The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - 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's 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 enter 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 along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to theidential, him and her. Finding what you're passionate about and just going out and doing it and don't be intimidated by what 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 gonna come in here and see what the hell's going on look it looks like somebody went to the bathroom all over the floor now it looks like you took a show it's honestly not even that noticeable it's a giant something down no but 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 right though we actually literally just got the carpets cleaned two days ago and i remember i came in and i looked and 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 i now have to bring back in welcome back everybody another messy episode this is gonna go where are we gonna go here with this intro today 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. What is the Ivy Lee?

I've never been described as ivy league for sure never no you haven't okay tell me what tell me what you think you're looking it up tell me what you think this is and tell 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 you didn't know you did it. I'm just kidding. Tell me. Tell me. Okay. So do you tell what it is? Basically Charles Schwab heard of him. Okay. Yes. Michael, why don't you give a little background on Charles? We don't need to go into a history lesson about Mr. Schwab, but let's jump into

this method. 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. And 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 screenshotted 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 of like, what is the method? It's like a movie trailer. Like tell us what's happening here. I feel like there's like a killer gonna 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 gonna do a blog post on it so at the end of each work day you write down the six most important

things you need to accomplish tomorrow and you don't write down more than six tasks i gotta tell you i write down seven of course i've always been to tell you, I write down seven. Of course. I've always been a fucking rebel. 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, itch your wife's back, buy your wife diamonds.

You would prioritize what those things are. So like diamonds would be first. 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 bostick 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, 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 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.

The things that will move the needle. Yeah. Like there's a lot of things that you could get done that will make other things unnecessary or complete. Right. So to elaborate on, there's like that 80-20 world. It's like 20% of the work, it's 80%, 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. Where do you write the list? 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. He has this. We need to link the journal that you use. It's this leather bound journal. It's just a Moleskine. You, but you use the same journal since I've known you. Well, because I, you know, I tried for a while, like my partner, Weston, he uses the one with the 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. Yeah, 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 the 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 Pomodoro 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 haven't. I've talked about him a long time ago on the show. And I think I actually did a blog post on your skinny confidential post. Maybe you can 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 time cube works so well. Yes. You can't go on email and load. A lot of people do.

That's really fucked up. I'm sorry, guys. Like 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 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, Kobari 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. Okay. 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 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, grapeseed 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 6 a.m. 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 mint tea. This is the Skinny Confidential, him and her. All right.

I feel since we have two people on, this is kind of a roundtable, 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 blog or 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 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 on myself by myself. And it was funny. I like didn't tell anybody about the idea because 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. And it's just a funny thing. Yeah. Cause 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 Suja, 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 Suja'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. I'll take a look. And I never, you know, followed through and send 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 story. 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 hardly use beauty products. But coconut oil was my solve for everything. I put it on my skin from head to toe hair like Kiana, 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 dry skin, put coconut oil in it like it was my solve 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, you know, components was bring in the surf Southern California lifestyle. And that really mirrored a lot of Kiana's background too. So we 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, 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 Kian 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? Cause you work with four CEOs, right? Is it four or three? There's one CEO, 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 since he was like 12 years old. 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 is like, we all really complement each other. And you know,

our strengths are, 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 GD to helps with a lot with the retail side of things. And Bryce and James, we haven't mentioned is also, you know, really on the business side. They do a lot of, you lot of focus on the fundraising. And I think what's great, too, is 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. happened over the past three years is we've 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. 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 there may be 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 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, who should not be? How did you guys kind of navigate that in the beginning?

Cause 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 compliments you. And, you know, you have the, 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 complement 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 and 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. One of my most exciting times is when we'd put our Thrive Market order in because I get all my apple cider vinegars, my turmeric, my beef jerkies that I love. They have a little bit of everything there for everybody. 25% to 50% 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, 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 the 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. We 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 thrivemarket.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've been talking about this for long enough now, guys. Get 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 Kopari? an Instagram at that time. But we really realized that was the wave of the future. So we utilize not only, you know, 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 from a different place. And we kind of met in the middle. And initially, you know, her husband and 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, you know, besides James, this is our first brand we've ever built. And we've just kind of dove in, learned 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 like which products to start with and how to launch? What were the biggest hurdles? I mean, it's, 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 problems she's looking to solve. Yeah. In this day and age, I mean, I think that's just the way to go about it is 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-it-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, 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, someone can launch a product and have it online tomorrow, right? Totally. 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 create brand and packaging, but you have to get it out there quick and get the feedback because if 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 Kian 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, you know, 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, you know, 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 content out that we can repurpose because a lot of the content that is out there, it's 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 exactly 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 gonna use a black wall with the flash and be a little bit more I don't know edg edgier for you guys. It's always like, I want to do a white marble bathroom, everything very clean shot in 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 that's just like, Hey, that was a disaster of content that just didn't go well. Like something you didn't anticipate or something that just is not the right fit. Like, what do you see those, those issues being? I think for me, it's really about authenticity and that just is not the right fit? Like, what do you see those, 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 deals, 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 toothpastes. 8,000 million.

