Honest Ecommerce

Lynn Power spent much of her 30 year career running and transforming agency brands. 

Lynn has expertise in transforming organizations from top to bottom – including capabilities, organizational structure, talent and culture. 

She recently left the big agency world to launch two brands: MASAMI, a premium clean hair care brand which launched in February 2020 and Isle de Nature, bee-powered home fragrance which launched in September 2020. 

Prior to her entrepreneurial move, Lynn was CEO of J. Walter Thompson NY, responsible for the flagship office of WPP’s $1.5B iconic agency (the oldest advertising agency in the world). 

Throughout her career, Lynn has had the great fortune of working on some of the world’s most well-known brands including: LISTERINE, American Express, Clinique, Hershey’s, Pizza Hut and Wild Turkey. 

Lynn believes that business success relies on building a team that respects and nurtures ideas as well as the people who create them. 

She believes in moving at the speed of culture, eliminating barriers and helping women find their voices.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [00:53] MASAMI and Isle De Nature
• [01:56] Lynn’s cool history in Ecommerce
• [03:49] How Lynn justifies having no degree
• [04:32] Agency background = brand success?
• [07:24] The boring side of the business is crucial
• [08:04] Will the go-to-market strat years ago work today?
• [10:27] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [11:23] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [12:38] Tactics that weren’t worth the hassle
• [13:47] Facebook is a difficult and expensive route
• [14:50] Advertising is like gasoline
• [16:18] Pros and cons of naivete in business
• [17:25] There are not tricks or silver bullets
• [18:01] The fun in business is figuring stuff out
• [19:30] Consumer impatience is a big factor
• [19:59] Black Friday and beyond for Lynn’s brands
• [22:07] Where the Conscious Beauty Collective came from
• [24:45] Connect with Lynn if you have further question

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Premium hair care line designed for superior hydration, texture, and shine lovemasami.com
• Bee-powered home fragrance with the belief that nature is luxury isledenature.com
• Connect with Lynn linkedin.com/in/lynn-power-02b8904
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Alvania A. Lopez, Founder / CEO Alvania always had a love (and talent) for arts and crafts, creating greeting cards and candy jewelry, through childhood. 

She delighted in the joys of gift-giving, and still does! Celebrating diversity and building strong relationships is her personal mantra. 

Alvania’s mission is to make the art of gifting, convenient, exclusive, and almost effortless.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [00:56] What are Peachbox Co’s products?
• [01:29] Where the idea of Peachbox Co came from
• [02:19] Validating if an idea is worth taking the time
• [03:47] Getting the first batch of customers
• [06:15] The problems that Peachbox Co is trying to solve
• [06:53] Using tech to make processes easier for customers
• [08:17] The Shopify ecosystem’s advantages for Peachbox
• [09:19] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [10:16] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [11:31] Peachbox’s customer targeting strategy
• [13:05] Resources should not be a barrier to success
• [13:57] Where to find Peachbox Co

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Send gift boxes for any occasion peachboxco.com
• Connect with Alvania linkedin.com/in/alvania-a-lopez-86064946
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Ilana Davis is a Shopify Superhero who works with e-commerce shops to remove friction from the buying process. She’s the owner of JSON-LD for SEO, a Shopify app that gets you more organic traffic through Rich Results.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:59] Pros and cons of consulting vs app development
• [03:26] Using structured data to produce rich results
• [04:25] Themes have structured data but are incomplete
• [05:30] Is JSON-LD updated with Google’s algorithms?
• [06:18] The full process of structured data
• [07:41] Structured data is like a cheat sheet
• [08:50] Does structured data affect Merchant Center?
• [10:25] Google search enhancements to benefit from JSON-LD
• [11:15] Rich results vs featured snippets
• [12:40] Does your Shopify store need to be technical?
• [14:07] Similar apps but not as updated
• [15:03] Connect with Ilana if you have questions
• [16:05] Where to find more info about the topic & JSON-LD

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Connect with Ilana [email protected]
• Learn more about rich results and structured data ilanadavis.com/blogs/articles
• Safely & effectively earn qualified traffic to boost conversions jsonld.app

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Tim Swindle is an entrepreneur and investor, helping build and exit multiple companies. 

