BRAVE COMMERCE | Episode The Art of Brand Building with Tia Mowry and Karima McDaniel of 4U By Tia
In May, BRAVE COMMERCE brought its community together for an in-person event in NYC, featuring a keynote from celebrity entrepreneur Tia Mowry—best known for her roles in Sister, Sister and The Game—and Karima McDaniel, President of 4U by Tia, a hair care line designed for textured hair.
On this special episode, host Rachel Tipograph sits down with Tia and Karima to discuss the inspiration behind 4U by Tia, their strategic partnership with Walmart, and their approach to building a profitable, values-driven brand.
Tia’s vision for 4U by Tia stemmed from her personal frustration with the lack of accessible products for textured hair. Embracing the motto “If you don’t see it, be it,” she turned her passion into action. Karima, with her extensive experience in brand marketing, plays a pivotal role in channeling Tia’s passion into a thriving business.
Central to their success is a strong sense of community. Tia’s deep connection with her audience, built over years, has been key to their organic social growth. Whether on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook, the 4U by Tia brand consistently shows up where their fans are.
Influencers also gravitate toward the brand, bringing fresh ideas for promotion. Tia and Karima take a thoughtful approach to nurturing long-term partnerships with these influencers, ensuring the relationships go beyond one-off transactions.
Listen to this episode and/or find the video of this session here.
Key Takeaways:
- When it comes to partnerships – it’s a relationship – there has to be trust
- Align your community your product your messaging to achieve success
- The old brand template will not meet the needs of today’s consumer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Speaker 1: Number one, what they were very supportive with was supporting
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Speaker 1: an actual black owned business. And I feel like consumers
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Speaker 1: are so smart too now. They want to know the
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Speaker 1: whole story. And Walmart, they were very supportive in that.
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Speaker 2: Well, I had spent a.
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Speaker 3: Lot of time building my career in the beauty industry
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Speaker 3: and I have such a passion for marketing and for products.
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Speaker 3: And so I’ve gotten the chance to build lots of
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Speaker 3: great brands or be part of building lots of great brands.
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Speaker 2: And even within big companies.
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Speaker 3: And when this opportunity came up, it just, it just
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Speaker 3: sort of spoke to everything in me.
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Speaker 4: Welcome to today’s episode of Brave Commerce.
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Speaker 5: I’m Rachel Typograph, the founder and CEO of Micmac.
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Speaker 4: I’m Sarah Hofstetter, president of Profitero.
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Speaker 5: And this is a show that talks about what’s relevant
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Speaker 5: in e-commerce for the world’s biggest brands. So bringing everyone
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Speaker 5: back to Brave Commerce Live and one of the great
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Speaker 5: sessions that occurred was a keynote with Tia Mowry, who
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Speaker 5: you may remember from the television show Sister, Sister when
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Speaker 5: you were growing up. She now has a hair care
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Speaker 5: line called For You. She is on stage with the president,
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Speaker 5: Karima McDonnell. And we have a conversation about how to
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Speaker 5: essentially build a brand out of nothing and the lessons
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Speaker 5: that they’ve.
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Speaker 2: Learned along the way.
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Speaker 5: You’ll hear stories about partnership, both in the forms of relationships,
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Speaker 5: as well as business partnerships with major retailers like Walmart,
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Speaker 5: how in order to build a brand in today’s environment,
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Speaker 5: you really have to build a community first and that
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Speaker 5: what worked in the past is not going to work
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Speaker 5: today or moving forward. So on that note, Let’s bring
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Speaker 5: Tia and Karima onto the show. I have the great
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Speaker 5: pleasure of bringing on someone that I grew up with,
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Speaker 5: but she didn’t know it. Tia Mowry was the face
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Speaker 5: of Sister, Sister. If you are a kid from the 90s,
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Speaker 5: like me, then you probably tuned in, and what’s so
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Speaker 5: cool is to now see Tia move into entrepreneurship, going
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Speaker 5: well beyond film and television. You’ve probably seen her things
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Speaker 5: on the cooking show, and now we’re gonna talk about
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Speaker 5: her hair care line for you with her president, Karima.
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Speaker 5: So Tia and Karima, please come on to stage. So excited. Good, good, good.
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Speaker 2: Hello, hello, hello. Yes.
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Speaker 6: Thank you so much for having me, guys. So happy
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Speaker 6: to be here.
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Speaker 2: We’re so happy. So you came in from Los Angeles yesterday.
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Speaker 7: Yes. Okay.
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Speaker 6: Rested?
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Speaker 1: Very well rested. Had a great flight in between jobs
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Speaker 1: right now.
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Speaker 6: As usual. But, you know, I love what I do.
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Speaker 6: And when I heard, you know, about this opportunity, I
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Speaker 6: was like, yes, totally.
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Speaker 2: Let’s go.
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Speaker 5: You do a lot of things.
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Speaker 6: I do.
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Speaker 5: Just from a time management standpoint, like how do you
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Speaker 5: think about all of your different lines of business and
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Speaker 5: where to redirect your energy?
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
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Speaker 6: You know what I really do? I stay present.
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Speaker 1: Meaning I don’t think too much about, like, I don’t
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Speaker 1: know what I’m doing tomorrow.
