The Bossticks - How An Assistant Became An Executive Producer & CEO With HelloGiggles Co-Founder Sophia Rossi

Episode Date: September 20, 2019

#216: On this episode we sit down with our friend Sophia Rossi to talk about hustle! Sophia started as an assistant and baby sitter and hustled her way to the top to become an executive producer on Th...e Hills. She also co-founded and was the CEO of the female focused entertainment and lifestyle website HelloGiggles. On today's show Sophia discusses what it takes to excel in any career path to produce your best results.  To connect with Sophia Rossi click HERE To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by SMART SWEETS. If you have a sweet tooth and are looking for a healthy alternative to some of your favorite candy, you have to try SMART SWEETS. To try smart sweets visit www.smartsweets.com and use code Skinny15 at checkout for 15% off your entire order.   Produced by Dear Media 

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The following podcast is a dear media production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her.
Starting point is 00:00:22 Don't wait too long to raise money. Don't wait too long to believe that it's a thing. And I think for so long I'm like, I'm just trying out this thing. And like, you know, because of Zoe's reach, because of our backgrounds, like, we had two million uniques the first month. That should have been something I should have been so proud of and gone to market and been like, can you believe that? I waited till we had eight million uniques a month and then went out.
Starting point is 00:00:44 And then everyone sort of gave me pushback. People love the idea before it exists. Hey, Michael. Hey, Lauren. What's up? Not a lot waiting for you to do the introduction. Getting a little antsy, huh? Yep.
Starting point is 00:00:56 Got to get going. All right. Okay. So we're here. We have Sophia Rossi. on the podcast. She is a fucking badass. Like, she has done a lot. She's done a lot. And we're going to dive into that in a minute. But before we do, you know, there's a lot of young people that listen to this show. You know, we're young people too, Lauren. And I think that a lot of the questions that come in
Starting point is 00:01:17 to our DMs and to the podcast back in and to the email is people trying to figure out their passion and their set of expertise right now, early 20s, getting out of college, getting out of high school. and I wanted to talk a little bit about why you don't need to do that so early. Here's my thing that I've always given advice to any mentees that I have. And I talk about this a lot. It's the upside-down triangle method. So my advice is if you're out there and you have 100 passions and you want to do all these different things and you want to explore all these different avenues like Sophia has done, I think that you should pick one thing.
Starting point is 00:01:49 And it doesn't necessarily have to be the thing that you're most passionate about. It could just be one thing. So for me when I started, I picked health and fitness. at the time I was teaching Pilates and Pure Bar, so that was really relevant to what I was doing. I also had just obtained my nutrition license, so I felt like I had a lot to give on that subject. Now, obviously, 10 years later, that's turned into so much more. It's turned into beauty and wellness and lifestyle and now baby. I mean, it's just transformed into a podcast.
Starting point is 00:02:16 So the point is, is like you pick one thing at your upside-down triangle, at the point of your triangle, and you do that and you do it really well. And you provide as much value as you can, whatever area. or business that you're in. And then as you go on, you slowly expand out. So I was looking back at my blog, you know, 10 years ago. It was crazy because I hadn't really introduced Michael as a character until two to three years in. I mean, you showed up here and there, but you weren't a strong character on the blog. I slowly introduced him. And I think that that's okay. You don't need to do everything at once. You can pick one passion and slowly grow outward into that upside down triangle. Well, the most important
Starting point is 00:02:52 thing I think for people to understand is the world is not set up the way it used to be, right? you went through college, you specialized in one thing, and most likely you went into a field or a job that required that's very specific specialization. When I'm hiring for Dear Media now, I'm looking for young people that can wear multiple hats because it's important in a 2019 world, right? There's so many different things going on that we're working on now. Back in the day, you wanted to have an advertising department. Normally, you know, for small businesses, you outsource that to an advertising company. There's so many young people now that can jump into an organization and maybe you're brought on to be, I don't know, I'm just going to use an example.
Starting point is 00:03:27 Maybe you're the finance person, but maybe you really have an eye for design and you can run a social media account. I'm not saying that that's necessarily the path, but the point is, if you look at both Lauren and I's path, right, like I started thinking I was going to be in real estate. That's what I studied in college. That's what I did. I was doing residential remodels and commercial remodels. And then from there, when the real estate crashed and the market crashed, in 2008, I had to pivot. And I got into selling beds for corporate and private aircraft, completely random, had nothing to do with anything I ever studied. And I had to figure it out. from there I had to learn marketing from there I had to learn how to run product-based businesses and now
Starting point is 00:04:00 I run a bucking podcast network that I had no expertise in that I never studied in school and my point of telling this story is that it's all possible if you apply yourself it's not necessarily so important at this stage of your life to have it all figured out you know if you would have asked me eight years ago five years ago if I'd be doing what I'm doing now I would have looked at you with a strange look on my face I'd have been like what are you talking about I never thought that we would have a podcast let alone run a podcast network. Anyways, I'm not trying to get too long-winded here. My point is, is if you're sitting there and you're stressed out like I used to be thinking that you'd have a very specific set of expertise and a very specific set of education and background, you don't. My point is, is you can get out
Starting point is 00:04:35 kind of dabble in a bunch of different things. And by doing that and figuring out what you like and dislike tasting different things, you're going to actually find your path. I love tasting different things. Here's what I would recommend that you guys do if you're feeling that you have 20 passions and you don't know where to start. Draw an upside-down triangle. Put where you're going to start at the tip of that triangle. And and then put different things that you're going to expand out to until it's the full top of the triangle, if that makes sense. If this doesn't make sense, because obviously this is audio, go to the skinnyconfidential.com, upside down triangle, and you can see a visual of what I'm talking about.
Starting point is 00:05:08 This also plays into my goal, having a strategic future and building your own future and making sure that you're doing things for a reason. Yeah, listen, it's good to have a goal and a vision. I think it's extremely important. All I'm saying is that there's certain paths in life they're going to present themselves that you not realize they're going to present, like I said, running a podcast, hosting a podcast, being on a podcast network, there's things we did and things that we developed along the way that made it possible. But I would have never thought that this was going to be a path on the long way. So out of this episode, I hope you guys can see that you never kind of know what's
Starting point is 00:05:40 going to happen if you dive right in and you go all in on one of your passions because Sophia has obviously done a lot of different things. I mean, she's done everything from Hello Giggles. She was a producer on the Hills. And now she's starting a new company. She's also very, very smart when it comes to business, so I was super excited to pick her brain. This episode's a good one, so pull out your Trapper Keeper Composition Notebook and get ready to meet Sophia Rossi. Before we get the juice on that, let's discuss kicking sugar, specifically with smart sweets. Michael, am I a good wife?
Starting point is 00:06:14 You are a phenomenal wife. Good. You know why I'm even a better wife, though? You can get better than phenomenal? Okay, let's hear it. Because I've been replacing your gummy. bearers, your nasty rat gummy bears, with smart sweets. I effing love smart sweets.