As an early investor and employee at PointDrive, a Chicago-based sales software company, he had roles leading sales, marketing, and operations before the company was acquired in 2016 by LinkedIn. 

During this time, Tim created Utter Nonsense, an entertaining card game that was quickly carried by several retailers and ultimately within all 1,800 Target stores. Utter Nonsense was acquired in 2017 by private equity backed PlayMonster. 

In 2018 Tim co- founded Playtacular, a boutique publishing company that designs and creates innovative toys and games. 

In addition to this, Tim is a Managing Member of Hubbard Street Capital, an early stage venture investing firm. Tim lives in Nashville, with his wife, daughter and very good boy, Tucker. 

Scott Brown is the co-founder of Marbles: The Brain Store, a retail concept focused on building better brains through play, which eventually grew to 40 stores, a website, a catalog business and a proprietary product division. 

While there, he headed the curation of all store products and formed Marbles: Brain Workshop, overseeing the creation of more than 150 proprietary products. In early 2017 the Marbles brand was acquired by Spin Master. 

For the past three years, Scott has served as VP of Creative over Games at Spin Master, helping bring dozens more games to market. 

Beginning in January 2020, Scott will be leaving Spin Master to form an independent game publishing studio. Scott lives in Utah along with his wife and four daughters.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:03] What is PaddleSmash?
• [02:23] How Tim got started in the game space
• [04:05] How Scott and Tim met and formed PaddleSmash
• [06:50] Where the idea of PaddleSmash came from
• [08:08] How to come up with ideas or be inspired
• [10:29] Look for opportunities, make it unique
• [11:53] Sponsor: Electric Eye https://electriceye.io/connect
• [12:49] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO https://jsonld.app
• [14:14] Joe Bingham’s backstory
• [15:47] 2 routes you can go in the toys and games space
• [17:13] What royalty contracts look like?
• [18:47] The upsides and downsides to licensing your idea
• [21:33] What happened after licensing PaddleSmash?
• [24:47] PaddleSmash is on the testing and learning phase
• [25:56] The inherent virality to outdoor games
• [28:29] Increasing the surface area of luck
• [29:11] Picking an audience from a hybrid
• [30:13] Where to find PaddleSmash products?
• [30:54] Sell the products that you love
• [32:05] Get feedback and just jump in with your product

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• A new outdoor game that combines the best elements of Pickleball and Spikeball into a fun, and easy-to-learn game paddlesmash.com
• Connect with Tim linkedin.com/in/timswindle
• Connect with linkedin.com/in/thescottbrown
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

After working in finance at Goldman Sachs and sharpening her operational skills at consumer technology start-up FanVision, Jennifer Ross co-founded Swoon, where she oversees product development, operations, and finance. 

A longtime advocate for the advancement of diabetes research and a supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), in high school, she founded and organized Rock the Cure, a concert to benefit JDRF, which raised over $200,000. 

Swoon, a zero sugar take on nostalgic beverages like lemonade and iced tea, is her latest way to make an impact. Swoon is now sold nationally and is on track to take one billion grams of sugar out of the supply chain.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:04] Products that Swoon offer
• [01:18] What Swoon uses to replace sugar
• [01:50] Monk fruit vs other sweetener alternatives
• [02:21] Where did the idea of Swoon come from?
• [03:36] From idea to product sample
• [06:10] Pivot to an “accidental” adjacent product
• [06:34] Go-to-market strategy in the middle of the COVID
• [07:23] How to stand out in a competitive market
• [08:17] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [09:14] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [10:28] How Swoon strategizes to become a national brand
• [11:54] Buying on the online store, checking out on Amazon
• [13:46] Pairing marketing with distribution
• [15:28] PR, in-store marketing, and paid advertising
• [16:07] Where to find Swoon’s teas and lemonades

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Zero sugar drinks for happier & healthier hydration tasteswoon.com
• Connect with Jennifer linkedin.com/in/jenniferfross
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

The foundation of OWL Venice is founder, Lindsey Erin’s, personal journey to health. When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, Lindsey committed to living a healthier lifestyle. 

It was this event that began her research on wellness, nutrition, and intuitive eating, and would eventually lead to the creation of OWL Venice.

