The Bossticks - Kopari Beauty Founders, Kiana Cabell & Gigi Goldman - Morning Routines, Launching a Beauty Brand, The Benefits of Coconut Oil, & E-Commerce

Episode Date: February 19, 2019

#170: On this episode we sit down with Kopari Beauty co-founders Kiana Cabell & Gigi Goldman to discuss the secrets behind building a modern beauty brand. We dive into morning routines, the benefits of natural beauty products, how to set yourself up for a day of success & how to build a modern beauty brand in the digital age.  To learn more about KOPARI 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 CURED NUTRITION, a wholistic supplement company straight out of Boulder, Colorado. If you love organic, hemp-derived CBD products like we do, then you need to know about CURED nutrition. Their full spectrum of products works with your bodies system to produce better sleep results, decreased stress levels, and inflammation. All of their products are non psychoactive and they ship straight to your door. As always we have an offer for you to try. Go to curednutrion.com/skinny and enter promo code SKINNY For 15% off your entire order   This episode is brought to you by THRIVE MARKET. We use Thrive for our online grocery delivery on a weekly basis and we also now get our wine at Thrive! They provide the highest quality products and ingredients delivered straight to our door with unbeatable prices.  Be sure to grab our deal by going to to https://thrivemarket.com/skinnywine to receive 25% off your first order (Max $20) + free shipping and a 30 day trial.

The following podcast is a dear media production. This episode is brought to you by Cured Nutrition, a holistic supplement company straight out of Boulder, Colorado. So if you guys love organic hemp-derived CBD products like Michael and I do, then you need to know about cured nutrition. So they have a full spectrum of products that work with your body system to produce better sleep results, decreased stress levels, and inflammation. All of their products are non-psychoactive and they ship straight to your door,

which is so efficient. I am all about their peppermint oil. And as always, we have an offer for you guys to try. All you have to do is go to curednutrition.com slash skinny and inner promo code skinny for 15% off your entire order. All right, let's get into the show. 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 alone for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her. Finding what you're passionate about and just going out and doing it and don't be intimidated by which you don't know.

I think when I started off and wanting to launch a business, I didn't, you know, I never really went to college. And I was so intimidated by, you know, the business world. But as I dove in and I learned, I was able to grow. Hey, hey, hey, happy Tuesday, guys. Welcome back to the skinny confidential him and her show. This morning was interesting. Taylor just spilled coffee all over the studio. What's even more interesting is I just had these studios clean two days ago. Taylor, it looks like you just messed yourself on the floor.

Now everyone's going to come in here and see what the hell is going on. It looks like somebody went to the bathroom all over the floor now. It looks like you took a show on the floor. It's honestly not even that noticeable. It's a giant. Something down, nobody will even really. It is a giant brown puddle that I'm now going to have to explain. Taylor, when you think things aren't noticeable, they're like so noticeable, by the way.

Michael is right, though. We actually literally just got the carpets cleaned two days ago. and I remember I came in and I looked and I said, wow, I've never seen these carpets be this clean. I know I'm right because I signed the check to the carpet cleaning company. Not anymore. I now have to bring back in. Welcome back, everybody. Another messy episode.

This is going to go. Where are we going to go here with this intro today, Lauren? We're going to be interviewing the founders of Kopari, very excited about that. But before we get into that, I want to talk about something that's been the theme of this month for some reason. And that is priorities. Priorities. Okay. This will be interesting.

Let's see. What do you got here? Well, the reason it's been the theme is because I feel like priorities are not something that's talked about enough. And coincidentally, on my Instagram story last week, I put up, it's called the Ivy Lee method, I believe. And a lot of people were messaging me about it. And I thought it would be fun to sort of dissect it and discuss it before we get into this episode. So apparently you've been doing this method that has to do with priorities for the last five years. It's called the Ivy Lee or the Ivy League method. It's the Ivy League.

I'll tell you exactly. I've never been described as Ivy League for sure, never. No, you haven't. Okay, tell me what you think. You're looking at it up. Tell me what you think this is and I'll let you know if I, I'll let you know if I, if there's a version of this that I've been doing. Okay, so basically the Ivy Lee method has to do all with priorities, okay, it's for

peak performance and productivity. Oh, then I must be doing it for sure. You are, you do do it? I'm just kidding. Tell me, tell me, okay, so detail what is it? Okay, so basically Charles Schwab, heard of him. Okay, yes. Michael, why don't you give a little.

background on Charles Schwab. We don't need to go into a history lesson about Mr. Schwab. Let's jump into this method. Basically, he was one of the richest men in the world, you guys. So he invented this method that I do every single day. I've done it my whole entire business career. Apparently Michael's done it too. I didn't know this. I posted this on my Instagram story and I had so many DMs about people telling me that they do this method or they want to do it or they screenshoted it. And I thought it would be fun to like sort of dissect it like I said. At this point, the buildup is there. The mystery, like, what is the method? It's like a movie trailer. Like, tell us what's happening here. I'm cock-fucking. I feel like there's a killer going to pop out of the bushes and scare me

with this method. This is what you do. And this is according to Jamesclear.com. I got it off there. I'm going to do a blog post on it. So at the end of each workday, you write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. And you don't write down more than six tasks. I got to tell you, I write down seven. Of course. I've always been a fucking rebel. I can't, I can't help it. Okay. Then you prioritize. these six items in order of their true importance. So say you have to love your wife, kiss your wife, get your wife gifts, it's your wife's back, buy your wife diamonds, you would prioritize what those things are. So like diamonds would be first. Okay. And then when you arrive tomorrow, you only concentrate on the first task. So like your first task would be buy your wife diamonds. So you'd wake up, you'd look at your list and you work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task. so you can't kiss me until you buy me diamonds. And then you approach the rest of your list in the same fashion.