Starting point is 00:06:29 And I didn't say the F word because I don't know if this sponsor is going to like it or not, but I effing love smart sweets. You guys, they have all the nostalgic flavors, okay? Gummy bears, peach rings, remember peatrings, sour blast buddies, and sweet fish, but without the added sugar, artificial colors or artificial flavors. For me personally, though, why I like this brand and why I've been a fan of this brand and why I'm always pimping this brand out is because it's filled with fiber.
Starting point is 00:06:55 So each bag has 33 grams of carbs, but then it has 28 grams of fiber, which means there's only five carbs per bag, and there's only three grams of sugar and 80 to 90 calories per bag. This is perfect to throw in your handbag when you're going to see a movie. So you're telling me that I don't have to eat those cardboard crackers,
Starting point is 00:07:13 and I can just eat candy all day, and I'm good, my digestion will be on point, fiber. I'm telling you that. Body will be a furnace. Yeah. And if you want to like test this out on your significant other, take a candy bag and put smart sweets in it, they will not even notice the difference. Like my friend Weston couldn't believe it. You should also know it's a young female founder and the bags that they designed are so cute.
Starting point is 00:07:35 They're like pink and turquoise and yellow. So fun. So now you can feel good about your candy. You can get all nostalgic. You'll have something cute to post on Instagram story. And there's no need to feel guilty of forgetting the candy that you love. I personally would start with the Sour Blast buddies. They're my favorite. They're like these sour gummies and they're just delicious. Okay? You're going to love them. This product is going on the Skinny Confidential Master list. If you guys want to try it out, you can use my code Skinny 15 for 15% off your order of $30 or more at smartsweets.com. Again, that's promo code Skinny 15 for 15% off your order of $30 or more on SmartSweets.com. And they ship to the USA and Canada. Get excited. All right, let's get back into the episode.
Starting point is 00:08:19 This is the skinny confidential, him and her. Introduce yourself to our audience. You have done so many different things that I don't even know where to start. But let's go way, way back and kind of give us background. I mean, at this point, how do you even describe yourself? I think that's probably a challenge you have. Yeah, I have a very hard. I feel like my biggest asset is I'm really comfortable with giving my opinion.
Starting point is 00:08:45 And so, like, I think that that sort of like sets the tone. The context of that is usually an entertainment or lifestyle. and that is now moved on to food. But before I just, like, loved music videos when I was 18. I worked for music video producer. And then I just started getting into production. And it was just really that, like, I was really confident. And I'm really confident in my opinion.
Starting point is 00:09:05 I really don't waver on it. But I can't believe your friends with Rain. Shocking. Really? No, I'm because she's the same way. Yeah, I'm just like, okay, I'll say my opinion. And like, and honestly, I'll double down sometimes. And sometimes I, like, won't meet it in an hour.
Starting point is 00:09:19 But I have no problem just having a hot take, like, right. way. And I don't really spiral after the take of it. I probably should. Yeah, I think it's just having an opinion and feeling like my opinion is worth discussing. It doesn't mean it's the only opinion, though, that is for sure. And I can definitely feel like I can see both sides and stuff like that. But I really started off in entertainment. I just loved TV and music videos and all that stuff. And then I worked really randomly for a hip-hop producer, Damon Dash, and I moved to New York to work with them at like 19 to 21. I also did Bolt House clubs out here before. That's sort of why in producing the hills, like a lot of the locations were things that I had done from being in L.A.
Starting point is 00:09:53 And I just got really into storytelling through emotional empathy, I think is like my... So many people are afraid to give their opinion. Can you go back to your childhood and remember, like, how that's... Is it just natural? Were you born like that? Is there something that sort of... It's been something we've been talking about a lot lately. Because I love giving my opinion. Where this type of confidence comes from. The difference between confidence and arrogance, like, I know my opinion does necessarily need to be right. But I think from childhood, I think it's growing up in L.A.
Starting point is 00:10:21 Like, I'm from here and everyone moves to here. And so there's a different energy around that. And so I love L.A., but, like, I get so excited to me in like a small town back east. I'm like, this is amazing. And so I think that my confidence is sort of like got the picture early on that everyone wanted something out of L.A. And then I was like, well, I'm already here. So I must have some sort of insight that I can just lean into, you know?
Starting point is 00:10:43 So how did you get into producing the hills? I mean, you kind of said it was the bolt house thing. but like can you give us specifics for some millennial? Well, I think this is what people want to know about you. So when you're going, you're like, yeah, I'm doing these music videos producing. I was in a creative and then I produced the hills. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Starting point is 00:10:56 Yeah, you got to give us specifics. Okay, yeah. Here's the thing. I will say this and to this day, I have been many things, but the thing that I'm at my core, it was like excellent executive assistant. And that just sort of extend itself to just more titles. But like I can make things happen.
Starting point is 00:11:08 Like I never say in terms of production. I say no in my personal life. But I just am constantly trying to find the solution of it. So I was 19. I worked for Dave Myers, the music video director who did all the like Missy Elliott's videos back in the day. And then I worked for Damon Dash. And Damon Dash had the show on Beatty called The Ultimate Hustler.
Starting point is 00:11:25 It was sort of like his version of the apprentice for BET. And on that, one of the producers was a producer who was leaving being a freelance producer to work in production at MTV. And he was like, there's a show Laguna Beach. I actually am born in Laguna. And he was like, there's a show Laguna Beach. And we're going to do a spin-off in L.A. if you'd want to come do the pilot in L.A.
Starting point is 00:11:45 And I was 22. And I was like, I kind of want to move back from New York. And they're like, L.A. is going to be a character. And it was the same way, like, around sex in the city where, like, New York was a character. It's like, well, I don't really know much about entertainment, but I know L.A. So I came and did the first job, which the Hill sort of invented this thing. It's called, like, the talent producer. And now every rally show has it.
Starting point is 00:12:04 But you basically are like a psychiatrist to the talent that then you move that along into what that looks like. So how does that work day a day? So, like, my first phone call on the Hills was like, I did a conference call. I had like a flip phone, like a Motorola one. I remember when they used to be like, hello, Motel. That was like, my inside joke, me, Heidi and Lauren. And I just did a phone call with them.
Starting point is 00:12:24 And I'm like, oh my God, how do you feel about being in L.A.? Like the point is to always sort of be like, camp counselor, big sister. You like keep the energy up and you're like, what's going on in your life? And like, you really realize that people when you are asking them a question need to know that the energy feels safe. So I'm like, do you have any crushes? Like, what's the vibe?
Starting point is 00:12:39 Like, and they'll be like, I like, I like, don't know if I should talk to him or not. I'm like, interesting. and like when do you think you'll see him? They're like, it's someone's birthday next week. And I'm like, oh, you need to go meet him. And so then that's like one conversation. But from that conversation, I have to take that back into like a production manager, a production assistant.
Starting point is 00:12:54 Like, they're going to have that first date at Koi on Las Yaniga. And they're going to have the people invite them to. Like, I have to process. You're a strategist. So there's an element of the reality to it. But you're basically setting the stage for that reality to present itself. Yeah. And the reality print itself, like we took a lot of effort and how it looked and how it was shot.
