried it. Yeah, these are the best tasting ones, and
Speaker 1: they really they just make a big difference in how
Speaker 1: you feel. But I'm really excited to talk to Cat Cole,
Speaker 1: who is the president and CEO of A g One,
Speaker 1: because not just because I love the greens, because she
Speaker 1: has such a fascinating story. I did an Instagram live
Speaker 1: with her on her channel and I was just so
Speaker 1: impressed by what a powerhouse she is. Yeah, I've read
Speaker 1: her bio and we have a couple of friends in
Speaker 1: common And I didn't realize when you first suggested her
Speaker 1: as a guess that it was the same woman, because
Speaker 1: I know her in the context of Focus Brands, when
Speaker 1: she was the president of Cinnabon, and I mean, I
Speaker 1: just have a funny story about that, but she, you know,
Speaker 1: said sent me a bunch of Cinnabons is really the
Speaker 1: long and short of that story, And so I didn't
Speaker 1: realize it was the same person. So it's just super
Speaker 1: interesting to think of her as a brand builder of
Speaker 1: this powerhouse of a woman and just kind of a
Speaker 1: cool human And she seems like she's got a walk
Speaker 1: going on and a lot to teach us. Yeah, she's
Speaker 1: really cool. All right, Well, here's our conversation with Cat Cole. Hey, Cat,
Speaker 1: how are you? I'm great? How are you good? Meet
Speaker 1: my co host on, Julie Hi and Jelis Hi. How
Speaker 1: are you excellent? How are you? Cat? We have actually
Speaker 1: not met before, but we've sort of met. Do you
Speaker 1: remember how I feel like we've sort of met. When
Speaker 1: I saw your name, was like, did we meet through mos? Oh?
Speaker 1: Maybe we did meet through moj okay, but we met.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell the story really quick, which is or
Speaker 1: my my fondest memory of you. I think we might
Speaker 1: have met through like Summit moj you know, all those folks.
Speaker 1: But then when you were at Focused Brands, there was
Speaker 1: a day where I got a random email out of
Speaker 1: the blue from you and Nicole are mutual friend Nicole
Speaker 1: um saying semi or address, where will you be in
Speaker 1: the next hour? We're sending you something from me and
Speaker 1: Cat And I was like, who's Cat? Like, just trust
Speaker 1: us wait home for this delivery. And the next thing
Speaker 1: I knew my doorbell rings and it was piping hot cinnabons.
Speaker 1: That's me, the whole thing, and it was like an
Speaker 1: obnoxious amount of cinnamons. Like I was like, you guys
Speaker 1: are saying it was so funny, and I was like,
Speaker 1: who is this delightful woman? I need to know her,
Speaker 1: And now here you are on our podcast. So thank
Speaker 1: you for that unexpected delivery. And I love the complete
Speaker 1: hard left you've made into podic Greens. Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: a very funny day. I do remember that, yes, And
Speaker 1: I also, you know, I love to start these chats
Speaker 1: with either me talking about what our guest is doing,
Speaker 1: or I've been just asking people to introduce themselves and
Speaker 1: tell us what you're doing, because you have the most
Speaker 1: eclectic resume I've seen in a long time. So tell
Speaker 1: us right right now. You're You're the CEO of my
Speaker 1: most favorite important you know, part of my health routine,
Speaker 1: which is Athletic Greens, which not only has changed my life,
Speaker 1: but everyone I talked to, you know, I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 1: I went out with Caroline Evertson last night, who is
Speaker 1: this powerhouse woman, and she's like, like, you look great.
Speaker 1: Let's guess what I'm doing. And I'm like, this is
Speaker 1: like ridiculous, So tell everyone who you are. So it's
Speaker 1: not the Cinnabons, Yeah, no longer the Centa Bons, formerly
Speaker 1: the Artists, formerly known as Cinnamon Lady. Um. I am
Speaker 1: currently the president, CEO, and board member of Athletic Greens,
Speaker 1: the company behind the Foundational Nutrition drink a g one
Speaker 1: that you were just talking about that is literally comprehensive
Speaker 1: foundational nutrition, nutrients and gut health and unbelievable combination of
Speaker 1: seventy insanely high quality ingredients that work together to do
Speaker 1: pretty awesome things for your gut and body. Um. And
Speaker 1: I was advising that company, I guess starting April of
Speaker 1: one and by December of twenty one I had joined formally.
Speaker 1: I mean it was just that amazing of an opportunity
Speaker 1: and company and products. So that's the main gig. I
Speaker 1: sit on a handful of boards for venture backed and
Speaker 1: private equity sponsored companies. I'm a mom of two toddlers.
Speaker 1: I'm an angel investor in over seventy early stage companies
Speaker 1: split pretty evenly between consumer tech SMB tech and consumer
Speaker 1: products so food, beverage, wellness, etcetera. UM and I have
Speaker 1: basically built a career out of building brands and teams
Speaker 1: around the world, just in various industries. And so that's
Speaker 1: that's the current jam. Put the first jam on your
Speaker 1: on your amazing resume is you started your career as
Speaker 1: a hostess for Hooters and then working your way up
Speaker 1: to vice president. So you know, like someone like me
Speaker 1: that kind of doesn't read every word because that's the
Speaker 1: way I read. I'm like, Okay, we've got Hooters, We've
Speaker 1: got Cinnabon, there's Burger came thrown in. Talk about now
Speaker 1: where at Athletic Greens are a g one? So I'm like,
Speaker 1: what is the red thread here? Take us on this journey?
Speaker 1: I see no, but I see the thread. I see
Speaker 1: the thread that it doesn't matter what the brand is,
Speaker 1: it matters that you're an amazing leader and blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: But talk about what it was like being a hostess
Speaker 1: for Hooters and how you broke out of that to
Speaker 1: become the vice president. It was so much fun. I
Speaker 1: mean I I started working when I was fifteen in
Speaker 1: malls because you couldn't even work legally in restaurants as
Speaker 1: a fifteen year old. But I was the child of
Speaker 1: a single parent, my mom and two sisters, and I
Speaker 1: left my dad when I was nine years old. We
Speaker 1: were incredibly poor. She had to work multiple jobs. She
Speaker 1: fed us on a food budget of ten dollars a
Speaker 1: week for three years and all that. All that was
Speaker 1: such a gift in many ways, but it led to
Speaker 1: me needing to have a job as soon as I
Speaker 1: legally could. And so I worked in malls selling clothes
Speaker 1: at an old store that is no longer around called
Speaker 1: the body Shop, not the bath products company, but clothing company.
