Let's Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari - Remove Your Emotion From It: Becoming Fiercer as a Founder

Episode Date: May 12, 2026

I'm back for another business focused podcast. The first one focused on launching a business, this episode is all about what comes next: growing, scaling, and sustaining a company once you’re past the startup phase. I break down why scaling is often harder than launching and what it really looks like to keep pushing a business forward without burning out. We talk about burnout, doubt, and the mental weight of ownership, when to pay yourself as a founder, the pros and cons of taking on investors, how to launch new categories the right way, marketing wins, mistakes, and brand-building moments, lawsuits, pivots, and knowing when it’s time to walk away.Ladder: If you have an iPhone, head to https://ladder.fit/HONEST and take a quick quiz to find your perfect Ladder plan. Use my link and get a free 7-day trial with NO credit card, and $10 off your first month if you join.Momentous: Head to https://livemomentous.com, and use promo code HONEST for up to 35% off your first orderGood Wipes: Buy any two packs of goodwipes at Walmart or https://Walmart.com, text them your receipt, and get reimbursed almost immediately for one of them. For more details, head to https://goodwipes.com/HONEST.Ritual: Save 25% on your first month at https://Ritual.com/BEHONESTArmra: Go to https://armra.com/HONEST or enter HONEST to get 30% off your first subscription order.Hiya: Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal, you must go to https://hiyahealth.com/HONEST.Salt and Stone: Try Salt and Stone’s discovery set to find your signature scent — Go to https://SaltandStone.com/HONEST and use code HONEST at checkout for 15% off your first order.For more Let's Be Honest, follow along at:@kristincavallari on Instagram@kristincavallari and @dearmedia on TikTokLet's Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari on YouTubeProduced by Dear Media.This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a dear media production. This is Let's Be Honest with Kristen Cavalry, a podcast all about getting real and open on everything from sex, relationships, reality TV, wellness, family, and so much more. And just a fair warning, there will probably be some oversharing. Hi guys, welcome in to another episode of Let's Be Honest. We are going to talk business things today, guys and gals. This is going to be a part two, essentially, to another business type podcast I did. The first one, I believe, was titled, so you want to launch a business.

And that one was really about starting a business. I walked you through what I did with Uncommon James and, you know, just some of the things that I went through in the early days. And now I feel like today we're going to talk about what it's like after you launch your company and you've had it now for a minute. Maybe you're not really considered startup anymore. But now what? Because I think it's, well, it's easier in a lot of ways after you've had it for a few years. You know, you figure out a lot of those new beginning kinks. And in a lot of ways it is the ship runs smoother.

You know, a lot of things hopefully have become well-oiled. They operate efficiently and, you know, things are doing what they're supposed to be doing. But I think the harder part that comes now a little bit later is growing and scaling and getting to the next phase, I think, is harder. And in my experience anyways, I'm sure I know there's different stories for everybody. but I just had this conversation actually recently with someone and they were saying that the hardest jump is not, let's say, from, you know, 1 million to 20 million or to 50 million. It is 50 million to 100 million. And I feel that in my bones. I feel it.

So what I did was I asked you guys, as always, on Instagram, what exactly you wanted me to talk. about. And then I just sort of gathered from your questions and based on what I talked about on the previous episode and then kind of with where I'm at in my own entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial, I cannot say that word, but where I am on my own journey with my own company. Let's just put it that way. And so some of the things that I've learned and that I'm currently going through because like I said, I almost feel like right now is to me, feels like crunch time and like this year in particular is going to be a turning point for uncommon James and like shit has to go down this year that's how I feel and so why I feel like that

is because I've had the company for nine years which is crazy it's gone by so fast but the first the first few years were insanity and the first year in business was really based off of my social media and I was growing the Uncommon James social media, but the first, I launched in April, so it wasn't even a full year in 2017. By the end of the year, we did exceptionally well, especially for the first year of a company and especially just based off of social media and the little bit of press that I got. I think I did a big party in LA for the launch of it. And I'm sure I probably. continued to do some press throughout, but nothing major. And so really it was all credited to my

social media. And then I think it was the following year that I got very Cavalry. And I've told you guys, but that just totally catapulted us to the next level. We sold out of everything. And then we did these wait lists so that people could be notified when we were back in stock. And there were, I mean, so many thousands of people that signed up for these lists. So I order so much inventory, which is so much money. And then a very, very small percentage of those people actually place an order when they are notified that something is back in stock. So in the early days for me, it was a lot of learning lessons, really dumb, careless mistakes like that. But it was just part of the process for me anyways. And then what happened was during COVID,