8,000 million. 8,000 million. There are to make up many products. No, but like when you use this, there's 20 different toothpastes 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 Instagrammy 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 Kiana 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 it just to continue selling? Is there like a mission behind it or is that not a thought? You're 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, you know, 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, Kiana, 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. No, get him on that trip.

James, get out there. Bring some cereals 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. We're going to be building 20 houses. It's going to be called Kapari Village for the people who work on the plantation where our coconuts are sourced who lost their homes in 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 contribution, 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. So 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 tips. Well, because I talked to so many at this point.

Listen, I've talked to so many beauty and skin experts. He's fully moisturized. I've lately, just for Christmas, I got an infrared sauna so i'm obsessed with that um i go in it and wait hold on this can go in your house yes wait in your house i have to you don't need much space i'm gonna go on a tangent here because i need to know about this because i was thinking like how do i we you know we were talking about we just moved up to la

yeah and i love those infrared saunas no it, 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. But how big is this? I think it's fits two, you know, it's about as big as your house. I'm going to have to talk to you about this after and get, 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 to an hour, but I've started podcasts listening and I think it's really great. Yeah. 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 body because I have hyperpigmentation. Even better. We get a little bit more alone time. No, I mean, 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. And 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 want it, you know, the whole deal. If anyone from Sunlighten is listening, send me a sauna. Call him, please. Shameless. Send me a sauna. 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 pina colada. And you guys make these? Yeah, we make them. But that's not why i'm saying this by the way um 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 so meditative it 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 gotta 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 gotta go I think you're supposed to oil pull with tongue scraping right isn't that what we heard when we did that Ayur like mouth out, but I never get sick. And I attribute that partly to that one to my teeth feel 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 on a tangent is it true that it can

pull out cavities that I don't know I don't know if I have any but it does help draw out all the toxins you mean pull out filling pull out the filling oh excuse me not cavities fillings I have fillings I've never had any issues okay yeah then I'm gonna start ask your dentist first I have two fillings so i'm gonna i'm gonna no i have a few and i've never

and it's never what though lauren that could be a good thing for people that have those old like silver fillings you get the new white ones get those things pulled out what i'm saying for anyone that does might want to oil pull get them out you said you don't meditate but that is actually a meditation i think being in the shower oil 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 a nightlight that I plug in. And I feel like 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. I love it.

Okay, wait. Tell me about your routines because they're clearly more interesting than mine. 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 have very specific things I have to do to start my day or I'm a total raging bitch. What are they?

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. Is reading and meditating the same or 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 presum to yeah like i have to wake up 30 minutes earlier and press snooze 20 i would rather get my sleep i think yeah sleep would

be jewel always used to say um when she was interviewed that her trainer used to tell her it's almost better for you to get that extra hour of sleep than go to the gym i totally sleep is so important it's the same with kids. Yeah. I can, 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. Cause 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 time when you're pounding around like you were this morning i'm gonna say i'm gonna 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 this morning i i don't he wakes up at five in the morning right now so uh my boyfriend is the same. No, it's nuts. You know why?

Because I get that, like, you know, people will come into my office here at nine, nine 30. And so if I'm up at that time, I do all of my workouts, all of my reading,

all my, 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 it's 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 that kind of because I have somebody to hang out with.

Yeah, you do you. That's actually perfect, you guys. You just found the perfect contract for babies. And you can also stay up late, too. What is some content that you both consume? It could be a book, a podcast, um, 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 audio books? I, you know, I downloaded the app and I never really got into it. Um, 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. And 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 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, yeah, we have a lot of new products coming out, which we're excited about. Can you share any that are coming out? Yeah, we just soft launch our starry eye balm. So it's kind of an awakening coconut under eye balm 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 um and we also have our coconut detox mask 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 balm is major it's so cute i feel like this looks so good on the instagram feed it is 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 see in your in you both deal in retail and direct to consumer how do you think that's going to evolve every time you think it's going to be more amazon all, all these platforms? It's hard because it's ever-evolving. I mean, I feel like every day I wake up and we do a lot of online marketing and different things like that, and Facebook's constantly changing, and the algorithms are constantly changing. But I think at this day and age, 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 and 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 omninichannel 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 D2C 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. And I think 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 is. If you do that with a retailer, you're in a little bit more of a difficult 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 this day and age, people are so pressured by society, by their parents, by college,

by school. I mean, I came from 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 what you don't know. I think when I started off and wanting to launch a business, I never really went to college. And I was so intimidated by the business world. But as I dove in and I learned, 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. So 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 product. 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 gg.goldman on instagram and then kopari's at kopari beauty yeah kiana cabelle um on instagram and we're gonna do a

giveaway which we'll talk about after this break so excited we're gonna 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. 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. And with that, we'll see you on Friday. This episode was 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

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