Speaker 1: And I sold clothes and I set sales records as
Speaker 1: a sixteen year old because I just loved helping people.
Speaker 1: And so when I was working as a salesperson in
Speaker 1: the malls at the body shop. Now sixteen years old
Speaker 1: and just paying for my expenses, right car insurance, saving
Speaker 1: up for college. No one on either side of my
Speaker 1: family had ever gone to college. Um, and I intended
Speaker 1: to be and became the first person to get into college.
Speaker 1: So I had to save up for all these things.
Speaker 1: There was no money, um, and debt for school didn't
Speaker 1: even seem like an option. And and so I was
Speaker 1: recruited to be a Hooters girl, but I was too young,
Speaker 1: So I became a Hooters hostess. Literally, there were Hooters
Speaker 1: girls who went into the mall, went to women's retail
Speaker 1: stores with a card with an owl on it that
Speaker 1: said official Hooters recruiter card. And they would come in
Speaker 1: and UM say like, Wow, you're great at sales, and
Speaker 1: you seem like you would fit with our concept. We'd
Speaker 1: love for you to come in and have a meal
Speaker 1: and apply. And I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where Hooters. Um,
Speaker 1: it was the third city Hooters was ever in, and
Speaker 1: it was just no big deal. I mean, it's it's
Speaker 1: the beach, it's Florida. There's a lot of people that
Speaker 1: don't wear very much in the summer. It was around.
Speaker 1: Since I was little. We went there after football games
Speaker 1: and baseball games on Saturdays and UM, so it didn't
Speaker 1: have the controversy you know, to me inside the city
Speaker 1: that I would later learn it did pretty much everywhere
Speaker 1: else UM. And so it was really cool to be
Speaker 1: recruited to go there, and so I went. I applied.
Speaker 1: I was of age to be a hostess, So I
Speaker 1: became a hostess. And so I had three jobs. I
Speaker 1: still worked in the malls, I clean gym equipment, UM,
Speaker 1: and I became a hostess. And the long story of
Speaker 1: how I went from hostess to vice president was, I,
Speaker 1: you know, essentially an intersection of curiosity. I wanted to
Speaker 1: work every job in the business. I needed money, and
Speaker 1: so the more positions I could work, the more shifts
Speaker 1: I had access to. So I wasn't just a hostess.
Speaker 1: As soon as I turned eighteen, I became a waitress.
Speaker 1: Then I learned how to be a bartender and a
Speaker 1: cook and a shift leader. There's always someone who wants
Speaker 1: our needs to go home, and that gave me the
Speaker 1: optimal number of shifts and the optimal amount of income potential,
Speaker 1: and I just loved it. I thought it was cool
Speaker 1: to fry chicken wings. I thought it was cool to
Speaker 1: poor beer. I mean that it was I was young.
Speaker 1: It was fun. It was helping me make all the
Speaker 1: money that I needed for my living expenses. Of course,
Speaker 1: I moved out on my own as soon as I
Speaker 1: was eighteen and save for college all on my own,
Speaker 1: and that felt fancy. It felt liberating to not need
Speaker 1: to rely on anyone else. And then there was an
Speaker 1: intersection of those experiences knowing how to essentially run a
Speaker 1: restaurant because I've worked every job in the business, and
Speaker 1: the growth trajectory of the company. Hooters was growing rapidly
Speaker 1: at the time domestically and internationally, but it was relatively
Speaker 1: nascent and its international expansion. And so when I was
Speaker 1: nineteen now fully in college solely working at Hooters, no
Speaker 1: more side jobs, because I was picking up so many
Speaker 1: shifts there. It met all of my income needs. And
Speaker 1: then some um the company called the corporate office and said,
Speaker 1: we're opening restaurants around the world. The next one we're
Speaker 1: opening is in Sydney, Australia. We're looking to put together
Speaker 1: a team of employees who can go be trainers and
Speaker 1: helped launch the franchise UH in Australia, and my general
Speaker 1: manager recommended me, and so I said yes the opportunity.
Speaker 1: I did not have a passport. I had never been
Speaker 1: on a plane. I'd only been out of Florida twice
Speaker 1: in my life for cheerleanding competitions. But I still said
Speaker 1: yes on the phone and then hung up and was like, oh, ship,
Speaker 1: I need a passport. And so I bought my first
Speaker 1: plane ticket to Miami. It in line, got my passport expedited,
Speaker 1: and then a few weeks later left for Sydney and
Speaker 1: helped launch the franchise. And the short version of what
Speaker 1: happened is it kept happening over and over, new country,
Speaker 1: new opportunity. I was the person chosen to go. After
Speaker 1: three openings and three different countries. I was then asked
Speaker 1: to lead these teams. No longer beat on these teams
Speaker 1: as you were mid twenties, right, You're you're nineteen doing
Speaker 1: all that? Holy wo. I was still nineteen and I
Speaker 1: had just turned I just turned twenty. I had just
Speaker 1: turned twenty. UM when I did my second um NO,
Speaker 1: my third global opening, and when I started leading, I
Speaker 1: was nineteen when I opened Sydney, Australia, was nineteen when
Speaker 1: I opened Mexico City, first one in Central America, and
Speaker 1: I was nineteen, just about to turn twenty when I
Speaker 1: opened the first one in South America, Buenos Aires and
Speaker 1: UM in Argentina, and then started leading the openings from there.