So you go down the list. And then at the end of each day, you move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day. And you repeat this process every single day. Now, before you hop into it, Michael Oostick, I have to tell you, I do this in the morning, not at night. I've always done it in the morning. And I know you do it at night.

Well, I'll give you, okay. So now that I know what this is, I didn't know there was a title to this method. But where I have been doing a version of this or have been doing this on my own for a very long time, I find that most people have a really, really difficult time focusing and prioritizing, which is why you can look at some people that we all have the same amount of time in the day, but you can look at some people like, how the fuck do they get all that done? It's because they know how to focus and prioritize. And I think a lot of people don't know how to do that.

They make a giant to-do list and they get all scrambled all over. They just go down the list, checking things off. And the real question there is, are you actually getting done the most important things that are not only the most important to you, but that will have the most impact on everything else that you're doing? So yes, there's a version. Yeah, there's a lot of things that you could get done that will make other things unnecessary or complete. Right. So to allow you, there's like that 80, 20 world, it's like 20% of the work. It's the other 80% obsolete or finished.

Right. So I've been, I never put a number to it. But the reason I do that before bed is I put a list together. of the most important things that I need to focus on that will have the most impact. Let's get specific. Where do you write the list? I have a phone.

I have a journal. Oh, I know. It's not a journal, though. Not that journal. Sometimes I look at it. Sometimes I take a peek. Not that journal. I have like a, like, I know a lot of people use those calendar planners.

No, he has this, we need to link the journal that you use. It's this leather bound journal. It's just a mold skin. Yeah, but you use the same journal since I've known you. Well, because, you know, I tried for a while, like my partner, Weston. He uses the one with a giant calendar, some people like that. I hate a journal that doesn't have a spiral because I like to lay it open. I don't know how you use a journal that doesn't have a spiral.

I don't like a big journal. I don't need, listen, I'm not writing a novel here. I just need to get my tasks on a piece of paper. But don't you need a spiral? No, I don't care about the spiral. You know, I just care about the functionality. But here's a thing. Shows a lot about your personality.

Where a lot of people fuck up is they make a to-do list and they get lost in their own to-do list. Taylor. Oh, my God. No, my thing is make a list of the most important things, what you think. And then after that, what I do, maybe that makes this a little bit different. I don't write them in order. I just write everything down that I need to get done.

And then next to that, I go and put numbers one through whatever, how many tasks I have. And the key there is I don't move on to the second most important task or the third most important task until the first task in that list is complete. So the reason that this is so effective, I've, like, researched it on the internet. I told you that I was really reading James Clear article. I did a post on this that's coming up on the skinny confidential. And basically they say that the reason that this works so well, and the reason it's so effective is because it's simple enough to work. It's like anyone can do it.

It's so easy. You can do it at night. You can do it in the morning. You just have to make sure you're not moving on to the next task until you finish the first task. And you could even use one of those time batching cubes or the what's the honey, what's the tomato, the Pomodora method? You can look that up on the Skinny Confidential. I did a blog post on that. It also makes you make the tough decisions because you're forced to sort of do it.

But there's another key to this. There's another key component. Have you ever heard a guy named Cal Newport? No, I have. I've talked about them a long time ago on this show, and I think I actually did a blog post on your skinny confidential post. Maybe you could go back and find it when I was doing some book posts. I don't have as much time to do that anymore. But there's a guy named Cal Newport that wrote a book called Deep Work.

And that book had a lot of impact on me because it's basically all about getting into deep work and prioritizing. Another thing that I do that's kind of in line with this outside of the, you know, prioritizing and focusing on tasks is when you are focused on a specific task, there can be no distractions, no other things. You can't pick up your phone and go on Instagram. Which is why the TimeCube works so well. Yes, you can't go in email and let a lot of people do. That's really fucked up. I'm sorry, if you do this, if you're one of these people, you're not going to, I'm sorry,

you're going to get left behind. If you constantly live in your inbox and you're checking your inbox every 10, 15 minutes, you're sitting at your desk, you're trying to get into a task. I only check my inbox twice a day. I used to do that. That's working in your business, not on your business. I set time in the day. There's an hour in the morning, sometimes 45 minutes.

depending on how busy, sometimes 30, that do nothing but answer emails, right? And then there's a portion in the middle of my day that does it, and then there's a small portion at the end. But during the time that I'm not in my inbox, I don't even look at it. I only do the morning for my inbox. I do around 10 o'clock after I've done my morning routine and I have full concentration. And then I do at night before I go to bed just to get the most important ones out of the way. So anyways, the bottom line of this method, though, is that you're doing the most important thing first every day. And that's really to. be honest, the real productivity trick that everyone needs.

Not just first, to completion. To completion. Yes. You can't say, oh, I didn't get that done in time. To completion. Yes. And you can break these tasks up into like micro tasks where maybe there's a massive task that you need to get done that.

You don't have time. Like, it's going to take you more than a day. Okay. What is the first step you can do to make a real dent into that task? And that's what you put on your list as priorities, right? Speaking of execution, today, we have two killer hustler executors. We have Kiana Cabell and Gigi Goldman. So both of these women set out to create a lifestyle beauty brand

that filled a need in the marketplace for premium coconut oil-based beauty products. Launched in 2015, Kopari Beauty has been making waves in the industry. Though Cabell and Goldman admit that their initial investors were friends and family, Kobari Beauty has since attracted investors from Hollywood's A-List and beyond. Today we get into a wide variety of conversation with these two badass hustlers. I could not be more excited to have them on the skinny confidential, him and her show. With that, let's welcome Kiana and Gigi to the show. Before we jump into the interview, let's take a quick break so we can discuss cured nutrition.