I hired my leadership team, my C-suite level team, and we really got the operations under control. The warehouse specifically, customer experience, you know, the logistics, let's say, really got a good handle on those, which we needed because we had so many issues in our warehouse too, which that was a whole storyline on Very Caballery. So, you know, we got good software put in place. Like we did all of the things that you have to do as a company, to grow and scale. And we were growing and scaling at the same time. And we continued to open up

a couple brick and mortars. And then really what's happened here in the last, let's say, two years is I, how I am as a boss is no news is good news from me, essentially. I like to give my employees free reign. Like if I'm hiring you, it's because, and by the way, when I say, say the only people that I hire are the people that sit directly below me. So the C-suite level, I'm not hiring anyone beyond that, then those people that will go and hire the people below them and so on and so forth. So the people that I'm hiring are really phenomenal. They're phenomenal. They're great at their jobs. I've used a recruiting company for most of them. And so I think between the two of us and knowing their experience and, you know, having conversations,

with them, I know that these people are very well equipped to handle this role. And so I, in a lot of ways, will kind of give them a lot of freedom and a lot of, you know, freedom and my blessing to kind of do what you will. And of course, I check in, but I'm not, I don't micromanage and I really, I trust that this person is going to do their job to the best of their ability. And the reason I hire them is because I saw something in them that they could be bringing to uncommon James. And that has been the case. And then there's, you know, I think I saw Emma Greed said this. I think it was on her podcast.

And she said, you know, the people who get you from $1 million to $50 million are not the same people who then get you to $100 million. And when I saw her say that, it was in a pivotal time for me because I was going back and forth on letting my C.O. go at the time. And I felt that because when I hired him in 2020, he was crucial and he did so much for the company. And then we outgrew him. And, you know, people, a lot of times too, people will have strengths in operations. And that very rarely crosses over into creative. You know, it's hard to find someone who is able to kind of do them all. And for us, it was like once the operations were up and running and doing, you know, great, I think I gave him too much freedom and control and I put too much on him. And listen, this is on me. And I think where things get tricky with me is

Uncommon James is not my only thing. I, last year is a great example because, you know, the podcast takes up most of my time actually. There's a lot that goes into a podcast that I don't think people really understand. It's a lot of prepping. It's a lot of, like, I listen to every single episode back and I make notes before it even goes to my producer. And, you know, I'm involved in the clips.

And it's just, it's a lot, right? And so the prepping is really the bulk of it, though. But my point is, and then I went on my podcast tour, and that was a lot of prep. I filmed that show. Then I promoted that show. I don't know that show. Like I can't say the name.

Honestly, Cavalry. My little mini dokey series that I did for the Let's Be Honest Tour. And my life was really busy. And, you know, I think the year before, did I do the year before? I can't remember. I know I've had a cookbook at some point in here. Like in the last like five, six years, there's been a lot of things that I've been doing. And so I haven't been able to make Uncommon James my soul focus.

And it's been ebbs and flows for me. quite just, I don't know how to be anything but completely honest and transparent. So I just, I don't know if this is the right thing to say to you guys, but this is what I'm saying to you, because it's the truth. I have had a lot of ups and downs with uncommon James in how excited I am about it. I've had moments of being like feeling like I just want to give up and just be done because the weight that sits on your shoulders with owning a company is a lot. And it never goes away. and I want to be growing at a quicker rate than we are, but I also haven't taken on any investors.

And that's why we're continuing to grow. It's just not happening overnight. And if I wanted to go and take on an investor, it could, but I don't want to take on an investor. So it's like, you know, you have to figure out what's more important to you. Parents, let's chat about Haya. You know, I always love to tell you guys about Haya. and, you know, for good reason, because our kids really are the first generation growing up on ultra-processed foods,

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They are also, these wipes are extra large, so they're 40% bigger than other wipes and they're made for sensitive skin. So if you have not checked these out yet, I'm telling you, you will never go back to another wipe. So head to Walmart to grab the Goodwipes, olipop, peaches, and cream wipes, your peach will thank you. Grab the new Peaches and Cream or any other Good Wipes item at Walmart so you can upgrade your restroom routine and see how it feels to actually be clean. Buy any two packs of Goodwipes at Walmart or Walmart.com. Text them your receipt and get reimbursed almost immediately for one of them.