Starting point is 00:13:12 Like these aren't just like follow hand. held cams at the real world are 24-7. So we had, you know, the hills looked so beautiful because it was pre-lit for an hour, every location, you know, and we picked all these locations based on that. So the conversations would be real, but they were organized by our minds. And they didn't know LA, you know, like they were living at the villas. They needed that too. You know, they needed to know that we were going to guide them into just being in L.A. And there were certain places where, like, you didn't have to do very much. You can pre-light Lidu, a club and just be like, I'm sure they'll be fine. Fun fact, I worked at Ladoo for six months.
Starting point is 00:13:43 Yes. Whoa. I know. Vintage. Fun fact, I used to sneak into Ladoo. You did? Before I had, yeah. Back in the day.
Starting point is 00:13:51 Really? Is it still around for anything? Because the location was really like, it was major. Near Las Palmas. I remember the back upstairs room was like production room. And like we would just sit in that room. There would be like sometimes like a random mattress.
Starting point is 00:14:04 The upstairs room was the chic room to be in. Yeah. That's where we, well, we could pre light there were downstairs. There was like no. It was too popular to be able to walk around. Remember the club element? too. There was the club called Element next door. Yes, but Element was something before, too. It was, this is vintage. Yeah. This is vintage, vintage. Yeah. And then area on Lasca
Starting point is 00:14:24 I did a lot of that. I just, I worked so many clubs that I cannot imagine. And I'd work so many clubs with Bolt House and then so many clubs with Hills. Like, I can't imagine. I think of clubs as like a production set. Like if I walked through, I'd be like, I'm pouncing through that thing. So when you were doing the Hills. Did you know that it was going to be this moment in time that was so nostalgic? Like, did you know how major it was going to be? Or did you not really see it when you were in it? Well, I think the major part was Laguna. I had sort of enjoyed that as a fan. And that was like the simplicity of feeling like you're in high school. So we were just an extension of that. I think the main takeaway I had was how difficult reality is to do an actual reality.
Starting point is 00:15:09 Like we'd have to actually do set up shots and then they became more famous than their own characters. And it's like hard to tell Lauren to take an assignment seriously at Teen Vogue to like, you know, sew some dress when she's on the cover. You know, it's hard to like mentally make her understand that. And it's hard to play around with that. And they would really want to try to work hard and be like, I have to finish this assignment for Vogue. And I'm like, you're on the cover. Like can the PA just come in here and like help fix this, you know? So they didn't even really put it together at the time?
Starting point is 00:15:36 No, because we wanted it to, I mean, once it got so big, I think. it was different. But we wanted them to feel like this was their first internship and their first job. But then they're getting offers to host birthday parties in Vegas on the weekend. Like now that's so normal. But that was really distracting for us. We didn't film 24-7. So we would have breaks. So they would like literally break up over and we'd like, what do we do for storytelling? Or like, you know, Heidi and Spencer got married in Mexico without telling us. Like there was just like a lot of things that they would sort of act out. And you're like, I have to read about the stars of our show from these publications. How am we ever going to make a show like that? Who had the it factor?
Starting point is 00:16:08 Was there anyone on the show that you immediately knew had that it factor? Okay, so one of these editors told me about this, and I always mean to look it up and I forget. There is something in film school that people study about people's reactions. And Lauren Conrad has a face that you can put anything towards and it can tell you anything. I just told her this the other day. She can be happy. She can be sad. Like, she has this like, it's not a blank stare.
Starting point is 00:16:28 It's just has this thoughtful approach to how she holds her face that you really, once you put music towards it, any emotion can be conveyed. So it's not about like, like, like, Kristen. The cry, the cry. Yeah, and she just knew, and she has one-liners. And, you know, she got really good at playing herself, you know, and that sort of helped. But, like, Kristen Cavalieri is a star, and she's, like, sassy and she's, you know, like, she's fiery. But if you're playing operation and a way to, like, put together a full show, someone who can pause and really just emotion without having words is, like, the star quality. Really?
Starting point is 00:17:04 Yeah. Because anyone can start a fight. But reality, a lot of times when we were casting the city Whitney show, they would all be like, I'm more the Adrina or I'm more than I'm like, no, I want you to be the you. Like, who are the you in it? But now there's archetypes. So it's really just about someone who almost doesn't want to be there, but is there. That's the real thing because then you feel like you relate to it.
Starting point is 00:17:26 Like Lauren still stills covers of magazines because there's something about her that feels approachable. Right. You know? So when you sit back now and you turn on E and the Kardashians are on. Well, I had a big mistake on the Kardashians. So Brody was on, not a big mistake, but I have good opinions and I have hot takes. And this one I was wrong at is that Brody was on our show. And they were like, they're starting a show called The Kardashians.
Starting point is 00:17:48 He can't work that many days a week because he's going to have to go on this show. And I'm like, oh, this show is going to be nothing. Like, what are you talking about? Like so wrong. I mean, I was so in it and I'm like 25 or 26 and like needing to like have our talent show up. And so I was like, I don't really get it. But like, okay. And then she came on our show.
Starting point is 00:18:06 She came to like a housewarming thing for it. She was so sweet. And then the show just like blew up and it's one of my favorite shows. So I think, but the tone they did really well is they double down on the way Laguna is, is the pacing of that show is so therapeutic that it should feel like the way MTV used to be on in the background for all of us growing up. You feel like they're in your home. They're in your home.
Starting point is 00:18:28 But they're not, if you actually ask the end of every episode what happened, you might not be able to answer it. That is so crazy because you're so right. I cannot tell you what happened. They don't do like a whole like cliff hangar, like what's happening thing. It just kind of feels like it's going. No, it's like Norman Rockwellish. Like it's in your home and it's just the TV's on and like you're doing other things. You're used to their home, their colors of their house, the way their flow of conversation.
Starting point is 00:18:50 Yeah. You're not like that episode, she was really nervous about getting a job interview and didn't get the job. You know, like it's like. That's interesting. Yeah. You're just like this is just fuel for like what I need to have wrong. It's almost like background music, like elevator music. Totally.
Starting point is 00:19:04 And so then I was like that was the key. key to knowing that reality is like that. Do you think that's the formula for their show? Do you think that's why it's so successful because it feels like it's in your home? Well, I think they're like, we're a family. This is something we're going to be on for the next. They have the long game. They're going to do this forever.
Starting point is 00:19:19 They naturally have drama by being a family and being exposing themselves on camera. They don't need to like produce it. I think the ones that fuck up the most, it was like when they try to create a false chemistry. It's the worst. Right? Like they've approached us in certain scenarios like that. And they're like, ah, we don't know these people. it wouldn't be good.
Starting point is 00:19:35 And like you can look at the shows that are successful. It's like, no, those people have real chemistry in real relations. When you try to like put a random group together and then throw them out on a camera, it just doesn't, it doesn't feel authentic. Vanderpump rules has done an incredible job. I mean, like that's a good example. They have real chemistry. They have real chemistry.
