WEBVTT - Try things out, with Monica Nassif 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.600 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:13.640 Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.040 Today's episode is going to be a longer one part 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:20.280 of the series where I interview fascinating people about how 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.079 they take their days from great to awesome and any 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:26.000 advice they have for the rest of us. So today, 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:29.360 I am delighted to welcome Monica Nassif to Before Breakfast. 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.080 Monica is the founder of missus Myers's Clean Day household products, 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:35.320 a brand I know a lot of our listeners use. 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:37.559 She is also the author of the new book I 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:41.040 Bottled My Mother. So Monica, welcome to the show. 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:42.600 I'm delighted to be here. Laura. 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:45.000 Yeah, thanks for coming on. So why don't you tell 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:46.800 our listeners a little bit about yourself? 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:51.160 Sure, I founded missus Myers Clean Day about twenty years ago, 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.760 and it was really due to a Eureka moment in 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.520 a store where I saw these cleaning products on a 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.920 wooden pallet. They were tipped over, they had garish liquids, 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.120 they smelled terrible, and I kept thinking, why can't this 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.880 be fabulous? Why can't this be awesome? Like a Veda 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:09.560 or your favorite personal care products. So that was a 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:13.120 Eureka moment. Then I immediately stopped sleeping. I wrote a 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:16.240 business plan and off I went in terms of raising 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.319 money and launching the product and really trying to create 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:23.760 a consistent fragrance across all types of cleaning products for 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.080 the entire home that were safe for your kids and 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.240 your pets. That was really the genesis. 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:30.959 Yeah, that's awesome. Well I use a lot of Missus 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.480 Myers's products in my house. I almost took a photo 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:37.399 of the stash of hand soap we have in the pantry. 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:38.120 To send you. 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:41.880 But a lot of people assume that Missus Myers is, 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:45.440 you know, mister clean, right, But in fact this is 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:46.279 a real person. 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:48.040 There is a real Missus Meyer. 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.360 There is a real Missus Myers, and she's my mother. 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:53.720 She's ninety three years old. She's still alive and kicking 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:57.040 and doing amazing and she was really the inspiration for 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.840 the brand because my mother was a child of the depression. 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:05.440 She really believed in home cooked meals, physical exercise, fresh 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.600 fresh air cures everything. And she was really the model 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:11.919 for Hey, this is how you care for your home, 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:15.520 and a loving, practical and not a perfect way. If 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.359 you will so. Yeah, she loved her role. Oh my gosh. 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:23.520 When I brought her to media events, reporters laughed up, 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.200 and she just thought she was a Hollywood starlet. Yeah, 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.520 it's she's a real person and she'll tell you all 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:29.840 about it if you happen to meet her. 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.640 Well, I'm sure you guys had all sorts of I mean, 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:36.320 if she is the inspiration for this, what was housekeeping 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.399 like in your home growing up? I feel like maybe 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:40.760 none of us could ever live up to that. 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:43.919 Well, it wasn't. My mother was saying it was never perfect, 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.440 and it was not. But one thing my mother did 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.639 is every Saturday morning, you ran down to the refrigerator 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:51.880 and she would write on either a back of an 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.400 envelope or a brown paper bag because my mother did 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:58.120 not believe in buying paper. These were your chores. And 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.760 her big attitude about caring for the house was it's 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.120 not perfect, but well we'll keep it up. Because she 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:07.160 really wanted to play. She wanted us outside playing in 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.119 the backyard, so once we finished our chores, we could 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.239 go play. And she we did that every Saturday morning. 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.760 And my mother also loved laundry. Oh my gosh. She 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:20.320 was a very beautiful laundress. She everything was hung outside 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:24.440 in the backyard. So those were the things she really enjoyed. 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:28.680 And and ironing. I think ironing was her morning meditation, 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:29.560 if you will. 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:34.480 Well that's something if I that's enjoying. But I love 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:35.240 that detail though. 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.440 You know, I used to think that one had to 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:43.600 make grocery lists on envelopes, because my mother always did 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.760 her grocery list on the back of an envelope, and 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.360 then she would put a used envelope like we're not 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.640 using none ever used a new one, and then she'd 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.640 put her coupons in the envelope system. 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.320 Right, so that's even better. 0:03:57.640 --> 0:03:59.600 We come from the same sort of thing. 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.080 But there were a lot of you that she was 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.320 hanging all this laundry out in the backyard. 