WEBVTT - FLASHBACK - Knowing your numbers is the key to the bag w/ Courtney Adeleye 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.520 Afro Tech is back in Austin, Texas this November is 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:06.160 the place for all things black, tech and Web three. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 The in person afro Tech Conference experience is bridging the 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:14.840 worlds of afro technologists, innovators, investors, corporations, musicians, and everyone 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.520 in between. So pull up, grab your crew, and grab 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.360 your tickets and join us at the largest black professional 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.720 conference of the gear. This experienced the afro Tech Dot 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:27.280 count to learn more. Okay, simon Seattle, as I kick 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:31.160 off my end of Q three into Q for Traveling 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.519 Sprint's typically the busiest time year for me, as I'm 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:38.000 back on road doing all the things. I'm not in 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.960 the studio this week Mountain Streets, but the show you 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:44.519 Better Believe goes on. Currently. I'm here in the Emerald 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.480 City of Seattle as a mentor for some black owned 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.440 businesses and startups working to accelerate. Next week, I'm in 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:54.480 l A for afro Tech Executive, a prestigious event for 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.120 black leaders in business, and I'm super excited about that, 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.720 and it's not too late to get your tickets to 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:01.880 be there as well so we can meet each other. 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.039 So this week's episode, I'm actually throwing it back to 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.200 what I did with Courtney Adelaia, who was CEO and 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:12.199 founder at the main choice of black wellness and hair 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:15.640 care brand. Because I speak to so many consumer package 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:19.000 good companies and the health and wellness space, even though 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.240 it with hair care products like I'm doing this week 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.839 here in seattle't I want to run this conversation back 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.520 for anyone who missed it because there's so many gyms 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:31.640 in it. It's full of thoughtful insights on why it's 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.319 so hard to break from the pack, of all the 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:38.640 people formulating hair and skincare products in the kitchens and basements, 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.480 to how to get on the shelves of major retailers 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:46.720 like Target. There's so much here and the content from 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.480 Courtney's advice is so timeless that I'm proud to have 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:54.000 this in the archives. So join me and then joining 0:01:54.000 --> 0:02:04.360 this runback. Afro Tech, San Francisco, California, Frederick Hudson, co 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.280 founder and CEO at Pigeon Ley of technology that helps 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:10.720 you affordably stay connected with your inmate from any phone, tablet, 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:13.800 or computer. It's on the afro Tech stage telling the 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:16.880 story of how he and his co founder, Alfonso Brooks, 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:21.360 realized the opportunity for improving communications between loved ones and 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.280 state confederal inmates, and found success by leaning into their 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.320 unique perspective on the world. I'm gonna tell you how 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:34.720 we hustled from idea to a product market fit. Essentially, Uh, 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.320 the idea started with me. I started close to five 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.320 years in federal prison for distribution to marijuana. Don't feel 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:41.959 bad for me. It was lots and lots and lots 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:52.040 and lots of lots of marijuana and um. And it 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.239 was during that time I saw it this huge population 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.320 of people that no one is paying attention to, and 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.079 we all had the same problem. It was incredibly for 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.480 cool and super expensive to stay in touch with your loves. 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:06.880 So while I wasn't nice, I like to send the ladder. 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:09.600 It's like, y'all got this idea. We're just gonna we're 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:11.560 gonna make a million dollars. We're just gonna make it 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.000 real easy for people to send photos and to the 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:17.360 lowest in prison. No one's really done that yet. So 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.400 we get to the halfway house. I hit the mouther 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:21.440 and says, yeah, I'm with it. We take his student 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:28.520 loan money. We take his student loan money, and we 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.119 start building a product and you know, I just want 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:32.560 to go through some of the steps and some of 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:34.960 the things that we learned along the way, taking that 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:37.280 grand idea that you have in your head to actually 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:40.160 get something that has product market fit or more importantly, 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.840 that can get some traction. Because early on I made 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.600 the classics found of mistake. I thought my problem was 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:47.000 I needed to get money. I need to get fund 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:47.960 and I need to get fun, and I need to 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:50.000 get fun. I spent a lot of my time chasing dollars. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.760 What I realized is if I focus more on the product, 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.320 all those other things come a lot easier. Whatever you're 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:57.320 working on has to be personal. You have to have 0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.640 that strong way to win. For me, it was really 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:01.760 personal because I lived in and I had that experience. 