Starting point is 00:19:51 And I think that would be a few of our producers from the hills went over to Vanderpump. You don't know what about like manufactured chemistry. Yeah, but I think, you know what? The most manufactured thing you can do is setting. And so like why the bachelor works, why. any episode we do that would work being out of town is that if you remove the elements from your life that make you stress and you're just like drinking and you don't have your phone like you actually can find connection like those people are best friends in one hour you know and that that's what like
Starting point is 00:20:17 I related always to summer camp like you leave summer camp and literally I was a counselor last week seven hours in these girls are holding hands they're best friends they can't imagine they weren't together and I'm like in no other scenario but they were across each other at a dinner with that intimacy happened so when you have cameras and you know the crew is there to support you there's false sense of intimacy, but also like elevates it too. But yeah, storylines where they're like, you're going to get this job and you're going to, it never worked. We would try so hard to cast like the perfect date or the perfect exciting vogue storyline and would be like, oh, this is so boring. Like we would bore ourselves. It seems like as a living, you are a storyteller at heart.
Starting point is 00:20:51 So how did you make the transition from storytelling with the hills to hello giggles? Well, I love what we were doing on the hills. And I felt like it was not like any other reality shows, but it wasn't scripted. And I was like, I want, I don't know how I'd go work on a scripted show, because I'm not a writer. I'm like a storyteller. And then I sort of, I freelanced for like top model. I tried some reality shows to see how that would work. And I just didn't really like it. There are a lot of competitions, a lot of logistics. I just, I didn't like that aspect of it. And then I started to see that people were doing a lot of branded videos and there was funny or dying college humor. And there wasn't a female version of that. And I was like, my friends are really funny.
Starting point is 00:21:27 I mean, here's a thing. The reason why I can talk about the Hill so much is like, it's one of the funniest times in my life. Like, I've never laughed harder with editors. Like, we've never laughed harder with cast. Like, you're watching a dinner for three hours in a van with some of your best friends, like, delirious. Like, it's so funny. And they're just, you're watching them order. You're watching them just be like themselves all the time. So it was a comedy to us, you know? And so I was like, this isn't a great example, but like, how do I like extend this? And then I met my friend Molly McLear at the time who was sort of doing this freelance writing for Gawker. She would write eight posts a day for different people. And it would be a job. And I was like,
Starting point is 00:22:00 like, whoa, like, that's crazy. Like, you don't have to work for one magazine. And then Zoe DeC Chanel was my other partner. And we had grown up together, but hadn't really, like, become friends. And she was like, I'm really scared of the internet. Everyone is so mean. And I was like, I think there's a way to do the internet where where it's not my best friend, Catherine, it started who, what, where with Hillary. And I was like, I don't care about fashion. I care about like interesting, nostalgic things. And then we sort of were like, let's ask 50 of our friends to write something that's relevant, not topical. So that way we weren't boxed into something of it. And then we just created a contributor model. So, like, I didn't really do a lot, but curate other people. Like,
Starting point is 00:22:36 you guys would have been a perfect partner. I'd be like, great, you can use my platform. What do you want to write about? Like, it's the perfect relationship for me. Just curating the content. I have to. Yeah. All I have to do is create a platform that expands it that you're wanting to do. And we tried staff writers. We tried telling our own story. It's not interesting, you know. So in a nutshell, now, when you look back on Hello Giggles, like, what do you, how do you explain what it was in this landscape now? Because it was, I mean, it was a lot of things. I think it would be a lifestyle contributor model. And I think that now we're seeing that's the norm, which I'm excited about.
Starting point is 00:23:05 Like a lot of our girls, when they were first writing for us, we couldn't afford them to be full time. So they'd be writing for refinery. They pop sugar or bustle. And now that's how people, you know, make their living and do that. Before we dive into that, I am going to tell you all about Grove collaborative. So who wants their laundry detergent, dishwasher soap, soap in general, delivered to their door? I know I do, guys. It's so nice to have everything just at my door. I don't have to do anything. I don't have to go to the grocery store park, go in, carry all that heavy shit out to my car. I can just have it ready to go streamlined and know that it's all natural. That's what Grove Collaborative does.
Starting point is 00:23:45 Another reason you don't want to go to those grocery stores is they don't always have the best products. Every Grove Collaborative product is healthy, effective, eco-friendly, and affordable. So you don't have to worry with those nasty, generic chemical cleaning supplies. Yeah, I've gotten Michael into this. He's very much about all the products they have like Mrs. Myers, 7th generation, Bert's Bees, and they even have Grove-made products. Like Michael said, it's eco-friendly. They have 100% recycled plastic trash bags, which we love, and even tree-free paper towels. Tree-free.
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Starting point is 00:25:07 You will get a free five-piece cleaning set from Mrs. Myers and Grove. It's a $30 value, guys. That's grove.co slash skinny to get this exclusive offer, grove.com slash skinny. So when you were at Hello Giggles, can you walk us through the beginning to the end? Because I'm sure there was a lot of struggle and a lot of in between. Yeah, I didn't know what to do next. And so I was like, I'm just going to start it out of my apartment. One of my big advice is that I got from Catherine was like, don't wait too long to raise money. Don't wait too long to believe that it's a thing.
Starting point is 00:25:39 And I think for so long, I'm like, I'm just trying out this thing. And like, you know, because of Zoe's reach, because of our backgrounds, like we had two million uniques the first month. That should have been something I should have been so proud of and gone to market. and been like, can you believe that? I waited till we had 8 million Uniques a month and then went out and then everyone sort of gave me push back. People love the idea before it exists. And then when something exists, they want to like describe it down. Yeah, so they'd be like, what are your metrics? I'm like, okay, I am in my myself doing this. Like, how are you not impressed
Starting point is 00:26:06 just with this? It's almost harder to raise capital once your business is launched. And a lot of people think it's good to just bootstrap. And I'm going to get to a million dollars in sales and then go raise. It's like, no, because once you have a number, then it's much more difficult. It actually was super frustrating for me. I was like, I can't believe I started. something to then be compared to something. But so much easier of it just came up with the idea because you're selling the idea. And so I think that I say this all the time. I brought in grownups.
Starting point is 00:26:29 I was having meetings with people about raising money because I was like, I don't know how to do this, but I know I have an audience. Talk a lot about that because there are people that are listening that are in the midst of raising money. Do you have any tips and tricks when it comes to that on a micro level? Micro level, the people that you get the least amount from will be the most helpful. So if you think, okay, I have to just, let's say you have to raise $500,000. If someone's willing to offer you $5,000, but they really believe in it,
Starting point is 00:26:54 and it might be $5,000 for them that they don't necessarily have to just give away, take it from them because they're going to be the one that will introduce you to people, tell you what they need to do because they gave you $5,000. The guy who wrote me a check for a million dollars, I literally joke around, I could see him on the street. Amazing guy, Pritzker family. He wouldn't know. I don't even think he would know my name, and I sold my company for like a 4x times.
Starting point is 00:27:12 Like, he'd have to say the company, Hello Giggles, but like, he would not. And he didn't. It's just in some giant fund. And he's just like, it's one deal of many probably. Yes, and I don't blame him for that. I'm just saying there's not like building on that. And I could call anyone from his office and still get help if I needed to. But, you know, I had a friend, my friend Mark Webb, who directed Spider-Man, gave me $25,000.