For more details, head to Goodwipes.com slash Honest. Again, that is goodwipes.com slash honest to snag a free pack of Goodwipes. from Walmart. I want to talk to you guys about momentous. People are always talking about energy, recovery, and performance, but what do they usually overlook? The most overlooked piece is gut health. If your gut isn't dialed, everything else struggles to work the way that it should. This is where momentous fiber plus comes in. Momentous fiber plus is not just about digestion. It's a key driver of gut health, which directly impacts nutrient absorption, energy, stability, recovery, focus, mood, and overall performance. Momentus believes in a relentless

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Head to LiveMomenus.com and use promo code honest for up to 35% off your first order. That's livemometus.com promo code honest. A lot of the questions you guys asked were, do you ever feel burnt out and do you ever want to give up. And the answer to that question is absolutely. I have felt it so many times. And I think the burnout today is different than it was, let's say, in 2018, 2019, that burnout was, it was, uncommon. James was all encompassing because I didn't have this incredible team that I have today. So the workload was just a lot more on me, where the whole point of me hiring my C-suite level was to take a lot of the workload off of me so that I could have a bit of a life again. And that was questions

that you guys had asked me to, like, how do you know when it's time to hire some of these roles? And you know, these roles are expensive. They're really expensive. And to go from having just, you know, a few employees, let's say, who are kind of wearing a million different hats, because when you're a startup company, that's what you do. You just need bodies in there, essentially, who can kind of do it all. And then as you grow, of course, you know, those roles become defined, and now you're hiring specific needs within the company. And so for me, I hired my CFO, CMO, all at the same time through a recruiting company. And these were big salaries. And the recruiting company was taking a large chunk, you know, a huge percentage of

these salaries. And that was scary for me. But I also realized I, at the rate I was going, was going to completely burn out. I couldn't sustain what I was doing. And for my own happiness, I realized I would rather pay these people these large salaries and get a little bit of my life back. To me, that was worth it. And so I think you just have to decide as a business owner with wherever you are, you have to figure out what's important to you. You know, I had three little kids at the time. I was doing a million other work things too, which we've talked about it a lot, but I think I was making my life so busy to avoid the inevitable, which was, of course, my divorce. but I needed my life back a little bit.

My entire day was focused on uncommon James. It was like I was waking up at 5 a.m. to work out, but I was doing emails the entire time I was working out. I'd get my kids ready for school. I'd get my kids off to school. And then I was working all day. And then, you know, I'd have dinner with the kids and I would have my night with the kids. But as soon as the kids would be in bed, I'd be back on email and back doing stuff. And it was just like until I went to bed. And I just, I didn't have a life.

And so anyways, that's why I hired my team. So I think you have to decide for your quality of life, is it worth it? Because then how it all boils down. And a ton of questions were also about how I knew when it was time to pay myself, how I figured out paying myself. So the first few years, I did not have a salary. And I'm trying to think, what I did. did do, I think the first year I put all of the money back into the company. So I didn't take

any money until, I think it was actually, it was the very end of 2019 and the very beginning of 2020, that then I was able to finally, after a few years, take out a really nice chunk of money. And then I went on salary. It wasn't until I hired my C.F. And I think my CFO and my CFO were the ones who said, you know, you really should be on salary. I guess when people do come to look to potentially buy your company, you know, they want to see, obviously, how much it costs to operate your business. And as the CEO, you know, I need, we need that salary in there to see what it is, how much it is to operate the business. And so I finally went on salary, probably 22, I would say. And, you know, but here's what's interesting is,

I look back and if I could change things, I would not have taken that really large sum of money, the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. And instead, I wish I just would have kept it in the company or taken a bonus, but not as much as I did. And I'll tell you exactly why. because now where I'm at is I just lent uncommon James money. And so, I don't know. I guess, and I guess in a lot of ways, is it sort of the same thing?

Sure, but I would rather just, I don't know. I think, I think, I didn't know what I was doing, right? And I had people advising me, of course, at the time, but I don't think they knew what they were doing either. And I don't work with those people anymore. And I think the biggest hurdle that Uncommon James faces is because we have not taken on any outside funding, but there's so many things that we want to do. And the challenge has been, because we don't have just like tons of excess cash,

has been, instead of doing all the things we want to do at one time, it's we have to pick and choose. So we are opening up a store in Austin, and we're really excited about that. But stores cost a lot of money up front before they're making money. And we have a new fragrance launching. And that costs a lot of money up front. You know, and so we're developing skincare. I've told you guys, we want to do makeup. And all of these things cost a lot of money up front. Running a business costs a lot of money. I don't think people realize that either. You can have a number on paper that looks really beautiful, but that's not what is in my pocket. I can tell you that.

It costs a lot of money to run a business and it costs even more money to do all the things that you want to do. And so, you know, I get a lot of questions of like, how do you know when it's time to take on an investor? I realize I'm in a very lucky financial situation because I have other streams of income. And I'm able to lend uncommon James money. I'm able to invest in myself.

