Month: February 2021

Greg — Make Time for your Relationship: Leslie and I always make time to celebrate our relationship and our love for each other. We have a weekly date night — whether we go to dinner, have some cocktails, or just sit in our pajamas by the fireplace watching our favorite show or movie. Also, after we were married, we started a tradition to honeymoon every year, not just the first year. Sometimes it is simply a weekend road-trip, and sometimes a more extravagant trip to what always seems like paradise.

Leslie — Be Adoring: Never stop expressing deep affection, love and admiration for each other. Greg still writes me love poems and sends me flowers. Often an unexpected big hug, kiss, or a smile is adoring.

As a part of our series about lessons from Thriving Power Couples, I had the pleasure of interviewing Leslie Hsu and Greg Besner.

Leslie Hsu is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Sunflow, Inc. Three years ago, while relaxing on the beach with her family, Leslie had the vision to reinvent beach products creating more comfortable, beautiful, and thoughtful solutions. She envisioned SUNFLOW as a modern brand focused on both function and fashion. Just in time for Summer 2020, the SUNFLOW brand was unveiled. It features beautiful chairs at the center of the collection, as well as an assortment of complementary accessories to create a full outdoor solution.

Leslie’s design career was launched more than two decades ago when she joined the Calvin Klein design team. In 2000, Leslie started her own namesake handbag brand, Leslie Hsu New York, which sold in hundreds of stores around the world including Neiman Marcus, Henri Bendel, Fred Segal Melrose, Stanley Korshak, Intermix, and Takashimaya. Later she launched accessories collections for high profile brands such as UGG®, True Religion Brand Jeans®, and Jonathan Adler.

Leslie attended Penn State University and earned a BS in International Business. For 21 years she has been happily married to Greg Besner, the co-founder of SUNFLOW. They have two teenage daughters Willa and Lana, both of whom helped bring SUNFLOW to the world.

Greg Besner is the co-founder and CEO of Sunflow, Inc. The founder of four companies, Greg is a serial entrepreneur, as well as an adjunct professor at NYU Stern School of Business, and the author of The Culture Quotient: Ten Dimensions of a High-Performance Culture (Ideapress 2020). Greg started his career as a fashion executive completing the Macy’s Retail Executive Training Program, later becoming the United States Sales Manager for Giorgio Armani Fashion Corporation.

In 2018, Greg was ranked in USA Today as the eighth-best CEO in the United States among a pool of fifty thousand companies. He was also named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® in New Jersey in 2003. Greg is frequently published in business and leadership publications and podcasts, and is a keynote speaker at leadership conferences around the world on topics of business, culture, and the future of work.

Greg completed six years of the Harvard Business School Presidents’ Program in Leadership, as well as his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his BA from Rutgers University. Greg has been happily married to SUNFLOW co-founder Leslie Hsu for 21 years.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you two to your respective career paths?

Leslie: When Greg and I were newlyweds, we always wondered what our life would look like at this point — after 22 years of marriage. When we met, I was a fabric designer at Calvin Klein Collection working on Fashion Avenue in Manhattan, and Greg had been running sales and marketing for Giorgio Armani USA. As we talked about having children, we also dreamed of being entrepreneurs together, constantly sharing so many crazy ideas. We dreamt of having a home-based business so that we could be with our family, but also have our careers. Soon after we were married, we both took the leap of faith, leaving our jobs to launch our first handbag company called Leslie Hsu New York®. Our plan was for me to use my fabric design experience and my sourcing contacts in Italy, France and NYC to create very unique and beautiful handbags, and then with Greg’s sales experience and connections, together we would market to high-end boutiques around the world. It worked! Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Henri Bendel, Stanley Korshak and hundreds of amazing retailers around the world purchased our handbags, and our growing business took over our small West Village Manhattan apartment. As our business grew, so did our family and our home. Over the next few years, we moved to Short Hills, New Jersey and welcomed our daughters, Willa and Lana.

Next we licensed the UGG® and True Religion brands to exclusively launch their handbags just as these two brands were taking off. Our UGG® and True Religion handbags were an overnight success. Greg recalls that our sales that first year were 1,400% ahead of our projections (he’s the numbers guy). We quickly grew our team and raced to keep up with the global demand. It was exhilarating and we learned so much over the three years that we licensed these brands. Our daughters were always front and center in a stroller, or in our arms, every step of the way. Our dreams of balancing work and life had come true.

Flash forward to 2017. Our daughters are teenagers, and our family’s happy place is most definitely the beach. Our beach days, beach weekends, and beach vacations have forever created our most cherished memories — from belly laughs with our friends, to strolling along the shoreline holding hands with my husband, to just playing in the sand with our girls. This is also where the idea of SUNFLOW came to be.

During one of these family trips, our family packed up for a short walk from our beachside rental to find our spot on the beach for the day. The process of loading up our gear for the day and dragging it to the beach was nothing short of a comical parody. It was truly laughable how cumbersome and clumsy this seemingly simple chore was. I kept thinking, why aren’t there friendlier beach accessories; easier to carry, more comfortable, more thoughtful and much, much more beautiful? After unpacking our beach chairs, umbrella, towels and other assorted necessities, I collapsed into my uncomfortable and not-very-pretty chair and thought, there has to be a better way! I turned to Greg and said “Someone should design more comfortable, beautiful, and thoughtful beach products.” Greg looked around and said to me, “We should design more comfortable, beautiful beach products.” And voila! SUNFLOW was born. Actually, it took almost three years to reinvent, redesign, and produce and launch SUNFLOW, but the vision is now a reality, and we are so thrilled by the response.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you two got married?

