Honest Ecommerce

Margaret Wishingrad is the Co-Founder and CEO of Three Wishes, a healthy-while-delicious cereal. 

Before founding Three Wishes, Margaret was Chief of Staff at BigEyedWish, an ad-agency based in New York. 

While at the agency, Margaret worked with Fortune 100 to seed-round startup businesses. 

She and her Husband and Co-Founder welcomed their first son, Ellis, in 2017 inspiring Three Wishes' genesis. 

While feeding Ellis, Margaret realized the white space in the market for a cereal she wanted to feed him nutritionally, but also enjoyed eating herself. 

Margaret has grown Three Wishes from conception to a national brand, with retailers including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Erewhon, and many more in addition to a strong DTC arm.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:00] What are the products of Three Wishes?
• [03:21] From an agency to a brand
• [04:32] The services of Margaret’s agency
• [05:20] Translating client knowledge into your own brand
• [06:35] The inherent advantage of working at agencies
• [07:04] The R&D Process of Three Wishes
• [09:41] Go-to-market strat: Going into retail
• [10:30] Challenges and lessons of the retail channel
• [12:36] How Three Wishes’ D2C channel came about
• [14:39] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [15:36] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [16:50] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [17:53] Three Wishes’ drive thru taste test story
• [20:17] Releasing a new flavor in the midst of the pandemic
• [21:50] The little things that move the needle
• [22:36] Be nimble and be ready to pivot
• [24:13] Problems are a normal part of a business
• [25:15] Where to find Three Wishes

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• High-protein, low-sugar, grain-free breakfast cereal, that tastes like the cereals of your childhood, made with modern day clean ingredients threewishescereal.com
• Connect with Margaret linkedin.com/in/margaretwishingrad/
• 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!

Seeking an alternative from her previous adoption to coffee culture as a means to get through ambitious goals and to-do lists, over consumption and lack of focus on general wellbeing left Sheena Brady with various challenges including anxiety, digestion troubles, and insomnia. 

Along her ambitious career journey in hospitality, Sheena was tasked with building Toronto’s largest tea program at the renowned Shangri-La hotel. 

Plot twist: She didn’t even drink tea at the time. It was then she decided to become a certified Tea Sommelier, to better understand the world of tea and botanical ingredients. 

What she did not expect was to fall completely in love with this world, and learn how each botanical ingredient could actually be a puzzle piece into leading and living a more balanced life holistically. 

It wasn’t long before most of Sheena’s challenges were supported through tea, which became the catalyst behind launching Tease. 

Tease believes wellness rituals shouldn’t be complicated. Formulated by a Tea Sommelier & Herbalist, Tease creates all-natural, tea and botanical based tea blends and beauty staples to support your everyday rituals without compromising convenience, sustainability & impact. 

This includes having recently launched the world's first fully biodegradable and refillable wellness tea collection. 

Since the launch of this collection along with its diversification of tea infused beauty products, Tease has partnered with over 200 new retailers in the past year. 

In 2019, Tease amplified its social impact mission of investing in women, to create more equity amongst diverse women founders. 

Through their Founders Fund program, Tease has contributed & raised over $200,000 in small business micro-grants and mentorship programming to over 500 women and non-binary entrepreneurs, largely throughout the pandemic. 

Tease is proud to be a certified benefit corporation, meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental impact. Tease is proud to be a certified benefit corporation, meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental impact.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:23] What are Tease’s products?
• [02:15] Where the tea love came from
• [06:10] Sheena wasn’t fit to start a business before
• [07:15] Tease’s most cringy influencer moment
• [07:47] Being a social enterprise from the get-go
• [08:31] Getting the first round of customers
• [09:11] Investing really early in PR
• [10:37] When Sheena went all-in on Tease
• [12:37] Learning through the service side of business
• [12:57] Going full-time needs sacrifice
• [13:21] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [14:29] Sponsor: JSON-LD for SEO jsonld.app
• [14:29] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [17:33] The reason that made Sheena go full-time
• [19:19] The tools that help Tease to scale aside from PR
• [21:09] Customer feedback will help you fix things
• [22:00] Done is better than perfect
• [24:29] The importance of omnichannel strategy
• [25:36] Where to find Tease products

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Blends that support you to live and lead consciously teasewellness.com
• Connect with Sheena linkedin.com/in/sheenabrady
• A Canadian 4-month digital program created by Tease Tea that provides women access to funding and mentorship foundersfund.ca
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• 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!

BBQ brings people together no matter the weather. Kosmos Q started as a passion project to encourage people to spend more time with friends & family.