And that's what I realized the other night, actually. And that was kind of empowering for me of realizing I'm investing in myself. Like I'm buying into myself and my team and everyone that's in that building. I'm investing in us as a company. And that feels really great. It feels really cool to be able to bet on myself. And that's how much I believe in the company. And that's how passionate and excited I am about where we're going.

because today where I sit in front of you, I am so excited about it. And like I said, it's up and down with me with Uncommon James. This year in particular, I am so jacked up about it. And I've got so many great ideas and the team is a ton of ideas. And it just feels like the team is really now jelling together. And another thing I had to realize was I can't step away the way that I did the last couple of years. certain things within the company suffered because of it. And, you know, it's, it makes sense because it's my baby. I've always said, I'm the heartbeat of Uncommon James. Every founder is the heartbeat

of their company. You know, it's your vision. It's no one can translate your vision and your passion the way that you as a founder can. And I think that's something that's important to always remember and I've seen it firsthand. There's been a lot of trial and error, unfortunately, with me and this. And when I'm fired up and excited and I'm in the middle of it and I'm doing the thing, it feels good and it's a different energy. And how I am, when I'm excited about something, I'm super impulsive. I'm always thinking about it. My poor team, my leadership team.

I'm texting them at 7 o'clock at night. I could do this. I get like these different ideas. But that's how I am. I love it. Like I love it. And I love having something to prove. I love the grit.

I love this fire that I get. Like this is what makes me feel alive. I love having goals to chase. And I think that's what you need as a founder. And then I would hope that energy that I have right now is trickling over into the entire company, to the entire team. And so I think it's very normal and easy to say, fuck this, man. I don't like, I don't know what else to do anymore.

And then you take that and then you flip it. And then that's when you start to get really creative instead of getting down on. And I think it's sit in those moments when you do get down on yourself, but then use it as fuel to be like, no, damn it, no, I'm figuring this out. And it's in those moments that then I do. I come out the other side, more excited, more passionate, stronger, better ideas. And so I think that's a true testament to a lasting founder. Can you get through those doubtful moments and come out.

the other side, fiercer. That's the word. Fiercer. I like that, that word. Well, I'm excited to talk to you guys about salt and stone, a brand I love. Their deodorant is top notch, baby. Anyone who's used a clean deodorant knows that it's actually kind of a struggle to find one that really does work. And salt and stone not only works, but it makes you smell amazing because they have the best scents. I just got the Salt and Stone Discovery set. This is the best way to try all of their viral deodorants. Each set includes all four scents, which is the perfect way to explore and find your signature scent. And they also have a body wash, which the body wash smells like I just walked into a five-star resort. I use Salt and Stone to elevate my guest bathroom. I have it everywhere.

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have tea. I really just normally haven't done anything. So it's been really nice for me to have my new ritual at night and it does help me really relax, wind down, especially in this season of life where we're running from one thing to the next. I'm sometimes not getting home from basketball until like 9.30 at night. So I do need this to kind of just help quiet my mind and ease me off to sleep. ritual selected a bioavailable form of magnesium that's gentle on the stomach. It's clinically studied to support stress and mind relaxation, ease leg cramps during pregnancy, which is also awesome, and it supports period cramping and providing PMS support. So sit back and raise a glass to your new evening ritual with magnesium plus. Save 25% on your first month at ritual.com slash be honest.

That's ritual.com slash be honest for 25% off your first month. And I'm telling you, you guys, it tastes so yummy. It is so good. Armora Colostrum, you guys know I love it. We live in an environment that our biology was never designed for. There are EMFs, artificial lights, seed oils, microplastics, endicum disruptors, modern stressors. The list goes on and on. These assaults can disrupt the signals your body relies on, negatively impede,

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you saw on social media or on YouTube. Well, ladder gives you a real plan from an expert coach. And let me guess, you've got a folder of saved Instagram workouts on your phone that you never actually do. I'm also guilty of that. Or maybe you've been doing the same routine for two years. I get it. I've been there. I've been really stale in the gym. And that's why I'm so excited about ladder.

You get a new plan every week that builds on the last. And it really does feel like having a coach right there with you. Like you have a coach in your ear guiding you through every step with cues, form reminders, which is so important in the gym. and even motivation. And honestly, my favorite part is that you can do it from your house. You don't even have to leave your house. So remove the guesswork with ladder and get a real coach in your ear telling you exactly what to do for every workout, no thinking, everything planned for you.

If you have an iPhone, you can head to ladder. Dot fit slash honest and take a quick quiz to find your perfect ladder plan. You can use my link and get a free seven-day trial with no credit card and $10 off your first month if you join. Oh, okay, but that's the other thing. Talking about investors. So here's the thing. I think if I wasn't able to, I say loan on Common James money, but let's say invest.