Greg: On our daughter Willa’s fourth birthday, she was unexpectedly diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. Our sick daughter took priority over everything else, so our life was turned upside down. We learned everything that we could about this life-changing disease to keep our daughter alive and safe. It was a very emotional time, but 15 years later, Willa is in college and manages her own health amazingly well. This experience inspired us to help other families impacted by Type One Diabetes.

Nine years ago we founded the Willa’s Wish Foundation with the mission to raise and donate $1 million to help other families dealing with children that have the onset of Type One Diabetes and to fund research to help develop a cure. Willa’s Wish has raised almost $900,000 thanks to the generosity of our family and friends. We are optimistic that a cure will be developed for the millions currently suffering with this disease, and for those who will be diagnosed with this life-threatening disease.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Leslie:

Last year we were so excited to unveil our first SUNFLOW chair prototypes to our best friends, so we brought some to the beach to share. There is nothing more embarrassing than your best friend sitting on your top secret prototype and watching the chair break as they fall to the ground with a thump! Lesson learned… test, test, and test again.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Greg:

Our goal with SUNFLOW is to create thoughtful outdoor solutions. We want people to have the same “aha moment” that Leslie and I had when they go to their own happy place. When they use SUNFLOW, we hope they feel it’s easier to carry, more comfortable, more thoughtful, and much more beautiful. We hope to make people smile.

Last year we opened two pop-up stores, one in the East Hampton Village, New York, and one at the Mall at Short Hills, New Jersey. Nothing is more satisfying than to watch people gasp with awe as we push the button on the top of our chair to expand and retract it from lounge size to backpack size. It’s such a thrill to see customers smile as they imagine being in their happy place using SUNFLOW.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Leslie:

I’m very excited to be designing additional outdoor solutions that will be announced this summer, so stay tuned on those! We hope to solve more customer problems and bring even more smiles to the world.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Leslie:

Greg literally wrote the book on this topic. His book, titled The Culture Quotient: Ten Dimensions of a High-Performance Culture, was published November 2020. Greg always highlights the importance of aligning company culture with company strategy, and to share and celebrate the mission and values. It’s important for a company to use its mission as its north star, and their core values to lead the way there.

How do you define “Leadership”?

Greg:

Leadership is leading by example, inspiring success and team building, and above all… always being humble.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Greg:

Several friends and mentors have had a profound impact on my life, in particular, Tony Hsieh. Eighteen years ago, when Leslie and I were still newlyweds with two new baby daughters, I founded my first startup company. Leslie and I had no savings, so we used a home equity loan to help fund my business. We had a beautiful young family, but no financial security and no safety net. I also had no mentors to help guide my way, and at that moment Tony and I met through a mutual friend. I had no idea the impact that his friendship would have on me. For the next 18 years our friendship grew stronger and stronger, always showing up big for each other’s important life events. Tony’s encouragement and feedback over the years gave me great confidence and conviction along my journey. Fortunately my initial business and subsequent startups were successful, but Tony tragically passed away last year. I’ll miss his friendship and mentorship very much.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Leslie:

Greg and I feel that everyone deserves downtime, which we equate to spending time in your happy place with family and friends. Over the past year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us have stayed at home unable to visit the people and places we love. It has brought us joy to see that our customers are mailing SUNFLOW to their closest family and friends, encouraging their loved ones to enjoy downtime outside. We hope that SUNFLOW is part of making people smile, laugh and love.

What are the “5 Things You Need To Thrive As A Couple”? Please share a story or example for each.

Greg:

1.) Make Time for your Relationship: Leslie and I always make time to celebrate our relationship and our love for each other. We have a weekly date night — whether we go to dinner, have some cocktails, or just sit in our pajamas by the fireplace watching our favorite show or movie. Also, after we were married, we started a tradition to honeymoon every year, not just the first year. Sometimes it is simply a weekend road-trip, and sometimes a more extravagant trip to what always seems like paradise.

Leslie:

2.) Be Adoring: Never stop expressing deep affection, love and admiration for each other. Greg still writes me love poems and sends me flowers. Often an unexpected big hug, kiss, or a smile is adoring.

Greg:

3.) Be Patient: A relationship only works when you celebrate your partner’s differences as much as what you have in common.

Greg:

4.) Be Authentic: It’s important to be able to be your true self with your partner. Living an authentic life is where what you say, what you do, and what you think are all aligned.

Leslie:

5.) Always Be Thoughtful: Greg and I have been married for 22 years, but he still opens the car door for me. I pride myself on being an independent woman, but I love that Greg is even more thoughtful today than he was 23 years ago on our first date. A few weeks ago. Greg was away. While he was traveling I completed a full makeover of his home office. He was so excited and surprised when he returned. It took me forever, hours of painting and building furniture in PJ’s… but it was more than worth it to see his face when he saw it. Be thoughtful and do things that show your heart.

You are people of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Greg:

A few months ago Leslie and I lost our very close friend, Tony Hsieh, the author of Delivering Happiness and longtime CEO of Zappos.com. Tony inspired us because he always looked for ways to give to others. When I visited Tony, I would always see hundreds of post-it notes on the walls of his home, with each post-it listing someone’s life-dream that he was helping to come true. Tony’s example inspired us to always look for ways to give to our family, to our friends, and to our community. We would love to inspire a movement in which everyone gives more than they take. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Leslie:

“Be happy. Not because everything is good, but because you can see the good side of everything”. — Author unknown.