Initially, Lindsey began experimenting with an organic, plant-based diet that limited meat and processed foods, and found that she was still experiencing constant allergy symptoms, digestive issues, and acne. 

In an attempt to resolve these issues, Lindsey began a diet geared to treat GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) which incorporated bone broth as a healing agent. 

After struggling to find pre-made broth that was void of common allergens, Lindsey began making her own bone broth with locally-sourced bones and an array of herbs and veggies. 

Through months of testing and development, she created a broth recipe that tasted more like a tea than a traditional stock, OWL’s signature flagship product. 

OWL currently offers chicken, turkey, beef, bison, and vegan mineral Broth Elixirs that are sold throughout LA county, a 4, 6, and 8 day Reset cleanse program to heal and seal the gut, and an organic, oil-based skincare line. 

OWL also offers health coaching services with flexible sessions to fit your schedule and budget. 

As more people discover the benefits of using OWL products, Lindsey & the OWL family will continue innovating, exploring, and sharing new ways to live better with those looking to transform their health and overall wellness. 

Along with OWL’s mission to heal the body, OWL is also committed to healing the environment. 

This is why they maintain a minimal waste policy that requires the mylkshakes are made-to-order and the broths are pressure canned. 

All of OWL’s goods are packaged in glass, which is not only 100% recyclable, it is free of chemicals that could negatively impact the flavor and aroma of their products.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:22] What products does OWL Venice offer?
• [01:43] Where the idea of OWL Venice came from
• [02:22] From solving a personal need to a market idea
• [03:26] Her personal solution becoming a full-time job
• [03:51] Shifting to a traditional direct-to-consumer model
• [04:42] Lindsey’s initial growth strategy
• [06:47] Creating a jump-off point for new customers
• [08:08] Mistakes are learning opportunities
• [09:59] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [10:56] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [12:10] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [13:31] OWL Venice’s current marketing strategy
• [16:06] Where to find OWL Venice’s Bone Elixirs?

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Organic Bone Broth & Cleanses owlvenice.com
• Connect with Lindsey linkedin.com/in/lindseyerinwilson
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Along with his 3 best friends and co-founders, they left the financial industry to pursue a problem they all had: terrible underwear. From underwear, socks, t-shirts and soap their mission is to provide men with quality essentials men need, without the BS they don't.

Anthony Ciavirella is the co-founder at Manmade, the most comfortable boxer brief ever.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:08] Why Anthony decide to create a boxers company
• [02:37] How the co-founders decided on a business idea
• [06:03] From idea to a product in 10 months
• [09:37] Manmade’s go-to-market strategy
• [12:33] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [13:29] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [14:44] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [15:47] Mistakes Anthony wants you to avoid
• [17:47] Overcoming that fear of failure
• [19:29] Launching a brand bootstrapped
• [21:39] Anthony’s framework for manifesting goals
• [23:27] Where to find Manmade boxers

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• The boxer brief that delivers more crotch area comfort manmadebrand.com
• Connect with Anthony linkedin.com/in/anthony-ciavirella-a6621835
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Xebec is a laptop accessories brand for the mobile workplace, focused on empowering people to let their life dictate their work as opposed to the other way around. 

After developing the Xebec Tri-Screen, the original triple-screen laptop attachment, the brand launched the Xebec Airstand along with the Xebec Keyboard and Mouse. 

Paired with the newly refined Tri-Screen 2, these products allow anyone to take their office with them and increase their productivity on the go. 

Alex Levine (CEO) & Trevor Russo (COO) founded Xebec with aspirations to change the way we think about the modern workplace. 

As life-long friends who both worked as traveling consultants, they recognized the need for a solution to remain productive on the road.

After both graduated from the University of Texas, Alex worked as a Digital Technology Consultant at Accenture and a Technical Product Manager at Komply, while Trevor worked as a Risk & Compliance Consultant at Protiviti and a Strategy & Operations Consultant at Deloitte.

