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00:00Hi, my name is Melissa Bradley, and I am honored to be an advisor to the New Voices family.
00:22Today is a special day because we get a chance to highlight entrepreneurs who are doing amazing
00:27things.
00:28We're about to see right now Journey to Retail, which is going to profile two amazing New Voices
00:33entrepreneurs, Melissa from Lip Bar and Bea from Honey Pot.
00:37And the most exciting part is they're going to be in a conversation hosted by one of our
00:41own pitch competition winners, Jamika of Rosen Skin Care.
00:46So if you are interested in retail, in the beauty business, in CPG, anything like that,
00:52sit back, relax, and get ready to hear from experts on the journey to retail.
00:56Hi, everyone.
00:59Welcome to Journey to Retail, a special segment for all of you checking out the New Voices
01:04and Target Accelerators pitch competition.
01:06I'm Jamika.
01:07I'm the founder of Rosen Skin Care, and I'm super excited about today's topic, which is
01:12all about businesses led by women of color moving into the world of retail.
01:16I started Rosen in 2017 because I wanted to disrupt the skincare industry and offer clean ingredients
01:23for the millennial Gen Z community, specifically those dealing with breakouts.
01:27Once my company scaled into retail, I was able to expand my reach by so much and show other
01:32entrepreneurs that moving into retail on a major level is definitely possible.
01:36Today, I'm joined by two incredible women who are trailblazing entrepreneurs taking the
01:41world by storm with their businesses.
01:42Both these ladies have lines that are available in major retail stores around the nation.
01:46I'm sure you've heard of them, and I can't wait to dive into their journey into retail
01:50and their expansion in retail.
01:52I have with me the founder of The Honey Pot, a plant-based, black-owned, feminine care
01:57brand, B. Dixon, and the founder of and the CEO of The Lip Bar, a vegan, cruelty-free beauty
02:04line, Melissa Butler.
02:07So I really wanted to start with just hearing a little bit about why you guys started your
02:11businesses, when you started, and when you knew you had the potential to go beyond this
02:15like idea, small business stage into something that's like totally scaled up to like where you
02:20guys are at today.
02:21We can start with you, Bea.
02:23Hi.
02:24It's so nice to meet you in person, and I'm so grateful to be here with you, Melissa.
02:34I love you.
02:36I love you, Beth.
02:38But no, I got started in the feminine hygiene space because I had my own problems with my
02:45own vagina.
02:48And basically I had bacterial vaginosis for almost a year.
02:53Nothing that I did worked.
02:55One morning my grandmother came to me in a dream and basically told me what to do to fix
03:01what I was dealing with.
03:03She had been walking with me and watching me experience all these crazy things.
03:08And she handed me a piece of paper.
03:11And on the paper was a list of ingredients.
03:14And she kept telling me in the dream to remember.
03:16Just don't look at me, look at the paper so you can remember.
03:21And when I woke up, I wrote it down.
03:23I made it.
03:24Within a couple of days, four to five days after I was using it, I noticed that everything
03:29that I was dealing with had went away.
03:32And so that's really how, because immediately I was like, oh, I have to make this into a
03:36company, you know?
03:37And voila, here we are.
03:42I started the lip bar because I was frustrated with the beauty industry.
03:52It's lack of diversity.
03:53It's excessive amounts of chemicals.
03:56I'm not like a typical beauty founder where it's like, I love makeup.
04:01Like I actually just learned how to do my own makeup a year ago.
04:05But I am a woman and a woman who's used to listening to society to tell us like what is
04:13beautiful and looking at society's beauty norms.
04:16And I never, I just never felt like it was inclusive of, you know, most women, black women,
04:23you know, Indian women, Asian women.
04:25It's like, you never really saw those people in beauty campaigns.
04:28And they were never looked at as beautiful by society at large.
04:32And I was like, this is bullshit.
04:35I can do something to change it.
04:37And so I started the lip bar with the goal of challenging the beauty standard
04:42because I felt like we just deserved it.
04:44We deserved more.
04:45We deserve to see ourselves and, and the rest is history.
04:49I love it.
04:51I'm part of your question.
04:53Oh, I, well, yeah, that's what I was going to follow up on.
04:56It's just like your story of getting started, but also when was that point for both of you guys
05:00where you felt like, okay, not only is like this a business idea past,
05:04like something I'm going to make for myself.
05:05Like, when did you go past like, oh, this is a scalable idea that like I can take
05:09into mass retailers and I can really, you know, try to blow up.
05:14For me, it was immediate, you know, I mean, obviously it didn't happen immediately,
05:19but I always knew that it could be every, it could be just as synonymous as Tampax and always
05:30and Summers Eve and Vagisil.
05:31It could be that household name.
05:34And so for me, it was like almost immediately, you know, and I've really had to like stick
05:42to those guns because it's easy to drift away from that, you know.
05:48But for me, it's literally always been.
05:52Yeah.
05:53So first of all, that's amazing, B, because I feel like that is not the norm,
05:58because when you're a founder and you're a new founder, like you deal with so much imposter syndrome.
06:04So I was the person.
06:05So B was like, I got this.
06:07I know it works.
06:08This came from, you know, from my ancestors.
06:10This came from my grandmother.
06:12Whereas I was like, I know that the industry needs this, but can I be the person to deliver it?
06:19You know, will people understand it?
06:21So within beauty, like I felt like I was tackling something that no one cared about.
06:27Right now it's crazy because diversity is so trendy within the beauty space.
06:32Everyone has a million shades of foundation.
06:35Everyone is catering to black and brown women.
06:38But in 2011, when I was working on this, no one cared about black beauty.
06:44And so I questioned it and I questioned myself every step of the way.
06:48But I just kept going even throughout that fear.
06:51So I don't know if I had a specific moment where it was like, you got it.
06:57But I really just believed in the why.
07:00And that's what kept me going.
07:02Yeah, I love that.
07:03No, I definitely feel you there.