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Speaker 6: Until later on tonight. You know?
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Speaker 1: I’ll look at my calendar, my schedule, and then I will,
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Speaker 1: you know, see what I have to do. But I
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Speaker 1: think that perspective allows me to stay present and to
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Speaker 1: be where I am, like, 110%, meaning my focus.
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Speaker 6: But, yeah, I prioritize things. I mean, I do, of course,
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Speaker 6: have a calendar.
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Speaker 7: I have help.
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Speaker 1: I think that’s the main thing is realizing that I
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Speaker 1: can’t do all of this on my own. Like I
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Speaker 1: have an incredible support system. And I think what helps
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Speaker 1: drive me is just being passionate, you know, about whatever
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Speaker 1: it is that I’m doing. You know, like I said,
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Speaker 1: I’m juggling so much, but when you love what you
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Speaker 1: do and when you’re passionate about it, time really does fly.
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Speaker 1: So I’m just, I walk with gratitude. I always say
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Speaker 1: where there is appreciation, all things flow.
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: Today, we’re going to dive deep into For You.
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Speaker 2: Yes.
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Speaker 5: Some folks in the room might be users of the product.
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Speaker 5: Others might just be learning about it for the first time.
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Speaker 5: So let’s just start with the catalyst for For You.
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: I decided, well, I love being an entrepreneur. And I
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Speaker 1: knew I wanted to be one as soon as I
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Speaker 1: heard the word. I was in high school. I didn’t
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Speaker 1: even know how to pronounce it, y’all.
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Speaker 6: I was like, what is that? And then once I
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Speaker 6: knew what it was, I was like, you know what?
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Speaker 1: This is something that I eventually want to do. When
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Speaker 1: I get older, I’m all about community. I’m all about leadership,
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Speaker 1: inspiring and encouraging. And I feel like that’s what, to me,
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Speaker 1: the core of an entrepreneur really, really is. So basically,
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Speaker 1: long story short, I felt like there was a void
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Speaker 1: and a need, especially in the textured hair community. I
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Speaker 1: felt like whenever beauty was discussed, I just didn’t see
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Speaker 1: anyone that looked like me. So representation is really, really
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Speaker 1: important to me. And as I started to embrace my
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Speaker 1: curls and embrace my authenticity and who I am as
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Speaker 1: a person, I started to do research when it came
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Speaker 1: to products. And I was like, I’m very passionate about wellness.
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Speaker 1: And I saw things within the market that said all natural.
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Speaker 7: But different.
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Speaker 6: Does it really mean all natural?
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Speaker 1: And unfortunately, I realized that that was not the case.
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Speaker 1: So I’m passionate about accessibility, sustainability, family, and wellness.
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Speaker 6: So I said, you know what? If you don’t see it,
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Speaker 6: then you can become it.
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Speaker 1: And so I ended up finding an incredible partner, Karima,
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Speaker 1: and we have been side by side since the beginning.
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Speaker 1: And I said, I want to develop something That I
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Speaker 1: am passionate about.
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Speaker 6: And I feel like if I.
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Speaker 1: Know that I wasn’t the only person out there that
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Speaker 1: was looking for these qualifications when it came to a product.
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Speaker 6: So I was like, you know what? Let me do it.
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Speaker 1: And that’s exactly what I did. And we’ve been having
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Speaker 1: an incredible run.
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Speaker 7: I’m just.
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Speaker 1: This is like, I have two children and this is
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Speaker 1: really my third baby. It’s a passion of mine and
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Speaker 1: we’re having so much fun doing it. So basically it
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Speaker 1: was a need and I believed in myself and I said,
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Speaker 1: let me find a partner and let’s go.
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Speaker 5: And so Karima, you come from a background that’s very
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Speaker 5: similar to everyone here in the audience.
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Speaker 2: You had a big.
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Speaker 5: Stint at Johnson and Johnson. And so what was your
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Speaker 5: decision making to sort of join a brand new challenger
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Speaker 5: brand and market?
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Speaker 3: Well, I had spent a lot of time building my
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Speaker 3: career in the beauty industry and I have such a
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Speaker 3: passion for marketing and for products. And so I’ve gotten
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Speaker 3: the chance to build lots of great brands or be
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Speaker 3: part of building lots of great brands. And even within
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Speaker 3: big companies, I’ve always kind of found my way into
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Speaker 3: some of those smaller projects.
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Speaker 2: Where you are really charting new territory.
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Speaker 3: And when this opportunity came up, it just sort of
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Speaker 3: spoke to everything in me. I really have been thinking
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Speaker 3: about how do I become one more intentional about the
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Speaker 3: products that I’m putting into the world and the messages
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Speaker 3: that I’m putting into the world around beauty. And when
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Speaker 3: I met Tia, we just aligned so nicely. And so
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Speaker 3: this was a great opportunity to bring some of that
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Speaker 3: really traditional learning into to a new space and really chart.
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Speaker 2: Some new ground.
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Speaker 3: And I think we are a high performance, clean haircare
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Speaker 3: brand that is designed to work for all curl types.
