Marketing Happy Hour - An Exciting Peek Into Field Marketing + Brand Expansion | Elle Hvozdovic of CAVA

Starting point is 00:00:00 you're listening to the marketing happy hour podcast where we discuss career and industry insights with our peers in marketing we're here to talk about it all like the ups and downs of working in social media how to build authentic relationships in the influencer and pr space managing a nine-to-five and a side hustle at the same time, how to be productive in your life and career without losing your sanity, and more. Ultimately, we're here to build a community with you because we're all trying to navigate the world of marketing together. Are you ready? Grab your favorite drink and join your hosts, Cassie and Erica, for this week's episode.

Starting point is 00:00:52 Today, Erika is joined by Elle, the Senior Marketing Manager of Brand Growth and Expansion at Kava, my absolute favorite Mediterranean-inspired cuisine brand. Elle takes us on a journey through her diverse career path, sharing the invaluable lessons she's learned from hopping across industries and how those experiences have shaped her approach to marketing at Kava. We'll dive deep into the world of field marketing, uncovering strategies to maximize impact, and exploring innovative ways to evaluate your brand's presence on the ground. We'll also get an insider's look at brand partnerships, discussing how Kava identifies and nurtures the right collaborations to enhance their brand and engage their audience. Plus, Elle will walk us through

Starting point is 00:01:31 the exciting process of brand expansion and the unique strategies that Kava employs to grow their reach and maintain their strong identity. It's time to get into the episode. So as always, grab your favorite drink and let's dive in. Hi, Elle. How are you? Good. How are you? I'm doing so well today and so excited to chat with you.

Starting point is 00:01:53 Cava is one of Cassie and I's favorite, favorite places to eat. So getting to have you on the podcast today is such a treat. But before we get started, I do have an important question for you that we ask all of our guests. And that is just what is in your glass this afternoon? So I am drinking a French 75. I am traditionally a margarita girl, but in the summer, sometimes I feel like I just need to change it up something a little more refreshing. So I'm going to stick with French French 75 for now. Oh my gosh, Amazing. That reminds me, my best friend is like always getting French 75. So shout out to Lauren, if you're listening. But I'm more of a Negroni girl. So I have a non-alcoholic Negroni here, which is like one of my favorite go-to happy hour drinks

Starting point is 00:02:37 when I'm just like not feeling the alcohol for a day. So always love doing that. But I love that. Yeah. So we want to get into your story and kind of, you know, what your background is. We are absolutely itching to get into this episode to talk about Kava. But first, we want to hear about you. So could you talk us through your career journey thus far? I know you had like some non-traditional avenues and things that you did with going to grad school and things like that. So just give us a brief overview of that. Yeah, absolutely. So my background's a little crazy. I started out in professional sports. I played collegiate sports in college, got hurt. And I was like, who am I? What am I doing? I don't know what the next step

Starting point is 00:03:21 in my life holds. But I was in Boston at the time going to undergrad. And obviously it's such an incredible professional sports city. And so I really started out just doing a lot of like unpaid sports internships for smaller teams, smaller leagues, just to get into the industry. Worked for major league lacrosse for a little while. And I did a little stint with MLB's advanced media branch, which then led me to a post-grad internship that I did with the Tampa Bay Rays. And kind of at that point, I was like, all right, I'm in, you know, I'm sold. I love professional sports. This has been a lot of fun. So I stayed in that for a good bit. But again, kind of with sports, you kind of have to move around to move up type

Starting point is 00:04:00 of thing. And so I went to the PGA tour for a bit, again, really surprised myself. I was not a golf fan at the time. And now I love golf. It was the most amazing experience, which was awesome. And then I took a little bit different direction. I am originally from New Jersey, went to school in Boston. And so Florida was amazing living at the beach for a couple of years, but I really missed the city. And so I was like, okay, you know, what are some maybe mid-Atlantic cities that aren't as cold as Boston that I can, you know, end up in? And so I applied to a lot of roles in DC, which brought me up to NBC Sports, which again was awesome. It still allowed me to really lean into the professional sports experience I had, but it was a different industry. You know,

Starting point is 00:04:39 being in television and media is fundamentally different than, you know, working in social media and sports. So that was amazing. It was literally a dream job. I covered the Baltimore Ravens and the Washington Capitals, who were just legendary teams at that time. The Caps had just come off of winning a Stanley Cup and the Ravens had got Lamar Jackson. And so it was incredible. And then COVID happened. And like many other industries, sports and TV really struggled because there weren't any sports to cover at that time. And so I was lucky enough to to keep my role. But my role started to change a lot. You know, the business really changed. My role changed with it. And I just worried that I wouldn't be able to continue to grow kind of in the direction that it was going at that point. But I had made the decision to start going to grad school during