Starting point is 00:27:33 And he never invested in like tech stuff before. And he was just so proud of it. Like he would constantly be like, oh, there's this artist I'm talking to. Or do you one in this movie wants to do it. Like, he would constantly just try to see ways that he could help me because that felt like a lot. And they talk about it all the time to everywhere. They're the biggest cheerleaders. 100%.
Starting point is 00:27:49 So that was like a really interesting approach for me about raising money that I was like, friends and family aren't always your actual friends and family. You know, that's a big thing. My family doesn't have any money. Like, I don't come from money. But that friends and family are your extended friends and family, you know? So someone that I have four meetings with might feel like my friend and family. Do you recommend raising more money than you think or staying like being a little bit more conservative?
Starting point is 00:28:12 I think it's a balance. I'm hearing a lot about people saying instead of raising money that they're doing debt and like loans from their friends. Which I thought was a note. Like, well, like a convertible note, no. Less a convertible note, like a truly like a 10% taking debt on it. Just because proof of concept first is probably going to market with, even if it's like a micro level.
Starting point is 00:28:32 Like I think about it the way Razor scooters did really well in Venice and now they're just everywhere. If they just would have suddenly been everywhere, you would have been like, this is creepy and weird. Like, got to do one place really well. And, you know, having specific demos like you guys sort of have of it. But yeah, so I raised money and got grownups in. then they sort of made it. Then I suddenly was working at like a real company and that was really
Starting point is 00:28:53 scary. How did you simultaneously raise money and also be creative and working on your projects? Like, did you take like a hundred meetings? Like I've just heard so many different stories about raising money and it seems very stressful while you're also trying to do all your other shit. We actually sold because we were expanding so much that they were like raised money in a September and we started the negotiations to sell in May. And they were like by May we had raised, usually raised for 18 months runway, but we were expanding so much that they were like, we're going to have to go out for another round. I was like, I don't have it in me. And they're like, if you don't have it in you, we should talk negotiations to start selling. Why didn't you have it in you, though? Because
Starting point is 00:29:29 was it so much work to do while you were running the company? It's like you're a salesman, you know, and you're spending your days selling yourself. And you're selling yourself, at that point, like, a lot of it was men who were like, didn't really understand it. And then you kind of have to have this arrogance about yourself that, like, of course I know what I'm doing, which is exhausting end of the day when I'm like, I have like 40, like, awesome people back at the office who are, like, psyched about this. Like, why do I have to, you know, and then you feel pressure for their payroll and stuff. I think that the easy money goes a lot away. So I thought it was going to be a really big distraction to me.
Starting point is 00:30:03 And it was a lot of grown up things that I had to learn, like convertible notes and what that is. And you're the face of your company. Like, I had a CFO who was my business partner. She was amazing, but she knew very much to be like, no, you need to sell them on the vision. Like, passion itself. It's got to be the person at the lead. person, you know, and then you, you hype yourself up and you're like, this is going to be a thing. And the next time they're like, I don't know, like, we're thinking like there's other companies
Starting point is 00:30:23 out there like that. I'm like, you just wasted my whole morning. It's like, it's like rude. And the Pritzker family, one of their investors, one of their advisors was like media is changing and it's going to be worth nothing. And so you better sell now. And I was scared and I was so mad too because I was like, you guys don't believe in us. Like you guys, they want us to sell early. And I could not have been happier. I don't even know what I would do with the media company. So you sold in May. Yeah, it's tough to. Yeah, I mean, it took six months of negotiations, but yes. And then... So what do you do when you sell? Is it like a champagne dinner? Like, you're a young girl and you sell your company. Well, I fixed my credit because I was like a rapper. Like, I became a millionaire with like who had bad credit. So that was the first thing I did. You know, you work there for the next three years. That's what you have to remember. So a lot of times the money you make and the salary you didn't take for a bunch of years are kind of going to match up. So it's important to say I want to sell for a lot of money because I didn't get a salary for a very long time. I did.
Starting point is 00:31:17 very well and I'm so happy for it, but next company, I'm like, oh, go bigger because I put in a lot. And build yourself a salary. Yeah. And what do your employees think when you sell? Like, what's the vibe of the office? Well, a lot of people had equity. And so they got some people gone vacations. And then the idea is that you can't really like keep them to stay. So you have to still make it a fun environment that they're not going to want to all of suddenly leave and you have no culture, you know? The biggest downfall is that once you're bought by someone, we were bought by timing. They were bought by Meredith. Yep. A lot of transition. A lot of holding and waiting. A lot of things that don't get approved by corporate. So the energy really shifts from it. But I'm an entrepreneur.
Starting point is 00:31:52 I'll have many companies in my life. And I thought Heligigiggles was going to be mine for the rest of my life. And now I'm like, oh, that's not true. But I'm so proud of it, you know. So when you sell for the first time. Oh, you don't, people don't talk about being depressed. Yeah. Yeah. You're on this high to get the money. You're on this high to be like this the best thing in the entire world. Of course you should buy this. Like this could be anything. This could be a podcast network. Like this. I mean, everything I would have on my old deck is what exists now that like, Goop does so well at. Like a million people are, you know, Click is doing so well at. Infrastructure and capital is why and playing the long game. You could do all this stuff. And then you're like,
Starting point is 00:32:25 oh, but I have cash. I can buy a house. But what am I doing? You know? And then you just people, I have a lot of co-founders who I know say the hardest time is after they sell. You ever heard of Mark Manson? He wrote this, said a lot of not giving a fuck. And then new one called Hope, everything is fucked a book about hope. And he was saying that like basically his life goal was to become a New York Times bestselling author. and then to become a speaker and to sell X amount of copies. And what happened was, is he thought it would take him like 45, 50 years to get that.
Starting point is 00:32:53 But it happened in a span of three years. He was in every airport, millions of copies. He's Amazon. Even though things were better than ever in cash and money, he got so depressed because it was like, wait a minute, what am I supposed to do now? It was like he already hit the pinnacle. And so he just sat around and was like,
Starting point is 00:33:07 he felt hopeless. And I think a lot of people don't talk about that side because once you have that massive accomplishment and you have the house and the money, it's like, then what? Yeah, I mean, I think there's like a privilege and that for sure, but then I became obsessed with purpose. And I didn't know what that would look like. But then I'm also like, to me, a win is making money because I know I can do good things
Starting point is 00:33:26 with that. And so I was like, I don't want to go work at a nonprofit, but like a how do I find purpose? I'm finding that storytelling is interesting to me in terms of community in terms of having a tangible product or a location. I'm less interested in like content, but content does drive all those other things as well. Like I want to like, I joke around, but I'm like kind of serious. like, I want to run for mayor. It would be as being a person who had a business who understands the, like, the needs of that. Let's let's take it right now. Let's go. What are you running on?
Starting point is 00:33:51 I'm running on homelessness for sure. It's a big problem here. It's like more than a big problem here. I think worse than like almost anywhere in the United States. Oh no, maybe not. Well, the count, I guess, went up 13%. A lot of it, there's a lot of business solutions to how to fix that. And so I'm like interested in just seeing what that looks like. But I love our city and I love that if I have a business the same way, I had a business and I could have everyone contribute for us. Like what's my version of starting, you know, a spice company or whatever I do next and being like, how do I have access to the whole city because I have a product that will introduce me to people? How did you manage a team of 40?
