The Story of a Brand Show

In Part 2 of this feature, Nate Checketts, CEO & Co-Founder of Rhone, continues sharing the inside story of this amazing performance and highly technical activewear brand.    In Part 2 of this episode, Nate discusses Why being a parent makes you more efficient, Why it's easier today to build a direct relationship with your customer (and how), Why as an entrepreneur you lose some of your social life, What are the four things that differentiate Rhone, What is Rhone's MOAT, How customer can discern Authenticity, Why Brands need to be congruent, Why people want brands to be Human, Why you must treat customers as people not target segments, Why you must think of relationships from a 1 to 1 level, Why sometimes you should do things that intentionally don't scale (quote from Reid Hoffman), so much more.    Join us while Ramon Vela interviews Nate while he shares the inside story of a brand. For more on Rhone visit: https://www.rhone.com/ Visit the partners who make this show possible: Privy - https://www.privy.com/cf Fenix Commerce - https://www.fenixcommerce.com/ Retention Science - RetentionScience.com

While working for the NFL (which would be a dream job for most) Nate Checketts, CEO & Co-Founder of Rhone, saw an opportunity. He noticed that almost all of the innovation that was happening in activewear space was happening on the women's side of the business. So after a discussion with his co-founder and some research, he decided that they would launch their apparel brand. There was just one small challenge, they knew nothing about fashion or eCommerce or really anything about building a brand from the ground up. But what's a small problem like that to an entrepreneur?   In part 1 of this insightful episode, Nate discusses Why they chose to be digitally native from the beginning, How & what he learned about making the best products possible, Why every company needs to be a product company at its' core, Why if you don't create great products you don't deserve to exist, The three Mega Trends that they used to grow their brand, What were their mistakes, What they did right, Why it's important not to be complacent, Why email is their number one channel by far, How it's dangerous for a startup to live in an echo chamber and so much more.    Join us while Ramon Vela interviews Nate while he shares the inside story of a brand. For more on Rhone visit: https://www.rhone.com/ Visit the partners who make this show possible: Privy - https://www.privy.com/cf Fenix Commerce - https://www.fenixcommerce.com/ Retention Science - RetentionScience.com

In Part 2 of this feature, Maria McCool, CEO & Co-Founder of Calista Tools, continues sharing her amazing entrepreneurial journey in creating one of the leading hair care beauty brands.    In Part 2, Maria discusses Why money didn't factor in her decision to be entrepreneur, Why you need to shake up your thinking especially when things are rough, What's the test to find out if you can make money doing what you love, Why when you love what you do it becomes contagious, How she learned about her brand while at QVC, How she has 1000 customer a week at her flagship store and why this helps her develop products, How she is helping other inventor and entrepreneurs bring products to market, and much more.  Join us while Ramon Vela interviews Maria in Part 2 of this episode and listen to her share the inside story of a brand.   For more on Calista Tools visit: https://calistatools.com/   Visit our advertiser: refersion.com/cf Visit our advertiser: https://attentivemobile.com/ Visit our Sponsor: https://www.retentionscience.com

There were times when Maria McCool, CEO & Co-Founder of Calista Tools, felt like an imposter. “Who was I to be here,” she thought. She didn’t have a college degree, she wasn’t an entrepreneur or so she thought. What she did have was a passion. So 1,200,000 mil products sold via QVC, 1,500,000 mil products sold via infomercials and one of the leading Hair Brands in the U.S., later, she wants to help people move past those "imposter syndrome" thoughts and find their own power.   In Part 1 of this entrepreneur feature, Maria discusses Why her brand is about being in service, Why her ideas come from clients, What Beauty Brave means, How it all started when she was 14 years old, Why the key to success is a willingness to fail, Why you have to make failure mean something, How to deal with Imposter Syndrome, What separates entrepreneurs from everyone else, Why risk could be fun, When taking risks ask lots of questions, and What happened the first time she was on QVC, and much more.  Join us while Ramon Vela interviews Maria in Part 1 of this episode and listen to her share the inside story of a brand.   For more on Calista Tools visit: https://calistatools.com/   Visit our advertiser: refersion.com/cf Visit our advertiser: https://attentivemobile.com/ Visit our Sponsor: https://www.retentionscience.com

In Part 2 of this powerful and inspiring story,  Stewart Anderson, Founder of Beast & Buckle, continues sharing the inside and personal story of building his premium dog harness and product brand.    In part 2 of this feature, Stewart discusses What to look for in a Co-Founder, Why finding the right Co-Founder is like winning the lottery, When Entrepreneurship and Depression meet, Why you must watch for the signs of depression, Why Entrepreneurs need someone to share the ups and downs with, Why Entrepreneurs need to find ways to deal with stress, How to reach your community, Why Beast & Buckle are turning the DTC Email Playbook on its head, Why it's better to be less transaction to make sales, Why you can't get the Beast & Buckle experience with Amazon, How to reward customers, and so much more.    Join us while Ramon Vela interviews Stewart while he shares the inside story of a brand. For more on Beast & Buckle visit: https://beastandbuckle.com/ Visit the partners who make this show possible: Privy - https://www.privy.com/cf Fenix Commerce - https://www.fenixcommerce.com/ Retention Science - RetentionScience.com