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.000 You are one of nine children, right, that is correct. 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.800 I'm the oldest girl, so I had in ten years, 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:12.360 nine of us showed up. So I had two older 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.960 twin brothers, then myself three sisters, and then we called 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:18.800 them the three little boys, my three younger brothers. And 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:21.480 believe me, it was a scrum, let me tell you. 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:25.600 And as a lot of children, a lot of kids. 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:27.640 In fact, I had a woman when I was in 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.359 my forties in business. She said, hey, I'm taking a 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.640 self defense class and I said, why. She goes, I've 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:36.159 never hit anyone. She goes, have you ever hit anyone? 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.640 And I went, uh, yeah. 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:44.680 That's how you survived lots of times. I can only imagine. 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:45.240 You know. 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:50.680 One of my personal fascinations is large family logistics. So 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:53.000 I'm very curious if you guys had any sort of, 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.640 you know, cheaper by the dozen things you all did 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:59.240 to keep the household organized, like everybody had to have 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.880 a certain color sock or something like that. 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.640 I don't remember that. I do remember everybody kind of 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:08.200 had their own laundry basket by the bedroom. So there 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.279 were three little bedrooms upstairs, and there were six, the 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.360 six oldest were up there, and every and every room 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:16.840 had a laundry basket. So your clothes came down in 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.160 that and then they were folded. Of course, you helped 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:20.880 her mom. We helped our mom fold them, and then 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:24.919 they went back upstairs. That was one, and then for dining, 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.599 everyone had the same position at the dining room table. 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:30.159 The other rule was if you cooked, you didn't have 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:33.600 the do dishes. And believe me, I learned really quick 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.000 to cook because I did not want to do dishes 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.479 for eleven people. So that was the other thing. 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:39.240 I think. 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.760 The other thing my mother did was she was also 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.960 a big believer in physical exercise. So back in the day, 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:49.560 she adored Jack Lalaane. Now I'm showing my age, Laura, 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:52.440 I'd okay, you've heard of it, Okay. So he was 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:56.080 kind of the first personal fitness guru, and she watched 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:59.080 him daily and we all had to exercise along with her. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.800 So that was one thing she did. Or she kicked 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.400 us outside as soon as we were able. And then 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.680 the other thing that she kind of controlled her day 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:09.680 was she every afternoon, after lunch, she would set the 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.360 timer on the stove for thirty minutes and we all 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.040 had to lay down in the living room and rest, 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:17.760 even if you know, up to age twelve, we had 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:21.840 to just kind of calm ourselves after lunch. I actually 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:25.240 think that kept her saying a lot of the days, 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:25.960 so she. 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:27.719 Knew she was going to get at least thirty minutes 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:29.960 of quiet, right whatever the rest of the day looked. 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.920 Like, right, exactly exactly, And you know. 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.640 She was obviously spending much of her time caring for 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.320 all you guys. But she she had had a career, 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.520 I believe as a nurse at one point, and. 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:42.920 She had a lot of career advice for you as well. 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:46.000 You mentioned in your book that some of the best 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:48.960 advice on like experimentation and not being afraid of failure 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:49.680 came out right. 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.400 Yeah, you know, my mother was she said, failure was 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:55.400 not in my vocabulary. I just thought that was learning. 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:58.599 You know. It was never a mistake that you used 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:02.919 granulated sugar for versus powdered sugar, or you sowed the 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:06.840 wrong sleeve into the bodice. It would it was always oh, now, 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:09.400 you know, just try it again. Everything was just kind 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:12.280 of that's okay, try it again now, you know, it 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.120 was just learning. You know. I don't and I don't 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.160 ever remember my mom being afraid. Really, she kind of 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.760 had this devil may care, God will protect me. Let's 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.840 go I've never been here before, let's go over there. 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:28.320 She was very adventuresome, and you know that gave us 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:30.400 a lot of confidence too. When you see your mother, 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.360 you know, go anywhere with the nine kids in a 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:37.600 station wagon, you know, because my dad traveled all the time, 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.720 so she was always taking us everywhere. You know, all 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:42.040 of us at once. 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:43.840 And how do you how on earth do you corral 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:46.240 nine children in public? And I mean I guess you 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:48.640 guys were just maybe she wasn't afraid, but you all 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:49.800 are afraid of what would happen. 