Starting point is 00:34:25 How the fuck do you learn how to do that? I could use some tips. Okay. I think keeping the high energy, keeping the boundary of separation. I thought when people were in my apartment, they were like seeing me cry and be upset. And there was like two or three people. I was like, oh, I don't get to be the fun friend. I don't get to necessarily hear about the date after work.
Starting point is 00:34:45 I go into my office. I come out for birthday cake and I say, and I keep the high energy and I keep it, you know, very thoughtful and curious, but it is not appropriate to talk to your boss about, you know, she's not your best friend. And they actually don't want that. They wanted the space with their friends of it. But that was really hard for me because I would see a girl crying at her desk and I'd be like, what's the protocol? And I'd be like, is everything okay? You know? And like, it would be like, great. And then I don't know. There's this level of like the caretaker and me wanted to be like, come into my office and like, we will like take care of this. And it's like, I don't know. that's actually helpful, you know?
Starting point is 00:35:17 Like, maybe it's like you want to go take a time to go be with your friend and go for a walk. It's definitely not helpful if there's a situation where you have to give somebody like some feedback. Maybe like if a task isn't being done, you just consult to them and said, hey, like, you know, you're crying. And the next thing is like, hey, you know, I wish this task could be a little bit better. Like that's a very dicey ground. Michael, Taylor is, this is, let me give you a little fake story.
Starting point is 00:35:37 You walk out right now and Taylor is crying in his desk over his foe that he's eating. Oh, I thought you were going to say about his terrible haircut. And what are you going to do with Taylor? Well, Taylor's a different story because he's been with me for so long. So you're going to pull him in the office? Probably give him a little smack, give him a little pep talk and get him going. But I can't do that with everybody else. I can't buy you that only with Taylor.
Starting point is 00:35:56 Yeah, I mean, you know what you can. I mean, a lot of times that level there's HR and you do everything with someone else as like a witness, you know. And yeah, I think to maintain creativity in that is to keep a boundary and separation. And what about culture? Do you have any tips on that on really cultivating the culture? I mean, you said to keep the energy high. Is there any other things that you did? Like, is there wine night?
Starting point is 00:36:16 Like, what did you do? So we would get sent a lot of free things. And we would have, and they still have it. They just have like a huge desk with everything sent for free. And it's like a free for all for everyone to go through. Small little gifts that are special to go a really long way. You know, like fun beverages in the office, fun snacks. Like a happy hour always feels forceful.
Starting point is 00:36:34 Like people are going to want to go out on their own or they do or they don't. Like those are like sort of the most awkward times when we would be like, we're doing bowling for all of us. And you're like, this is so antiquated. honestly, they just want to like, it's like a setup of the hills. Yeah, you're like, just send someone, like, I saw Click Had Dry Bar come do BlowDrys. I'm like, honestly, get, just flip Bow Drys. Like, like, let's figure out.
Starting point is 00:36:54 One of my best friends started the Wing and I was like, how much of it is for, you know, there are 400 employees. And so much of what they do is like their programming should excite the people there. And so what can you program for your, you know, employees? Great talks. Like access to other information that might help their life outside. of work. When you're like free lunch at work, it's like, well, we know that so you just don't leave your office. Like, thank you. I'll take. That's interesting. That's interesting. That's what people
Starting point is 00:37:22 really, like, usually used to do is be like the unlimited, like, foods and snacks and, like, keep them in there. And it's like, well, maybe they're interested in other things and they can have, like, a discount to like Tracy Anderson. I don't know. So get them off, get them outside. Get them outside and make it feel like we took over the Netflix rule where they could just take any days they want it off. They'd have to just be responsible to their manager. And you actually realize that people like want to work a lot more because they can feel like they can take a four-day weekend if they want to. We did that here today, due media, and literally I walked in there was like, they get the whole, if they want Friday off, they could take the whole day off. Oh, that's awesome.
Starting point is 00:37:53 And we walked in and there was like five of them in there working. They don't have to be here. I don't have a nine-to-five thing because I don't work nine-to-five. I work whatever odd hour I want to work at. So I don't have nine to five. But my employee, it's so funny. She's in there at seven o'clock in the morning. Well, it's a good thing. Yeah. And there are people who actually like structure. Like we would say work from home people in the same way. And they'd be like, that actually makes me really anxious to work from home. I prefer to like get in my car and go somewhere. You have to respect everyone's path on it, you know, but the person who wants to work from home definitely should be allowed to. It's just giving them options. I feel like, you know what drives me nuts
Starting point is 00:38:23 sometimes about entrepreneurs is when they get mad at whoever's working with them, that they're not working as hard as them are harder. And I'm like, you know, they don't share in the same upside as you. So why? Like, you can't expect that. You want to create an environment where people can thrive and build their own life. And if they, and if you can get the most productive work, I don't know great. But like, you can't expect them to do everything. You can't expect them to do everything you do and more. It's just not realistic. Yeah. And I actually don't like working hard. I think I'm far more productive doing less. I'm having like this like PTSD from like the movement of like having to be like a boss and and a CEO and like on all these panels and stuff. And I want to like really respect that I think that that is really
Starting point is 00:38:59 amazing to be a girl boss or to be all this stuff. But like I just doesn't define me like after I sold hello giggles. I was so depressed because I was like is this what my identity is like people always only talk to me about hello giggles like and I was so social about it. And I was like, I actually, like, care about a lot more things. Like, it's one part of my life, but this boss persona is just, and it also, like, alienates me from other aspects of your life. Like, that would be such an excuse for me to not, like, date as much as I'd like to or be around my family. Because, like, my family was just so used to hearing me say, like, I have work. And, like, that didn't, I think it was what I needed at the time. But now I'm like, who is that serving? If you love it and you thrive for it, and it's like an athlete who loves training and working in business is great.
Starting point is 00:39:40 But if you also don't, you can still be really successful. There's plenty of people who do it. Working smart is, in my opinion, is so much better than work. I don't want to say working hard, but it's just like be strategic with how you work. For instance, like, I love to answer an hour of emails on the treadmill. I love that. You know what? I watch your stuff, and that was a real good answer for me.
Starting point is 00:40:02 I do it all the time. I do it like five days a week. I do it in the bad. Yeah. Whatever it is. Like, get a blowout and work. There's so many creative ways now to work and to be creative and strategic with your time. Well, we were a program for a long time.
Starting point is 00:40:15 I mean, our parents' generation, where you had to go to a place and you had to work brick and order and you didn't have this technology. And if you left the office, you weren't talking to the person until you came back on Monday. And so, like, now we're so connected that there's options to us. You don't have to do it the way that it's always been done. So after you left Hello Giggles, what did that look like? How did you find out what you wanted to do? Like, how did you get from that to where you are now?
Starting point is 00:40:37 Okay, I went to this place called Hoffman. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. There's like an article about fever and vogue that he left there. So it's a week off. It's like emotional therapy and you, the slogan is when you're serious about change. And so I'd sold my company and I was like, okay, like, what am I going to do next? Like I don't see myself working at timing because I could work at Hella Good Goals and then maybe take on other properties there. And what I really came down to was like, I loved the win and the success and stuff. But I wasn't like my goal is to be the head of a content company. You know, it was never as much as that. So I went to this place. I went offline.