Greg and I try to live life by this philosophy, always trying to see the good in the people around us, and the good in the world. We find that positive energy brings us fulfilment.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Leslie:

Michelle Obama inspires me with her words, actions, and grace.

Amanda Gorman inspires me and gives me hope that our next generation will say and do amazing things to make our world a better place.

How can our readers follow your work online?

Subscribe to our Website: getsunflow.com

Follow us at Facebook: @getsunflow

Follow us on Instagram: @getsunflow

Lessons from a Thriving Power Couple, With Leslie Hsu and Greg Besner of Sunflow was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Honesty — A key component to any successful relationship, business partners or not. One thing I love about Nick is that he’s not afraid to correct me when I’m wrong or tear apart a piece I’ve worked hard on for the better. Oftentimes, I’m defensive at first, however, our goals are aligned and honesty generally leads to a better end-product. We have each other’s best interest in mind and we are both fully aware of that.

As a part of our series about lessons from Thriving Power Couples, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tori and Nick Donnelly — founders of WorkClub, productive workspaces and meeting rooms for remote employees across the UK and beyond. The couple met at University in a small town of Winona, Minnesota and since, have married, founded a business and had a baby girl, Scarlett. They wanted a life & career that ‘worked for them’, not the other way around, and the rest is history.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you two to your respective career paths?

We moved to London after having spent a few years together in Minnesota. For Nick, it was home, however, for me, it was a big change! I was at school every day in Kensington completing my MBA while Nick was working full time. I used to escape the chaos of the student library on campus to study across the road at a local hotel — oftentimes where I’d meet Nick who was then working remotely. It was this first experience of seeking a quiet, productive workspace that got us interested in creating a business that could help others do the same. This period of our lives heavily influenced our decision to embark on the WorkClub journey.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you two got married?

We had a busy end to 2019 as I was having a baby, while we were raising our first round.

I actually went into labour the night before our Crowdcube campaign went live. Thankfully, the team pulled together and all went well. 4 days later we had closed the round at £350k and had a new baby daughter — all around a very exciting time in our lives.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Early 2018, Nick and I were visiting a number of hotels to sell the WorkClub solution. This one particular meeting was with the owner of the hotel and he wanted to meet at seven. We assumed 7am. The following week, we left our flat in Surbiton at 5:30am to make sure we were in London for 7am. We arrived in good time, looking sharp and we sat down where instructed. By 7:30am we were wondering what was going on and now the waiters were feeling so sorry for us that they were offering us a free breakfast. We declined, and continued to wait. By 8am we still had heard nothing from the hotel owner. At around midday Nick gets a call from the owner to say he meant drinks at 7pm. Lesson learned that day, always get an electronic confirmation of date and time. We still turned up for 7pm cocktails and we did sign a partnership with the hotel the next day.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

For us, what has always stood out is our company values and our drive to change the way people work, for the better.

However, from an outsider’s perspective, a lot of people speak highly of our incredibly diverse team. We have team members from across the world and it’s incredible to see everyone engaging and thriving together on a daily basis.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes, our B2B proposition will soon be going to market, introducing a set of new features that will make it easier than ever for teams to transition into a hybrid-workforce.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Let people be people, give them all the support they need to thrive.

What are the “5 Things You Need To Thrive As A Couple”? Please share a story or example for each.

Support — We are both each other’s number one fan, through thick and thin. We feel most connected when we accomplish things together, rather than separate.

Honesty — A key component to any successful relationship, business partners or not. One thing I love about Nick is that he’s not afraid to correct me when I’m wrong or tear apart a piece I’ve worked hard on for the better. Oftentimes, I’m defensive at first, however, our goals are aligned and honesty generally leads to a better end-product. We have each other’s best interest in mind and we are both fully aware of that.

Communication — Nick and I have very different working styles. He likes to be transparent about what he’s working on and bounce ideas back and forth along the way, while I’m very much the opposite. I like to get on with my work in my own space and talk about and review the finished product. We’re both very aware of each other’s working styles and we very much respect that.

Balance — It’s all about a good work-life balance, am I right? Whatever that may be or look like to your own personal situation.

Boundaries — With our busy lifestyle, alongside our 1-year old baby girl Scarlett, we make sure to set boundaries as to when we will ‘unplug’ together. After all, we are business owners and our business does take up a majority of our time (and energy!), so some nights it’s just ten minutes to unplug and chat.

You are people of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Work is a mindset, not a destination.

Get up, commute, get to work, make coffee, settle in at your desk, turn your computer off, commute, workout, get home, make dinner, go to bed, and repeat. Sound far too familiar?

Now is the time to stop and consciously ask ourselves what we can do to ensure our careers continue to provide us with the fulfilment we need in the years and decades to come.

WorkClub is the way forward and we want to enable remote professionals across the UK and beyond to work from anywhere.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill — This quote speaks to the both of us.

WorkClub, like any startup, has had ups and downs. Times were not always ‘easy’, however, together, we kept pushing forward because there’s always another day to press on. And so happy we did so!

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Airbnb’s CEO, Brian Chesky would be a great pick. Nick and I take a lot of inspiration from Brian and his company. Brian doesn’t seem like your typical startup CEO, which is probably why he is recognized as one of the worlds greatest leaders. In addition to his dynamic personality, Brian is obviously a very determined guy that doesn’t give up. If Brian does read this, let’s grab a bite at Al’s Breakfast in Minneapolis.

How can our readers follow your work online?