07:05I think like B, I knew what I wanted to do was something I wanted to kind of like scale up and take the next level.
07:11But definitely like as you're building it, especially kind of just like starting on your own, it's kind of you feel like everybody else has all these resources.
07:18But regardless, you guys are both obviously at the stage of where you got to and in match retail.
07:25And so I'd love to hear about, you know, I know you guys have both been so helpful to me just like talking about that journey, but like shedding light for all these other folks tuning in.
07:33How did you get into match retailers and really like what was the process that you took to get in front of buyers?
07:39I know that's something that people are always wondering.
07:41And how did that happen for both of you?
07:45You want to go for assistance?
07:47Yeah.
07:48So me getting into retail at first, we we didn't even want to launch into retail.
07:55We were all about, you know, how do we own our customer data?
07:59How do we get in front of them?
08:01How do we make sure that that we're creating relationship with them?
08:04And then over time we were like, oh, no, we can actually do we can do both because I think that that's the learning curve.
08:11Like, how do you maintain your brand consistency while also, you know, partnering with a huge retailer?
08:18And then once we've kind of figured out how to do that, I was like so committed to launching into retail.
08:24So I just started blind emailing everyone.
08:26So I blinded the email target and was just like, I have something that that I think your customers would appreciate, essentially, because you always want to think about business from a mutually beneficial perspective.
08:39And so I basically just blind pitched them and told them, like, why they needed the lip bar and what the lip bar could do for them.
08:47And with with Honeypot, I'm grateful to say with so our first retailer was was Whole Foods, but we weren't like in all of Whole Foods.
09:00We were like two or three Whole Foods.
09:03It wasn't a lot.
09:05But to me, that was like my first major like retailer, you know, and then, you know, but then when Target came, I was like, oh,
09:16I was like, oh, well, maybe they weren't mine.
09:19You know, so so yeah, like we were fortunate that our buyer, our buyer actually emailed our support email.
09:35She had she did that.
09:36She's no longer with Target now, but I adore Monique.
09:41She's fantastic.
09:42I adore all of the buyers that I've had.
09:45I'm so fortunate for like Mimi, Lavori, Monique.
09:48It's just been, you know, you should you should call them.
09:51And so she looked at our website at the time, though, we only made our washes.
09:57So, you know, so at the time we had we were wholesaling other things on our website.
10:05So when she called, you know, she when she emailed, you know, we actually talked.
10:09I mean, she she was like, well, what what exactly do you do?
10:14You know, we had to go through all this stuff.
10:16But the thing was, is I wasn't necessarily ready for that email because like I said, she reached out to us.
10:23So what I did is I was like, bitch, listen, we listen, we I made it seem like we were further along than we were.
10:36Right.
10:37But what I did is I put when we saw that she had emailed and when, you know, like I was already realizing what we needed to do because everything that we were doing on the website was working.
10:48So I realized that we needed to be a wash, a wipe and a pad company at that time.
10:53Right.
10:54And so when she reached out, it was like, boom, now I can execute.
10:58Now I can go talk to my to sign my brother CFO to get him to approve this because everybody thought I was crazy.
11:06You know, and then then I had then I went and got before I actually went to physically meet her.
11:13I went I created a presentation for our initial conversation.
11:17But then when we went to physically meet her, I called up a prototyping, a prototyping company.
11:23So the one that I use is called Rapid Prototype.
11:26And basically what they did is they prototyped me a line that was all designed specific around Honeypot.
11:34So when I went to sit down with her, I showed her a line of feminine care products.
11:39And even bigger than that, we showed her something that hadn't been done before.
11:44We did washes, wipes and pads.
11:46And we were the first ones to ever do that.
11:48So that got you.
11:50The prototyping is what got her attention because we could have just walked in with 3D images on a screen.
11:57But that really doesn't do much for you when you're going into a retail conversation.
12:01You need to go in there showing them a real product.
12:04Right.
12:05And so but when it comes to how do you get the attention of a retailer?
12:13You know, if you haven't gotten into retail and you don't have any connections to them, then you would do what Melissa did.
12:18Right.
12:19But if you have you would go to LinkedIn because LinkedIn wasn't even popping like it is right now.
12:24And Melissa was doing it.
12:25I don't even know how you found those emails.
12:28That's amazing.
12:30But but but if you are in retail.
12:34Right.
12:35And if if you're in a Walmart or a Target, then you're definitely already working with brokers.
12:42Right.
12:43Then what you would like to what you would want to do is if the broker that you're working with doesn't work with those other retailers, then you would want to go out and find a broker that does work with the retailer.
12:54And that's as simple when you're looking for that.
12:57That's as simple as typing in Walmart broker.
13:02Right.
13:03I just Googling that and something will come up.
13:06One of the best ones is MPG.
13:07That's who we use for Walmart.
13:10And then, you know, there's Moscow Group for Target.
13:13There's the stable for Target.
13:16There's so many.
13:17Right.
13:18But you would want to find a broker who can usher you into that relationship.
13:22Now, don't find a broker.
13:25You can find one if you've never done it before, but it's easier for you to find a broker and do all
13:32that if you if you've already attained a place in retail.
13:35Right.
13:36Even if it's a test, just because you'll be taken more seriously because you've already shown them that you're ready, you know?
13:44Yeah.
13:45Mm hmm.
13:46And you really know.
13:47Let's make sure that like.
13:51Oh, oh, no.
13:54We can hear you now.
13:56Your broker is not going to sell your company.
13:59You know, it's your job to sell your company.
14:01It's your job to know what makes you special.
14:04It's your job to know like how you stand out versus your your competition and like why they should take you more seriously or why they should understand that, you know, there's space for the lip bar in this vertical.
14:17So you always want to just make sure that you have a very clear and unique value proposition because a lot of people get caught up and kind of like what's trendy right now.
14:26And it's like especially like within my business, within color cosmetics, it's very cyclical.
14:32What's in today may be completely different a year from now.
14:35So you don't want to ride the trend.
