BRAND SECRETS AND STRATEGIES PODCAST #100

Hello and thank you for joining us today. This is the Brand Secrets and Strategies Podcast #100

Welcome to the Brand Secrets and Strategies podcast where the focus is on empowering brands and raising the bar.

I�m your host Dan Lohman. This weekly show is dedicated to getting your brand on the shelf and keeping it there.

Get ready to learn actionable insights and strategic solutions to grow your brand and save you valuable time and money.

LETS ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND GET STARTED!

Welcome. Did you hear the introduction? Episode 100. Wow. This has been the thrill of my lifetime, to be able to share insights from the leading industry thought leaders with you. And today is no exception. I have a big surprise for you. In a moment, you're gonna hear some of the most iconic thought leaders in our

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page1

industry share, in their own words, the answers to some of the questions that you've been asking me to ask them.

For the 100th episode, I wanted to do something really special. So what better way than to ask our industry thought leaders to answer some of your most pressing questions. For example, what advice would I give my younger self, if I could go back in time? In a moment, you're gonna hear from Seth Goldman of Honest Tea and Beyond Meat, Gary Hirschberg with Stonyfield, Kyle Garner with Organic India, Miyoko Schinner of Miyoko's Kitchen, Chuck Muth of Beyond Meat, and Sheryl O'Loughlin with Rebbl.

Before we go any further, I want to thank you for listening. This show would not be possible without you and without your support. Remember, this show is about you and it's for you. I also want to thank each and every one of my guests who have come on this show. I especially want to thank today's guests. I've had the privilege of interviewing small, up-and-coming disruptive brands, as well as large, legacy brands, in addition to some of the leading experts that are outside of our channel who are able to share their unique perspective of how the natural channel is growing, across other channels, and across other retailers. Put another way, natural organic products are responsible for the sustainable growth across almost every category, across every channel. And in the absence of natural organic products, most every category would be flat or declining. This means that you are doing more to grow sales in traditional retail and online than big brands are. And you need to be applauded for that.

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 2

Celebrating those wins and sharing those success stories are a big part of this show. People often ask me why I do what I do. I am passionate about our industry. My motivation stems from the belief that natural brands deserve an equal seat at the table. Leveling the playing field, and providing access to insider secrets and tools and resources that big brands have give our smaller brands a significantly competitive advantage. I believe that you deserve the same actionable insights and strategic solutions to help you grow your brand. To know what retailers really want. And specific information on how to get your products onto more store shelves. My mission is simple: to make our healthier way of life more accessible by helping you get your product onto more retailer shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

In episode number 4, I made four bold statements. The reason behind this show, the why.

Number one: I believe that our food system is broken. Especially on Main Street. Retailers spend more effort trying to get us to buy the products they want to sell us, as opposed to selling us what we want to buy.

Number two: I believe that our food education system is broken. We are told from birth that we are what we eat, but products available on most stores' shelves are processed foods that lack the nutritional benefits that our bodies need and want.

Number three: I believe that retail is broken. Small brands are unfairly burdened, frequently shouldering costs that big brands

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 3

avoid. They're expected to participate in programs that do little to help them attract new customers. On top of that, most retailers focus on the wrong things when measuring their success. Retailers spend a lot of time looking backwards, while shoppers are looking ahead toward solutions that meet their needs.

And number four: I believe that our educational programs are broken and natural. The bar is kept low and natural. Small brands don't know what they don't know while big brands invest heavily in educating and nurturing their employees, hiring outside consultants, and participating in mastermind style programs not available to small brands at the same level.

Addressing these problems are at the heart of every episode. In addition to all my articles, and my courses. This is why this show exists. It was started as a natural product accelerator, but it's grown to be much more. In fact, more recent episodes actually include a section where I allow my guests to ask me a question. And I help solve one of their bottlenecks live for you in that episode. Their pain points, your pain points, are now included in the podcast description. In addition to that, I always try to include one free downloadable guide at the end of most every episode of the podcast. I always try to include one easy to download, quick to digest strategy that you can instantly adopt and make your own. One that you can use to grow sustainable sales and compete more effectively. Remember, the goal here is to get your product onto more retailers' shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 4

If you like this show, please share it with a friend. Subscribe and leave a review. Now, here are Seth, Chuck, Gary, Kyle, Miyoko, and Sheryl.

What advice would I give my younger self? What do I wish I knew back then that I know now?

Chuck: Chuck Muth. What advice would I give my younger self? The advice I would give my younger self would be to accept you will make mistakes and see those mistakes for what they are: opportunities to learn from them.