Follow @workclub for your daily dose of workspace inspo!

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Lessons from a Thriving Power Couple, With Tori and Nick Donnelly of WorkClub was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Your business partner is your new spouse. My life is completely intertwined with my business partner. Luckily that has worked beautifully for us, but that is not always the case. Imagine being in a marriage of sorts with your partner, because legally, you kind of are. That relationship needs just as much work and open communication as any other.

As part of my series about the leadership lessons of accomplished business leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Danielle Gronich.

Danielle Gronich,The Acne Guru™, is the formulator and CEO of CLEARSTEM Skincare, a breakthrough clinical skincare line whose formulas are all anti-acne and anti-aging at the same time. Danielle studied cellular biology and genetics throughout her education and has had a passion for solving acne as she consistently struggled with her own skin for over 10 years, despite going through three rounds of accutane and multiple laser treatments. She took a leap of faith and decided to leave the corporate world, dove into clinical research, and went back to school to find the answers for herself, earning her license as a clinical esthetician and launching San Diego Acne Clinic in La Jolla, California. After years of evaluating the skincare market she saw that acne products cause premature aging while anti-aging products caused acne. As an expert formulator she created a line that targets both concerns simultaneously and with zero toxins.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

After years of struggling with acne and seeing more than 10 dermatologists, I finally got fed up with the traditional western ways of treating acne. The only real solutions offered were antibiotics, hormones modifiers, and Accutane, which is incredibly toxic. I knew there was more to the biology of acne that wasn’t being discussed, so I set out to figure it out! I left the corporate consulting world and opened San Diego Acne Clinic after doing field research and working with other skin professionals. I was able to identify all of my triggers and create a playbook to evaluate and show others their triggers (sometimes up to 10 at once!). The clinic grew rapidly, and shortly thereafter I started doing product development with a reputable lab. I made an anti-acne stem cell serum and partnered with a clinic patient to create a skincare line (CLEARSTEM Skincare). Because many people with acne don’t want toxic products that age them faster, we created a line where the formulas are simultaneously anti-acne and anti-aging! It has been a complete breakthrough in the industry and we are strong educators healing acne holistically when prescriptions have failed. The need to help others avoid what we went through is what motivated my partner and me!

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

The hardest part was deciding where and how to spend my time. I was at capacity at one point seeing 10 patients a day, and I just didn’t have the help or bandwidth to maintain my personal life the way I used to. I worked on Saturdays and until 9:30pm most nights, and trying to hire was an extremely difficult learning curve that created even more work and stress when it didn’t go well. Hiring was for sure the biggest challenge, but thankfully I have that dialed in now!

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

Creating major change for people always kept me going, I love it so much. I struggled for years because of my skin, so I am continually motivated when I am able to help a stressed out bride before her wedding, help pinpoint a major internal issue for someone and send them to the right person, or have someone hug me with tears of joy because they finally have their mental health back. I get to be a unique aid to people at a very vulnerable time for them, and I take that responsibility extremely seriously. Seeing the results come in after a couple weeks and knowing that I am helping people with their overall health in a holistic way that they didn’t have before is what has kept the fire going even when I was dead tired. Also, not reporting to a boss was the sweetest thing and its own motivator.

So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?

Things are going fantastic now! COVID aside, both businesses are thriving and CLEARSTEM is growing leaps and bounds! My partner and I work so well together and we have grit like no other. We have had major learning curves, gotten through them as a team, and we always show up stronger and more focused each week.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake in CLEARSTEM’s early days was when 2,500 bottles arrived from overseas with pink metallic labels. Our labels were white and blue. We had no way to reverse this and the company had an 8 week lead time, so we just had to roll with it, and, luckily, people went nuts over it!!! They loved it and still ask for it sometimes!

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

We stand out because everyone who works with us started as a patient at San Diego Acne Clinic. We have all lived the struggle and have overcome the depressing side of acne to turn it into an empowerment anchor!

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Eat right, eliminate toxic relationships immediately, be unapologetic with your boundaries, have boundaries, stay focused on your personal emotional growth and make time for nature. I walk nearly every morning and it grounds me before things get intense at work.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I am grateful to my ex-boyfriend who was also an entrepreneur. He helped me think bigger and take notice of my limiting beliefs and always stayed supportive when I needed to work late or had a stressful event. He taught me that business can be described as moving from problem to problem with no loss of enthusiasm and I remember that attitude to this day!

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

We are saving people’s mental health by helping them feel confident in their skin again!

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Immediately get out of any contract or relationship that isn’t in your favor. We got ripped off by a website company and shipping company that took almost all our profit. We stayed with them WAY too long and should have cut ties months sooner.
2. You will be ridiculously judged. The perks of being a CEO come with major pressure and constant self-scrutiny. Before you can feel good about your leadership, you’ll go through rollercoasters of emotion wondering if you’re doing things right.
3. Your business partner is your new spouse. My life is completely intertwined with my business partner. Luckily that has worked beautifully for us, but that is not always the case. Imagine being in a marriage of sorts with your partner, because legally, you kind of are. That relationship needs just as much work and open communication as any other.
4. Make sure you have mentors that intimidate you. I like being thrown into the mix with the big companies. You learn a ton from the leaders who have built empires. Being shy about where you are is normal, but it also ignites a fire and shows you what the next level will look like.
5. Make time to travel. This is super important to plan out. Some owners rarely let themselves take a break and I know I function better when I get to take a couple weeks off, explore other countries and completely change the setting. Time far away makes you come back with so much renewed energy and keeps the passion alive.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

A movement idea is National No-Makeup Day! Celebrities and models included. It would inspire everyone and connect us all in such a powerful way!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow my personal Instagram account @danielle.the.acne.guru and also @clearstemskincare and @sandiegoacneclinic.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Danielle Gronich of CLEARSTEM Skincare: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before Became A CEO was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Andy’s second bit of advice is to stop comparing Bramble to other companies. I have a habit of looking at where other companies are — how many stores they’re in, how many followers they have on Instagram, how much money they’ve raised. Andy hears me do this and immediately tells me to stop and just focus on getting people to love Bramble. If people love your product, the rest will follow. Not the other way around!