14:37You really want to have a distinctive brand voice and a very distinctive understanding of like why you are here to serve your customer and how their customer is very similar to your customer.
14:50I'll give you an example of that.
14:52So the lip bar is affordably priced.
14:55My lipstick is thirteen dollars.
14:57It could very easily be twenty dollars, twenty four dollars.
15:00So it's like I'm not going to take the lip bar.
15:02I'm not going to pitch to Sephora because that doesn't work for my brand.
15:06That doesn't work for their clientele.
15:08So it's like you have to make sure that you're you're in alignment with your value proposition, who their customer is, who your customer is, and then how you all can make make that marriage happen, essentially, because it becomes marriage until it and until it doesn't work.
15:24And so you have to make sure you're having all of your ducks in a row to ensure that it works.
15:29Yeah, and I think that point on like just like analyzing their customers well, because I know I'm sure there's probably I know we have had like a lot of black owned businesses.
15:47People are reaching out to us now.
15:48And now you're like seeing you don't want to just jump to people because you want to be in personal every retailer.
15:55That's the thing we'll get into later as far as like dealing with scale, but also like, yeah, does it make what makes the most sense for you guys?
16:01So that's a really good point.
16:02And I think one thing I'd love to hear a little bit on like aside from just getting in front of buyers is like realistically, what did that timeline look like from like that first time you had a conversation with them to when you actually launched or even just like the onboarding process?
16:16Because I know it can be a lot for different mass retailers.
16:19Yeah, I love we can start with you, Melissa, just like what that process looks like, especially since you started off a cold email.
16:26So my cold emailing process was probably over the course of maybe seven months.
16:33So to be clear, when I first started emailing them, I wasn't even emailing the right person.
16:38And so and I also wasn't emailing them every day.
16:40So it was like, oh, whenever I would think about it, I would just follow up because I think a lot of business is about the follow up.
16:47It's about making sure that people understand what you're doing, why you're doing, who you're serving.
16:52And that's everything from like your customers to business partners to potential investors, like the follow up is so important.
17:00So whenever I we had something exciting going on, I would follow up.
17:04And one day my follow up was successful.
17:08And that person was like, oh, actually, I'm not in cosmetics anymore.
17:11But I'm going to pass this along sort of thing.
17:14So from the moment that we actually started having conversations with Target to us launching on dot com was actually pretty quick.
17:23It may have been six or seven months.
17:26And then after that, we launched in store in line in Target based on like a really successful dot com launch.
17:35So that's another thing that you can do.
17:37So, you know, a retailer may not be open to taking the risk on you as a small business owner.
17:43But they may say something like, you know what, let's try our dot com first and let's see how that goes.
17:50And it's like, don't don't be disheartened by that.
17:53Like, that's OK. That's the perfect opportunity.
17:56The reality is all of these big brands are trying to scale their dot com businesses.
18:00You know, at the top of COVID, people didn't know what to do because they hadn't invested so much time or energy into their dot com.
18:07But then all of a sudden the entire world was shopping on dot com and they weren't going into stores.
18:12So dot com is actually an excellent place to start and just make sure that you're driving your customer there to prove to them what could be if you were to launch and get get that shelf space.
18:25So, yeah, I would say all in all, maybe seven months to get to dot com.
18:29And then from there, we pretty immediately started talking about when we could transition into store.
18:35And the thing the thing to remember was, I mean, if you don't know, how can you remember?
18:40But the thing to know is that every year is a cap.
18:44There's a category review season. Right.
18:47Right. So like right now I'm in honeypots.
18:52I'm every no matter who the who the brand is, what they are, what they do.
18:57You know, if you make a beverage, then you're going to the time for you to enroll or try to get in the within the attention of the buyer is during your category review season.
19:07Right. And they typically because beverages and snacks are so prevalent and so competitive, those things they probably have like two of those a year.
19:15Right. But for but with with my category, it's only literally like once a year.
19:22Right. For the big set. And so right now we're in category review season and everything that we're doing right now is going to launch in like April or May of 2021 or whenever that happens.
19:36Right. Just to give you an example. Right.
19:38So it takes about a year pretty much to get, you know, to get on the shelf.
19:47So that's what it was for us. It took like a year for us to get on.
19:50You have a talk with your with your buyer.
19:54Naturally, since the buyer was reaching out to us, she was about to go into her category review season.
19:59So you you you meet with the buyer.
20:02You probably especially if you've never met with them, you're probably going to meet with them like two to three times because they'll talk to you over the phone.
20:08They'll have an in person meeting. And then if they really want to get serious, they'll probably have another in person meeting.
20:14Right. And then and then from there,
20:19they literally like if they're interested in you, then they're going to ask you for samples and they're going to you know, they have to go through this whole like planogramming session and they have to put it on their planogram and see how it looks.
20:33And you've got to do mountains of paperwork, you know, so it takes it's a process and it takes like a year for it to come through, come to fruition.
20:43You know, and for us that that's it might have taken a little longer than a year, but not much longer because we had we had kind of deflected and made a different decision kind of in the middle of everything, which which worked out really well for us.
20:59But, you know, but these things don't happen overnight and frankly, you don't want them to.
21:06And the last thing that I'll say is figure it out.
21:13Capital, unless you figured out how you're going to manage your supply chain, which is massive, by the way.
21:22So unless you figure that out, you probably want to ask for a lesser amount of stores or you want to you want to go online, you know, because you.
21:35You don't want to put yourself in a hole.
21:39Potentially for if it doesn't work.
21:42Right. You want you want to make sure you want to protect yourself and say, you know, like when we got our pads in, I only asked her for 50 stores because I was I didn't know what was going to happen.
21:55I was like, I don't know if we would be able to deal with that.
21:58So you don't want to put yourself in a position where you're not able to be able to supply for the demand because that that's that's really hard.
22:10Yeah. And I think that kind of goes into this next question I have is what was the first area of business that you had to adjust or tweak after launching a major retail source?