This is straight out of Boulder, Colorado, and it's organic hemp-derived CBD, okay? And they have it figured out. So these products can be implemented straight into your wellness routine to improve sleep, decrease stress, and inflammation. The product that I'm very much about is the mint oil. You cannot go wrong with this. And here's what I do. So Cured has a classic mint oil.

I take that and then I take a cup of tea. And you know I drink like four cups of mint tea a day and put fresh mint over boiling water. And then I take the mint oil and put it on top of the mint leaves. So I have boiled water, a little bit of fresh mint leaves, and then some CBD. It is the most relaxing drink. It's something that you would want to just drink while watching. watching housewives in bed. And I'm obsessed with the mint tea. We all know this. I talk about it all the time on Instagram stories. Victoria Beckham got me hooked. She drinks so much mint tea.

So to be able to add some CBD oil to it is insane. Cured nutrition's CBD oil is made out of hemp extract, grape seed oil, and natural essence. Yeah. And if you guys are someone that gets a little bit stressed like yours truly right before bed, you might want to try the cured Zen. That's the product I take. As many of you guys know, I have been getting up at 5 a.m. every day this year. So that I can be in the gym at 6am, and a lot of the reason that I've been able to do that is because of the cured Zen product. Unlike alcohol or THC, you actually get quality sleep from these supplements. You don't have to worry about getting bad deep sleep or bad quality REM sleep, you know, because you're not worrying about having alcohol in your system or THC.

A little CBD goes a long way, and it's really done wonders to help me relax before bed, calm the mind down. So to try cured nutrition and to try our favorites, go to curednutrition.com slash skinny and enter promo code Skinny for 15% off. Again, that's Curednutrition.com slash skinny and promo code Skinny for 15% off your entire order. As always, we will link all of this in the show notes. You should know all their products are organic, non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free,

and have no preservatives. Enjoy guys. You're going to love this in your minty. This is the Skinny Confidential, him and her. All right, I feel since we have two people on, this is kind of a round table, that you each should tell your story of how you kind of got here.

We'll start with you. Okay, totally. Yeah, it's funny because we kind of come from, you know, different backgrounds. So I grew up in Hawaii. I've used coconut my whole life. It's, you know, part of the culture. But I was living in New York, and I was attending a natural food school. And when I went to the program, I knew I wanted to launch a product.

I just thought it would be more of a food product because I'm such a foodie at heart. And I was learning more and more about the benefits and properties of coconut oil through the school. and at the same time I just saw coconut everywhere. Coconut water was having its moment. I would go to Whole Foods, you know, where I bought coconut oil, and it was now at the front checkouts. I'd open a magazine or read a blogger blogging about top 30 ways for coconut. And I was working on a different project that was really complicated.

And I was like, this is it. It's coconut oil. It's simple. It's effective. I can use it for everything. And, you know, at the same time, I was taking it from the kitchen to the bathroom and back and forth. And, you know, it was so sensitive. simple and it works. You know, I was using it as all over body

moisturizer. I was using it as a lube. I was using it as a hair mask. I was shaving with it. I was cooking with it. I was like, there's really nothing this can't do and it's a great base. And I was kind of like, that's it. My aha moment. And I was working on myself by myself and it was funny. I like didn't tell anybody about the idea, not because I didn't want anyone to take it, but because I wanted it to be something before I was, you know, talking about it. Oh my God, you're, I'm the same way. Yeah.

I relate to you on anadvacral level. Yeah, because I had all these friends that are doing this and that and they never really actually do anything. And, you know, just for my own self, I wanted it to be real before it was like kind of going on and on. So I went to a friend of mine who launched Sujah, who you know as well. And, you know, I went to him because I was kind of hitting a wall with the design person I hired doing the packaging.

And I love Suga's packaging. And he's like, oh, coconut oil. Like, I don't know what the fuck that is. He's like, but sounds good. And he's like, yeah, send it to me. take a look and I never, you know, followed through and sent it to him. And, you know, two weeks later, he calls me. He's like, you got to come to San Diego. Like, you could just come. I was like, I didn't even ask a question. I was like, all right, I booked my ticket. I came. And next thing you know,

I was sitting with Bryce, Gigi and James. And Gigi can kind of tell you her side of the store. It's so funny how like literally five years ago we didn't even know each other and all of a sudden now we're business partners. But while she has that idea in New York, I'm here on the West Coast. I was a stay-at-home mom and my husband's been in the beauty business for three generations and basically I was really concerned about health and wellness. So I'm using coconut oil in the kitchen and it's ironic that I've got a beauty company because I am the most minimal person in the world and Harley used beauty products. But coconut oil was my solve for everything. I put it on my skin from head to toe, hair like Keanu, I was bringing it from the bathroom,

the kitchen to the bathroom. My kids were like, I'm sad. I'm like put coconut. oil on it, dry skin, put coconut oil in it. It was my saw for literally everything. And that was my aha moment. And my husband had always wanted to start his own product line. So we kind of merged our ideas. And one thing that we really wanted to do beyond using coconut oil and water and all of the coconut components was bringing the surf Southern California lifestyle. And that really mirrored a lot of Keanu's background too. So we wanted to. So we want to. wanted this brand to be more than a product line, but something that really transports you and gives you this lifestyle that you can, like, visualize and become part of.