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Speaker 3: And that is actually very different in the category that
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Speaker 3: we’re in, where we’re able to provide really high efficacy,
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Speaker 3: but with EWG verified formulas in a category that is
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Speaker 3: very familiar with natural ingredients, but not with clean formulations.
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Speaker 3: So it just was sort of like everything aligned and
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Speaker 3: it just was a way to really re-energize the passion
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Speaker 3: that I had developed in beauty, but kind of take
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Speaker 3: it a little bit of more of a risk and
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Speaker 3: help build, help her build out this brand, which has
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Speaker 3: been so rewarding.
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Speaker 7: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: I imagine budgets are different than Johnson and Johnson. And
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Speaker 5: so what was that switch like, right?
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Speaker 2: Where resources are different.
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Speaker 7: Yes.
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Speaker 3: I will say, you know, everyone always says like you
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Speaker 3: want to be really scrappy and I kind of hate
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Speaker 3: that word. But I think we have to really look differently.
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Speaker 3: So coming into hair care, which is a really crowded category,
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Speaker 3: we knew that we had something really different. But to
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Speaker 3: your point, we didn’t have big budgets. We don’t have
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Speaker 3: big paid media spend. But the beauty of a brand
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Speaker 3: like this is so much of it is built around communities.
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Speaker 3: So we’ve had to really think differently about how do
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Speaker 3: we lean into the community around hair care who’s already
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Speaker 3: talking about it? How do we show up where they are?
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Speaker 3: And Tia has been so wonderful as a partner. I’ve
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Speaker 3: worked with other celebrities before, and I think this is
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Speaker 3: very different because this is her brand.
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Speaker 2: She’s given us sort of like a level of access
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Speaker 2: to her and to her community that is unique.
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Speaker 3: So we’ve been able to really start from the ground up.
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Speaker 3: And I think really using organic social and partnerships has
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Speaker 3: been what we’ve leaned into. We are a young brand.
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Speaker 3: We’re only a little bit more than a year old.
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Speaker 3: but we’ve had incredible success.
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Speaker 2: In the first year.
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Speaker 3: And that only comes from developing a community around the
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Speaker 3: brand in kind of unexpected ways.
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Speaker 1: You know, I was on the phone with you the
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Speaker 1: other day and I was saying ever since I was
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Speaker 1: introduced into the world of entertainment, I’ve always been engaging with.
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Speaker 6: My audience and my community.
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Speaker 1: And I always feel, or I remember as a young
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Speaker 1: I remember I would see certain celebrities approach or a
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Speaker 1: fan would approach a celebrity and they were just not
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Speaker 1: nice like they were not kind and I was like
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Speaker 1: it was like mind blowing to me because at the
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Speaker 1: end of the day it’s about understanding the value you
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Speaker 1: know of your community and I think Since the beginning,
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Speaker 1: I’ve always been engaged with them. Like whenever I would
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Speaker 1: get like fan mail, I would be the one that
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Speaker 1: would sit there and literally write out my signature.
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Speaker 6: You know, there was no photocopy or anything like that.
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Speaker 1: So you mentioned community and it’s really important when it
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Speaker 1: comes to our brand because it’s all about them trusting us.
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Speaker 1: It’s all about developing a rapport with them, community, a
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Speaker 1: friendship with them.
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Speaker 6: And it’s been just so much fun, you know?
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Speaker 5: So where is this community living? I know we’re at
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Speaker 5: Meta’s offices, but Brave Commerce is all about candid conversation.
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Speaker 1: I mean, again, like I was telling you, I love
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Speaker 1: engaging with my audience and I’m on all platforms.
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Speaker 6: I’m on TikTok, I’m on Facebook, and I’m on Instagram.
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Speaker 1: And my audience is about 28 million right now. And
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Speaker 1: when I say I literally engage with them online, I do.
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Speaker 1: And authenticity and community is so important to this brand
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Speaker 1: that a lot of the photos that you will see
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Speaker 1: with the product being used are from actual influencers.
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Speaker 6: That use the brand.
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Speaker 1: Like they come to us. It’s not about us saying,
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Speaker 1: we’re going to pay you. No, they come to us
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Speaker 1: and they’re like, oh my gosh, I love this product.
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Speaker 1: Can I be a part of your community? And we’re like, yes, totally.
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Speaker 1: So when you see these photos and when you see
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Speaker 1: this engagement, it’s coming from an organic and authentic place.
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Speaker 1: Like they actually love the brand.
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Speaker 3: And I would just add, I think it’s also about
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Speaker 3: being really intentional and building long-term relationships. So even at
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Speaker 3: the beginning of the brand, one of the things that
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Speaker 3: we were able to do is pull together a number
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Speaker 3: of influencers, hair care enthusiasts, just other small businesses kind
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Speaker 3: of similar to ours, and have a kind of meeting
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Speaker 3: of the minds and brainstorm what’s missing from the category.
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Speaker 3: And why that was so powerful was because when you’re
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Speaker 3: bringing in these influencers, right, like they have access to
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Speaker 3: huge networks as well.
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Speaker 6: And so to be able.