Starting point is 00:41:13 And then what I was like, okay, I came back saying I wanted a place or a location. I have to know what they do at this retreat. Okay. They do a lot of like, you know, you do a burial of your family. It's a lot of like coming down to your authentic self. So if you're your authentic self, you can make any decision that you want. If I'm in line with the way that I am, any decision that I have is actually pretty easy and it's, you know, in the moment of it.
Starting point is 00:41:33 But if I have all these anxieties or if I'm like reacting in a certain way that like they say, like, it's been given to you by your parents. You have to, like, really do a lot of paperwork and be like, what are these patterns that I have? And then you take each pattern and then you, like, break them down. And it's group therapy. And then, you know, there's two days where you don't even, you're in silence. And it was just so much work. I'd never worked on, I'd go to therapy for an hour. I do, I love healers. I love psychic. I mean, I love growing, you know. But this was like, truly, I didn't go to college. And this was like, oh, this was like midterms week or something. Like, I really went in it, learned about myself. And then you don't know what
Starting point is 00:42:05 anyone does for the end of the week. And end of the week, finally, everyone's, like, saying their jobs. And they'd be like, I'm head surgeon at NYU or, like, I own a vitamin company. And it's like, oh, we were just all here and I thought you were stressed over, you know, your marriage. You're so much more than your job. And that was a big step for me where I was like, these people are trying to figure out how to be better people in the world, not how to like optimize their, like, work and success. You know, that. And I thought that was really cool. And I just came back being like, all right, I'm ready to incorporate optimizing myself. And the business will come from that rather than I have my next like business. So what do you what's the space? What do you do to get from
Starting point is 00:42:41 out of Hoffman to know? Okay. So I meet Roy Choi, this chef from L.A. He started the taco truck revolution in L.A. Okay. I meet and I see that he has healthy fast food in low income areas. And I'm like, this is amazing. I want to do development project here in Watts and do it. I get so excited about it. I'm like, I know my soul cycle friends, my dry bar friends. Like how can we all not come to, you know, this area and support it. Also, that's like gentrification. So after that sentence, like, you see where the passion sort of was like, is this the right approach for me? Then I saw that people couldn't really afford food in the area and they were having white rice and they were just putting spices on it. And I was like, okay, is spice like an equalizer? But I can't have a location. I want
Starting point is 00:43:21 a product that's in a bodega and Watts and Brentwood. What is that? G.T. kombucha, kettle chips, like, things that everyone should just have access to because it's just good. And I was like, that is what I want to do. I want to have a product where like, I am the kind of person who wants to in front of like, you know, like a merchandiser at Ralph and also go to a Goop Summit. Like, I love that sort of collaboration of it. And so I want a product that enhanced. You can do that with you. I would do that.
Starting point is 00:43:44 I can do that. So that's just a curiosity about those ranges. And but the product happens to be what I'm proud of, but it's truly just like a way to get into society that I want to learn about. So tell us about the new product. Okay. So it's still really early on. It's called High Note.
Starting point is 00:43:58 And I got it for my friends who do those Great Jones cookware. I don't know if you've seen that. She was a magazine writer for food. was like, I was trying to explain to what the product is. I'm like, you want to add it to your salads. You feel full, not satisfied. Shira, the food therapist or nutritionist from Goop talks about food. You have a lot of, yeah, we love, like, if you have a lot of flavor to your food, you make better decisions. So I'm like, I don't want to be on a panel talking about, like, anti-inflammatory cinnamon. Like, I just don't know enough, you know, like, don't put me, I love that stuff. But, like,
Starting point is 00:44:27 spices are inherently good for you. So, like, maybe there's something that you want to carry around and, like, add it to your sweet green salad that gives you a little, feeling like truly the demo is someone like you like we're like you care about adding little things to your day that it's experience so it like i i love that you know it makes me feel special to like pour a little dry hot sauce on like a hard boiled day it's self-care yeah it is self-care but it's self-care and i have a whole other thing where i think like wellness and self-care really is like can be insular and that it's important to like have wellness and self-care be a shared thing so it's doing little things every day that make your cortisol go down. I turn on my oil diffuser every day and it's something little, but it just makes me happy.
Starting point is 00:45:09 Yeah, I mean, those are more things that I was listening to one of your old podcasts and I was like, I need to have more things like that, like the humidifier. Like I want more gadgets. What the spices are like that. Yeah. No, thank you. But I want to have that be a lifestyle approach because I think if you can sort of produce your way through the world with things like that, whether it's because of access or privilege, like it's worth doing. It's good for just like a little reset, calm down, do a couple rituals. Yeah. You know, and even like, I was never that person. I was like, I got to just go, go, go, go.
Starting point is 00:45:36 And then she started to showing me this. I'm like, oh, that is kind of nice. What's your one thing that you can't live without? I mean, I do a lot of things now. But that's just I've had the benefit of talking to people like you for 200 times, you know? We have a wave machine in our world. What's the wave machine? It makes the sounds of waves.
Starting point is 00:45:49 It's a good, like a white noise machine when you're sleeping. You know, because you're in West Hollywood here and so it gets a little noises sometimes. It's like calming. I feel like we have in such chaos all the time. Well, L.A. is just. Your environment needs to be low cortisol. And yeah. I think spices, like,
Starting point is 00:46:04 I put spices in my coffee every single day. Like that makes me happy. It's a little thing. But I know it balances my blood sugar. Put a little turmeric in there. Cinnamon. Yeah. I mean, I would love,
Starting point is 00:46:13 we're sort of simplifying it into being like this is, we have one called Sweetie, which is like a date sugar, coconut sugar, cinnamon. And that's like a more barricet. But then I was like, I had to learn a lot about people's relationship with sugar.
Starting point is 00:46:24 You know, like I would say, I kept scaring, Roy being like, they're not going to want to have sugar. It's coconut. And even if it's coconut or date. And our R&D chef was like,
Starting point is 00:46:31 there is sugar in a tomato. Like, I need you to calm down. I would like date sugar in my coffee. That sounds good. But I also respect that some people are like, no, we want no sugar products. Like everyone's going to have a different reaction. And so as a company, I'm like, I don't really want to tell people where to, you know,
Starting point is 00:46:46 can you give us a couple of the names of the products? Yeah. Right now we have spicy, cheesy and sweetie. And cheesy is actually vegan. It's a nutritional yeast based. Yum. And that, but I learned on nutritional yeast because I would see a lot of people use it, was that people use it as an umami flavor.
Starting point is 00:47:01 And it has texture. to it. So it's good for popcorn. It's good for vegetables. It's good. And that it just adds that like sort of texture to what you would be having parmesan style of it. And it has like a little peppery so. So that's really great. Hopefully the goal is to do more and fast casual. Like we're not going the grocery route. Like I want you to be able to see this product everywhere and you'll know how to use it because it's in tangents. I'm going to carry it in my purse. I mean, I think that's a big market of it. But what I'm also betting on hopefully is that you're at your local sweet green or pokey. you can have this and just added the way people had salt pepper packets.