Speaker 1: And by that time I was failing college because I
Speaker 1: was traveling for forty days at a time to each
Speaker 1: country to launch these businesses UM and there weren't the
Speaker 1: Internet options to make up classes and participate then, and
Speaker 1: so I dropped out of college when I was twenty,
Speaker 1: didn't even finish my second year, and about two months later,
Speaker 1: I was offered a corporate job opportunity to move to
Speaker 1: Atlanta and oversee all corporate employee training at the corporate
Speaker 1: office and so for half the pay that I made
Speaker 1: as a Hooters girl UH and no cash, learning how
Speaker 1: to live off of paycheck with taxes fully taken out
Speaker 1: in advance, which was an interesting transition for me as
Speaker 1: an unsophisticated UH personal income manager. I thought it was
Speaker 1: just an amazing opportunity to, you know, continue to break
Speaker 1: out of my background and do something that was more
Speaker 1: sophisticated and learning was my currency, and it was a
Speaker 1: great opportunity to learn, So I moved to Atlanta, UH
Speaker 1: led the emloyee training work at the parent company, and
Speaker 1: then as the company grew, I grew. Every two years
Speaker 1: I took on a larger job, and by the time
Speaker 1: I was twenty six, I was one of the vice
Speaker 1: presidents of the company when we were doing a hundred
Speaker 1: million in revenue global business, fully vertically integrated. And I
Speaker 1: remained an executive for six years growing that business and
Speaker 1: had an amazing opportunities, And in total, it was around
Speaker 1: fourteen and a half years that I was there. Wow,
Speaker 1: that is mind boggling. What an incredible journey. Just if
Speaker 1: that had been your entire career, that's an extraordinary story.
Speaker 1: But then you went on to take your next opportunity
Speaker 1: and tell us about that, and you were twenty six
Speaker 1: at your next opportunities like you were right when you left,
Speaker 1: you were twenty six because I was, so I stayed
Speaker 1: as an executive for six years, just under from the
Speaker 1: time I became a VP at Hooters. So I was
Speaker 1: an executive at Hooters from to thirty one. I did
Speaker 1: go back to school. I have Masters without a bachelor's um.
Speaker 1: Nights and weekends and it's rare but possible. And I
Speaker 1: was then recruited by private equity firms and other hospitality companies,
Speaker 1: and I ended up taking an opportunity to become the
Speaker 1: president of Cinnabon as a part of Focused Brands, a
Speaker 1: parent company that at the time only had Shlatsky's Carvel, Cinnabon,
Speaker 1: and Mos but would later after I joined a choir
Speaker 1: many more and was owned by Rourke Capital, large private
Speaker 1: equity firm out of Atlanta, and so I was already
Speaker 1: in Atlanta because of Hooters, Focus Brands and Rourke were
Speaker 1: in Atlanta. So I took this role and moved from
Speaker 1: being VP at Hooters to president at Sentabon UH and
Speaker 1: then work to turn that brand around out of the recession.
Speaker 1: It was December. It was October of two thousand ten
Speaker 1: when I started, December of two thousand ten when I
Speaker 1: graduated with my m b A. And then January of
Speaker 1: two thousand eleven um when I became presidents. I was
Speaker 1: hired a CEO and then three months later became president
Speaker 1: and then turned the business around and lead the business
Speaker 1: and the team to really special industry leading outcomes, multi
Speaker 1: channel growth, huge multi billion dollar CpG business growth for
Speaker 1: the franchisees turning around the core business. And it was
Speaker 1: such a powerful playbook that I then took on a
Speaker 1: role at the parent company to be a group president
Speaker 1: and launched the Licensing, Consumer Products, and e Commerce division
Speaker 1: to help all of our brands enter non traditional revenue
Speaker 1: channels and retail channels. Well, speaking of non traditional, I mean,
Speaker 1: everything you've done is non traditional in this traditional world.
Speaker 1: It's kind of amazing. And you know, this podcast is
Speaker 1: so much about the important things, so I'm just trying
Speaker 1: to follow. Like when you were like, did you eat cinnabonns?
Speaker 1: I did? I did? I have? I have grown up.
Speaker 1: I grew up with a series Suite two and working
Speaker 1: in malls. Of course, I fell in love with mall brands,
Speaker 1: so I loved anti Ans, which became one of our
Speaker 1: portfolio companies on Monday. Um, don't don't Bobby, don't judge.
Speaker 1: I know it was I don't even know what an
Speaker 1: anti Ann's is. I know from my daughter and now
Speaker 1: my daughter wanted when we were at the Rangers game
Speaker 1: and Jersey and uh, they had an anti Ans and
Speaker 1: that was the only thing that was really humpting. And
Speaker 1: I took a few bites of her pretzels, like it
Speaker 1: was worth every calorie. I was really happy with the decision.
Speaker 1: It was so good. Um, you know, for for me
Speaker 1: one all the the brands that I ran, eventually became
Speaker 1: president CEO of the parent company, so it was Mos
Speaker 1: and Sholotsky's and Carvel and Jomba, and helped acquire those
Speaker 1: brands and leave those brands and um, even though it
Speaker 1: seemed non traditional. And then and then my investing activity,
Speaker 1: which many people are like, wait, where did that come from?
Speaker 1: That doesn't make sense to come from someone who runs
Speaker 1: these mass market commercial brands to be an early stage
Speaker 1: venture investor. And then much of which in the early
Speaker 1: days was in health and wellness which people didn't know.
Speaker 1: That then made the connection. And eventual, you know, work
Speaker 1: with athletic greens quite an obvious thing to me, but
Speaker 1: maybe not to the outside. Um. My currency is learning,
Speaker 1: that's it. Um. And even in focus brands, and in
Speaker 1: looking back at Hooters, there were career paths I could
Speaker 1: have taken that would have been far more comfortable, like
Speaker 1: logical projection progression in a particular vertical and then I
Speaker 1: would just hit a point where I thought one. I
Speaker 1: don't want this to be my whole story. I want
Speaker 1: to learn. I am comfortable being the least knowledgeable person
Speaker 1: in a role or in a function, and that is
Speaker 1: required for someone who says learning is my currency. By definition,
Speaker 1: if something is going to provide learning, it is new.
Speaker 1: By definition of being new, you ain't going to be
Speaker 1: that good at it. By definition of not being very
Speaker 1: good at it, You're gonna have a lot of embarrassing moments.