A lot like the surf industry's done. You know, they really tell a story that compels you. It's not just about board shorts. Yeah, and it evokes that emotion. You know, when you use the product, it could be freezing cold in the winter, and, you know, it takes you to that tropical paradise. Well, I use you guys as an example all the time about how powerful brand can be, right? because you've taken something very simple that, you know, a lot of people had access to and

created an extremely powerful brand behind. It just shows you, especially in the digital age, like how important it is to put a lot of thought into the brand and the way you market that brand. Yeah, I feel like that's everything these days, you know. It's kind of a coconut oil movement, isn't it? Yeah. We spent so much time on that story because, like you said, it is so important, and it's about being transported. Like, you can use any product, but it's about having effective products that are transportive. And the other thing that was really important to Kianna and I and the whole team is making our products as pure as possible. Like all of our ingredients are really thoughtful and sourced the best way possible. And we receive the clean seal from Sephora because we really

think that, you know, what you put on your body is just as important as what you ingest. And how do you guys work? Because you work with four CEOs, right? Is it four or three? There's one CEO. Okay. Which is really important. Anytime you have a business model, and I've seen this in my past life, where you try and have two leaders, it does not work. For multiple reasons. For multiple reasons. I was going to say that sounds complicated. Yeah, I think you really have to be, you know, working a way where there's one leader, which is Bryce, my husband.

And he's got 20 years experience in the beauty business. Like I said, third generation. He's been going to, you know, beauty shows and see who is like 12 years old. Wow. So he's got that experience. And then the way it kind of evolved is Kiana focused more on product development. And then I was focused more on retail expansion just based on our strengths and weaknesses. And I think it's finding what you're really good at and letting people do that and then focusing on what you're good at.

Yeah, I think that's the key. It's like we all really complement each other. And, you know, our strengths are, you know, differences as well. So I think we kind of all know our place. And I really focus on all product development and overall branding. And then GDda helps with a lot with the retail side of things. And Bryce and James, we haven't mentioned, is also really on the business side. They do a lot of, you know, focus on the fundraising.

And I think what's great, too, is, you know, you know what your strengths are. You lean into those, but then you also get all of this knowledge and really learn from the experts in their field. The other thing that's happened over the past three years is we've great. grown so quickly that we've had to hire the people who know it best and who have the experience and really trust them to take the business to the next level, which is amazing and super freaking hard. Because it's like you have to. You have to.

It's the only way to really scale like you've scaled. I was going to, you know, there's a lot of young people that listen to this show and they're maybe starting like joint ventures with maybe friends or new partners. And you've kind of touched on it a little bit, both of you about kind of staying in your lane and differentiating the roles. What, what advice would you have for young people to kind of figure that out, right? Maybe there's two co-founders and they're saying, like, who should be the CEO, who should not be? How did you guys kind of navigate that in the beginning? Because I know there's a lot of, not just the business relationship, but there's a lot of dynamics and personal relationships within

your business. I think it's just really like knowing who would do it better and just letting, you know, checking your ego. And I think finding that partner, it's finding a partner that complements you and you know you have that you know end all same vision together to help grow it but I think you know I'm great at branding and product and I think of our CEO that was also kind of his path maybe it wouldn't be so perfect you know whereas in business you want me totally not involved in all the like numbers and things like that whereas in you know I think we just compliment each other really well we're taking a quick break here to discuss where I get my dates okay Michael you know I love a date you do love a date but you see you know the problem

with you in the dates is I see those things like half bitten half eaten all right I get it the dates are all over my house you guys I love a date and if you stuff it with raw nut butter it's even better so I am very specific about where I get my dates and you should know that I get them off thrive market which shouldn't surprise you at all I guess because Thrive has organic, and I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing this right, but you always want to go for this kind of date. It's a M-E-D-J-O-O-L date. I'm sure that didn't lose people, Lauren. You know, one of my most exciting times is when we put our Thrive Market Order in because I get all my apple cider vinegars, my turmeric, my beef jerkeys that I love.

They have a little bit of everything there for everybody. 25 to 50 percent below retail. All products, sourced, sustainable. But back to the dates. Here's what I do. So if you're going to go on Thrive Market and you're going to do a skinny confidential date situation, you need to pick up the dates, you need to pick up the raw almond butter, you need to pick up their organic cinnamon, and then you also need to pick up Lily's dark chocolate chips.

And if you have those four ingredients, you're kind of good. And we took the time, or Lauren took the time, because she's a little bit more meticulous than me, to create a page on Thrive Market where we put all of our favorites, all of her favorites, It's my favorites, all in one place. If you go to Thrivemarket.com slash skinny and sign up, it will automatically take you there so you can have a list. It's like three pages at this point of all of our favorite items. And the whole date situation is on there, too, guys.

So you can take these dates and you can put them around the house, half eaten like I do, and annoy your husband with them. But they really do help with a sweet tooth. Like, that's so true. We're looking for efficiency here, guys. 25 to 50% below retail, straight to your door, household items, pet supplies, food. I guess there's a whole section for dates now that I'm learning about. You got everything there.

And all of the products, like I said, are sustainably sourced. So you know you're getting the best products on the market. 25 to 50% below retail. To check it out, go to thrivemarket.com slash skinny for 25% off your first order with free shipping. Again, that's thrive market.com slash skinny. And I should also mention if you're going to get the date situation, what you need to get. You also need the unsweetened toasted coconut flakes, which is also on the page. You got to do a date at night.

We're talking about this for long enough now, guys. on board Thrivemarket.com slash skinny. Let's get it. How do you guys utilize social media to build your brand? Because I know that's been a huge part. I've worked with you guys. I absolutely love it. It's been so seamless. How have you really tapped into influencers and Instagram to build Koppari? I mean, that was part of our strategy from the beginning. We launched just as a direct-to-consumer brand, which was kind of cutting edge at the time four years ago. And totally out of my comfort zone, I didn't even have an Instagram at that time. But we really realized that was the wave of the future.