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:53.080 No, you know what, she was an extremely fast walker. 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.720 She's a very fit woman. And man, I'm telling you, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.000 if you didn't keep up with her, she'll leave you behind. 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:02.480 So you just learned to stay line, keep up and 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:04.320 make sure you can see your head, you know, make 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.880 sure you can see your tail lights because she was 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:07.440 on the move. 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:11.800 I'm sure all great training for then managing perhaps unruly 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.800 teams in the future and your business careers. We'll be 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:17.600 back in just a minute to talk with more with 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:28.040 Monica Nassaf. Well, I am back talking with Monica nassav 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.520 who is the founder of missus Meyer The Clean Day. 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:35.199 And we've been talking about your childhood in a family 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.280 of nine. But when you started your business then, I 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.640 think it's so fascinating. You started with the high end products, 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:45.440 right with the Caldria brand, and then pivoted from that. 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.040 I mean, you still had culture Caldria, but to bring 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.480 in a mass market brand. I'm curious what was the 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.480 thinking there that you know you you were gonna switch 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:55.640 gears in a way? 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.320 Well, the thinking was we started at the high end 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:00.640 because I knew that industry a lot better. I knew 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.120 the gift and specialty industry, especially coming in out of 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.200 retail excuse me, a far better than how to get 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:08.559 on the grocery store shelf or the whole foods of 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:11.640 the world. And plus we wanted to experiment a little about, Hey, 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.960 what fragrances work? Does this concept work? And once we 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:18.040 saw traction with the concept. We were also doing all 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:21.040 the private label program for Williamsonoma at the time, so 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.000 we knew from them that their sales were going good 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.160 great too, And we thought, you know what, someone's going 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:29.679 to knock us off. I just know it. I'm fiercely competitive, 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:31.760 and I thought we got to get to the mass 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.920 before someone else does. So I thought, if another team 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:38.160 came and said let's take out Caldrea, how would they 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.720 do it? So we hired a whole nother design team 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:44.080 and a whole really a couple marketing people just to 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:48.280 focus on creating Missus Myers. And we thought, this has 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:52.360 to be so different from Caldrea, wholesome Midwestern really just 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:56.040 kind of looking to our own personal heritage. And we thought, God, 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:59.560 just sounds like my mom and bo the you know, 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:00.640 the idea was born. 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:03.080 Yeah, well it makes so much sense. 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:05.920 I mean, I love the idea of high end cleaning products. 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:07.920 But there's also this tension here because I mean, anyone 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.880 who can buy truly high end cleaning products can also 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.920 pay somebody else to clean their house. And so you're 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.080 going for the market maybe of people who want to 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:18.959 do their own cleaning or need to do their own cleaning, 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:20.839 but still want it to be a good experience. 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.200 Oh for sure. No. And you know, even my mom said, 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:25.360 I can't afford that stuff. I would never buy that 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:28.200 Caldaria stuff. Why did you make something for me? That 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.400 happened actually about a month before you know, the light 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.839 bulb went on and we thought, she's right, we got 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:35.160 to do a mass market brand. 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:35.960 Yeah. 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:36.640 Absolutely. 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.720 So, you know, obviously a lot goes into the thought 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.080 of whether one is going to start a business. And 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.520 you know, I think, you know, you mentioned in the 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.880 book somebody is not so much about how to start 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:48.559 a business. 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:50.600 Should I start a business? 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.360 And what are some of the characteristics that people should 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:55.880 know in themselves to know if this is the right 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:56.600 path for them. 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.120 You know, it's a great question because I get asked 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:03.120 that mechanical quotes all the time. How how it's a 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.720 good question, No, you know. But at the first question 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.160 is should you be doing this? Do you see an 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:10.920 entrepreneur in the mirror? And you have to think about 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.800 are you a solo flyer? You're very much alone in 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.520 the beginning, you know, So can you handle being alone? 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.480 Can you live in the gray zone? That's another question 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.880 you have to ask yourself. Are you intuitive? Can you 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:25.319 make a lot of decisions without a lot of information? 