Speaker 1: You're gonna have a lot of I had a lot
Speaker 1: of moments where I needed help, um, but I got
Speaker 1: used to it. I appreciated that it was just the
Speaker 1: beginning of what learning feels like. And then once I
Speaker 1: got to a point it changed. Yeah, I so resonated curtically.
Speaker 1: I get it. No, I always say that I love
Speaker 1: doing something I have no idea how to do, Like
Speaker 1: that's what moves me. You know, I you know for sure.
Speaker 1: But I just remember that. I once spent a weekend.
Speaker 1: I was hired by Focused Groups to spend a weekend
Speaker 1: with their female executives in a hotel in New York City,
Speaker 1: and I remember spending most of my time trying to
Speaker 1: change each of the brands into a more healthy version,
Speaker 1: so it could help people. And I'm not sure what.
Speaker 1: You know, they paid me a lot of money for it,
Speaker 1: but I'm not sure if I was able to get,
Speaker 1: you know, anything. But you know, most of most of
Speaker 1: the women were talking about that they do believe in
Speaker 1: a healthier way of living and that they were just
Speaker 1: felt kind of stuck trying to change the culture where
Speaker 1: they were. Yeah. I remember in all the roles, including Hooters,
Speaker 1: there were moments where I had to decide what mattered
Speaker 1: to me in terms of impact, and could I go
Speaker 1: start my own thing that was perfectly healthy and the
Speaker 1: future version, you know, something built for the future of
Speaker 1: these industries and consumers. Sure, but at that point I
Speaker 1: realized that doing that would impact two people, two hundred people,
Speaker 1: And I decided that being inside a big machine and
Speaker 1: having the courage to turn it ten degrees or fifteen
Speaker 1: degrees in a more positive direction, impacting millions of people
Speaker 1: and hundreds of thousands of them eployees, was the type
Speaker 1: of impact I was excited about, because I thought, if
Speaker 1: I'm not here someone who cares about the future, someone
Speaker 1: who cares about better choices for people, for planet, for body,
Speaker 1: what happens when someone who doesn't give a ship is
Speaker 1: running these companies. And I won't be here forever because
Speaker 1: eventually my definition of impact is going to move to
Speaker 1: I want all the things. I want scale and what's best,
Speaker 1: and that that is possible. But I remember decisions at
Speaker 1: Sentibon where there were opportunities to use artificial sweetener instead
Speaker 1: of real sugar, and I'm like, both are bad. One
Speaker 1: is more bad. And so what we need to do
Speaker 1: is just be honest about what we are so people
Speaker 1: make more informed choices. We're gonna call ourselves an indulgence,
Speaker 1: We're gonna launch smaller portions. We're going to protect actual,
Speaker 1: real sugar um And and that was a choice and
Speaker 1: honoring what that brand was about at the same time
Speaker 1: acquiring John but taking a public company private, realizing it
Speaker 1: had so missed the boat in terms of the evolution
Speaker 1: of smoothies and bowls with less sugar, more greens, plant
Speaker 1: based alternatives, and therein lie the opportunity. And so did
Speaker 1: I desperately want to flip a switch and have it
Speaker 1: turned into pressed juicery? Yes? Was that going to happen? No,
Speaker 1: it's not right for that brand. It would break the
Speaker 1: economic model, given where are the eight hundred or seven
Speaker 1: hundred locations were. But could we radically reduce the sugar,
Speaker 1: improve plant based alternatives, move it to a place that
Speaker 1: was moving far faster toward where the world had moved,
Speaker 1: but still being relevant, irrelevant price point for the average consumer.
Speaker 1: That we could do, and that fired me up where
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm going to make what is drifted away
Speaker 1: with an incredible team, we are going to make it
Speaker 1: so much better in a way that the customers will believe.
Speaker 1: Because if I had flipped a switch and made a
Speaker 1: press juice right, nobody's gonna believe it anyway, right, and
Speaker 1: the business would go down. And the business will go
Speaker 1: down because the margins can't handle it. The franchise is
Speaker 1: the locations weren't suitable for that price point. Right, You've
Speaker 1: got to pivot something at a pace the business can
Speaker 1: handle financially and culturally and at a rate that the
Speaker 1: customer can believe. And money can help accelerate those two things,
Speaker 1: but not on its own. And so I relished those challenges.
Speaker 1: But at the same time was Angel investing in those
Speaker 1: early stage true wellness companies, in those built for future companies,
Speaker 1: And so I could kind of like feed my soul
Speaker 1: in those areas in the background without completely leaving the
Speaker 1: opportunity to make big things a little better at scale.
Speaker 1: And eventually I was like, oh, I found this great
Speaker 1: middle ground called growth stage, where it's big enough to
Speaker 1: have scale and impact and be worth my capabilities and energy,
Speaker 1: but early enough and square like dead center for what
Speaker 1: I believe in from whether it's a wellness or ways
Speaker 1: of working or cultural element where I don't have to
Speaker 1: sacrifice one for the other. Someone that grew up eating
Speaker 1: sugar and loving sinnabons. And now you're at this epic
Speaker 1: you know, health company vitality like plus you could call
Speaker 1: it what do you personally do? Like like what is
Speaker 1: you know, what's your normal diet? Like what what do
Speaker 1: you believe in? What works for you? So I I
Speaker 1: have definitely been on a journey toward more healthful and
Speaker 1: clean eating and options for many years, even when I
Speaker 1: was at Focus Brands, And so that was driven by
Speaker 1: a few things. One my own education of what goes
Speaker 1: on in our bodies when we eat certain things, you know,
Speaker 1: research being more abundant, great media coverage about research and options,
Speaker 1: and so I was on my own journey, you know,
Speaker 1: as a woman as a consumer, eventually as a mom.