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda Rolat.

Amanda Rolat is the Founder and CEO of Bramble, the first and only pet food company that serves dogs a fresh, whole food plant-based diet developed by board-certified veterinary nutritionists. When her search for high quality, sustainable, and ethical options for her two rescue dogs left her dissatisfied, she was compelled to hire a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to develop something she could trust. This early creation in her kitchen ultimately fueled the development of her own direct-to-consumer brand. In 2020, Bramble was 1 of the 8 companies, out of more than 450 applications, accepted into the esteemed Food-X accelerator. Before starting Bramble, Amanda practiced law in New York City for a decade.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

My current career path as a founder grew organically out of my interests and personal pursuits. Ever since I was a child, I have always deeply empathized with and loved animals. But I always viewed animal rescue and welfare as a hobby as I pursued other things professionally.

I knew I wanted a career that I deemed impactful, which ultimately led me to work in wrongful convictions as an attorney. Throughout my time as an attorney, I was becoming more involved with animal rescue work and was moved by the injustices I saw playing out in my career to my clients, as well as in my personal work with animals.

In addition to animal welfare, I grew to be very passionate about health and wellness — specifically, the connection between diet and degenerative diseases. The more I learned, the more I understood that the food we eat is making us sick; and, the food we eat can also operate as medicine. This led me to adopt a more plant-based lifestyle, which was so much less restrictive and more enjoyable than I ever imagined. I think people look at “healthy” eaters as deprived, but I find that people who are mindful about what they eat have a real passion for food and cooking. These hobbies and interests collided when my dog, Harry, got cancer, and I started to apply all of the knowledge and concerns about my own diet to my dogs. I could never have imagined turning what I was cooking for my dogs into a business, but I just started putting the pieces together and figuring it out.

My parents were both immigrants; my father is from Poland, and my mother is from England. They placed a lot of emphasis on education and provided me with a lot of opportunities. However, as immigrants, they were not opening doors for me and making introductions because they didn’t have that. So I learned from an early age how to go after what I wanted on my own and make it happen. That served me very well during my first job after college as an assistant in the movie business: whatever your boss wants or needs, you figure it out and deliver. I applied this same grit to my work as an attorney, and now to Bramble.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

We’re giving pet parents the first opportunity to feed their fur children in the healthiest way, through a whole-food, plant-based diet. We’ve worked with expert animal nutritionists and board-certified veterinary nutritionists to ensure our recipes are packed with protein and yummy superfoods that dogs go crazy for. We’re making it convenient and delicious for dogs to eat in a way that’s healthier and also better for the environment and other animals.

The bulk of the commercial pet food industry consists of dry, highly processed kibble. Like all processed food, it’s loaded with chemicals and preservatives. Even “premium” kibble can contain unbelievably low-quality meat, which can contain what is known as the “4 D’s:” dead, dying, diseased, and disabled animals.

In much the same way we have become savvier and more thoughtful in our own diets, we need to do this with respect to our pets’ diets by reading ingredient labels and questioning slick marketing. Words like “holistic” and “human-grade” don’t carry any meaning, and they often mask inferior ingredients.

We’re taking what we know from our own diets — that we thrive on non-processed food, full of high-quality ingredients from plant rich sources — and applying that to our pets.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I don’t know how funny it is, but when I first decided to make homemade plant-based dog food, I looked online for recipes. My dogs loved being fed real food, but one of my dogs lost a lot of weight fast, likely due to the higher fiber content. I quickly realized that I needed to hire a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to do this properly. It made me understand the importance of a carefully and expertly formulated diet for pets that balances all of the specific nutrients needed to live healthily. It’s very well-intended to prepare homemade meals for your dogs, but I learned firsthand why veterinary nutritionists caution against it and favor commercial pet food.

One of my favorite moments, which actually happens quite often, is how many Bramble customers have told me that they also tasted the food! It’s not a mistake, but I love how people are curious about what their dogs are eating!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I have had some incredible mentors, and I realize that the best professional mentors are also the greatest personal ones. My former boss, Claudia, who hired me to work for her in wrongful convictions, has had one of the most significant impacts on my life. I learned so much from watching her in all aspects of her life, not just as my boss and colleague, but also as a mother, wife, friend, professional, and writer. She is so thoughtful and consistent in her morals and beliefs in all these areas. Claudia had confidence in herself and her judgment, so she was able to mentor people and allow them to be themselves without making it about her or a reflection of her. When I think about what kind of environment I’d like to create for my employees and what type of boss and person I try to be, I think of Claudia.