If I wasn't able to invest money recently into Uncommon James, we were probably going to need to figure something out and find an investor. And I love having 100% ownership, complete creative freedom to do whatever I want. I don't like answering to anyone. I know that about me. I've learned that through having my own company, being my own boss with this podcast. I just don't, I don't like people being able to tell me what to do. I've always sort of been like that, but now as an adult and having these experiences where I don't have anyone telling me what to do, it's really hard to then go back and have someone

have any sort of authority over you. So I know that if I were to take on an investor, I would now have to, to some degree, be answering to someone. and this is my company. And excuse me, sir, but you don't get to come in here and tell me what I need to be doing with my company. I just don't think I would do well with that. And so, but, but of course, most companies do have to at some point have an investor. And at some point, we may need an investor. I mean, I invested money into uncommon James, but at some point, I may want like, you know, $50 million. Like, I, I, if we're really going to try to grow and scale the business to sell. I think you have to decide what is your end goal with your company? If your end goal is to sell your company, then yes, you're probably going to have to take on some sort of investment to grow it as much as possible.

Right now with where I sit today, we are not ready to sell as a company because there's just so many more things that I know we can do on our own. And then I think once we get to that point of, okay, we have launched all of the product lines that we want to launch. We've, you know, like, as everything on our end is where we want it to be, the only thing then that we need is getting in front of as many people as possible. And that's, I think then when we as a company, as Uncommon James may say, okay, now we're ready. let's take on a big investment, like 50 to 100 million. Let's open as many stores as possible. Let's really hit the marketing. You know, do every influencer under the sun. And I mean, I know you guys have seen, you know, a lot of these companies, I'm trying to think there's like a lot of wellness

companies. What do I see all the time? It is. It seems to be like pretty supplement heavy, but, or like workout clothes and stuff. Like, you know when a company, I think, has gotten on, has gotten a really big investor and they're like really doing a push to go now to the next level. You see them. That's when you start seeing every freaking influencer under the stun posting about these companies on Instagram and TikTok and everything else. And so we're not there yet, but you have to decide as a company, okay, or do you just want your company and do you just want to have a nice salary?

Because I mean, by the way, that's great too. And I actually had this conversation with a friend the other day as well where it was, you know, I'm happy with, well, there's two parts to what I'm about to say. One is I had this conversation when I was in a bit of a down and a funk about Uncommon James. And I was like, you know, I'm happy to just make my salary and just keep everything status quo. And it's like that's, it's still really good. But then I just know, no, I've got too much of a fire in me and there's just so much. I just know that we can do so much.

I think for me it becomes about bandwidth. If I could be in my office every day, oh, the things that we would, I mean, it would be, but I wouldn't have enough money to do them all. So it's probably good that I'm there, the amount that I am and I'm working on other things to distract me. But there's just so much that I would want to do. But you have to decide what you want to do with your company. Are you happy just making a salary every year and that being your income and you still have a pretty good work-life balance or do you have that fire and that passion and you want to go out there and fucking kill it and be a household name like I get it. And so most companies at some point do

have to take on an investor. And that's just sort of the nature of the beast, depending on how much you want to grow. You know, you have to decide what your goals are as a company. And obviously, if you take on an investor, you get the best deal possible. You know, you give away as little as possible. And depending on how much money you get, I mean, that's possible. You know, if you need $10 million, you know, you don't have to give away that much of your company. Well, depending, I don't know. I actually probably shouldn't speak too much about that because I don't know. I haven't gone down the investor, the investor conversation a lot.

I have a little bit, but it's always been kind of something I just really wasn't interested in. So I haven't explored it in great detail. And with that, I said that there's so many different things that we want to do right now. It's not even like we want to get into all of these different arenas. Like, I have no plans to do shoes and purses. And that doesn't interest me at all. I want to take what we're doing and do them to the best of our ability. I have said, you know, we want to, there's more we want to do with skincare.

That doesn't feel complete to me yet. and the makeup I look at as sort of an extension of skincare. We're not going to do a full, robust collection of makeup. It's going to be a couple of items that really just enhance your natural glow. Again, more of an extension of skincare. And, you know, there's a couple more stores that I would like to open up before we take on an investor. But stores are expensive and it's time consuming to have to have to. to go out there and find these locations. And so that's the other thing. It's like, you know,

you need people on your team to be doing these things. Like it's almost like, you know, you need a salesperson to get you guys into wholesale, which I think for skincare makes sense to be, have more of a footprint in wholesale. But you need someone that's boots on the ground looking for store locations. And we just also don't really have that bandwidth right now at the moment either. But, you know, we're doing another fragrance. You know, it's just, again, all these things just cost money. And so people were asking me how you know when it's time to launch a new category. I think launching a new category is really about, like I'll use Uncommon James as an example.