Speaker 1: I had my first child at thirty nine, my second
Speaker 1: at forty one. UM, and and so, like many, I
Speaker 1: started reducing sugar, paying attention to carbohydrates, especially non organic carbohydrates,
Speaker 1: leaning more toward organic, focusing on pesticide free whether it
Speaker 1: was named organic or not, and so just starting to
Speaker 1: let what I learned not just color my thinking, but
Speaker 1: affect my actions and what I purchased and what I
Speaker 1: put in my body. And then noticing the difference over time,
Speaker 1: and then I got just got curious and decided, I'm
Speaker 1: not only going to leave my decision making to be
Speaker 1: altered by what happens to make it to me in
Speaker 1: terms of media, I am going to follow the rabbit
Speaker 1: trail of research. And I started doing my own research
Speaker 1: around sugar, around carbs, around plants versus read meat, around
Speaker 1: you know, this journey that many people are on, and
Speaker 1: I became obsessed with the consumer continuum, the continuum that
Speaker 1: people are on. UM, no judgment of where you start
Speaker 1: your journey, as long as we're on a journey. And UM,
Speaker 1: what's beautiful is that when we can't unlearn important ship,
Speaker 1: you don't unlearn it. Like you don't unlearn it. The
Speaker 1: question is how quickly can we have it affect our
Speaker 1: bodies and our choices. And so my diet changed and
Speaker 1: I leaned more toward um, probably a sloppy version of
Speaker 1: intermittent fasting, not an absolute version, but the I don't
Speaker 1: really eat past seven or seven thirty PM, and I
Speaker 1: don't have a meal until ten am. What do you
Speaker 1: eat attend? Then what's the first thing you put in
Speaker 1: your mouth? Well, first thing in the morning is a
Speaker 1: g one And so that is not breaking my fast
Speaker 1: unless you're an absolutist, and anything with one calorie breaks it,
Speaker 1: but there aren't. But it is breaking for people that
Speaker 1: intermittent fast. That's breaking your fats that truly do it.
Speaker 1: But I'm not an intermittent faster. So call it calorie restriction,
Speaker 1: calorie timing that community. And because it's fifty calories and
Speaker 1: there are no fats and there's no insulin response, I'm
Speaker 1: staying in a state of ketosis. And so by that definition,
Speaker 1: it doesn't break that, it doesn't take me out of
Speaker 1: a state of ketosis, and so I'm able to lean
Speaker 1: into that. Then it around ten I'll do my bulletproof
Speaker 1: coffee the you know the old school term, but essentially
Speaker 1: butter and oil and collagen protein. You put butter in
Speaker 1: your coffee. Yeah, and it's that good. Huh. I tried it.
Speaker 1: I couldn't do it. I do um. I sometimes will
Speaker 1: mix in GhIE if I'm looking to just overall continue
Speaker 1: to reduce the dairy for the week, Like if I've
Speaker 1: had a lot of cheese or yogurt or kind of
Speaker 1: broken that staple that's the other thing I've leaned into overtime,
Speaker 1: then I'll reduce that in every way that I can,
Speaker 1: because I can feel it in my gut if I
Speaker 1: if I break my rules, I can feel it in
Speaker 1: my I can feel a little bit of bloating or
Speaker 1: digestive changes. And so it's a g one possibly a
Speaker 1: coffee before that, that one with fats and collagen protein
Speaker 1: in it, eggs, avocado or um plant based protein, smoothing
Speaker 1: with all kinds of good stuff in it. And so
Speaker 1: that's it in that early morning. And then I'm eating
Speaker 1: again sometime around too, like one or two, and that's
Speaker 1: when it's going to be salmon chicken salad. You know,
Speaker 1: that is my most colorful meal, is that two o'clock
Speaker 1: sort of liner as we call it, part lunch and
Speaker 1: part dinner. And you're at home right because you're you
Speaker 1: are yes, which will get yeah. The whole company's remote
Speaker 1: has been from day one. And then when I travel,
Speaker 1: I do my best. We'll just say that I do
Speaker 1: my best. Um. I keep an extra travel pack of
Speaker 1: a g one if I feel like my best option
Speaker 1: is going to be getting a grilled chicken breast somewhere
Speaker 1: and I'm not going to be able to get in
Speaker 1: other nutrients. Um, And I just do an extra one
Speaker 1: when I'm traveling anyway for a little bit of nutritional insurance.
Speaker 1: And then dinner, my husband typically makes dinner. I do
Speaker 1: not cook. I am not a cook. I do not cook.
Speaker 1: I scrambled eggs. I caught avocados. That is the extent
Speaker 1: of my culinary excellence. Um. And the few times I've tried,
Speaker 1: my husband's like, let me give me good at everything.
Speaker 1: And and then he'll typically make a dinner like, um,
Speaker 1: could be an all veggie dish a few nights a week.
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful steak from a farm that we get
Speaker 1: direct to consumer, and UM, some sweet potatoes or something
Speaker 1: in that mean, very simple simple salt and pepper type meals,
Speaker 1: but absolutely delicious, and the kids eat the same thing
Speaker 1: as us. And dessert, yeah, let's talk to dessert. No dessert,
Speaker 1: And what about alcohol? Barely? Barely? And that's been a
Speaker 1: big shift over the years. Of course, in my twenties,
Speaker 1: I loved a good time like anyone else. And in
Speaker 1: my thirties, um loved a good time, loved glass of
Speaker 1: wine to two glasses of wine. But as I've gotten older,
Speaker 1: as I've learned more about alcohol's effect on the body,
Speaker 1: it's been less and less and less and less. Um.
Speaker 1: I mean, there will be weeks where there's zero alcohol.
Speaker 1: It's great, Yeah, I go, I go days and then
Speaker 1: sometimes there's a glass of wine, two glasses of wine.
Speaker 1: Anything more than that, I actually just get full. Like
Speaker 1: it's not even about getting like, oh I feel tipsy,
Speaker 1: it's just like my stomach, my body, the sugar from alcohol,
Speaker 1: that's what I feel more. And then I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: I can't MoMA needs to go to bed. And then
Speaker 1: I have to take a cbdego me and some other
Speaker 1: supplements to help offset the negative effects of alcohol so
Speaker 1: I don't feel like absolute crap after two glasses of wine. Mhm. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to shift gearson, because you mentioned your husband
Speaker 1: and I was reading somewhere that you have this really
Speaker 1: interesting practice with him of a monthly check in which
Speaker 1: I loved, love loved. Can you tell us more about that? Yes,
Speaker 1: So when we first met, we met had a one
Speaker 1: night stand, so we thought uh, and proposed each other
Speaker 1: within two weeks. And interestingly, we had both been out
Speaker 1: of long term relationships recently. I was out of an
Speaker 1: eleven year relationship, not married, but might as well have been.