Because I believe mentors are so important, one of the very first things I did when I hatched the idea for Bramble was seek out great mentors. In fact, I cold-emailed Andy Levitt, the founder and CEO of Purple Carrot, to tell him what I was attempting to do, and asked for his advice. I couldn’t believe that he emailed me back, and ever since then, he has been so generous with his time and has become one of my biggest champions. I approached Ethan Brown, the founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, and similarly told him my plans for Bramble. The fact that both Andy and Ethan have helped me and mentored me speaks volumes about what incredible people they both are and how committed they are to the mission of changing our food system for the greater good of health, the environment, and animal welfare.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Testing norms, being thought-provoking, and shedding truth and light onto something is positive. But it has to be grounded in honesty and genuine concern for well-being.

I think Bramble is a great example. Animal agriculture is a pretty devastating industry. It operates largely in secrecy, punishing whistleblowers via Ag-Gag laws. It involves systemic abuse of both people and animals and wreaks havoc on both local communities and the environment at large. And the end product, factory-farmed meat, is making people — and pets — unhealthy. The pet food industry is responsible for up to 35% of the meat that is consumed in this country; yet, the pet food industry is often left out of the conversation that we have to reduce our overconsumption of animal products for the sake of health, the planet, and animal welfare.

We are looking to change that by offering a super healthy, savory alternative that dogs love. We seek to educate consumers on the dangers associated with commercial pet food, and some of the falsehoods underlying clever marketing. And our mission is grounded in truth and compassion.

Being disruptive just for the sake of grabbing attention or making money, in my mind, is not productive. Especially because it can be difficult to tease out intentions early on, these kinds of disruptors can gain a lot of traction and following, and ultimately not for the overall good.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Andy Levitt has given me two of the best pieces of advice I’ve received thus far. First, he tells me to focus on getting 20 people to love your product. When raising money, you’ll be asked about additional product lines, scaling into multiple channels, search engine optimization, among many other things. It’s important to think these things through early on, but they can also distract from the most important thing: make your product outstanding and get consumers to love your product; then get those consumers to tell their friends and so on.

Andy’s second bit of advice is to stop comparing Bramble to other companies. I have a habit of looking at where other companies are — how many stores they’re in, how many followers they have on Instagram, how much money they’ve raised. Andy hears me do this and immediately tells me to stop and just focus on getting people to love Bramble. If people love your product, the rest will follow. Not the other way around!

Last, hire people better than you and different from you. Every kind of diversity — in race, gender, personality, thinking — drives a company’s success.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

It’s just beginning! We are launching our first two fresh dog food recipes, followed by our treats and supplements. I can’t wait for more dogs to try Bramble and show their parents how much they love it!

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I think that the bar is still set higher for women to have to prove themselves and their product. We have to show a bit more to get people to believe in us. It shouldn’t be the case, but it is.

On the other hand, I see a real camaraderie among female founders that I find so inspiring, and I think it outweighs the challenges I’ve experienced as a woman thus far.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

There’s a Masters of Scale episode, the Ten Commandments of Startup Success, that is so full of incredible advice and stories from founders such as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Airbnb’s Brian Chesky. I have listened to it so many times. Brian Chesky tells a great story about the early days of Airbnb when he would personally show up to rented apartments to get to know his customers. I think startups can sometimes want to make themselves look bigger than they are in the early days. But in the early days, you can access your customer and get to know what they want in a way that you won’t be able to scale. His story about showing up to talk to his customers, asking about their Airbnb experiences, made me realize how founders should use the early days to build a better product and company going forward.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The movement that I am just a small part of is animal liberation. People are so disconnected from the way we treat and view animals, and the consequences are so far-reaching.

I don’t know any other issue that touches on all of the following:

Health — disease prevention and treatment, which implicates healthcare costs and over-reliance on antibiotics and pharmaceuticals;

Environment — everything from deforestation to climate change; and

Animal welfare — the horrific pain and suffering inflicted upon sentient farm animals.

People are becoming more and more concerned about these issues individually, yet still, resist acknowledging that the solution runs across their plates. Eating less meat could yield strikingly positive effects on all these fronts.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Right where you are in this moment is where you are supposed to be. I’m not one to get complacent, and I often question decisions and choices I have made, but I always come back to this. It reminds me that, despite the imperfections or hard times, where you are is the product of choices and thoughts and mistakes and achievements, and you really are always right where you are meant to be.

How can our readers follow you online?

On twitter and instagram: @amandarolat and @bramblepets

https://bramblepets.com/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Female Disruptors: Amanda Rolat of Bramble On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

No one is going to tell you that you’re doing a good job.

As CEO, you don’t have a boss who can give you feedback about how you’re doing. It’s hard to find external guidance for how to improve, but for me it’s been even more challenging that there’s no one to praise you or celebrate with you when you’re doing a good job. You have to find that pride and motivation within yourself. That’s one reason that it’s been so important for me to regularly step away from my company — so that I can reflect on all the things I’ve accomplished.

As part of my series about the leadership lessons of accomplished business leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Katie Wagner.

Katie is the CEO and Founder of KWSM: a digital marketing agency. KWSM is a full-service digital agency specializing in content creation, social media management, digital advertising, videography, website design and SEO. Clients include Mitsubishi, Anthem Blue Cross, F45 Fitness Studios, Rakuten, Caesar’s Entertainment, and small to mid-sized companies across the country. The agency has offices in Orange Country, CA, San Diego, CA, Atlanta, GA and Las Vegas, NV.

Before starting KWSM, Katie spent 15 years as a television and radio journalist, working for news outlets including ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN & National Public Radio.