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.280 I knew how it felt to be there. I knew 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:06.520 how it felt too, how important it was. And I 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:08.600 saw the direct connection between people being able to staying 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.200 in touch with the loaves on the prison and not 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.240 returning back to prison. There was a direct connection between 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:17.000 communication and the recitizens a break. And you need that 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:19.400 when those things gives out, because when it gets funky, 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.719 and it will get funky, you need that really strong wine, 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.000 that that real hard desire to win to kind of 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.440 get you to those moments, because ship will go sideways 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:31.719 more than you think. You gotta look for your unfair advantage. 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.240 For me, it was I was there, I understood it. 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:39.160 I've been there. I was the best person to fix 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.360 that problem because I knew what people needed. I knew 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:44.280 what they wanted, I knew what the market needed. Sometimes, 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.159 when we were early on, we went to our first 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.720 investors that our first pictures, Uh, people couldn't really wrap 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.440 the around or the brain around investing in number one 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:54.920 a black men, Number two a black men. That's also 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:57.600 a feling. I never went to college, so I had 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.400 to use my unfair advantage of because I knew this 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:02.120 market better than anyone else, I was the best person 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:05.520 suited to fix and adjust this problem. Your unfair advantage 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:07.839 can't be copied, that it can't be bought as uniquely yours. 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:10.560 Figure out and look internally and figure out what is 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:12.480 your unfair advantage or whatever idea of problem met you're 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:18.039 looking to solve and leverage that. I'm Will Lucas and 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.320 this is black tech, green money. I'm gonna introduce you 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.320 to some of the biggest names, some of the brightest 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:26.680 minds and brilliant ideas. If you're black, in building, or 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.919 simply using tech to secure your bag, this podcast is 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:37.599 for you. As founder and CEO of the main choice, 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.559 Courtney adelaide A Build her Hair empired in that sales 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.279 of over twenty five million her the last reports we 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.919 could find from September twenty nine. The company was acquired 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.000 by Math Beauty Brands. Her products are sold in over 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:53.039 twenty tho retail stores and boast a lineup of more 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:56.880 than ninety hair treatments vitamins. I asked Courtney about how 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.520 to scale of health, hair care or beauty brand and 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:03.880 remain profitable when the consumer is increasingly particular and highly 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:07.320 interested in the chemicals involved in making the products. I 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.120 think it's it's very important just to stay true to, 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.719 you know, really where you started. I think, you know, 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.800 different companies have a different initiative and how they get 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:20.440 to that growth. And a lot of companies say, well, 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.760 we'll get to that growth by changing the product a 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.560 little bit, making it more economical. Someone said, well, we'll 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.640 get to that growth by going international, by doing other things. 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.400 So for me, it's about staying true to what I 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.760 what I started saying two to my products and look 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.040 at those races to grow that we're not just jeopardized 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.279 or you know, paying to any type of thing that 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.000 I started, you know with the actual product itself. So 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:46.960 you really have to know your growth strategy and there's 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.719 different ways to get there. But you know, changing the 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.320 product for me that was never that was you know, 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.960 something that I just wouldn't stand for. When you look 0:06:56.000 --> 0:07:00.080 at the field of black women and men who are 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.800 often beauty health wellness companies, do you think they go 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.159 hard enough? Like where what keeps them from achieving the 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:09.200 type of level of success you've achieved in this industry 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:13.360 generally speaking, do I think they go hard enough? I would, 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:15.800 I would have to Unfortunately, I would have to say no. 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:19.840 I think for some reason, people think that when you 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.640 operate on an average level, or if you're able to 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.600 excel um by just giving average. I think sometimes people 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:31.120 think that's enough. But in order to really scale something 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:33.880 and take it to the next level, it is going 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:37.640 to require blood, sweat and tears that I've come to 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:41.600 the conclusion most people are not willing willing to do, 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:46.200 you know, or they think that giving normal or average 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.400 is okay and it's not. What are some of those 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.840 mistakes that people cut corners on that keep them from like, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.440 what are some of the typical things you see? I 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.920 think some of the typical things, uh, just the initiative. 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.440 You know, when I say you have to layer things on, 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:06.000 I mean you have to be from a social perspective, 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.560 you have to be you know, you have to put 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:12.000 yourself out there from a personal perspective, run your personal 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.120 social media as if it was a business, with strategy 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.680 and timing and win and professionalism. And then on the 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:20.560 flip side, you have the business, you have to do 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:23.720 the exact same way. So there's a lot of bells 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:26.920 and whistles that goes along with it that can be achieved, 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.520 but you just can't corners in regards to like the time, 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:34.000 it's twenty four hours a day. I have never since 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.160 I've been in business. But they do not disturb I'm 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.480 out of town email, you know what I mean. I 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:44.360 just never have I'm going to respond to it or 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:46.400 you know, I'm gonna get to it a little bit later. 