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Speaker 3: To start that dialogue very early and hear from their community,
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Speaker 3: like we’re really missing products that are clean, that have
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Speaker 3: accessible price points. We really want to have confidence in
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Speaker 3: the ingredients that are in the products. So we were
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Speaker 3: able to hear a lot of that early on and
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Speaker 3: build that into our portfolio. but then also go back
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Speaker 3: to that same audience when we’re coming up with new
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Speaker 3: ideas and pull them into our marketing and initiatives. And
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Speaker 3: so you’ll actually see a lot of familiar faces over
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Speaker 3: time with us. And so because we don’t have large budgets,
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Speaker 3: it’s been who can we lean into and build out
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Speaker 3: long-term that will support the brand in lots of unique ways.
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Speaker 5: And so you are the face of the brand.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: But in today’s world, you just cited how influencers are
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Speaker 5: a big part of the growth strategy. How do you
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Speaker 5: think about how people carry your brand voice forward? So
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Speaker 5: they’re representing you, but they’re also representing themselves. Like what’s
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Speaker 5: that sort of brand guideline?
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Speaker 3: One thing that’s interesting is like Tia is the face
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Speaker 3: of the brand, but what’s unique for our category though
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Speaker 3: is there’s kind of an inherent skepticism in it. Meaning
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Speaker 3: we have a proposition that we work across curl types
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Speaker 3: and And so Tia is a really powerful face of
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Speaker 3: the brand. But if you only ever see Tia, you
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Speaker 3: only ever think it’s going to work on hair that
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Speaker 3: looks like hers. And so I think as we think
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Speaker 3: about how to bring the brand forward, it’s about people
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Speaker 3: showing how they’re using it in their own ways and
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Speaker 3: having those proof points across different faces, different hair types.
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Speaker 3: And we heard that very on, like people want to
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Speaker 3: see themselves represented. And that’s something that we’ve had to
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Speaker 3: build into everything because it can’t just be about Tia.
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Speaker 3: She’s a wonderful person. you know, voice of the brand
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Speaker 3: and has a wonderful vision for the brand. But this
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Speaker 3: brand is called for you for a reason. And I
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Speaker 3: know that that was really her inspiration behind it.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I’m a huge manifester. And one of
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Speaker 1: my goals for this brand is to have billboards around
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Speaker 1: the U.S. with actual consumers and their faces, like profile
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Speaker 1: photos of them. whether it’s a woman with gray hair
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Speaker 1: or even someone who’s trans using the product. Because again,
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Speaker 1: I think just community, having them involved in the process
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Speaker 1: is so incredibly important. I guess I can even explain
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Speaker 1: the name for you. I’m all about experience. So when
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Speaker 1: somebody is looking at the brand on the shelf and
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Speaker 1: they’re looking at for you, I want them to actually
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Speaker 1: feel seen.
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Speaker 6: I want them to feel heard.
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Speaker 1: I want them to feel like they are a part
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Speaker 1: of the conversation. And I feel like that is really
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Speaker 1: the ethos of this whole brand is just feeling a
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Speaker 1: part of feeling included and feeling valued because for so long,
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Speaker 1: women that looked like me with, you know, curly hair,
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Speaker 1: textured hair, we weren’t a part of the conversation when
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Speaker 1: it came to beauty.
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Speaker 5: So what I thought was interesting is that it’s not
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Speaker 5: just for women. You have men using the product, you
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Speaker 5: have children using the product. Did you know that when
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Speaker 5: you went to market or that was a learning at post-launch?
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Speaker 1: I mean, it was always a goal of mine because,
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Speaker 1: like I said, this brand came from a personal experience.
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Speaker 1: And I have two children and each of my kids,
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Speaker 1: they have different textured products.
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Speaker 5: Hair.
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Speaker 1: And so I just wanted the whole family to be
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Speaker 1: a part of the brand. It’s also about, you know, practicality.
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Speaker 1: For example, when you have different textures within the family,
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Speaker 1: what usually ends up happening is I will buy a
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Speaker 1: product or brand for myself, then I would buy a
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Speaker 1: product or brand for my daughter, and then I would buy,
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Speaker 1: you know, something for my son. And it just becomes overwhelming, right?
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Speaker 1: And I wanted to simplify the whole process. And what
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Speaker 1: better way to do that than to think about, you know,
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Speaker 1: the whole family. It’s a one-stop shop for us. You
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Speaker 1: can get the whole line and it could work for
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Speaker 1: your kids as well as yourself. And not only that,
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Speaker 1: the ingredients are safe and they’re clean. So I feel
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Speaker 1: comfortable having my children also use the brand and the products.
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Speaker 3: And I would just add, I think that that comes
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Speaker 3: from an insight that’s really key to this category.
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Speaker 2: Like, wash days look.
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Speaker 3: Very different in textured hair communities because it can take
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Speaker 3: hours upon hours.
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Speaker 2: And so, for instance, she and I both have two
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Speaker 2: small children.
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Speaker 3: So if I’m washing all of our hair, we could
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Speaker 3: spend our entire Sunday on our hair.
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Speaker 6: We have things to do.
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Speaker 2: And it’s like, how do.
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Speaker 3: You sit all day to allow people to have, you know,
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Speaker 3: the time to enjoy the rest of their lives? And
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Speaker 3: so I think that The family piece of it is
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Speaker 3: a really important insight.
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Speaker 2: Of how people approach their hair care routine.