Katie lives in San Diego, CA with her husband and their 5 rescue dogs.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was working as a television journalist when social media started to gain popularity. We realized that people weren’t watching the 5 o’clock news the way they used to because they could get headlines on Facebook and Twitter and see videos on YouTube. It became part of my job to use these new channels regularly and try to engage our audience there. As more consumers embraced social media, I realized that business owners would need to understand how to tell their story there, and I could use the skills I learned as a journalist to help them. When I left my TV job, I thought I would become a consultant and had no idea I was building an agency.

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

Because my entire career had been in TV news, I had never run a company or been anyone’s boss before. I wasn’t well versed in how to find and hire the right people. The agency was growing quickly, and I needed to expand our staff in order to meet client demand. I ended up making some really poor choices. Once, while I was away on vacation, my team of 4 employees conspired to each take time off while I was gone, and cover for each other. (Ironically, I found out because they posted pictures of their trips on social media!) I knew I could no longer trust them and had to fire the whole team on the same day. I thought it would be the end of the agency, but my clients understood and trusted me to continue to serve them while I hired a new team. After that, I took hiring and training a lot more seriously, and learned that not everyone who accepts a job will be loyal to the company.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

I was really inspired by my clients’ faith in me and the agency. I had worked hard to build relationships with them, and I was transparent with them about what had happened. They trusted me to recover quickly and keep moving forward — and that gave me the confidence that I could do it. I knew a lot about digital marketing, but I still had a lot to learn about building a company. I accepted that challenge and did everything I could to educate myself about management and leadership.

So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?

Today, I have a team of more than 35 employees that I trust and respect. Over the years we have refined our hiring process to include a personality test that tells us much more than what’s on a candidate’s resume. We’ve put strong core values in place for the agency, and we hire based on those traits, and not just on job qualifications. I can teach people the skills they need to excel at digital marketing, but I can’t teach them loyalty, integrity and to be a team player. At the end of the day, those qualities are what allow us to build a strong staff and do our best work for clients. I’ve also learned to be a much better boss and leader, and I’m grateful for the self-development that owning the agency has made possible.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started the company in 2010, I named it Katie Wagner Social Media, Inc. I really believed I would just be a consultant and teach business owners how to use social media. That ended up being short-sighted, and as the agency grew it didn’t feel right to use my name in the title of the company. The work we do is made possible by a team of people — and I could never accomplish alone what we are capable of together. Also, we now do so much more than social media! So, in 2018, we rebranded as KWSM. As the agency continued to grow, clients didn’t have as much interaction with me because they were well taken care of by the team. One day, the team was onboarding a new client and I happened to walk by the conference room. I wanted to introduce myself and thank him for choosing the agency, so I popped in and stuck out my hand and said “Hi, I’m Katie. Thanks for being here.” The client looked very confused — he had no idea that I was the CEO! It was embarrassing at the time, but I also know it’s a sign of the strong company we’ve built and the fact that clients no longer hire us because of a connection to me, they hire us because of the work we produce and the relationships they build with every person on the team. Today we tell people the initials stand for Know Why Stories Matter!

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

From the very beginning, I’ve been committed to building a company with strong values and a people-first focus. When I started the agency a decade ago, digital was a new field, and there was a very low barrier to entry. Anyone who had a Facebook page could be an ‘expert.’ I was determined that we would be genuinely knowledgeable and helpful to our clients, and always treat them fairly. We work in an industry that sometimes takes advantage of the fact that digital is a foreign language to most clients, or charges companies more for services just because they have money. I don’t want to be that kind of agency. Internally, we are guided by the phrase ‘Integrity. Always.’ and I’m very proud of that. One way that’s shown up recently is that when the pandemic happened, we decided to let any client that was struggling out of their contract. I didn’t want to add to the financial stress and uncertainty that so many business owners were facing. We released 20 clients in the first few weeks of the pandemic, and many of them have come back now that things have become a bit more predictable.

I’ve also worked to maintain integrity with my staff over the years. I try to make decisions for the company we will be 5 years from now, not the company we are today. That means, from day one, team members were employees instead of contractors. (Because I knew that as the agency grew, providing good salaries and benefits would be important for attracting the kind of people we wanted to work with.) It’s unusual for an agency to have full-time, salaried employees instead of freelancers and contractors, but I believe that we do our best work because we all work together every day, and don’t assemble piecemeal teams — pulling in people only when we need them. Our cohesiveness is important for the work we do, and I am proud that we were able to honor those commitments to all our employees throughout the pandemic and didn’t lay anyone off.

Doing the right thing is hard sometimes and I’m sure we could have grown faster or made more money if we had cut corners, but I feel good about the company we’ve built.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

One of the best things I’ve done for both the company, and my own energy level, is carve out time to step away. Every 6 months I take 3 weeks off to work on strategic planning. This allows me to focus on the big picture and fine-tune our systems and processes — but it also gives me the opportunity to remove myself from the day-to-day duties of my job and remember why I started the agency and reflect on how far we’ve come and the good work we are doing. I always go back to work with a renewed sense of drive.

I also think it’s important as a leader to set boundaries. Digital is not a 9–5 job. The tools we use are ‘always on’ and we often work outside of regular hours. It’s easy to be pulled in a lot of different directions — either a client or a team member will always need you for something. I try to schedule white space in my calendar so I can focus on important projects and initiatives for the company, instead of responding to everyone else’s needs all the time. Otherwise, some of the most important work I do will be tackled at night or on the weekend, when I’m less productive. It’s hard to say ‘no’ sometimes, but it actually improves my team’s problem-solving abilities and boosts their confidence.