They then joined back up in their hometown of Austin, TX in 2019 to launch Xebec and enable everyone to experience the freedom of the modern, mobile workplace.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:07] What are Xebec’s products?
• [01:43] The “genesis” of Xebec
• [03:37] From the idea of Xebec to prototype
• [04:43] Trevor remembering the first Xebec prototype
• [05:42] From prototyping to releasing the final product
• [08:01] Xebec’s slow but certain growth amidst COVID
• [09:56] How Xebec used paid ads for growth
• [11:58] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [12:55] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [14:09] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [15:13] Logistics challenges during COVID
• [16:42] Migrating from Wix to Shopify
• [18:25] Don’t get caught up with the what ifs
• [21:12] Balancing different co-founder ideologies
• [23:14] Continued evolution of Xebec’s story
• [25:02] Where to find Xebec products

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• The Xebec Tri-Screen is a laptop attachment that adds two additional screens to any laptop, instantly boosting your productivity by over 50% thexebec.com
• Connect with Alex linkedin.com/in/alex-levine-b479b163
• Connect with Trevor linkedin.com/in/trevorlrusso
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Josh Rome is the Founder and CEO of Runway Health, the first direct-to-consumer telehealth company building a brand around travel health. 

With a career spanning technology, pharma and travel, Josh is uniquely positioned to build a transformative company at the intersection of these industries. 

Josh started his career at Adobe, helping publishers digitize their traditional print publication workflows through the launch of Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite. 

He then joined Patagonia Pharmaceuticals, a start-up specialty pharmaceutical company developing innovative prescription therapies for rare dermatologic diseases. 

Josh led business development efforts to secure an international licensing deal valued at over $100MM, a $1.5MM FDA grant, and ultimately the divestiture of Patagonia’s lead assets to a public dermatology company in 2019. 

With an opportunity to better align his career with his passion for travel, Josh then launched CitySpeak, a daily travel based newsletter turned boutique travel agency. 

Through this experience, Josh identified the gap between travelers' needs and the current marketplace, which ultimately resulted in the genesis of Runway. 

Josh is an avid traveler and adventurer, having ventured to over 60 countries, circumnavigating the globe on Semester at Sea, and climbing mountains such as Kilimanjaro and Toubkal.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:09] What products does Runway offer?
• [01:41] How Josh realized the opportunity for Runway
• [04:09] The “real genesis” of Runway
• [05:55] Pioneers bear so much risk
• [07:15] Choosing partnerships over self-production
• [08:07] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [09:03] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [10:18] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [11:21] Runway’s go-to-market strategy
• [13:43] How Runway compensates their partner network
• [15:52] Partners can value things other than money
• [17:17] Experiment and don’t be afraid to fail
• [18:01] The benefits of being first to market
• [19:35] Coming up with your own relevant KPIs
• [20:29] Where to find Runway products

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Affordable, convenient travel health medications for motion sickness, sleeplessness, altitude sickness, malaria prevention and traveler's diarrhea runwayhealth.com
• Connect with Josh linkedin.com/in/joshuarome
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Rahul Khatri is the CXO and Co-Founder of Stoggles where he leads brand growth and the end-to-end management of all their social marketing efforts as well as managing their in-house Customer Happiness team. 

Together with his co-founder Max Greenberg, the pair are building Stoggles into a globally recognized and trusted brand that offers a product unlike any other in the marketplace today. 

Prior to Stoggles, Rahul was Creative Director and Partner at ROAV Inc., a DTC sunglasses company.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:05] What are Stoggle’s products
• [02:26] Why Rahul started on Eyewear
• [05:28] Stoggles was a marketing play for ROAV
• [06:43] Crowdfunding as a go-to-market strategy
• [08:26] Niching down to a more specialized product
• [11:06] The realization of customizable safety wear
• [12:17] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [13:14] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [14:29] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [15:32] Shifting the focus from ROAV to Stoggles
• [18:24] Niches are where the money is
• [20:44] Having a “test-and-learn” mindset
• [22:01] The new types of customers for Stoggles 
• [23:28] Bringing people together to the Ecom community
• [24:11] Connections gives a greater brand impact
• [24:56] Where to find Stoggles

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Prescription safety glasses that do everything for people who do everything stoggles.com
• Connect with Rahul linkedin.com/in/rahul-khatri-080a84b0
• Take the first step towards Shopify success electriceye.io/connect
• Get your free structured data audit for your store jsonld.app
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!