Starting point is 00:05:25 that time, really to just kind of give me the opportunity to elevate, you know, as I wanted to grow, where could that potentially go in the future? And, but it was in DC and I had to be in DC in order to go to grad school. And with sports, for anyone who's worked in it, you have to be willing to go anywhere. You know, if there's only 32 teams in a league, there are only 32 roles for the thing that you do, you know? And so I was kind of in a tough spot there where I was like, okay, if I do want to grow and I do want to move into a different role, I have to stay in DC. And that likely means I have to be willing to move out of sports. And so I applied to a gazillion jobs, as all of us do on the job hunt and ended up at Solidcore for a year

Starting point is 00:06:05 working on partnerships and expansion marketing there. So that was kind of really when I got into what I do now and then was there for a year and then was given the opportunity to come over to Kava to kind of do what I was doing, but just on a bigger scale with the brand, you know, being about double the size of what Solidcore was and just the opportunities that I would get in the projects that I'm now able to work on was just really exciting. But it's crazy because when I take a step back, it's like professional sports, TV, fitness and food. You know, I feel like I've touched a lot, but I've also learned so much by, you know, one, I think it's changed my perspective of like when I hire people, unless the role is so, so, so niche where it really is, hey, if you lack the experience in

Starting point is 00:06:51 this specific thing, really there's not a space for you. There's a lot of overlap, which I'm sure we'll get into today, but just of how marketing skill sets really can translate as long as you're willing to really buckle down and learn in those first couple of months when you're there about that industry, competitors and whatnot. There's a lot of opportunities to kind of take what you know and make it work somewhere else. So good. And we talk about that so often on the show. And I want to dive into a little bit, you know, like your decision around going to grad school. It was around the time of, you know, COVID and things like that. So did you already make that decision before COVID or was it kind of like inspired by

Starting point is 00:07:30 COVID and wanting to go in this new direction or what was that process like? Because I know a lot of us in corporate marketing, whether we're in our first like couple of years of our career or not, have thought about that, have thought, is that a good choice for me? Is that a good path to go down? So we'd love to hear your perspective. Yeah, absolutely. So it definitely, I had thought when I left undergrad, I was like, I'm never going back to school again. Like I love working. I don't want homework anymore, you know. But COVID definitely changed a lot of things, especially because the industry I was in was struggling so much. It was a scary time to be like, hey, you know, is there a future for what I do? And is it only going to become more and more difficult to grow here with the challenges that we're facing in this space at the time?

Starting point is 00:08:15 And so I was motivated to consider grad school at that time because of what was happening in my personal career. I think the biggest thing that I found so unique about it and what I feel has actually helped me sell myself in the future and land this role with Kaba, which has been incredible, was that I didn't take like a traditional graduate path. My degree was actually a master's of public policy with a focus in artificial intelligence and technology, which sounds crazy insane, especially for someone in marketing. It's like, what the heck does that have to do with what you do? But I think what was really incredible was, of course, I was surrounded by these brilliant people who work on the Hill, which was very, very cool. But from a business standpoint, it was really unique because I was able to take things from that program of how policy impacts, you know,

Starting point is 00:09:06 private industries and where AI and tech are going and how that impacts every single industry that exists, which really gave me like a really niche, special selling point for myself. You know, I was able to say, hey, my experience really speaks to my marketing knowledge, but my education really took it to another level where I feel like I can take these really unique skill sets, you know, blend them with my marketing experience and take me to the next level. And so my one piece of advice for people who are considering going to school is I think it's great, but I would say make sure that the program you're going into is something that really will separate you from the pack.

Starting point is 00:09:45 And so that could still be an MBA. That could still be a secondary degree in marketing, but there, I do really think if you can kind of carve out this really niche thing, it really makes it, you know, anytime I interviewed people were so intrigued by it that I really felt it helped me stand out from the pack when I was in the interview process. Yeah, absolutely. That's great advice. And that's something I don't even think we've heard on the podcast is to just like, make sure you have like a, a niche interest when you're moving forward in your learning efforts, whether that's through school or just through online resources or free things that are out there that you can dive into yourself. So I love that. It gives you a point of difference. It gives you

Starting point is 00:10:23 something to chat about beyond your experience and things like that. So that's awesome. I also didn't know that you worked for the Rays and the PGA tour. I am the biggest baseball fan and the biggest golf fan. I grew up watching it with my dad. So we should have a lot of chat about offline. Maybe people love it about that. Let's do it. Amazing. Awesome. Awesome. Okay. So I want to hear just a little bit about that industry hopping. You know, you alluded to it, you brought a lot of things from the sports marketing world into what you're doing today, but what specifically do you think you've carried from one industry to another? Yeah, I think, you know, of course, like the things I learned that were