Kyle: Hi Dan, it's Kyle Garner. I'm the CEO of Organic India USA, calling following up on your request for the 100th episode. The advice I would give to my younger self would be to network more. I grew up in big corporate America, and one of the things that we often focused on was working within our teams to launch a new product or to develop anything. And there was a ton of teamwork internally, but there was a lot less focus on networking, meeting people from other companies.

What I learned, coming into the natural industry is that all success is based on relationships, and I started a lot later than most of my peers, and so I've made it my mission to try to connect to join organizations here locally, like Naturally Bolder, but even joining the B-Corp community or meeting people within the industry at trade shows and really going out of my way to try to meet as many people as possible because not only am I

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 5

building life long relationships and friendships, I'm also learning a lot based on how others do business.

Miyoko: Hi, this is Miyoko Schinner. The advice I would give my younger self would be to trust more in my own intuition and instincts, something that I did not do when I first started out. Over time, I realized that my intuition was actually quite good, and I needed to listen to myself more.

Gary: Hi Dan, It's Gary Hirschberg, in answer to your first question, what advice would I give to my younger self. The advice I would give to my younger self would be to ignore the doubters. Doubters are easy. It's super simple to throw fruit from the sidelines or the bleachers, but life really is a temporary condition, and you've just gotta believe in yourself. If I had listened to any of the doubters who thought that we could never make it, I'd never, never have gone forward. So ignore the doubters. Stay positive. Keep leaning in.

Dan: What was the transformational moment that motivated me to go down this path?

Kyle: The transformational moment that motivated me to come into this industry was really a personal one. I had never really thought too much about the natural products industry growing up in corporate America, and focusing on big billion dollar brands. And through having my first child and starting to re-look at the way I was taking care of myself and what I valued in terms of giving

back to people and the planet, I realized that there was this

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 6

entire industry out here, of people that were really dedicated to driving the mission and advancing, using business as a force for good, while trying to heal people on the planet. And I knew I wanted to be a part of it. And so I jumped in with both feet and have never looked back.

Chuck: What was the transformational moment that motivated me to go down this path?

Transformational moment for me, that motivated me to go to Beyond Meat was the realization that there really was no finish line as I just retired and realized it wasn't really what I wanted to do. So I literally was sitting, having a glass of wine with my wife at a bed and breakfast discussing the future and this opportunity was available and we decided that Beyond Meat was just one of those ... This instructional transformational companies that can literally have an effect on the way people eat. It's a mission that you look back on your career and you realize you really may have made a difference here, so that's why I chose Beyond Meat and this opportunity.

Miyoko: The transformational moment that motivated me to start my business was when I changed my diet and I began to see the connection between the food on my plate and the impact, not only on my health, but to the lives of animals and the health of the planet. When I made that connection, I felt motivated to start a business that would support that mission.

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 7

Gary: The transformational moment that motivated me to help start Stonyfield was when I sat at a board meeting of the rural education center, the organic farming school from which we started, and got to taste Samuel Kaymen's ambrosia-like, incredible plain whole milk yogurt with the cream on top. Once I tasted that, I knew that even though I knew nothing about business, even though the market was nonexistent, nobody was eating yogurt, and nobody knew what organic was, I knew with something this good, we couldn't go wrong.

Dan: What self doubt, insecurity, or fear did I overcome and how?

Sheryl: My name is Sheryl O'Loughlin. I am the CEO of Rebbl, super herb beverages. I overcame fear last year because I was able to face it head-on. And that is our house was actually destroyed in the Santa Rosa fire that happened at the end of 2017. And our house burned to the ground and we were driving around in our car with two boxes of things that we bought during the week and clothes we had donated, and that was it. And we traveled, probably stayed in 11 different places, and we're still in the process of building back and haven't even broken ground on our house yet over a year later. But we faced it. And we thrived, and we are now actually tighter as a family and appreciate every moment because we realized that we could actually live with so little. So facing your fear is really the greatest way to overcome it.

Gary: I overcame self-doubt, insecurity, and fear by raising money from my mother and mother-in-law, which meant that it didn't matter what I was fearing or doubting, I had to go forward. I had many,

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 8

many shareholders and board members who were telling me it was time to pack it in. But because I had my family's money, and because my family had invested in me, I was absolutely determined to stay with it.