22:21And maybe it wasn't something where you launched and then you had to realize it was an issue or something where it's like, OK, now, like supply chain, I got to get this together.
22:30Like what were areas the first area where you're like this needs to change to keep up with this new level?
22:36Yeah, I and I think this this literally flows really well into what B was just saying.
22:43So she mentioned that, you know, she was nervous about her pad, so she only wanted it in 50 doors.
22:49Now, if you get a retail opportunity and you know that, you know, Target has, you know, several being like, hey, these are my my unique value proposition.
22:59No. So you have to make sure that you're designing for the shelf.
23:02When we first launched and Target pushed us on this, actually, we were in shrink wrap and we were like, no, this is not going to like make our product stand out on the shelf.
23:11And they were thinking about, you know, shrink, because that's another thing you don't know.
23:15You don't know what you don't know.
23:17So you don't know all the potential chargebacks that you may get.
23:20You don't know how theft impacts your business.
23:22You don't know how defectives impact your business.
23:25And again, you don't know what's actually going to stop that customer in their tracks.
23:28So the very first thing that we did a rehaul over as soon as we got initial readings after launching in retail was like in a complete packaging redesign to make sure that our product is taller.
23:40Our product is tall enough on shelf.
23:42You know, our product is short, you know, our lip colors are tiny, like it's that big.
23:47So, you know, when you're on shelf, the pusher took up half the space.
23:52So we very quickly had to redesign, put it in, put it in boxes, make the boxes taller so that you could actually see the color and it not be blocking blocked by the pusher sort of thing.
24:03So they're all of those little things that you don't really learn or you don't really experience until that product is on the shelf, until you talk to your customers, until you retrieve that data.
24:15So, yeah, packaging design was our first thing.
24:18Yeah, that's super interesting.
24:20I like your point about even just like this literal, those little elements of the shelf that you don't think about.
24:25Like that's such a good point.
24:27And now we design for the shelf.
24:30Yeah, exactly.
24:32Man, it's crazy how real this stuff gets.
24:39For us, it was supply chain.
24:42It was a nightmare.
24:47And kudos to Target for sticking around, man, because we've been through some shit together.
24:55Okay.
24:56And man, but you know, but when you've got a retail partner and you've got a really great relationship with your buyer and you've got a really great relationship with your broker,
25:09you know, what the most important thing that you have to do is be remarkably honest with them.
25:16Like if you know something, if you know that you're about to be out of stock on something, if you know that there's an issue with your product,
25:24if you know whatever it is, you know, if you want to salvage that relationship, you have got to, got to, got to be so real with it.
25:35You can't, you can't hide it because if they know they, especially in a time like this, because they completely understand.
25:41Right.
25:42Like nobody is expecting anybody to pull rabbits out of hats right now.
25:47Right.
25:48COVID is still a thing.
25:49It's still around.
25:50Um, ports are still locked down all around the world.
25:53Um, you know, it's still hard to get bottles.
25:56You still can't buy, um, like disinfectant spray.
26:00Right.
26:01Like, like there's still, there's still a heavy supply on sanitizer and hand wipes and all the things.
26:08Right.
26:09So like, um, they understand and they get it, you know, for us, like, gosh, I mean, I remember just not even knowing how to forecast.
26:23Like, who knows how to do that.
26:25Right.
26:26And we, it's not like we had the money to get a COO.
26:29You know what I mean?
26:30Like we just, we didn't have that stuff.
26:32So, so, you know, we were literally like on the job working with our brokers, um, you know, raising money because if you don't have any money, you know, you have.
26:44And the thing is that you have to realize is a retailer expects you to have your stuff together.
26:50Right.
26:51They don't care.
26:52It's not their responsibility to worry, to worry about if you can fill the purchase order or how much money you have prior to.
27:03Because the other thing you have to realize is you not getting paid for what it's not like, it's not like a digital order where they're going to order and they're going to pay, you know, no, that can take net 30, net 40, net 60, depending on who your brand is and what category you're in.
27:20Right. So like you really need to understand if you don't have money, that's cool.
27:27You can still bootstrap it if you have it, but you really need to understand how, which is why new voices is so imperative.
27:34Right.
27:35Why this conversation is so imperative because you have to understand how you're going to get money.
27:40Right.
27:41And then how, and then how are you going to get access and understanding of who it is that you need to hire and why do you need to hire them?
27:48And what, and what, what, what pay you got to pay them and how much equity you got to give?
27:52Because the people that you hire could be making ridiculous amounts more.
27:57And typically they are.
27:59Right.
28:00And so like, yeah, there's a lot of levels to it, you know, but, um, but supply chain, supply chain, supply chain, like, honestly, you guys, your operations department is the first one
28:17one that you hire for real shit.
28:21Some, some people may say marketing, but if you are, if you are planning and designing your business to be a mass market, um, business, a mass market retailer volume business.
28:34You have to focus on your supply chain, your sales and your mark, excuse me, your operations, your sales and your marketing.
28:43Those that that's the trifecta.
28:45Your sales person got to get it on the shelf.
28:47Your marketing person's got to move it off the shelf and your operations person has to keep it on the shelf.
28:53Right.
28:54So, and, and, and those hires cannot just be people, you know, they may have to start out like that, depending on where your finances are.
29:04But as you grow and scale, you really need to hire people that do that, that can tell you how to do it.
29:12Mm hmm.
29:13Yeah, no, that's helpful.
29:15And I know that, uh, you have personally told me that as well.
29:18And, uh, hearing it again, it's just as helpful the second time.
29:22This was supply chain and, and yeah, everything, those new hires that, that stage of business you get to where you're kind of like going from figuring out yourself to like, yeah, there's people who know this better and it's time for me to get to that point.
29:35Um, all right, so I'm going to ask one last question.
29:39Um, and this is kind of about marketing.
29:42Um, I know you guys talked a little bit of kind of getting on the shelves, but did you notice any big changes in your marketing strategy when you went to a mass retailer or were you kind of doing the same, you know, digital marketing strategies or was there a big tweak and focus that you thought about getting your product off the shelves in the customer's hands?