So we utilized not only to sell product, but we really built a strong social media page. We started developing relationships with influencers. Like you said, we were sitting at a table with you, and our product didn't even have, you know, the packaging completely finished yet. So it was part of our strategy from the beginning because we really thought that's where the consumer was going to be. when she or he was looking for product. But what we also realized about six months into it when every major retailer called us is that if we really put the consumer first, it wasn't only about purchasing online, but it was also being in retail so they could touch and feel and experience the product.

So I think that's how we developed our full Omni Channel plan. So, you know, you've got to be mobile and adaptable. And while we thought we were just going to maybe be D to C, originally, we kind of evolved over time thinking about the consumer, you guys. I mean, you guys are in Sephora, right? Yes. What else are you in? If someone wants to go touch and feel? We're in Sephora, Alta, Nordstrom. We've got a small presence in free people and anthropology. We're also on Revolve. So I mean, we're expanding into urban outfitters, which will be a good amount of product indoors. Yeah. How do you guys go from these creative ideas that

you have to an actual product and execution. Like, can you really walk someone through the steps? If someone's listening and they have a small idea for a product, what are tangible steps that they can take to make it become real life? I think we started with our brand pillars, which we were all aligned with originally, which was coconut, clean products, lifestyle, and products that actually work. I mean, so many times when you see a natural product, you're like, great, but it's not effective. So those were really our pillars.

And then taking that from concept to idea, I mean, idea to actual product. I mean, it's just like being a student. Yeah. And just also everything evolves. I mean, I wish we could say like it was a clear path and strategy. I mean, initially going in, I came from a different place. They came over a different place. And we kind of met in the middle.

And initially, you know, her husband. been in Gigi come from you know more hair care and we were going into launch hair care and you know I was working on the products and my hair was like matted and I couldn't brush it and hair is very performance driven and we wanted to have them clean and I was like there's no way I would ever buy these so we kind of like you know put that on hold and came out with our original four products but yeah I mean everything evolves but I think at the end of the day if you want to launch a product I think having a clear vision and a real differentiation from what's out there, I think that's key. And then you really learn a lot along the way,

because I think for all four of us, besides James, this is our first brand we've ever built. And we've just kind of dove in, learn so much, and really evolved and grown and just be flexible and nimble. What was the biggest struggle in the beginning when you're navigating all this and putting the team together and figuring out which products to start with and how to launch? What were the biggest hurdles? I mean, there's just so much to learn. Like I remember talking. to fragrance houses and there was three different types of fragrance and some don't mix with oils and some, you know, aren't as effective. So, I mean, it's just like this huge learning curve and I would have this whiteboard. We all would and we would just be students of the process.

It's like going to college. It's like you know nothing about history and then, you know, you get into the books and you figure it out. That's a great way to describe it. Students of the process. It's an amazing way. I mean, literally, that's what we were. And we were willing to learn and we brought in so many people who had experience and just kept asking questions and learning. And we launched with our four products, which took us about like a year and a half. And there was an idea about what the hero product would be. And the client and the customer and our fans chose something totally different. That's genius, though.

You made the customer the hero. They're the hero. They decide. Not only do they decide what our hero product is in a lot of ways, but they also decide what product we create next. We ask them. Again, we try and be so focused on the customer where she buys, what she wants, what she's problem she's looking to solve. Yeah, and this day and age, I mean, I think that's just the way to go about it is, you know, having that relationship with the customer. And we chose to launch DDC to really garner that and, you know, have all that

customer data so we can learn and grow and, you know, pivot where we needed to pivot. I always say that one of like my main things with my audience, is intuition. It's so important to be intuitive to the audience and be talking to them and communicating with them and not think that you're sort of the know at all. It sounds like you guys have done that really, really nicely. You also sound like you do something that Michael always says, which is launch fast and adjust. Yes. 100%. I mean, I don't know if that's the right strategy, but I think that's just the strategy when you're growing so fast and learning along the way. Well, I think in the age that we live in, like, you know, prior, a lot of this business that we all do now, it was dependent on retailers,

right? You had to get in the right retailers. You had to get in the doors. That's the only way you get distribution. Now you, like someone can launch a product and have it online and tomorrow, right? You can create a Shopify site very easily. It's like 29 bucks a month. Right. Launch something tomorrow. And so I feel like if you have an idea and it's good, yes, do the due diligence and like great, great brand and packaging, but you have to get it out there quick and get the feedback because the longer you wait and the longer you wait for perfection, next thing you know somebody else is doing it and they're doing it better and they're faster and it's too late. And nothing ever is going to be perfect. It can just be your best. But one thing you hit on

is intuition and I feel like both Kean and I are really good at listening to our intuition. And part of the reason it's so raw and real for us is because we didn't have a ton of experience in the industry. So we didn't have this box of like, this is how it has to be. This is how you create a product. We were kind of like fresh and new to the whole industry in a lot of ways. So we were allowed to really go with what we felt instead of like the old rules or chains in the industry. It's like with ignorance and confidence. That's been my whole model. Exactly.