Chuck: What self-doubt, insecurity, or fear did I overcome and how? I overcame my fear of failure. Almost every promotion I had early in my career, I came to the position with a fear that I really wasn't qualified to handle the opportunity for the position that I was given. So my approach to that was really to just really button down and work hard, work as many hours as necessary to overcome my personal anxieties. I basically refused to fail. And as my career progressed, of course my confidence grew, and with that, those fears went away.

Miyoko: I overcame my self-doubt over time. Actually, through the support of many people who applauded my efforts. The support of our customers, our investors, and just people around me really helped me believe in what we were doing.

Kyle: I overcame my fear of working outside of my comfort zone, in terms of really just trying different ways to approach things by practicing. When you grow up in an environment where the policies and procedures and everything is so well-structured in the organization, there's a ton of benefit to having that, those best practices handy and following a playbook that you know will work in the marketplace. And it's scary to try something new. And it's scary to just jump in and take a risk and try something completely different. But for me, practicing that skill has been a

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 9

huge benefit, and the more I did it, the more I learned that I loved it. And now, what I like to do is be able to apply some of those best in class practices that I learned on how to grow the brand and how to manage a category and how to truly do best in class brand building and apply that in unique situations based on the natural channel.

Dan: How do I stay motivated and focused and maintain the stamina to run a successful business and avoid burnout? What does my daily routine look like?

Seth: Hi there, Dan. It's Seth Goldman, from Honest Tea and Beyond Meat. And I got your email, and so gonna leave you an answer to the question about staying motivated. So to stay as motivated and focused in order to run a successful business, I always make sure to make my own life balance, and that means physically and spiritually and just in personal relationships. So I make a point of getting out every morning and spending at least an hour on my own doing some kind of exercise, which is also a great way for me to reconnect to the natural world around me and keep things in perspective. And then I also really do make a discipline of making sure I'm able to spend enough time with my wife and my family so that I have that both the security in that and the cushion or buffer between that and work, work never gets too overwhelming. And so those are some of my techniques for keeping it honest as I keep growing, keeping to grow myself and the business.

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 10 � Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 11 � Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 12 � Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 13

Gary: How do I stay motivated and focused in order to run a successful

business? For me, it's daily exercise. Even when the days were

ridiculously long and we'd milk cows and make yogurt, and deal

with creditors all day long, I still found time to play tennis or take

a walk or bicycle. Even sometimes at 10PM at night. I just knew

that if I went to sleep without some kind of exercise, without

letting the steam off, I'd be in big trouble.

Miyoko: To stay motivated and focused, in order to run a successful

business, you have to continue to believe in your mission. Never

forget what caused you to start the business to begin with.

Kyle: To stay motivated and focused, I really have had to focus mostly

on my emotional and mental health. Being the head of a small

company deals with a lot of challenges. It's also a pretty lonely

job at times. And so I focused a lot on teaching and practicing

meditation for myself and building a practice that really works for

me to make sure I'm as present as I need to be when I need to

be, and then also be able to disconnect and focus on my family

and my friends outside of the office environment.

Chuck: How do I stay motivated and focused and maintain the stamina to

run a successful business to avoid burnout? Well, I stay motivated

and focused, first of all, my mental health is really great place to

be for me. I'm enjoying the work, and so that makes it a lot

easier to stay in a good mental frame of mind. Physically, though,

I actually do exercise a minimum of 60 minutes per day. I also

bike to work a couple days a week, which is around a 15-mile

roundtrip, so those things keep me physically in pretty good shape.

Dan: What am I most passionate and excited about?

Miyoko: I'm most passionate, excited about the transformation that food can have on ecosystems and other living beings.

Kyle: The thing I'm most passionate or excited about in the natural industry is seeing the growth in how we can impact the world. Obviously, the product sales have been growing. We see it in organic, year after year, continuing to outpace more conventional categories. We see a lot of upstart natural products companies outpacing the growth of the big multi-national company that have been doing this for dozens, if not hundreds, of years. But I'm more excited outside of the business growth, to see how we're influencing the way people think about what purchases they can make. And the fact that we're seeing consumers that are willing to invest in bettering themselves and bettering the planet.

Gary: I'm most passionate and excited about the fact that organic really is win-win-win-win-win commerce. It's obviously preventative health, it's good for family farmers, it promotes biodiversity, sequesters carbon, promotes animal health, promotes consumer health, is profitable for farmers, and in the end, is far more sustainable and durable, enduring, and beneficial than non-organic agriculture.

Chuck: What am I passionately excited about? I'm most passionate and excited about building something I really truly believe in. And literally I come to work every day very motivated to make a difference and really enjoy the work I'm doing right now, which makes a big difference.

Dan: What do I see for the future of our industry?