Also, for me, it’s been very important to continue my own education. As the world changes, leadership also changes and being the best CEO for my agency means continuing to learn new tactics, and constantly evaluate my own strengths and weaknesses. Knowing that I have the tools I need to perform well keeps me invigorated.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

When I retired from TV, I had been married to my husband for a year, but we lived in different states because of our jobs. When I moved to be with him, I knew I wanted to help business owners use the new digital tools, but I didn’t know what that would look like. Stephen was the one who pushed me to start a company. He believed that I could do it and supported me every step of the way. In fact, about a year after I started the agency, he quit his job to become KWSM’s Director of Operations! We’ve now worked together for more than 10 years, and I could not have built the agency without him. When he first joined the company, I offered to make him a partner. However, he reminded me that there could only be one chief decision-maker and that was me. He joined as an employee instead. His trust in me as not only a colleague, but as a boss, still helps me find strength on the tough days.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

At the agency, the majority of our staff is female, and many of them are in the millennial generation. My personal sense of purpose and fulfillment comes from training, mentoring and promoting these young women in the workplace. I teach an in-house leadership program for members of our team and helping them navigate their career paths and become the leaders of tomorrow is one of the most important parts of my job.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

Starting and leading my company has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life, but also one of the most difficult. I have learned a lot about my own strengths and weaknesses, what’s important to me, and how I want to contribute in the world. I don’t know if there’s any list that would have prepared me for this journey, but here are some of the things I wish I had known:

1.) Finding a peer group should be a top priority.

Being the CEO can be a lonely job. When you’re having a bad day or facing big decision, there’s no one on your staff that you can talk things over with. Being a good leader means reassuring your staff that everything is OK, and their jobs are stable, and that means you don’t complain to them or put your decisions on their shoulders.

I’ve found that it’s very helpful to have a group of peers — leaders at other companies — that I can confide in and look to for advice. About 5 years into my role as CEO, I joined a Vistage peer group, and that made a huge difference in feeling less alone and having resources for improving my leadership. No matter what the industry, many of the challenges CEOs face are the same, and I could not have built the company I have today without the friendship and support of my Vistage peers.

2.) No one is going to tell you that you’re doing a good job.

As CEO, you don’t have a boss who can give you feedback about how you’re doing. It’s hard to find external guidance for how to improve, but for me it’s been even more challenging that there’s no one to praise you or celebrate with you when you’re doing a good job. You have to find that pride and motivation within yourself. That’s one reason that it’s been so important for me to regularly step away from my company — so that I can reflect on all the things I’ve accomplished.

3.) The learning curve is steep, and continuous. Be ready.

Running a company will force you to use every skill you have and develop new ones very quickly. When I started the agency, I knew about digital marketing. But I had to quickly learn about hiring and people management, finances and balance sheets, sales, contracts, negotiating real estate, and numerous other aspects of running an organization. It can be exhausting and sometimes feel like you can’t get on top of everything. Because the world is always changing, and we always have new clients and team members, I am constantly learning and refining my skills as the business grows and evolves. Whether it’s tackling an interpersonal communication challenge I haven’t faced before, or implementing a new HR law, there are new problems to solve daily.

4.) This will be the hardest work you have ever done.

People sometimes say they want to own a business because of the freedom it provides — they envision doing only the work they love, working when they want to, and taking plenty of time off to spend with family and friends. That may be true if you’re a solopreneur, but when building a company, I find that this is the biggest myth of entrepreneurship. I work harder and longer hours now than at any point in my career. There is also added pressure on me to do good work and make wise decisions because dozens of families rely on their loved ones having stable jobs at the agency. This responsibility, coupled with the loneliness and constant learning mentioned in #1 and #3, makes the role of CEO the most challenging position I have ever held. It’s also the most rewarding — but that sense of accomplishment is earned through a lot of hard work. When you have a job, success is about your output on a daily basis. As the leader of the company, your focus is on long-term results, and success is about what happens over time. When the days get stressful, it can be hard to maintain that focus on the future.

5.) People and relationships are more important than systems or the work you produce.

I used to think that the agency would grow if we had the right systems and processes to keep things running smoothly, and we produced the best work in our field. While those things matter, I’ve learned that the true heart of a business is the people that work there, and the people that hire you. The relationships I have with my staff and clients are fuel for agency growth, and at the end of the day, how you treat people is the most important aspect of success. If you have mutual trust and respect with a client or an employee, it’s easy for them to forgive you when a mistake is made and keep moving forward. But no amount of outstanding work will make someone want to join your team or hire your company if they don’t believe you are operating with integrity.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would like to see more resilience training in the workplace. As I mentioned, I work with a lot of younger team members and they haven’t yet learned how to care for their own energy levels and rebound after tough times. I see a lot of people quit their jobs and look for something new the first time things get stressful or difficult, because they think it will never change. I would love to see more transparent conversations in the workplace around stress and workload — and more training about how to recognize your own emotional needs and take steps to meet them, instead of pushing through because you feel like that’s what’s expected. We hear a lot about burnout, but that’s simply the result of depleting your energy stores and not feeling like you have anything left to give. Burnout is a serious condition, but it isn’t permanent or irreversible. I think better communication and leadership around these issues could build a workforce that is able to recognize the signs of depleted energy sooner and take steps so that burnout is avoided.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I would love to connect and continue the conversation on any of these channels:

https://www.facebook.com/kwsmteam

https://www.linkedin.com/company/1873511

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwsocialmedia/

https://twitter.com/kwsmteam

https://www.instagram.com/kwsmteam/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Katie Wagner of KWSM: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder or CEO was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.