And I think that's what it means to be innovative at this, you know, day and age too. If there's a blogger or an influencer out there that's listening because we have a lot of creatives and they want to work with Kopari, what are some steps that they could take to work with you guys? Should they start just using the product naturally if they already like it? Is there any tips or tricks that you guys could provide? Yeah. for me, I mean, I come from like the brand side and I think content is everything. And I think if you're

an influencer, like I am constantly looking for content creators that put great contact out that we can repurpose because a lot of the content that is out there is not something I'd necessarily want to repurpose. But I think if you're an influencer and you're wanting to work with a brand or Kapari, having great content and you can just start doing that on your own organically for very, you know, very little effort and really honing in on like what would resonate well with that brand to me I think that's like a great way to kind of start in I know that whenever I want to work with a brand personally I'll go and I'll look at their Instagram page and see their vibes so for you guys I would never create content that has the flash against a black wall yeah but but maybe for a brand that's a little more edgier I'm going to

use a black wall with the flash and be a little bit more I don't know edgier for you guys it's always like I want to do a white marble bathroom everything very clean not a natural light. So I also think you guys, if any of you out there listening, want to work with Kopari specifically, I feel like your brand is very, like you said, surfer, laid back, light, bright, clean, use the colors. I think I wore blue last time we collabed because it's like, it's so fitting. So things like that, I think make a difference as well. What are some of the things that you guys don't like to see when you partner with influencers? Like maybe you said, hey, this is going to be a good collaboration and this is going to be good for the brand and you

part with something and it's just like, hey, that was a disaster of concert. That just didn't well, like something you didn't anticipate or something that just is not the right failure. What do you see those issues being? I think for me it's really about authenticity and that word is so overused right now, but it's true. I mean, if you're going to talk about a product and be passionate, it's really hard when you go talk about that same product and it completely is different from what you were originally talking about.

Like, we're really into natural Dio's because that's super important. I mean, we don't want people putting aluminum in your armpits. So if you're an influencer who's talking about that, and then you go and talk about another deodorant that isn't aluminum-free, like, that's a big contradiction. And it just, like, your audience isn't going to, it takes away from your validity. Totally. I think when I launch product, I'll be looking at, I don't want someone that talks about 8,000 million products that are in the same, like 8,000 toothpaste.

8,000 million. 8,000 million. 8,000 million. They're up to make up many products out there. No, but like when you use this, there's 20 different toothpaste that you're promoting. It's like, which one are you committed to? Exactly. You know what I mean?

It's confusing to people. And I mean, it's just like, talk about what you love. Yes, I agree. And what is a day of work with you guys? Because I know your offices are beautiful and super Instagram-y and you have influencers in and out. Can you sort of speak on, I'm sure each day is very different, but maybe give us some examples of each of your days. I feel like it's a lot of meetings when we are here. Gigi and I both travel a ton.

for work, but I feel like my calendar just gets booked up with meetings. Yeah, and every day, like you said, it's different, which is so exciting about being an entrepreneur and having this new business. I think Keanu and I, our roles are always changing because we're growing so quickly and change is super hard for me. I'm going to be honest. I try and keep my routines to manage that change. But what we're really focused on now is getting out, inspiring people, speaking on panels, talking on podcasts, building the brand, and letting people know our story. And then we're also really high-level strategy. So we're trying to remove ourselves from the weeds and empower the people we've hired to do those jobs

and just really make sure the vision's being carried out. Is there an end goal with Kopari? Because I know, like just knowing James' background and actually knowing him a little bit, like are you guys building this to either partner or exit with another company? Are you building or just to continue selling? Is there like a mission behind it or is that not a thought of just kind of building the brand? I think right now we're really focused on building the brand. I think also our mission in 2019 is really all about giving back.

And I think that is my mission, too, as a person for 2019. I've always done all of these New Year's resolutions and they've never worked. So I'm over that. One of our goals for this year is we're going to head to the Philippines in March, Keanu, Bryce and I. And we're going to be building houses for the people on the plantation. James isn't heading down there to build houses. Houses? No, get him on that trip.

He is. James, get out there. Bring some serious and get out there. Exactly. He was thinking about it, but he's got to hang back with his four kids. He's a busy guy. But we're going to be building 20 houses. It's going to be called Kepari Village for the people who work on the plantation where our coconuts are sourced who lost their homes and natural disasters.

So that's a big mission for us is to really live and breathe that giving back message. And we've always kind of done contributions. but we haven't ever like really put it front and center. So we partnered with Waves for Water since we launched basically giving a dollar of all of our online sales to them. But I think this kind of goes a little deeper, which we're really excited about doing. Yeah. What is a beauty tip that maybe doesn't have to do with coconut oil that you both do? Give our audience some really good ones, some juicy ones.

I know you guys are in the beauty industry. So you have to have some secrets. I'm really craving some solid beauty. He is so anal about his wrinkles. So give us some time. Well, because I talk to so, let me at this point, listen, I've talked to so many beauty. Brushes his eyebrows up. He's fully moisturized.

I've lately, we just, for Christmas, I got an infrared sauna. So I'm obsessed with that. I go in it. Wait, wait, wait, hold on. This can go in your house? Yes. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I have to, you don't need much space.

I'm going to go on a tangent here because I need to know about this because I was thinking, like, how do I get, you know, we were talking about. We just moved up to L.A. Yeah. And I love. those infrared sauna. No, it's amazing. Can it go on a like a roof deck or outside? Yeah, mine's outside. So we have a cover. It's great. How big is this? I think it's fits too. You know, it's about as sizes. I'm going to have to talk to you about this after and get. For sure. What are the benefits of this?