Kosmos Q sold their first product, The Original Beef Brisket Injection, out of a linen cabinet. 

Today, they ship over 30 different products to grill masters and fans around the world. Kosmos Q has nearly doubled in size over the last year after our products brought home the 2015 World Steak Championship and the 2015 World BBQ Championship.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:15] Kosmo’s Q products
• [01:49] Where the idea of Kosmo’s Q came from
• [05:43] Where the name Kosmo came from
• [08:01] From hobby, to semi-pro, to business
• [08:53] How Kosmo built their first website
• [11:28] When Kosmo realized he’s onto something
• [14:50] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [15:11] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [15:59] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [17:11] Sponsor: Loop loopreturns.com/honest
• [18:04] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [18:51] How long before Kosmo went full time?
• [20:41] Financial freedom vs wealth
• [21:01] Avoid regret and try it out
• [22:06] Kosmo’s advice to potential founders
• [23:24] Does Kosmo regret not starting sooner?
• [24:41] The easier and harder aspects of ecom nowadays
• [26:43] Kosmo Q’s sales mix
• [29:04] How Kosmo “locked down” their Amazon efforts
• [31:34] Shopify is not a get-rich quick scheme
• [31:55] You have to be willing to do the boring stuff
• [32:46] Everybody has a filter that obscures the truth
• [33:44] Where to find Kosmo Q’s products

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Follow Kosmo on Instagram @kosmounfiltered
• Get award-winning BBQ rubs and sauces from a world champion! kosmosq.com
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• Transform your returns into exchanges loopreturns.com/honest
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/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!

Kelsey started her first brand, Sweat CBD in 2018 which she grew using affiliate marketing. 

She then went on to freelance her affiliate marketing services and eventually built a full service agency called BossBoxx. 

Lori started her career on Wall Street and then went on to launch a brand called Unicreamer and also take her experience to the agency world. 

Lori and Kelsey were introduced by Chris Harder after both joining his mastermind. 

Shortly after they started working together they realized that they had very similar goals and interests and both had a passion for helping brands. 

They decided to join forces and work together to help product based businesses start, launch & scale. 

After about a year of working together, they started to realize that affiliate marketing was bringing their clients the best results. 

They had a dream to help brands large and small build organic affiliate marketing programs that could help them scale the way affiliates helped both of their brands in the past, and Rexxy was born. 

Rexxy is an affiliate marketing hub where companies of all sizes can find tools and resources to design, launch, and scale a high-converting affiliate marketing program. 

While they continue to grow their agency, the Rexxy team is also gearing up to design and launch an affiliate tracking software in 2023.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:31] Clients that Rexxy works with
• [02:40] Affiliate marketing vs influencer marketing
• [04:08] How Kelsey & Lori started with affiliate marketing
• [06:25] Is Kelsey’s CBD brand still around?
• [07:26] Pivoting 101
• [08:16] Niching down and adding value
• [09:01] Rexxy’s self-implementation option
• [10:29] Why Rexxy created their playbook
• [11:02] The evolution to an enterprise option
• [12:18] Affiliate and paid media is a hard comparison
• [12:53] How Rexxy works
• [13:52] Returns on affiliate marketing is brand dependent
• [15:05] The similarities between FB ads & Rexxy’s approach
• [16:10] Sales vs personalized brand awareness
• [17:56] The future of affiliate marketing
• [19:30] Good offer doesn’t always mean more money
• [20:14] How Rexxy makes a unique offer
• [21:41] Where to find Rexxy

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Making it easy & affordable to build & scale a revenue-generating affiliate program for your business rexxy.co
• Join Rexxy’s community for free members.rexxy.co
• The all-in-one system to design, launch & scale a high-performance affiliate program for your company rexxy.co/playbook
• Connect with Kelsey linkedin.com/in/kelsey-eyers-b120291b4
• Connect with Lori linkedin.com/in/lori-lefcourt-68139229

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!

Kelsey & Lori are the Co-Founders of Rexxy, the Affiliate Marketing Headquarters.

On this bonus episode, we talk with Kelsey Eyers and Lori Lefcourt from Rexxy, the Affiliate Marketing Headquarters. We talk about creating unique offers for affiliates, how to properly pivot, adding value to clients by niching down, and so much more!

To learn more, visit: http://honestecommerce.co

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Making it easy & affordable to build & scale a revenue-generating affiliate program for your business rexxy.co
• Join Rexxy’s community for free members.rexxy.co
• The all-in-one system to design, launch & scale a high-performance affiliate program for your company rexxy.co/playbook
• Connect with Kelsey linkedin.com/in/kelsey-eyers-b120291b4

Brenton spent his childhood growing up outside Philadelphia in Southern New Jersey. 