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Speaker 3: And it leans into everything that we’re doing, whether that
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Speaker 3: is you’ll see our kids in our advertising often. Tia’s
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Speaker 3: kids were like right there at the launch advertising and
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Speaker 3: they’re very prominent. But it also goes into how you
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Speaker 3: think about pricing because we know that people are using
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Speaker 3: products across their families and are using a lot of
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Speaker 3: product per wash.
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Speaker 2: When you have, you know, big luxurious curls.
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Speaker 1: And even talking about guys, like I have a trainer
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Speaker 1: and he has amazing curly hair and as soon as
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Speaker 1: I met him and I saw his hair texture, I was.
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Speaker 6: Like, oh my God, I have something for you.
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Speaker 1: And literally just two days ago, he had texted me
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Speaker 1: and he was like, oh my gosh, thank you so
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Speaker 1: much for your products.
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Speaker 6: He said, my curls are popping. And I’m like, aw,
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Speaker 6: I love hearing that.
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Speaker 1: And then also I have another friend that his whole
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Speaker 1: family uses the products. His wife does, his two kids,
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Speaker 1: they do, and then he uses the oil that we
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Speaker 1: have in his beard. So again, it’s just really cool
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Speaker 1: to have a brand that speaks to the whole family.
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Speaker 5: Love the TAM expansion for beards. Two things I want
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Speaker 5: to dive into on the business side. So you talked
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Speaker 5: about how competitive the market is, right? Like wellness, hair care, beauty,
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Speaker 5: and a lot of the categories here, like 2% to 3%
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Speaker 5: year-over-year growth is great because it’s so highly competitive. As
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Speaker 5: a curly hair person, it’s very hard to get me
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Speaker 5: to switch because I’m so scared that the next product
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Speaker 5: just won’t work and I’ll have a bad hair day.
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Speaker 5: So how do you convince people to switch?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think for us, that’s really about showing people
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Speaker 3: the results. And so to the point earlier where people
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Speaker 3: need to see themselves so We actually learned this early
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Speaker 3: on when we first launched and going through all of
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Speaker 3: our consumer research and seeing how people were engaging with
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Speaker 3: our website. If you don’t see hair that looks like yours,
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Speaker 3: you’re kind of like, I don’t know if this works
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Speaker 3: for me. And that’s why we’re not using influencers just
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Speaker 3: for the sake of using influencers.
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Speaker 2: And we’re not even using big mega influencers.
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Speaker 3: We really have really tapped into a micro and nano
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Speaker 3: strategy that allows you to see people that look like
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Speaker 3: you on a regular basis. And so I think the
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Speaker 3: best way to convince someone to switch is to show
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Speaker 3: them the result of someone who is aspirational for them.
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Speaker 3: And so that’s really where we’ve tried to focus in.
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Speaker 3: And I think the other part is there’s a lot
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Speaker 3: of storytelling that goes into the brand. And so we’re
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Speaker 3: telling you, you know, we’re clean, we’re all of these things,
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Speaker 3: but really bringing to life, like, what is our technology?
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Speaker 3: So when we say that we have clean ingredients, what
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Speaker 3: does that mean? And helping to educate along the way.
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Speaker 3: And so we will continue to educate on the brand,
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Speaker 3: educate on our brand story to give you those nuggets of, well,
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Speaker 3: why is this actually different than something else in the market?
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Speaker 5: I imagine that’s hard to do when the product is
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Speaker 5: available at Walmart.
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Speaker 7: Yes.
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Speaker 4: Right?
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Speaker 5: Drive trial, experimentation there. So I would love to talk
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Speaker 5: about Walmart. So when a challenger brand historically has come
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Speaker 5: to market, they’ll launch a Shopify site, they’ll start buying
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Speaker 5: Facebook ads, and they’re running a D2C business. You guys
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Speaker 5: didn’t take that strategy.
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Speaker 6: You went straight to Walmart.
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Speaker 1: Why? I mean, for me, you use the word intentional.
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Speaker 1: This brand is very intentional. And when we had conversations
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Speaker 1: with Walmart, they were just a great fit. It like
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Speaker 1: really aligned with the things that we are passionate about.
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Speaker 6: Number one, what they.
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Speaker 1: Were very supportive with was supporting an actual black owned.
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Speaker 6: Business, which I thought was just so fantastic.
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Speaker 1: There are many brands out there that are specifically for
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Speaker 1: women of color, but they’re not necessarily owned. And I
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Speaker 1: feel like consumers are so smart too now. They want
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Speaker 1: to know the whole story. And Walmart, they were very
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Speaker 1: supportive in that. Another thing that Walmart, they were great
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Speaker 1: with was they were very passionate about sustainability. It was
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00:20:59,280 –> 00:21:02,520
Speaker 1: something that they really wanted to get in business with.