All over just, you know, detoxification. It heats up from the inside out, not the outside in. So it's kind of, the only negative is you have to sit in it for about 45 minutes an hour, but I've started podcast listening. And I think it's really great. Can you like read it? in there and chill out. It's great for all of that. I'm not allowed to go in anything with heat like that if my face is in it. Even better. Why? Because I have hyperpigmentation. Even better. We get a little bit more alone time. No. It's supposed to be amazing for your skin and detoxifying and anti-aging. I mean, the benefits go on and on. I've been reading constantly about the benefits of sauna. Yeah. I've just started looking into it. Do you know what the brand is? Yeah. It's called

Sunlighten. Sunlighten. Yeah. It's supposedly one of the best ones out there. It has like even like a TV if you wanted, you know, the whole deal. If anyone from Sunlighten's listening, send me a son. Call him, please. Shameless, send me a sauna. What are your tips? One of my favorite things, and this isn't necessarily beauty, but I love oil pulling. So every morning when I get in the shower, I put my oil pulling packets in, so it's coconut oil mixed with flavor, like mint, vanilla, or pinia colada. And you guys make these. Yeah, we make them. But that's not why I'm saying this, by the way. So we swish it, I swish it in my mouth while I'm in the shower. It's super relaxing. It's the only time I'm not talking the entire day. So I'm like, oh, relax. But it's true. It's so meditative. And it's just like once you get the hang

of doing it, it's amazing. I think it's just like becoming part of your routine. Like I have to have it out on my counter. I have to see it. But once it's like part of your routine, it's. That's the same thing with skin care though. You got to have it out displayed, ready to go. Like my vitamins need to be next to my toothbrush the tongue scraper needs to be right there it's all about efficiency like time we got to go i think you're supposed to oil pull with tongue scraping right isn't that what we heard when we did that iirating better i don't know yeah just just clean that mouth out but i never get sick and i attribute that partly to that one two my teeth feels so clean there's no grit like even after i brush sometimes i'm like there's a little grit i'm just totally obsessed with it and i feel like healthy no allergies

so it's a great. I have a question about oil pulling that's kind of off of a tangent. Is it true that it can pull out cavities? I don't know. I don't know if I don't have any. But it does help draw out all the toxins. That's the only thing I'm scared of.

You mean pull out fillings? Oh. Excuse me, not cavities, fillings. I have fillings. I've never had any issues. Okay. Then I'm going to start out of illness first. I have two fillings.

So I'm going to, I'm going to ask my dentist. No, I have a few and I've never. And it's never happened. You know what, Lauren, that could be a good thing for people that have those old, like, silver fillings to get the new white ones. Get those things pulled out. I don't have silver fillings, Michael. What I'm saying for anyone that does,

might want to oil pull, get them out. So you said you don't meditate, but that is actually a meditation. I think being in the shower, oil pulling. I'm going to start that. I have my eucalyptus leaves hanging from my shower head,

and I have a salt rock lamp that's the night light that I plug in. There's too many things going on. If I add oil pulling to this situation, I'm going to be, you know, transported to Bali. We're just going to go live outside, Lauren.

and I was just like salt and eucalyptus leaves and flowers. It's a whole thing around. Okay, wait, tell me about your routines because they're clearly more interesting than mine. I'm, mine's like 45 minutes long. I'll be back. I'll be right back. No, it's not that it's 45 minutes. I just, like, I have very specific things I have to do to start my day or I'm a total raging bitch.

What are they? Like, I have to meditate for 10 minutes. I like to read for like at least 10 minutes, but I don't have kids. So I don't. And is reading and meditating the same? Are they different? I mean, if I wake up a little bit early, like earlier than I'm supposed to, I'll read for, like, today I looked at my clock. I'm like, okay, I'm going to read for 10 minutes and then I meditated for 10 minutes.

Now, I know with kids, it's completely different. So I don't want to, like, be presumptuous. I have to wake up 30 minutes earlier and press snooze 20 more times. See, I would rather get my sleep, I think. Sleep would be, Jule always used to say when she was interviewed that her trainer used to tell her it, it's almost better for you to get that extra hour of sleep than go to the gym. I totally agree. Sleep is so important. It's the same with kids. Yeah, I can imagine when I have kids that I'm going to be. Yeah, it's hard. That's been my biggest subject lately. I'm reading this book called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. And I'm trying to get him on the show too. And it's all about like what the benefits of sleep are and actually why we do it. Because there hasn't been a ton of studies around sleep. And it's starting to find out that's one of the most important things we can do. It's crazy because you spend basically half your life sleeping, you know. They said a good sleeper, which is a gift. But honestly, for the kids, to your point, Michael.

It's so true. They're like sleeping helps their brain grow. It helps their body grow. Like to me it is, I never wake my kids up. The teenagers, I'm like 11 a.m. You're fine. Weight loss, everything. Because when you don't get enough sleep,

you have a hormone that extract that releases in your body that makes you feel like you're hungry when you're actually not. So next time when you're pounding around like you were this morning, I'm going to say, excuse me, you're disrupting my weight loss in my sleep. I fucked up the morning this morning. Yeah,

you did fuck up the morning. I don't, he wakes up at five in the morning. right now. So my boyfriend is the same. No, it's nuts. You know why? Because I get that, like, you know, people come into my office here at 9, 930. And so if I'm up at that time, I do all of my workouts, all of my reading, whatever I need to do, I have like four hours, four and a half hours before I even see anybody. And you know, what, you guys know, once a day starts, your inbox, your attention, like, you're just nonstop. You know what? You're fucked because when we have kids, I'm going

to be like, oh, dad's up. Like, dad, go handle it. Mom's going to get an extra three hours of sleep. I'll be up at seven, bye. I feel like I like I like have somebody to hang out with. Yeah, you do you. That's actually perfect you guys. You just found the like perfect contract for babies. Perfect. And you can also stay up late too.