After graduating High School he attended Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia where he received an undergraduate '06 and graduate '12 degree in Business. 

Upon graduating Brenton started a career in Commercial Real Estate. He is currently employed as the President of a firm based out of New York City. 

He is married to his wife, Meghan and they have 4 children together, Grace (8), Morgan (7), Juliet (4) and Brenton II (2). 

A born and bred Jersey Boy, Brenton lives just 5 miles from the beaches in Red Bank, New Jersey and still spends every minute he can in the summer at his childhood beach town of Sea Isle City, New Jersey.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:06] What LowTides’ products
• [01:39] Where the idea of LowTides come from
• [05:01] Developing the idea to a sample
• [06:24] How does LowTides source plastics
• [08:13] LowTides’ Kickstarter Journey
• [10:21] Getting the first customers after Kickstarter
• [12:28] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [12:49] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [13:37] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [14:49] Sponsor: Rewind rewind.com/honestecommerce
• [15:20] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [16:07] Learning Ecom through podcasts
• [18:24] The value in real-life lessons
• [20:20] The reason to go to college
• [22:49] What’s in the horizon for LowTides
• [24:11] Where to find LowTides products

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Beach chairs are made with recycled ocean bound plastics! lowtidesop.com
• Follow LowTides Ocean Products on Instagram @lowtidesocean
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• Respond to any of Rewind’s welcome emails and mention HONEST ECOMMERCE to get 1 month free rewind.io/honest
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/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!

Jennie is the Founder & CEO of Kinn, a Los Angeles based jewelry company offering modern heirlooms meant to last a lifetime. 

Kinn offers a range of fine jewelry all made with 100% solid and recycled gold. All materials are sourced locally in Los Angeles. 

Previously employee #1 at Casetify, Jennie dived into the jewelry industry after her family's home was robbed and all heirlooms stolen. 

In seeking to replace some of her parents' precious heirlooms, she learned the jewelry industry was one that lacked transparency and had deep markups. 

Through Kinn, she sought a transparent solution that cut out the middleman and left consumers with modern heirlooms they can keep for years to come.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:09] What are Kinn’s products
• [01:37] Where the idea of Kinn started
• [04:00] From passion project to a business
• [05:31] Jennie’s Ecom background helping her
• [06:15] Learn Ecom before starting a company?
• [07:49] You can never know unless you try
• [08:52] How Kinn moved out from contacts to marketing
• [11:53] The offer they had for the Refinery29 piece
• [13:21] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [13:42] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [14:29] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [15:42] Sponsor: Loop loopreturns.com/honest
• [16:35] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [17:24] Kinn’s avenues for retention and acquisition
• [19:49] Starting on paid ads later in the journey
• [21:02] Take guidebooks with a grain of salt
• [22:58] Looking at competitors might not be productive
• [23:10] Be honest to why you exist as a brand
• [25:33] Find good people to work with
• [26:22] Don’t cut corners
• [26:47] Hire experienced people when starting out
• [27:22] Where to find Kinn products?

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Modern heirlooms, made to last a lifetime kinnstudio.com
• Follow Kinn on Instagram @kinnstudio
• Connect with Jennie linkedin.com/in/yoonicorn
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• Transform your returns into exchanges loopreturns.com/honest
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/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!

Charley has spent over 10 years in the Digital Marketing industry. 

He has personally managed the spend of hundreds of millions of dollars, and his clients and brands have done well over $1B in revenue. 

He was a founding member of the Facebook Disrupter Group, while helping 310 Nutrition grow to a 9-figure brand. 

His Facebook Ads MBA Program has many dozens of students from around the world, and Disrupter School has helped thousands of people over the last 5 years. 

He has devoted his work to helping others achieve success, and ultimately disrupt, and potentially displace, the existing digital marketing advertising agency industry as a whole.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:21] Charley’s very rough start
• [03:52] The beginning of Charley’s FB expertise
• [07:39] Charley focusing on educating people about FB
• [10:20] Why people fail to learn about FB
• [11:15] How Charley’s FB Ads MBA Program works
• [12:16] Working with amazing bosses
• [12:50] What makes businesses successful
• [13:28] Charley’s biggest focus right now
• [14:24] Charley’s philosophy of success in FB
• [15:14] Receiving life changing stuff everyday
• [15:59] The famous person is not the smartest person
• [16:30] Turning yourself into a software
• [16:49] Charley’s framework for his Disrupter Schools
• [17:57] The middling agency model is obsolete
• [19:45] Empowering freelancers and client’s lives
• [21:59] Turning day job people into serial entrepreneurs
• [23:27] Sharing the success to everybody
• [24:54] Where to find Charley
• [26:48] Charley is 2 years ahead
• [27:50] You might just be held back by your own people
• [29:30] Internet strangers and meeting in-person
• [30:36] Meet and talk to people face-to-face

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Get the E-books, sign up for consulting & join the Mastermind slack group facebookdisrupter.com
• Digital marketing made easy disrupterschool.com
• Connect with Charles linkedin.com/in/charleytichenoriv
• Follow Charles on Twitter @FBDisrupter

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!