Gary: The future of our industry is incredibly bright because finally, people, particularly millennials, are making the connection that A, we are what we eat. B, when we purchase something, run something past a scanner, we're really voting for the kind of world we want. So one of the most powerful things we can do is to purchase consciously. And three, it works. That is to say organic works. It's preventative health. It promotes biodiversity, carbon sequestration, farmer income, and it's just the right thing to do. So I believe the future is incredibly bright.

Miyoko: To that end, the future of our industry, I believe, is going to be leaning more and more towards plant-based. We can revolutionize future food systems with how we eat. And I'm really excited about that.

Chuck: And finally, what do I see as the future of our industry? The future of our industry is very promising as consumers, particularly young consumers, are very concerned about eating healthier food and beverages and want to work with brands that also understand our environmental impact. Both of which are very

much on-trend with the company I'm with right now, and I think the industry as a whole.

Kyle: The future of the industry is bright. I think we'll continue to see strong growth in terms of sales, but also strong growth in terms of shaping the way people think about what it takes to be a good company and where consumers are willing to invest their dollars behind brands that are making a meaningful difference.

Miyoko: Thank you. Bye bye.

Gary: Thank you, Dan.

Chuck: That's it. Thank you.

Kyle: Congratulations on your 100th episode. Thanks, and I'll talk to you soon.

Dan: I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you. As 2018 comes to a close, it's great to be able to use these inspirational comments to help motivate us as we go forward in 2019. One of the things I love about this industry and what makes natural natural are industry thought leaders like this that are willing and able and eager to share their time, their thoughts, and their insights to help all of us, empowering brands and raising the bar.

I especially want to thank Sheryl, Miyoko, Kyle, Gary, Chuck, and Seth for coming on today. For sharing their valuable time, and for answering your most pressing questions. I'll be certain to put a

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 14

link to Rebbl, Miyoko's Kitchen, Organic India, Stonyfield, Beyond Meat, and Honest Tea in the podcast show notes, as well as on the podcast webpage.

You can get there by going to brandsecretsandstrategies.com/ session100. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast, because I've got a lot of great things coming this next year. To help you get your products onto more retailers' shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

Today's download is my free Turnkey Sales Story Strategies course. This is the foundation of everything I teach. These are the strategies I talk about in a couple different podcasts, specifically episode 68. These are the strategies that I've used throughout my entire career to push big brands around. These are the strategies that can help differentiate you from your competition. They worked for me, they can work for you. More importantly, it's these strategies that will differentiate you from any of your competitors. It's these strategies that are gonna help you become a valued and trusted resource to your retail partners.

Remember, savvy retailers who go above and beyond to help you if you can help them do what they need. Drive more traffic to their store, compete more effectively, and make a reasonable profit in the process. By leveraging the strategies in this podcast, in the courses, and in my content, you're gonna have the opportunity to differentiate yourself, to stand out on a crowded shelf, and to help make our healthy way of life more accessible.

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 15

You can learn more about this important foundational course at turnkeysalesstorystrategies.com/growsales or on the podcast webpage and in the show notes. Thank you again for listening. Thank you again for being a part of this podcast and for supporting me all the way. Remember, this show is about you and it's for you. I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.

Honest Tea https://www.honesttea.com

Rebbl https://rebbl.co

Stonyfield https://www.stonyfield.com

Organic India https://organicindiausa.com

Beyond Meat https://www.beyondmeat.com

Miyoko�s Kitchen https://miyokos.com

This episode's FREE download

Your brand's selling story is the cornerstone of all effective business building strategies. Learn How To Get Your Brand On The Shelf and What Retailers REALLY Want. This Is Your Roadmap To Success.

CLICK HERE TO GAIN INSTANT ACCESS TO MY FREE TURNKEY SALES STORY STRATEGIES COURSE

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 16

Thanks again for joining us today. Make sure to stop over at brandsecretsandstrategies.com for the show notes along with more great brand building articles and resources. Check out my free course Turnkey Sales Story Strategies, your roadmap to success. You can find that on my website or at TurnkeySalesStoryStrategies.com/growsales. Please subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and recommend it to your friends and colleagues. Sign up today on my website so you don�t miss out on actionable insights and strategic solutions to grow your brand and save you valuable time and money.

I appreciate all the positive feedback. Keep your suggestions coming.

Until next time, this is Dan Lohman with Brand Secrets and Strategies where the focus is on empowering brands and raising the bar.

� Copyright 2018 |

CMS4CPG LLC https://retailsolved.com

Page 17