30:00Um, I don't, I can't say that we made a huge change.
30:05I think more than anything, we just doubled down on our messaging.
30:08So right now, the thing that sells products is authenticity.
30:12You know, that's just the fact people want to know the founders.
30:15People want to know the story.
30:17People want to know the why behind the business.
30:19And as a small business owner, your community is going to want to see you win.
30:25So with that being said, we actually just started sharing everything.
30:29We started telling them, you know, the ins and outs.
30:31We started telling them the struggle so that they could understand.
30:34Because like we said, most people don't have their supply chain figured out when you first start.
30:39So like we had to explain all of these out of stock.
30:42When we first launched in target, you know, we couldn't, we didn't have product on the shelf for like another, I don't know, eight weeks because our supply chain was not together.
30:53So, you know, we were like eight, 10 weeks out between a replenishment.
30:58So we had to be able to explain to our customers, you know, that this was successful, but also like this is not ideal.
31:06And this is like the challenge of a small business owner.
31:08So I think our marketing was more so around getting people to rally behind the business.
31:14We really wanted our customers to, to see our win and know that it was also their win.
31:20And so authenticity is like our number one driver of the business, like the storytelling component comes first.
31:27And then the product is second because the reality is, especially when you're in a saturated lane, you have to give someone something to believe in.
31:35And so for us, we're, we're challenging our customers to essentially believe in themselves because that's what essentially what we're giving back to them.
31:44Yeah, I would completely second that.
31:48I think we focused on social media.
31:52We didn't really have a lot of money, so we couldn't do loads and loads of digital marketing.
31:58You know, so a lot of it was just like, it was social media.
32:02We did a lot of events.
32:04We did a lot of trade shows.
32:06We did a lot of like just anything that we could get our hands on.
32:12We did to get the name out there.
32:14Right.
32:15So we were just on the ground.
32:17You know, we, we did, we were a part of the Spotify program when they first launched this small business platform that they, that they did.
32:27So we use that.
32:29You know, we, we relied on the shelf, you know, we, you know, because that's a billboard right there.
32:39People are walking by and looking at it.
32:41You know, we hired a PR company, so we would get press, you know, and the beauty is honestly, is that we haven't, we haven't spent remarkable amounts of money, probably in the ways that we have.
32:56Probably in the ways that our competitors had, but that's because we, we took the route of going after volume retail because you have to spend money in volume retail, but not as much as you do in digital, you know?
33:11And so that was how we did it.
33:15Great.
33:16Well, thank you.
33:17It has been so great chatting with both of you and reconnecting with both of you guys.
33:21Again, you have been so helpful to me on my journey.
33:24And so I'm super excited for everyone to just like hear some of these like behind the scenes questions.
33:29Um, I would love to have more information, like where can people connect with you personally with your company?
33:34Um, where can they find you guys?
33:36Uh, you all can find the lip bar at the lip bar.com.
33:40We're on all social at the lip bar.
33:43If you all have any questions for me, you can DM me at Melissa R Butler, or you can just send me an email.
33:49Honestly.
33:50Um, my email is also in my Instagram bio.
33:53Um, but yeah, just make sure that you come, come with the questions.
33:57Like, and don't say like, Oh, where do I start?
33:59Cause that's not a real question.
34:01Like give me something that I can actually help you with.
34:04Ask a real question.
34:05How do I X, Y, and Z?
34:07How do I scale my business?
34:08How do I grow my business?
34:09How do I get into retail?
34:10Give me a real question.
34:11And I'm more than happy to answer.
34:13Right.
34:14Yeah.
34:15And, um, with honeypot, we are at the honeypot.co.
34:19Also the honeypot.com.
34:21Um, on social media, it's at the honeypot.co.
34:25Uh, I'm, Melissa's laughing at me cause she know I'm not on social like that.
34:31So I'm like, what is it again?
34:34Um, and then my personal is I am B Dixon, B E A D I X O N.
34:41Uh, you can find our products in Target, um, nationwide.
34:46Uh, and then, um, as far as, yeah, I think that that's everything.
34:53Perfect.
34:54Well, thank you guys so much.
34:56Um, in case maybe you guys are interested in Rosen.
34:59We're at Rosen Skincare, um, on everything.
35:02This was so helpful.
35:03I'm sure there's so many people that are probably going to be hitting you guys up.
35:07So thank you again.
35:08And thanks for everyone for tuning into the new voices journey to retail.
35:11The retail landscape is rapidly evolving.
35:18Boundaries are being pushed, expectations raised, and conventions declined.
35:24And right at the center of this retail revolution are bold, brilliant entrepreneurs.
35:30And Target Accelerators is here to help them succeed.
35:34The Target has been running accelerator programs for about the last six years.
35:38And today engages startups through a variety of different programs that cover a spectrum from products to technology.
35:44Our accelerator programs allow us to connect with startups in a meaningful way.
35:49We're able to provide, uh, support and guidance to those startups and helping them take the next step in their journey.
35:55While really getting a peek into what the future of retail could look like and how Target wants to play in that space.
36:02This experience in the incubator program has really blown me away because people from all levels of Target,
36:14including on the executive team, have truly unlocked doors for us and helped us really advance in ways that we would have never been able to do without.
36:23From a group perspective, it's a very wonderful way to work together.
36:27There's nobody in here that's competing against each other. There's enough room for all of us at the top.
36:33And it doesn't matter whether you have 360,000 employees like Target or eight like Trill Project.
36:39It's the people, the guests, the user, whoever it is that's driving the experience and the choices you make.
36:49Being part of the Target Takeoff Accelerator program has given us access into one-on-one conversations with executives.
36:56They are absolutely clear. I mean, they're able to tell you anything that you want to know.
37:01I mean, there are 1,800 or so Target stores that touch every American's lives.
37:07For us to be able to have that kind of access, that kind of reach, there's nothing like it.