Starting point is 00:11:05 marketing specific, I was very content heavy in the beginning of my career. So a lot of like graphic design, video editing, social media space type stuff. I've moved away from that as I've kind of grown in my career. But I think that knowledge has been massively helpful. You know, anything with a partnership has some degree of a digital or social element. And so in terms of kind of visualizing how that partnership comes to life, I'm able to kind of tap into that knowledge and go from there. The other thing, which is kind of niche to what I did, but obviously working with athletes every day, when I think about partnerships and, you know, what direction we go with what sport is the best fit or the type of personality of athlete, when you're thinking about who to move forward

Starting point is 00:11:45 with, because I had so much experience working directly with them. I feel like it kind of gives me a little bit of an edge, you know, moving forward in that way. But I think a lot of things are also not just marketing specific, like the professional sports world is 24 seven, it's fast moving, it's high stress. So like, you never know what's going to happen. You play games. I mean, in the baseball world, it's four to five nights a week. And the storyline can change regularly. You know, you can prepare for a campaign for a season, but based on how the team performs, it's going to evolve and kind of change the way that your plans go. And so working, you know, in more of a traditional brand, like a solid core or Kava, you know, you can kind of plan out a year,

Starting point is 00:12:26 two years in advance to say, Hey, we're thinking of launching this product. How can we shape things around it? And so while it's not, it's, it's not dissimilar, but it's also not similar to the professional sports world. I think my ability to learn how to adapt and work in high stress situations and, you know, understand balancing several projects at one time. I just think those are skill sets that sometimes are overlooked, but are critical. And I've seen the difference between people that I've worked with that have had experiences like that and grew up in roles that required that versus people who didn't. And especially when you're with a high growth brand like like a solid core or a kava, it's critical

Starting point is 00:13:05 that you are capable and comfortable in that space, because if you can, it really can be very overwhelming and it's, it's a tough spot to be in. But, um, I think those soft skills were, were huge benefit, um, you know, taking that, that onto the different areas of my career. Definitely. And that reminds me of, we've had a lot of conversations with people who have got their start in their career at agencies and they have that kind of similar like adaptability and just. I know we're going to get into brand partnerships and brand expansion and things like that, but we want to talk a little bit first about field marketing because it's a topic we haven't really touched on with the show. How do you think brands can maximize the impact of their field marketing efforts and kind

Starting point is 00:13:59 of like what is your experience in field marketing in general? Yes. So it's actually so crazy. I feel like field marketing has really kind of come onto the scene in the past few years. Like to your point, it's not something that brands are generally focusing on necessarily. One, I think that makes Kava very unique. And what makes us special is that we are prioritizing field marketing as a part of our overall growth plan. But when you think about field marketing previously, it's, you know, your college ambassadors, affiliates,

Starting point is 00:14:29 content creators, kind of in that way, boots on the ground marketing. You've got a small team that's kind of out there, able to connect with people in the community. And those definitely are still very important parts of field marketing. But I think the evolution of technology has really changed our ability to leverage what field marketing looks like. Right. So you talk about platforms, social media platforms, algorithms. And, you know, those are three very different, you know, culturally, you know, different areas where we're opening a store and supporting customers. And so really taking a step back and saying, OK, with all of these things that exist today, where do we want to put our energy and our resources to help reach those different types of audiences?

Starting point is 00:15:24 And I've got just a couple different areas you know, areas that we kind of have been focusing on right now. Influencer space is interesting because, you know, local marketing is its own area in addition to a national marketing strategy. So they're happening hand in hand, but you're connecting with people in, you know, a little bit different ways, you know, each way. So national, you know, we're talking about those giant influencers, people with hundreds of thousands of followers that are just massively impactful and can help grow your brand awareness. Micro and nano influencers, however, are, in my opinion, massive, massive, massive tools, because when you're in a local market, you know, if we're in a neighborhood outside of Boston,

Starting point is 00:16:04 Massachusetts, that's great if we've got a big influencer from Boston, but if we can find a mommy blogger from that neighborhood, who's deeply connected to people who are there, you know, there's that loyalty, that authenticity that comes with someone that, that you just trust, who's, who's, you just feel more deeply connected to leveraging those micro and nano influencers to really say like, Hey, you might only have 8,000 followers, but if that's 8,000 people who are coming into my store, I'm taking that as a win, you know? And so being able to take that step back and say, you know, to leadership, we don't need someone who's got a million followers. We can take someone

