Building While Flying

Aly Wente is the VP of Marketing and Customer Experience at Wente Vineyards. Wente is the country's longest, continuously operated family-owned winery; Aly is the fifth generation of the Wente family to lead the business.

In this episode, Aly shares the history of Wente Vineyards, what drives their success, the respect the current team has for past generations, and how they build upon past generations' work to keep the brand thriving. She talks about balancing the retail and hospitality sides of the business, and how they pivoted to keep the brand top of mind for customers during the pandemic. Lastly, Aly discusses the "new wave of wine drinkers" and how Wente Vineyards can still fit into their lifestyles.

IN-FLIGHT TOPICS:

• History of the Wente family and business
• How Aly joined the family business
• Pandemic pivots and what will stick
• Dynamics of a multi-generational family business
• Balancing family and work
• Trends in the new wave of wine drinkers
• The future of Wente Vineyards
• …and more!

RELEVANT LINKS:

Wente website: https://wentevineyards.com/

Wente Insta: https://www.instagram.com/wente/?hl=en

Aly LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alywente/

Aly Insta: https://www.instagram.com/alywenteoneal/?hl=en

Jon Levy is a behavioral scientist who uses science to meaningfully connect brands and people. He works with Fortune 500 companies and startups to help them apply the latest research to their marketing and sales efforts, engagement, and culture. His book You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence debuted at #2 on the Wall Street Journal's best-seller list. The book guides readers through the art and science of developing meaningful connections, and demonstrates how to gain trust, develop influence, and build community.

In his conversation with Katie, Jon dives into building community and human connection, and what it means to have influence. He describes a phenomenon he calls "the IKEA Effect" and how that impacts our relationships. He shares the origin of his Influencer Dinner series, and what he's learned from hosting those events for over a decade. Through all of this, Jon says the biggest thing we can offer people these days is a sense of belonging.

If you've read and enjoyed You're Invited, check out Jon's first book The 2AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure.

In-flight topics:

• Why networking stinks
• Creating community and human connection
• Origin of the Influencer Dinner
• What it means to have influence
• Fostering community as a brand
• A peek into Jon's latest book
• ...and more!

Relevant Links:

Jon Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonLevyTLB

You're Invited book: https://www.jonlevytlb.com/you-re-invited

Jon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonlevytlb/?hl=en

TED Talk: https://www.jonlevytlb.com/ted

Wes Felix is CEO and co-founder of Saysh, a lifestyle brand that creates products by and for women. He's also the founder and managing partner of boutique sports management agency Evolve. He created and launched Saysh with his sister, Allyson Felix, the most decorated Olympic track and field athlete in the world—and who's faced many challenges of her own throughout her career.

In this episode of Building While Flying, Wes breaks down how he sees customers and community differently, how each is valuable to their business, and why their membership community is such a large pillar of Saysh. He also shares what it was like launching Saysh in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and why it was crucial for Allyson to run in her own brand's running spikes for her events. Throughout the conversation, Wes emphasizes the importance of understanding the challenges women experience, and making sure Saysh is a brand and community that helps all women feel seen and understood.

In-flight topics:

• How Saysh was started, and how they came up with the name
• Customers vs. community
• Balancing family and business
• Launching products in time for the Tokyo Olympics
• Importance of their membership community
• ...and more!

Relevant Links:

Wes LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesfelix/

Wes Insta: https://www.instagram.com/pwesley22/

Wes Twitter: https://twitter.com/wesfelix

Saysh Twitter: https://twitter.com/BySaysh

Saysh website: https://saysh.com/

Saysh Insta: https://www.instagram.com/bysaysh/

Scott Rogerson is the CEO of UpContent, a SaaS content curation platform built to help its users power up their content strategy and save time in their operations. UpContent spun out of Rogerson's former agency after it was created to solve internal problems. Now it helps hundreds of companies worldwide curate content, increase thought leadership, and build deeper trust with their customers.