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.400 And can you save yourself? You know, you know a 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.000 lot of people can't save themselves when they find themselves 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:35.120 in a deep dark hole with their favorite shovel set 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.960 next to them. So can you save yourself? And I 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.520 think you have to be comfortable? And can you go 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.800 broke and live with all that you know? Can you 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.320 check the downside? Can you write down all the horrible 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.960 things that might happen and go okay if that happens. 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:51.800 I can live with this. I'm okay with this. I'm okay, 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.319 My family's okay. So I think there's a lot of 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:57.480 questions you got to ask yourself before you begin, well. 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.240 What do you mean exactly by can you live in 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:01.839 the gray zone? How would somebody know that they're okay 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:02.120 with that? 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.760 Well, like, for example, can you make decisions without information? 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:08.920 You know, sometimes you'll go, I wonder if we should 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.320 go in that store, and you have to walk into 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.320 the store and go, Okay, I see other like brands, 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:16.760 all right, we fit with that. You know, you have 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:19.440 to have enough experience under your belt to be able 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:21.920 to live in the gray zone. And yet what I 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:23.800 mean by that is you don't have the data, right, 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:25.640 you don't have the sales data to know you should 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:27.760 be in this store, but you just kind of see 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.280 the other brands and you say, yeah, we could fit here, 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:33.120 we should be here, Let's go after them. That's what 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:35.280 I mean about the gray zone, and especially too when 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:39.080 you're creating a brand, and a lot of it is 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:44.079 creative brainstorming. Again, can you live with the process of that? 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:45.840 I see a lot of I used to be in 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:48.160 the consulting world, and I saw a lot of clients 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:52.120 super frustrated with Well, we don't know if that's going 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.240 to work or this is going to work. Let's test it. 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.840 With you know, focus groups, and I knew focus groups 0:12:57.920 --> 0:12:59.680 that they're there kiss of death, you know you do 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:02.120 a phone because I don't ask me about focus grips. 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.920 I'm very much against them. I never think anything good 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:07.480 comes out of them other than c ya. But you 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.640 have to make decisions based on your experience and your 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:13.640 passion for the brand. That's what I mean by living 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:14.400 in the gray zone. 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.160 Yeah, and you have to be so creative with an 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:21.200 entrepreneurship sort of thing. But you mentioned there are ways 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:23.960 to be more creative. There are also things that kill creativity. Yeah, 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:25.320 I think focus groups are one of them. 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:26.800 What are some of the other. 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:30.160 Things that that can really nip the outside the box 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:31.480 thinking right there? Uh? 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.080 The ability to take on a creative risk. And what 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:37.280 I mean by that is if a creative uh, let's 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.840 say idea comes to you, you're the client, and it's 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.320 just so out there, But does it make you lean 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:47.120 in the hair on your arms kind of raise and 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.840 you go, oh my gosh, I don't fully understand it yet. 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:55.120 That is so attractive, that's so appealing. But that only 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:59.400 comes because you really understand your mission, you really understand 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.600 your vision. You know, I'm a creative thinker. But I 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.680 can't draw stick figure. But if you hire great graphic 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:09.640 designers and advertising folks, they can make that vision come alive. 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.880 And that whole process is gray. It's entirely muddy, and 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.280 you kind of don't know where you're gonna land. And 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:17.800 a lot of people go, how do you know it's 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.240 gonna work. Well, honestly, you don't know it's gonna work. 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:23.240 But if you see great creative work that reflects your 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.200 vision and your mission and your passion for the brand, 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:27.280 you'll know it when you see it. 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:29.480 Well, and I imagine that some of the lessons you 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.120 learned from your mom about tolerating failure and there's just 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.320 new ways of learning that plays out in this. 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.840 Right without question. Yeah, we didn't like my mom didn't 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:39.920 have a roadmap, she had no idea what was going 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.280 to happen through the day. It was just like, hey, 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.360 we'll go over there, we'll try that. If that doesn't work, 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:48.440 we'll do this. And so that sense of just sort 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:52.600 of be agility if you will agility, agile in your thinking, 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:56.280 agility in your actions. Yeah, I was raised like that. 0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:58.240 Wonderful. 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.040 Well, we're gonna take one more quick ad break and 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.200 then I'll be back with more from Monica Nasseif. 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:10.600 Well, I am back. 