As a company born at the beach and endlessly inspired by the outdoors, taking care of the planet is close to our heart. 

85% of our styles are made of sustainable materials and 100% of our swim is made from recycled plastic bottles. 

Each swimsuit keeps 5 plastic bottles out of a landfill and we've pioneered the use of sustainable materials through the creation of our Coconut Balsa™and FlyWeight™ fabrics. 

It all began on a surf trip to San Pancho, Mexico for two friends, Jennifer Hinton and Thayer Sylvester. 

As we lounged in a hammock waiting for the waves to roll back in, we lamented how hard it was to find boardshorts that could keep up with us – real women with real bodies and a real passion for adventure. 

And just like that, Carve Designs was born. Carve Designs styles represent our spirit: fun-loving, hardworking, confident, and inclined to get where we want to go. 

Carve Designs began as a surf apparel company selling rash guards and board shorts in 2003, and has grown into a complete beach lifestyle brand, offering surf, swim, and lifestyle clothing. 

We are dedicated to providing effortless feminine clothing that actually fit real women while keeping us connected to the calm content feeling that inspires us at the beach. 

The women of Carve Designs are determined to push the boundaries of everyday apparel and prove that functionality can be fashionable and well-fitting. 

The clothes are designed to be as inspirational and versatile as the women who wear them. 

We continue to stay true to the vision we created over 18 years ago, providing stylish apparel targeted to women actively engaged in the outdoor world.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:41] Where the idea of Carve Designs came from
• [02:28] How long from idea to sample
• [03:54] Launching with the wholesale model in mind
• [04:39] When did Carve Designs go D2C
• [05:45] Getting the first sales online
• [06:05] The future for Carve Designs
• [06:56] Carve Designs’ marketing strategy
• [09:24] The resurgence of traditional marketing
• [10:27] Marketing vs advertising
• [10:52] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [11:12] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [12:00] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [13:13] Sponsor: Rewind rewind.com/honestecommerce
• [13:43] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [14:31] The smaller the funnel, the easier to track
• [15:21] Mistakes are essential for learning
• [15:48] Invest in IP rights before starting your business
• [16:13] Start your business with a team
• [17:28] Is entrepreneurship fun?
• [19:46] Where to find Carve Designs

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Women's sustainable swimsuits and clothing carvedesigns.com
• Connect with Jen linkedin.com/in/jen-hinton-2735b513a
• Connect with Thayer linkedin.com/in/thayer-sylvester-436296
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• Respond to any of Rewind’s welcome emails and mention HONEST ECOMMERCE to get 1 month free rewind.io/honest
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/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!

Jimmy MacDonald is the Co-Founder of Authenticity50, which he launched with his wife Stephanie MacDonald. 

Prior to Authenticity50 he worked in the Hedge Fund industry in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan. 

When he, rarely, has free time he loves to cave dive and train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:08] The products that Authenticity 50 offers
• [01:59] Where the idea of Authenticity 50 came from
• [05:01] Transitioning from Kickstarter to D2C
• [07:20] Mistakes Jimmy wants you to avoid
• [09:19] The 100,000 Masks Project
• [12:11] Domestic supply chain issues
• [13:03] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [13:24] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [14:11] Sponsor: Wayflyer wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• [15:24] Sponsor: Loop loopreturns.com/honest
• [16:17] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [17:04] Authenticity50’s marketing mix
• [19:34] From investing in SEO to reaping its benefits
• [21:33] Authenticity50’s ratio of organic and paid
• [23:39] Banking on lifetime value
• [24:38] The connection between cave diving and Ecom
• [28:25] Invest in building a great team
• [28:59] Diversify your sources of traffic
• [29:53] Where to find Authenticity50

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Sheets, pillows, comforters, and towels honestly-made in the USA authenticity50.com
• Connect with Jimmy linkedin.com/in/jimmy-macdonald-598871
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Funding a better way wayflyer.com/ecomm/honest
• Transform your returns into exchanges loopreturns.com/honest
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/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!