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:50.600 But it's it's just NonStop. It's always, it's continuous. Now, 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:53.440 I love that you talked about the personal input, like 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.080 the personal profiles and et ceterer because I wanted to know, like, 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.800 how do you build a sellable asset, a sellable brand 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.600 without becoming so core to it that if you're not 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.160 the face of it any longer, it no longer works. 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:07.280 How do you do that? You got to look at 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:09.760 the bigger picture. I think for me, it was always 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:14.840 about building a business, building businesses and have an ability 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:18.160 to actually scale them, you know. So for me when 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.120 I work on the project, you know, I never get 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:23.719 into it like, Okay, I'm about to build this thing 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.680 to sell. But to be honest, this is how big 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:31.360 business goes. Like there's companies has created strategically how do 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:35.040 we position this thing to sell? But I think for 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.480 a lot of people entrepreneurs, it really doesn't work that 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:41.400 way because you have to attach yourself from a passion perspective, 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.360 and if you're constantly thinking I'm gonna sell it one day, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.080 it's not going to necessarily do what you wanted to do, 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:49.480 you know what I mean. So you have to keep 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.959 your enterprize, which is it's being passionate about what it 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.760 is that you're working on and just again just give it, 0:09:55.760 --> 0:10:00.360 give it your all. Is direct to consumer um a 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.960 better opportunity. These days, I think about, like, what what 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:05.280 is the process like to get into retail? Like so 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:07.959 many times you hear companies who spent thousands of dollars 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:11.520 getting boots at conventions and traveling the shows to you know, 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.160 do the Dog and Pony show. How is it really 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.320 accomplished to get into retail? Like how do you set 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:19.480 yourself apart when you got I think the most the 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.680 best way to think about getting into retail is to 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:26.079 not think about getting into retail. If you start your 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:29.199 business and you're constantly thinking what can I do to 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:33.839 solely get into retail, retailers are looking for businesses who 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:37.600 are actually popping outside of retail, so you have to 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:40.560 think about it. These are regular people, these buyers, There 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.040 are people just like you and me. They're taking a 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:46.600 chance on you. This is their job. So if you 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:50.160 have not shown that you can succeed outside of retail, 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:52.760 because some for some reason, people think that when you 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:54.880 get on the shelf, oh my god, not a retail 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.680 is gonna take off, the gonna advertise for you. You 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:00.959 have to drive your own business. So if you can't 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:05.239 survive outside of retail, you won't be able to survive inside. 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.079 So if you treat your e commerce website as if 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:12.839 it was a legit retail resources, strategy, finding a team, 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.520 how to build it, scaling it, making an assessment you 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.280 it's easy to get into retail. They know who you are. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.440 The demand is there, people are talking about it. But 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:26.160 if you think about it a little bit less and 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.160 concentrate on your brand, on the growth of your company, 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.320 then retail is gonna be inevitable. It's almost like a DJ. 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:34.600 If you got a hot song, he's gonna play it. 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.360 You know what, if it's hot, it's hot. So you 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:39.960 have to focus on making your brand that hot that 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.120 once the retailer here, it it's automatic, like you're coming 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:46.360 in here automatically, you know, because we've heard about this brand. 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:49.560 The customers are calling. Now we're gonna come back to 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:51.440 the main choice. But I do want to talk about 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.880 you've got a master class now and you're teaching people, 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.160 you know, all across the CpG particularly may be helping 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:00.800 your hair and et cetera, how to do this. What 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:02.839 can you give me like the elevator pitch for this 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:04.960 master class and what they well, people get out of it. 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.440 I will say what they get out of UM is 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:14.559 that one on one giving you what you need, that 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:17.280 that's basically different from the next person. I think it 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:19.640 was hard for me to say, let me prerecord this 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:23.040 stuff and just like sell some type of master class. 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:26.560 But everybody needs something that's different, something that's customized. I 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:28.760 work with people who have no idea how to operate 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.240 social media. I work with people who have no idea 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.559 what the E I N and entity form and the 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.880 entity is. I work with people who have no concept 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:39.880 at all of a business. I work with people who 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.760 have sold over a million dollars. So there's it's hard 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:45.280 for me to prerecord something to say, well, this is 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:48.079 a one size fit all. Is not a one size 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.840 at all when you look at the route that journey, 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.040 every journey is going to be a little bit different. 