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.040 Talking with Monica Nassif, who is the founder of missus 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:15.600 Myers Clean day household products. She is also the author 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.160 of the brand new book I Bottled My Mother about 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:19.360 the real Missus Myers. 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.240 But let's pivot to talk about your own schedule. 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:22.400 Here. 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:24.360 A lot of listeners of this show that is called 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.920 Before Breakfast have morning routines, and you have one as well, 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:28.320 don't you. 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.240 I do. I am a very early riser, I am 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:33.520 usually and I've I've been liked out my whole life, 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.680 probably because some of my first jobs I used to 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.960 walk beans on. I wasn't raised on a farm, but 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:41.920 I did a lot of farm work in my when 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.480 I was about twelve and fourteen. So I usually get 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:49.320 up about four thirty cup of coffee, big glass of water. 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.440 And I'm a big yoga person, so if I can 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:56.360 find a hot yoga studio, I love that. I try 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.240 to read all my newspapers online. You know. I've got 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:03.000 probably four that I read, and then I always every day, 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.520 even when I stopped working full time, I write down 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:07.840 everything I'm going to do that day. So I'm a 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.480 big list maker. I write down what I'm going to do, 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.560 I look ahead of my calendar, and I love breakfast. 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:17.080 So man, this is my kind of show. I'm telling you, 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.400 we got a lot of lood done there before breakfast. 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:21.120 I imagine. 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:22.920 Well, I mean, how. 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:23.800 When are you eating breakfast? 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:25.280 I mean if it starts at four thirty, when it 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:27.160 when is the breakfast fight actually happening there? 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.880 I usually have coffee and a banana every morning, okay something, Yeah, 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:34.520 I'm always eating. Yeah, don't worry about that. Yeah, I 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:36.520 make sure I find something to eat. 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:37.320 Yeah. 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:39.200 Well, that was good that if you were doing farm 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:40.800 work as as a kid you had this sort of 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:42.880 early bird tend. Then say that that would have been 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.239 hard if you were were not into that exactly. 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:49.600 I love early morning and I'm I am most mostly productive. 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.120 I have my best hours, and I love it's quiet, 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:53.920 no one else is on. 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.240 Yeah, and were you able to were you able to 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.600 reflect that schedule, like when you were like deep in 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:01.840 the weed of building your your brand? 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.080 Oh, I had to. I had no other I had 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:06.600 no other choice. I had two small girls at the time, 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.360 and I had to get up and get organized before 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.200 they were awake, and so I've been getting up early 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:16.560 and getting organized my whole life. Yeah. 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:18.080 And what time do you need to go to bed though, 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:19.879 in order to be up at four thirty in the morning. 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.200 I mean, there's that's of course the key question here. 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:23.800 Do I have to say this out loud? 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.920 It's all right, okay, I probably go to bed around 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:28.880 nine o'clock, eight thirty, nine o'clock. 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.840 That that is totally legit if you are up at 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:34.359 four thirty in the morning. What's really funny to me 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:35.840 is people are starting like getting up at like three 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:37.280 thirty or something. I'm like, jesz, you have to be 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:39.400 in bed at like seven pm to make it work. 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:41.320 I'll only get to catch an early flight. No, I 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:42.000 don't get it better. 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:43.560 Yeah, that's exactly. 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.480 So, I mean, are there any other sort of routines 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:48.840 you have that help make you more productive? 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:52.640 You know? I think getting organized, but I've been doing 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:57.639 that my whole life. Also physical exercise. Again, this hails 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.679 for my mother. We were always taught you had to 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.879 do something every day. Take a walk, you know, go 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.280 ride your bike, go hiking. My mother loves to hike. 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:09.080 She's still to this day she wants to wants me 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:10.840 to take her on a hike. She can't go as far, 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.000 but she still wants to go. So I think just 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.680 taking care of your body with healthy food, you know. Also, 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.720 my mom she hated junk food. She always said, junk 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.359 food is junk food. And so we were raised with 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:26.160 real healthy eating. Drink lots of water, no process foods. 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.520 That makes a healthy day. You feel better, you think 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:30.520 you know you're sharper. 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:33.520 Yeah, well, you mentioned as part of your morning routine 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:35.680 that you are planning out your day, like what would 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:38.080 happen at different times? Is there any point where you 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.280