417
00:21:03,040 –> 00:21:06,609
Speaker 1: So basically, I will say that All of the things
418
00:21:06,650 –> 00:21:10,580
Speaker 1: that we are passionate about and what this brand stands for,
419
00:21:11,340 –> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 1: they are too. And I just felt like it was
420
00:21:13,359 –> 00:21:16,740
Speaker 1: just a great fit, accessibility. You were talking about this
421
00:21:16,800 –> 00:21:22,810
Speaker 1: is a high-performing brand with incredible ingredients, but it’s also
422
00:21:22,869 –> 00:21:25,950
Speaker 1: at an affordable price. And that was very, very, very
423
00:21:26,030 –> 00:21:29,670
Speaker 1: important to me. And that’s Walmart. So they just really
424
00:21:29,830 –> 00:21:33,950
Speaker 1: understood that. and fostered and nurtured all of the things
425
00:21:33,970 –> 00:21:35,890
Speaker 1: that we are passionate about. And it’s like with just
426
00:21:36,170 –> 00:21:39,610
Speaker 1: any relationship, right? There has to be some sort of alignment.
427
00:21:39,869 –> 00:21:41,550
Speaker 1: You just don’t want to just get into bed with
428
00:21:41,590 –> 00:21:44,630
Speaker 1: somebody just to get into bed. So we are very,
429
00:21:44,950 –> 00:21:48,370
Speaker 1: very intentional when it comes to our distributors and who
430
00:21:48,410 –> 00:21:49,470
Speaker 1: we want to partner with.
431
00:21:50,230 –> 00:21:52,970
Speaker 3: And I would just add, I think as a smaller brand,
432
00:21:52,990 –> 00:21:56,830
Speaker 3: you have to make choices about how many relationships can
433
00:21:56,869 –> 00:21:58,930
Speaker 3: you actually go after in your first year. And so
434
00:21:59,510 –> 00:22:01,350
Speaker 3: for us because they shared our same vision.
435
00:22:01,390 –> 00:22:02,630
Speaker 2: And so being.
436
00:22:02,510 –> 00:22:05,250
Speaker 3: Able to really focus on Walmart allowed us to really
437
00:22:05,330 –> 00:22:07,670
Speaker 3: build out in depth with them. And so we’re not
438
00:22:07,790 –> 00:22:10,949
Speaker 3: just showing up at a shelf in Walmart. We’ve committed
439
00:22:10,990 –> 00:22:15,170
Speaker 3: with them for a year plus in building out the brand.
440
00:22:15,190 –> 00:22:17,449
Speaker 3: And so they’ve been great partners in helping give us
441
00:22:18,050 –> 00:22:21,490
Speaker 3: access to some of their resources and helping to support
442
00:22:21,540 –> 00:22:24,480
Speaker 3: this brand. And that was really, really a critical step
443
00:22:24,500 –> 00:22:26,240
Speaker 3: for us in building out in this first year. And
444
00:22:26,300 –> 00:22:29,830
Speaker 3: so it’s not that our DTC site’s not important and
445
00:22:29,850 –> 00:22:32,230
Speaker 3: we’re not going to build out there. That’s incredibly important
446
00:22:32,270 –> 00:22:34,310
Speaker 3: to tell our brand story and to build our community.
447
00:22:34,810 –> 00:22:37,010
Speaker 3: But I think we were able to sort of underscore
448
00:22:37,050 –> 00:22:39,010
Speaker 3: the point of accessibility by.
449
00:22:38,869 –> 00:22:39,730
Speaker 2: Launching in Walmart.
450
00:22:39,770 –> 00:22:42,570
Speaker 3: And we were able to really focus on building out
451
00:22:42,609 –> 00:22:46,120
Speaker 3: with one retailer really strongly in our first year while
452
00:22:46,160 –> 00:22:48,580
Speaker 3: we sort of prepare ourselves for the rest of our expansion, which,
453
00:22:49,020 –> 00:22:50,859
Speaker 3: you know, as a smaller team, that’s going to be important.
454
00:22:50,920 –> 00:22:52,899
Speaker 2: It’s like, how do you, how do we focus? That
455
00:22:52,920 –> 00:22:54,090
Speaker 2: was a great entry for us.
456
00:22:54,220 –> 00:22:56,200
Speaker 5: Any indication where you’ll go after Walmart?
457
00:23:00,030 –> 00:23:03,709
Speaker 3: We are exploring that now. So we will be expanding
458
00:23:03,760 –> 00:23:06,220
Speaker 3: outside of Walmart this year. And the nice thing is
459
00:23:06,240 –> 00:23:08,000
Speaker 3: we’re able to do that with their full support too.
460
00:23:08,040 –> 00:23:11,060
Speaker 3: And so we’ve sort of been preparing for that, right?
461
00:23:11,100 –> 00:23:13,380
Speaker 3: And so it’s like all ships rise together. And so
462
00:23:13,720 –> 00:23:16,600
Speaker 3: what’s important for us is we’ve seen being able to
463
00:23:16,640 –> 00:23:19,540
Speaker 3: build out with that depth and being able to have
464
00:23:19,619 –> 00:23:22,870
Speaker 3: Tia lean into the Walmart relationship or promote in store
465
00:23:22,880 –> 00:23:24,410
Speaker 3: and all of that stuff. We want to be able
466
00:23:24,430 –> 00:23:26,110
Speaker 3: to do that with our next retail partners as well.
467
00:23:26,170 –> 00:23:28,409
Speaker 3: And so We will be expanding.