We were killing the jewelry game. Killing the jewelry game. You don't want to launch into another category until you're killing whatever it is that you started with. So if you started with jewelry, if you're killing the jewelry game, okay, now, and that's, now jewelry is a well-oiled machine, now you can launch into candles. And then, you know, like whatever makes sense to you, and I think it has to, as the founder,

I think that's where the founder has to weigh in, and it has to make sense because there's so many companies now, there's a million jewelry companies, there's a million skincare brands. The differentiator, what's going to say, separate you from everybody else is I think who's behind the brand, the founder's story, the people behind it. And I think, I think people today care more about that than ever before, which I kind of love. I kind of love that this new generation really does care about the story and

the founder and the people behind it. I think that's cool because yes, that is what separates us from another jewelry store down the street, you know? And so I think you have to decide as the founder like, what's authentic to you? What do you love? What's important to you? You know, skincare makes sense for me because I'm a skincare junkie and people's number one question for me was always about my skincare routine. It's, you know, still is. And so that stuff, that makes sense. And then I also had people asking me, what if something doesn't take off the way you had hoped? And this happens. This has happened to me. And it's heartbreaking. I had Little James, which was baby and kid clothes. And what?

I realized with that was it did well, but really clothing is such a beast. That needed its own, that was like its own company. And again, we didn't have the bandwidth. And that was right when we were taking off and things were crazy and it was too crazy. But that was, I had such a passion. That was like, it felt like a passion project for me because my kids were really little at the time. My kids were actually all the fit models for it and they were involved in it. And it was, They were in the photo shoots. And it was really fun for me and a fun way to have my kids be involved. And so I remember my COO came to me and he was like, you know, listen.

Like everyone knew how much it meant to me and no one wanted to be like, the juice isn't worth the squeeze, you know? And I think as a founder, you have to really look at the numbers. You have to remove your emotion from it. And you have to just say, yeah, no, you're right. Okay, I get it. It's not worth it. we're done with that. And so that was hard. I was sad about that, but it happens. And I think the

important part is to not get down about it. You've got to pivot. Okay, things don't always work out. And that's okay. We have to look at as a blessing in disguise. And now you've got the time and some resources to put elsewhere to something that's going to do well. That is the thing about being a founder is you have to be resilient. You can't let a no stop you. You can't. You can't. I think you have to, it's so important in business to remove your emotion. Otherwise, like you can't be a sweet little wallflower and you can't take things personally. You got to brush it off and you got to move on. Things don't always work and, okay, it didn't work. Boom, we're done. We're shifting. We're moving on to the next thing. Like that's how quick it has to

happen. Someone asked, how long do you hold on to a business that isn't making money? This is a personal thing because, you know, it typically takes businesses a while to make money. Most businesses are losing money for the first however long, depending on what it is. And you have to be okay with that. I think that's another thing. If you're thinking about launching a company, you have to know you're not going to be rolling in dough for a minute. And you have to be okay with that. So I always say, if you need money right now, you shouldn't launch a company because then your decision making is going to all be based on the money in your pocket rather than what's best for the company. And so you need a buffer.

You need a little something to fall back on. But it does get to a point where it costs a lot of money to run. a business, but not only to run a business, if you have inventory, if you're selling a product, that costs money. You know, everything costs money. Keeping the lights on in your office costs money. It all costs money. And so you have to get really honest with yourself and crunch some numbers and figure out at the rate you're going, when will you start to be able to make some money? And you have to look at your life. I mean, I can't answer that question for you. But I think, like, for me, what it boils down to is this is, I mean, if it were me, right, I would be like, okay, when am I going

to be able to start making money from the company at this rate? Am I able to buy my groceries for my kids and feed my kids? Like, you got to, like, figure out in your life. Let's say you have enough money though to sustain your life right and but you just you want this company to take off well do you have the fire and the passion and the drive and the work ethic like do you have those things to be able to sustain and keep going because if you don't have those I would say get out now but if you do if you have that fire and you have that thing and you know you know in your soul that you can do it, then I would say keep going. But eventually you have to be very real with yourself. And because you don't want to look back 10 years later and have been

drained of money for 10 years and then you end up just closing shop anyways. So I think, you know, that's where someone who's good with numbers can really have. help you, you got to crunch those numbers. You got to, you got to be honest with yourself, you know, or you could look at it as like, okay, I mean, listen, maybe, let's see, I don't know what you're doing, but if you sell a product, you could, you know, if the goal, if you just want to, it's not making any money, it hasn't made any money, you could let everyone go, except for the main people that you need on your team. The goal could be to do. You just, you just sell off all of your inventory and then your closing shop. And then hopefully in there,