In this week's episode of Building While Flying, Scott shares how UpContent was born, how it's evolved over time to meet customers' needs, and how he sees it continuing to grow in the future. At the heart of the conversation is the belief that content curation and creation can (and should) live together within a business's strategy; as he says, it's a "yes, and" situation, not "either or." Scott also stresses the importance of knowing your customers and their needs, and how UpContent continues to deliver solutions for teams of all sizes around the world.

In-flight topics:

• How UpContent was born
• Content curation vs. content creation
• Choosing the right business model
• How to use UpContent in your business
• How the COVID-19 pandemic affected their growth and offerings
• The importance of knowing your customers
• ...and more!

Relevant Links:

Website: https://www.upcontent.com/

UpContent Twitter: https://twitter.com/getupcontent

UpContent LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getupcontent/

Scott Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottarogerson

Scott LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottarogerson/

Anita Laney currently serves as President and CEO of Professional Partnering Solutions, a full-service supplier diversity consulting and technology firm, where she and her team also developed DataLou, a supplier diversity SaaS product and business. VaynerX's Chief Diversity Officer, Vanessa Vining, previously worked under Anita at a previous position. We were fortunate to hear from Anita at the VaynerX Diversity Summit on November 4.

This value-packed episode begins with Anita's career journey: from full-service travel agency, to supplier diversity in construction and utilities, to her first forays into advertising, to launching Professional Partnering Solutions and founding DataLou. She's honest about the challenges of transitioning to a new industry, learning how to teach others about her roles and supplier diversity, and scaling a fast-growing company. Lastly, she looks toward the future and offers advice for solving supplier diversity for the next generations.

In-flight topics:

• What is supplier diversity?
• Career changes in a new industry
• Challenges of scaling a fast-growing company
• Keeping up with industry changes and trends
• Anita's "in-flight checklist"
• ...and more!

Relevant Links:

Anita LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-laney-8a76699/

Anita Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnitaLaney_PPS

PPS website: https://professionalps.com/

PPS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/professional-partnering-solutions-inc-/

PPS Twitter: https://twitter.com/PPSCreativeSupp

Michelle Wiles is the Head of Brand at Son of a Tailor, a DTC "clothing tech" company that delivers made-to-order men's clothing at scale. Their garments are custom fits to provide the best wearing experience, and reduce waste in their production process. Michelle joined Son of a Tailor after starting her career at Proctor & Gamble, VaynerMedia, and MBA school. As Head of Brand, Michelle leads the charge of infusing brand ethos at all levels of the company.

In this episode, Michelle and host Katie dive into sustainability in the fashion industry and maintaining a strong brand—and how both of those impact a brand's marketing. Michelle describes how Son of a Tailor's unique ordering system and algorithm allows them to keep production waste low and customer loyalty high. She stresses the importance of transparency in brand, especially when you're trying to be sustainable: if you're going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk.

Tune in to the episode to hear more from Michelle about sustainability, fashion, ecommerce and supply chain challenges, the future of Son of a Tailor, and more!

In-flight topics:

• Sustainability in the fashion industry
• Son of a Tailor's unique ordering system
• Importance of a strong brand in marketing
• Driving customer loyalty
• Navigating ecommerce challenges
• What's next for Son of a Tailor
• ...and more!

Relevant Links:

Website: https://www.sonofatailor.com/

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/sonofatailor/?hl=en

Michelle's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/michellewiles_/?hl=en

Maryam Banikarim currently serves as the CMO of Nextdoor, the popular hyperlocal neighborhood and community app. She's no stranger to finding her own communities; as her family moved around the world, she found purpose in stepping in and being useful wherever her family lived. These experiences serve her well as she leads marketing at Nextdoor and keeps the brand's purpose at the helm of their efforts.

In this episode of Building While Flying, Maryam talks with Katie about the importance of purpose for brands—a popular topic on our podcast! Maryam says, "Purpose was never just about marketing. It's about the north star of an organization and its business strategy." She dives deep into what community means to her and Nextdoor, how Nextdoor helps cultivate community for its users every day, and how Nextdoor served as a crucial resource during the hardest times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In-flight topics:

• Finding and cultivating community
• Why purpose matters for brands
• How the pandemic changed the way people use Nextdoor
• How small businesses can successfully leverage Nextdoor
• ...and more!