Starting point is 00:47:35 It's very new age hines. Yes. I say in the pitch more dried condiment because there's so much sugar in actual the sauces of it. People are eating so many more flavors. Like growing up, did you imagine that you would have faux and, you know, Thai food and Chinese food? We just had Mark Seeson on here yesterday from, you know, Primal Kitchen. Oh, my gosh. And we were talking to him and it was, and when I was thinking, I was like, I never ate vegetables as a kid because I just couldn't stomach all this.
Starting point is 00:47:59 Like we had no options. But now with Primal Kid, they've got like 16. different dressings. I'm like, I'd eat salads all day long now because he has so many different flavors. You guys, you have a lot of parallels. Yeah, I'm so fascinated by that company. And, and just to know that he started blogging before I can't, I can't wait till the episode. You actually, you guys have a lot of parallels. Oh, I'm really excited. You know, you two should actually talk in me. I would love to. Oh, my God. He's like, he, I mean, these have become my new celebrities where I'm like, yes, the guy who sold that for that company. Like, that's so exciting to me.
Starting point is 00:48:26 It's so dope. It's so, yeah. It comes out in October. Yeah, it comes out in October. working on where we'll see it first. Okay. But when I was saying about changing the patterns of which I worked, like, now I have one great lunch with someone who, you know, works for the clippers. And they're like, oh, I was like, what would it look like to have courtside, you know, popcorn toppers, you know? And she was like, oh, we can maybe do that.
Starting point is 00:48:47 And I was like, great. I want to know what it's like to go to a clipper game and have my spice. Like, I'm in a whole new world. Fun. And that's cool. You know what I love about you is that I feel like we're told that you have to do this and this and this and like we have to live like this very structured life. But I really like how you're like a nomad. Like you've gone from so many different careers and you've pivoted and moved. And you all,
Starting point is 00:49:10 you almost have gone sort of where attention goes from the hills to hello giggles to what you're doing now, which is so relevant. I think it's really cool. I love trends and I love like, like that was part of the reason that I connected with you is like anyone that is passionate about something and curious is just magnetic, you know? And so I might not always get it. But like, I just recently got really into sports. I have no idea what's happening, but I love collective energy. There's a collective energy around wellness and skin care that, like, is, and beauty. That is, I'm not necessarily always a target audience, but like, I love knowing what
Starting point is 00:49:42 people are using as their skin product. Like, that feels intimate. When it's smart, it's smart for people when they can recognize, like, I don't, maybe you don't necessarily always identify or understand what that movement is, but you can see someone so clear about it. Like, that's one thing I've had to learn. Like, maybe sometimes even if I don't get something, if I can see something that's just, like, so clear and they know, like, I'm like, okay, I better pay attention that because there's something
Starting point is 00:50:00 I'm missing here. Well, you guys bet on podcasts. And now it's like, would be the most obvious thing that people would say in a meeting and they'd roll your eyes. But like, that was a transition, you know, to give that a little bit of a push. I'm excited to see what happens for you. I think it's going to be major. I mean, honestly, like, I can't wait to try it. What's a book, a resource, a podcast that you can leave our audience with that's brought you a lot of value? Could be a Netflix show, anything that you consume that you think is super valuable. It could be in any kind of regard to. Okay, honestly, it's going to sound vaguer than that is that I'm really into, I have to do more of it, is keeping Shabbat is where I turn my phone off. And so what's really valuable actually is not more information, is less information.
Starting point is 00:50:38 That is a fucking great answer. And so I don't, I feel like I think there's a lot of information out there. I think the internet is one of my favorite things in the entire world. There was a joke that someone said on a podcast. They're like, if I were like a billionaire, I would never use the internet or have a phone. And I was like, I get that. Like there's a part of me. you're being like, we should feel so rich that we never need to do.
Starting point is 00:50:59 To be connected again. To be connected again. If that's what we define it that way. So yeah, so I think my real key would be like just getting offline and offline. I just turn my phone off and just sleep and read and like, and not just be just an hour, 45 minutes a day. Like, you know, sometimes doing it for 25 hours once a week.
Starting point is 00:51:17 That's what we're doing this weekend. You're doing it? Everybody turned this podcast off right now. Stop listening to us. We're doing this weekend. We're just laying in bed and reading and eating and hanging out with our dogs. It's our favorite thing. We actually do it a lot, but like, you know, with what Lauren does and with the podcast,
Starting point is 00:51:30 people think that we're plugged in a lot more. But, I mean, we'll have a full weekend where we're just like, it's so important. Don't you feel like you recharge and you're like, I have an actual different personality? But you're a battery on a mobile phone. When you're functioning at 1%, I can't, I have to recharge. It's like Spider-Verse. I feel like when I turn my phone off, the veins are like not coming out. I'm like, oh, we're done.
Starting point is 00:51:48 Like, we're not. I went to go buy some T-shirts the other day and I left my phone in the dressing room. And I like, I walked out. And I went into a panic for like two minutes. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm like, why am I panicking about this stupid phone? Like, calm down. Well, it's your emergency contact.
Starting point is 00:52:02 Yeah, but I was just like, I just walked outside the door. What's going to happen? Someone's going to run in and take it and like look at my contact. It's like, okay, I got to calm down. Where can everyone find you, pimp yourself out and tell us where they can find your new company in October? Hello, high note.com for high note and we're at Highnote on Instagram. And then my personal one is at Refifi on Instagram and so Fifi on Twitter.
Starting point is 00:52:22 I still do use Twitter. So I can go find out. follow high note right now. You can follow high note. Oh, that's exciting. Can I post it on Insta, too? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to show you guys samples too.
Starting point is 00:52:32 What am I spelling wrong? You know, it's H-I, because they're... We're going to link all of it properly. It's a H-I note. Perfect. So cute. Well, I have to do more branding on that, so I would love... I'm into it.
Starting point is 00:52:44 This is so cute. This is going to look great on my feed. You were not an inspiration. So just remember, you're a demo that I always reference. the skinny confidential to one point, they were like, you need to ask her if she would have sugar or not because you keep saying she wouldn't. I'm in. And then I sort of came back and being like, I think she would do date.
Starting point is 00:53:03 I have to think. She likes the date, yeah, I love a date. Yeah, I think she would. Okay, great. Yes. I think what you're doing is amazing. Thank you so much for coming on.
Starting point is 00:53:09 Thank you for having me. Thank you. Guys, we want to do more solo episodes for you. So what we're wondering is what kind of solo episodes do you want to see it from Michael and I? Do you want Michael to get on the mic and talk about podcasting equipment? Do you want more? beauty tips for me or do you want something that's more about relationships? Let me know on my latest
Starting point is 00:53:29 Instagram at the Skinny Confidential and the Skinny Confidential team will pick a bunch of you to send pink, sparkly pop so pockets. We take your feedback so seriously and we love dropping into your DMs, getting your mailing address and sending you some goodies. So let us know what solo episodes you want to see on my latest Instagram at the Skinny Confidential and with that we'll see you next time.

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