Starting point is 00:16:39 on the smaller scale and I can show you that the ROI is going to be a really big impact there. I think NIL, another space, you know, professional sports was really the only area that we could tap into previously. And again, for national marketing, great. Local marketing, NIL has been huge because you don't even have to take the quarterback of the college football team. We're talking gymnasts, softball players, golfers, smaller sports, where they may be a massive deal in that local market where we're able to say like, hey, yeah, let's lean into this pitcher for this softball team in Mississippi because she's killing it and everyone loves her here, where maybe no one knows who she is in Seattle if they're not big, you know, softball fans. But for that market, it's massively impactful. So, you know, a great tool in that. And again, these are kind of concepts that have really only evolved in the past couple of years. So definitely an ever-changing industry, but a great option there. Events, you know, it doesn't need to be Coachella. You can do a smaller festival outside of Chicago, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, based on where that target audience is, really putting those local marketing dollars in those regions that you really care about making deeper impacts with the community there. build-outs and pop-ups have been really fun. I saw one that Ordinary, the skincare brand did, where they built like a giant Ordinary bottle and put it in the river in London. And just like

Starting point is 00:18:13 stuff like that is just, you know, you want to be disruptive in a positive way, right? Like how can we inject our brand into this smaller market in a way that people go, what is that? I want to learn more about it, you know, and just raising awareness in that way. I do think the underlying thing with field marketing too, is that, you know, national marketing strategies really have to do with brand awareness and brand affinity, right? Like how many people can we reach to educate them on who we are and just get them to know our brand. Whereas local marketing really is conversion focused, especially in the retail space. So like for a solid core or for a kava, the goal is how can we get people in the door to actually participate in the product that we're selling? And local

Starting point is 00:18:57 marketing really just changes that in the sense where our goal, when we're going out and talking to people or educating people or handing out flyers or hosting an event is to say, let me give you an opportunity to sample my product. Let me give you a reason to come into my store. And so it really is fundamentally very, very different than the way that I approach a national partnership conversation that are still massively impactful to the brand. But the benefits of what you're getting from that, you know, the vision has to be different and the benefits are going to be different than what you're looking at with a national strategy. Oh, so good. And we always talk about getting out into your community, wherever that may be, whether that's, you know, in your one localized area or if it's, you know,

Starting point is 00:19:38 across the nation, not all these different stores or all these different places where your product may be. So I love that you alluded to that. Let's get into a little bit more of the brand partnership side of things. So when you think about brand partnerships at Kava, what is the team prioritizing and, you know, how do you determine which partnerships are the right fit for your brand? Or, you know, just thinking about overall, how can brands out there kind of determine what are the right partnerships for them? Yeah, absolutely. I think Kava was such an exciting opportunity for me because the brand really is prioritizing partnerships in general. I think you guys will see some really exciting stuff coming down the pipeline. I can't unfortunately dive super

Starting point is 00:20:19 deep into what those are, but I would recommend keeping an eye out on our socials and our different platforms for what's coming down the pipeline there. But what I can talk to and speak to is how we choose our partners. And I think that this is something that no matter what industry you're in, it's so important to consider. For Kava, we are deeply, deeply rooted in our values. Like wherever you go, whatever Kava you walk into, the experience you get in the four walls is going to be the same because we just care so much about making sure that no matter how big we get and how far we expand, that we're always, you know, coming back to our Mediterranean roots and really taking advantage and capitalizing on those values that we hold so close to us. And so when we go out to other partners, we really are looking for

Starting point is 00:21:05 other brands that have very similar values to us. Just generally, when we talk to our audience, this is our brand voice and our brand feel. We really want there to be a lot of overlap in terms of who we are as a brand and making sure that the brand that we're working with also has that similar vibe, similar energy, similar values. Audiences are interesting because a lot of the benefit of the partnership, right, is to expand your audience. And so while we want there to be some similarities with the audiences, we don't want it to be necessarily exactly the same. Like there is benefit of them saying, hey, we can give you access to a group of individuals that you would not be reaching without us, you know? And so when you're, when you're looking at these

Starting point is 00:21:45 brands, it's funny because I think people also see like, well, I need a giant name brand to make this worth it or, or make it count. And I think something that I've found is that short, you know, one or two of those big name brands is obviously fantastic for brand growth, but there also is a benefit in a midsize brand, a brand that can do a lot for way less, where you can create some really authentic stories with it. And you can, you know, they just, it just makes sense. Like, it's so funny, like when you're in the conversation and you're talking to the partnership team of the brand, like you can feel it. You're like, these people are real. They're just like us.

Starting point is 00:22:21 They have similar goals to us as a brand. And so, you know, it always just makes you feel better when you're like, okay, no, I authentically believe in this relationship. And, you know, if you don't, it's going to come across to your customers when they see the partnership. They're like, what the heck? Like, this is not, this doesn't make any sense. Clearly these guys are just partnering to get the name benefit and you lose the trust and the brand affinity of your fans and your customers in that. And so I just think, you know, with the ability to say, yes, we want that consistency. We want similar brand affinity. We want similar values. However, in order to justify whether it be the spend, the in-kind partnership, the association with the brand, who are we reaching? What are we doing with their audience that's getting us into a new space?