37:12The expertise that the mentor brought was all over the board.
37:19So, you know, one day you got a chance to sit with Brian Cornell and really learn about what it's like to run an $80 billion company.
37:26The next day you got to run a CEO of an agency in town who had, you know, who were a million-dollar business and they're learning how to grow and they could give you that insight.
37:35There was just a ton of things that you could learn from each mentor that we went through in the program.
37:39What really differentiated this program in particular was the access to subject matter experts.
37:45There are other programs out there that help young companies accelerate or grow, but our thought process was we think that Target is the pinnacle client for what we do.
37:54The opportunity to talk to people within Target and not just people, like leaders within Target, that's one of the aspects of the program that we really love.
38:03We believe in game-changing ideas, and we believe in the entrepreneurs who dream them.
38:09We're here to help startups chase opportunity, make a difference, and get ahead.
38:15We are Target Accelerators, and together, we'll shape the future of retail.
38:24Now we have the opportunity to dive right into the New Voices Target Accelerator pitch competition.
38:39In this time of pandemics and racial tension and environmental wildfires, there is nothing more needed for entrepreneurs than capital, coaching, and community.
38:50And we are thrilled that this is an opportunity for New Voices and Target Accelerator to support women entrepreneurs of color across the country.
38:57So you are about to see 10 amazing entrepreneurs who are doing great things before the pandemic and during the pandemic.
39:06We decided and picked them based on their value proposition, their purpose, how they were helping the community, and obviously their attraction to date.
39:14This is a chance for us as the family and the Target Accelerator to be able to give back and make an investment in these women entrepreneurs.
39:22Now, as you go through the process, be mindful of some things to check out.
39:26Does their business solve a real problem? Are they the right person to do so?
39:31Do they have enough traction and do they have a solid pathway forward?
39:35And if you think about those things, then you are going to be in the minds of our three judges.
39:40First up, we have Melanie Gatewood, and she heads up Multicultural Merchandise and Enterprise of the Target Corporation.
39:48Now, she's a pro at that, so listen and watch because she's been doing this with us a couple of times, and we are thrilled to have her back.
39:55Next up, we have Robbie Robinson, who is a founder and CEO of Pendulum.
40:00And so listen to what he's going to talk about because he's an entrepreneur and an investor, and I guarantee you've got something that you can learn there.
40:07And then last but not least, we have Ensa Huger, who is a partner at Seed, which is an accounting firm.
40:12And I'm pretty excited about that because that means we're going to get to talk about some numbers, which is also critical in running a business.
40:19Enjoy this pitch competition, and more importantly, think about how can you help these entrepreneurs yourself?
40:25I'm thrilled to say that this is our 10th pitch competition, and we're going to be giving away in total now over a million dollars.
40:32And so think about if you want to pitch, what are they doing that you should replicate?
40:36But more importantly, how can you, like us, help these women grow their businesses?
40:40So sit back, relax, enjoy, and take notes, and I'll see you on the other side with who the winner is.
40:49Hi, Ashley. We are so excited to hear from you today about Mixtros. With that, by all means, jump in.
41:04Well, good afternoon, everybody. I am Ashley, and this is Mixtros, and we are a software used to increase engagement and collect data where 50 or more gather live and now virtually.
41:15So during my undergraduate experience, I had a collision with a classmate.
41:20And although this classmate and myself probably wouldn't have gravitated toward one another naturally, the collision proved to be quite valuable.
41:27He sent an email on my behalf, and three weeks later, I became LeBron James' first intern.
41:31Now, I have been searching for that kind of networking serendipity ever since.
41:35So let's forward to 2014. At this point, I'm living and working in New York City as an event producer.
41:41I go to an event specifically to network, but when it comes time to do so, it was awkward, so I didn't do it.
41:46I talked to my mom about this, who was a global HR executive at the time, and we sat down and started to realize that although there are many softwares to get you to an event and many softwares to keep you connected after an event, where is the software that helps you collide with the right people when you're already somewhere?
42:02So we took our expertise in the human asset, and we built a human centric software that doesn't try to change human behavior, but instead complements it.
42:11We know that 82% of attendees go to networking events, whether live or virtual, to make new connections.
42:18And we know that attendees, while that's their intention, they actually don't naturally mix it mixers.
42:24On the other side of this equation, we have organizers. Organizers understand the value of networking, yet they don't have an easy way to engineer those LeBron moments.
42:33So we've taken real-time surveying, an algorithm, and a waiting mechanism to create our software.
42:39Attendees launch, and then they go through a very simple process that takes them less than two minutes.
42:44They fill out a virtual name tag and answer a question series. And when it's time to meet, Mixtros joins attendees into small groups between 3 and 10.
42:52When it's time to actually come together, it joins them together, and then it gives them group-specific data to connect on.
42:58At the same time, the organizer gains access to all of the collected data, so we offer a 360-degree ROI.
43:05In March of this year, we accelerated the development of our virtual feature, and as a result, we've seen 300% growth between Q2 and Q3 of this year.
43:16We've welcomed customers like Johns Hopkins, Southern Company, and also Running USA to a growing client roster.
43:22And those deals represent a monetary value between $249 and upwards of $20,000.
43:30We have certainly reached the watershed moment for Mixtros, and it's due in part to the profound shift in user behavior that we are experiencing.
43:38Mixtros is not just a tool that is used for events.
43:41It can be used day-to-day to add a bit of boom to the Zoom of our customers or any other software that they're using.
43:47The virtual event markets will grow to $774 billion by 2030, and we're positioned well.
43:53We are living in the third wave of technology.
43:55While we have Uber to pick us up and wag to walk our dog, it makes sense to have Mixtros help us meaningfully connect where we gather.
44:02Funding will be used to support our migration to true SaaS.
44:05And thank you.
44:07Awesome.
44:08Thank you so much for that background.
44:12We're going to ask a few questions now.
44:16My first question revolves around your marketing.