Relevant Links:

Nextdoor website: https://nextdoor.com/

Nextdoor Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nextdoor

Nextdoor Insta: https://www.instagram.com/Nextdoor/?hl=en

Maryam Twitter: https://twitter.com/maryamb

Maryam Insta: https://www.instagram.com/mbanikarim/?hl=en

Maryam LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryam-banikarim-737671/

Giovanni Vaccaro left his family's restaurant business at age 18 and went straight to cosmetology school. He says he was the worst beauty student they'd ever seen. After years of learning and hard work, Gio became one of the most well-known and respected beauty professionals in New York. He then parlayed his expertise with his passion for innovation by co-founding the mobile beauty app Glamsquad. For 8 years, this disruptive beauty brand has allowed their clients to get ready in the comfort of their own home with top Glamsquad artists, helping them look and feel their best.

In this week's episode of Building While Flying, Gio shares how Glamsquad was born and the challenges he's faced while building and scaling the business. He shares the most important aspect of his business, discusses the qualities he looks for when hiring new team members, lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the importance of maintaining brand values. Throughout the conversation, he offers some advice for aspiring business owners—some of which might surprise you!

Other in-flight topics:

• How Glamsquad was born
• Scaling the business
• Building a memorable brand experience
• Hiring the right people
• Maintaining brand values
• Challenges while building and scaling Glamsquad
• ...and more!

Relevant Links:

Glamsquad website: https://www.glamsquad.com/

Glamsquad IG: https://www.instagram.com/glamsquad/

Gio IG: https://www.instagram.com/giovannivaccaro/

Hal Andrews is a lawyer turned entrepreneurial healthcare executive. He's currently the CEO of Trilliant Health, an analytics and data science company that provides market analytics, predictive analytics and market research for healthcare providers. It's the fifth healthcare startup for which he's served as CEO.

On this week's episode, Hal joins Mickey to talk through each step of his career, and how his experience as a lawyer helped prepare him to lead healthcare startups as CEO. He shares a surprising move his team made amidst the early days of the pandemic, and how it helped them help their customers better. Hal also shares his first steps when he joins a new startup and emphasizes the importance of pattern recognition in business. Lastly, Hal discusses company culture, and how his "daily updates" provide direction and grounding for himself and his team.

In-flight topics:

• Trilliant Health's services (1:00 - 2:18)
• Challenges and pivots during the pandemic (5:30 - 8:40)
• Tech services for healthcare vs. typical consumer tech (8:45 - 10:40)
• Applying attorney experience to startups (11:05 - 15:12)
• Company culture and the Daily Update (16:00 - 20:25)
• Hal's in-flight checklist (20:45 - 23:15)

Relevant Links:

Trilliant website: https://www.trillianthealth.com/

Trilliant LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trillianthealth/

Victoria Garrick is not only an accomplished collegiate athlete. She's a speaker, TED Talk host, nonprofit founder, and mental health advocate who shares her story and message of support to millions. After struggling with her own depression and mental health in college, she gave her now famous TED Talk, "The Hidden Opponent," in 2017, which explored mental health challenges for student athletes. Now her nonprofit The Hidden Opponent aims to raise awareness for mental health issues in teens and student athletes and provide support and resources.

Victoria joins Katie in our latest episode of Building While Flying to share more about her journey: from USC to the TED Talk stage to nonprofit founder. She's open about her own struggles, not just with mental health, but with branding for her personal content versus nonprofit content, running a nonprofit, and dealing with burnout. She discusses the importance of a supportive community, vulnerability, listening to your gut, and growing the conversation around mental health for everyone—athletes and non-athletes alike.

In-flight topics:

• The TED Talk that started it all
• Real realness and vulnerability
• The current conversation around mental health
• Nonprofit branding vs. personal branding
• Building community around shared experiences
• Dealing with burnout
• ...and more!

Relevant Links:

TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdk7pLpbIls

The Hidden Opponent website: https://thehiddenopponent.com/

Hidden Opponent IG: https://www.instagram.com/thehiddenopponent/

Victoria LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-garrick-546459123/