468
00:23:28,010 –> 00:23:30,879
Speaker 2: Outside of Walmart. I cannot share yet where, but we
469
00:23:30,890 –> 00:23:31,680
Speaker 2: will be in more stores.
470
00:23:31,700 –> 00:23:34,379
Speaker 3: Our goal is accessibility and to just be wherever our
471
00:23:34,440 –> 00:23:35,360
Speaker 3: customers shop.
472
00:23:36,119 –> 00:23:38,200
Speaker 6: Very exciting. Extremely exciting.
473
00:23:38,580 –> 00:23:40,980
Speaker 5: So I got to ask you guys our famous last question,
474
00:23:41,619 –> 00:23:43,560
Speaker 5: which is, what’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?
475
00:23:44,780 –> 00:23:45,580
Speaker 2: Karima, you can go first.
476
00:23:46,260 –> 00:23:46,619
Speaker 6: OK.
477
00:23:48,700 –> 00:23:50,359
Speaker 2: I love this question. It’s a very hard one.
478
00:23:50,380 –> 00:23:53,280
Speaker 3: I think staying on theme a bit, I think I
479
00:23:53,300 –> 00:23:56,060
Speaker 3: think stepping into this role is actually one of the greatest.
480
00:23:55,800 –> 00:23:56,360
Speaker 2: Things I’ve done.
481
00:23:56,400 –> 00:23:59,220
Speaker 3: You know, prior to this, I was, you know, leading
482
00:23:59,290 –> 00:24:02,050
Speaker 3: a global marketing organization at a publicly traded company at
483
00:24:02,070 –> 00:24:05,530
Speaker 3: a really large business. And so stepping out of that
484
00:24:05,570 –> 00:24:08,350
Speaker 3: into something where you’re starting from the beginning, you hadn’t
485
00:24:08,410 –> 00:24:11,260
Speaker 3: sold a product yet, but you have this idea. And
486
00:24:11,340 –> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 3: so it’s challenging in a very different way. But I
487
00:24:14,780 –> 00:24:17,100
Speaker 3: will say it’s really, really energizing and just sort of
488
00:24:17,160 –> 00:24:20,960
Speaker 3: makes me excited about my job again. Not that the
489
00:24:21,010 –> 00:24:23,130
Speaker 3: other one wasn’t, but it’s exciting in a different way
490
00:24:23,190 –> 00:24:27,690
Speaker 3: because you really have the freedom to take risks because
491
00:24:28,170 –> 00:24:30,330
Speaker 3: you’re small enough where you can really take those risks
492
00:24:30,390 –> 00:24:33,450
Speaker 3: and it’s safe. But it’s been really, really rewarding to
493
00:24:33,520 –> 00:24:36,600
Speaker 3: kind of start from the ground up and see what
494
00:24:36,680 –> 00:24:38,940
Speaker 3: can I take from all of the things, the experiences
495
00:24:38,960 –> 00:24:40,679
Speaker 3: that I’ve had and pull them into this one and
496
00:24:40,720 –> 00:24:43,580
Speaker 3: make something really, really different. So I think at the
497
00:24:43,619 –> 00:24:46,560
Speaker 3: time I wouldn’t have called it brave. But I think
498
00:24:46,580 –> 00:24:49,120
Speaker 3: looking back, it feels like a brave but a very
499
00:24:49,180 –> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 3: smart decision to make.
500
00:24:50,640 –> 00:24:56,680
Speaker 6: For me, I think, so I’m an actress, right? That
501
00:24:56,720 –> 00:24:59,669
Speaker 6: was kind of like my point of entry into the
502
00:24:59,770 –> 00:25:01,550
Speaker 6: entertainment industry.
503
00:25:02,470 –> 00:25:05,709
Speaker 1: But I’ve also realized as I’ve gotten older that I
504
00:25:05,750 –> 00:25:08,590
Speaker 1: wear so many different hats and I’m so passionate about
505
00:25:08,790 –> 00:25:09,389
Speaker 1: many things.
506
00:25:10,340 –> 00:25:12,639
Speaker 6: And I love to cook.
507
00:25:13,220 –> 00:25:14,740
Speaker 1: So I think one of the bravest things that I’ve
508
00:25:14,780 –> 00:25:20,810
Speaker 1: ever done was actually get into the culinary industry. And
509
00:25:20,830 –> 00:25:23,870
Speaker 1: I remember, you know, telling my manager and my team,
510
00:25:24,609 –> 00:25:27,669
Speaker 1: I was like, I want to have my own cooking show.
511
00:25:28,470 –> 00:25:31,350
Speaker 1: And they looked at me like I was crazy. But
512
00:25:32,210 –> 00:25:35,510
Speaker 1: I ended up doing that. You mentioned earlier I had
513
00:25:35,590 –> 00:25:38,250
Speaker 1: my own show called Tia Mori at Home on the
514
00:25:38,270 –> 00:25:40,639
Speaker 1: Cooking Channel, which is a sister network to Food Network.
515
00:25:41,520 –> 00:25:46,659
Speaker 1: And this woman was producing me my show who produces
516
00:25:46,840 –> 00:25:51,000
Speaker 1: shows for Giada and Bobby Flay. And I remember the
517
00:25:51,200 –> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 1: first day on set, I was sweating bullets.
