Today on The Negotiation, we speak with fashion designer and entrepreneur Bruno Schiavi. With a background in the retail industry spanning 25 years, he has launched many brands internationally with some of the biggest companies and names in the world. His latest brand is Uncle Bud’s Hemp and CBD, which focuses on topicals that cover everything from pain relief to anti-aging to bath and body. Uncle Bud’s products are exclusively manufactured in the U.S. and are sold in over 15,000 stories locally. As of today, Uncle Bud’s is available in Australia and is about to launch in China in partnership with Tmall and Alibaba.

Bruno decided to expand into China knowing that the Chinese love exploring new brands and are always curious when it comes to new ingredients. Hemp and CBD are, in fact, still novelty ingredients in the Chinese market and the industry itself is seen as the fastest-growing category in the world today (projected to be at $25 billion globally by the end of 2025). For these reasons and more, Bruno believes that the various challenges in doing business in China are worth overcoming.

Listen in as Bruno shares the key differences between Chinese consumers and their American and European counterparts, how to find the right brand ambassadors for your product, and tips for building a local team in China when you are based overseas.