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.280 And the only way that I'm able to do that 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.839 is by me physically sitting down talking and answer actually 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:03.000 those questions individually, because the responses is going to change. 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.160 It's going to be different across the board. UM. And 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.000 as I mentioned, you grew up in Detroit, and I 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.640 think about the work that you've done based on your success, 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.160 like the philanthropy work that you getting involved in you know, 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:16.600 you started to pay my bill program. Um, how much 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:20.400 of you know, the work that you do today speaks 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.400 to where you come from, like being from Detroit, And 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.240 because I talked about this often, being from the Midwest, 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.240 you know, forty five minutes away from where you grew up, 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:31.319 we were so heavily innundated with the manufacturing and automotive 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.520 and etcetera. And at least in Toledo, maybe in Detroit 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:38.400 it was different. We didn't have that entrepreneurial spirit you know, 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:42.400 percolating around us. But the people who were successful were 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.720 successful because they worked at GM or G or etcetera. 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.320 How how do you see your role as you know, 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.280 a role model to you know, and the giving that 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:55.600 you do as impactful for people who want to want 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:59.040 to have the kind of success that you've achieved. Um, 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.440 I would definitely say, you know, one thing about you know, 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.400 being from Detroit. Even if we didn't have what we 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:09.000 consider like that traditional you know, entrepreneurial leadership, what we 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.839 did have and what we continuously have, and I think 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.160 it's the same thing where where you from is that hustle. 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:17.640 At the end of the day, we're gonna find a 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.920 way to make ends meet, We're gonna find a way 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:24.240 to feed our family, you know, And I know for sure, 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:28.920 uh my foundation being from Detroit and just not giving up, 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.840 knowing that there's other opportunities that this door says, uh 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.240 it's closed, or as someone says, no, there's another opportunity 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.240 out there. So I may can't do it here, but 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:41.240 I can go around you and find someone else. So 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:45.040 I definitely believe, you know, having that that that whustle 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.520 um that I grew up in definitely helped achieved to 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.440 kind of you know where I am today. Sure, Yeah, 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.400 And I read that you a registered nurse, you know, 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:57.200 are in by background, and I imagine you probably didn't 0:14:57.240 --> 0:14:59.400 imagine that that you would be doing what you're doing today, 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.440 Like how does that how do those looking back, how 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.840 do those steps piece together to allow you? Yeah, I 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.720 definitely believe having my my science background. One thing about 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:13.320 nursing is we're so rare around it, Like we have 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:17.440 to do science, chemistry, statistics, sociology, like there's so many 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:20.200 things that we have to go through, um, just to 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.880 become a nurse. And sometimes we hear about the nursing 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:26.040 shortage out there is not really a nursing shortage. It's 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.760 just that the people who are nurses are not entrepreneurs 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.400 and they're doing something else. It's one of the only 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:33.960 fields you can go in. And the day you graduate 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:38.760 and start working, you're now responsible for like many people live, 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.640 so you grow up overnight. Now you're thinking has to 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:44.120 be crisp, you have to be on point. You can't 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.720 make mistakes. There is no you a fresh new nurse, 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:49.680 We're gonna allow you room to have a mistake. Like, 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:53.200 that's not an option. So I know for sure, having 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:57.120 my medical background, just understanding even learning here from a 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:00.240 science perspective, I'm like, can we grow hair? Can black 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.080 women grow long hair? I never thought that I could 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:05.280 have hair all the way down to my waist. I 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.160 didn't think it was possible. But as I as I 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:11.560 started to mature and just really um just doing research, 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.320 I'm like, yeah, we can't achieve it if we do 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.080 things a little bit different. So now my science bright 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.960 ground is kicking in. Now I'm mixing things and and 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.000 and and testing things, and I'm like, no, we can 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.600 grow hair. And to grow my hair from here. All 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:28.200 my life as an adult, it's been here too, down 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.920 to my waist definitely tells me that there's a science 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:48.920 to it. We all know somebody who started their health 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:52.280 and wellness company, whether it be haircare or skincare, and 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:53.880 there's a point to where it makes sense for them 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.840 to make the products in their kitchens. There's also a 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:58.680 point to where it makes sense to go big and 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:02.640 find the manufacturer. But how do you know which manufacturers 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.640 a copactors to trust when the wrong batch can ruin 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:09.960 your brand for good. Courtney speaks on it. One thing 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.200 for me, um and that could say, you know, different folks, 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.800 different strokes. When it comes to anything that's like chemical 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:21.040 bound water base, I have to have that stuff done here, 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.960 Like when it comes to international I never felt comfortable 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:29.320 when necessarily doing any type of chemicals elsewhere. I made 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.760 this stuff in my kitchen. If someone is going to 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.200 duplicate it for me on the on the largest scale, 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:37.520 I must have the ability to walk in to see 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:39.760 if they're doing the right thing, using the right thing. 