Speaker 1: I was out of that relationship for six months when
Speaker 1: I met my husband, and he was out of his
Speaker 1: eight year relationship for about a year. Needless to say,
Speaker 1: neither of us were looking for a long term relationship.
Speaker 1: I thought I was going to have a lover on
Speaker 1: every continent given my global business um, and that felt
Speaker 1: very exciting to be um. My husband had his own
Speaker 1: visions of what his next few years would look that
Speaker 1: also did not include a steady, single partner, and but
Speaker 1: that was all changed when we met. And so here
Speaker 1: we are, we meet, we have one night standard, proposed
Speaker 1: to each other within two weeks, and it became apparent
Speaker 1: that this was it, Like you're my person. He's my person.
Speaker 1: And so we had several conversations about what we learned
Speaker 1: from our previous long term relationships, what our role was in,
Speaker 1: what parts we didn't like, what we learned about ourselves,
Speaker 1: and how we had changed over time, and we just said,
Speaker 1: I want to We both realized now we want to
Speaker 1: be better at home than we are at work. I
Speaker 1: had never said that before. The thought had never entered
Speaker 1: my mind. It's not that I didn't want to be
Speaker 1: have a great relationship, but I had never consciously said
Speaker 1: I actually want to be better at home than at work.
Speaker 1: In fact, subconsciously, I likely believed very much the opposite.
Speaker 1: And so we talked about it and we said, okay,
Speaker 1: if we both naturally are coming to this place in
Speaker 1: our lives, we want to be better at home and
Speaker 1: at work. How does one do that? And we said, well,
Speaker 1: what can we learn about what helps us be good
Speaker 1: at work? In business? What are the practices? What are
Speaker 1: the things that help you learn and develop and grow
Speaker 1: and stay close as the business changes and as you change.
Speaker 1: And so we realized that one of those practices was
Speaker 1: some methodology of regularly checking in and giving feedback and
Speaker 1: receiving feedback, so that little things didn't become big things,
Speaker 1: so that what mattered to someone could be celebrated, and
Speaker 1: not leaving it to the whims of a moment to
Speaker 1: be addressed, but protecting a place. So he had heard
Speaker 1: about a couple that UM celebrated their month a versary
Speaker 1: for decades, no matter where they were in the world.
Speaker 1: They had champagne or a cup of tea or a
Speaker 1: cup of coffee, And so we agreed that we would
Speaker 1: hold the space of a month a versary every month.
Speaker 1: On the tenth of every month, which is the day
Speaker 1: that we met. Tattooed on my arm and UM, that
Speaker 1: would be our time to connect and check in. Then
Speaker 1: we borrowed versions of questions we had used in different
Speaker 1: leadership groups, but made them a bit more personal, and
Speaker 1: we asked each other on the tenth of every month
Speaker 1: these six questions. I asked him. He answers, then he
Speaker 1: asked me the same question. I answer. It might take
Speaker 1: three minutes. Well, probably the shortest one is ten minutes
Speaker 1: because we're writing and we're taking notes in between, and
Speaker 1: some have taken hours because it facilitated deeper discussions. But
Speaker 1: typically it's around a twenty minute exercise, and the questions
Speaker 1: are what's been the best part of the last month,
Speaker 1: the worst part of the last month, and again related
Speaker 1: to our relationship. Doesn't have to be something caused by
Speaker 1: the relationship, but whatever most affects how we show up
Speaker 1: for each other, best part, the worst part. What's one
Speaker 1: thing I can do differently to be a better partner?
Speaker 1: For you? What is worried you the most in the
Speaker 1: last thirty days. What have you been most grateful for
Speaker 1: in the last thirty days? And what have you been
Speaker 1: most proud of? Again, something that is most related to
Speaker 1: how we show up for each other. That's amazing. Wow, Well,
Speaker 1: I that's it. That's intense, and that takes a major commitment.
Speaker 1: And I've been married thirty three years, and I have learned,
Speaker 1: you know, things work differently for different people. I have
Speaker 1: learned not to, you know, to try not to let
Speaker 1: the words come out of my mouth as I'm feeling something.
Speaker 1: But you know, soon after, you know, when I can,
Speaker 1: when I can phrase in a way that's not attacking
Speaker 1: right then, but I mean a month later, I forget.
Speaker 1: You know, how's your month good? How's your month good?
Speaker 1: All right? What's for dinner? You know? What are the kids?
Speaker 1: What are the kids? All we do is talk about
Speaker 1: the kids, what are the kids doing? And now we
Speaker 1: talk about the dogs. That's such a great call out.
Speaker 1: What the check in doesn't do is remove the responsibility
Speaker 1: to talk about something in the moment, and so it's
Speaker 1: you don't hold it, you don't hold everything for the
Speaker 1: check in. We have those conversations to your point as
Speaker 1: soon as we've learned what is the most productive way, Yeah,
Speaker 1: to have conversations. But the chicken is about what remains
Speaker 1: like after a month. What are the highest highs and
Speaker 1: the lowest lows, and what are the things that stick
Speaker 1: with us? And the question there are two questions that
Speaker 1: are most powerful. One is the what is one thing
Speaker 1: I can do differently to be a better partner for you?
Speaker 1: Every month? Every month, that's twelve different actions you have
Speaker 1: to take this year. It's also it's a lot of feedback.
Speaker 1: Cat I don't know if I can handle that much
Speaker 1: feedback from anybody, including my partner. It is, but sometimes
Speaker 1: we don't always get better, and so sometimes it's not
Speaker 1: a unique thing every twelve months. Sometimes it's a hey,
Speaker 1: here's what we talked about last month that you could
Speaker 1: do differently to be a better partner. And it is
Speaker 1: my answer again this month. But differently doesn't mean stop.