you will make some money, you know, but yeah, I think you just have to get real with yourself. And it really boils down to your own personal lifestyle of if you need that money or not. A good question that someone asked was, what do founders underestimate about scaling? I mean, it really is that it's never ending. Scaling doesn't, it doesn't stop. Like, when does it end? It doesn't. And I think, I think I sort of said it earlier, but it's really that the scaling piece almost gets harder. Yeah. It's that it, it gets harder. This is such a great question. I loved when I saw this. Have you ever been sued? Seems like every business goes through it. Yeah, we have. And here's, that's another thing is you need a little safety net of cash.

for legal fees because there are companies that go around and look for things on people's websites to sue them for. So we had a lawsuit about, I think it was, a blind person wouldn't be able to use our website. And, you know, these companies go around and they sue every website for the same thing. And they, you know, think at some point that it's worth it for even if everyone settles, you know, that they get a little something out of. of it. So yes, I think obviously with me being in the public eye, we have a target on our back for sure. I mean, even me personally, I feel like I have to be very careful about people trying to sue me. But for any business owner, you know, you have to know that these people and these companies exist solely to fuck with you. Like, there's no other way to say it. People are always

looking for an easy way to make money. And we live in a very sue happy society. and that happens. So you do need cash on hand for legal fees. And as you grow and you scale, that pot becomes bigger and bigger with legal fees for numerous reasons. But that's just one example of,

yes, when someone tried to sue us. You know, the flip side of that, though, too, is we have gone after a couple companies because they have very similar names and very similar logos. and there was this one store in L.A. actually. I had friends sending me pictures of it because they were like, they're selling jewelry. It looks like the UJ, the logo.

And I can't even remember what the name of the company was. But it was something really similar. And it was like, what? You can't do that. So it goes both ways, you know, that you need money for legal fees. Unfortunately, it's just sort of the nature of the beast. Okay, so marketing is a big, a big conversation, right? And so people asked me, what have you done for marketing that you loved and would recommend or what would you not do again? And so, you know, and then like, yeah, how to get the word out about your business. There are good things and bad things about social media. I would say as a business owner, social media is awesome. And you definitely want to use it to your advantage. I mean, and I think when it comes to marketing, it's about getting people talking.

And you can do it in a tasteful way. I don't believe in the marketing of doing things for shock value and just to get everyone talking. Although I will say it works. It works because when you do a furry vagina thong, everyone's talking about it. I think there's other ways to do it without it being like this shock value though. I think on social media, for example, really the goal on Instagram or TikTok is to make people stop, right? People are scrolling. It's all mindless. How can you grab someone's attention in 0.2 seconds and make them stop, whatever that is? And that's going to be different for everybody,

depending on what product you're selling and what your demographic is. But that I think is the goal. It's how do you stand out in a world that is so oversaturated? We're constantly being bombarded with images and messages and how do you make someone stop without scrolling? And social media really can be so great because you can grow a whole brand on social media. And then, you know, so what would I not do again? The things that I have loved in marketing, and again, this is an area where I realize I'm lucky because I've been in the public eye for over 20 years. And so I can do something and it can garner attention. For example, we did a whole Laguna Beach reunion video that was all over the place. And I did that right when Steven and I were doing the Back to the Beach podcast.

And that was sort of like what inspired it. We shot at the Palisades High School. And it was like a throwback to 2005. That was really fun. You know, I had Tyler Cameron in a video that we did. He played my love interest. That was really fun. And that garnered a lot of attention. You know, that was all over the media. And so I've been able to do little things like that that have created a lot of buzz and a lot of attention. I realize what a unique position I'm in for that. And I'm very, very thankful for those opportunities.

But again, I think it's just how can you get people talking? How can you make people stop and look and want more? I've always said no matter what you're selling, you're selling an image, a feeling, a lifestyle. Like, you're selling the whole thing. Like, we're selling jewelry, but I'm selling you a feeling. And I want you to buy jewelry based on an emotional pull. You want to pull on people's emotions.