Starting point is 00:23:10 And so I think for me coming into Kava, you know, looking at the areas that Kava really hasn't been present in, you know, can we look at music? Can we look at sports? Can we look at entertainment? You know, Kava is this product that I truly believe can be enjoyed by literally anyone and that we've got an option for everybody and you know offering a product that makes people feel good you know inside and out and you know where are places where people value that and how can we work with uh beauty skincare fitness you know other food partners, you know, again, athletes and celebrities and whatnot, and really just organically insert and inject kava into those spaces in a way that makes people continue to feel good about the product that we're putting out there. So, you know,

Starting point is 00:23:58 there's a lot of things that go into it. And for me, it really can be, you know, a conversation with a brand can really make a difference where I can say, you know, it was, it just kind of felt wrong. It felt fake. It felt, you know, not organic and authentic. If I'm feeling that way, having the conversation as a partnership lead, you know, it's going to be really hard to avoid that conversation when we're trying to push that out to the consumer. So really just being purposeful in the partners that we're picking.

Starting point is 00:24:23 And I think sometimes it's also why you see partnerships take a very long time to launch because the ones that are done the best take a lot of time to make them happen well and reach their audiences in a lot of fun. It was a space that I had not originally planned to kind of be in. And it was something that my career just kind of ended up blending into. And it just, it's, it's so much fun. And I think the best part of it is seeing people who have never tried Kava or don't know Kava through a partner, bringing our brand to them and having them just be like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. Or when you bring it in and people go, oh my God, thank God Kava's here. We love Kava so much. You know, it's like, it's just such an awesome experience to, you know, get out there and really bring the brand to spaces where maybe

Starting point is 00:25:13 it wouldn't have been in previously. I love that you mentioned like some of those smaller partnerships too, because I just recently saw one of the brands that we had someone from their marketing team on the show, Fishwife. They just recently did a of the brands that we had someone from their marketing team on the show, Fish Wife. They just recently did a collaboration with like a local small bakery in New York. And like maybe the people in that neighborhood had not ever heard of the brand or things like that. And they were able to get that brand discovery through that. So I think partnerships like that are really, really cool. And I love that you have that same mindset as well, as well as like the larger scale partnerships also. I have a question for you. Are there any partnerships like maybe in your past that you could maybe bring us along on like what happens from like ideation to execution?

Starting point is 00:25:57 Like you mentioned some of them take a really long time. Like what are you doing during that time? Like what are the things that need to be ironed out in order to execute a really great partnership? Yes, absolutely. So my best example of this probably is when I was with Solidcore. We launched a concept called the Core Collective, which basically was kind of a membership benefits program where we leveraged partners to help kind of bolster the concept of being a member. You know, when you pay for your Pilates membership through SolidCore, yes, you're getting an incredible workout, but is there something else? Can we add value in some way to this membership that isn't just based on the SolidCore product? And so I had zero budget as a partnership lead with SolidCore.

Starting point is 00:26:40 And so I basically said, okay, I'm going to go out and I'm going to see if I can get in-kind partnerships from any of these brands, whether it be small or big. You know, I'll take what I can get at this point to see how impactful we can make this. And so, you know, whether it had been a paid partnership or it's in-kind, again, the timeline ends up being very similar because there's just so much that goes into it, which I'll get into in a second. But basically, I went out and I pitched, cold pitched all, I mean, literally it must've been a hundred brands to see, you know, one who was interested and then two of the ones who were interested, who really was, was the best fit. And so we had some phenomenal brands that we ended up working with Milk Makeup being one of them, which was just so surreal because they were, so surreal because they're such a massive brand.

Starting point is 00:27:27 They're so loved. Similar thing where values were very similar. We were touching a similar audience, but they were able to kind of help us reach more individuals in the beauty space who may not have tried Pilates before at all. And so, you know, it literally was almost 10 months of, yes, okay, you have to go through the pitching. You have to convince them that you're worth working with. They have to also get on board with it and talk to their team. Then you say, okay, yes, we're at least interested in working with you. What could this potentially look like? Then you go through a few months of saying, okay, yes, this is ideally what we'd love to do. Then they come back and say, this is ideally what we'd love to do. A little bit of negotiation, a little bit of compromise

Starting point is 00:28:08 to basically get to the end goal where you say, okay, yes, now we've agreed on the partnership. We've aligned on whatever this activation will look like. Now we have to prep for it and implement it. And so then it's rounds of creative edits. How does this come to life on social? How do we launch it to our customers? So how does Milk Makeup talk about it and how does Solicor talk about it? And making sure that we're on the same page with that. So a lot of back and forth, a lot of approvals from both sides. And then the actual like technical integration, that's a big thing too that can happen with partnerships, especially anything with like loyalty.