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:43.479 Nothing is changing, no chemicals, no extra chemicals, And I 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.679 think it's really about finding the right partner. This is 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:52.320 you literally can google right now a manufacturer and every 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:54.320 one of the biggest players in the game is going 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.280 to pop up. The problem is people don't sit down 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.119 and do the research and actually interview because at the 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:03.160 end of the day, they're working for you now. So 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.560 I think sometimes we feel a little intimidated, like, oh 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:07.359 my god, who do I reach out to. They're not 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.359 gonna think I'm big enough? But you're paying them. They 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:13.800 shouldn't have that. They can't change anything without your ability 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:18.000 to do so. Unfortunately, I was able to pay attention 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.040 to my e commerce dot com before I really needed 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:24.240 to go mass manufacturing because I was able to make 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:27.200 a lot of money right at home without necessarily cutting 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:29.600 the check to someone else. So when we look at 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.359 what is a tech to actually scale and to lose money. 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:35.399 But by this point, fortunately I have enough money to 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:38.520 start doing testing and making sure that chemists are doing 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.040 what they're doing. But I ran my company at home 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:43.920 for three years. I made ten million dollars at home, 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.960 so I'm gonna I'm gonna correct the twenty five because 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.399 I got to do that. So we hit a hundred 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:55.040 We hit a hundred million sales, but I was able 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.160 to do a lot of that at home. Like so again, 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.400 this is why if you don't let me express anything, 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.000 pay attention to your dot com that is just as 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:09.119 vital today as a retailer. It's even more vital today. 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.800 So so is it important that these people, women and 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:17.440 men who are building these wellness, haircare, beauty brands be 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:21.000 just as good at the craft as they are at 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:25.640 they at social media and marketing. How do you do that? 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:27.800 That's that's the tough part, and I think that was 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.960 one of my initiatives. But even having like the master classes, 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:35.760 because I understand that everybody may not have everything, and 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.399 I can say I have everything, but one thing about me. 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:41.360 When I look to expand my team, I'm looking at 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:44.879 the areas where I know are my weaknesses, you know 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:46.760 what I mean. So instead of me looking for to 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:49.480 hire someone to do what I do, I don't necessarily 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:52.680 need that. You if you if you know you're struggling 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:54.879 in some areas. And one thing about social media is this. 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.199 Sometimes they scare as people and they said, well, you know, 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:00.320 let me hire your social media manage I'm like, note, 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:02.480 if you tell my massive class, I'm like, no, we're 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:04.600 gonna learn it because this is the one of the 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:08.080 areas that you can do for free. The key is 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.239 necessarily sometimes not how much money you make, but how 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:13.960 much you can keep so if you don't necessarily have 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:16.880 to pay extra people to do these things. I want 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:19.600 to teach you how to run this thing yourself. And 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:22.399 once you start needing some help at this point, it 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:24.520 should be a man power help because you've got so 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:27.879 many orders you physically can't ship them yourself. But for 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:30.920 the things that you can do do I think people 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:34.560 can learn them? Yes, is it? It's it gonna be harder, Yes, 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.560 it's gonna take extra time. Yes. So I don't like to, 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:40.760 you know, tell people get them like false holds, like 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:43.720 this is so easy. It's not easy, but this is doable. 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:46.440 So if I if I can do it, I'm legit 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:49.560 telling you you can do it too. You can learn 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:52.640 how to do it too. Definitely, I'm glad you bring 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:55.800 this up because I've I've seen a lot of people 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:58.680 you know, with shape butter companies and lotion companies and 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.399 hair companies in the center, and I'd like you to 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.560 speak to like knowing your numbers a little bit, because 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.199 like how do you price in early? How do you 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:09.960 get to figuring out what those unit costs out? Like 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:12.960 what does it cost to make one bottle? Right? That 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:17.240