44:20We've worked with Shipt, which I know is part of Target.
44:23If our Shipt customer uses Mixtros at one of their events, there's a high likelihood that their employee, when they have a good experience, will actually take Mixtros elsewhere, like to another organization that they're a part of, like a junior league or a church.
44:36And so we've been able to spread organically that way.
44:39As we look forward and we're moving over to a true SaaS model, digital marketing will become more important for us, and we'll be looking to up our spend.
44:46People are looking for softwares like Mixtros to help people engage, and we need to make it easier for them to find us.
44:52Awesome.
44:53I have one question, but just at the end, you were explaining what you're using the funding for, and it got a little cut off for me.
44:59Could you restate what the funding is going to be for?
45:02Yes.
45:03It's going to support our transition as we're scaling over to a true touchless sales conversion model.
45:09So true SaaS.
45:10Currently, and I think through the duration of this journey, we have faked it until we became it.
45:14And so we are faking very well, but we need to get to a place where our customer can go soup to nuts without touching with a Mixtros person.
45:22And then I have one more question.
45:24Sorry, Robbie.
45:25So I also heard you say anywhere from $249 to $20,000.
45:31Tell me the average that you're driving in revenue.
45:35So the average, yeah, the deal that's being purchased most often right now is a package of 48 mixes, which is priced at $5,000.
45:45Okay.
45:47So great presentation.
45:51How did you build the algorithm?
45:53How did you determine which questions to ask and how the combination of those questions would yield the most impactful connectivity?
46:02Great question.
46:03So every time we run a mix, the questions are completely variable.
46:06We have a question library and our customer can pick, but our customer has the ability to ask any question they like and weight those questions according to how they want their people to be matched.
46:16So we've given the ultimate power to the organizer because they are mission control for the event.
46:21They know who colliding together would make a great connection.
46:24Gotcha.
46:25Are you able to share with customers different sort of results by different types of questions based on previous events so that you're informing them with the data that you collect?
46:37Okay.
46:38So that's the goal.
46:39So we literally just moved over to a model of being able to purchase multiple mixes.
46:44And when we tell our enterprise customers specifically buying these larger packages is looking at the data over time will become so valuable because they're layering us into everything from meetings to orientation to training, all types of gatherings.
46:56So if there aren't any other questions, first, I want to congratulate you on your success today.
47:04This is absolutely a problem to solve and this should be a platform that contributes to the solving of that problem.
47:12So you're clearly passionate about what you're building and you clearly are approaching an inflection point and inflection points require capital.
47:20So good luck.
47:21Thank you very much.
47:23I appreciate it.
47:24All right.
47:26Take care.
47:27Bye-bye.
47:28Bye.
47:29I look forward to using it at an event.
47:30Yes, please do.
47:32Okay.
47:33Bye.
47:34Well, Chi, thank you so much for joining us today.
47:49We are so excited to hear from you and hear more about your brand.
47:54So whenever you are ready, by all means, go for it.
47:59Yeah.
48:01I really appreciate it.
48:02So what if a simple decision like what you choose to drink could provide delicious refreshment with superior health benefits and make a meaningful difference in the lives of women?
48:14Well, see, Purpose Tea is that choice.
48:16I'm Chi Nguyen, fierce female advocate, health and wellness enthusiast and founder and CEO of Purpose Tea.
48:23So Purpose Tea was started with one powerful idea in mind, and that is to use business as a platform for positive change in the world.
48:30As an immigrant whose family fled communist Vietnam in search of a better tomorrow, I understand intimately the overwhelming need for equal access to opportunity in order to improve your life, just like we had.
48:44So everyone deserves that access, no matter the color of their skin or sex they were born.
48:49So at Purpose Tea, our vision is to end female poverty in tea.
48:53And when we empower women, not only do they benefit, but so do their families and communities and ultimately societies.
49:01Although this is what drives me every day.
49:04I also know it's a significant business opportunity as more and more consumers demand this level of social responsibility and transparency from the brands they purchase.
49:14So with along with our mission of lifting female tea workers from poverty, Purpose Tea is poised to disrupt a fast moving category with the newest innovation in tea.
49:23And that is a brewed tea made from the purple tea leaf.
49:27So purple tea has superior health benefits as compared to other teas and meets consumers health challenges.
49:33It has up to 50% more antioxidants and 42% less caffeine than green tea.
49:39But what really makes it stand out is a polyphenol that no other teas have called GHG, which is a natural occurring ingredient that's been linked to fat burning,
49:48counteracting diabetes, fighting cancer, among a host of other benefits.
49:53It is a perfect beverage for health conscious and socially responsible consumers who want to nourish their body, mind and soul.
50:01It truly is the future of tea.
50:03So why now?
50:04You know, the total addressable market in the United States is a $55 billion opportunity with tea dwarfing coffee at a 5 to 1 ratio.
50:12We offer retail customers a first mover advantage and innovation in a mature category that has seen 27% compounded annual growth in the last three years.
50:21And that's being driven by premium and specialty teas.
50:24In two short years, we have 500 plus points of distribution and growing throughout California and Texas.
50:30And we are seeing strong traction in our Whole Foods stores selling eight units per skew of weekly velocity on a very limited marketing budget.
50:39So weekly sales data shows we are driving repeat purchases, which is an important key performance indicator for any brand.
50:46And in the next two years, we have a strong plan to build out distribution.
50:50And I've built a team who can execute.
50:52Our head of sales is a beverage veteran from PepsiCo with many years of experience in business development and building out distribution networks.
50:59I'm also a full time founder who will use my experience building and marketing brands to build Purpose Tea into an influential powerhouse focused on people, profits and planet.
51:11Thank you so much.
51:12Well, thank you, Chi.
51:14It was so great to hear more about Purpose Tea.
51:17We're going to ask a few questions now, if you don't mind.
51:20And yeah.
51:21So first question, can you talk to me a little bit more about your shelf stability of Purpose Tea?
51:31How long does it last?
51:32Does it need to be refrigerated?