Starting point is 00:28:50 If there's an app and there's some integration with that, making sure that the tech team is, you know, in the loop on that. Operationally, you have to make sure that the ops team for both brands is in the loop. It's something that we can withstand. It's something that we can carry out, you know, for Zolocore, it's a brand where we've got brick and mortar locations. So you say, okay, well, in all of these 100 locations, can we execute this in a way where we're creating a good customer experience type thing? And so there's just so many moving parts that happen before the consumer sees, hey, yes, when you buy a membership, you also get a 15% discount at Milk Makeup or whatever they ended up. Now I've been gone for a bit, so I'm not sure where it lives now, but it just, the process is crazy because it's not just the partnership that you see. It's everything from get aligning on what the activation will be and then making the activation

Starting point is 00:29:37 happen and then ensuring the customer experience is incredible once it launches. And, you know, if you do a concept like a merch drop, you know, that changes what you're talking about as well. If you're partnering on an event to put an event on, there's also a different experience that you get there. And so I think that's the other thing with partnerships that's really fun is like you end up touching a lot of different parts of the business. You know, the way a partnership comes to life can literally be anything. Like I've started with brands and getting on calls and it's like, you know, you get the whiteboard out and you're like, let's start brainstorming. And it literally could be all the way over here or all the way over here. And whatever that

Starting point is 00:30:12 experience and process is going to look like is fundamentally different. So, but yeah, that's kind of the background of, of where you start and where you end. And of course, every brand's a little bit different where you might have slightly different experience, but that's generally the process that you go through. I appreciate that behind the scenes peek, because I know a lot of people out there just see these cool collaborations come to life and they're like, oh my gosh, you know, that's probably just like a, hey, let's do this. Okay, cool. Out there.

Starting point is 00:30:39 Not that way. Not at all. There's a lot that goes into it. I did a lot of that work when I worked at a hair care company. It was so interesting to like see that all come to life. And that was like one of my favorite parts of my job. So appreciate somebody coming in and sharing that with us as well. Want to talk briefly about brand expansion. What do you and the team at Kava, you know, think about when you think about brand expansion and how does your strategy differ when you're keeping that expansion top of mind versus just trying to get people in the stores that you have existing? Yeah, absolutely. So I'll kind of start on that

Starting point is 00:31:14 last point in terms of how we view them differently. The biggest thing in any new restaurant opening is you take a step back and you say, okay, is this a net new market completely where people don't know what Cava is? Or is this an environment where people likely know what it is, you know, you take a step back and you say, okay, is this a net new market completely where people don't know what Kava is? Or is this an environment where people likely know what it is, but they either haven't had the chance to try it yet, or they're just excited for another closer option to their house. Net new market generally ends up being way more brand awareness integration, as well as, you know, foot traffic in the door, because a lot of times we are educating people not only on kava, but sometimes even like Mediterranean food, like people have not even branched out into that space. And so, you know, we're really kind of sharing what we're all about,

Starting point is 00:31:56 the types of food that we offer. We've got vegetarian options and, you know, high protein options and whatnot. And just talking about the quality and the value of our food and whatnot. And just giving people reasons to at least come out and try us. Our real estate team is incredible. They make my life a lot easier. They pick locations that generally people have been excited to have a kava come into, which is also very, very great. But I think in any net new market, you always run the risk of, hey, we think this is going to be a place that people are going to love in this area,

Starting point is 00:32:31 and this community is going to be interested in it. But there's always the risk that it misses the market. It might not completely fail, but the sales don't do as well as you thought they were going to do, whatnot. So there's kind of an initial expansion plan where we say, OK, based on this market, based on this audience that we're looking to reach, we think that this is what's going to resonate with them. This is what's worked in another new market of that size with a similar audience. Let's try some of these kind of tactics and tools that we know are our bread and butter that we know work. A lot of times what happens is then that restaurant opens and we take a step back and kind of wait a day and watch and be like, hey, okay, how does our social launch of this go? How are people responding to it? Are we offering something like catering initially and it's literally exploding and the restaurant's doing so well and maybe we adjust and support catering. Or there's another area of the business where we're like, hey, okay, this is where we can lean into

Starting point is 00:33:29 to really create this full 360 experience of this restaurant. And so it also involves a lot of flexibility in terms of expansion because with net new markets, again, you're really in a place where you're reaching an audience you don't know yet. And so, you know, we do tons of research before we go into an area to try and understand the best we can, where we think the trends will go there. But, you know, we just also have to be willing to adapt once we open to say, okay, well, we tried this and it didn't go exactly how we thought. How can we adjust our strategy to make sure that this opening continues to see success. Our most recent opening was Chicago, was a completely net new market,

Starting point is 00:34:07 our first foray into the Midwest. Very exciting. It absolutely popped off. Chicago is incredible. I love you guys so much. We just opened our second location in Vernon Hills and you'll continue to see expansion in that region as well.