Yeah. What is some content that you both consume? It could be a book, a podcast, a television show that you think helps you with business. I mean, I've been, I just started listening to podcasts. And for me, that's a great way to absorb. all the information and content because I can be doing, you know, other things for me to sit down with a book is so hard. I'll like be like, all right, I'm going to carve out the time.

I'm reading. And five minutes later, I'll be like, what did I read? So being able to listen is huge for me. What about like audiobooks? I, you know, I downloaded the app and I never really got into it. But I feel like I would love it. There's some authors that are starting to do combinations, a guy named David Goggins, who just wrote a book.

He's also a really, really good podcast guest, like really good if you search his name. but he just wrote a book and then he did an audio version of it in between each chapter. He does like a mini podcast episode and it's kind of an interesting take on the book. What's next for Kopari? What's the vision? Talk us through what's going to happen, what we can expect. Well, I think like I said, the giving back campaign is going to be huge this year and we're really excited to go out to the Philippines and like connect with all of those families that are going to move

into our houses that we've built. But then I think we're also, you know, coconut's so versatile. So we're really looking to tap into that versatility and go into other categories as well. Right now, we're skin and body and personal care, obviously, with our Dio and toothpaste, but we're really looking to expand that. I mean, we have a lot of new products coming out, which we're excited about. Can you share any of that are coming out? Yeah, we just soft launch our starry eye bomb.

So it's kind of an awakening coconut under eye bomb that helps to brighten and it has a light champagne shimmer to kind of illuminate, but, you know, really help with dark circles and puffiness and fine lines. So I'm super excited about that one. And we also have our coconut detox masks. So it's a blend of clays and pre and probiotics that really help with, you know, more problematic skin with inflammation and that sort of thing. But we have a lot. We kind of collected all these products and now we're pushing them out. So the starry eye bomb is major. It's so cute. I feel like this looks so good on the Instagram feed too. It is really, really cute. Yeah, this is really, really cute. And I think our goal is really to take over every corner of someone's bathroom and add a little ray of sunshine because it's

good for everything. Coconut is. You're in a bunch of my corners. Yeah. That's true. For my own, this is maybe, for my own information, where do you guys see the future of direct-to-consumer going, right? Because I think you're so close to it. You both deal in retail and direct-to-consumer. How do you think that's going to evolve or time you think it's going to be more? Amazon, all these, like It's hard because it's ever evolving. I mean, I feel like every day I wake up and, you know, we do a lot of online marketing and different things like that. And, you know, Facebook's constantly changing and the algorithms are constantly changing. But I think at this day and age, like people really want to experience.

And I think it's kind of you have to play in both sides. I totally agree. I think that direct-to-consumer went through this big, you know, popular phase in like everything. It's just correcting itself. and now we're kind of more in the middle place, which is usually where we all landed. It was like the dot-com, boom, you know. And now I think people are realizing Omni-Channel is the way to go.

I mean, you know, Facebook became the retailer almost, so you're paying your margins to them. Yeah, with the marketing fees and everything. Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, look, there's no, we were so excited about D to C because we're like, oh, my gosh, this is so simple at first, you know, but like everything it evolves. And I think you really just need to be where the consumer is, which is Omni Channel.

Would you recommend someone starts DDC or starts retail? I think there's a beauty in starting with DDC because you really can, you know, garner that relationship with your customer and you have all their data and you can really talk to them and see what they want and learn and evolve and, you know, grow and make mistakes and pick up and, you know, that sort of thing. So I think DDC, I mean, in my opinion, this day and age is the way to go. you can scale your business relatively quickly and, you know, do all that with that channel. Well, that's a beauty. If you do make a mistake with direct to consumer, it's your own and you can

kind of control what that. If you do that with a retailer, you're in a little bit more of a typical situation. And you can talk to the customer and, you know, like Michael says, we have a lot of millennials listening. If you could each leave them with a piece of advice, it could be business, personal, whatever, what would it be? I would say trust what you're doing today. All the dots will connect later in life. I think so. often when you're at that age and you're unsure, you're like, wait, this isn't my passion. I'm not sure what I'm doing. It's like soak it all in, learn, create your dreams, but understand that everything has a purpose.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely agree with what Gigi said. I think, you know, this day and age people are so pressured by society, by their parents, by college, by school. I mean, I came from like a total untraditional upbringing. But I think, yeah, it's finding what you're passionate about and just going out and doing it and don't be intimidated by which you don't know. I think when I started off and wanting to launch a business, I didn't, you know, I never really went to college and I was so intimidated by, you know, the business world.

But as I dove in and I learned, I was able to grow. I'm going to give advice on both of your behalf too because I've seen it and watched it, execution. You guys both are examples of people that have executed. I mean, constantly, you know, pumping out really amazing products. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing with our audience. Where can everyone find both of you and then Kopari? I'm at Gigi.g. Goldman on Instagram and then Kapari's at Kapari Beauty.

Kiana Cabell on Instagram. And we're going to do a giveaway, which we'll talk about after this break. So excited. We're going to do a giveaway. Thank you guys both for coming on. You guys, Kopari Beauty, check them out. Get the deodorant. I fucking love it.

I should thank Kopari for the deodorant. I've been on an everlasting search for Lauren to get some deodorant. So thank you. It's been like eight years. The best. Thank you guys. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, thank you guys.

If this episode brought you guys any value, please, please, please rate and review the podcast on iTunes. And, of course, little giveaway at the end of every episode. Tell us your favorite part of this episode on my latest Instagram at The Skinny Confidential, and you will be entered to win a TSC meal plan and a pop socket. All you have to do is tell us your favorite part of this episode. Thank you guys, as always, for all your support. We see all your DMs, your comments. It's really, really badass.

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