518
00:25:55,800 –> 00:25:58,399
Speaker 6: I was literally looking into the camera and I was like,
519
00:25:58,420 –> 00:25:59,460
Speaker 6: what are you doing?
520
00:25:59,480 –> 00:26:03,129
Speaker 1: I explain it like when you tap your head and
521
00:26:03,150 –> 00:26:05,170
Speaker 1: try to rub your belly at the same time, when
522
00:26:05,190 –> 00:26:07,830
Speaker 1: you’re having to have to cook in front of a camera.
523
00:26:08,090 –> 00:26:10,250
Speaker 6: And I’m used to having scripts. You know what I mean?
524
00:26:10,350 –> 00:26:11,670
Speaker 6: I know what to say.
525
00:26:11,730 –> 00:26:14,340
Speaker 1: I’ll memorize my lines and I go out there. With
526
00:26:14,380 –> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 1: a cooking show, there are no scripts. You’re just talking
527
00:26:17,880 –> 00:26:20,180
Speaker 1: to the camera like as if it’s your best friend
528
00:26:20,359 –> 00:26:21,580
Speaker 1: and you’re just cooking away.
529
00:26:22,140 –> 00:26:25,070
Speaker 6: And I ended up doing that show for three years.
530
00:26:25,570 –> 00:26:28,869
Speaker 1: I now have my own YouTube channel called Tia Mowry’s
531
00:26:29,109 –> 00:26:32,510
Speaker 1: Quick Fix Kitchen. We’ve been doing it for six years.
532
00:26:32,530 –> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: I have done some amazing things with that channel. We
533
00:26:36,320 –> 00:26:40,060
Speaker 1: have licensed some episodes, but basically… I say that all
534
00:26:40,080 –> 00:26:42,760
Speaker 1: to say, I have two cookbooks that have come out,
535
00:26:43,080 –> 00:26:46,820
Speaker 1: and Giada De Laurentiis, she forwarded one of those.
536
00:26:47,260 –> 00:26:51,570
Speaker 6: And she’s like my friend now. I mean, like, crazy, right?
537
00:26:51,680 –> 00:26:55,669
Speaker 1: But I’m addicted now to looking at fear right in
538
00:26:55,690 –> 00:26:56,149
Speaker 1: the face.
539
00:26:56,570 –> 00:26:57,730
Speaker 6: And I’m like, if I could.
540
00:26:57,630 –> 00:27:00,830
Speaker 1: Do that, I can, you know, have my own brand.
541
00:27:00,890 –> 00:27:03,470
Speaker 1: I could pretty much do anything that I put my
542
00:27:03,530 –> 00:27:07,030
Speaker 1: mind to. It’s just using that muscle, you know? But
543
00:27:07,270 –> 00:27:08,710
Speaker 1: I would say that’s the bravest.
544
00:27:08,430 –> 00:27:13,210
Speaker 6: Thing Well, this was totally unscripted. And we are proud
545
00:27:13,270 –> 00:27:14,310
Speaker 6: of both of your bravery.
546
00:27:14,330 –> 00:27:15,149
Speaker 2: Thank you.
547
00:27:15,210 –> 00:27:18,149
Speaker 5: Hit Walmart. Get for you. Give it to a curly
548
00:27:18,190 –> 00:27:20,609
Speaker 5: hair person. And thank you guys for sharing.
549
00:27:20,630 –> 00:27:21,730
Speaker 6: Thank you.
550
00:27:25,070 –> 00:27:25,870
Speaker 4: Thanks for listening.
551
00:27:26,210 –> 00:27:28,730
Speaker 5: Please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
552
00:27:28,850 –> 00:27:32,230
Speaker 4: Follow us on Spotify and Google Podcasts. And don’t forget
553
00:27:32,270 –> 00:27:33,390
Speaker 4: to share this link with a friend.
554
00:27:43,630 –> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 2: Thank you.
555
00:27:58,730 –> 00:28:02,690
Speaker 7: Hi, I’m Jackie Cooper, Global Chief Brand Officer at Edelman
556
00:28:02,730 –> 00:28:05,490
Speaker 7: and the host of Touch of Truth, a new podcast
557
00:28:05,550 –> 00:28:08,990
Speaker 7: launching on the Adweek Podcast Network. My dad gave me
558
00:28:09,010 –> 00:28:12,709
Speaker 7: this incredibly smart piece of advice. Meet everyone once. As
559
00:28:12,750 –> 00:28:15,050
Speaker 7: a result, I’ve met some of the most fascinating and
560
00:28:15,130 –> 00:28:18,260
Speaker 7: inspiring people on the planet. Now on Touch of Truth,
561
00:28:18,460 –> 00:28:21,719
Speaker 7: we’re coming centre stage and sharing the mic to experience
562
00:28:21,770 –> 00:28:24,629
Speaker 7: stories of truth, insights and visions for the future that
563
00:28:24,650 –> 00:28:27,119
Speaker 7: will challenge your way of thinking. Touch of Truth is
564
00:28:27,180 –> 00:28:30,709
Speaker 7: available wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes come out
565
00:28:30,910 –> 00:28:32,970
Speaker 7: every Tuesday. I do hope to see you there.