Starting point is 00:34:22 But, you know, it was just, it's very, expansion marketing is really exciting because there's nothing more fulfilling than being like, I know I'm going into a place where people have no idea who I am. Chicago is a little bit different because it's very transient. There was a lot of people from New York and DC who kind of already know us, but watching how excited people are to try your product for the first time and genuinely be like, this is freaking awesome. Like this is going to become a regular part of my, you know, weekly, Hey, what do you want to get for dinner? Let's get Kava, you know? Um, and just seeing like the passion and excitement of people who get to experience that, like firsthand in

Starting point is 00:35:00 front of your face when you get to go to these openings and be a part of it. But it's very exciting. You know, expansion marketing also depends on the growth pace of your brand. You know, there are some much bigger brands than us who expand at a much slower pace now. And, you know, that changes based on how big the brand is, where the need is. You know, you have to be very strategic in terms of how quickly you open restaurants to make sure that the brand can support you as you go. But I think, you know, we're also in an incredible position. Our CEO, Brett, is unbelievable. He's such a great leader. I think, you know, we can credit him to a lot of the success that we've

Starting point is 00:35:38 seen here. But it definitely makes our jobs easier as, you know, marketing these expansions, just having the support that we have to say like, okay, what do we need to make this special? Let's really make a splash in this community. And I think Chicago was a great example of how we were able to do that. So I'm excited to see potential net new markets in the future, how we can, you know, continue to do that and make a big impact on the new communities we enter moving forward. That's incredible.

Starting point is 00:36:08 And I know a burning question that a lot of our audience members probably have is, is the brand listening when people say, come to my city, come to my city on social media? Yes, we are literally watching it every day. We know exactly where you guys want us to come. The problem is the marketing team doesn't necessarily make those decisions. So like, but we're keeping tally. And so whenever we're on the calls with real estate development, we're like, Hey, have we considered so-and-so? So we are listening. We see it guys. We promise. So like keep letting us know though. So we can

Starting point is 00:36:39 keep using that as, as a motivation to get them, to get them to your, to your city. I promise we're, we're coming. We're trying. Amazing. Yes. Keep commenting. I think it was like, um, a couple of years ago, a couple of years prior to when Kava showed up in Tampa, I was like on Twitter, I was like day one of asking Kava to come to Tampa, like day two. And like the, the team responded and was just like cheeky and fun. But yeah, finally, when it opened, I was like, yep, this is obviously all because of this is you. 100%. It was all you. Yeah. Well, I could talk to you all day about brand partnerships, brand expansion and things like that. That just is like my wheelhouse of what makes me so passionate

Starting point is 00:37:20 about marketing in general. So I really, really appreciate you coming on to share all of your insights around that. But we do have to ask you the question that we ask all of our guests that kind of gives us a little insight into your career as a whole. So what do you know now that you wish you knew a little earlier on in your career? Yeah, I think this was, it was a tough pill to swallow when I learned it, but I think the fact that not all managers are good leaders, um, it sounds like super simple where you're like, okay, yeah, like not everybody's great at it. But I think when you're young and you're, you're coming up in your career, you're like, you know, Hey, okay. All these leaders above me, they're super

Starting point is 00:37:59 experienced and hardworking and I should look up to them as leaders and mentors and whatnot. And there are a ton of fabulous, fabulous leaders out there that can really help you advance in your career, who will support you, who will teach you things, even if it means tough love sometimes. It doesn't mean that they're perfect people, but they're just good communicators. They know how to give constructive criticism. And there are some managers out there that are not. And I think, unfortunately, with kind of the way corporate America, especially in the US is built is project management also correlates to person management. You know, you're not necessarily being given the leadership role because you're a phenomenal leader. You're given the role because of your project management skills

Starting point is 00:38:38 and people management comes with that. I think one, if you have the opportunity to end up with a great leader, hold them really close and only leave that role if it's absolutely dire, because there's no guarantee that the next place you go, you will have the same experience. I think the other thing with that lesson was to be your own best advocate there. it. I've obviously moved positions a few times and had several different roles. And I had some leaders who, when I made the decision to leave, that they were pumped for me. They were like, I'm so excited that I've helped you get to a place where you feel good about the next stage in your career. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And I've also had leaders who have not responded well and who have made me feel bad about trying to make a decision that made sense for me financially or personally. And just know that if you have made the decision to do something like that and you think it's the best thing for you, feel confident in that decision.