Speaker 1: Differently could mean something you you did that I really
Speaker 1: hope you do more of UM. So it stops, start, continue,
Speaker 1: and that's what the differently about. So that's one question
Speaker 1: that's particularly illuminating and actionable UM and we act on it.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the point of the discussion. And it's
Speaker 1: not just to be heard, right, It's this is literally
Speaker 1: like feedback. It's like all of the hr like anything
Speaker 1: I've done on the CPO side of my career. It's
Speaker 1: like direct feedback in the moment, real time feedback. It's
Speaker 1: a monthly check ins, you know, to make sure that
Speaker 1: everything's going as plans, stop to start, continue. That's a
Speaker 1: big one for sure. But the idea of applying it
Speaker 1: to your personal relationship, I think it's so interesting because
Speaker 1: I've never heard anyone say to do it. And I
Speaker 1: have to admit, I'm I'm good at giving feedback, I
Speaker 1: am not great at receiving feedback, and it's something I've
Speaker 1: had to work on throughout my career to be like
Speaker 1: open to it and try not to be defensive. I
Speaker 1: cannot imagine how difficult it would be if I was
Speaker 1: getting feedback from my husband of twenty seven years every month,
Speaker 1: Like I feel like it's mutual that helps, right, you
Speaker 1: don't get down, you don't ask all the questions and
Speaker 1: the other persons in the hot seat, you're really sharing this.
Speaker 1: And that's that other question that's so illuminating is when
Speaker 1: you look back on the last thirty days, what stands
Speaker 1: out that has worried you the most? That is a
Speaker 1: really it is always a powerful question. And I remember
Speaker 1: when I had my second miscarriage and we did our
Speaker 1: check in, and my husband's answer blew my mind because
Speaker 1: I I suppose that I believed that there was no
Speaker 1: way it could be as hard on him as it
Speaker 1: was on me. And his answer to that question this
Speaker 1: was a couple of years ago, and I don't remember
Speaker 1: exactly what it was, but it made it very clear
Speaker 1: that he was devastated, grieving, feeling a degree of um
Speaker 1: immobility through this moment that our day to day interactions
Speaker 1: had not revealed. And it forced me to honor that
Speaker 1: in that moment. And and of course he didn't want
Speaker 1: to his words, I didn't want to bug you with
Speaker 1: my extra feelings while you're grieving too, like while you're
Speaker 1: dealing with this and so this like back to this
Speaker 1: podcast the important things, you know what matters. We made
Speaker 1: the choice that we matter most, and therefore only actions
Speaker 1: will truly make that and honest statement. And those actions
Speaker 1: are staying close to each other as we evolve like
Speaker 1: vines creating. Yes we're individuals. Yes we're going to grow
Speaker 1: in different directions. We're both on a journey. We're discoverers,
Speaker 1: were learners, but we have to create forcing moments to
Speaker 1: come back together and really get the most out of
Speaker 1: those moments. And that question of what's worried you the most,
Speaker 1: um because you just don't go around talking about that
Speaker 1: every day. It's eap cad. I feel like you've just
Speaker 1: changed the course of my relationship for the next twenty
Speaker 1: years by giving this very generous exercise. I'm going to
Speaker 1: make my husband do this, not mine, and I'm not
Speaker 1: doing this but now I'm not doing this. No, no, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not doing now now. And I'm very close to
Speaker 1: my husb. No, I know you are. I'm gonna but
Speaker 1: I know just what you're talking about, like even the miscarriage,
Speaker 1: but we went through that too, and we didn't talk
Speaker 1: about it in the same way because I think my
Speaker 1: husband was so focused on holding space for me and
Speaker 1: my grieving, and it wasn't until I got pregnant held
Speaker 1: it had our daughter who's now twelve. But after that
Speaker 1: then it sort of came out in time of how
Speaker 1: hard it was for him to go through that. And
Speaker 1: I never allowed that conversation because it just didn't even
Speaker 1: occur to me. I mean, similar to what you're describing,
Speaker 1: And I think an exercise like this would have saved
Speaker 1: both of us a lot of pain in that moment
Speaker 1: of realization so late that he had suffered so much
Speaker 1: and didn't feel like you could talk about it or whatever.
Speaker 1: But I think on an ongoing basis, in a future
Speaker 1: looking basis, I'm going to try to maybe not every month.
Speaker 1: I feel like that, maybe like quarterly. Maybe we started
Speaker 1: like trying. Why don't you try it one? Yeah? It does.
Speaker 1: I know I might need some alcohol, but but I
Speaker 1: want to. I want to switch gears to your kids
Speaker 1: because working at home when you know, when you have
Speaker 1: young kids, because I always worked at home a couple
Speaker 1: of days a week, you know what, even when my
Speaker 1: kids were young. But they're always breaking in, like how
Speaker 1: do you maintain your professionalism or do you not? Or
Speaker 1: do you let them break in? Like how you know
Speaker 1: it's not easy, No, I mean during the peak peak lockdowns, um,
Speaker 1: and even parts of one. You know, even our nanny
Speaker 1: couldn't be here. I couldn't have any help. And so
Speaker 1: that was yet was running the business. In fact, at
Speaker 1: the very beginning, was still running Focus Brands restaurants around
Speaker 1: the world, which were radically affected. I mean, and they're right.
Speaker 1: As COVID was hitting, my daughter got incredibly ill and
Speaker 1: wasn't the I c U for twelve days and not
Speaker 1: with COVID, but just unbelievable timing, and so I remember
Speaker 1: having my air pods in, needing to literally lead the
Speaker 1: company through crisis and manage my daughters wellness and care.
Speaker 1: And then I ended up getting sick for it was
Speaker 1: like respiratory viruses that were going around that were not
Speaker 1: COVID but that we're horrible um. And it was just crazy.