51:34What does what does it mean?
51:36Because it sounds like purple tea is the future.
51:40Just wondering how long does it last?
51:43So our beverages are have a shelf stability life of 18 months.
51:48So we can sit on the shelf stable aisle of grocers.
51:52But we obviously prefer to be in the cold section because of just the grab and go convenience format that it's in, which is a bottle.
52:02So so it does have an 18 month shelf life.
52:05And where do you source where do you source the tea leaf from?
52:10So, you know, there was so much to tell you guys in this like three minute pitch, but that was an important piece that I could stick it in there.
52:18So it is grown in Kenya, exclusively grown in Kenya.
52:22I the Assam region of India has also launched a purple tea, but it was naturally it was derived in Kenya.
52:30So they had noticed something weird happening with their green tea bushes, which, you know, obviously is their largest economic driver in that country.
52:38They are the third largest tea growing region in the world and they got really concerned about it.
52:42But what they discovered after research was that that naturally occurring change in their tea leaves was a natural defense mechanism of the tea plant.
52:50And it was producing anthocyanins to protect itself from the UV rays, which is a very powerful antioxidant.
52:56And so they realized, OK, they had something special here.
53:00So they researched it for 30 years and then they just commercialized it, I would say, in the last nine years.
53:06And it has you know, it's a hardier plant than the regular tea bush.
53:10So it can withstand climate change disturbances and really potentially provide stability to millions.
53:16If you think about the trajectory of our climate and where it's going.
53:22My question is, who do you think your primary competitors are and how are you differentiating yourself from them?
53:28Sure. So, you know, humans only intake a certain amount of beverage, you know, all the time.
53:35And so obviously anything that people consume could be a competitor.
53:39But in the tea space, we really are the only commercialized purple tea in this format.
53:47And I think really, truly not only is it a better and more superior tea in terms of its health benefits.
53:56But I mentioned in the pitch, I mean, one thing that I think is just so amazing about it is that is that vital nutrient called GHG,
54:03which literally no other tea has. So green tea doesn't have it.
54:06White tea doesn't have it. Black tea doesn't have it.
54:08It is very exclusive to purple tea. And that particular ingredient really has a lot of functional benefits.
54:14I mean, there have been a few studies, but fat burning is a huge key, which we know is a big problem in the United States.
54:21You know, the other day I read forty five percent of men are obese in this country.
54:26So that's a lot of men.
54:29And so that's still an issue and a challenge that consumers are facing.
54:33There's a lot of anti-aging properties as well in that polyphenol.
54:38And it has just really amazing brain health functionality, too.
54:42So that is clearly what is going to differentiate purple tea from all the other teas.
54:48Great. One more question, Chi. You mentioned your team.
54:56Can you tell us a little bit more about the structure of your team?
55:00Sure. So right now there's only two full time people, myself as the founder and CEO, and I have a head of sales who is the PepsiCo veteran.
55:11We outsource a lot of other critical, you know, things that we have to do, like marketing and social media planning and those types of things.
55:20So we have partners that help us execute on that marketing plan.
55:24But right now, because it's you know, we're still very early stage and we're raising money.
55:28There's only two full time employees and that's myself and the head of sales.
55:33So I really believe, obviously, in building a team that complements each other's skills.
55:39I don't need to bring someone else in here that has the same skills I do.
55:42And my experience was I was a consultant before I started Purpose Tea and I consulted in brand positioning and go to market messaging.
55:49And so I love building brands, really positioning brands in a way that consumers not only functionally feel good about it, but also emotionally get attached to it.
55:59So I needed to hire someone that was great in sales, really had great experience in retail and has contacts in retail.
56:07And so this is what this is what he has. And so we've brought him on full time.
56:12So if I go back to where you where you can source the tea leaf from, given that it's only given that it's only given that it's only you know, given that you can only get it from one place and given it clearly has extraordinary health benefits.
56:30Are you worried about bigger players rushing into the market and either driving up the cost of the of the leaf or just making it harder for you to maintain sort of maintain the shelf space that you have?
56:48Sure. So not right now for two reasons.
56:52When we first started the business, we obviously did a SWOT analysis around that issue that we thought that was that could be a threat and a good problem to have.
57:00Obviously, if you are not having enough supply.
57:03So obviously the tea plant has a certain life cycle.
57:06That's something that you can plan for. But right now, Kenya can actually produce 22 million kilograms a year of purple tea.
57:13So that won't be an issue for a very long time. And so you talked about just bigger players coming in.
57:18And so I believe competition is good for the category.
57:22I equate it to specialty coffee where, you know, there were like three or four players that really lifted up the category.
57:28And I think that's a good thing for the category.
57:31I'm not very concerned about larger players coming in, because to be quite honest, in the past, you know, 10, 15 years, that's really their R&D is smaller brands and their level of innovation is very slow.
57:47And their brand authenticity is not, you know, is not where I'm taking it with in terms of the mission driven brand.
57:56And so I'm not that concerned about about them doing that.
58:00And we have exclusive engagements with our suppliers because we work with them so closely because we have a social impact model, too, that we want to facilitate on the ground.
58:09So we have an exclusive contract with them with pricing, you know, really set in place for for a pretty for a pretty good long time.
58:19So this was a fantastic presentation.
58:25Not only are you clearly inspired by the tea leaf and the business and brand that you're building around the tea leaf, it's clearly something that that, you know, you found a passion for.
58:37And there's potentially, you know, an extraordinary gap in the marketplace.
58:40So congrats on your success today.
58:43And we appreciate you sharing your story with us.
58:46No, I thank you guys so much.
58:48And I would love to add, you know, the vision isn't just really purple tea, the ingredient, there's plenty of applications to it.
58:55I mean, there could be an extract, there could be just really capitalizing on that opportunity.
58:59Right now we're doing it in the ready to drink space because it's a pretty dynamic category.
59:05But obviously the vision is to build a health and wellness company around the super, the superhero ingredient.
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