And so how can you do that? That, I think, is the biggest thing with marketing. That's, like, big picture marketing. I love, like, brand awareness marketing, right? And then that's what I have a team of marketers for is for that, nitty gritty like the Google ads and the I don't understand all that stuff right like the i don't like the instagram ads and unsure but like i don't i don't i don't know i don't get all that so that's what i hire people for but like the big brand awareness moments yes and another thing

that we're going to do guys so we are having our very first fashion show and we're showing at Miami Swim, we've partnered with Reza, who I love. I've been a fan of theirs, and I love the founder, Suzanne. She's awesome. And it's two independent, badass women who own these brands and we're coming together and we're going to show at Miami Swim. That's the end of the month. And that's a way that we can get people talking. And, you know, joining together with another brand, I definitely think partnerships are a great way to get your name out. You know, it's marketing is a very important. And getting in front of as many people as possible. So it's just getting creative with the ways that you can do that, even if it's a giveaway with another brand. Just getting in front of different

audiences is the most important thing when it comes to marketing. And that's what I mean. I think it's like I'm so excited about on Common James right now because we have so many great things happening. Actually, this month, May is a huge month between the Austin store opening, which is right on South Congress couldn't be a better location. The Miami Swim thing. And we are launching, I don't know if I can say men's jewelry here really soon this summer. And we've got some great, great collabs that are going to launch at the same time as that. And so we're just, for me this year, these were some of my goals was partnerships. Collaborations this year is a big one for me. And now you're you're starting to see all of these collapse come to fruition.

And so I'm really excited. So it's just getting creative, thinking outside the box. How can I get in front of new people, new audiences? That's why men's jewelry is a whole new audience for us. And I don't think we're going to have all of a sudden like a huge male audience. But I do think our women audience are going to buy it for their husbands and their boyfriends and their brothers and their sons. You know, I mean, my boys wear chain necklaces. And so it's just, it's, it's expanding in a way that makes sense.

Also with marketing. So something that I did, when was this? Probably around 2019, 2020, I think it was those couple of years. We did a lot of really expensive billboards on Sunset Boulevard in L.A. in L.A. in Times Square in New York and a lot of print magazines, you know, so that when you would open up, oh God, what did we do? I want to say, I want to say we did like in style and Cosmo. I can't remember all of the magazines now, but as soon as you would open up the cover, we would be those first two pages. And a lot of people would argue print is a waste of money, especially today. I mean, this was years ago. but they're probably not wrong. Those things, the billboards and the print magazines,

were so wildly expensive. But for me at the time, I wanted to create this image that Uncommon James was absolutely killing it. And we were, but it was more that I wanted everyone else to think that too. I was creating an image. And it did it. It did what it needed to do.

I had so many people, because, you know, being in LA or whatever. So many people were like, oh my God, I saw your billboard. Like, I've seen your ads. Like, oh my God, you guys are killing it. I'd be like, yeah, I know. Yeah. And what that does is then it makes other people want to be involved, right? When you're killing it, people want to be part of that. And so would I do those today? I would, I probably would do a billboard, quite quite honestly, actually. I don't know that I would do the, I don't know. No, you know what? I probably would. If we had, so here's the thing, as you grow and scale, running your business is more expensive. Obviously, with the, you know, the bigger your payroll gets and the more stores you have, like just it as a,

your company grows, everything grows, including expenses. At the time, it was kind of a unique situation because we were making a lot of money, but it didn't cost nearly as much to run the company as it does today. So at the time, we had a lot of this excess cash. And again, I wasn't taking a salary at the time. And so I was able, we had the money to throw at that stuff. Today we don't have that kind of money because what we're doing today rather than a few years ago is we're putting what that money would have been or was, we're putting that now into product and stores. And so that's the difference. But, you know, listen, in like two years, let's say when we've launched all of our skincare products, we've got our makeup out or the fragrance, maybe we've got one more store, and now we've got

this cash, yeah, I would maybe do that. I would maybe do that again. But that's the thing. It's like, you know, just without taking on an investor, you have to figure out where the best place is to put that money. And right now, for us, it's not billboards and print magazines. We need the inventory. We need the products. We need it all in-house. And then once that, that's up and running, then we can start doing some of that fun stuff again. So that's kind of the gist of everything today, guys. I hope this helps you guys. And yeah, it's an ongoing thing. I'm still learning and I'm sure in another year I'll have a lot more to say to you guys on this subject. But it's a subject I absolutely love. I love business. I could talk about it forever. I feel

I was born to be a businesswoman. And I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you have passion and you've got drive and you've got a killer work ethic, you can do fucking anything. And don't forget that. Don't let anyone else try to put a drop of doubt in your mind. I didn't go to college. I don't have a BA.

I don't know the first thing I'm doing. I didn't know the first thing I'm doing. I didn't know the first thing about a company. I've had it for nine years and we're fucking killing it and we're going to continue to kill it. So I hope you guys are killing it out there as well. As always, thank you for listening. I love you guys and I'll see you soon. I'll see you next week. Actually, you better be kidding than next week. I don't know why I said soon. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect

financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.