Starting point is 00:39:35 And regardless of what you're met with, make the decision that's best for you and yourself and your career and your personal life. You know, work can be a lot of your life, but it should only be a part of your life. And so making sure that you're always putting yourself first and, and advocating for yourself to make sure that you're giving yourself the best career experience you can, I think is the best thing that you can do. The last piece of that, I'll say is if you do end up with not a great leader, there's not much you can really do in that situation. I think the biggest kind of humbling learning experience for me was, okay, if I can't fix the problem, what can I do about the solution? And so instead of just being frustrated with the fact that you

Starting point is 00:40:14 don't have a great leader, what are things that you can do as a communicator yourself? Can you change the way that you work? Is there a different way that you can approach a situation to help make the situation better with your manager? It's not ideal, and that may contribute to a decision to leave that role at some point. But try and not to let that frustrating manager ruin your ability to do a good job at your job and the impact you know, the impact that you make on the brand to the best of your ability. Like, you know, just don't let that really cloud your judgment and really bring you down. But of course, if it gets to a place where it's obviously not a healthy environment to be in, make the decision that needs to come with that. Such good advice. And I'm

Starting point is 00:41:00 curious too, just from your perspective, you know, say someone out there is thrown into a leadership position, but they have no experience leading. They really are just a project manager and really, really good at that part of their job. What are some tips that can really help someone become a better leader and kind of lead with empathy and be constructive and have a team that really values them as a leader? Yeah, absolutely. Great question. So one part of the graduate school conversation that we had, I do think that like that can be its own degree if you want it to. Like if you feel like you're in a position where you're like, well, I'm really going to have to take on a big team and I've never managed anyone before in my life. There are smaller graduate programs you can do just in management and leadership, which I think are phenomenal. In my graduate program, I had one

Starting point is 00:41:51 course called Women in Leadership, and it was so awesome because there are unique challenges, especially depending on the industry that you're in, that women face in leadership roles that maybe men don't necessarily experience. And so just hearing from all of these really like knowledgeable, successful, impactful women in their fields and being able to bounce things off of them and just have those individuals in your life, you can learn a lot from. But then even outside of a traditional graduate degree, like there are just programs and certificates out there for leadership and management. And, you know, I know a lot of companies do put on, you know, management seminars and stuff like that, making sure that you're a

Starting point is 00:42:27 part of that. But really just leaning into kind of the educational course concept, because I think there are little nuances, you know, it could be something as simple as your body language could be communicating to your team that you're upset with them. And when you're like, no, literally, you're doing everything great. And, but it's communicating something that you don't mean to communicate. And just, you know, finding ways to you're doing everything great. And, and, but it's communicating something that you don't mean to communicate. Um, and just, you know, finding ways to be more self-aware, more conscious of the things that you say and do, um, where maybe that's just, that's not really how you've lived in your personal life, but in your work life, it can make a fundamental difference for how your team responds to you. And like, you may have difficult, you know,

Starting point is 00:43:00 employees as well, where you are a great manager, um, and you just have an employee that doesn't, you know, seem to be enjoying what they're doing, or you don't have a great relationship. My perspective is honesty is the best policy. Like I'm happy to sit down and be like, Hey, what am I doing wrong? What can I be doing better to help you be more successful? You know, put, make yourself vulnerable. You know, I think that's another thing as a leader is just being able to have an honest conversation to say, hey, what do you feel I could be doing better to better support you? I think there are too many people who allow their pride to kind of get in the way to be like, hey, yeah, I'm willing to take a step back and work with you to help you find the success that you're looking for in this role. Yeah, that's excellent advice. Thank you so much for sharing

Starting point is 00:43:41 that. We want to make sure everybody knows where they can find you, follow along with what you're up to, but as well as Kava and stay up to date on all the new things happening with the brand. So where can we find you online? Yes. So I am Elhastovic everywhere. And I know my last name is challenging. Will it be in the show notes?

Starting point is 00:43:59 Yes. Erica at all? Okay, perfect. So go there to see how to spell my last name. But I'm everywhere. Elhastovic, perfect. So go there to see how to spell my last name. But I'm everywhere, L. Hostovic, LinkedIn, Instagram, DM me. I think the biggest thing that helped me in my career was networking and being connected to other people. So I am always, always, always happy to answer any questions you have, hop on a call. I am quite busy, so it might take me a little bit to be able

Starting point is 00:44:19 to schedule something with you, but I'll do the best I can to help anyone who's interested in any of the industries that I've worked in this far. And please, please follow Kava on social. We're really fun. I promise it'll be a good follow and just stay up to date with what our brand is doing. Amazing. We really appreciate you joining us today and all of the amazing insights. I know our listeners are really going to love this conversation. So thank you so much. Of course. Thank you so much for having me, Erica. It's been great. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Marketing Happy Hour podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to subscribe, rate, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. If you want more of Marketing Happy Hour

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Marketing Happy Hour - An Exciting Peek Into Field Marketing + Brand Expansion | Elle Hvozdovic of CAVA

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