His dog saved his life. Stewart Anderson, Founder of Beast & Buckle, got his dog ( or his son as he affectionately calls him) when he was at his lowest point. He was struggling after his father's death who had been dealing with depression and bipolar disease all his life and had finally succumbed to it in 2016. It was his dog who had given him a reason to get out of bed and to have something to do with his day. Now it was his dog, that inspired the brand.   Stewart wanted to figure out a way to spend time with his dog, work on something that helped other dogs, and leveraged his digital marketing experience. Unbeknownst to Stewart, by also sharing his story, he was also helping people who also dealt with similar mental health issues.  In part 1 of this insightful episode, Stewart discusses How he learned digital marketing while in the Navy, Why it's best to be Brand-focused versus Product-focused, How he made his passion & mission his business, The Steps to starting a brand, Why the goal was to provide premium products and not so premium prices, Why have a mission pushes you when things get difficult,  and so much more.    Join us while Ramon Vela interviews Stewart while he shares the inside story of a brand. For more on Beast & Buckle visit: https://beastandbuckle.com/ Visit the partners who make this show possible: Privy - https://www.privy.com/cf Fenix Commerce - https://www.fenixcommerce.com/ Retention Science - RetentionScience.com

In part 2 of this feature, Lauren Haber Jonas, Founder of  Part & Parcel, continues sharing her journey in building a premium apparel brand, modeling agency, and on/offline community for Plus Size Women.   In Part 2 of this episode, Lauren discusses,  What is dimensional sizing and why it is so different, Their philosophy of making products that fit her vs. making her fit into a predetermined size, Why they brake rules and invent their own stuff, Why the affiliate model chose them, Why they chose to launch their successful Pop Tour in Anchorage, Alaska, Why Box Retailers find it difficult to copy brands like Part & Parcel, The vision and future of Part & Parcel, Words of advice for Plus Size Women, and How she deals with stress and the ups & downs of life, and so much more.   Join us while Ramon Vela interview Lauren in Part 2 of this episode and listen to her share the inside story of a brand.   For more on Part & Parcel visit:  https://www.partandparcel.com/   Gorgias -  Gorgias.link/story teelaunch - teelaunch.com/story Retention Science - RetentionScience.com

As a child, Lauren Haber Jonas, Founder of  Part & Parcel, was a plus size kid. All her life she found it difficult to find clothes that fit her. Because of this, she experienced ridicule, jokes, and embarrassment. Such as the time that she graduated from college and had to wear a man's suit. Experiences like this affected her emotionally. Fortunately, by seeing the example of her entrepreneurial brother as well as working with the founders of Poshmark, she realized that she had the power to change things. Fast forward to the present, Lauren, now runs a premier platform for plus size women, a plus size modeling agency, and is building a rapidly growing community for other plus size women helping them both emotionally and economically.  Here's her story.    In Part 1 of this episode, Lauren discusses, Why her brand is more of a movement, How it all started with a Blog, Why the Plus Size market is not served even though 70 percent of U.S. women call under this category, Why less than 2 percent of brands serve plus size women, Why it's so challenging to find funding for Plus size business, Why she was forced to start a modeling agency, Why she chose the affiliate model as a sales channel, and so much more. Join us while Ramon Vela interview Lauren in Part 1 of this episode and listen to her share the inside story of a brand.   For more on Part & Parcel visit:  https://www.partandparcel.com/   Gorgias -  Gorgias.link/story teelaunch - teelaunch.com/story Retention Science - RetentionScience.com

In Part 2 of this amazing feature, DavDavid Greenfeld, CEO & Co-Founder of Dream Pops, continues the story of what he calls a "permissible indulgence".   But his story is more than that. It's a case study of an entrepreneur waging war in an industry where experts constantly told him what he wanted to do was impossible. It's also about a mission to bring clean ingredient products into every home in America. After you listen to this inspiring episode you get a distinct feeling that he could actually do it because as he says "anything is popsicle".    In Part 2 of this feature, David discusses Why he wants to be the Willy Wonka of Vegan and Plant-based desserts, What's it like to be a disruptor, How people thought he was crazy for leaving his  Investment Banking job to sell popsicles, Why entrepreneurs are always battling between delusion and vision, Why the market will never lie to you, Why it's better to be scrappy in the beginning then bet big, and Why you should stay true to your vision and be flexible at the same time, and much, much more.  Join us while Ramon Vela interviews David in Part 2 of this episode and listen to him share the inside story of a brand.   For more on Dream Pops visit: https://dreampops.com/   Visit our advertiser: : refersion.com/cf Visit our Sponsor: https://www.retentionscience.com

Initially, DavDavid Greenfeld, CEO & Co-Founder of Dream Pops, was looking to eat healthier. So he went vegan for a year. The trouble is working late nights at his investment banking job, he grew accustomed to eating ice cream and he just couldn't find a good ice cream substitute that was plant-based and tasted good.  So lots of research and a trip to Milan, Italy later, he decided to bring to market a great tasting, clean ingredient, ice cream. In the process, he also ended up disrupt the ice cream industry.   In Part 1 of this feature, David discusses How the idea originated, The most important attribute to plant-based Ice Cream that others had missed, Why you need to fail in order to have success, Why there has been no innovation in ice cream for decades, How the secret to Dream Pops is a unique craft freezing method, Why & how he uses the concept of "intimate activations" to get the product in the hands of consumers, Why innovation entrepreneurs give up (they listen to industry experts), Why their design is like the Nike swoosh, How Dream Pops is at the intersection of Fashion and Food, and much, much more.  Join us while Ramon Vela interviews David in Part 1 of this episode and hear him share the inside story of a brand.   For more on Dream Pops visit: https://dreampops.com/   Visit our advertiser: : refersion.com/cf Visit our Sponsor: https://www.retentionscience.com