Speaker 1: I mean, I can look back and see my true
Speaker 1: woman power, mom energy um at its peak navigating all
Speaker 1: of that, and it was just I think I was
Speaker 1: able to draw in a lot of my experiences as
Speaker 1: a young leader opening franchises around the world where you
Speaker 1: just recognize the condition of newness and unfamiliarity. And eOne
Speaker 1: was in this condition of newness and unfamiliarity, so I
Speaker 1: did not experience the feeling of worry or shame or
Speaker 1: what's going to happen if they hear my daughter crying,
Speaker 1: or what's going to happen. I was just kind of like,
Speaker 1: f you, if you don't get it, I've got I
Speaker 1: know what really matters, and um, I'm somehow finding a
Speaker 1: way to not totally drop the things that don't matter,
Speaker 1: and it's going to be okay. Now. Some of that
Speaker 1: was it's my personality, it's my focus on my daughter
Speaker 1: who was ill. And also I moved up into a
Speaker 1: key right senior executive position, so it's easier to have
Speaker 1: that mindset when you're in charge. And I never um
Speaker 1: forgot that and did everything that I could to make
Speaker 1: sure that that was um extended and believed and felt
Speaker 1: by every individual on our teams, regardless of how new
Speaker 1: they were with the company or how much formal authority
Speaker 1: or whatever, you know, people management responsibility they had. I
Speaker 1: think what you and Bobby both said as an example,
Speaker 1: certainly for me just I mean, Bobby and I have
Speaker 1: had these conversations, and hearing you speak at it's really empowering,
Speaker 1: I think to that next generation of worker and leader
Speaker 1: to see women in your positions and our positions saying
Speaker 1: these things and really living it and showing it to
Speaker 1: be true, that they are balancing many different things. That
Speaker 1: it's not a perfect science, that it's a pie not
Speaker 1: you know, not. It's like the different pieces of the
Speaker 1: pie are different sizes at different times, UM, and that
Speaker 1: we are all kind of fumbling as we go to
Speaker 1: but making the best of it and supporting each other
Speaker 1: in it. And I think it's so important for UM
Speaker 1: for us to talk openly about this stuff. It's super helpful,
Speaker 1: I know for me to hear it. One of the
Speaker 1: first conversations Bobby and I ever had UMS when I
Speaker 1: asked her to mentor me, was about how to balance
Speaker 1: it all and like I was starting a new job,
Speaker 1: and um, could I ask for a flexibility and that
Speaker 1: kind of thing? And She's like, you have to ask
Speaker 1: the question, and I don't. I don't think if she
Speaker 1: hadn't prompted me, I never would have done it. And
Speaker 1: like hearing you, hopefully somebody is listening to this podcast,
Speaker 1: hearing what you're saying, hearing how you prioritize your time,
Speaker 1: and now feels like, oh, I can do that. I
Speaker 1: can ask for that time and for that flexibility or
Speaker 1: not to have that call early morning, late at night
Speaker 1: when I have to put my kid to bed. Here's
Speaker 1: my wine around that. And I use it for myself
Speaker 1: and I ask it as a question of others. I say,
Speaker 1: this is what I need to be successful. This is
Speaker 1: what I need, the time, the flexibility. And that's not
Speaker 1: just honoring time in the morning. That is my sacred
Speaker 1: time with after my a g one and my coffee,
Speaker 1: but with my kids and my husband because we are
Speaker 1: morning people and my kids grew up with the smell
Speaker 1: of coffee and a French press pouring the kettle like
Speaker 1: that is our time. And yes I make rare exceptions,
Speaker 1: but they are that is what I need to be successful.
Speaker 1: I am not asking for someone to bend themselves into
Speaker 1: a hutzel. I am saying this is what I need.
Speaker 1: This is how you get the best of me. And
Speaker 1: then when I'm working with others, whether it's a new
Speaker 1: hire or appear or even an advisory role um or
Speaker 1: an interview, I ask what do you need to be successful?
Speaker 1: You just answered the last question that we ask everyone,
Speaker 1: and honestly, uh, it was. It's basically and I ask everyone.
Speaker 1: According to you cat call, what is the one piece
Speaker 1: of advice you can give anyone that's listening today that's
Speaker 1: going to change the course of their life. So that
Speaker 1: could be your answer, or you can give them something else.
Speaker 1: But that is like how I like to close these conversations. Yeah,
Speaker 1: certainly having that is a statement and a question or
Speaker 1: a statement that you deserve to ask and answer over
Speaker 1: time because it changes, and you should ask it of
Speaker 1: yourself before you of anyone else. The thing I would
Speaker 1: I would leave folks with is a version of what
Speaker 1: my mom wrote on my birthday card, and it kind
Speaker 1: of sums up all this. We're all on a journey.
Speaker 1: We have different life needs. We learn over time what
Speaker 1: matters to us most the most important things, and hopefully
Speaker 1: we line up actions that back up what we say
Speaker 1: are the most important things with where we spend our
Speaker 1: time and who uh is number one and number two
Speaker 1: and number three in our world. But that's a journey,
Speaker 1: and it's okay if you look back and go I
Speaker 1: didn't get that exactly right then, and I want to
Speaker 1: get it more right now like I did with my relationships.
Speaker 1: And the phrase, the version of a phrase that she
Speaker 1: always wrote was don't forget where you came from, but
Speaker 1: don't you dare let it solely define you. And my
Speaker 1: ad is our truth is in our roots, like that's
Speaker 1: our story, that's who we are. But our past shouldn't
Speaker 1: be our anchor. Like you have permission to change, I
Speaker 1: have permission to change, and as long as we stay
Speaker 1: rooted in the most important things, that change is likely
Speaker 1: to be incredibly positive over time. How proud of you
Speaker 1: is your mom? She is very proud. She Um, you know,
Speaker 1: stayed with our dad. It was an alcoholic for for
Speaker 1: many years before she finally decided to leave. And she
Speaker 1: told me then and has reiterated to me over the years,
Speaker 1: that her mission. All she wanted once she left UM,
Speaker 1: which was very difficult on her, All she wanted was
Speaker 1: three independent girls. That was it. She just didn't want
Speaker 1: us to have to need any one or anything, no more,
Speaker 1: no less. That's the bar, UM, and she achieved that.
Speaker 1: And UM feels incredibly, incredibly proud to see where we is.
Speaker 1: You know, three girls have all landed and um, it
Speaker 1: is my life's mission to continue to make her proud. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm sure you are. You are incredibly inspiring. It's this
Speaker 1: is been such a fun conversation and I've learned so much.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Likewise, thank you guys. Mm hmmm
Speaker 1: mm